《Blacksmith of the Apocalypse》 Chapter 1 - 1.The World Ended? We are looking at a world very simr to Earth. In the year 21XX humanity realized that they were done for. They had missed the mark and were facing inevitable climate change. More and more natural disasters gued the humans. Storms raged, cities were flooded and the people became desperate. Projects were rushed, solutions were searched, catastrophes brought things to light that should have better stayed in the dark. But it was no movie and no novel. There was no way for them to stop it. Everything kept spiraling out of control, escting up to the breaking point. Reeee Reeee Reee~ Smack! Drowsily he lifted his head after smacking his rm clock to the other side of the room...where it was still ringing. "God da*nit.." Squinting at the clock he rolled off the bed and crawled over to turn it off. Seth had been burning the midnight fuel ying games the night before and forgot to turn off his rm. Bright light fell in through half closed shutters of the window and burned on his pale skin. Since when was the light in the city so bright? Seth lived at B City, a medium-sized city at the southeastern corner of the continent. On a normal day the light should be a refreshing yellowish gray, thanks to the invigorating smock of civilization. So what was up with these disgustingly bright rays of sunlight? Shielding his bluish grey eyes with his hands the youth picked himself up and went towards the window. Brushing his dark hair out of his eyes, he blinked. Then he blinked again. "Well, that''s weird." He grabbed his phone. Yep, only slept for a few hours...then why the flip was the city overgrown like a forest?! The panorama of the city he had seen and known for almost all his live was tinted with overwhelming green. Streets were covered in tall grass like a Savannah. Trees had broken through the constraints of concrete and structures. Houses and Buildings had been pierced, some actually copsed because of trees that had skewered them. And almost every vertical surface seemed to have been covered in vines. His phone had no reception and his inte connection was cut off. Seth pursed the lips. Something was going on. Well, anyone who wasn''t blind could see THAT. At this moment a voice rang in his head and scenes started to y before his eyes like a cinematic trailer. He actually knew many of the scenes that were shown from the news. Natural disasters that had been hitting the continent thest few years. But there were some he didn''t know. Scenes of a destroyedboratory. Weird lines of code reminding him of a famous science fiction movie. Dark fiery holes opening in midair and glimpses of caves and ever growing darkness. This sentence was energetically floating in front of him like an early text animation. The letters were thick, golden and kept spinning in order. Seth was reminded of old shy retro-games. They kept spinning in the center of his view, no matter where he looked. "Hmm, sure why not.", he said to himself and clicked Y. Seth had no idea what exactly was going on, but a tutorial sounded like a good start to find out. His Vision became blurry and his surroundings changed into a dark void. Like the copy of a game tutorial the system started to exin how to use things like Quest-, Status-, Skill- and Inventory Window which could be opened by thinking or reciting the names. It also mentioned, that most skills he could obtain would be self exnatory when he concentrated on them. His Status looked something like this Name: Seth Smith Level:1 Exp: 0% Race: Ori Huma Sex:Male Age:23 ss: None Affiliation: None Health:1000 Mana:100 Strength:9 Dexterity:12 Agility: 12 Intelligence:10 Willpower:10 Endurance:11 Personality:7 Luck:14 Free AP(Attribute points):10 He had no skills or quests yet, so the skill window was empty. Simrly, the inventory window only showed what he was currently wearing and a field of 3x3, so 9 item slots to store his items in. As Seth had expected, he could collect experience to level up. Each level up would grant 5-10 free AP. And about gathering experience: , the system said ominously and a sword appeared in front of him. It was a in arming sword with some rust and a scratched up de. With this a small ugly humanoid appeared in the void in front of him. "Is that a goblin? Seriously? What a cliche..." Seth grasped the sword and noticed surprised, that even so it looked beat up and in, the sword seemed well bnced and felt good in his hand. The moment the sword fit into his hand the green creature charged at him with an unnerving screech. It rang in his tired head and really annoyed him. His body moved, using the sword like a club, trying to direct the sharp side towards the creature and hack down in it''s shoulder. The sword went halfway through it''s rib cage, almost splitting it in two. Chapter 2 - 2. Spirit Blacksmith "What''s a Silver ss Wheel?", he asked subconsciously. , a golden scroll appeared with a number of sses like Swordsman, Warrior, Fighter, Healer, Pharmacist, Mage... things like that. A white wheel filled with question marks appeared beside the scroll. Seth could hear a sneer in the systems voice. There were probably a lot of people who did this and got something like cook or baker. Nothing against those sses, but crafting wasn''t really the first choice in a survival situation. He definitely wouldn''t take the chance and risk- A Silver Wheel appeared beside the white one. Seth sighed and rubbed his eyes, " I''m really too tired for this sh*t. We both know where this is going, just spin the silver thing already..." At this point he just wanted this to end, so he could sort his thoughts. Seth didn''t know the situation outside ,he had no idea what ss was good. But it wasn''t necessarily important, since any skill could be learned, no matter the ss. An advanced or above ss should be an advantage, no matter what things turned out to be. He watched the wheel spin slowly losing speed. Yeah, he just thought that it didn''t matter as much what ss he got, but his face still fell when the wheel stopped and revealed the symbol of an anvil and hammer burning with an eerie blue me. Was this system messing with him? Was it really random or did it just give him a ss fitting his name!? The ck void started to blur and his room came back into view. Seth took a deep breath and fell on his bed. He savored the quiet and thought. It slowly started settling in, that the life he knew was over. But it didn''t hit him as hard as he thought. Was it because there wasn''t really anyone he cared about anymore? Or maybe... "Errm..Skill Window?" The window opened in front of his eyes. The formerly empty list was filled with a whole slew of new skills. "That''s about what I thought. Ok, it actually seems quite handy." Then his eyes fell on the list of other skill he got from his ss. There were obviously skills associated with a cksmith like, He noticed that his Swordsmanship had vanished, instead had a gotten Weapon Mastery? Except for this one, they seemed quitemon for what a ck smith should have. On the other hand, it was understandable that a cksmith should know how to handle his products. But a lot more interesting were the ss specific skills. Skill > The second one would need him to kill something or find a fresh corpse, it seemed a little dangerous to test, but Spirit Smithy... He jumped off his bed and went to his small living room, everything still seemed normal. He looked out the window and spotted others doing the same from the buildings near his apartment and across the street. He closed the shutters and invoked the skill. "First time someone called my living room small..." Seth actually lived in a quite big maiste apartment, that was left behind by his parents. Was his furniture in the way? He rubbed his hands and started to move away the couch, table and other things that were probably blocking the skill. Some timeter he had cleared his living room which left him with almost 15m2 of empty space 2 stories in height. When his stomach started rumbling he remembered that he hadn''t eaten anything yet. He went to scavenge the kitchen for edibles. Seth hadn''t really expected the world to end, so his food storage looked quite meager. But hey! At least water and power were still working, so the grid had not broken down, yet. Bread, some fruits, meat, really old canned food. A Frozen Pizza. A few bottles of water and soda and packs of noodles. This reminded Seth that preparation cant hurt. Looking around his apartment, filled with empty stic bottles and couldn''t bring away yet, he went ahead and filled them all up with water. Who knew when it would stop working? Seth realized that he had to leave the apartment eventually to get food, but he definitely wouldn''t just leave his home without more preparations! He could definitely stay holed up for a few days with this, if he rationed it well. The meticulous "rationing" started by throwing the pizza in the oven for breakfast and gobbling up the whole thing. A productive day started with a greasy breakfast! After filling his stomach he first went and made sure that his door was locked and checked the situation in the hallway using the peephole. No blood smeared across the walls. No mangled corpses covering the floor. Just a clean, normal hallway. He didn''t know whether he should feel reassured or disappointed. Novels with these kinds of scenarios suggested that there were bloodbaths everywhere, but it didn''t seem like marauding monsters had started ughtering innocent people, yet. So he probably still had some time before he would have to join the mob and be part of the mandatory piging for food and resources. If he was to leave his apartment, he had to familiarize himself with the system and his ss first. This unique ss was his only advantage, so he had to use it well! Chapter 3 - 3. The Spirit Smithy After making sure, that he didn''t have to expect being raided any time soon he returned to the kitchen. His fingers were itching to retry summoning the smithy, but testing out the system seemed more important for now. Seth wanted to test the inventory. He took what little food reserves he had and tried putting them into the inventory slots, starting with the refilled water bottles. He remembered the instructions from the tutorial and concentrated on "storing" the bottle he held in his hand. It vanished and instead the icon of a generic water bottle appeared in his inventory. When he looked at it a little window opened stating "Bottle of clean water", simr to when you hovered the mouse of an item in a video game. Next he tried the same with an empty bottle, which was fittinglybeled as "Empty bottle". He thought about taking it out and the empty bottle appeared back in his hand. But it wasn''t actually the bottle he had! It was an empty stic bottle that fit the generic icon that was shown in the item slot, NOT the soda bottle he had stored! He took out the refilled water bottle, it had also changed! It was exactly the same as the empty bottle, just filled with water. He took one of the regr water bottles and did the same and the same happened, it changed into the same featureless stic bottle that fit the generic icon in the inventory. Just as he expected, when he stored those filled bottles who had changed again, they stacked in the same slot! Seth conjectured that the inventory would generalize ALL items he stored, so they could be stacked, if they had no defining features. He tested it with the noodles and canned food, and they all lost theirbel and specific packaging, the system only divided by content, the packaging became the same. Seth wanted to try other things next, when he grabbed a knife to see whether it would appear in the weapon slot, it actually did and it stated A chance to test the skill! Looking at a kitchen knife he concentrated on the skill. He felt a cool sensation entering his eyes and it gave him a small window. < Knife lv.1 Common Damage:1-3 Durability: 10/10 A mass-produced sharp knife for cooking purposes. Has a low chance to cause bleeding.> This was the same for most knives he found, except for the damage being even lower. He tried the skill on other kitchen utensils, which dered them as crafting materials for smelting. Most of his kitchenware was dered as "made of low quality iron". Materials for smelting, should he try to summon the smithy now and see what he could get from smelting his cutlery, pans and pots? Seth decided it was time! His handy itched to try more skills and start grinding his ss. He stood in his empty living room and concentrated on the skill. What filled his living room now was a basic cksmith shop! The knowledge of what he was looking at and how it was supposed to be used, was floating into Seth''s mind. It was part of the different skills like and . Everything looked incorporeal and transparent, shining in a pale blue. A ghostly white me was burning in a stereotypical coal forge which stood in the very center and a medium-sized dark blue anvil beside it. He tried using on it. He looked to the right where a worktable and a grinding wheel stood. A few tools like hammers and tongs were lying on the table and it had a vise. They werebeled asmon and increased the sess rate of forging by 5-10%. The wheel looked ordinary, but a window opened. Soul fire in the forge and a grinding wheel named after Sisyphus? This forge seemed very underworld themed. But the barrel of water to quench the de had no funny descriptions like "Water of the Styx" at all. He looked to the left of the forge and saw a cylindrical furnace made of dark thick bricks. It was burning with the same ghostly me and an assortment of crucibles and casting molds for crude metal barsy beside it. Reading the descriptions, Seth realized that they were restricted tomon materials. Was it because it was still level 1? Well, it wasn''t like he had a lot of umon materials to work with... At least Seth guessed, that iron wouldn''t count as umon... He ran his hands over the rows of tools on the work table. When he grasped a hammer, a window with 3 options opened. which was simr to a guided 3d-modelling program where he could design a weapon. "Free creation" just closed the window and left him to his own devices. His conviction grew. He could summon a forge wherever he was and make weapons and armor whenever he wanted! This ss would be the edge he had in this world! And he knew exactly what he had to do to seed in it! Grinding! Chapter 4 - 4. Grinding! Seth knew, that he would have to leave to get more food and stuff at some point, but right now he had food for a few days, so he nned to raise his skills for as long as possible and then try to make a weapon and some armor before leaving his secure home. Using hebed through his home to find any and everything he could throw in the furnace and collected them on a pile in the living room. Cutlery, pots, pans except for some necessities his kitchen was emptied. A wall hanger sword, stainless steelmps.. His toolbox was plundered,too. Seth even found some packets of screws. When he was done it looked like a dragon had built a nest in his living room, made from almost anything shiny he owned. Anything he could throw into the furnace. On the other side was a heap of other crafting materials he had found while looking around. Leather and wood from furniture, clothes, buckles, belt and straps. From the blueprints he knew that these things were mostly needed for armors or as handle material. He rubbed his hand as he stepped towards the furnace. The inside was smooth like porcin and it''s bottom where the ghostly me would be burning was bowl-shaped with a small drain. With that he could drain the molten metal into a crucible or directly into the mold for ingots. Before he started smelting he tried to use an exploit! Seth put all the cutlery into his inventory to turn them into uniform knives, he hoped to maybe gain some material from putting in the smaller things. Unfortunately the system only changed their shape to make them look the same from a two -dimensional view. They still had the same mass as before, on the other hand some of the uniform cutlery were thicker or thinner. He was a little disappointed, but it couldn''t be helped. Seth continued to throw a hand full into the furnace. Next opened as a window with something simr to a control panel for the furnace. It had a list of options to choose what should be refined from the material. Well, he hoped there would be more options in the future! At the moment it was only "Low-Quality Iron" and it even had a sess rate of just 75% stated beside it. What would happen if he failed? Would everything be gone? It was not really of any use to guess, he went ahead and confirmed. He confirmed his choice and a kind of minigame started on the control panel. Seth had to manually adjust the parameters like the strength of the mes and its contribution to change and stabilize the temperature in the furnace ording to the systems indications! The white mes red up and easily melted down the cutlery in less than a minute. Seth lost focus for a moment and- His first try was a fail! Seth watched as the mes burned up about 1/4 of the molten metal! Well... at least the system didn''t destroy all of it. Seth used the drain to harvest the left over metal. It was the first time he felt the immense heat the metal gave of. It didn''t affect him as much as he would have expected, probably thanks to the 50% Fire Resistance that was granted by his ss. Using a crucible he caught the liquid metal and poured it into a casting mold. Seth fetched some water from the barrel to help cool it off. The resulting ingot was a cuboid chunk of metal, thaty good in his hand and were a little longer than the width of his palm. He felt a little down because of the failed attempt, but soon a smile appeared on his face! When Seth checked the skill window he saw that the proficiency of actually went up despite failing! He now had . He still had a lot of stuff to melt down, at this pace he would be able to level the skill quite a bit. Another happy surprise struck him, when he continued. The sess rate had increased to 76%. The next smelting seeded and actually gave him 9%. If it kept going like this he would be the master of low-quality iron before lunchtime! But he had crowed too early. By the time reached level 3 the sess rate had stopped at 99%, so he still had a chance to fail. Level 3 also unlocked the option to refine mediocre iron. He had not expected this. Seth''s original n was to smelt down everything to level , then forge stuff from it to level and smelt them down again. He wanted to repeat that circle a few times, but now a new question came up. Did the material influence the proficiency he would gain for ? On one hand mediocre iron started with only a sess rate of 60%, but it gave almost 3 times the experience for . On the other hand, he would probably lose a lot more material he could use to level up . So all he could do now, was trying the materials! He took an ingot of low-quality iron. Holding the small bar of metal in his hands made him realize once again how real this was. Seth went to the forge. As blueprint, he chose a small throwing dagger, because the only material it needed was metal of any kind. After confirming the blueprint he could feel the guidance from the system as impulses and knowledge to do specific things flooded his head. He took tongs and a hammer, put the iron into the eerie me of the forge and waited. When the iron was glowing in a kinda cherry red he picked it up with the tongs and started shaping it on the anvil with the hammer. Feeling the heat in the smithy, the impact of the hammer, the hot metal giving under his power, his muscles being strained. The situation felt so unreal, but it also felt good. After some time of clumsily following the guidance and quenching the de, he finished it off by grinding it and a message popped up. Seth appraised his first work: < Misshapen Throwing Knife Common Damage: 1-2 Durability:2/2 The first work of an aspiring cksmith! This piece has the barely discernible shape of a throwing knife. It may hurt a little, if you manage to hit someone with it. > Seth knew that it didn''t look very good, Ok! No need to be this harsh... It was definitely fit to be melted down again. But that wasn''t the point. He had gained 15% proficiency in . Now he went ahead and tried again with the mediocre iron. The result was the same. It had a little more durability and damage, but he still only gained 15% bringing him to. To make sure he tried some other small blueprints. Forging took a lot longer than smelting, so it took until noon to make sure. It was still a lot faster than forging without his ss and smithy. Seth fathomed it would take a lot longer without it. He had gained some more proficiency bringing his skill to to lv.2(45%) when he finished. The experience he gained in mostly came from the difficulty of the product, not the material chosen. At least not in this case. There was also another thing Seth found out. The amount of experience gained also depended on the finished product. A fail would give him almost nothing, while a good result could increase the proficiency. He didn''t know by how much, since all his stuff was still no better than scrap. was actually simr,but different. A fail gave him less than half the proficiency than a sess. It was only those two, it didn''t have a gradation like . Now he had to decide, which to level first? or? If he went for mediocre iron to level , he might lose a lot of material he could use to level . He valued thetter more, so he decided to turn all the stuff left into low-quality iron and go for mediocre iron when re-smelting. But first came lunch. "Rationing" with an iron fist, he decided to fill his belly with noodles. After this little pause Seth continued to melt down everything he had into metal ingots, still bringing his skill to . The day was peaceful, and he waspletely focused on bringing up his proficiency! Forging, quenching, grinding,forging, quenching, grinding..over and over. Before Seth realized it the sun was already about to set. Sweaty and tired he looked out the window and the scenery in the fading daylight. Beside him was a pile of finished throwing knives. He had actually managed to process all the low-quality iron he had into knives in thest several hours. He had managed to raise his skill to and while the knives were still garbage, they looked a lot better. Even so the experience gain fell with the level up, he also became faster in making the items. Looking at the setting sun, he finally registered how tired he actually was. Still, he collected all the metal dust he ground off the knives, the broken parts of failed knifes and the pile of finished knives towards the furnace and spend another hour turning it all into mediocre iron leveling his up to lv.6 and close to lv.7. It was dark outside, and he could barely keep his eyes opened. Seth wobbled toward his room and fell on his bed. "Maybe i should have checked...", he thought but fell asleep. Chapter 5 - 5. A Long Night Seth woke up with his body aching all over. He had been too focused on leveling his skills that he hadn''t noticed his bodies pains. "Status?" Name: Seth Smith Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level:1 Exp: 60% Race: Ori Huma Sex:Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 975/1000 Mana:100 (INTx10) Strength:11 Dexterity:15 Agility: 12 Intelligence:10 Willpower:10 Endurance:13 Personality:7 Luck:15 Free AP(Attribute points):10 Defense: Physical : 89 (ENDx3 +50ssBonus) Magical :45 (2xWIL +25ssBonus) Fire Resistance :50% Skill Window : Calm Reaction(passive) lv.1 cksmith(Beginner) lv.5(8%) cksmiths Eyes lv.1 Smelting(Beginner) lv.6(75%) Blueprint(Beginner) lv.2 Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.1 Spirit Smithy lv.1 Spirit Capture lv.1 Had some of his attributes increased? Oh yeah... Some memories floated up. He had ignored the notifications at that time. Something about "attribute +1 thanks to intense training" Wait, why had his HP decreased? His sore muscles screamed as he got off his bed. Oh, maybe that''s why...his slow thought remembered the tutorial, it exined that the HP showed the whole health, not just obvious injuries, that''s why there are a lot from the start. Hmm, why was he even awake? It was still dark outside. As tired as he was, he should have slept until noon. Seth squinted into the direction of his rm clock, but itid dead in the corner of the room. "My first victim of the apocalypse. A gruesome murder scene of broken parts and limp hands." His wandering thoughts were interrupted by noises outside on the street. He had been too upied yesterday and the outside was very quiet. Seth had forgotten to check whether other people had the guts to leave their homes and run around outside. Maybe he should at least check his neighbors? He looked around for his smartphone, which told him that it was 4 am. Who would be so crazy to go out at this time? Seth tottered to his bedroom window and looked outside. He could barely see the contours of the same scene from yesterday, a city widely overgrown by nature. A shiver ran down his spine as he looked at the familiar unfamiliar scenery. He listened attentively. He heard grunts and growling calls of deep voices speaking in a foreignnguage. Concentrating on where the sounds came from, he could make out the shapes of creatures walking through the high grass. He estimated the high grass to be about 1.5 m tall and it barely reached the giants hips. They would easily tower above 3 m in height, and they looked almost as wide. Earlier they sounded aggressive and motivated, it reminded him of a band of brothers in war movies. But something had changed, they suddenly became hectic and their calls sounded more anxious and hurried. They made a beeline towards a building as it happened. Seth saw as they started vanishing! The first was silent and then started the screams when they realized what was happening to them. Now he was wide awake and his heart turned cold. Rumbling and hysteric screams echoed between the canyons of concrete and steel. A shiver ran down his spine. He watched as all the left over figures started running, but it didn''t save them. They, too, vanished into the high grass as if the earth itself had swallowed them! What could make something of that size disappear in a moment?! Seth retreated from the window and sat on the ground holding his head. The system had shown him pictures of portals, so he had expected foreign creatures to appear. But what kind of creature came through, that could just...hunt things like these ogre-sized creatures? He took a few deep breaths to calm down. Whatever it was, it was outside. He was safe for now, as long as he didn''t leave..maybe. It''s not like he could do anything about it for now. He cast ast nce outside the window where everything was quiet again and went into the kitchen after calming down. A productive day starts with a greasy meal! He fried the meat he had left with some noddles left from yesterday and filled his stomach to the brim. Living the rationing life! It seemed that the system really boosted the recovery of fatigue, since he felt quite refreshed after just a few hours of sleep and a hearty meal. This felt almost like a healing factor! Sethughed to himself. He checked and it was still dark outside, should he start forging? Or should he check on his neighbors? It wouldn''t hurt, maybe they even knew something important? It was just going down the hallway, but he decided not to leave his home unprepared. Who knew what could happen? He stuffed all the iron he had made yesterday into his inventory, together with his water and food. Seth equipped himself with the best gear he had found so far. A thick leather jacked that increased his defense a little, sturdy leather boots and the cane of his grandfather. Seth hadn''t really expected this, but do not underestimate a walking stick! told him it was his best weapon! All geared up he first probed the situation in the hallways with the peephole. Still, no blood and gore covering the white walls of the hallway or the tiles of the floor. As he opened the door and wanted to step out a message popped up in front of him. Seth hesitated. "Nope nope nope...", he chose N and stepped back into his apartment. It wasn''t really that important to check on his neighbors now, right? Yeah. He was still good on food and water anyways. Seth totallycked the preparation he wanted, before he left guaranteed safety behind once and for all. He put the jacket and the cane beside the door and went back to the living room where he summoned the Spirit Smithy. Grinding it was! Time to turn this mediocre iron into knives. He would use the arduous work to push those unsettling thoughts aside! After making dozens of knives and small stuff like arrow heads yesterday, Seth felt ready to try the free creation. He wanted to see the difference and how far he could go without the direct help of the system. He followed the same steps and movements that were already ingrained into him yesterday, he started with making a throwing knife. It was harder to estimate the temperature and he often missed the right spots when forging the iron. But this actually felt better! It was HIM, Seth, creating something, without outside help. he also got a much better feeling of where to hit and how strong. Working like this for the first time ignited a me in his heart. He had still felt a little conflicted about getting a crafting ss until now, but now Seth felt a passion growing within him. He really wanted to grow his ss and skils, not just for survival. After managing to forge the rough shape and quenching it sessfully in the barrel, Seth ground it into a sharp knife barely resembling the throwing knife from the blueprint. Surprised by the announcement he checked the knife with his , but it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a little worse than thest ones he did with the systems help. < Low-quality Throwing Knife Common Damage: 2-4 Durability:5/5 A recognizable throwing knife by an aspiring cksmith. When you throw it, you might even hurt someone else but yourself. > Still, a lot better than his first try with the system! And he did it all alone. the real surprise hit Seth when he checked his skills. he had actually gained a lot more proficiency for this throwing knife! It was almost double as much as for the ones he made with blueprints! Time went by as he tried doing the other weapons he had tried, like arrow heads and daggers. No matter what he made Free Creation gave him double the points on average! This was great, considering that the skill needed more and more experience to level up. Seth decided to choose a moreplex blueprint now! He would use the blueprint to get a feeling for the process and then try doing it in Free Creation. Seth chose a long hunting knife. It had a long de and looked simr to a Bowie knife. It was moreplicated and had more parts he needed to make. The de, a handguard, a pommel and a wooden handle! It was a lot more exhausting than the simple thing he did befor, even with the guidance. In the end, after several hours of work, he failed twice out of three attempts. But Seth still gained huge amounts of proficiency! He had leveled straight up to lv.6 in one go! Plopping down on a chair that had survived his material gathering, Seth took out a water bottle from the inventory and started drinking in big gulps. He choked when he looked out the window. The outside was still immersed in twilight. He looked at his phone, 12 pm. What was going on?! Chapter 6 - 6. Preparations It was already noon and still dark outside? Was this also an apocalyptic scenario? Did the sun go on a strike and didn''t wish to work today? Looking out the windows, he saw the city submerged in twilight. He opened the window and leaned outside to look at the sky. "What the..?", he muttered when he saw, why there was no light. It wasn''t the sun unwilling to work, it was the canopy of a gargantuan tree that was covering the sky above the city and blocking out the light. The tree even outssed the skyscrapers at the city center! It looked like an oak with half a dozen thick main branches reaching across the city''s sky and almost touching the ground some kilometres away. It was like a dome epassing the almost half the city. When did this even grow? Looking up to the branched that kept splitting off the main one, Seth saw something dangling. "Oh f*ck..", His eyes widened and his heart sunk....he had found the giant creature fromst night! The oaks branches were covered in vines and on the vines, hung like criminals on the gallows, were desated corpses. Not just the hulking creatures, but also corpses from other humanoids like the goblin he had seen and...humans. How did those end up there? Seth pulled out the binocrs of his father, he had found yesterday among his stuff. As if covered in fairy lights, the branches of the tree were filled with vines holding dried up bodies in colorful casual clothes. Some of them wore jackets and backpacks, had they left the safe zones and tried to get out? Looking with the binocrs, he saw that they were not actually hanging like hanged, but the vines were prating and growing through the bodies. He could also see small glowing orbs beside the dead. < Soul(tiny): Crafting Material. Common> It was jumping into action. But wait! Didn''t it say he could only see the souls of recently deceased bodies? Did this mean, that these bodies up there were only recently turned into these mummies? His blood turned cold. Had so many things happened while he tried to grind out an advantage? The world was really moving fast now. A field boss had spawned? Seth felt like he had to act, so he wasn''t left behind. Looking between the forge and the window he hesitated. He had wanted to take the safe route and grind as much as he could without leaving safety. But judging from the corpses on the tree, he might not be safe, if he stayed for much longer. He didnt have the time . Instead of following his original n and grinding the hunting knife he decided to shoot for gear to go outside. Sounds from outside interrupted his thinking. "Looks like I wasn''t the only one who noticed the changes?" He leaned out the window again. Looking down at the street he saw a group of 3 wading through the high grass on the street below. They also wore backpacks and in their hands they actually held weapons! The guys in the front had a sword and a mace and the girl behind them had a staff. Did they get starter gear for their sses? When he looked with the binocrs they looked very young, maybe a group of schoolmates? They had started shouting, Seth knew this scene, but he could actually see more now in the twilight than during the night. The big guy with the mace had his mouth suddenly covered by an agile vine that shot up from the high grass around them! It pulled him down to the ground without him being able to make a sound! His teammates turned around, but there was only a trail in the grass where he was pulled away along the ground. They couldn''t, but Seth could see what happened then. The trail vanished in a narrow alley, but looking up Seth saw the silhouette of the body rising towards the branches above, to find it''s ce among the others up there! The Vine had actually entered his mouth, prated his head and exited from his eye. Seth could see the soul appearing, Maceguy was already dead. When Seth finally managed to avert his eyes, the other two had also vanished. Swordboy and Staffgirl were nowhere to be seen. A shiver went down his spine. Set realized that the outside would only be more dangerous! He really wanted , he needed to get away from this tree, as far as possible! But what could he do against those vines? It was so dark! And quiet! And... This time he could actually feel suppressing his panic. He had to think. What could he do? How could he get away? They were silent, so he first needed to see them. He already had an idea concerning that. But he also needed a way to fight them if they came for him. He WAS a cksmith. Seth stood up and came before the forge. Looking through the catalog of basic blueprints he looked for something he might be able to make to help him. The first thing he came across was an axe. This could have worked but the axe needed wood for a shaft, and he didn''t have something in a fitting size. But this gave him another idea. He couldn''t find it in the catalog, so he decided to try to make the blueprint himself. It was the first time he opened the blueprinting interface for real. It was easier than he had expected. Since he didn''t create somethingpletely new, but recreated something from his knowledge, the system actually assisted creating the model and augmented parameters. He chose mediocre iron as the material. What the blueprint showed in the end was a hybrid between a machete and a scythe: A billhook! This was the best weapon he could think of, to fend off those creepy vines! He had elongated it a bit for more range and slimmed it down a little to lower the weight and save material. Now he only had to seed in making it, and he had no idea how often he would have to try. The billhook wasn''t asplex as the hunting knife, but it had a lot more material he had to move and a more difficult shape. Seth grabbed a whole bar of mediocre iron and started the blueprint for the billhook. It took him two hours for his first attempt which ended in a failure, when the metal broke during the quenching! His second attempt seeded, but it was an ugly and heavy result that was barely usable. The third was also a failure, he had burned the metal in the forge. Evening was approaching, the twilight would soon start to darken. Seth was exhausted and decided to take a break and eat something. When he opened the fridge to get some cheese, he found out that the grid had finally broken down. The electricity was gone. Water was still working, though. Making a "hard" decision, he just ate everything that was still in the fridge. Seth felt a lot better after eating something. The system was really awesome. He looked out into the darkness. In case this attempt seeded he would still have some twilight to get away from the tree. If not He would keep working and travel during the night. It wasn''t that much brighter anyways. Seth wouldn''t wait any longer, once his preparations were finished. The next attempt was actually another failure! The de had looked very promising, but it developed a lot of cracks when he quenched it. It still actually gave him more than the crappy one he sessfully finished, pushing his skill to proficiency gained!> Chapter 7 - 7. Leaving Home Seth had finally seeded! The Billhook looked good and felt good in his hands, he knew without using the , that it was a good weapon! Still, he appraised it. It fell short of the optimal parameters, but it was definitely the best weapon he could get in his Situation! Seth was finally armed and ready! Well, no. he was armed, however there were still things he needed to do. First he smelted the failed scrap metal and then everything that wasn''t iron and was spared before, like brass and copper from decorations. This unexpectedly brought his to lv.7. Seth went to the forge and entered the free creation. He hammered a few ingots into thin iron tes and punched holes along the rim. Seth wanted to augment the sturdy leather jacket with metal tes and nned to make rivets from the brass and copper, which meant that he had to forge them into rods before cutting them to size. He only made it roughly, so it didn''t take too long. Seth affixed tes along the arms like vambraces, two rows of 7 on his back, and he put a wider one on the left side of the jacket, above his heart. < Ding! You have created your first piece of armor! End+1!> < Reinforced Jacket Common Phys. Def. : 25 Durability: 45/50 A leather jacket reinforced with iron tes by an aspiring cksmith. It''s not much, but better than nothing. > He was quite satisfied with the oue, even when it wasn''t as cool, as he hoped. Together with his sturdy boots his defense has increased by 1/3! Seth put the remaining iron ingots and brass rods into his inventory. He had thought about making a shield, but he didn''t have enough wood to make a wooden one, and he didn''t have the time, or skills to make something that big from iron. Now was the time to finish preparations. The Inventory held the things he definitely didn''t want to lose. A stack of about 30 mediocre iron bars, a stack of 10 brass rods, leather, a stack of 35 water bottles, 1. 5L each. One slot was his Grandfathers cane, and he also put his fathers binocrs in there, so they wouldn''t break if he fell or something. The rest of the slots were filled with the food he had left, like canned soup, packets of noodles and a pot to cook. Seth went to the room that had belonged to his parents before. From a drawer he took a small pendant and wore it. It was small and round, made from gold. It felt smooth in his hand and when he opened it, there was actually a picture of his parents inside. Memories started to surface, but Seth pushed those to the back of his mind and put the pendant under his shirt. He needed to concentrate now. He packed his backpack with some of the food he couldn''t put in the inventory, clothes and a pan. Also, the buckles and straps he had scavenged from other clothing. Looking around his apartment, he tried to think whether he had forgotten anything. Maybe apass would be good? And his smartphone was also leaving with him, as long as it had power. Remembering Maceguy, he thought of his motorcycle helmet he had lying around from when actually still had a bike, but he already had so little vision at night. Seth didn''t think it would help a lot. Before he left, he checked his status, just to make sure. Name: Seth Smith Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level:1 Exp: 80% Race: Ori Huma Sex:Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 1000/1000 Mana:100 (INTx10) Strength:13 Dexterity:17 Agility: 12 Intelligence:10 Willpower:10 Endurance:14 Personality:7 Luck:15 Free AP(Attribute points):10 Defense: Physical : 122 (42+50+ 25+5) Magical :45 (20+25) Fire Resistance :50% Skill Window : Calm Reaction(passive) lv.1 cksmith(Beginner)lv.8(51%) cksmiths Eyes lv.1 Smelting(Beginner) lv.7(11%) Blueprint(Beginner) lv.2 Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.1 Spirit Smithy lv.1 Spirit Capture lv.1 Everything seemed fine, he was in top form! "This has to do for now", he said to himself as he went to the door. Seth chose Y and stepped outside into the dark hallway. < Ding! Wee, Adventurer! You are the 344th to leave the safety zone willingly in this region. > < Ding! Title: "Explorer" gained. "You are among the first 1000 of your region to leave the safety zone"> Seth felt an irrational fear spreading in him. his heart raced and he started sweating. As he was about to fall into panic kicked in. As he was calming down, he looked through the messages and checked is status. He just went outside and gained two titles and two skills. Map actually opened a map window, but only ces he had visited were shown. He looked down the hallway, but could only see ink-ck darkness. He pulled his phone from his pocket and used the shlight to illuminate the hallway. He regretted lighting up the hallway. The walls were covered in roots that were growing from the walls! He really would have preferred the gore, to this! At least the floor has withstood the attempts of nature to prate it... He walked down the hallway towards the staircase and came by his neighbors door. The door was actually left ajar. Seth pushed the door open only to find his neighbors home being also overgrown with roots. A dried up corpse was actually sitting in his recliner. It was totally covered in spindly thin roots, like a doll made of twigs. It looked totally macabre and disturbing. "Dont mind me old friend...", Seth told him, shrugged his shoulders and looked for the kitchen. His neighbor wouldn''t miss the food anymore. What could be stacked went into the inventory, what couldn''t was...rationed on the spot. What couldn''t be rationed went into the backpack, not that there was much left. Seth left his neighbors ce with a few more days worth of food and actually quite a lot of canned stuff. His neighbor seemed better prepared than him, too bad he had died early. He didn''t take any crafting material, there was neither the space nor time for it. Stepping back into the dark hallway, Seth made is way to the staircase. It waspletely overgrown. Vines and roots were embracing the handrails and hanging down from the stairs above. However, they didn''t seem to belong to the skull-pration kind. They just hung there and did nothing. Still, Seth was walking around with the Billhook in hand, in case some naughty vine was just ying dead. When he came to the lobby, Seth finally got his gore. The frontdoor had been broken open and there were the mangled corpses of some humans and goblins. The humans had actually been armed. Did everyone but him get starter weapons? He picked up a sword from the ground. Wow, this was almost worse than his trashy throwing knives.... Seth put the sword back, no time, no space. He finally closed in on the gaping hole, where the frontdoor once was, and stepped outside into the night! Chapter 8 - 8. Burning The Midnight Fuel Stepping out of the door, he stood at the top of a staircase, that led down to the boardwalk. Well, now it was a meadow of high grass. Seth walked down the staircase until he stood on level ground. "Summon Spirit Smithy!" The skill worked, despite the grass and the Spirit Smithy appeared before him, ttening the grass it stood on. Seth pulled out a table leg he had gotten from his neighbors ce, it was a lot better for this, that was what he had prepared. Determined he held it into the eerie white mes of the Spirit Smithy. The Soul Fire easily turned the wood into a torch. Seth threw the torch into the sea of grass. "Lets see you hide now...". He would burn the grass around him so he could see the vines! But even Seth was surprised at the result. The Soul Fire jumped into the grass and spread...like a wildfire. With an insane speed it shot along the overgrown streets, devouring all the vegetation it came in contact with. And it wasn''t just this street! Momentster he could see the cold white light of his Soul Fire shining from everywhere in the city, licking about between the rows of houses and illuminating the Hanging Tree from below! Seth''s jaw fell open, watching the cmity unfold. A sea of mes filled his vision. And then a smile crept up his face. He knew that feeling from clips of natural disasters, if you saw something so big and fascinating happen, that you could not help but smile andugh. "Hey ! Wait! That''s not cool! This is a legitimate tactic, Ok?! I''m not doing this for fun!", he argued, but really couldn''t suppress the smile on his face. ... A whole bunch of messages dinged through, Seth was really startled this time. He was afraid the system had suddenly decided to answer him, when he argued back! Listening to the notification, Seth noticed that it didn''t mention anything other than vines. Had everything that entered the sea of grass died? And level up? When he looked at his status he was already lv.3 and it was fast approaching lv.4. The fire really did a great work in collecting him experience! The grass around was already burned down and the vicinity turned dark again. He would better hurry to get away. Who knew what would happen, if someone found out that HE had burned down the bosses home field. He fell into a moderate running, using his phone to light up the path. The streets were still filled with burning hot air, even after the mes left, but Seth could handle it with his resistance. The newly gained affinity made him actually feel quite cozy in this kind of environment. His ears were ringing, when the Kill messages had finally slowed down a little. When he checked his status again, he was already lv.4, close to lv.5 and had gained another 26 Free AP. There was actually a new entry SP: Skill Points. He had 3 now, could he.. As he was focused on his status, he saw something moving in the corner of his eyes. He jumped away and fell to the ground before he could even register what exactly it was. Turning back he saw a half burned vine! The skull-pration kind! It was lit up by the phone he had lost during thending. Seth whipped around with the Billhook and managed to cleanly cut the vine before it couldunch at him again. He looked at the cut off part of the Vine and actually told him, that it could be a crafting material, but all he could see was "???" in it''s description. Was the skill level too low? Anyway, he had to get out of there, so he stuffed the vine in his backpack and kept running towards the outskirts of the city, where the trees canopy didn''t reach. "Huh? There were more?" Seth didn''t stop to check, he kept going without looking back. At least the headache inducing kill messages had stopped soon after he reached lv.5! He met a few more vines on his way to the rim, but they were no problem. They actually helped leveling his to lv.3! But he didn''t get cocky this time. The early levels were always easy. At dawn, when the sky slowly became brighter and the sun peaked over the horizon, Seth had finally reached the edge of the tree crown. There was only one problem, from the lowest branches hang a curtain of vines. The fire wasn''t able to destroy those vines above lv.4, even though they were steaming. Looking for a solution his eyes fell on the manhole covers, he sighed. "Whatever..", he summoned the Spirit Smithy and forged a hook to open the manhole covers with. Surprisingly, there was no stench when he entered the sewer. "oh...", he muttered when he saw the reason why. The whole underground was filled with roots. He should have known it! Of course this ce would be full of this stuff too..! Seth squinted annoyed. "You know...what worked once...", he mumbled resigned. Soon the sewers where filled with white mes! The ce was instantly filled with dark stinking smoke and Seth fled back to the surface! Smoke was also rising from the manhole covers in close vicinity, but it didn''t really spread likest time. On the other hand that didn''t mean it was useless! Although the roots didn''t burn away, the crown actually seemed to shake in pain, making the vines at the edge sway. It swayed just enough! Seth took this chance, ran-up and dove through the gap below the vines, without being noticed! He could physically feel the pressure of constant fear that had burdened him since leaving home fall off his shoulders. Hopefully this meant that he wouldn''t encounter any more of those vines! Seth didn''t look back and started to sprint. Burning trees and broken ruins lined the roads. Gradually he saw more buildings and ruins overgrown with vegetation. A few minutester he finally came to stop at a ce the fire had not reached. Here the broken streets were still covered in grass, but it wasn''t as high. A lot more buildings had been destroyed by the growing forest. They were higher and the whole area resembled the pictures Seth had seen of old temples that had been reimed by jungle. The undergrowth started affecting his field of view, so Seth slowed down and finally came to stand still. He tried to catch his breath as he scanned his surroundings, anything could be lurking to jump him in this kind of environment. "Of all the things I imagined, this wasn''t it when I heard ''Apocalypse''...." Chapter 9 - 9. First Quest? He looked at the map, which showed a several kilometre long, more or less straight stretch, from his home to here. This ce was even marked on the map as jungle biome. "Why is there a tropical jungle...hah.. In the outskirts ?", heined panting. The humid air made his clothes stick to his skin and it didn''t really help, that he wore a thick leather jacket. Seth had actually hoped to get somewhere with less... green. You can say whatever you want about a wastnd, but at least it''s a lot harder for things to hide... "gi gi gi!" Seth faintly heard noises not too far away. He had jinxed it. It sounded simr to the goblin he had killed in the tutorial. Seeing a more or less intact building; he slowly sneaked over and entered the dark gaping hole left by the broken down door. The inside wasn''t pretty. Smashed furniture, broken ss from the windows, dirt and roots covered the floor. He walked down a short hallway and to the right. It was the living room. On the sofa were some mangled corpses, they looked as if wild beasts and gnawed on them. The stench was unbearable, but at least they were no sucked dry mummies. He hoped that this meant, that he really wouldn''t meet any more vines. Seth could hear the noises outside getting louder, so he anticipated that he wouldn''t leave the house any time soon. Since he was here anyways he could look for something usable. Other than the living room, he found a dining room, a small bathroom and the kitchen on the ground level. The fridge had been ripped open, with the door lying on the ground. It''s contents were spread all over the floor, with some squished and other having bite marks. The rest of the kitchen looked simr with nothing left he could take with him. The squeaking and snarling noises were now really close. When he looked down the hallway he could see a group of goblins outside on the street. He decided to go up the stairs to avoid being seen. Looking around the upper floor he found a bigger bathroom and a children''s room andthe bedroom. Seth rushed back out, about to puke! It was that forced the urge back down. Leaning against the wall outside the door, he slid down to the ground. "What the f...", he mumbled when he remembered the pictures of what he just saw. On the wide bed, in the middle of the room,id the corpse of a woman. If only it was just that... she had been strapped to the bed with crude ropes. Her whole body and especially her privates were horribly mutted. She was covered in bite wounds, cuts, blood, andmore. "Something" had fun doing its worst to make her death a long and painful procedure. And to top it off, the body wasn''t nearly as old as the two below. Seth had even caught a glimpse at the soul hovering above it. This woman had survived, he even believed to have seen a starter weapon lying on the floor. She had survived the apocalypse to find this kind of tragic end... A noise from downstairs rmed him. Did ''it''e back? Maybe it was the goblins? Did they do this and came back to check? He swallowed hard and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him. This was the only door that wasn''t broken up here and he definitely wanted to have a door between him and what was down there! Even if he had to go back in there, he entered and locked the door behind himself. When he turned around, he was a lot calmer. It was even worse than before. She had chunks of meat bitten out of her arms and legs, while she was still alive! The wound had bled. She must have had fought a lot, the ropes at her wrists and ankles had dug deep in her flesh. Seth wasn''t an emotional person, but the rage was growing in his chest. As if it had felt his feelings, the soul had started floating towards him! It had a tinge of red and was a little bigger than the pure white ones he had seen on the Hanging Tree. Seth didn''t do anything. The Soul was just gently floating up and down in from of him. < Quest: Revenge of the Fallen Difficulty: C You have encountered the horrifying murder scene of one of your fellow yers. Despite the desperate situation she had not given up. Even after death her soul still wishes for revenge! Will you help her with her revenge? Requirement: Kill Goblins 0/10, kill Orc 0/1 Rewards: Vengeful Soul(small), 3000exp. > He didn''t know how much 3000exp actually was, but Seth dly epted the quest. It even confirmed that the culprit had been goblins. "What a clich...", Seth mumbled. But was it really a clich, when it truly happened? The soul had vanished after he had confirmed his decision. It was probably stored in a special space for pending quest rewards or something. Now what? Seth had a quest. He needed to kill 10 Goblins and an Orc. He was pretty sure, that some of his quest targets were downstairs. Maybe they woulde up to look for their ... he grimaced. He would mess those little **** up. He opened the door and used the billhooks handle to smack the hallway''s wall to lure them up. He also took out the cane, it had more reach and was better than an empty hand. The woman''s weapon had been a staff, but it was broken, so he couldn''t use that. The sounds of steps on the stairs announced the arrival of his opponents. It sounded like 3 or 4. Seth wasn''t dumb. He wouldn''t fight an open battle. He would ambush them the moment they opened the door. Not longter the door swung open and a Goblin jumped in! Just to be greeted by a massive brass knob smashing its face! The Goblin crumbled on the floor and didn''t get up anymore. Such an enthusiastic hello had shocked his littlepanions, which resulted in a billhook piercing one of their heads and popping out an eyeball on the way back out. Seth kicked the goblin on the ground away, jumped back, and mmed the door shut again. One of the pair that was left had reacted a little faster than his friend and jumped forward, which rewarded him a broken nose as the door hit him in the face. With one only reacting now and the other falling back after being hit by the door, the door opened again and the billhook saved him the worries about his broken nose. Now Seth stood face to face with thest Goblin. Its eyes ripped wide open as it screamed, faltered and...fled. Well, an attempt was made. Seth rushed after it and smashed its skull from behind with a swing of his cane. Seth went back to the room and finished off the first Goblin, who was only unconscious. He knew, because had not gotten a kill notification for this one. They had all been lv.3 and brought him a few percent experience and 3 Soul(tiny). They were the first thing he killed, that dropped souls. This strategy had actually worked quite well, but Seth doubted that it would work a second time. If more Goblins came, then to look for their lostpanions. They would be rmed and hard to ambush. Once the adrenaline rush had died down and his hands stopped shaking he went downstairs. Leaving the house via the backdoor led him to a small yard. Or what was left of it after mother nature went berserk. But he found enough space to summon the Spirit Smithy. "Good", he mumbled and went back upstairs to get the goblin bodies. Seth hade up with a good use for these guys.. There would be a great surprise waiting for their friends. Chapter 10 - 10. What Worked Twice... It took longer than Seth had expected, but after some time there appeared a group of Goblins. It were 8 Goblins lead by a creature about the size of a human. This was probably the orc. It wasn''t the weird pig-like kind that some north-eastern novels featured, but the green skinned kind he knew from games. A rough description would be a skin with a moss-green tint, long pointy ears like an elf, a body full of muscles and a lower jaw featuring a pair of big tusks. When one of the Goblins came close to the house it spotted the corpses of theirpanions Seth had ced there. The goblins found one of their own on the frontwn. Another was draped over the sofa Seth had ced to block the frontdoor. Big Guy, as Seth named the Orc, shouted something at the Goblins in a gutturalnguage. Two of them split off and stayed in front of the house, while the rest climbed over the sofa, into the house. Big piles of rubbish, broken furniture and branches were piled up at the frontdoor and along the hallway. Here they found another body and thest one on the stairs. Big guy also entered the house after listening to their hectic squeaking, to see for himself. It was time. Seth returned to the yard unnoticed, through the small hole in the thicket he had made with the billhook. Big Guy made his way upstairs, following the trail of blood. He knew that up there was one of his toys the Goblins had captured for him. But why had they been up there? It had already died yesterday. Maybe he could find a clue up there. The Gobs didn''t have the brain to do much more than eat, f*ck and kill. "What works twice, also works a third time.", Seth stated with conviction as he set fire to the heap of rubbish he had piled up at the backdoor. Like before in the grass, the fire traveled along a trail of frying oil with tremendous speed. Almost instantly it lit up all the trash piles across the house and set it ame! "Burn...", he said with a glimmer in his eyes. Big guy was half way up the stairs, when suddenly a pale white me passed him, travelling up the handrails! Shocked, he looked back down only to see a sea of mes! When had this happened! The Goblins behind were already rushing towards the frontdoor only to see, that it was blocked by a wall of mes created by the burning sofa and trash piles. Turning around again Big Guy ran up the stairs as fast as he could, but the mes were already licking towards him from the top of the stairs. He could hear the agonizing cries of the goblins in front. He saw their burning silhouettes rolling on the floor and writhing in pain! And he himself was cornered on the stairs! mes from above, mes from below and the fire from the handrails had already jumped onto his rough clothes, burning his skin! Seth could also hear the tragic howls of the screaming Goblins within the burning house. But contrary to Big Guys panic, Seth felt quite satisfied as he also heard the of kill notifications. He was waiting on the frontwn. The two Goblin-guards had already been cleaned up by him. He stood in the front yard enjoying the show. Seth hade up with this idea, because he felt the urge to give that woman a dignified burial. That whole scene up there should really just vanish from this world. And what would be better than fire? Now even her murderers were burning to death with her, if this could not satisfy a vengeful ghost, then nothing would. Just a Seth started wondering why he had not gotten a notification about the orc, a loud bang could be heard from the houses wall! With a rain of bricks and debris a charred Orc charged a hole into the houses wall and flopped down on the frontwn. haha! He had survived! Big Guy had collected all the strength he had left and managed to break the wall at the corner he was trapped in! Air! Oh, fresh air! His skin was burned ck and terrifying pain surged when he moved, but he was alive! He was overwhelmed by the euphoria of having survived! Heughed and took a deep breath as heid there in the grass until a shadow fell on him. It was a tallnky human with sickly pale skin. His cold eyes looked down on Big Guy as he brushed back his untamed mane of hair and sighed. "Really... why couldn''t you be obedient and die up there, huh?" Big Guys happiness was cut short. Literally. By a billhook. Yet another title. It didn''t seem very hard to gain titles from the system. the 3000exp were about a tenth of his experience bar and about as much as he got for all the goblins together. Seth looked on as the Orc''s soul left its body. It was a little bigger than the souls he had seen before. The joy of finding another umon soul was dampened by the fact, that he couldn''t collect it with his skill! Seth had to wait for the House to burn down anyway, so he chose to take a look at his status. He had a hunch about those SPs. Name: Seth Smith Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 5 Exp: 28% Race: Ori Huma Sex:Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 1000/1000 Mana:110 (INTx10) Strength:13 Dexterity:17 Agility: 12 Intelligence:11 Willpower:10 Endurance:14 Personality:8 Luck:15 Free AP(Attribute points): 45 Free SP(Skill points): 4 Defense: Physical : 122 (42+50+ 25+5) Magical :45 (20+25) Fire Resistance :80%(50%+30%) Skill Window : Calm Reaction(passive) lv.2 cksmith(Beginner)lv.8(51%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.1 Smelting(Beginner) lv.7(11%) Blueprint(Beginner) lv.2 Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.4 (45%) Spirit Smithy lv.1 Spirit Capture lv.1 Map lv.1 Fear resistance lv.2 Fire Affinity lv.3 Soul Infusion lv.1 When Seth concentrated on SP he actually got an exnation. There were different kinds of skills, those based on proficiency like , which he could grind and those he couldn''t, like . They were based on enlightenment or achievements. Those skills could also be raised with SPs! When he chose SP he got a simr menu to when he chose AP. It showed a list of skills he could add points, too. He was already sold on leveling up and ! He wanted to see how would change! While pondering about what other skills he should raise, if any at all, he noticed . Was this the new ss skill? So there were more ss skills unlocked when he reached a specific level? Maybe there were other requirements, too? It was definitely an interesting skill, but souls were limited, so he would really have to pick and choose when to infuse them. The skill wasn''t too helpful at the moment. In the end he also chose . He still had those cut off vines that only showed "???" and really wanted to know. It would also be good, if he could identify umon materials other than souls, too.. He would keep 1 Free SP just in case. Chapter 11 - 11. Into Dark Woods Seth was fiddling with his status when he heard a sharp cry like an eagle''s in the sky. The sound pierced his eardrums and instantly gave him a headache. Shielding his eyes, Seth looked up into the sky trying to see through the gaps between trees. It was a shadow. A big shadow. So big, that Seth instantly jumped into the ruins of a half broken house to hide. Whatever it was, he didn''t want to meet it. But fate obviously had different ns. The shadow dove towards the ground and stopped above the frontwn of the burning house. With an earth-shattering thump the figurended where Seth had stood but a moment ago. Terrifying big ws sped down on the torso as a sharp ck beak tore into the burned body of the headless orc. The best description Seth coulde up with was calling it a griffin. The creature had the muscr build of a lion and the head of a raptor. On the other hand it had three snakes for tails and big leathery bat wings, fitting its ck leathery skin, glinting in the sun like polished leather. He was pretty sure a griffin wasn''t supposed to look like this, but he would call it that for now. The griffin must have been lured here by the smell of burning flesh. It was enthusiastically digging into the half fried orc and if Seth was lucky, it would take it''s time and eat the goblins, too. "Don''t notice me, don''t notice me~", he chanted in his mind and turned around to peer into the darkness behind him. Leaving the feasting predator behind, Seth slowly and quietly crawled deeper into the ruined house. He twitched every time he made a noise. Any sound felt way too loud in this situation, Seth even controlled his breathing, keeping it as shallow as possible. Hiding in the overgrown undergrowth. Only pieces of walls indicated that there had been another half of this house. Everything was moist, covered in vines and moss as if it had been destroyed for decades. It was a really disturbing sight, if one knew that this happened in just thest two or so days. After Seth was sure that he was far enough away, he stood up again to keep walking. Using the map as an indication he took a rtively straight path into the woods. Somewhere in this direction was Deltan, or City D, was a satellite city in the north, closer to the coast. Deltan had fallen victim to an earthquake some months ago and was supposed to be mostly in ruins right now. This was what Seth counted on. What he needed to level his skills were resources! And after testing the inventory, he was sure that he could harvest the steel from reinforced concrete. So for now Seth nned to build a base in Deltan and concentrate on growing his skills. He just hoped the woods would end at some point...if he kept going in a straight line, the forest would have to end at some point, right? Time passed slowly... Seth didn''t meet a lot of monsters, mostly giant insects he avoided with a passion. But the climate and exhaustion of walking and cutting a path into the dense thicket got to him. Seth had to take a break. He had been going for several hours and the daylight was starting to dim again. He hadn''t slept for almost a day. Even with his grown attributes, this was as far as he could go for now. Should he start investing Attribute Points? He had really wanted to get as much attribute points as possible by training, before using his free ones... It couldn''t be helped for now! He pped his hand and decide to eat something. When in doubt, fill your stomach. Seth summoned the Spirit Smithy. After dimming the me a little, he used the fire of the forge to fry a big portion of beans in his pan. He felt like a bandit in a spaghetti western! Filling his stomach with beans restored some of his stamina. A good rest and meal had calmed Seth''s mind down. He thought about his situation and had an idea. He wanted to train up the attributes corresponding to his ss, like STR and DEX, so he wouldn''t waste Attribute Points. But there was another attribute that could help him right now and was a pain in the butt to train for him: Agility. Agility was the coordinated movement of the body. Movement speed, reaction speed, evasion rate, stamina consumption. His AGI was quite good from the start, but it hadn''t grown ever since. Seth had an inkling that the growth of AGI might have a restriction thanks to his ss. That''s why he decided to dump some of his Free AP in AGI and bring it up to 20, making it his highest attribute for now. The effect was immediate. His bodies movements became lighter and smoother and he felt that he had a lot more control and sense of bnce than before. He felt less like a smith and more like an gymnast now. Seth felt very energetic and immediately restarted his journey. Thanks to the newly acquired coordination and control Seth lost a lot less energy traveling in the forest. Despite not feelingpletely exhausted, he stopped soon at the foot of a giant tree. The night was approaching. Nighttime in the forest was definitely not something one wanted to experience and Seth really needed some sleep. He had found the entrance to a cave below the roots of the tree. Upon entering the cave it became clear that this was not a cave. It had been the basement of a house, before the gigantic tree crushed it under its roots, only leaving this corner of the basement. "This works...", he mumbled tiredly, pulling out several nkets. Seth had gotten rid of what little camping equipment he had long before the apocalypse, so he could only bring stuff he had at home. On the other hand, who needs a tent, or a sleeping bag, if he can have a- "Summon Spirit Smithy!", Seth said, summoning it in front of the entrance. A smithy would always be nice and warm! Rolled snugly into a few nkets, he nestled against the forge. Enjoying the heat of the Soul Fire, he easily fell asleep. His sleep wasfortable and dreamless. When he woke up it was so blissfully warm, that he felt, as if he was wrapped in the fires caring embrace. Seth had breakfast and continued his journey. Fortunately the undergrowth finally became lighter. Shrubs and small trees became sparse and were reced by the thick trunks of gargantuan trees. the trees had diameters of at least 10-20 metres! Parts and pieces of ruins and streets made their appearance again, even though they looked centuries old, with how the trees had broken them apart. It was a quite fantastical scenery, reminding him of recent fantasy movies. The canopy of trees was so dense that almost no light was able to find its way to the ground. It was so dark that Seth could barely see anything, even darker than the twilight below the hanging tree. The ground under his feet was dry and covered in old leaves and sticks that often broke loud and unnervingly simr to bones below his feet. He had stopped wondering how exactly these environments came to be in such a short time. Happy over the much clearer way his speed increased a lot. He kept his course thanks to the map. The biome title had changed and it was called "The Dark Woods", very fitting. Seth mused over this as he kept running. Until he heard that cry again. With an ear-piercing shriek he could make out the shadow of another weird griffin jumping between the high branches of the trees. This one was even bigger than thest one, at least the size of a big horse or a bull and had two snake tails. Seth had no choice but to hide by running to the opposite side of the tree. This was the disadvantage of having no undergrowth anymore, it became a lot harder to hide from such flying predators. He just hoped that it had not yet seen him. Maybe the presence of these monsters also exined why he had not encountered any creatures or animals since entering the forest... they were probably the apex predator around here. Seth really didn''t want to confront something like that, yet. His hopes were in vain. The griffin jumped off the branch it was sitting on and glided down to the ground. Seth heard a big thump in the ce he had just stood. There was no burned corpse there this time, it had definitely seen him... It was right on the other side of Seth''s tree, and he could actually hear it sniffing on the ground! "I''m so dead..." he whispered. The griffin followed his scent and its heavy steps came closer to the tree. It totally smelled him. Which wasn''t hard, he had been on the run for more than a day, even an olddy could smell him from a mile away. In the same way the griffin was going around the tree, Seth listened to its steps and tried to synchronize with the predator and kept going around the tree. Maybe he could scooby doo his way out of this one? The tree was humongous, bigger than a sequoia, he could definitely- Seth tripped over something on the ground and fell, face first, on the ground. He just wanted to start cursing, when he remembered that there was a griffining for his buttocks. But his face lit up when he saw what he stumbled upon! A motorbike! It was half-buried, stuck under an enormous tree root. If he could get it free, maybe- no no no! This wasn''t the time for this, the griffin wasing! In a panic Seth squeezed under the root in a hollow space beside the bike. There was a ledge in the darkness and only emptiness in front of him. The thumping of footsteps grew louder. "Aww, f*ck it...", Seth swore and squeeze inpletely. He fell though darkness andnded on a hard concrete floor. Looking up he could see the hole he squeezed through some distance above him. The walls felt smooth and cold below his hand...concrete? He remembered the bike he stumbled over. " Maybe A workshop pit?", Seth guessed sliding his hands across the walls to orient himself. Suddenly it becamepletely dark in the workshop pit. The little light that fell in from the gap was blocked by the griffins shadow. Seth tensed up. "Oh please keep going...don''t mind me and just go", he prayed in his mind, holding his breath in fear. The Griffin stood there for a while and sniffed, but passed by in the end.. After several minutes of waiting and holding his breath, Seth exhaled. Chapter 12 - 12. Starta Village Seth stayed in the hole for another hour, for good measure. That was really a little too dangerous for his taste, so he snacked on some apples while waiting. When he was sure that there was nothing outside his hole, he climbed out, or tried to. He had found some spare parts that confirmed his guess that this was a workshop and needed to stack them to reach the edge and squeeze through the gap. The motorbike was only a little stuck not grown in, so he could get it out after some wiggling. Ignoring some scratches the bike was actually undamaged! When he tried to start it, it started humming on his second try, there was even gas left in the tank. The situation in the woods was a really weird condition. The buildings and streets had turned into ruins, as if the woods had been growing for centuries, but on the other hand all the things such as this bike, provisions or the asional car were merely covered in vegetation, but not aged. With this bike Seth would be out of this terrible forest in no time! He hoped. After looking around some more, he even found a spare canister full of gas. It was a little too clunky, so he freed a spot in his inventory for it. There were also tools and car parts scattered around. This ce had probably been a car repair shop or something like that before the apocalypse. On his new vehicle and with a spare can of gas, Seth set off. The woods , which had been quite creepy when traveling by foot, flew by in a blur. Imprable shadows? Weird dark mists? ck streams of goopy water? No, thanks! He broke the darkness with his headlight! Drove past all the creepy ces, macabre totems, twig effigies and bone piles without giving them a second look! Seth wasn''t into horror, so he spared himself those experiences. His only regret was that he could now clearly see the ground at all times, which really offered an assortment of half rotten bones, pale white skeletons, twigs and leaves. Seth couldn''t evade the sight, since the ground looked like this everywhere. Within the next hours he had crossed more distance than during his whole journey on foot. In the evening he actually saw the fringe of the woods! They really had an end! Here the big trees ended and sunlight fell in through the gap where he forest continued with normal trees and shrubbery! "And i''m out -urgh!", Seth gloated, when something suddenly catapulted him off the bike- The bike kept going, ran up a big root like a ramp, flipped in the air and finally crashed somewhere beyond the root, where Seth couldn''t see it anymore. "You can''t be serious..." Almost invisible, there was a giant spider web that stretched between two of thest big trees right before the fringe of the forest. Seth''s torso and face had crashed into it and were stuck to it now, while his forearms and legs were still free as they dangled in the gabs of the. Taking a look around he noticed more webs to the right glinting in the sun. Almost like a big fence spanning around the woods. He could only see right, as his face was glued to thee, but the assumed the other side looked the same! Giant spiders... he should have expected this. Seth was really fed up with forests at this point. Why couldn''t it be a wastnd? Or a zombie apocalypse. No, he had to end up in a fast growing forest or something like that... Seth tried shing the web with his billhook. Of course, it didn''t work. But not only did it not cut the spider thread, even worse, the weapon also got stuck on the web. After half an hour Seth understood, that he could not get the billhook off the web, or himself. But he already had an ingenious idea. He would rely on the tried and trusted. Seth summoned the Spirit Smithy right below him. This was the first time he noticed the changes after getting it to lv.2, because he had been too tiredst night. The first change he noticed was that he could choose to summon only specific parts of the smithy like the forge or only the grinding wheel. This time, he only summoned the forge with its brightly burning pale blue fire! Seth took the still half filled gas canister from is inventory. He opened it and sttered gas in every direction below him before dropping it into the Spirit Forge. What followed was an inferno. The canister fell into the fire sshing burning gas everywhere and lit up in an enormous jet me that set the web and surroundings aze. Trusting his 90% Fire Resistance, Seth hoped to free himself from the trap before he got burned to death himself. As he had expected, based on game knowledge. Although the spider silk had a great physical resistance, it was very weak to fire. In no time the spider web had burned up and Seth stood on his own two feet again. He canceled , picked up his billhook and hurried out of the forest away from the fire he had set. Seth came down a small slope, where he found thepletely demolished bike. He didn''t linger for long and crossed a thin band of smaller trees and undergrowth and finally entered a big in. Wide open prairie as far as he could see. The map confirmed it, he had entered the grasnds! Seth felt an immense rush of relief surging in him and sat down then and there. With the zing forest behind him, he finally took a break and checked his status. Name: Seth Smith Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 5 Exp: 28% Race: Ori Huma Sex:Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 910/1000 Mana:110 Strength:13 Dexterity:17 Agility: 20 Intelligence:11 Willpower:11 Endurance:15 Personality:8 Luck:15 Free AP(Attribute points): 37 Free SP(Skill points): 1 Defense: Physical : 122 (42+50+ 25+5) Magical :45 (20+25) Fire Resistance :90%(50%+40%) Skill Window : Calm Reaction(passive) lv.3 cksmith(Beginner)lv.8(51%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.2 Smelting(Beginner) lv.7(11%) Blueprint(Beginner) lv.2 Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.4 (46%) Spirit Forge lv.2 Spirit Capture lv.2 Map lv.1 Fear resistance lv.3 Fire Affinity lv.4 Soul Infusion lv.1 Except some burn marks on his clothes and slight burns where he touched the web, he was totally fine. Coming out of that hellfire with almost no injuries? 90% resistance was nothing tough at. To his surprise, his willpower had increased a little. After satisfying his basic needs he got ready to keep going. The bike was gone, but he still had the heightened AGI and a wide tnd to run on in front of him. He checked the map for directions and kept going towards Deltan. A few hourster. The fire had burned out and two figures appeared where Seth had left. " This wasn''t a normal fire.", one of them stated. It had the upper body of a human, but her lower body was that of a spider. It was an Arachne! "Yeah... do you see that? It looks like one of the machines of the Ori Huma! It looked fresh, do you think someone... came from in there?", the tall figure beside it answered. He looked like a middle-aged man with a dark scraggly beard wearing light leather clothing like a hunter. The Arachne spoke flustered, "From IN there? That''s the Dark Woods we are talking about! And further in is that creepy Hanging Tree. What could possiblye out of there, other than those corrupted beasts?" "Yeah, but tell me, who in their right mind would burn down the perimeter fence to get IN there?" "Hng...you are right, i guess. You should go back to the vige to report. I will patch up the fence for now. I will have to get some peopleter to properly close this giant hole..." Both looked at the several hectares of burned down forest. Even the giant trees in that area had burned down to piles of smoldering ashes. Same time. Seth had encountered some minor monsters like goblins and something he would call kobold during his journey through the ins. Kobolds were not as cute as in those games andics, where the resembled cute dogs like corgis. These were more like a really ugly mix of dogs and rats with barely any patchy fur. They would asionally appear in groups of three to five, as a patrol or sitting around a little campfire. They were only around lv.1 or 2, so they didn''t pose a danger. He could easily dispatch them with his AGI and the billhook, even in an open battle. After travelling like this for some time Seth saw something on the horizon. It wasn''t really on his route, but it was the only structure that stuck out on these ins, so he made a small detour to have a look. What he saw when he arrived was a small medieval town in the middle of nowhere with a small dirt road winding into the distance. It had a three-metre-high city wall made of stone and a simr sized gate. He could see the freshly plowed beginnings of fields in the distance. "Hello there!", he greeted the vignt gate guard. The guards greeting was to point his spear at him as he asked, "Who are you? Where did you do youe from?" "Erm, I''m just a...traveler? Say what is this ce?", calling himself a traveler was the best he came up with. The guard observed him warily. This was the frontier in a destroyed world. What kind of person would a traveler be? But Seth didn''t exactly look dangerous. "This is Starta Vige, one of the empires frontier viges in this world..", the Guard answered in the end. Chapter 13 - 13. World′s Changes "This is Starta Vige, a frontier vige of the glorious Chrona Empire!", the guard said motivated. "Empire?", Seth repeated perplexed. As different as Urth was from Earth, it was a civilized world with advanced technology that had left behind this kind of system a long time ago. "Hoh, you don''t know?", the Guard gave him a re that felt as if he looked straight into his souls. "No wonder! You are an Ori Huma! Of course you wouldn''t know!", heughed a lot more friendly than before. "You should have seen the oracle of the system right? This worlds boundaries have copsed and it is now open to the Pathwork. Many people and races use thiswork of random paths to explore new worlds opened to the system. Our Empire is one of them! The best, if i may say so!", he exined eagerly. The young man could only look confused at the suddenly enthusiastic guard. Remembering the goblins his gaze sharpened and he frowned. "You say that as if it was a good thing. Don''t those monsters like goblins also belong to the ''races'' that came over? ", he said bitterly. "Ah! Err-yes...", the guard stuttered and scratched his neck. " I-I think our priest would be better in exining the situation than me! Pleasee in. You just have to follow the main street, straight to the church." With that the guard stepped out of the way. He still seemed a little embarrassed and tried to stand straight with a serious face, which made it look quite awkward. Seth ignored the guards misery and entered the town. Within the boundary of the city wall the streets were covered in cobble stone. The houses looked more or less medieval and were neatly build along the wide streets. The town looked open and well nned out. Seth did as he was told and followed the main street. He came across all kinds of shops. There were colorful signs written with foreign symbols on the shops. Seth couldn''t read them, but they somehow tranted themselves in his head. He saw a bakery, a pharmacy, a general store and even a ck smith! This was definitely worth checking outter. This ce made him feel more like a transmigrator, than a survivor of the apocalypse... The church was standing at the end of the main street. It wasn''t big or pompous like some churches he knew from history lessons. It was a big, but simple building and gave more of an office building kinda vibe. A simple sign hung above its door which actually just said ''church''. He entered and immediately felt reminded of an administration, not a ce of worship. There were several counters with clerks, definitely not clergy! Seth felt a re, simr to the guards and was approached the next moment. "Hello there, my young friend!", Santa use said! Wait no, not Santa use. It was a tall and wide man in hister years. He had no hair on his head, but the bushy rim of gray hair on the sides made it look like a shiny egg in a nest. What he didn''t have on his head, he had in his face. His beard was well groomed, voluminous and easily reached his big belly. He wore a wine red robe with white and golden ents. It made him totally look like Santa use. "Hello... Are you- the priest?", Seth lifted his eyebrow and looked at him questioning. "hum hum, yes, that is correct. Im Simon Carrel, the Priest of this little Starta Vige. Did the Guard sent you here?" "how did you..?" "hum hum. I can see that you are an ori huma" Seth looked at himself. He was dirty and sweaty all over. His clothes were ripped and dirty in many ces. "Is it my clothing? how did you know? What does ori huma even mean?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "hum hum. Come to my office, lets not talk here", the priest invited. Seth just shrugged his shoulders and followed him. They entered a big office. The walls were covered in book shelves filled with all kinds of interesting stuff and big old books bound in leather. There was also a big firece, but it wasn''t burning at the moment. Simon sat down behind a big desk made of dark shiny wood. He groaned as his old bones could finally rx. "Ok, Seth, lets start with how i know your race and name.", he smiled mischievous when Seths eyed opened wide upon the mentioning of his name, " Its a skill called "Observation" ,anyone can learn it." It was literally an appraisal skill for creatures. The higher the skills level and the users level, the more information from the targets status could be seen. After the priest exined to him how the skill is learned, Seth tried to concentrate mana in his eyes and looked at Simon. < Name: Simon Carrel Level:- Race: Huma Sex:Male Age:67 Affiliation: Church of the System > This was all he could see, the rest off the information was either not there or glitched. Seth also had the inkling, that Simon let him see some of it on purpose. "Now that this question is answered, there is something i will have to do.", Simon stood up from his chair and came to halt in front of Seth. He bowed to him. "Im very sorry", he apologized to the young man in front of him. Seth was baffled. "What are you apologizing for, old man..?" "Even though we see it as a blessing to a dying world, when he Pathwork is opened to them and the survivors be part of the System, it is also true, that the situation wont immediately improve. We know that with the Pathwork a lot of foreign monsters will also enter this already battered world. On behalf of our god, i ask for your understanding." Simon looked at the young man sitting in front of him. His face didn''t betray any of his thoughts, until the dam broke and a flood of words flowed from Seth. "Say...you always speak about races and monsters. What about those weird trees?! Can you please exin this crazily growing menace? The whole city waspletely overgrown in a few hours! And then that hanging tree-thing!? What kind of dipshit crazy world brought out a tree that decorates itself with the sucked dry corpses of its victims!?" Simon smirked a little. "Yours." "What?!" "Yours, is the dipshit crazy world that came up with that kind of thing!", Simon said with roaringughter. " Your ''Hanging Tree'', was one of the dangers the system had warned us about, before we entered your world! And you actually came out of that ce! You are really lucky. Maybe even special.", he continued after having a goodugh at Seths perplexed face. It took Simon a while to catch his breath. Simon went to one of the bookshelves to the side and came back to the desk with a thick folder. The thickest there was on the shelf. "Simr to the vision you had, when you entered the System, we have oracles given to us before we enter a new world. Yours is very special. Normally these folders only have a few pages. Look at this thing!" Simon smacked it on the table with a loud thud, to show how humongous the collected oracles of Urth were. It was easily thicker than any book Seth had ever seen in his life. You could probably bludgeon someone to death with that! The priest sat down and started to browse the giant folder in a way so Seth could not see the contents. At some point he took out a few pages and slid them across the table to Seth. "There, see! Its a native apocalypse scenario. But we dont really understand the full text. Some words have no meaning to us." Seth looked down on the pages. There was a hand-drawn pictures of the giant Hanging Tree, that towered over dark ruins and oceans of trees. The first pages described in depth the phenomenon of the , which read almost like the setting of a horror movie! It started with an attempt to stop the climate change. Using advanced technology like gic engineering they tried to create variant species of trees for any climate that would grow a lot faster than usual, given the needed nutrients. During the Breaking-Point-Event- "What is the Breaking-Point-Event?", Seth asked confused. "Oh, its what we call the point in time when the events that lead to the apocalypse reach the point when they start to exponentially increase and spiral out of control.", Simon thought for a moment, "Take your climate change for example. You see it slowly change. You register weather phenomena and temperature variation. They get stronger and worse, but there is that one point in time when everything esctes to a stage people wont be able to cope with anymore. Thats the Breaking Point-Event." "hmm.." - During the Breaking Point-Event theboratories and test sites working on this solution were hit by natural disasters. What came out of the destroyedboratories and test sites where mutations of prototypes that could grow with a speed visible to the naked eye. The papers also mentioned that other scenarios had intersected with this and worsened it even more. It also mentioned several spells and magic formations that could stop the forest from expanding, which was probably, why Seth had reached these ins at some point and was not trapped on a continent drowning in trees. The next pages were about a special Mutation . It described its characteristics like the position in the center of a vast biome of fast growing forests. That it matures within a matter of days. The eternal twilight below its crown and that the area will be filled with snum, once the previous vegetation died off from theck of sunshine. Of course it also described the vines Seth hade across and how exactly it hunted and digested its victim, that dared to enter below its canopy. The reports were too detailed to be just made up. After reading these few pages Seth understood, that these trees were quite super natural, but they did note from another world. His eyes fell on the thick folder.. These were just a few pages of this tome that described the changes of his world. Chapter 14 - 14. The Choices "Can i have a look at this?", Seth reached out for the folder, but it suddenly vanished from the table. As did the pages in his hands. The priest gave him an apologetic smile. "hum hum, once again, Im sorry, but this wont happen." Simon looked to the bookshelf, where the folder had reappeared. Seth looked at him questioning, but didn''t say anything. "The rules dont allow something thates this close to a direct intervention with the natives.", he exined. "You see, our god travels across dimensions to look for entertainment. He seldomly intervenes with healthy worlds or primitive worlds without sentient lives, as they are boring. But when hees across a world in trouble, like yours, he reaches out a...helping hand. Ori Huma have a higher stat growth and learning speed than us, whoe via the Pathwork. But everythinges with a price.", Simon looked at the young man, to see if he could follow his narration. "And that price is..?", Seth yed along. "Struggle. He gives you the system to help you survive, but whether you survive or not is up to you and your choices. " Seth remembered thest thing the system had said, "Whether you die in this foreign world or be the master of your own fate... is all up to YOU!" "But dont worry, our god isn''t cruel. Right now you have two choices. If you dont want to struggle outside, you can join our empire and stay in this town. If you do not wish to be bound to the empire, you can only stay temporary. You can trade in this town and buy provision, but you cant live here permanently.", Simon exined seriously. Seth thought about it. Not joining didn''t seem to have any big disadvantages, he didn''t wish to stay here anyways. It was probably a good choice for survivors who preferred a peaceful life. Seth didn''t have a good feeling at the thought of joining people. He would probably have to interact with people and take orders... No, he had a different n, he wanted to find a ce to grind his ss, before he decided to join a faction or not. "Say, how did you build such a big town in just two days?", he changed the subject. Simon understood his intentions and went along. "hum hum, it was not actually built here. Portal-Scouts marked this location as a good ce for a frontier vige, since there are no high-level creatures or dangerous anomalies anywhere close and thend seems fertile. The whole town is actually something that is prepared in the empire and then teleported to fitting coordinates in other worlds. You maye across simr methods when you meet other races.", Simon said with a benevolent smile. He really looked like Santa use. Seth and Simon talked for a while longer about the town an the empire until Seth stated his interest in exploring the town and excused himself. Seth left the church with a better understanding of the new world setting. Urth was quite chaotic, with all kinds of end-of-the-world scenarios rampaging. And on top of that extra dimensional powers were setting up camp to imnd and resources in this ownerless world. On the other hand the surviving natives, the original human or Ori Huma, had growth benefits granted by the system, so those powers tried to reel them in early. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Like hell he would join some faction! Without any power he would probably turn into someones dog. Seth felt lucky, that Simon seemed to be unable to see his ss. Passing the stores he took a quick nce and decided to stock up on provisions for the journey. The satellite city Deltan wasn''t that far away anymore, but he would stay there for a while, if he found a ce that fit his criteria. Seth entered the general store where he found a wiry old man at the counter. It was one big room split by big shelves filled with various misceneous wares. "What can i do for you,d?", the old man interrupted his thoughts. "Hello~, I was looking for rations and stuff for travelling. Do you have something like that?" The old man squinted at him and he felt the re again! he had used observation on him. "heh! And what are you gonna pay with? You are an Ori Huma, do you have anything of value you could trade for it?" Seth had already thought of something and put some of his metal ingots on the counter. After the old man appraised them he vanished into the room in the back. Seth heard him rummaging around in there, before he came back with a big bag of jerky and loafs of bread. "That''s what i can give you for those iron ingots. Take it or leave it~", the old man said as matter of fact. Seth shrugged is shoulders and epted the deal. He packed up the stuff and left. The ingots actually seemed to be worth more than he thought. And the would be more of them,once he reached his destination. The stuff he got should be enough food for maybe 2 weeks. He came across the cksmiths store again and hesitated. Looking around the street slowly filling with people. It was gettingte and people were done with work. Seth was bing jumpy. it had been a long time since he was among people and he had developed an aversion to groups of people. Despite this he decided to give the shop a look. He entered arge showroom. There were a great variation of weapons mounted to the walls and some armors sat on their stands gathering dust. Using his he could check everything on disy, but he found nothing special among the items here. The best weapons he found were only slightly better than his billhook. Was this really a cksmith`s shop? How could it be that a bloody beginner like him made stuffparable to a professional? "Hoh, I see you have eyes of a craftsman!" a voice hollered from behind the counter. A dwarf! Not! It was just a small old man, not an actual dwarf. Seth made sure! It was a very embarrassing moment for both of them, when the first thing he blurted was to ask whether the shop owner was a dwarf... The old man cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. "Im not a dwarf. If i was, my skills wouldn''t be so mediocre at my age and i wouldn''t be stuck in a frontier vige...", the old manmented self-deprecating. "Anyways, im Klod. What can i do for you?" Seth looked around and was suspicious of his sses performance. " Maybe you could help me ascertain something? As you said, I also am kind of a craftsman. Actually Im an aspiring cksmith, but I wasn''t able topare notes with other cksmiths,yet. Would you take a look at my weapon and maybe give me some tips?", Seth said and put his billhook on the counter in front of the old man. Klod picked up the weapon and gave it a good look. He weighed it in his hand and did some practice swings, before checking the de closer again. "hmm, its a really good weapon! To be able to do something like his at your age shows that you must have great talent. If i had to criticize something, i would have to say that your hammer technique still needs some work. I never seen such a weapon, but from its shape and weight i can judge that it''s a front heavy weapon; the bnce is a little off." Without so much as a pause the cksmith kept rattling on. Did he even breath?! "From the chips in the de here, i would guess that the heat-treatment probably has some problems, but with this kind of de shape it wouldn''t be easy to begin with. All in all, its a good weapon for an adept cksmith.", he finally ended his verdict. Adept cksmith? But he was only at the beginner level! "its a good weapon for an adept cksmith?", Seth asked again. "Hmm, oh yes. Dont worry i didn''t look at your status! i can judge from your work that you are probably adept lv.2 maybe lv.3 ?", he sighed, " You are so young and already almost as good as me. Maybe in a year or two you could even start working with umon materials." With this Seths suspicions were verified. His skill growth was separated and different form that of a normal cksmith. Was it a passive increase from his ss, or was it the strengthening from the system? What he created was actually evaluated as the work of an adept, a level higher than his skill was! It reaffirmed his decision to grind his ss as fast as possible! This coincided with his desire to leave the town! The streets started to be packed! Where did all these peoplee from?! In a hurry the young man said good bye to the old smith and left the town.. The sun was already setting. Chapter 15 - 15. Night In The Plains Seth wanted to curse. To have squandered so much time here! Now the Sun was setting and the young man had to decide. Would he stay in the city? Or just walk through the night? Checking his map he guessed that the satellite city wasn''t too far away at this point. Seth had been travelling in a straight line ever since he left the ''Hanging Tree'' behind. The town was actually a good indication. The priest had told him, that the coordinates for the frontier viges were chosen based on the avable resources. They were after the same stuff, Seth hoped to find in the city. When he thought about all the trouble that came with staying in the town, like finding the inn, paying without money... In the end he decided to use the night and make some distance. With ast flickering the sun vanished behind the t horizon and left the world in twilight. A chill came as the sunlight left, but it wasn''t cold. The ground was smooth and the grass soft below his feet, so he couldfortable run along. The system announced its existence. Another wee bonus of travelling on. The twilight soon faded and left Seth with a breathtaking view. Surrounding him on this t in was a brilliant starry canopy, shining brightly in the night sky, illuminating his way. It was his first time seeing this kind of view. Urths skies had long been darkened by light pollution and smog. And thest few days were spent in dense woods. Running along the ins surrounded by stars... he understood when people described something as "swimming among the stars". On the opposite side to where the sun had sunken, rose the moon like a polished silver coin. It even outshone the stars like a white sun. Was the moon always this bright? All this together with the breeze in the night felt very magical, washing away his fatigue. Using the light of the stars and moon he could see almost as clear day and thanks to his map, he easily found his way. Still, sometime close to midnight the fatigue caught up and he had to take a break. He wanted to check his smartphone for the time, but it wouldn''t turn on. Maybe it was damaged during the explosion? With a shrug he put it back in his backpack. even if it was broken, he did not feel like letting go of it. " Summon Spirit Smithy!" The best remedy for fatigue was still food, that was what he had learned in this short time with the system. So he heated up one of his remaining canned soups and ate it with the a piece of bread from the bag he bought. Afterwards he dismissed the spirit smithy and sat down in the grass. Seth enjoyed the feeling of his filled belly and the view of the starry skies, when all around faint glimmers started to light up in the air,like fireflies. Fireflies? Remembering his new skill, he concentrated mana into his eyes. < Name: none Level: 4 Race: Fairy Affiliation: Fair Folk > Seths eyes widened astonished. With the skill he could actually see the details of the small fairies. They were actually shiny little humanoids all around lv.4. With about 5 cm height they were smaller than Seth would have imagined, but the wings of butterflies or dragonflies on their backs were just like in fantasy. The fairies were dancing andughing across the night sky and even enhanced this incredible sight. As terrifying as the world had be over all, one had to admit that it also became very magical and interesting. When they noticed the young human sitting on the ground and watching them with a dreamy smile, the fairies became curious. They came closer and started dancing around him. The little pranksters touched him and flew awayughing as if ying a game of dare. They noticed that Seth onlyughed and yed along, but didn''t act hostile, so their confidence grew and the Fairies evennded on him and started nosily touching his damaged clothing. It still had durability and defense, so Seth had not bothered changing to something nicer. While Seth worried about his ragged appearance, the fairies wonder about the fine fabrics his rags were made of. On the other hand the little guys also made some offensive gestures pointing out his smell. Finally they could not hold back anymore. "Hey, Human! What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?", said one. "Yeah! Dont you know it''s dangerous out at night?" "Hmm?", Seth looked at them startled. He had note across any dangers yet. "What dangers are you talking about? All I saw were goblins and such. You guys are just lv. 4 yourselves!" "We can fly!" "We have super strong magic!" "Our name is legion, for we are many!", wasn''t what the fairy said, but Seth joked about it to himself. Others interjected to count up the dangers that could lurk in the dark. "There are vampire bats at night!", one said. "Have you never heard of evil ghosts?! We defeated one just yesterday!", another said with a smug smile and pushed out its meager chest. "Evil ghosts? As if things were not bad enough already..", Seth thought, but he said, "Evil ghosts? I have never seen one in thest few days..." "hah! Of course you didn''t!", the little one said. "Of course you didn''t! Of course you didn''t!", the others chortled. "Its because we get rid of them! ", they proudly stated. "So contrary to what you said, there is no actual danger since you got rid of it?" "Yes! Err...", it mumbled perplexed and rubbed its head embarrassed. Seth grinned at the suddenly speechless little creature. He talked a while longer with the fairies until he felt recovered enough to continue on his journey. "oh yeah!", he turned around,"Now that i think of it. Do you guys maybe know about the city north of here? Is there anything i have to know?" he asked them. "North?" "North?" "North?", they went in a chaotic choir. "Ah yes, i know! Aren''t there abandoned ruins in that direction?", one of them roughly gestured north. Some of them shuddered and others rushed over to make it shut up. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Dont talk of that ce!" "Don''t talk!" ,many of them looked very frightened upon the mentioning of the ruins. "Dont go there, Human!", one of them came forth, "In those ruins opened a portal to- to a dark ce! Corpses raise up and walk around and nts withered away and turned to dust. Its a wastnd of-" "Perfect!", Seth interrupted. "What!?""What!?""What!?", they went. After his experience with the forest, a ce without any nts at all sounded like paradise! Undead sounded a hell of a lot better than skull-prating vines. Not to mention those fucked up griffins! "Thank you guys for the information! Maybe we will meet again!" Before they could stop him, Seth waved at them ast time before he fell into afortable running pace, heading towards the satellite city. "Wastnd of death! Here ie!" Chapter 16 - 16. Wasteland Of Death "Wastnd of death here ie? Go f*ck yourself past me!" Seth was crouching behind a mount of rubble, hiding from a horde of zombies. What happened? It was all great when he had just arrived early in the morning! The sun was just peaking over the horizon, shining onto the streets of Deltan, which had be aplete wastnd. With the sun came an unexpected heat. The ins had slowly turned into a shallow dried up field of sand the closer he came to the city. There was no presence of humans...or any live to speak of. The city looked as you would expect it to look after being hit by an earthquake. Seth consumed news only sparsely, so he couldn''t remember when exactly Deltan was destroyed. Seth was sure, that the city had not been abandoned, at least not before the apocalypse. He could even make out signs of reconstruction. But now he couldn''t see a living soul, it looked like a ghost town. Many buildings had crumbled and dry wind blew sand and dust through the ruins of the city. The streets were covered in broken cars, rubble and debris. Then he heard something. In the shadows away from the sun, in the rubble of a broken building, he could see a silhouette. There he was! His first undead encounter. It was quite gruesome. The corpse looked like the typical ones you would expect from a movie, just very uncensored. One of its eyes had been gauged out and its scalp was ripped off the skull. It was dragging its intestines along the ground behind it. What most movies missed were the heaving and squirming of the zombies skin. It oozed fluids and pulsated from the overwhelming amount of maggots. At least it wasn''t leaving the shadow he thought. Until it dove at him from the shadow! The moment sun fell on its rotting skin, white smoke started rising from the undead. It wasn''t a problem. Seth had readied his billhook the moment he saw it and kept observing it the whole time. With a swipe of his weapon he split its skull along the empty eye socket. The experience was ok, maybe he could level up after killing one or two hundred. They were not strong, the bigger problem was how disgusting the spray of zombie juices all around were. He instinctively dodged the stter, but it still stuck to the billhooks de. It wasn''t him killing a zombie, but him dodging the juices that made it level up!? Sometimes the system was just weird. Seth had used the morning to explore the deste city and look for a ce to stay. The fatigue was really catching up now ! While searching a good base camp he could finally test the whole reason he hade here to begin with. All over the ce were broken ruins made of reinforced concrete. The rebars were poking out from the ruins and rubble, like the bones of an open fracture! This was what he was after! Grabbing a reinforcement bar he confirmed his theory! With a thought it vanished and appeared in his inventory. Rebar steel was abundant in a modern city! With this he could harvest an unimaginable amount of iron and steel by mining the city! This was enough steel to easily grind his skills to a high level! If it had not worked, he would have had to make a pickaxe to harvest the steel. But now he could just pick off all the exposed rebar first! Dodging and killing zombies on his way he searched for a good ce to settle down. All while picking up more rebar. Finally around noon he chose an intact apartment building he had found. The windows on the first two floor had bars and the entrance doors were thick and sturdy wood. However, it didnt help the previous residents. These hallways WERE blood sttered and horrible like in a horror movie. Doors were broken left and right. Some from outside and some...from the inside. Seth also came across some intact doors, were these the safe rooms in this city? Then where were the people? Evenso he was tired, Seth went ahead and checked the building for zombies, after finding none he barricaded the front doors and chose a ce that looked still okay. There were others that looked very...rundown. Most of the ces looked rundown and dirty, a lot worse than they should for just a few days. Seth was probably right, the city had not beenpletely abandoned after the earthquake, but it didn''t look like the people who stayed had a good time here. Seth put down his backpack andid down on a bed you could describe as clean..mostly. Despite his worries he could only give in to the fatigue. He instantly fell asleep. That''s where the problem started. Seth actually slept through the whole day and deep into the night, until he was woken up by the wails of the fucking damned! Shrill cries and deep moans broke the silence of the night and made him jump off the floor. Looking outside he saw a parade of undead filling the streets. The worst sight were the hoards of zombies in all kinds of state of decay. But there were not just zombies. Above them floated ghosts and specters glowing in a pale blue light and skeletons with eerie bluish green pale mes in their eyes were mixed among them like shepherd dogs. It became more fantastical when he spotted armored undead in dark rusty te armor and floating skeletonized torsos without hips or leg, wearing dpidated robes. Seth did not dare to use observe on any of them, so he could only guess, that those were skeleton wizards and death knights! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Fuck me...", Sethmented about the fantasy elements. Then a terrifying thought struck him. Could they see the aura of living beings? Couldn''t undead normally see stuff like that?! Would they see him up here, if they looked in his direction? The young man had jinxed it. Just in this moment a skeleton soldier turned the head around and its pale ming eyes met with Seths. "Aww, shit!" Seth fell back from the window and snatched his backpack in a hurry. He charged out of the apartment and up the stairs. The streets below were filled with undead, there was no way he would go down there. There was still a small chance the skeleton had not seen him, right? The roof was his best chance. Worst case scenario and they send something after him, maybe he could jump to the neighboring rooftops to keep running. Heavily panting he finally reached the rooftop. Or what was left of it. Part of the roof had copsed and he had to switched from stairs to debris while climbing up. Close to the rooftop Seth sat down and kept observing the junction where they stairs transitioned into debris. He took care not to be easily spotted from that junction and have a way up to the rooftop for his escape. The building had about five stories. Even with the barricaded front door, it would not take too long for a group of undead to catch up. In the meantime he tried to hide himself as much as possible. The waiting started to gnaw at him. He nervously tried to think of a way to improve his situation. If only he had a skill to- suddenly he thought of the way the priest had told him to obtain . Seth started trying to manipte his magic power. When he tried to pull in the flow of magic power - Seths eyes lit up! This was perfect timing, it had actually worked! Looking at the skill in the Skill Window, Seth found out that it could faintly conceal his presence. It would use up mana over time and he could toggle it on and off. of course he activated it immediately. Not a moment toote! the undead had actually noticed him and had send a group of zombies. And that is how we got here. The stairs were filled with stumbling and staggering corpses in all kinds of terrifying states. Discharging all kinds of growls and moans the climbed the stairs. These Zombies were a little different from the ones he saw during the day. They had the same mes as the skeleton burning in their eyes. Seth didn''t know whether the had worked. What he had not seen was that the Zombies hat actually rushed up the stairs a lot faster and came to a confused hold close to the rooftop. How ever they knew that he was up there, it was disabled by the skill. As the Zombies started spreading to the debris, Seth decided that he had to leave now. He climbed up to the roof. It was a t roof and had some holes like the one behind him, where it had caved in. It might be possible to hide up here until the Zombies left, but Seth wasn''t sure about that. Looking over the edge he could the wriggling bodies of the undead hordes in the light of the shining stars. Jumping onto another roof might be seen, so Seth actually dove into one of the other holes where the roof had caved in. It was a big p of the roof that reached into a room two stories below. Following it he arrived in the ruins of a small apartment. Suddenly the rtive silence of the night was broken by loud roars and grunts from the roof top. The Zombies were going crazy after they suddenly discovered their pray again. Seth''s mana had run out! Chapter 17 - 17. Old Faithfull Starta Vige In the night after Seth left Starta Vige. The figure of a hunter appeared at the closed city gates. "Hey, Tom! Let me in!", he called for the guard to open the door, "Cmon! Im in a hurry!". "God damn, Wilton! Why are you here sote? Did something happen at the fence?", the guardined as he opened the gate for the hunter to slip in. "Yeah, I gotta report to the Priest.", he patted the guards should and passed by him. Wilton left the guard behind and tiredly walked towards the church building. After the several hours of walk he still wasn''t sure how to describe what had happened. He was still trying toe up with how to phrase it as he opened the door to the priests'' bureau without knocking. Simon was sitting on his desk munching on cookies and reading in the thick folder he had shown to Seth. Some things that had happened in this world read like a terrifying, but fascinating horror novel. He looked up when he heard the door open. "Oh! Wilton!", he closed the folder and put the bowl with cookies away, "What happened? For you toe he at such ate hour is unusual. You look tired." "Priest- Simon...Erm, I don''t know how to say it but... something happened at the perimeter fence." "Hum hum? At the fence? What happened?", Simon was sure that Seth had probablye from there. Did the young man have something to do with it? Those Arachne webs were quite strong! They were meant to keep the corrupted beasts inside the wood. Did he damage them when he tried to get out? For him to be able to damage them, he was already so strong at this early stage! "It was burned down.", Wilton said scratching his head embarrassed. "What?", Simon''s eyes widened in disbelieve. "A part of the forest and the fence were burned down. Completely burned to ashes. When we arrived only dust was left", the hunter borated. "Wha- how? that...", Seth`s face came to Simon`s mind. It couldn''t be him, right? Even if he was an Ori Huma, it couldn''t possibly be him! To burn those webs was one thing, but to turn those gigantic corrupted trees into ashes... What kind of fire would it need? Current Time-Deltan Seth was in a predicament. Hecked the mana to keep going and the Zombies suddenly went crazy. At least it proved, that the skill worked... No! This was not the time for that! Seth stood in a devastated room at the end of a big debris-p made of roof and a zombie horde was rushing to his location. He could barely make out a door behind the p and rubble. He crouched down and crawled on the ground towards the door. Behind the door in the rubble, he found a very small intact bathroom. It felt a little weird to make hisst stand with his back towards a toilet, but he couldn''t choose at this point. Here, even if the zombies knew where he was, Seth could fight them off as long as they were forced toe one by one. Since they had to crawl into this tight space, he could easily pick them off! The sound of rushed shuffling and dragged feet came from the rooftop, together with agitated grunts and growls and the Zombies started descending the p. Seth stood in the door frame and readied his billhook to chop at any corpse that dared to crawl in here. When the zombies came in sight, he used what little mana had recovered to use on them. Augmented? Did their eyes shine because of that? He had not much time to think. With a ''whoosh'' the billhooktched into the first zombies head and split it open. They definitely gave above average experience! Seth had gotten a good amount of sleep, so he kept chopping at the zombies like a machine. At this point he was d, that he had no time to eat anything. What he saw and smelled, would have been even worse with a filled stomach. Luckily the zombies weren''t the brightest and kept rushing at the small gap, clogging it up and hindering each other. They kept pulling their dead back out. At first Seth thought they had realized that those clogged up the gap even more. But they were not that bright. Maybe those trying to force their way in pulled out the lifeless ones on ident? But soon Seth got a glimpse outside. They actually started devouring their dead! Soon Seth couldn''t care too much about it and kept swinging his weapon. Sometimes he heard notifications, but he could not spare any attention at this time. The Zombies came in without end, the young man could see no end to this sea of enemies. At some point, hourster, he stood ankle deep in rotten blood and didn''t feel that he could keep going. His body kept ying zombies nevertheless. Seth started losing hope. Although there were less and less augmented zombies. When he checked most of the zombies who sieged him by now were ordinary ones. Whether they were sent or lured by the stench of blood, he didn''t know. Seth couldn''t go on like this. His arm was numb and his body ached. While he desperately tried toe up with a n, his body subconsciously kept chopping. He could only thank his growing skills. Even as tired as he was the precision of his swing became a lot better and effective. However, his only fortune was that no intelligent undead had turned up to stop this meat grinder. In the end there was only one idea he had. It was the masterstroke of his tactics. It was a crazy idea that had taken over his tired mind. A weak smile sneaked on his face as he checked his mana. It had recovered quite a bit in thest hours. "You forced my hand! Really! Dont me me for this", he said with a maniacalugh. Seth summoned the Spirit Furnace in the gap before him! He ramped up the power until the mes spewed from its top and kicked the furnace over! The zing mes shot into the small gab filled with blood, body parts and debris and devoured anything in their way. The fire easily spread among corpses and zombies filling the gap and those waiting outside. They burned like tinder under the pale blue fire. It was the first time something different from grunts reached Seths ears. Guttural screeches and scream filled the night as the undead acted as if in pain. Whining and tumbling around, hitting others in their desperate throws to put out the fire. The mes jumped from undead to undead and onto the surroundings. In a matter of moments, the fire spread all over the building. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ... Like before in City B, a whole slew of kill messages dinged away in his head almost giving him a headache! It kept going for a while before it slowed down. The fire probably killed most zombies in the vicinity. When Seth dismissed the Spirit Furnace, the fire had already spread all over the ce and started devouring the buildings structure. He relied on his resistance to withstand the heat and noticed, that neither the heat nor the mes surrounding him did any damage. Seth could freely move withing the sea of mes! He used this to concentrate on dodging falling debris and find his ways to safe spots within the fire. Soon Seth reached a balcony on the second story and could see the streets below. Except for some burning corpses they werepletely empty! The undead parade was gone! Had the undead evacuated to dodge the fire? It didn''t matter now! At this point he activated , climbed down to ground level and sneaked into the building on the other side of the street. There were some lone zombies here, but Seth managed to sneak past them and up the stairs. And no matter how much his tired legs screamed, he kept going up the stairs until he was almost at the roof. Only then did he pick a door and entered a new apartment. It actually looked a lot better in here. When he found the quite clean bed in the bedroom his heart jumped. There was no way Seth could resist. He barricaded all doors up to the bedroom before throwing his backpack to the side and lying down. This had been a really terrifying night. He hoped that the sun would soon rise and ban those undead back into the shadows.. And then, during the day, he would go around and burn down their hideouts when they cant run! It was a happy thought before he fell asleep. Chapter 18 - 18. Somewhere Else -Omega City, North-western part of Urth- "Today is the day we bring the glory of our king to another world! The new world opened to us by the Pathworks is called Urth! It was a pathetic world without an ounce of magic! It is us who will bring these poor heathens back into the embrace of God King Pursa! For Arget Nore!" The impulsive High Priest of God King Pursa was walking up and down in front of the troops that were about to enter this new world. Urth was a world with one gigantic continent surrounded by a mighty ocean. It was perfect to be upied bynd troops. And those, they had. The dark elven general looked down at the rows and rows of undead. A well-constructed military made of all kind of zombies and skeleton in the lower ranks, stronger undead like death knights and vampires asmanders and a ton of necromancers and liches in the rear. Arget Nore, the Kingdom in darkness and moonlight. The sole empire epassing an undead world, led by the Immortal God King Pursa! Their ess to the Pathworks was a story of sess. They did not neednd to grow a new popce, they could just revive the dead of the destroyed worlds and grow their power! They took in the living who were willing and if they were not, in death they were! The path they had chosen would lead to the northwestern corner of the continent of Urth. The information they had gotten from the Church of the System describes this ce as the center of undead activity. This was why the biggest delegation of more than 100-thousand undead had been sent here Everyone here had already been dead, before the Pathworks were even opened! It was perfect to grow their troops before continuing to pacify thisnd from the northwest, before meeting up with the smaller groups across the continent. Even better, as the center of undead there would be a lot of wild undead. The information had talked about the zombies being the result of a ''parasitic virus'', whatever that even meant. Undead were undead. This meant necromancers would not have to spend mana on raising them, just taming them. When the priest was finally done with his fanatical speech the troops were allowed to enter the Pathworks. The entrance was a gigantic dark hole that was just existing in midair, like a gab in the fabric of space. Wind, sound, Light and people. Anything vanished as if sinking into a pool of the darkest ckest ink one could find. It was not his first time leading his troops into another world, but you would never get used to the feeling of slowly being submerged into a liquid and then sucked in and flung around as if you entered a current. What came into view after leaving the portal on the other side was a wide za surrounded by high rising buildings and streets that reminded him of canyons with the straight fronts of skyscrapers bordering them. Leaving the portal that was stretching across the za were orderly rows and rows of disciplined undead foot soldiers, all decked in the same dark rusty lightweight armors. In front of them, seated on skeleton horses, rode the other generals like him. They gavemands to get into formation and horns were blown as the troops gathered together on the za. They set up camp for the living and sentient members of the army. One might think that in an undead world, everyone is supposed to be an undead. But that''s not how it was. There were many living among themanders and necromancers, like him. It was unavoidable. You can''t have an empire, when almost all your subject are brainless drooling sacks of rotting meat. After camp was set up, they sent out teams of soldiers and necromancers to collect the wild undead in this megacity and bolster their troops. It was night right now, and they would be back at sunrise so the undead would not be damaged by the sunlight. But nobody came back at sunrise. The remaining necromancers and liches created a canopy of darkness above the camp to shield the army from the sun. The generals andmander met and decided to wait a little longer. Several hours passed, but there were no signs of the missing teams. This was not supposed to happen. There should have been nothing that could endanger them in this town. So...what happened? After waiting this long without any clues the generals and themander had a meeting and decided to send scout teams consisting of dark elves, since the undead were not fit to move during the day. The generals waited again. The sun was setting again. But nobody returned... again. When sun had set the generals had decided. Sending small numbers and teams was obviously not working, so they split up the army. Each one took about half of their men and would scout in a different direction, while the other half would stay with the armymander in the za. The dark elven general led an army of about 8000 men, of which more than 1500 were dark elves while the rest were a mix of different undead. They slowly wandered into the dark and foreboding street canyons. Few cars filled the otherwise empty streets and the ck empty windows were staring at the silently moving army. He could feel the gaze of these windows...something was there. It did not take long. As he was watching, he saw pale figures scramble out of those empty windows and CRAWL down the walls like four legged spiders. Deformed humanoid figures with eyes and lumps of meat growing on all kinds of ces and limbs moving in unnatural angles and some with a few too many limbs and extremities growing from unusual ces. Others had eyeless faces orcked a nose, but sported split jaws filled rows and rows of terrifying teeth. The general shuddered at the sight of such atrocities. He had seen the creations of some crazy necromancers, but this and these numbers were too much for him. It was just iprehensible. Just what was wrong with this world!? But the worst was yet toe. From the entrances to the sides came simr, but less distorted creatures wearing shreds and pieces of dark robes and armor. This was what was left of their teams and scouts. Before he could evenprehend what was going on the pale creatures attacked. With incredible power they jumped off the walls on either side of the street and crashed into the undead army. This was a bona fide ambush! The dark elf watched as the creatures easily dispatch his troops! They did not just rip and tear the skeletons like paper cut-outs, they even hunted his soldiers! They easily entered their ranks, killed a few and would snatch a living, a dark elf or a necromancer, or even a zombie. Tongues like tentacles would strangle the living and long armor piercing ws snatched the dead. Then they would return to the buildings with a mighty jump carrying their prey! Even though his soldiers fought back valiantly, their weapons could barely hurt these monsters! And they were just too fast for the necromancers to use their magic against them. Only few creatures fell to the undead troops. The dark elves were better off. They could keep up with the monsters and take a few with them before they finally fell. It did not improve their situation. The blood of the beasts was viscous and dulled their des, sickening odors broke form their dead bodies when they finally stopped moving. To make it all worse, they were vastly outnumbered. Before the general could react and call for a retreat, they had already been surrounded by an overwhelming sea of creatures. There was no way out. He could dispatch them in a fair fight, but their overwhelming numbers pressured him. He could only fight for his life and watch his men be wiped out one by one. Whatever these creatures were, they were not ''Zombies'' as they knew them. Shouting and hacking he finally managed to gather hisst troops to break out of the encirclement. Rushing back to the main army was their only chance now! Theirst hope! Was crushed. When the small group of survivors finally reached the za, after many losses and sacrifices, everything was already gone. The troops that had stayed behind had been annihted! All they ran into was an army of monsters feasting on the remains of theirrades. Not only that. Some of these creatures were even entering the Pathworks! It was then that the creatures behind them caught up and the dark elven general realized the true danger. Among the beasts chasing them new ones had appeared. It was a tattoo that revealed the terrifying fact. One of the creature had a tribal tattoo he knew from one of his ghoul soldiers. It wasn''t just the living who had turned! Even the undead could turn into these beasts! "''Its just a pathetic world without magic.'', ''If its undead we can just count them to our troops...'' We were truly arrogant in our ignorance. This world is way too frightening and dangerous." Looking at his men, they all knew, they were thest stragglers of a wiped out army. they were domed. However, there was still one thing they had to do.. He rallied his remaining men, and they made one final charge toward the portal. They had to close the gate and hinder these creatures from entering their world!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Chapter 19 - 19. Safety? It was afternoon when Seth finally opened his eyes. He had slept like a log and had beenpletely exhausted. What actually woke him up was his stomach rumbling. So much happened, he could not remember thest time he had ''rationed'' his food. Good thing he had saved his backpack. It was a little burned on the outside, but inside was most of the food he had bought in Starta. Seth gorged on the jerky and bread until he was full. "This is a lot better~", he sighed and stood up. He rearranged his inventory to ce all the food he had in there. He had learned his lesson and didn''t want to risk losing it Judging from theck of search parties the undead probably thought he had died in the fire. Checking himself he realized that he had actually not gotten any damage at all! His clothes on the other hand were done for. Even the little armor value they had was gone, as the durability had fallen to 0. They were so burned and ripped; he could only throw them away now. "Status!" Name: Seth Smith Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 8 Exp: 27% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 1000/1000 n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Mana:120 Strength:15 Dexterity:17 Agility: 20 Intelligence:12 Willpower:14 Endurance:18 Personality:8 Luck:15 Free AP(Attribute points): 50 Free SP(Skill points): 4 Defense: Physical : 104 (54+50) (ENDx3) Magical :53 (28+25) (WILx2) Fire Resistance :100%(50%+50%) Skill Window : Calm Reaction(Passive) lv.5 cksmith(Beginner)lv.8(51%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.2 Smelting(Beginner) lv.7(11%) Blueprint(Beginner) lv.2 Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.8 (50%) Spirit Smithy lv.2 Spirit Capture lv.2 Map lv.1 Fear Resistance lv.5 Fire Affinity lv.5 Soul Infusion lv.1 Observation lv.2 Concealment lv.2 He had leveled up! And so did many of his skills with leading the way! Also his had leveled up. This exined why he took no damage in the fire! His resistance had actually grown to 100%! It was great that his skills were growing, but his cksmith skills were falling behind! It was high time he got himself a hideout to grind his skills. With the resources in this city he was sure he could grind his skills to mastery! With this thought he made his way out of the highly barricaded room. But when he shoved a dresser out of his way it fell over and scattered its contents all over the floor. His eyes fell on a pile of jewelry that fell out of a small chest. he was able to pay with iron ingots in Starta vige, so would their empire also be interested in precious metals? Smelting gold would also level up his skill, so he didn''t lose anything by trying, right? He put the jewelry in his dpidated backpack and left the apartment. He saw the same zombies as the night before, when he sneaked down the stairs. They had not increased since then, so that undead must have gone somewhere else. He decided to dispatch these stragglers. Better be safe than sorry. The Zombies were not very hard opponents, if you sneaked up on them. They were generic zombies, so Seth easily got rid of them with his billhook. Collecting some experience and proficiency on the go was nice. Fighting felt a lot morefortable now. The city was empty during the day, and he could freely walk on the street, but he could feel the stares of the zombies from the shadows in the ruins and windows. But it felt like there were a lot less than the day before. He had no exnation, just a hunch. While he was looking around the city he could not withstand the seduction of the rebars sticking out like broken bones from the concrete ruins that made up a lot of the scenery. Seth only needed an hour to fill a full stack of 99 rebars in his inventory space. Now he also knew the maximum size of stacks. Seth followed the trail of destruction in reverse. The outskirts were still in rubble and barely reconstructed, but the closer Seth wandered to the city center the better and new the buildings looked. Reconstruction must have started here. But with the better environment came more gore. Most people in the city must have lived here, the streets were painted in dried blood and filled with broken ss from windows and doors. He could see signs of fighting. Broken pieces of weapons and armor were visible here and there, but told him, that they had all been low grade stuff. Oddly enough, he felt no stares anymore. There were no zombies far and wide, nor did he meet any other monsters. What happened? There was blood all over the ce, but no monsters. Did they hide? Migrate maybe? It surely was his fortune that there were no zombies, but it was terribly suspicious. Was there something even more terrifying here? And where did that giant army of undead go? He checked the apartment buildings and skyscrapers to the sides of the roads, but except the gut-wrenching sets for zombie movies, he found nothing. Of course, he used the chance to loot food and also some jewelry. Seth had reached his destination, so he could take his time for the good side of apocalypse life. Freely robbing anything he needed or that caught his interest. When he reached the roof of an apartment building he was just done checking he sat down to count his spoils. Looking at the food he found assured him, that he would not have to return to Starta as often has he had expected. Settling down here somewhere in the center would not be a bad idea, if not for the weird disappearance of all those undead. He had a good view from this roof. Seth pulled out his fathers binocrs to get an overview of the city. This was when he a noticed a small cloud of unnatural ck fog above the center za of Deltan. It was shrinking at a visible rate. Seth wanted to look at the za, but he couldn''t see it as other buildings were in the way. Whatever weird thing was going on in the center was probably connected to the missing mobs. He could only look for a better vantage point to find out what was going on. he had to know, to decide whether he would stay here or look for a different neighborhood. Seth decided on a high-rise closer to the center. He climbed the 15 floors worth of stair with a sour expression. The elevator worked, but on the other hand he didn''t want to get stuck in there with no one around. "FU*K!", he cursed as he breathlessly flopped down after reaching the roof. He had actually gained endurance by walking stairs. He scrambled onto his feet and looked towards the center. Seth could see the ck fog with his bare eyes, but it had almost vanished. Taking the binocrs from the inventory again, he looked at the center za. What he saw was a camp made of big dark tents filling the center za and a giant ck membrane upying a whole side of the za. It was gate. How did he know? Because he actually observed the undead vanishing into the darkness, as if they were swallowed by a tar pit. Seth was actually quite lucky so see this. Almost all undead were gone from the za. He was just in time to see the rearguard vanishing into the portal before it closed! "This has to be the Pathworks the priest mentioned! But why did they leave...?", Seth mused still watching the now empty camp. He didn''t believe it was because of what he did yesterday. Whoever these people were, they had ughtered everyone in the city center and probably collected them as undead. The few zombies he killed that night would barely make a dent in their army. Seth sat down and ate while he kept an eye on the camp. After an hour Seth was more or less sure that they were gone for good. Seth guessed that he had not encountered any zombies since he entered the city center, because they probably collected them all and left. So this part of Deltan was technically safe now! Whatever their reason to leave was, it probably wasn''t a danger here. "I guess i will stay here then!", Seth decided happily. Deltan was now his base. Chapter 20 - 20. I′m Home After Seth was convinced that the undead army wasn''ting back any time soon, he decided to inspect their camp. Maybe they left some supplies for him? It was around noon, and the sun stood high in the sky. The fog had vanished, so Seth didn''t worry too much about the undead as he visited the camp at the central za. It was a group of big tents, like you would sometimes see in historical movies. They were made of thick ck canvas-like cloth. It was heavy and rough to the touch, but it was darker than any cloth he had ever seen. The insides were pitch ck. Seth had to affix the p to stay open, so light could fall in. the interior had rich decorations and the floor was covered in fine carpets. This must have been the tent of someone with a high rank. There was a soft looking bed a table and a big well-made chest. "Were they in a hurry?", Seth asked when he looked at a bottle and half-filled goblet on the table. The contents reminded him a little of wine. But the smell definitely didn''t. Unfortunately, the chest only contained spare clothes. As terrible as his current clothes looked, he would never wear something as frilly and pompous as the stuff he found in there. Even his hopes that they might be enchanted were dashed by . Just ordinary ugly clothes. Most tents were like that. These people were really stingy! Couldn''t they have left something good for a poor young man trying to make a living in the apocalypse? Most of the tents looked the same level of luxurious, but none actually contained anything helpful. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om All he could do was collect the tent''s tarp. They seemed very sturdy, maybe they came in handyter. But Seth didn''t give up! He would thoroughly loot- err, search! All the tents. It actually happened as he was wandering in between the tents that he heard the jingle of metal. When he looked down, he saw the glinting of a ring he had kicked with his foot. Did someone lose it?It was a simple smooth silver ring. He picked it up and appraised it with . Worst case it was just a crafting material, but... It was actually an item with stats! Although the options looked unremarkable beggars can''t be choosers. Seth had nothing and now he had something. And having 50 points more mana lifted his mood tremendously! Seth mood fell again, when the ring stayed the only useful thing he found in the camp. There were no food supplies he was willing to trust and not a glimpse of equipment. He could only sigh and move on! Time spent looting was time well spent, but he had to decide on a ce where he could hole up and grind his skills! A base! Looking around, the Buildings surrounding the central za were... no very good options. Ignoring the fact that the gate could open again at any time, the structures around here were very open public buildings or shopping malls. All of them sported a very fashionable shattered ss front door, most building were wearing it this year... Worst thing was, that they had all looked like they had already been ransacked. Seth had to go and look for something sturdy for his base. Something he could defend. In the evening he finally came to a neighborhood he liked. In the end he chose one of those apartment houses simr to the one he had hidden inst night, with sturdy wooden doors at the entrance and barred windows on the ground floors. It was close enough to the city center to have no zombies around, but not too close, so he had time to get away of the Pathworks opened again. Looking around the entrance hall he found a bundle of spare keys at the janitors ce and locked the front door behind him. With a securely locked door between him and the world, a weight finally fell off Seth''s shoulders, he had not noticed before. He leaned his back against the reassuringly thick wooden door and slid to the ground. For some time, Seth just sat there on the ground and enjoyed the silence and chill form the floor tiles. This might have been the first time he actually rxed since... the apocalypse started. After a good while he stood up and inspected the door. "Should I reinforce it? No, no... it should be enough for today.", Seth decided. He went up the stairs to see which ce would be his new home. Regrettably, most of the potential homes were drenched in blood and filled with the stench of death. Not really ces he wanted to live in. They were still ces he wanted to loot, so his luggage kept growing. He kept going up the stairs until he reached the rooftop. Then he went back down and inspected the first floor again. He had noticed something weird. After some looking around a little, he actually found a private elevator! Seth knew there was something wrong with thest staircase! There had been no doors for the floor right below the roof. This elevator probably led to a private suite! But he couldt trust the elevator. So, he used the maintenancedder to climb up. This reminded him thatdders also really weren''t his thing... Especially not with a big sack of foods he had to tow up with him. At the end of thedder, he really found the elevator doors to a suite! The whole upper floor was one big clean apartment with high ceilings, wide hallways, and big rooms! It was just perf- "Uargh..!", the previous owner asserted his im over this living space. It was the zombie of an old man, who probably could not leave because... let''s be honest. Regr zombies are too dumb to use an elevator, even if it works. Seth ended his preposterous ims with a quick swipe of the billhook. Some corpse pulling and a kickter he had delivered the man, who returned to the afterlife, out of a window and onto the street with a st. The whole upper floor was one big clean apartment with high ceilings, wide hallways, and big rooms. No previous owners! Yes, this ce was just perfect! Since he had chosen this ce as his new permanent home, Seth started to unload the food from his inventory and the backpack into the kitchen. It was a very big and modern kitchen with counter tops made of marble and all the appliances with stainless steel. It was as if someone took it straight out of a catalog. It actually held a big surprise for him, the cabs were well filled with non-perishable goods and the fridge was filled to the brim, too. Deltan''s power grid was still working so the things were still edible! How lucky! Seth was so happy that he cooked up a feast to enjoy. There really was more food left in the world, than he had thought! After filling his belly to his hearts content he stumbled into the bedroom and enjoyed the soft embrace of a high-quality bed. "Ahh, yes.. Im home!", he mumbled and fell asleep. Chapter 21 - 21 Rainy Days? The new day actually greeted Seth with...rain? And not the nice kind of rain. Big heavy drops kept incessantly hammering on the roof and against the windows. When he opened the window, the rush was so heavy that it all mixed together to sound like a single overwhelming roaring. It was so intense that he could feel it resonate in his chest. The he hurriedly closed the window. "Well, looks like i will stay at home today.", Seth talked to himself. Originally, he was going to clean the neighborhood. Seth had wanted to scavenge for more food, while he could still expect it to be edible and clean up any undead, he might encounter. Once he was able to make a good weapon and armor Seth wanted to go out and farm zombies. it was one of the things he never understood when watching movies or reading books around a zombie apocalypse. Zombies could not grow their number; they did not procreate. So why did people keep running away and hiding out in secure locations instead of cleaning them up and be safe for sure? Anyways, since he could not leave, he would concentrate on improving his skills. Seth freed up a ce in the massive living room and summoned the Spirit Furnace and the Water Barrel. It was only a 45% sess rate, but sessfully melting down a rebar into the furnace fetched him a sizable ingot of medium steel and a big chunk of 10% proficiency on lv.7! The stack of rebars he had collected the other day should have been more than enough to level to the next stage! Seth wanted to see what new options he could get when reached the next stage, and then he could make a good weapon to farm mobs and raise his ss level. And that was pretty much what the following days looked for Seth. The rain never stopped, so he spent his days inside, ate, slept and kept making iron ingots. In these days he felt a strangely familiar connection between himself and the Spirit me in the furnace. He remembered snippets of the night when he fought the zombies. Seth had felt this connection back then when he manipted the furnace and fled through the firestorm that day. It actually helped to make the furnace control a lot smoother! Until now this only happened when he leveled up the skill itself. Like this he actually had a higher sess rate than the system stated! It helped a lot in the beginning, when the sess rate was still low. It saved him material and brought bonus experience, since he only got less than half the exp for a failed attempt. Butter on, it did not really lower the number of ingots he had to make by much, since the proficiency he got more than halved with every lvlup of the skill! The ingots kept piling up on the floor beside the furnace. When he reached level nine on the third day, he became unsure whether the stack of rebars was actually enough! However, Seth kept going! He still had the mediocre iron ingots and the jewelry! And then he would just start melting down any metal he could find in the apartments and the house. He would definitely get to the next stage! It was not just the smelting skill that was growing. The longer he sat in front of the furnace and the deeper he stared into the mes while fiddling with the controls, the clearer he felt this connection to the fire. The notification pulled him out of his trance-like state and made him fail the attempt! Frustrated he caught the molten metal in a mold and threw them into the water barrel. In the evening of the third day his worries came true, the rebars were not enough to ovee thisst level and reach ten! He was lv.9 and close to 40% when hisst attempt failed. Did he give up? No! Did he take a break? Yes! Seth had a doctrine, if you are frustrated you should eat! He totally didn''t juste up with that or something. He vanished into the kitchen and cooked up a simple but scrumptious meal. "Just you wait...", he thought and what followed was the rey of what had happened at the start of his journey. Seth scoured the whole house for any and all metals and materials and collected them inrge heaps, in one of the other apartments in the house. He obviously didn''t want to fill his living space with all this stuff. Overall, it was the same stuff he had found at his home, justrger quantities. Unfortunately, there were no residents who hoardedrge quantities of metal in their homes. Seth really hoped this was enough, the rain outside had grown stronger in the recent days, and he really didn''t feel like going out there at this time. If this kept going Seth would have to worry about the first floor being flooded! Anyways, Seth got onto turning the misceneous scrap he had collected into neat little metal ingots he could stack like gold bars! N?v(el)B\\jnn It could have guessed it. Despite getting an upgrade and being able to make , or medium iron for short, from the stuff he had collected, he could barely register the proficiency bar moving after making one. The only silver lining was that there was almost no chance of failure at this point, and he could produce these a lot faster than the steel ingots. End of day 3, his stagnated somewhere around lv.9 (70%), when he couldn''t keep going and went back up to his home to sleep. Thunder so loud that it made the windows rattle audibly woke Seth up from his well-deserved sleep in the middle of the night. The heavy rain outside had not be any weaker over time. No! It actually turned into a thunderstorm now! Seth tumbled to the window to look outside. "Fuck!", he cursed when he saw outside. The streets of Deltan were really flooded by water! The rain was an almost imprable curtain that kept hitting the earth and made everything look like a blur. Why did this stuff keep happening?! This was almost a desert when he came, where did monsoon rains suddenlye from!? Why couldn''t the apocalypse pause for a moment and give him ONE week of peace?! Was that too much to ask? As he looked at thekes worth of water falling from the sky Seth got the hunch, that he might have to leave this ce soon. Throwing several rude gestures with his middle finger at the weather, god and the world in general, Seth turned towards what was important now. Breakfast! Followed by grinding! Since he did not know when the power grid would break down Seth had early on started eating the perishables in the fridge. With the breakfast most of them gone now, this was one worry less, if he had to leave. The rain kept going strong, when Seth left the suite to keep smelting the metals. Today was the day! would definitely reach lv.10 and rank up! He was actually surprised when he entered the room 2 floors below his suite, where he used to smelt yesterday. When his gaze fell on the heaps of ingots he had left in the room it was the first time he realized how much material he had actually smelted. The piles of raw materials had visibly shrunk since he started, but there was still a lot. This gave him hope. Seth summoned the furnace and started his work. Within an hour he had churned out several tens of medium iron ingots, and reach 80%. Reaching 90% he actually ran out of raw materials, so he started re-smelting the reaching 97%. He was so close! Next, he pulled out his booty! It was a sack full of precious metals he had ransacked from several building and also some jewelry shops. Seth had nned to try and sell these in Starta. Maybe modern workmanship could have fetched a good price? It couldn''t be helped. Seth started to turn the jewelry into small ingots of silver and gold, starting with those without gems. What he didn''t expect, was that these precious metal ingots gave him a good amount of proficiency, despite having a high sess rate from the start! Finally! After turning half of his treasure into ingots- Seths jaw dropped to the ground. he had worked so hard to rank up and now he could even evolve it? He thought for a mome- He clicked yes instinctively and immediately felt the small bond he had been feelingtely be a sturdy bridge. Not only did he get a cool sounding skill, but to top it off even an achievement reward! After calming down he looked for the skill in his skill window. It had reced . Chapter 22 - 22. Rainy Days (2) Seth was spellbound by his new skill, despite his exhaustion! He sat down right then and there wanting to test it! Seth was enraptured by the tiny pale blue me emerging from his fingertips, after he concentrated on It resembled those viral videos of people burning gas or lighter fluid on their clothes without anything happening to them! The fire was not big, but Seth could feel a certain assertiveness from the small blue me. It moved more or less as he wished it, like a limb with a small dy! Although Seth found in his skill window and the description sounded like an active skill, it was called an "Ability"? Abilities had not been part of the tutorial so Seth didn''t know! Fortunately, it was not hard to find out the difference between an ability and a skill. When Seth concentrated on "Ability" in his skill window a tool tip opened. To sum it up, the difference between an ability and a skill was that it had aspects of both and active and a passive skill so the resource consumption could fluctuate wildly. Also, it did not consume mana. While active skills consumed mana, abilities used the user''s mental strength to work. At this point Seth did not really know what exactly it meant by mental strength, since there was no bar for it in his status. Of course, he could roughly guess that it had something to with his concentration. From what he could infer at this point abilities seemed a lot vaguer in general than skills. On the other hand, they had a greater potential or versatility. Sitting in a dark room filled with all kinds of iron ingots Seth was ying with the small blue me, watching his jump across his fingertips like an illusionist ying with a coin. After reading many novels and ying lots of games, he had never expected it to feel like this. It was no dead ability to throw around and be cool with like in that one TV-show about bending elements. The little mes felt almost like a warm little fiend. He sat there for quite a while until- The notification finally snapped him out of his trance. At this point he felt tired, mentally and physically fatigued. Looking outside the window nothing had changed. Seth could barely make out anything of the city. At this point he thought, that maybe he should have left the very first day it started to rain like this. But then what? He had a lot of excuses for not leaving, but in the end, he just wasn''t able to decide until it had been toote. Going out in this kind of weather was pretty much suicide at this point. Seth wasn''t really much into voluntary death. All he could do now was to stay here and wait it out. With this thought he went to sleep. -Starta- "What''s with this rain!?", Wilton screamed as he rushed into the priest''s office. The hunter had been back to patrolling the edge of the dark woods after reporting thest time. The fence had been fixed, and he was on regr duty when the rain started. It had taken him two whole days to fight his way back to Starta vige. The ins were slowly drowning and the water actually stood up to his waist, when he finally managed to cross the city gate. Inside the vige was dry, it was shielded by a bowl-shaped force field that kept the masses of water out! Wilton had be angrier and angrier on his journey, the worse the weather and terrain got. Nobody had warned HIM about this! He was so upset that he was grabbing the priest''s cor, lifting the rotund man off the ground! "Wilton! Calm down! What happened that enraged you so much?", Simon the Priest of the System held onto the hunter''s wrist to try and regain contact with the floor. "What enraged me? What ENRAGED me?! Maybe the two days I spend wading through the swamp outside to get here? Maybe the fact that I almost drowned and swept into the dark woods when a small rivulet swelled into a raging current in a matter of seconds? Or maybe the fact that you did not tell be about the rain beforehand!? Choose one, all of them are correct!", Wilton roared as he kept shaking the priest with every syble. "Wil-ton! Ple-ea-ease sto-op sha-ay-shaking me! Thanks!", Simon said and adjusted his robe after being let of. "We didn''t expect it toe so early, ok? I would have told you to stay in town during your next report.", the priest exined btedly. The hunter sighed. He felt a lot better after whirling around the priest, the target of all his recent negative emotions, like a rag doll. "So?", Wilton asked. "So what?", Simon looked confused. "Why are we here when you knew about this rain? The whole ins are flooded. If this keeps going the town will drown too." Hehe, the priest had a mischievous smile on his face before he sat down at his desk and pulled out the fat folder. "After torrential rainfalls than can keep going for up to three weeks the ins will be flooded and form ake. Its part of the changed climate in this world. It takes about a week for thiske to be drained away. Once its gone, these ins will be filled with extremely fertile alluvial deposit. It will be perfect for farming crops! It just came a little early this time. I''m really sorry Wilton." "So, this will still keep going for more than three weeks?", Wilton looked up to the field that kept water out of the vige, "How high will it rise until then...?" -Deltan- n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth woke up to the already familiar sound of rain hammering on the roof. He stretched out and went to the kitchen for breakfast. "Rationing" went very well. He left his suite and went to collect all the iron ingots he had made into his inventory. He did the smelting somewhere else because of the heaps of scrap he had to melt in. Now that everything was turned into neat and convenient ingots, Seth didn''t want to leave his home to forge. Seth set up theplete Spirit Smithy in a dedicated room and stacked all the ingots to the side. The rain still held him captive, so it was time to use his consolidated resources to finally grind the cksmith skill. was the main skill of his ss, so it was a shame to have itgging behind! Seth wanted to try bigger and moreplex weapons. Instead of going with quantity like he did at the start, he wanted to try quality this time. He had a hunch that making a diverse array of sophisticated and demanding weapons would get him more experience in the long run. Even if he failed, he could always just re-smelt the scrap! Seths method was to start off by choosing the blueprint of a weapon and get used to the process of the weapon first. Then proceed by using the free mode to make the weapon and farm experience that way! Seth wanted to start slow and chose something smaller. It was an axe head made of medium iron. He wanted to save the medium steel for a higher skill level, or maybe even for after the rank up, if possible! This time, opposite to when he was still at home, he had a lot of wood he had gathered from around the house. Stuff like bedposts and baluster made of thick wood for example. Like this he could make an item, but also save some of his metal. Seth started working and meticulously followed the instructions of the system guidance. He forged a rough axe head from a whole ingot and continued with punching a hole for the shaft. After forging it into its more refined final shape came the quenching in the water of Styx. He still had no idea what exactly changed with it be the water of Styx, but sometimes the water felt warmer and sometimes colder. Maybe it helped raising the chance of the quench seeding? The first attempt failed as it developed a crack during the quench. It made him doubt his guess. Seth still got about 7% skill proficiency from this failed attempt! He saw this as a confirmation that new things would initially give more experience. So, making and mastering the production of various weapons was the right choice. And this was his new routine from then on. He made several axes under the guidance of the system, from forging the head to shaping the handle. Seth did this until he got the process down and managed to make an axe close to optimum parameters. Then he started over, making axes in Free Mode until he was good enough to get a simr result. When forging he forgot the world around him and was fully focused on his work and even subconsciously started to manipte the me in the forge to help his work. When Seth had mastered the axe, he had reached . It was already deep in the night when he was satisfied and stopped. Seth had not noticed that he had worked for two days straight, but he had a tremendous hunger and thirst. For now, he left everything where it was and satisfied his stomachs demand, before falling into a very deep and pleasant sleep. Chapter 23 - 23.Rainy Days (3) Seth had already gotten used to the incessant sound of rain, what woke him up were his bodily needs. The call of nature needed his attention. When he wanted to jump off the bed, he instantly froze, winced and fell back on the bed groaning. Tremendous muscle pain was surging through his sore body, and he did not want to move at all. Despite his dders demand, he first btedly checked his status Name: Seth Smith Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 8 Exp: 32% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 937/1000 Mana:180(+3.6) Strength:18 Dexterity:20 Agility: 20 Intelligence:13+5 Willpower:15 Endurance:19 Personality:9 Luck:15 Free AP (Attribute points): 50 Free SP (Skill points): 9 Defense: Physical: 104 (57+50) (ENDx3) Magical :55 (30+25) (WILx2) Fire Resistance :100% (50%+60%) Skill Window: Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.5 cksmith (Beginner) lv.9 (45%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.2 Fire Maniption lv.2 Blueprint (Beginner) lv.2 Weapon Mastery (Beginner) lv.8 (60%) Spirit Smithy lv.2 Spirit Capture lv.2 Map lv.1 Fear Resistance lv.5 Fire Affinity lv.6 Soul Infusion lv.1 Observation lv.2 Concealment lv.2 His HP had actually decreased this much from muscle pain!? Seth didn''t know, that he had not eaten or drank for almost 2 days and his HP had already considerably recovered. What he noticed was that some of his attributes had increased, especially strength! At least the pain was worth it! Dexterity even hit 20. This helped Seth a lot in enduring the pain. The call of nature on the other hand knew no mercy. Seth had to force himself to stand up and drag his aching body to the bathroom. He had breakfast on the small balcony of the suite, enjoying the blurry scenery and overwhelming noise of the rain. It was quite surreal to be honest, but also refreshing after spending so much time in front of the forge. As he looked down, he could barely make out the surface of the water. Wasn''t this a little high? He doubted his yes and decided to take a look, once he could move normally again. Seth once again had to acknowledge how amazing the system was, as he felt his body slowly recover. After a good meal his muscle pain had vanished within an hour! If it had been before, he would have had to wait at LEAST several days for the pain to go away naturally. Before he got back to the forge, he decided to take a look at the water situation. The lights in the elevator shaft would not turn on. Did they short-circuited because of the water? He climbed down thedder of the private elevator with a shlight between his teeth, but didn''t reach the ground floor. Seth could already hear the sloshing of water and waves from up here. In the shine of the shlight, he saw the surface of the murky mix of dirt, blood, debris, zombie parts and trash. This was no exaggeration! He could see rotten pieces of meat and something like an elbow swimming in the water below him. The ground floor waspletely flooded and the water reached the height of the first floor. Climbing closer he could also smell the fluid that was no better than sewer water. But was it worse than skull-prating vines in a world of twilight? Arguably not. Seth hoped that it was really just ordinary flood water. In this world, he would doubt it, when someone told him there were skull-prating tentacles in this water. He was ready to change his evaluation in that case! Anyways, nothing else happened, so Seth shrugged his shoulders and climbed back up. He had enough food for weeks right now and could sit it out. He would start worrying when the water actually started reaching the upper floors. Seth would not be able to reach the rest of the house without passing the water, but it was a slight inconvenience at most. He had already collected the useful stuff, anyways. Seth got back to the forge and started a new blueprint. It was a parry dagger about the length of his forearm made of medium iron. He wanted to slowly get closer to swords and sabers for now. Hecked the wood to finish polearms and simr weapons, so he had to concentrate on those mainly made from metal. Going about it the same way, he did with the axe, Seth started by following the guidance of the system. He slowly started incorporating the into his forging. He failed a few times, when he consciously tried using it and overheated the metal. Seth kept trying anyways and was soon rewarded! And not just that, soon after his finally ranked up! But wait!? Why was it "Apprentice"? Was it not supposed to be "Adept" after "Beginner" ? Hold up! Did this mean, that when the cksmith in Starta evaluated his billhook... It was not just one rank his work had skipped, but TWO!? Seth was stunned. Although it took hard work to develop his ss, the work was actually gratifying and the ss seemed even better than he had estimated at first. When he reached adept or master, or whatever came at the top, wouldn''t he be able to create legendary weapons and armor!? He also had the weapon mastery. Overwhelming gear and skill, so what if he had no shybat skill? When monsters would be cut like paper in front of his weapon? Seth became quite smug as he imagined plowing through his enemies with the ultimate gear. It was until his eyes fell on the pile of scrap and failed products What kind of resources would he have to burn through to get to such a level!? How much sweat and blood would he have to pour into the metal and mes... "Yeah, lets stop thinking about the future, its just depressing. Lets just do it one step at a time. Slow and steady wins the race", he motivated himself. He observed the sessful and good weapons he had made. The pile was a lot smaller, but it showed that he just needed to work hard. Seth did not realize, that calling his progress slow and steady was a p to the face for any regr cksmith. Seth would not disassemble his best works, but keep them and try to sell them in Starta. With his renewed mindset Seth got back to grinding the given blueprints. It was his turn to be stunned again. His had also ranked up with his and there were a bunch of new blueprints he could choose from. There were mostly upgraded and more borate versions of existing blueprints, but also some new weapons with more exotic forms like chakrams. But not just weapons, but there were also blueprints of chainmail and more te armor now. After testing to make a gauntlet, he decided to keep making weapons, since making armor was a lot more time intensive. Weapons were more time effective. The "Apprentice"-rank was another step up from "Beginner", at this point he barely got experience for the simpler things he had done until now. From here on his days became quite monotone as he first mastered all those blueprints he could do with medium iron, until it ran out. He kept re-smelting the scraps until all the iron was turned into eptable weapons. He also found out, that the change of to had almost no impact on the usage of the furnace. One of these days his Fire Maniption and Affinity also leveled up! Seth lost count of the day as it became a fixed routine of sleep, eat and forge, always apanied by the constant sound of rain. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om With cksmith (Apprentice) lv.2(12%) he finally graduated from making weapons out of medium iron, as he had even run out of scrap. On his sidey a heap of sparkling finished weapons. Hunting knifes, parry daggers, axes, several forms of maces and war hammers, short swords, arming swords, sabers,ngmesser ... and many reaching the optimal parameters of the blueprint. It was in this period, that Seth felt the increase in his practical skills for real. He made less and less errors while forging and started to be a lot faster, even on blueprints he was unfamiliar with. In the end, many weapons were very simr. Drops of sweat ran down his , now, well-defined body and collected all kinds of soot and grimes he was covered him. He sat in front of the forge almost naked, looking like a barbarian. He didn''t remember when, but at some point, Seth stopped wearing clothes while working in the smithy. Ever since he started using the mes kept jumping over when he lost concentration and burned whatever he was wearing. Having lost all sense of time he used this chance to take a break. The power grid had broken down some time ago and water also stopped running in the suite, so he climbed to the roof and used the curtain of rain to flood the grime off his body. Washing his lean body, he felt his muscles bulge below his skin. Even the first beginnings of a beard were growing on his face. The cold shower woke him from his mechanical thinking and refreshed his tired mind.. His only indication of time were his rations that showed a visible shrinkage. Chapter 24 - 24.New Days When Seth checked his status, he ignored his reduced HP. He knew that he wasn''t very nice to his body, when he was caught in his fascination for forging. It would heal fast, as long as he took a good break. His Strength and Endurance reached 20 in thest days, but stopped growing there. Was this the cap? "I guess this is as far as I can go with just training, eh?", Seth mumbled to himself and looked at the free attribute points he had saved up until today. He was finally at the point, where he had to think about how to distribute them. He also ogled the free skill points, maybe he should decide on those too. Seth looked at his attributed for some times. As a cksmith he obviously needed Strength and Dexterity. These grew the fastest when he was forging, so they were the most important. Followed by Endurance and Willpower. The first was obviously needed when he was supposed to work for hours without end. The second seemed to have something to do with , he had no idea why else it would have grown. It made sense that willpower had something to do with mental power, but it was still below 20, so it would have to wait. Intelligence was simr, it grew slowly on its own, and he had the ring. So, it didn''t seem very urgent to raise it. Agility? It probably wasn''t necessary for a cksmith, but it mighte in handy in a fight, so he should not neglect it. Seth had 50 point to distribute. After deciding on the priority, he put 15 in STR and DEX each, 10 into END and 5 into AGI. Seth saved 5 for WIL once it reached 20 points. It wasn''t like in a game, where the attributes were just numbers. With the sudden jump in power Seth could feel his muscles, not bulge, but tighten as if they became denser. He also felt a lot fitter and healthy, which was probably the effect of endurance. The effect of dexterity was a lot more subtle. His hand-eye-coordination seemed to have increased. Seth''s sense of touch in his hands felt more precise and the movement of his fingers became faster and smoother. He didn''t know how else he would describe the effect of DEX. Next were the skill points. Where should he invest them? Looking at the list of skills, not all of them could be upgraded with skill points. Somewhere locked, he could not increase for example, even though he had been able to before. Seth realized that some skills could not be leveled up with SP and others might have prerequisite to be leveled up. He would have to keep an eye out for this. This only left the skills , , , , and for him to improve at the moment. It would never hurt to increase the first one, even though lv.3 cost two SP. also seemed like a good choice. It would be a shame if he saw a good material and couldn''t collect it! It, too, cost two SP. Now Seth was down to 5, and he didn''t really want to use them up now in case unlocked any time soon. He didn''t feel like was worth two SP right now. actually made him curious for its next stage. At the moment he could only see the ces he personally mapped out. Anything else was just fog of war. And to top it off, only cost him 1 SP! After increasing its level, Seth immediately opened the map window! What he got was a ck and white topographic map of the whole continent! It showed his position and the position and names of bigger cities like Omega City, or City B where he hade from. It also showed Deltan and Starta because it were ces, he had visited. He could also zoom in on the small specks he had traveled himself. It worked like a navigation app on his phone. Seth could zoom in on the map and himself. The ces he had been to were colored and high-definition like a satellite image. Anything else became a dark blur when he zoomed in on it. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth appreciated these new functionalities, but what was even more interesting was a button that had appeared in the corner. It was called "Auto Map". When he pressed it, it looked like a radar appeared around his position on the map. After one rotation a big circle with a radius of maybe 150 meters had been mapped out at his position and the auto map went on a 1-minute cool down. Now he could see his building and the neighboring ones as clear as day from a top view! Not only that. It was a real time image! He could see that the flood had almost reached up to the third floor, without having to climb down the elevator shaft! The water was already halfway up to him! He looked out the window and the rain was still going strong! How long was it going to rain like that!? Would he really have to leave here again? "Dont forget, step by step. No use in worrying!", he shook his head and motivated himself. If he had to leave, he would have to leave, he could not change that. What he could do was clear: Keep grinding! It was finally time to start making things with steel! He was hyped. The moment he entered the smithy and lifted his hammer he could feel the effect of increased strength even more pronounced! The previously hefty hammer was light as a feather! And his dexterity allowed him to control its movement with utmost precision and ease! He first tried the same parrying dagger he mastered in the very beginning. His production speed had increased tremendously, and he finished it in a fracture of the time he needed before! Seth easily hit the optimum parameters, too. It gave him almost 5 %! It was a huge chunkpared to what he had gotten for the things made of medium iron he had done until recently! The quality gap to steel was easily discernible at this point. Unlike how he had nned it, he now had no unending supply of , as he could not leave the building. Seth didn''t know how much further the steel could get him, so it was time to decide on the gear he wanted to make for himself. It was really a day of decisions! Seth chose one of the blueprints that were added after the rank up. Its was the improved version of a longsword. It had an elegant sleek de of 90cm length, a handle he could either grab with one or two hands and a simple crossguard. It looked traditional and unassuming. The damage it had with optimal parameters on the other hand was everything but unassuming. The following weeks were filled with anguish and failure as Seth not only trained his skill, but worked hard on the gear he nned to wear in the future! And when the sun finally shined again above Deltan, Seth was ready to greet the new days before him. ck lines covered his face as the system ruined his moment. Chapter 25 - 25.Final Preparations Seth stood on the roof of his current base and looked down on the water surface that had almost each his floor. It had rained for a long time and now the morning suns rays were sparkling on the waves of the bigke that had swallowed the city. The weather had calmed down a lot. After raining for so long, the murky water had turned clear and looked almost clean. Seth could almost see the streets below on the bottom of theke. The streets he had walked just a few weeks ago had turned into an underwater world. It was quite fascinating in a sense. And it was quite troubling in every other sense. At this time Seth''s rations started dwindling and he finally ran out of raw materials to grind his skill. Of course, he had long prepared for this time when he had to leave. The food he had left where mostly preserved stuff and could easily fit into a few of his item slots. After the water supply unexpectedly stopped working, he had stocked up on it using the rain. It was also called clean water and stacked with the regr tap water, so he did not worry. Now 6 of his 16 item slots were filled with food and water and the rest held stacks of finished weapons, he nned to sell, misceneous stuff and his gear. Seth also had another reason to leave now. It was when he got ready to make himself a bow for long range attacks, when he finally realized, that he actuallycked something important. After mastering the blueprint to make a steel bow he remembered the vine he had picked up all this time ago. It was an umon material he could not identify at the time and subsequently forgot about. Seth remembered it, because bows are usually made of wood, right? So, he had dug it up from the pile he had deposited the very first day he arrived in the suite. It was the moment the Hanging Tree''s Vine entered his material catalog,that several new blueprints and variations of the basic ones using the Hanging Tree''s Vine as material were unlocked. All of them had the possible rating of "Umon", only depending on the one umon ingredient! Seth chose the blueprint of aposite bow as he could split the vine and gain several tries like this. Even so he was not too familiar with the treatment of the wood, he managed to sessfully make twoplete bows. While the ordinary Medium Steel products barely got him any proficiency past lv.5, these bows gave him almost 10% proficiency with their umon rating, despite being far from perfect! This was something he had already experienced with the longsword and it obviously made sense! The rating and performance of the product he made had a big influence on the proficiency he gained. But it was a lot easier to get an umon rating, when using umon materials! Even when they didn''te out perfectly. This made Seth realize, that sitting around and grinding the blue prints over and over with the same material was not the best way to improve anymore! He had to erge his material catalog! He needed to collect experience with many and most importantly better materials to keep improving. Seth had been eager to keep going at that time, but he left one set of materials behind. He did the same for a few sets of material of the longsword. The reason was simple. He wanted to increase his capabilities for thest attempt, so he could leave with the best weapons possible and make them on the day before he left. Now was the time. Seth had reached and was sure that these two weapons would probably apany him for quite some time now. This made it also the time to test the one skill he had held back on until now: . He just had too little materials to mess around with this skill! At the moment he had 7 Souls in total. Two of them were the umon ones from his quest, the others had dropped from goblins and kobolds he had killed. Before he made the final products with the two umon souls, he wanted to test and made two longswords. Seth suddenly understood that was not his first ability. worked in the same way. During the forging he could touch and coax the immaterial form of the souls to follow his instructions. The soul behaved simr to metal. Seth had to fold the steel and knead the soul into the material, to evenly spread it throughout the whole de. When he quenched the de, he could feel the barrels water having a huge effect on the soul. He had no specific skill for it, but he had confirmed that the temperature of the water changed depending on the piece that was quenched. Now it was almost soul-chilling cold. With the cooling of the metal, the soul was contained and bound. The weapon became its new body. There might be a huge chance of the soul breaking away from the workpiece, if he used something other than this water to quench! After he finished fitting the crossguard, handle and pommel the sword brought him 2% proficiency! It was his first time and he was unfamiliar with this process, so Seth understandably made some mistakes. Still, the weapon came out as umon! Itcked some attack power, but the durability outperformed the original blueprint! The skill also mentioned magic conductivity. Seth had tried pushing mana into the weapons before, but he felt a high resistance from normal steel weapons and their durability started dropping at a visible speed! The magic power was like electricity in a tungsten wire. The resistance and the energy loss were very high, to see any kind of effect. When he tried it on his test longsword it felt a lot smoother than normal steel! And it easily formed a thin paleyer of light on the weapon. Conducting magic into a sword increased its damage, that was all Seth could conclude at the moment. After another two attempts with the small souls Seth felt ready to go for the final product using the medium sized soul of the orc! He had gotten ustomed to the feeling of a souls in his hand. The only difference to the small souls was the size of this one. He had to fold and work the steel more often to steadily infuse it into the material. When he finally quenched the de, his actually leveled up! Seth was very satisfied with the result, after finishing the sword! This time the longsword even had a supernatural ability simr to the ring! No wonder it was described as primitive enchantment. Dealing more damage against weaker opponents really sounded like something that fit an orcs souls. After seeing what the umon soul did for the sword, Seth was excited about what it could do for the bow. What effect would a vengeful soul bring forth? Maybe a curse? He soon stopped dreaming and became serious again. Working on the bow cost him utmost concentration. Seth had no way of practicing this, it was his only chance! His worries were unfounded. It came to light, that infusing a soul into and organic material like wood, was a lot easier than spreading it in metal. The only difficulty was theposite part of the bow. It was not possible to split the soul, he had to pull and stretch it to infuse it into the metal part while assimting into the wood at the same time. This cost him a lot of concentration, but he was able to manage thanks to all the training he had with ! Theposite bow he made as a result was truly breathtaking. The bows he made before looked simr to a modern recurve bow, but reversed. The limbs were made of the almost ck vine wood while the grip was a dark steel-gray giving it an elegant monochrome color scheme. But this one had a crimson red glint to it giving it an underlying impression of malice. His jaw almost touched the ground, when Seth read the description! Then he broke out into a victory dance. With such an awesome bow he felt almost happy to leave soon! One was assured, he was ready! Chapter 26 - 26. Leaving Home, Again. Seth felt a lot better about leaving his home this timepared to his first. He had the two best weapons he could possibly make and a light set of dark gray te armor and ck canvas that gave him some protection, but did not get in the way of his movement. All of it was snugly stowed away in his inventory together with all his rations, useful stuff, and other works. Wearing a set of clean clothes, he had found in the house, he stepped out on the balcony leaving the empty suite, that had been his home for a few weeks, behind him. The glistening water surface was barely two meters below his feet. Yes, he would have to swim! It was the only option now. He had observed the water for some time now and could not see any skull-prating tentacles in the water, or any other life to speak of. Of course, he did not n to swim all the way to Starta! He hoped that he could find some floating debris and driftwood to build a raft he could use to sail back to Starta. Seth was pretty sure that big old man with his big old folder had a counter n for the flood, or else Starta would be gone. And if Starta really was not there anymore... well he could just keep sailing. He knew that the ins and thend in the west rose higher than Deltan, there was definitely drynd there. The water could not have covered the whole continent, right? "Here goes nothing!", he said and jumped down into the water holding his breath. The water was warmer than he had expected, pleasant even. Well, this was about to be a desert and it was quite warm here. As he dove into the water it was so clear that he could make out the blurry outlines of the streets below. The streets had be a world tinted in an azure hue. When he resurfaced, he gasped for air. No matter what one may say about the apocalypse, it created really spectacr scenes. At least for him. After reorienting himself with the map, Seth started swimming along the deep-water channels bordered by the house fronts and rooftops of the sunken city. The sun stood high in the sky as he set off. Seth was looking for floating debris and drift wood he could use to make a raft. He had more than enough rope and even had made some space in his inventory in case he found something big. After some time, he had already collected a few floating items he judged usable like the empty bottles of water dispensers and some wooden pallets that had probably drifted out from one of the stores in the vicinity. He was able to put those in his inventory! He was swimming down a wide main street, pulling a mix of misceneous other stuff behind him, until a disturbing sight disrupted the young man''s shopping spree! They were here! It was the shadow of a giant tentacle in the depths of the water, slithering down the main street towards his location! Seth panicked for a short moment and then became really calm. Maybe it had not noticed him yet? If he moved really slow and didn''t disturb the water, he might blend in with the floating litter around him. Maybe he could reach the shallow water on one of the flooded rooftops to the side like this! TV had taught him that this worked with crocodiles and things like that! So, he started to close in on the side of the road towards the edge of a rooftop as the shadow below kept getting closer and closer to his position. Keeping his eyes on the growing shadow he fumbled for the edge of the roof behind his back. When he finally reached it, Seth pulled himself into the shallow water on the rooftop, away from the wet abyss that was the street behind him. Here he could stand up and the water barely reached his knees. Solid ground below his feet helped tremendously to calm his heart. Letting go off the rope he had used to keep the litter with him, he stepped closer to the edge again, to see what the shadow was doing. It came closer to the surface and in the clearer water Seth could finally see what it was! A giant tentacle with two eyes! A snake!? Standing on the edge of the building, his figure was minusculepared to the gigantic snake that was passing him in the water below. The beast was longer than the building he stood on and it felt like an eternity as he waited for it topletely pass by. Seth was horrified. This encounter easily topped his run in with that demonic griffin! This thing could probably eat those for breakfast! Just standing there and watching this titan pass him like that got him closer to realizing his own mortality than even the "Hanging Tree" had. This was just way too close. And then when the tip of its tail finally left his range of sight- His heart stood still. This thing was a field boss, TOO?! How could this have happened?! Why did he keep meeting field bosses?! What Seth did not know was, that it was not umon to meet a field boss, as they were just creatures dered as such by being the strongest in the region by a certain margin. Not necessary all of them were genuine big shots like The Hanging Tree. It took Seth some time to calm down, as he sat there in the shallow water on the rooftop. He checked the supplies he had collected and decided, that it was probably enough to build a simple raft and get out of this ce. Meeting a monster like that when he was swimming in the water was a death sentence. Not that sitting on a nutshell was better. But it helped mentally. The silver lining was that the field boss swam into the direction of the central za, the opposite of where he was headed. It took several hours to build the raft. Seth even melted some of the medium iron-weapons to make nails for the raft. " Quite good, if I may say so myself!", he remarked proudly, looking his raft that was bobbing up and down in the shallow water. The tform of the raft was made with pallets, he had connected with nails and other driftwood. He was sure of its sturdiness! The tform had the empty water dispenser bottles in the corners and all kinds of other floating rubbish like pieces Styrofoam istion strapped below it to give it more buoyancy. It had a mast and a blue-white striped sail formerly known as a curtain rail and a shower curtain. They were "borrowed" from one of the rooms below his feet. It was a short diving adventure; he did not want to repeat. The thought of the flooded building, the darkness and chaos inside, filled with floating remnants of their previous owners, made him shiver. Anyways, his work looked very... majestic. Yes! Well, at least it floated well. When Seth entered it, it barely lowered in the water. The boss was an indication for him, that the water was most likely not as safe as it looked. Even so he had not seen anything down there. It would not have been a surprise. With the raft he fortunately did not need to swim from this point on, so he decided to wear his armor and sword, too. Just in case something attacked his vessel. For this he used a function of the inventory he recently discovered. It had probably been added when he reached lv.5 and made wearing his gear a lot easier! Auto Equip! A typical function in a game. Seth did not have toboriously put on his armor like in medieval times, but it was automatically worn when he pulled it into the equipment slots! Gauntlets, pauldrons, greaves, surcoat... he pulled everything to the equipment slots, and they appeared snugly fitting on his body. Soon the wet clothes he had worn were reced by aplete set of armor. It was a mix of te armor such as the gauntlets and cloth armor beneath it made of the ck cloth from the tents he had looted at the za. Except for the cloth that actually gave the armor a slight magic resistance, there was nothing special about it except the quality. And it looked quite good, for Seth''s taste! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "I shall be the king of pirates!", he joked around as he entered his new vessel and started his journey. Like this Seth set off and used "Auto map" to find a way using the smaller streets and alleys to get out.. Our newbie sailor really did not want to meet a massive enemy like the boa when sitting on his little nutshell. Chapter 27 - 27. Snake Pit Seth sat cross-legged on his rinky-dink little nutshell and had nothing to do. He had been on edge and observing the water for the first hour of his journey. The encounter with the field boss left him nervous. But nothing happened. Nothing attacked, nothing appeared. No wormholes opened and threw enemies at the battle-ready adventurer. He slowly started to rx again. Now Seth just sat on his raft and kept staring at the map and using auto-map from time to time to get a better image of his surroundings. His boredom was only interrupted by the asional need to paddle his raft back on course or into a new alley to avoid the big channels of water. Seth used the time to think about his skills. Map had gotten "auto map" on lv.2 and he kept pondering about whether it would be more game like if he leveled it more. It would really help in this situation if the map could show enemies! Or maybe a real-time image! Then he could at least see of something big was closing in on him. But was it worth it? Lv. 3 cost 2 Skill Points! He only had 4 SP left and he definitely wanted to hold 2 back in case unlocked soon. Was really worth the gamble? As he was pondering, he heard the sshing of water to the side! Before he could even jump to his feet something heavy crashed into him and pinned him to the ground. A big serpent with its maws wide open hadtched onto his forearm he had instinctively brought up! Otherwise, it would have been his neck! Even so its teeth could not prate the gauntlets steel te covering his forearm, it vehemently bit down on his arm! That was until the other gauntlet came to the rescue and rammed into its face! Again, and again the armored fist smashed into the snake''s head until it became a bloody mess and finally let go! Once Seth came to his senses had kicked in! Do not underestimate armor! Utilizing armor for offense and defense was also part of . No matter what melee attack you do, doing it while covered with a steel te hurt more! After the several meters long constrictor looking snake had lost its life, or at least its consciousness, Seth jumped to his feet and got ready. He unsheathed his sword and observed the now calm water surface in a battle-ready stance. He squinted when remembered the kill notifications and stabbed the snake lying on his raft. As if it had waited for the chance, there was another ssh behind him! His bait worked! Turning around in a fluid motion he swung the longsword. The snake that had just shot out of the water was cleanly cut in midair! One bloody half sunk back into the water while the one with the head, still squirming, fell on his raft. Just as he lifted his foot to stomp this one''s head, another boa broke through the water surface and aiming at his lightly armored knee pit! The teeth prated the thick ck cloth and sunk into his flesh! "Argh-!", Seth screamed in surprise. Pain shot through his body and paralyzed him for a moment as he lost bnce. This was the first time he was injured since he started his adventure in the apocalypse! They saw him kneel and decided to pile on him! Another snake jumped out from the left, aiming for his neck again, but was also blocked by his gauntlet. One more came from the right, but met the hastily swung sword before reaching him. He was in danger and the adrenaline kicked in. Seth did not panic now, he was angry. Angry at himself that he had given in to such little pain! That he had lost his calm for something so trivial! And angry at these little fuckers that tried to ambush him! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om He smashed his left fist on the ground in anger and pulled himself together. At the same time, he had smashed the still squirming snake head, ending its suffering. Using this moment two more snakes appeared from the water, aiming for his head! How many were there?! Incensed, Seth ignored the pain in his leg. In one movement he straightened himself and used the momentum to pull up his sword! Both snakes were cut with an upward diagonal sh. Seth had no time to listen to the systems notification! Next, he crushed the head of the snake biting down on his gauntlet with the pommel of his sword and proceeded to cut away the body of the snake that desperately tried to curl up his leg. The feeling of vanishing pressure on his wounded knee as it died was a joy! His mind was calm now, almost cold. But his heart was still burning with wrath and blood lust. He got into stance and vigntly scanned his surroundings. There was no more sshing and he could make out no movement in the water. Did he scare them off? Seth looked at his poor little raft, that was drenched in blood and littered with snake parts. The raft left a trail of blood in the water behind him. He could guess, hat this wasn''t good. Fortunately, his armor and weapons worked! These snakes were all lv.7 or lv.8 but the longsword had cut through them as if they were not there! Still, he would prefer to avoid such a fight where he was surrounded on water teeming with the bodies of snakes! It was quite the frightening thought. He had to get away, fast. Looking at the map to find a way, he suddenly remembered his pondering from earlier. Maybe WAS worth a shot. "Oh, pretty please give me an enemy radar! Or life detection is ok, too! Oh, pretty please with sprinkles on top!", Seth prayed to rngesus as he pumped two SP into *chuckle* "Special?",when Seth checked the was a new button. It was pink with colorful sprinkles and read "Life Detection Radar" " Dafuq!?" This time Seth was sure, the system had answered him! And it made FUN of him! But Seth was okay with that, when he saw that the Life Detection Radar or LDR in short worked! It worked just like a radar. A bar of light moved like the hand of a clock with him in the center and made little blips that showed signs of life for a short time. Its range was a radius of 150m around him, just like the auto map. There was a countdown of 1 hour disyed in the corner of the map window, so that was probably the duration of the skill! With this and auto map he would easily find a safe way out of the.... Blip! Blip! Blip! Blip!Blip!Blip! Blip! "oh, no..." A cloud of blips appeared all around him on the map! Not just in the channels, they were in the buildings, too! And they were closing in on him... He facepalmed hard, "Titanoboa Matriarch"! Seth was paddling through a giant snake nest! Seth was given a totally overpowered skill in his time of need. He could see all enemies in a radius of 150m. And it helped him not one bit! He was alreadypletely surrounded and there was no way to break out of the encirclement! To make things worse, it would be be dark soon. Chapter 28 - 28. A Horrible Night Seth took a deep breath. Panic would not help him in this situation. The rhythmic throbbing of his mangled knee pit did not help to keep a clear head, so he ripped off stripes from the ck cloth in his inventory to apply a makeshift pressure bandage Once done Seth looked around and came to the conclusion, that escape was not an option. With his leg like this, it was a bad idea to fight on this nutshell. Close to the outskirts of Deltan were few buildings with dry floors above water, but there were still some in the vicinity. Seth would make ast stand at a higher floor and see if he could sit this one out! Maybe he could hide. He forgot worrying about the sshing and making noise and paddled towards the closest building as fast as he could. It had three floors above water level, that should be enough to get an advantage over the snakes! With groaning and grunting Seth climbed through a broken window into the next dry floor of the building. His knee kept hurting more and more. He had realized that with all his preparations, he had never thought of medicine. He did not even have a first aid kit with him! The room he entered looked like a meeting room, with a few tables building a big one and lots of chairs surrounding it. With some rope he tied the raft to a radiator right below the window and stumbled out of the meeting room. Time was of essence. He came into an expansive room with a lot of messy and copsed cubicles. This must have been a big office building before. "Office, office, toilette... Ah! The staircase!", he mumbled as his eyes frantically scanned the floor and checked the doors. Once the right door was found, he rushed up the staircase like a drunken madman. Seth kept faltering with every step as blood drenched his pant leg. The next floor looked the same as thest one, a big office space. The high number of generic desks actually gave him an idea! Despite the pain, Seth went back down and started with the staircase connecting to the water. With his 35 STR he could easily lift the furniture and started throwing the down the staircase! Like this he blocked the way up from the water in a short time. Now a huge mess broken furniture and cubicle walls filled the stairs below. That was not all. He went back up to the next floor and did the same. Now he had two barriers between himself and his pursuers. This should buy him some time. He would make hisst stand on the top floor. After he blocked off the way down, he went up to see what the highest floor looked like. "Ah, the management floor.", he mumbled once he saw the few big offices with luxurious looking features. The desks here were made of fine wood and there would have been a pleasant view over the city, before it was hit by an earthquake, became a wastnd, and subsequently flooded. His eyes opened wide as he looked out the window saw the dark water squirming with bodies in thest light of dusk. He was so boned. There was no way could fight that many mobs! Heh! It''s not like he had a choice, right? Only after he barricaded the door to the staircase with those heavy office desks, did he take the time to examine his wound and check his status. Name: Seth Smith Status: Bleeding (-10 HP/minute) Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 9 Exp: 8% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 705/1000 Mana:190(+3,8) Strength:35 Dexterity:35 Agility: 25 Intelligence:14+5 Willpower:25 Endurance:30 Personality:10 Luck:15 Free AP (Attribute points): 9 Free SP (Skill points): 3 Defense: Physical: 220 (90+50+80) (ENDx3) Magical: 90 (50+25+15) (WILx2) Fire Resistance :100% (50%+70%) Skill Window: Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.5 cksmith (Apprentice) lv.7 (40%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.3 Fire Maniption lv.4 Blueprint (Apprentice) lv.2 Weapon Mastery (Beginner) lv.9 (23%) Spirit Smithy lv.2 Spirit Capture lv.3 Map lv.3 Fear Resistance lv.6 Fire Affinity lv.7 Soul Infusion lv.2 Observation lv.2 Concealment lv.2 He sat down with his back leaning against the wall and unequipped the greaves. The makeshift bandage was oozing blood. The pants were ripped, just like his flesh and it bled a lot. When he revealed the wound, it was barely visible with all this blood. But judging from the status it may have looked worse than it was. Still, no need to take a risk. Seth cried out as he used the liquor, he had found in the desks, to wash away the blood and disinfect the wound. This was definitely the least exciting part of the evening, yet. The wound that came to light looked very unappetizing! As they say, everythings fun and jiggles until somebody gets hurts. Especially when the one hurt is oneself! The worst thing was that even after demolishing two floors, he had not found any medical supplies! Not even an aspirin! Only the management floor was helpful! "Always ask for the manager...", Seth joked as he used an expensive brand belt to properly tie off his leg. He had gotten it from a spare outfit in one of the offices. And now he ripped a beautiful and awfully expensive shirt into stripes to make a very expensive bandage out of it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The bleeding status vanished for the moment after he was done with the treatment. On the other hand, his HP also refused to recover. As much as the system resemble a game, he guessed that without some awesome skill like Auto-HP-Recovery, he was stuck with his bodies personalme self-recovery. Seth felt really tired now. As he sat there on the ground, leaning against the wall, his eyelids became very heavy. The sun had sunken and the world had be dark, he almost fell sleep. But Seth forced himself to stay awake. Maybe could help him in this situation? He had not used it in over three weeks, but he remembered while checking his status. He activated it and drowsily looked at the map There were still a little more than 30 minutes left on the counter as he focused his attention on the movements of the little blips. Nothing changed. So, they were not tracking his presence. A bunch were already stacking in a heap at his location. Were the barricades working? Maybe they didn''t find the way up... He closed the map and stared into the distance. He felt so tired. As Seths eyes wandered over his blood on the ground- Of course! The blood! They must be following his blood trail! "*****! I should have stopped the bleeding a lot earlier!", he reprimanded himself listlessly. "Maybe...", he thought, "Maybe I could evade them if I can get on the rooftop ...from here?" With this thought his eyes finally fell shut. Fatigue and blood loss took a toll on him. WHUMPH! Seth awoke with a start! How long had he slept?! WHUMPH! "Dafug!?", Seth shouted as the tremendous jolt once again passed through the whole building! He checked the map, but the time had run out. the radar was now on a 20h cool down. He jumped up and almost sat back down when his knee screamed in pain! He stumbled towards the window, as another jolt came from that side of the building. His heart started racing in panic. What he saw was the light of the moon and stars sparkling on the body of a massive snake! Its, almost 10m long, tail was winding and sshing as it tried to shove its body into the floor right below the water surface! Where did thise from!? Had it rammed into the barricade on the staircase?! It was not as big as the field boss he had seen, but the size made it clearly visible! Seth used the chance to try another skill he used rarely! , he concentrated mana into his eyes and looked at the giant body below him. < Titanoboa Juvenile lv.17 Name: None Status: Enraged Skill: **+##+**~ ... > " You gotta be shitting me!?", Seth called out. "Its not even an adult?! Enraged? Dont tell me they all got triggered because I killed some of their kind!" WHUMPH! Another impact! "No, no, no! I won''t have that! None of it!" Even if he hid on the roof, he would be done for if that thing came up here! Seth took out his Vengeful Hunter Bow and a stack of arrows. He did not n to take this lying down! "Im not having youe up here, Big boy!", he mumbled. He smashed the window ne with a mace and started spamming arrows at the exposed part of the giant snake. When the first arrows struck, he could see a health bar appear on its body. The arrows easily prated the scales and the snaked shrieked in pain. It wriggled harder, but it seemed to be stuck in the building! The snake writhed in pain! Seth smiled and kept peppering it with arrows. And finally, also had ranked up! Not only did the Arrows a little more damage now, but the health bar had started to decrease on its own! Checking the status, the snake was now Enraged and Bleeding! Seth could not help doing a fist pump at this shot. Unfortunately, this was also hisst one. Not because of the arrows, but because the snake had managed to get unstuck and fled into the building. There was nothing he could do anymore. His only hope was that it would bleed out on the way up! "Great! Im trapped in a house, surrounded by snakes, and one the size of the basilisk from Perry Lotter is opening up the path to feast on my sorry ass!" Chapter 29 - 29. Like A Viper One thing was clear! Seth had to move from this floor or- WHUMPH! The snake had already reached the next floor! Seth had thoroughly blocked the door to the staircase and he would definitely NOT unblock it to take the stairs to the roof. He needed to find another way. Climbing probably. Oh, what a joy, climbing up the front a building, with an injured leg, 3 floors above a snake infested ocean of doom. "Yay...", he mumbled. But how should he get up there? He did not have the time to just make a grappling hook from scratch, as he had no raw materials. He was about to use his to improvise a grappling hook from the weapons in his inventory when his eyes fell onto an office chair. Or its base, to be more specific. "Ha ha, lets hurry!", with that he grabbed the cross-shaped base of the office chair. This was almost a ready-made grappling hook! A torturous headache was building up in his head as he used to cover his hands in me and melt through the gas spring to get rid of the seat-part. Next, Seth heated the limbs of the base and bend them the opposite way, into proper hooks with his bare hands. It felt as if his head was about to split, when he used his pinky to poke a holed for the rope into the almost liquid handle of his new makeshift grappling hook! When the me finally shriveled up it was as if all warmth had left his body. He summoned the water barrel and dunked the hook in, before copsing beside it. Just a short break... he felt so cold and empty. So, this was the bacsh of overusing an ability.... WHUMPH! Crash! That sounded like his second barrier was gone. Seth fumbled for the hook in the ice-cold water and ended up toppling the barrel, getting drenched in cold water. He felt so weak. With heavy breathing he picked himself up and stumbled towards the broken window. Shaking, freezing hands threaded the rope through hole on the hook. "Oh, please...." WHUMPH! "Shit!", he cursed. This crash came from right behind the door. "This has to work..." Seth had never thrown a grappling hook! He had a little experience in climbing, but never needed something like this. He could only do what he had seen on TV. He swung it in circles to gain momentum and let it fly over the edge of the rooftop. Now he had rope it back in and hope, that the hooks caught the edge! Tink! Oh! The "tink" of hope! The glimmer of hope grew, when he pulled on the rope it didn''te lose. WHUMPH! The desks at the door shook! Seth stored away his gear to lose weight and wound the rope around himself. He gripped tightly and jumped out the window. For a moment he dangled above the abyss, then he smashed into the wall and almost lost grip. This would have hurt less with his armor... He was cold and his leg hurt like hell. Still, he started inching up the rope. He had to reach the rooftop. "Damned Snakes...stupid ****! You will regret this... if this was not fricking water world, I would burn you all to crisp!", with each step he kept cursing the snakes that had gotten him into this situation. It did not make sense, but it gave him strength. Each burst of anger gave him a little bit of power to go on. When his numb fingers finally reached the roof edge- WHUMPH! The juvenile Titanoboa had broken hisst defenses and entered the management floor. Seth, on the other hand, just pulled himself over the roof edge and flopped onto the roof. All tension in his body was gone and he waspletely exhausted. As heid there and listened, he could hear the giant body slithering on the floor below him. A sound unlike anything he ever heard. He could hear it nearing the window he jumped out from. Was it finally over? Seth clung to roof edge to hide behind it and closed his eyes. He instinctively used waiting for the inevitable. Crunch! The shattering of ss. Seth trembled from the cold and fear. He jerked from the sound of the system notification! This did not help at all! Silence. Above him towered a head as bigger than himself, attached to a tree trunk of a neck that led to somewhere beyond the roofs edge. It was right above him as it swung its head left and right, scanning the roof. Seth shivered, his leg hurt, twitched and his eyelids flickered, but his eyes were focused. Focused on that soft delectable underbelly. At no point did it leave his sight as his body tensed like a coiled spring and exploded into motion. A mighty jump brought him high in the air! His sword appeared in his hand and he stabbed at the snake''s lower jaw. Before the snake could even react, the sword easily prated skin and skull, lodging deep into its brain! Relief washed over him when he saw the titan''s health bar empty out! A burning ball of light, the size of a basketball emerged from its head! The system kept ringing in his ears, as Seth desperately tried to get out from under the giant snake''s corpse. It had copsed in the moment of his death and almost managed to crush him to death. Tired and panting he crawled away from under the enormous head and gave it a petty kick. "Heh! Whos the vicious serpent now, eh?", he wanted tough, but only a pathetic coughing left his throat. With hisst bit of energy, he collected the soul and he lost consciousness. Bright sunshine fell onto him. He grunted as he unwillingly opened his eyes. It was morning. He had a disgusting taste in his mouth. Squinting hard he oriented himself on the rooftop. Rumble! What was that?! Seth hurried to stand up. It was not the boa; the snake was still dead! RUMBLE! It was... his stomach! Itmunicated to him with its mighty roar! Looking at the titan he had inst night, "Yes, I DESERVE a mighty breakfast after that..." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om As old tradition of heroic tales posttes, the first thing after a great victory was of course the great feast! After plundering his rations like a Viking and filling his stomach to the brim, he felt a lot better. His Leg also felt a lot better. "Status?" Name: Seth Smith Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 12 Exp: 8% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 832/1000 Mana: 160/214.2(210+4.2) Strength:37 Dexterity:37 Agility: 27 Intelligence:16+5 Willpower:27 Endurance:37 Personality:12 Luck:17 Free AP (Attribute points): 33 Free SP (Skill points): 8 Defense: Physical: 241 (111+50+80) (ENDx3) Magical: 94 (54+25+15) (WILx2) Fire Resistance :100% (50%+70%) Seths health had started recovering! That was good! It actually jumped up while he was looking at it! Is endurance had greatly increased, did it maybe work like vitality in some games? He hardly remembered all the notifications he had gotten after killing the juvenile, so he checked all the windows to not miss anything. He remembered something about skills, so that was the first thing he checked. As his second most viewed window, he immediately saw the changes. Skill Window: Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.6 cksmith (Apprentice) lv.7 (40%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.3 Fire Maniption lv.5 Blueprint (Apprentice) lv.2 Weapon Mastery (Adept) lv.2 (92%) Spirit Smithy lv.2 Spirit Capture lv.3 Map lv.2 Fear Resistance lv.7 Fire Affinity lv.8 Soul Infusion lv.2 Observation lv.2 Concealment lv.3 Enchantment (Beginner) lv.1 The first thing that caught his attention was the new skill! Looking at the description he understood why was titled a "primitive enchantment" The skill description was quitecking, but he soon found out why. The enchantment catalog gave more information. The catalog was a window with several tabs. The descriptions of the 4 tabs gave a deeper insight about the branches of the skill. Scan, Magic Circuits, Forging Bads, Enchantments The Enchantments-Tab was grayed out, so he could only guess what it did by method of elimination. Magic Circuits worked by creating specific ways for the magic power to travel like engraving or iys. When magic was flowing in these lines the weapon or armor could obtain a specific effect. Forging Bads was described as singing or chanting during the forging to weave the magic property into the material. It was simr to . But different from both seemed to need external power to be activated and were not permanently active. Enchantments would then have to be something a magician or wizard did traditionally in games. Seth was a cksmith, so it was probably grayed out because of his ss. was different from , as he did not get any beginner enchantments to train with. The Scan-Tab was an empty window with a something like an item slot. His game knowledge told him that he would most likely have to collect examples himself... what a pain. He tried putting his ring in, but was told that his skill level was too low to scan it! was obviously aplex skill and this was not really the time to- Wait!? The level of had gone back to two!? Did he get special treatment for praying or was it a f*cking joke?! After all, this overpowered skill had been almost useless in his situation. At least he had gotten back the SP. He had a lot of SP now. He also remembered something about a quest, Seth never really payed much attention to the quest window, so it was his first time noticing a different tab in the window.. It wasbeled as system and he found -The Next Level- and -The Next Level 2- lit up. Chapter 30 - 30. Snakes In A Barrel < Quest: The Next Level 2 Difficulty: - Reach Level 15. Rewards: Inventory Space, System Rights > System Rights? Seth opened the grayed out -The Next Level- and found exactly the same description. What did he unlock then? Maybe it was a window? How would he open it if he had no idea how it was called? It was then, that Seth remembered that calling out the windows was a shortcut. Like in most games, all windows existed as a tab in the main window, his status. What he found beside the Skill-, Inventory- and Quest-tab was... Social? There were party options, like distribution of experience and inviting other yers. And there was a friend list. He had expected more from something called "System Rights", but it was literally just the ess to more perks. It did not help a lot. As the only person in town with zero friends, Seth could hardly make a party with anybody. What really positively surprised him were the titles. Even when some of them were weird, titles seemed always worth collecting! Seth felt like he had spent enough time on his menu windows. The AP and SP could wait for now. There were more important things, like looting, right? In his inventory he saw the soul of the big serpent. It was a little underwhelming, but also told him that the big carcass held a lot of material he could harvest. It would not be easy to harvest it, though. Aside from its enormous size, more than half its body was still stuck in the lower floor and only about 1/4 was reaching over the edge of the roof. But big bro-system surprised him once again! He touched the corpse and was able to store the whole body in one item slot! After storing the body, he checked the situation. His was in a hurryst night and did not check the roof ess. There was no door to the staircase up here. Seth only found a hatch! The bottom below the hatch was filled with snakes, but thedder up to the hatch was copsed, so they could not reach the rooftop! Seth knew exa~ctly what to do, after seeing the squirming mess of snakes below. "Almost too easy~", Seth smirked. He felt better now, but he was still filled with resentment. These little vermin had almost cost him his life! So, what if their mommy was a Field Boss?! He would grind all her babies to dust if they dared toe here! Of course, he could have used his bow to shoot them now, like fish in a barrel. He had even gotten back most of the arrows that were stuck in their big brother when he stored him. But it did not seem worth the ammunition. He had barely one stack, it was probably not enough, anyways. Seth had a better n. He summoned the and started throwing anything metal he found on the roof into the furnace. The weapons in his inventory were the best he had made in thest few weeks. There was no way he would sacrifice them here. The most he could make with the things he found on the roof was . It would suffice. What he made were the big, mean, and ancient uncles ofwn darts, Plumbata! They were throwing darts the size of crossbow bolts and simr to weighted arrows. Seth forged 15 plumbatapletely from metal and attached a small loop for a rope to retrieve them. Original they were thrown to disrupt the charge of infantry man, followed by a volley of arrows. Now, Seth chucked them at an army of angry snakes, who were helpless against this merciless reaper from above! Every throw was a hit, but not always a kill. There was also a wide variety in level among the snakes below. Some were also only regr Snakes, while others were babies. The experience he gained from this was ambiguous, but he could see the bar grow in exceedingly small increments. Simrly, his inched closer to the next level. Like a machine, Seth kept throwing the 15 plumbata and reeled them back in. Sometimes with a corpse attached to them. In those moments he felt like a spear fisher or a whaler. The baby Titanoboas found their way into his inventory, as their skin wasbeled as crafting material. Seth kept going all morning, it did not cost him much stamina to throw the darts straight down at his helpless victims. You may think this way cruel, but all of those snakes were enraged and thirsted for his blood! They did not deserve better! Seth steeled his resolve and kept going all morning. At noon Seth decided, that it was time for a break, to replenish his energy. He had a lot of dead snakes; it was only natural that he skewered them on sword and started roasting them over the forge. He salivated over the lightly salted meat. It had been long since he had fresh meat and these baby snakes smelled better than expected. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Some when in the afternoon he actually leveled up to 13! How many snakes had he killed? If he had not pulled up most to the bodies, they would easily pile up to his hatch. Kills came a little faster, after finally overcame the hurdle and reach Lv.3. Finally, their numbers started to dwindle. And atst, no new snakes appeared below the hatch anymore. And when thest one died- Seth had hoped for this kind of title after gaining the first one! Now the small ones would avoid him and he could get out of here. He just had to avoid meeting another big guy. It could not be that hard. Seths guess was, that the outskirts were the hatching ground or something, so there should be mostly small ones. Otherwise, there would not have been just one juvenile, right? ...right? In the space below the hatch were only dead snakes left, so Seth deemed it safe to climb down. He almost slipped on the blood and corpse covered floor when hended. Catching his bnce, he came to stand in the middle of the pandemonium he created. The hallway was filled with dead snaked like spaghetti and they were covered in their own "tomato sauce". Seth felt a little weird, but he hesitated to leave this much fresh meat behind. So, he ended up storing all the snakes, no matter whether they were normal one, or the babies. He ended up with almost two stacks of Titanoboa and one of normal snakes. He also had collected half a stack of Souls (small). Thank the system, that his inventory had been expanded to 5x5! Going down the staircase Seth saw the devastation the juvenile left behind when it had wreaked havoc the other night. The barricades were crushed and broken. The management floor was wiped out. The babies had left, but the normal snakes that were still in the building attacked him. They obviously counted as adults, even when they were weaker than the babies... Luckily, his raft was still where he left it! With this Seth left behind the crime scene if his struggle and ughter. Chapter 31 - 31.Pulling The Plug? -Arget Nore- Arget Nore had been invaded by a terrifying enemy. Contrary to expectations, disgusting creatures had invaded from a new world they wanted to explore. Before the expedition forces could even expand their influence, everyone had been called back when the biggestpany had beenpletely wiped out. Several hundred atrocities had crossed the gate and eradicated the stationed guards and supply units before the other side could somehow close the gate. All expeditions to that world had been called back as a precaution. Other groups also brought unsettling news. Umonly well-organized resistance by bands of natives, bone corroding mists and darkness, metal golems and never before seen monsters. A group had been crushed by roots the moments they left the Pathworks and some others met a creature wielding a terrifying pale me. What kind of chaotic world was this "Urth"? How much information did the Church of the System hold back? Why did he have to go back there...? The empire had needed several weeks to control and barely contain the region, where the atrocities had invaded. The situation was judged stable, which was why the expeditions were resumed. This time not from the main ne, but from a vassal world. Just to be on the safe side. He was a summoner specialized on fire elementals. He had been part of the expedition that met a giant animated forest and barely survived thanks to his specialization! Now he and others of simr upation with fire specialization were scheduled for the destination, where the pale me had urred. In case it appeared again, they would be more capable to deal with it, than necromancers and undead. Their destination was described as a partly ruined city of incredible dimension that was on the verge of desertification. A perfect environment for their department! It was the morning of the day they would set off. the sun was dim, the air was murky and everything was tinted in a heart-calming gray. The priests gave a motivational speech and got everyone excited. They would build a bridge head in that world and recover their losses! And more! Everyone was showing a manic expression as the ink-ck gate opened in front of their expedition force. An ear-piercing roar of water, screams of terror and pain. Overwhelming pressure ripping them apart. These were thest impressions of the expedition force, as a wall of water rushed out of the portal like a gigantic tidal wave! The orderly rows of soldiers vanished in seconds as they were ground away under the force of the cataclysm. He was desperately clinging to a tree as the water tried to take him away with domineering might. It was pure luck. His position was away from the direct impact and he was not killed instantly like the priests who had opened the flood gates. Now, there was no one here who could close those gates! Was there even anyone able to go against the rushing water and reach the gate? He could see glimpses of others vanishing in the current and heard their muffled screams as their lives perished like a candle in the wind. His arms started to weaken. He had clung to this tree for what felt like an eternity and the current did not weaken one bit! His summons were all fire base, none of them could do more than die a meaningless death. His hands started to slip. This was the end for him, so he released all the contracts with his summons. He did not want to drag them down with him. The next moment he had already vanished in the floodwaters. -Deltan- Seth had been on the water for a day and a night. He was not travelling fast, even without the snakes bothering him. He had reached the border of the city; the houses were shorter and the water seemed shallower here. Still, most ruins did not break the surface anymore, but were visible below like coral reefs. This was a whole other perspective of a sunken city. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The view helped Seth enjoy the journey despite the ambiguous speed. Food and water were no problem right now, so he just enjoyed the break. No work, no danger. Just boring rxing silence. He used the wind and moved in a meandering line towards Starta. Seth had a lot of time to think now and used it to invest his free points. He first distributed his attribute points. With hisst level up he had 41, so he tried to even out his stats and kept 6 behind, just in case. Selecting the Skill Points, he had 9 now, he noticed that had unlocked! Concentrating on the skill he could now switch through every part of the smithy and read their description. Level three cost him 2 SP. Now the crafting stations were able to work with "rare" material and a new one was added! This exined why it had unlocked after he had obtained the skill. Seth was not a fan of overly ornate weapons, but he was open to make them if the effects were worth it and it got him proficiency! He had 7 SP left. The next decision was hard. Seth did not want to squander SP on skills he could train on his own, like or . He had been constantly using since he resumed his journey to train it and actually managed to get it to lv.4! Level 5 would cost 5 SP; it did not seem worth it. Seth decided that he did not have to spend his SP at all. He would save the rest and wait until he could raise again. Maybe he could level up all his specific ss skills at the same time? What was left now was rxing and staying on course. It was sometimeter he noticed on the map, that he was moving backwards! What was going on? When he looked in the direction of the city center, he could see nothing. Once again, his trusty binocr showed its worth! The water was still calm here, but closer to the city center Seth could see rapids forming among the building and ruins! Wait! Was that a maelstrom in the center!? He had to stop the raft now! It would never be able to survive those rapids! And he would never survive a run in with a Titanoboa on this nutshell! Even less without it. Good thing he had kept the makeshift grappling hook as an anchor. With this he could anchor at one of the submerged buildings nearby. Maybe he could wait this one out? Just what did he think? Seth had been anchored for several hours now and the sun was about to go down! Would he have to stay here for the night? The water had sunk by almost two meters! He could not imagine where all the water was going, but he was d, not to be there! When the night fell, he was trying to get some sleep, but as the water sank more and more rapids formed with buildings and ruins resurfacing! The noise from the maelstrom became louder and louder. It was hard, but Seth fell asleep in the end. Chapter 32 - 32.Night On The Water Seth woke up the next morning. His raft stood on solid ground. The water level had sunk to much, that Seths raft was now standing on the rooftop he had been anchored to. He drowsily crawled to the roof edge and saw that he was several stories above the water surface. Just how much water was this? And it was drained away in just a night. Seth was shocked, but his mood was lifted soon. If this much water had been drained, then his search for drynd might have shortened tremendously! But how would he get his raft down to the water...? It was the first time he could not store something in his inventory. Even so the raft was not terribly big, the system denied to recognize it as a single object! "Oh well, why overthink things?", he mumbled and chucked the raft off the building, into the water. The ssh was big and loud, but the raft held together! Now he had to get down fast! If he was too slow, the raft would just drift off in the current! "Should I just jump...? ", he pondered. Seth looked into the depth and his heart palpitated. "nah, Im good...", with this Seth plunged toward the door to the staircase. Everything was slimy and slippery. The doors, the handle, the guard rails and the stairs soaked and covered in a film of algae. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om His shoes barely found grip on his way down. Seth had to slow down his descend, if he didn''t want to tumble down the stairs and reach the raft with a few broken bones. He felt that his body had be a lot sturdier with his increase in attributes, but the fall damage never cared about your character level, in games! The rooms he could see into were filled rubbish and debris, with the one or other fish in between... "What kind of fish is THIS supposed to be!?", Seth called out. He had almost reached the raft when he saw a beast as big as himself stranded in one of the rooms he passed. It was reminiscent of armored cat fish he used to catch with his dad, just a LOT bigger. The fish was easily longer than twice his height. Its body covered in thick articted bone scales. Different from the small ones he knew, this one had a face like a deep-sea fish with big bulging eyes and long protruding teeth. It made Seth seriously consider returning back to the giant snakes. Should he really get back on the water, if creatures like this were out there? The better question was: Could he stay here until the water was gone? But Seth was not sure, whether the water would evenpletely drain! Anyways, he had to get to his raft, fast! So, he left the writhing and gasping monster fish behind and hurried to his little vessel. He barely reached it before it was too far away and resumed his journey. He had to use his paddle to fight the weak pull from the maelstrom in the far distance. His sea travel became boring soon. Seth left behind Deltan and could soon stop paddling. Relying on his sail he moves as a tiny little spot, over a vast expanse of open water. Only his map indicated that he was moving at all! The sun was unpleasantly burning from the sky onto Seth''s pale skin. Three weeks indoors made him look like a vampire. But three weeks of hard work had also made him look fit and well-trained. So, he did not look like a shut-in, despite his title. Now the sun was hard at work to tan his skin, or burn him. Should he have built a shelter on his little nutshell? Seth tried to cover himself with the ck cloth, but it became terribly stifling below it. He weed the cool breeze once the sun finally set. The night was even more magical than the first time he had traveled on the ins. The moon and stars shone bright in the night sky. Their reflection on the calm water, like in a mirror, shone back up to them from below. The image only disrupted by the little vessel and Seth drifting along in a doubled firmament. It was still warm below his ck nket and the warmth slowly lulled him into sleep. "Cough! Cough!", a tiny coughing drove the weariness away. A little humanoid was desperately clinging to the edge of his raft. Seth knelled down to take a better look. < Name: ***-. Level: ~~''* Race: Fairy Affiliation: Fair Folk > It was a fairy! Its little wings were limp and soaked an it used itsst energy to grasp the lower edge of a pallet "...help... please...", a quiet and rough voice can from the poor thing. ". hu-huma~n..please help Fin..." Teary dark eyes looked up at him as its small hand started to lose strength and slip. Carefully Seth scooped the little being out of the water. Seth finally had the chance to see a fairy from close up. The smooth white body felt cold on his hand as he brought the shivering fairy in front of his face. Its eyes were big and round andpletely ck, sclera and iris, both. "please help ...others...", it mumbled before all tension left its body and it fell asleep. "Others?", Seth looked into the darkness. He could see nothing but the stars mirrored on the surface. And then a pale light illuminated his surroundings for tens of meters. Seth used to turn his hand into a torch. The Soul Fire easily overpowered the star light and became a new sun between the firmaments. He could see all kinds of broken rubbish floating. Some had a fairy or two clinging to them...some were fairies themselves. "Hey you little ones! Swim to the me! If you still have the power to...", thest part he whispered. Some of those he saw started moving towards him. Others seemed to barely react. Instead of waiting, Seth started paddling around with his raft, holding one of his hands in the air. Meandering around on his raft, collecting all the fairies he could find. Many were barely awake, others barely alive. Seth spread the ck cloth on a corner of the raft, so the fairies could lie down and dry themselves. He also collected those who did not move anymore and put them into his inventory. Maybe they would want to bury them or something. When he could not see anymore, Seth extinguished the fire. He had probably looked for almost 2 hours now and he had no idea how long they had been adrift here. He did not want to think about it, but those he did not find might have already ended up in a fish. The fairies sat orid on the ck cloth, some used the corners for cover and warmth. They did not talk, most of the were asleep now. Those away stared int the distance. It really reminded Seth of the scene in a movie after a ship ident. Seth''s heart sank and he felt sorry, watching their small broken and shivering figures. "H-human~ Thank you for saving Fin and her friends!", a quite squeaking voice came from his side. It was the first fairy, that had clung to his raft. It had recovered and watched Seth collecting her brethren and decided to speak now. Her eyes sparkled with gratefulness. Seth got the raft back on course and had a conversation with Fin. A very one-sided conversation, as a flood of word bubbled out of her. The Fairies had found this exit of the Pathworks that led to the ins a few weeks ago and decided to settle here, as the grasnd was great to grow their preferred flowers! Originally, they kept in contact, but soon contact was lost! So, they put together a search party. Fairies were bad with water. Really bad, as you can see. The exit of the Pathworks was now submerged! When they exited, they were thrown into rapid water, as the water rushed into the portal! Someone had managed to close it early and the water calmed down. they could swim to the surface that this point. "Oh no! What about home!?", she said in panic as if this was Fins first time thinking of it. It was probably her first chance to think of other things than survival. Seth looked at his map. "We will soon reach Starta, if its still there. I bet the church there can help you." Fin nodded her small head with new hope. When the night sky started to be brighter, they closed in on Starta. Chapter 33 - 33.Simon Of The Lake -Starta- The morning sun glimpsed over the horizon. Its rays painted beautiful moving patterns on the cobblestone streets of Starta as it fell through the water. The water level had suddenly fallen a lot faster than Simon had anticipated and the dome above the city was peeking through the water surface. The few vigers that had stayed during this rainy season could see an underwater world outside the bubble that covered the city. All kinds of fascinating a weird fish flying over their heads like birds. Some even visited Starta for this view, others had returned to the empire for the time being, as they could not do their jobs. The old priest was checking and adjusting the barrier. With this much water pressure gone this fast, the barrier might have blown up, if he had not kept an eye on the magics output. Simon actually enjoyed this season. The blurry sun shining through the water was something quite extraordinary and sweetened the boring work of barrier maintenance. But on this great morning a big piece of driftwood blocked the light of the morning sun. Seths rinky-dink little nutshell was floating above the vige and had lodged onto the dome. The fairies, even Fin, had finally fallen asleep and he was barely able to stay awake. When the map told him that they had reached their destination, Seth could only see a shallow tform breaking the water surface. Looking over the edge of the raft he understood that it was the tip of a giant hemisphere, that covered the vige below them. He could see the streets and houses from above like a bird. A medieval town existing on the bottom of ake was something different from seeing a modern city flooded by water. It was a lot more...magical? "Hah! I was right!", Seth celebrated in a tired voiced. That Santa use-priest DID have a way to counter this disaster. "But how do we get in?", this was the big question. Seth was perplexed as the raft went aground on the dome with a "thunk" and lodged itself there. Well, at least they did not have to worry about drifting away now that they were stuck. It was as Seth thought about a way to get into the barrier or get someone''s attention, that he followed an age-old human instinct. Knock on the ss of an aquarium. He was startled when he almost lost bnce and fell off the raft. His knuckle passed the energy membrane like a soap bubble! The situation had instantly changed. Seths raft was not stuck on solid ground. It was a tform reaching over the precipice of a more than 10m deep cavern! You could tell him whatever you wanted about attributes and supernatural systems; he did not want to take such a fall. Heights were just not his thing. It''s not about the danger, it is a matter of principle! Seth looked back and forth between the limp fairies and the "abyss" in front of him. They were not fit to fly down there with their own power. He frowned hard, but sighed in the end. The young man saw only one option, he had to climb down there and get help. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Poking the little Fin with his finger, he woke her up. "Fin we are here. Can you look after your friends? I will climb down there and ask for help." Seth had told Fin about Starta during the night. She was happy that they were traveling to a vige of the Chrona Empire. She had told him a lot about the Pathworks and as followers of the Church of the System, Fin described the empires people as one of the friendly factions that used the Pathworks. As such they had friendly rtionships with most races, the fairies being one of them. Seth took out two ropes. He would use one to climb down and prepared the other so he could tie a basket to it and pull it up like an elevator for the fairies. Even if the church did not help him, he could just buy a basket with the stuff in his inventory. Simon stood bbergasted on the control panel of the barrier and stared to the top of the dome. From the driftwood that had blocked his sun, a rope fell to the ground. And another? Following the ropes was the lean figure of a wild looking man peeking over the edge of the driftwood. His scraggly beard looked unkempt and the mix of dark cloth and tes he wore looked scratched up and a little dirty. The priest rushed to the town square below it. The guy clumsily and slowly climbed down one of the ropes. Simon felt a slight difort when he reached the mostly empty square. Had the man just used on him? With pain and misery Seth climbed down the rope. It was one thing to climb up, it was another when he had to go down! He used to remember the priests name and felt it used on himself soon after. "Hey! ...Simon! Im back...?", the youth greeted Simon awkwardly. Simon was not polite and also used on the man in front of him. Seth? He could see nothing but general things like Name, Level, and age, even so he was several tens of levels higher than the young man. "What? This is supposed to be that boy?", Simon thought, astounded about the changes. Seth had been tall to begin with, but thest time he saw him he looked pale and thin, almost sickly. He was still pale, with a light sunburn maybe? The biggest change was his build. His shoulder seemed wider and he looked quite muscr under the armor. What did he do in those weeks? "Simon? Hey priest!", Seth waved his hand in front of the old man''s face to wake him from his stupor. "Oh! A, yes. Seth! Hello!", the priest reacted awkwardly. Seth did not mind their weird greeting and started to exin the situation to the rotund priest then and there. Simon proved once again that he was a really friendly old man and immediately agreed to help and take care of the fairies. He would make sure to help them return home as soon as possible. When Seth exined to Simon how he wanted to get the fairies down, the other shook his head with a smile and stopped Seth. He called two priest who started chanting and gesturing. The next thing he saw was the raft gently entering the bubble and floating to the ground. Simons and the other priests face fell when they saw the condition the fairies were in. Unconscious, hypothermic, some with bleeding injuries, broken wings, and limbs. In daylight they looked even worse than during the night. Seth felt depressed upon witnessing their suffering. A warm handnded on Seths shoulder. Simon gave him a kind smile. "You look like you had some rough time. My people will take care of them for now. How about youe with me to the church? The world changes after a warm bath. What do you think about a set of clean clothes and a healthy meal? After that we can talk. I have a nice tea and fresh cookies in my office." "Cookies...." Chapter 34 - 34.The Choice Simon was right. It was a bliss to finally be able to take a warm bath after so long. The moment his body submerged in the warm soapy water his fatigue was lifted. Seth actually fell asleep. But after a short nap he was woken by the call of a maid, who had brought a fresh set of simple clothing. The outfit fit themoner style of the empire he had seen in town, but was veryfy to wear. What waited for him when he left the bath was a table filled with food. Soup, Bread, fruits, desserts, various kinds of meat dishes, noodles, rice, and sauces. Seth and the priest did not talk during the scrumptious meal. Quite the contrary, while Seth did not have such an excessive feast for a long time and had reason to shovel food and drink into his belly without a single word, Simon did the same! The rotund priest was vacuuming food into himself like a person close to starvation! The young man and old priest fought a merciless battle of supremacy on the dinner table. One trying to decimate food faster than the other. The oue of this battle would stay inconclusive, as both adversaries copsed under the constant supply of food the demonic maids brought to the table. In theirst moment they finally bonded over the realization, that they were not each other''s enemy. Both had been fighting an uphill battle against the dark forces of the church, the maids. "This gluttonous beast *cough* priest was already bad enough. Now we have another person with a ck hole for a stomach...", the maidsmented mischievously looking at their victims, whoid copsed in a fooda on the ground. They woke up at roughly the same time. Both had recovered from the bout of overwhelming satiety and were ready for round two. "So, tea?", Simon asked the young man with a roguish smile. "And cookies.", Seth demanded. Both stood up and waddled off, to the priest''s office. Both grunting like old man they sat down on opposite sides of the desk. Once they each had a cup of steaming tea and a te of cookies was settled on the desk between then, Seth told Simon his story. Seth obviously omitted some parts about his ss, but he described it as a variation of a cksmith ss. It was easier thaning up with some bullshit lie. He had also started to trust the priest and his church a little more, after listening to Fins monologue. The past weeks had been very eventful and Seth had majorly calmed down,pared to the first time he hade to Starta, when he was just someone driven like a fugitive. He became clearer about his situation and more confident in his ss and himself. The revtions he had about his ss, as the level and number of skills grew and the near-death experiences, he collected showed him a direction. The Apocalypse was dangerous, but had many opportunities for the strong and prepared. The world was in a constant change and would just grow more dangerous in the future, while his skill already started to stagnate. Itcked what he needed the most right now. Knowledge. He could not grow fast enough to harvest the fortunes. If he stayed alone in this world, it would soon overwhelm him, so he made a decision. "Say, Simon, could I use the Pathworks to travel to Chrona Empire?", he asked when their conversation paused for a while. N?v(el)B\\jnn Seths idea was simple. To grow his skills he not only needed rare materials. He needed more knowledge about enchantments, weapon patterns and materials. Urth was changing right now, he would not be able to find what he needed here. Seth was sure he could find what he needed easier if he could enter an already developed magical world with a stable society. And once he had all the basics down, he could go where ever he wanted. Simon raised his eyebrows about Seth''s sudden request. "hum hum, maybe. If you remember, outsiders are not allowed to help you too much unless you join their faction." "Yes, I remember." "Why the sudden change of mind?", Simon asked. He still remembered, that Seth had seemed quite opposed to joining a faction before. "Well, things happened. I had a long talk with a fairy that would not shut up. And the fact that your god probably had some fun at my cost may have convinced me that you are not just talking nonsense..." "hum hoh? God pranked you? That means he likes you!", the priest said smiling. It was not often; their god took his time to spend special attention on someone. "Just to be clear, I wont join if I have to take order from anyone. And I wont disclose my skills willingly and-" Seth stopped mid-sentence, when the old man in front of him suddenly started cackling like a hyena. He would just not stop. His eyes even started tearing up! It was Seth''s turn to lift an eyebrow. "ha ha ha ha! So that was what you were worried about!? Sorry to beughing about your worries, but its a hrious idea from my perspective. God would punish us, if we interfered that much with an ori huma. Im d it was something this simple.", wiping away a tear the old priest bowed down to rummage around in his desk drawer. In the end he put a form in front of Seth. "Here! This is a simple contract to be a Lay Follower of the System Church. With this you can use the Pathworks at any System Church for a small "fee" and you can stay within the territory of the Chrona Empire and any other faction that acknowledged the church. Great, right?" Seth was a little wary. This went way too easy. "Sounds great, yes. What is the catch? "Hum hum, a catch?", the old man''s eyes glinted, " Let me be honest. The church will not actively help you. Even if we help you, it wont be for free. You will be barred from joining any other faction in the Pathworks or other worlds. This is a lot less than other factions will offer you, but their catch will be expectation in you. The church on the other hand will guarantee your identity and wont care about whatever you do, as long as you dont break anyws. We offer you the freedom you want in exchange of denying you free help. " This speech might have sounded cruel for some people, but it was great new for Seth. He did not need help and was afraid of others meddling in his affairs. "But why do we offer this weird deal? Dont look at me like that! Its written on your face. Its simple, its part of our doctrine. Taking you in and making others unable to interfere is defending our god''s interests. Freedom is struggle, struggle is fun to watch.", Simon shrugged his shoulders. "Just sign here. The sooner you sign, the faster we can talk about where you wish to travel.", Simon smirked. He was sure it was an offer; Seth could not refuse. Seth kept staring at the paper and reading the trantion of what was written. It was true, everything Simon had said was written in the document. He lightheartedly signed the contract. Simon smiled; he was sure the young man had made the right decision. They kept talking a long time, even till deep into the night. About Seths rough goals and the territories that could be reached from their current position. Seth also tried to get some secrets out of the old priest, but the other stayed mute about anything that would spoil Seth, about his future. It waste when they finished talking and a maid brought Seth to a guestroom. "Ah! Wait. Can you bring me to the room the fairies are staying?", Seth suddenly asked the maid. The maid pondered for a moment. "Yes, I think thats ok.", she said and turned around. She gestured Seth to follow her and brought him to a room the same size as his. On the big bed sat a lot of tiny figures with cast down faces. Their wounds had been treated for the most part, some still had bandages and splints. They all turned their head toward the door in unison when it opened. "Errm, hello?", Seth said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. "Hello Seth! Did Sethe to meet Fin!?", the only overloaded ball of energy among them shot at him like a bullet. Her over excited behavior really made him smile, despite the heavy task he was burdened with right now. "Yes and no Fin. Actually, there is something I wanted to tell you. All of you.", with this all the unfocused stares of the fair folknded on him. "Im sorry, if Im a littlete with this, but that night I also ... I collected your dead, too. Of course, I dont know your practices and maybe I did something wrong, but it did not seem right to leave them there for the fish and birds to... Maybe you want to-", Seth stuttered and spoke really fast to get this rather ufortable task over with. He was interrupted by an older looking fairy suddenly rushing up to him and grabbing his cor. "D-Did you say you collected them?!", an unprecedented light was filling its ck eyes. "Ah, er-yes!", Seth nodded a little stumped. It was not just the fairy before him, even the others on the bed had a tiny glimmer in their eyes. "What a fortune! Are they in your inventory? Can you please take them out?", the elder fairys voice. Seth did not really know what was going on, but he came before the crowd on the bed and one by one put almost 40 fairy bodies on the bed in front of them. It was almost as many, as there were survivors. Each body brought a gasp or tears from among the crowd. Some more some less, but the fairies always seemed d to see them, more than sad over their death. "You are probably confused now Seth, right?", on his shoulder sad Fin. Her extreme energy and high pitch has subsided. She seemed almost mature, as she looked down at her people with tiny smile and little teary eyes. "Maybe I will tell you in the future.", she added cheekily and flew away. Seth saw that the fairies were upied with their own matter and used the chance to leave for his own room. Chapter 35 - 35. Denied!? Was it disloyal to leave his home world, just because it became a hot mess of near-death experiences? Maybe a little. However, Seth decided that staying was not an option right now. Seth had not lied a lot about his ss, so it was rtively easy to talk with the old priest Simon about a fitting destination. It would take two or three days to prepare the passage, since they were also working on one to send the fairies back home. He felt a lot better after settling their matter. With a calm conscience Seth spent almost the entire first day in bed. The tension and the emergency had kept him awake for an entire night and the nap in the bath and the food had helped, but had not been enough. So, his body took the chance and demanded its due sleep. He had only left the bed for food and the call of nature. And so, he started his second day of his stay in Starta refreshed and with a good mood. One of the priests had informed him that his passage would be ready the next day. Seth nned to settle his preparations by then. He had talked with Simon about stuff like the currency of the empire. Maybe because everything as governed by an RPG-like system, the currency followed the typical trend. Factions following the system church had gold, silver, and bronze coins. 100 bronze coins were 1 Silver and 100 Silver were 1 Gold. These coins were made with a unique skill of a ss called Minter. The coins would not take up inventory space, but turn into a money disy, just like in games! The first thing he wanted to do, was to get rid of all the weapons that were clogging up his inventory. Which meant selling them! Seth arrived hat Klods, the cksmiths, Shop early in the morning. The streets were almost empty, otherwise people would have seen a tall muscr youth standing around and looking up every few steps. Looking up at the water above amazed Seth every time. Watching all kinds of fish and ...stuff swim past like in a reverse-aquarium was fascinating. He could not really appreciate the view during his arrival, for obvious reasons. Entering the small cksmiths Shop; his eyes wandered over the disy. This time, it was Seths turn to see small ws and mistakes in the weapons of his fellow cksmith. Not. He could only interpret the information he got from . Seth was far from having enough experience to see ws in Klods works. The practical forging skill and execution was still better than Seths. If anything, he could only guess that their ratings were lower, because of the material and equipment used. Everything was at most medium iron and Seth guessed that this was the reason he had gotten as a recipe once had reached the required level. It had been in his material catalog ever since then. Seth felt the gaze of the old cksmith on him. "hoh? Young man, you have changed quite a bit, since west me!", he admired as his eyes roamed across Seths body and armor. "ha ha, yeah!", Seth said diforted by the old man''s wandering eyes. "I stayed in seclusion to train my skill. Until I almost drowned, that is", he joked. "Oh my god! The young people these days! Not only talent, but even diligence. I heard about your spectacr arrival with a boatload of fairies. but we can talk about you adventurester, if you want.", the shop owner cackled. "Come here, let this old man see how much your skills have grown!" Klod waved his hand for Seth toe closer to the counter. He smiled amiably at Seth. Klod had always been a forging enthusiast and chose to be a cksmith, despite not really having the talents. Still, he was not bitter about his choice and appreciated every new young talent of his trade he met. Sinceying eyes on that billhook, he looked forward to Seth overtaking him in the future! Unhesitatingly Seth stepped forth and took out one of the swords he made for practice, from his inventory. He had done these a lot, since he had chosen the sword as oneof his weapon. It was a fantasy staple after all. Of course, it was one without a soul or properties. It was still an umon rated weapon, though! The young man put an unadorned longsword on the table in front of Klod. With a rough look, the experienced cksmith could see that it was a very traditional and functional form, unlike the more modern trends the youths nowadays chose. What started as a look of appreciation upon seeing the traditional design, soon became a look of shock. Future? What future? This young man had almost overtaken him in the present! The weapon he had shown him during their first meeting had already been very promising, but it still had many hammer marks and gouges back then. This simple sword was almost wless. One really had to nitpick toin about this weapon. The practical skills were already remarkably close to his own, Seths skills had tremendously increased in the brief time since their first meeting. To top it off, the material really boosted the performance. Klod was almost jealous! All he was given as the smith of a Starta vige was medium iron. He had no chance to get his hand on steel! This weapon was better than most of the things in his shop. "My young friend, your growth is truly monstrous! I would not dare to find fault with your works!", Klodughed happily. He really looked forward to Seths future. If they became friends, maybe he could see truly legendary pieces then? "Anyways, you are probably not here just to bask in this old man''s praise. What can I do for you?" " I have been talking with Simon and I joined the church as ay follower. I will leave this world soon to grow my skills. So~ I was going to get some funds and wanted to sell the weapons I made! Would you be willing to buy them?" Klod was a little surprised, but asked the young man to show him his wares. Seth continued to pour out weapons from his inventory onto the counter. To save space he had chosen to make less different weapons and more of one kind, so he could stack them. He had maces, war-hammers and other blunt weapons made of medium iron. Swords, axes, daggers, and other ded weapons made of medium steel. Tens of weapons per kind. The old man stumbled upon seeing half an armory pouring onto his counter. He looked at Seth perplexed and blushed with an awkward expression. Watching such an old man go through a plethora of different expressions was... interesting. "Hehe, Seth. You see, look errm....", his eyes shifted around, thinking about what to say. "Take a look around my shop. ", he sighed, "Most your weapons are easily better than mine. And you have more than me! I cant buy your items. I do not have the money, to pay you a fair price! Im sorry Seth, but I cant help you with this." Seth was bbergasted. Then he facepalmed hard. Why did he not think of this! No matter how much the system made the world look like a game, people would not have infinite money to just buy his stuff! Klod noticed the young man''s reaction and calmed down. Seth seemed to be more embarrassed than himself. "Didn''t you say that you talked to Simon? Did you not mention...this?", he gestured at the heap of weapons. Seth was a little abashed by this question. "I ma~y have told him I had so~me weapons to sell?" The old smith immediately caught on. The priest could not have guessed the magnitude of this business and Seth avoided spilling the beans. He sighed with a smile. "Seth, the operation of this vige is too small to buy this many weapons of this quality. You really have to talk to Simon about this." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He exined that even in the empire no shop would buy that number of weapons. Only a noble, or the military would buy weapons in bulk. It would be hard for Seth to get such a connection, but Klod told him, that the System Church could act as a mediator in this case, as they were majorly involved in inter-dimensional trade. It exined why a church had so many clerks and counters! "So, this was how they made their money", Seth mumbled. All Klod could do was appraise his weapons for him, so he could ask for the right price. "oh yeah, could you tell me what this is worth?", Seth mentioned and took out an ingot of electrum the size of a credit card. Seth just called it electrum because it sounded cool. He had mixed the silver and gold bars he had made to save inventory space. It was not a recipe in the smelting menu. Seth had found, that he could use to take control of the me of the furnace. It took a lot of energy, but if the alloy was not worth as much as the pure metals, he could split them again. It was very simr to Free Creation; it just did not give extra experience. It was the first time he found the system was a little inadequate. He could not split an alloy with the furnace menu. He could choose either gold or silver, but if you had a metal alloy and chose one of theponents as the final product, would register all otherponents as impurities and burn them away. "A gold bar?", Klod grabbed the golden ingot and bit into a corner. "Where did you get this?", he asked baffled. "oh, you know...here and there", Seth gave a nomittal answer. "Hmm, all right. Let me check the purity.", he continued and rummaged around behind his counter. What appeared in his hands was a device, that looked like a digital letter-scale without a disy. It was about the size of a palm and had a runic magic circle inscribed on it. Curiously, Seth leaned in closer to see what Klod was doing. He put the gold bar in the middle of the scale and then touched the corners of the device. The circle lit up, the metal started glowing and the next thing was a window popping up above the device. It was simr to the system windows. It indicated the elements and their ratio in the bar in permille. The bar was 789 parts gold and 211 parts silver! Klod sighed when he saw the window. "Thats shame. I''m sorry Seth, but this gold does not seem very pure." Seth gave the old cksmith a puzzled look. "What do you mean, its almost 80% gold. Isnt that quite good?" Klod shook his head, "Of course, I didn''t say its worthless. But no matter who will buy it, he will not pay for the silver parts. You need to find someone with at least professional level to split alloys like this. And the work of someone like that would cost more, than the silver is worth, you see? Its a shame for the silver." Seths jaw dropped to the floor. So, it was not just the cksmith-skill! became after the rank-up to adept! Since he could split alloys with it, although barely, he had once again jumped almost an entire rank! And since the ability grew without needing an exorbitant amount of material to smelt, he got it to this level a lot cheaper! Chapter 36 - 36.Touring The Town "Oh yeah, Klod. Do you know a ce where I can dismantle monsters in town? I have a lot of ... snake I need to take care of. The old cksmith once again got the chance to give Seth a puzzled look, just for a different reason. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "What level are you now, Seth?", he asked to make sure. "13, why?" "Then you should be able to do it. You should be able to dismantle monster corpses using the inventory, given you have enough space. Do you have something small with you? Then I can show you." The next moment the over 4-meter-long corpse of a baby Titanoboa flopped on the shops floor. "You know, I just wont ask where you got this. For my own piece of mind." The old man crouched down and touched the body. He whispered, "Loot all", and the skin of the snake vanished. "Like this you can store all the crafting materials you know of. Its a lot faster, but some of the material will be lost,pared to physically dismantling", he exined and took out the finished material and showed him, that it had turned into an evenly cut sheet of snake leather. "Now you try!", the man encouraged Seth. He took out another snake and it easily worked for him, too! And a tanned piece of snake leather appeared in his inventory! "If you have a lot of material to loot, I rmend this method. But when you evere a across something truly rare, you should try to find a professional hunter to dismantle it. Even a small piece of skin could be worth its weight in gold in such cases.", this made Seth decide, to look for a professional hunter for the Juvenile. Although, its leather was not rare, it was umon and Seth would appreciate more material to grind his skills. Running his hands along the smooth piece of leather Klod suddenly said, "Say, how much of this snake leather do you have? I cant buy your weapons, but this snake leather seems quite good!" Seth took a few minutes to clean out the two stacks of baby boas, now he had 2 stacks of snake leather and 2 stacks of naked snake bodies. Seth sold 50 snake leather to Klod and finally made his first otherworldly money. The cksmith had paid him 2 gold, which meant the leather was roughly 4 silver per piece. Simon had exined the rough worth of money to him. 3 Gold was enough for amoner to livefortably for a month. Seth did not doubt Klods price and happily left the cksmiths shop. For your information, just one of the medium iron maces went for 2 gold already. Weapons made of steel were even more expensive. Of course, it was the quality that made the price. This was all he had nned for the day, so he was free for now. He thought about returning to the church and talk to Simon, but the town was really empty right now. It was a good chance to explore the fantasy setting and shops. The tailor was the first to pick his interest. Since he would soon travel to a different world, maybe he should try to adjust? Seth entered the shop filled with a range of different clothes. The counter was manned by a bored looking elderly woman dozing off. The door hitting a bell startled her. Her chin slipped off the hand it was resting on and almost hit the counter. He had been to 3 shops and all of them were run by elderly people. Were the jobs in these frontier viges like a retirement or something? Not that it affected him, he just felt curious. Thedy caught her fall and straightened herself, trying to y off her little plunder. "Hello! How may I help you?", she gave him a trained smile. Her voice was smooth and melodic despite her age. She gave a nice old granny-vibe. He had an easy time describing his situation to her, that he would travel to a province of the empire and he neededfortable sturdy clothes for travel. She listened attentively. "Ah, yes! We can help with that. If you maye over here so I can get your measurements..." "Measurements? Im leaving tomorrow-" "No worries. I will just slightly adjust three sets of ready-made clothes for you. It wont take long at all. You can pay when youe to pick them up." "three? But I-" " Yes, three! Dont try to tell me one is enough. You cant possibly n to travel with just one set of clothing, do you?", she shot down his objections. With this, she took him to the measurement boot in the back. Her movements when measuring him had been really experienced and fast. He doubted his earlier guess about retirement. Maybe they focused on the most experienced people? 15 minutester he was already back on the streets. She had sent him off with a "Your clothes will be ready tomorrow morning. Make sure to pick them up before you leave!" Back outside Seth was still a little puzzled about what happened. His stomach reminded him of his next sequence of actions. The meal yesterday showed him, that he did not need to fear the food of the other world. It seemed quite delicious, at least the high end. Lets see how the restaurants would do! Seth had to search a little, but found an eatery in the end. Compared to the rest of town, it was almost buzzing with business. He took this as a sign of quality. It was very much like you would imagine a medieval tavern, but from movies. There was spacious room with many wooden tables for guests to sit on. It was around noon, and the bright sun light fell in through big windows onto the smooth, well-made furniture. The room looked clean and the air felt fresh. Seth had not expected it to be this enjoyable. He was able to order a full table of food and wine for just 5 silver. This was his subjective view; 5 silver was already pricey for the normal popce. The food was simple, but tasted very good. Not as good as the meal he had yesterday, but definitely better than anything he had cooked for himself in the past weeks. Seth would not suffer, if food like this was a staple in the other world! His belly was full, his needs fulfilled. Seth returned to the church. There was still the talk about the weapons and maybe the priest knew a hunter who could dismantle the snake for him. On his way back, he came across the general store again. Hmm, maybe he could get rid of the 3 stacks of raw snake here? He would much rather have something preserved he could eat right away, instead of having to cook it. And he should get medical supplies! He would make sure to have at least first aid stuff in his inventory from now on! "eh? if it isnt the ori huma! How''s ya been doing?", the shop keep greeted him. He seemed friendlier thanst time. The man noticed his bewilderment. "I heard ya helped some fairies. Really nice little things. Never hurt anyone. Its good you saved them." "Oh, ok", Seth smiled. "Well, I wanted to ask, whether you would buy something like this.", and pped one of the naked snake bodies on the counter. The clerk was baffled upon seeing a snake this big. He inspected the body for a while. " Do you have more of this? Im willing to give you ....20 bronze for the meat and another 10 for the innards. Our apothecary should be able to use it for medicine." The shop keep was stunned when Seth told him, he had several hundred, but he said not no. he exined why the meat of low-level beasts was not awfully expensive, so he did not mind stocking up on it. In the end Seth sold the normal snakes for 20, and the boas for 30 bronze each making about 80 silver in total. Obviously, the skins were the most precious parts of the snakes, but Seth did not say no to the meat money. After their deal was done, Seth asked the shop keep for the location of the apothecary. He bet he could stock up on medicinal supplies there. Maybe they even had real health potions and mana potions. Something like that would have been really cool! The apothecary was located a little off the main street. That was why Seth had not seen his shop before. It was a small building with a small shopwindow and Staff of Aescpius on its sign. The youngest shopkeeper he had met so far looked up, as Seth entered the pharmacy. The man was in histe twenties or early thirties and looked quite dapper. "Hello, what can I do for you?", he asked in a friendly baritone. Seth gave the pharmacy a once over. All kind of little potion bottles were stored in cabs and the whole wall behind the man was filled with drawers. "Oh yeah, I''m looking for medicinal supplies for travelling. Say, you dont have health potions or something like that, right?", Seths eyes were fixed on the shelves with all kinds of colorful bottles. The pharmacists squinted his eyes, but did not use as far as Seth felt. "Are you an ori huma maybe? To ask for something like health potions in a frontier vige", he smiled. he exined, that health potions were a high-quality product that needed rare ingredients and a high skill level. Those were normally not avable in these Starta viges. he offered Seth a first aid kit, whichpromised things like bandages, rubbing alcohol and salves. It was all contained in a non-descriptive bag, that reduced the needed inventory space to one! The description of the bag was literally "First Aid kit". He felt a lot calmer with this in his inventory.. Now, it was time to return to the church for. Chapter 37 - 37. A New Journey Nobody stopped him, when Seth just waltzed into the head priests office, only to find it empty. It would have been different if he was a normal person, but he was an ori huma that had joined the church, so most people treated him with leniency. After asking around a little, he found Simon in another wing, with the fairies. "Seth!", the little Fin screamed, when he opened the door. She flew up and started circling Seth like an euphoric fly. Seth greeted her back with a smile and she sat down on his shoulder. Simon was in dialogue with one of the fairies, when Seth entered. It looked a little older and taller than Fin, t was the one that had talked to him so euphorically the other day. The priest signaled to Seth that he would be done soon so Seth left with Fin still on his shoulder. "hey Seth! I heard you will be leaving soon, too?", Fin suddenly asked. "Are you also going home?" "Hmm, no, Im leaving home.", Seth smiled mncholic. "A little like you guys." Suddenly Fin pouted, "We are not little! You are just fat! Way too fat! Fat human!", she pounded his chest with her tiny fists. Seth startedughing and the light shadow on his heart vanished again. He caught Fin in his hollow hand and exined the misunderstanding to the huffy fairy. "Seth? What are you guys doing?", the priest asked looking back and forth between the young man and the pouting fairy on his palm. "Oh! Nothing.", Seth brushed the matter aside. Fin felt a little embarrassed about being seen quarreling like a little child by Simon and rushed past him, back to the other fairies with a beet-red face. Seth smiled sheepishly at the priests quizzical look. "I came back to talk to you about something, do you have time now?" The two went back to Simon''s office. Once they were seated and supplied with tea an cookies, Seth asked about his weapon trade. "You mean to say...that you dont have "some" weapons, as you mentioned before. But a whole weapons shop worth? Show me.", the old priest asked with a perplexed look. Seth fidgeted a little awkwardly. After all, it was his fault for keeping secrets and now he had toe back to ask for help. Mace by mace and sword by saber, the priests face fell in shock until his jaw figuratively hit the ground. Finally a big pile of weapons filled half the office. Seth kept the more unique weapons, like the ones he tested on and the Plumbata. It took Simon a few minutes to find his speech again. Seth had not thought about how ridiculous the amount of weapons was when he made them. He only realized it, when he tried selling them to Klod. Simon finally cleared his throat and got his bearing back. "I fathom Klod told you toe to me? How much...did he say would this all be worth?" "7-738gold would be a fair prize he said.", the priest blinked and Seth avoided his gaze abashed. Simon pondered and started nodding. He took out a small white piece of marble,the size of a shogi piece. He chanted something onto the stone and gave it to Seth, "here, take this. We dont have that much money here. This is a promissory stone over 650 gold. The difference will be our margin as a retailer, if that ok with you. You can exchange it for money at any bank in the Chrona Empire. When you put it in your inventory, you can see its worth." Curiously Seth took the small stone. It was smooth and cool to the touch. When he put it in his inventory, it said "Promissory Stone: System Church, 650 Gold". "Hmm, yeah that is ok. So its like a credit card? I thought you can just put your money into the system interface?" "Oh yes, but its inconvenient to handle hundreds of coins, right? Especially in this kind-", he gestured at Seths culmination of grinding, "of transaction. I advise you to make an ount, when you cash the money in. Transferring money through the system bank makes many things easier." It was something Simon had not talked about, yet. So Seth kept inquiring. It reminded him of the crystal card-system he knew from some novels. When you had an ount with the bank you got a universal promissory stone, which could be used to directly transfer money between ounts and get cash from the bank. It was even more versatile than a credit card! And as all transaction worked through the system, there was no need to be afraid of scams from that side. This made Seth realize again, that the priest did not tell him everything, even after joining their faction on the surface. He could not expect any thorough guides from this man and needed to explore by himself. Again, Seth had talked for a long time with the priest and night fell soon. Tomorrow the church would open the Pathworks and he would travel to another world. Heid in bed nervously. His eyes were fixed on the pale starlight falling in through the water above, painting patterns on the town outside. Seth went through things he had to do and his preparations, to make sure he had not forgotten anything. His inventory was settled and he would get 3 sets of clothes tomorrow. Also the other half of jewelry he had not melted down,it was in his backpack. Looking for a jeweler to sell them to was also a thing. He had tried to store the whole backpack, but it did not work the same way the first aid kit had worked for some reason. Maybe he could ask the tailor tomorrow? Last, but not least, he had a huge chunk of money. It should be able to solve most things. The highest priority was gaining knowledge. To grow his own skill, but also to find out more about the system. There were so many things he had onlye to know because he spend some time in Starta. He had even kept an eye open for a book shop in town, but had not found one. Another thing he nned to do over there. Amidst his worries and ns, Seth finally fell asleep. The morning reminded him of the rm clock he had smashed right when everything started. Or rather, itsck of it. Seth had overslept! The nervousness and worries had kept him awake for too long. Now he btedly rushed out of the church, without any breakfast, to get his clothes in time! The elderdy gave him a professional smile as he rushed into the shop; his clothes in disarray and hairs in a mess. On the counter were three sets of clean an sturdy traveling clothes in the simple style of the empire. He paid 40 silver for the three sets and almost left in a hurry. He asked her in a rush about the bag of the first aid kit. She saw he was in a hurry and gave him the short exnation. It worked because the bag was made by a tailor using the systems skills. These bags were not expensive at all and she gave him one as a gift. he shoved his backpack into the bag and was able to store it in his inventory. Now, without any visible baggage, he thanked the tailordy and ran off. He still came by Klods shop and took the time to say good bye. He even said farewell to the old man from the general store, even so it was just because he was in front of his store as Seth sprinted past him. Seths stamina had tremendously improved thanks to the system, but he was stillpletely out of breath when he finally reached the church again. He had another hour before they could open the Pathworks for him, so he used this time to get ready. He ate a small breakfast, followed by a reinvigorating bath. There was another first for him today. Shaving with a real razor. A knife one, not the electrical ones! Seth was really afraid to cut himself at the start. But the de actually registered as a misceneous item and not a weapon. Its damage values were too low to cut through his physical defense. Even when he slipped with the knife, it did not cut his skin! Freshly shaven and clean, wearing a formfitting set of travelers clothes Seth looked quite dapper. He wore afortable shirt and dark-brown trousers, plus the high boots given to him by the church. Covering these was a long dark tunic in a brown to wine-red hue, fastened by a broad belt, where he could attach his sword to. On top of this came a hooded cloak made of oilskin against rain. All in all, he looked a lot like the characters in some fantasy movies, or someone from a renaissance festival. They had a big difference to modern clothes: a very high durability for simple cloth. Where his modern shirts and jackets had somewhere between 5 and 30, these clothes easily broke through 100 points in durability. Seth was sure they would hold up for a long time! He opened the big and heavy doors of a room he had not been allowed in before. It was the first and only room that looked like a ce of worship. The circr room had the size of a gym and the ceiling was a high dome-shape. The walls were covered in all kinds of iconic reliefs and decoration. It was illuminated by a huge number of candles in candlestands. The floor waspletely upied by a tremendouslyplex magic circle which consisted of gold-colored iys in the polished hardwood floor on the rim and ck marble towards the center. N?v(el)B\\jnn Wrapped in his new attire, Seth entered this big room in the center of the church where he saw Simon, the fairies and a bunch of priests already waiting. Seth would be leaving first, since his destination within the empire was easier to connect to. The priests started chanting and gesturing simr to sorcerers after he arrived and an ink-ck portal formed in the air, like a hole in space. As he wanted to leave, Seth spotted Fin among the fairies. They locked eyes whereupon she avoided hers with a blush. The way they had parted yesterday made the situation a little weird. Still, Seth walked over to the group of fairies. They had not known each other for long, but Seth had taken quite a liking to the little bbermouth Fin and wanted to say good bye to her especially, before he left. Fin looked up to him, she could hardly ignore the giant that stepped in front of her nose. "Good bye, little Fin. ", he could not help but tease her. This made the fairy promptly pout and look away again. There totally was no human in front of her! No! With a wry smile Seth turned around and nodded to Simon as a fare well. It was time for a new journey! Chapter 38 - 38. New Horizons "Wait! Big fat human! I want to go with Seth", the squeaky shout echoed across the room as Seth was about to step into the portal. Simon had a difficult expression on his face. -Minutes Earlier- A hushed conversation in high voices as a lot of fairies tried to reason with one of theirs. "You cant do that!" " Yeah! Now that Leader and Vice-Leader are gone, you have to lead us!" "You saved us! You are a hero! You have toe back with us!" The older looking fairy came forward and grabbed the person in questions shoulder. "Fin, are you sure?", his voice was calm and the steady grip of his hand transferred warmth and strength to her. "You would be heralded as a hero when youe back. You could leave the corps and live an easy life! Do you really wish to go with him?" "Hes my- our benefactor. He even braught back our dead! The least we can do is try to help him. Seth is an ori huma, he has never seen a different world and may need our support. You are all hurt and weakened, thats why I will go with him. When you get back the leader and vice-leader will recover, so you will be fine!", Fin reassured herpanions. Among her people she seemed much more mature and serious. The older fairy nodded and gave her a pad on both shoulders. " I see, your decision is firm." After this the other fairies also calmed down. She was right, they owed their life to this human. All they could do at the moment was to engrave it into their memories. -present time- The group of fairies stayed silent when Fin rushed over towards the young human and the portal. The priest''s expression told them, that their worries might have been more justified than they had anticipated. "Seth! Please let Fine with you!", Fin flew in front of his face and requested. A new window popped up for him. It was the new party function! Would he have been able to see this if he had not unlocked it yet? Seth did not have to ponder long about the decision. He clicked yes. He found Fin quite adorkable and teasing her was fun. And he had almost gone insane in the weeks he had spent forging. It had shown him that even he was hard pressed without social interaction for a long time. There had been times he would have liked somepany. Next, he saw his status and he could choose which parts of his status Fin would be able to see and which he wanted to hide. As much as he came to like her, he only knew her for a few days. He hid everything about his ss and skills. He saw no problem in showing his attributes, name, race, or level. He confirmed and- n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Two little windows appeared in the upper corner of his view, which showed his and fins health and mana! A typical party interface from MMOs. Another window popped up; it was Fin''s full status. < Name: Fin Bellsmiter Title: "Brute of the Fair Folk" Level: 47 Exp: 45% Race: Fairy Sex: Female Age: 204 ss: Battle Cleric (Unique) Affiliation: Fair Folk Health: 1000/1000 Mana: 820 Strength:117 Dexterity:10 Agility: 90 Intelligence:45 Willpower:35 Endurance:70 Personality: 55 Luck:47 > So much for her cute act! What is with this ss? And this status? And most of all that TITLE!? Not just that, he could also see her skills. Fin had a mix of meleebat-skills which focused on hand-to-handbat like a monk, and support skills consisting of prayer and nature bads. This small little fairy could most like punch the living daylights out of him, whenever she felt like it! One thing was clear, the chance of her bing a burden was very small. If Seth did not take care, he might be the damsel in distress that needed saving! On the other side Fins eyes sparkled, despite not even seeing his ss or skills. Just his attributes, level and title seemed to have mesmerized her. This all took long to describe, but only took mere moments in real time. Just enough time for Simon to collect his thoughts. "Ah, Seth! About entering the portal, I have to-" "Hurry? Ok, ok, I- we wont cost you any more time!", Seth calmed the old man down and stepped into the gate. Fin following right behind him, giving the priest a stank eyes. She guessed what the priest had wanted to say. Simon was at a loss as he stared nkly at the gate. Travelling over the Pathworks felt simr to dipping into ice-cold water, without the chill. The heart throbbed, the stomach turned and an instinctive state of primal panic washed over him. As fast as the feeling came it was also gone when he left the weird pitch-ck in-between-world on the other side of the gate. And there was the feeling again! The heart throbbed, the stomach dropped and a primal panic flooded his brain as his foot stepped on air and Seth fell over into a free fall. The infant stage of a scream was already growing in his throat as- it got merciless killed by leveling up. Followed by a "thump!" as his three-meter fall ended face first in a sand dune. Upon which his now calm mind decided on the only logical sequence of actions. He took a deep breath and- "FUCK! These fucking pieces of-", Seth roared and cursed up a storm of colorful insults while spitting sand like a sand dragon. All trust was lost, all friendship was gone. Simon would eat his fist when he met him again! Fin had naturally started flying with her wings and was now watching Seth spitting sand and iling around on the ground, trying to stand up and get the Sand out of all the nooks and crannies it was stuck in. Before himid a vastndscape of sand dunes, a desert. Behind him grew a huge mountain range into the sky. He was supposed to be send to a city called Ora close to a dwarven kingdom on the Namian continent. Seth had nned traveled around and find or buy ores and items to increase his catalogs. And they had thrown him into a god damn desert! What stopped him from cursing for another half an hour, was the high-pitchedughter above him. Fin the brutish fairy, was amused by Seths plethora of vocabry, and could not help but enjoy the show. Noticing the heavy breathing man, looking up to her with a twitching eye, she decided to calm him down. "Dont worry too much! Fin is with you!", she boasted and struck er t chest. " This is a normal thing the church does to ori huma. Its the price of your travel, they will put in a random deviation. We are definitely somewhat close to our destination, whether getting there is a struggle or a walk in the park is a matter of luck." Seth was still pissed as his eyesid on a new world, where the sun slowly sank towards a new horizon Chapter 39 - 39.Dinner And Desert -Starta- "Simon.", the aged fairy spoke to the priest, "You did that thing, where you let luck decide on where exactly the peoplend, right?", he asked. Simon looked as if he was caught doing something. "How you treat ori huma that joined you, is the churchs business. I dont care whether you call it a price or divine intervention. If something happens to Fin, or Seth, and we dont hear from them in the next few weeks...", he made a dramatic pause, "We, the fair folk, will ask the church for an exnation. Got it? So you better make sure to tell your people over there to look out for them!" And this was what Fin had counted on. With her apanying Seth she could help him, run away from her duties and the fair folk would have a much better leverage when talking to the church in this matter. -Namian Desert- It took Seth a while to really calm down. he watched the sun touch the desert horizon and turn thendscape into an ocean of crimson red light. Seth sighed and let go of his grieving. "Oh, well. Lets eat.", he said and took out a canned soup he could heat up by wrapping his hand in a thinyer of mes. "Uhh, you used this that night, too! Is Seth a fire mage!?", Fin gasped and ogled the pale blue me. Seth looked up from his soup and smiled. " Not really, but maybe a little?", he said without stopping to eat. After his belly was filled, he felt a lot more rxed. The sun had vanished and the desert was filled with twilight. The cool breeze of the deserts dawn felt good on his skin. "Alright, you said we are probably not far off from Ora, right? But how would we get there?" Fin scratched her head clueless of what to do. " True... its not like any of us has a map or the map skill.", she monologues thinking of a solution. , Seth had used the break in Starta to try and forget its existence. it seemed he would have to keep relying on it. So, he told Fin about it begrudgingly. "You have the map skill?! Thats great! What level do you have it on?", she asked enthusiastically. but her face fell when he told her lv.2. "Do you, maybe, have some SP to level it up? It should be really helpful to us on lv. 4!" It was Seths turn to scratch his head. Getting to lv.4 cost 5 SP, was it really worth it? Fin nodded like a bobblehead. "On lv. 3 you get height map and biomes, even of regions you have not been to. And on lv. 4 you get close towns and water sources! Most people I know who have , get it at least to lv.4. Its really helpful at this point!", she kept bbering on. Her ability to monologue was impable. Seth shrugged his shoulders; he still had 7 skill points and had no ns for other skills right now. At least Fin assured him that it was worth it. It was exactly as the little fairy had described. He opened the map window could see the rough makeup of a small continent with a big mountain range extending from the northeastern tip, to a desert on the southeastern coast. Thendmass resembled the map Seth had seen back in Starta, so they were at least in the right world. His position was shown at the northern border of the desert, west of the mountains with grasnd in between them. Several towns were shown at the foot of the mountain range. In their vicinity was only one town situated close to a river that started in the desert and flowed all the way down to the ocean. He found Ora on the eastern side of the mountains ... "We would have to cross the mountains to get to Ora. I dont think I have enough supplies for that...The closest town is through the desert" They decided to travel toward the city located at the river and restock on food. Maybe they could find a ce in a caravan or something to travel to Ora. Money was not a problem. He regretted selling his snakes a little. Well, in the worst case he would have to loot the juvenile. Then he would have a ton of meat, but he rather traveled a few days more, than to do that. "Then we should go now. Its better to use the cool night and rest during the day!" Fin called out. The night was the darkest right after the sun left, but soon a moon rose to the sky, and then another. Two moons floated across the sky, one excessively big and pale violet, the other much smaller with a green tint. The desert was illuminated in a mix of greenish-blue light, creating a truly otherworldly scene. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Beside Seth fluttered the tiny figure of Fin, who had cast a light spell and lit up their surroundings. Seth had donned his armor and sword just in case something crawled through the desert. He imagined all kinds of creatures that could be hidden in the sands of a foreign world. Giant sandworms, gigantic scorpions...snakes. Nothing of that. The desert was covered in a dim twilight and absolute silence. A drowning silence. "Say, Fin....", Seth attempted to strike up a conversation, but the little Fairy did not react. When he looked at her, he saw that her mouth was incessantly moving, but no word was to be heard. Then he noticed it. There was no sound at all no wind, no crunching of sand below his feet. Why did he not notice earlier?! He saw the sand moving beyond the shine off the fairys light. No! No! ".... no no no no", he kept chanting with his eyes ripped wide open as an old foe rose from the sand. " Not tentacles!", he screamed and pulled out his sword that was suddenly covered in soul fire. Bathed in the light of the burning de were ck smooth tentacles, shining like polished metal. Fin stopped mid-sentence and looked baffled at the emerged nightmare! Kraken?! Wait! Seth looked around, at the ck limbs that had surrounded them as they emerged from the sand until they were as thick as Seths waist! He forgot about attacking and hurriedly tried to get out! As big as they were, they were not very agile! As the tentacles closed in to catch them, Seth shed off ones'' tip and jumped through the gap. Looking back, he could only watch on with a horrified expression as a giant beak emerged from the ground and the appendages closed around Fin. Everything inplete silence. He did not know what happened to the fairy, but he decided to use this chance. Burning had been added to the kraken`s status and its HP were falling slowly. Soon the bleeding status was added, though he not no idea where it came from. Seth did not care, he was hellbent on making sure this creepy crawly would regret its very existence! The burning sword kept shing at the tentacles as tried to untangle and go for Seth. Each sh grew the pale mes that shed their light into the dark desert. All its appendages were burning and grasping for Seth who kept barely evading the more agile tips. Suddenly everything stopped moving and an ear-shattering, brain-piercing screech broke the silent night. Already suffering a major headache from , Seth could only kneel down and cover his ears. Following the scream was a mushing and crunching sound that made him want to puke! The krakens ck bulbous head emerged from the sand and with the ripping sound of gushing entrails a ball of light emerged from its body! Blood covered and with a mighty roar, it asserted its dominance over the desert! Fin, the fairy brute had ripped and teared her way through the krakens inner workings and into freedom! "holy shit!", Seth borately and adequatelymented this sight. A bloodthirsty roaring fairy floating over the burning corpse of a giant octopus.. it would have been the perfect cover for a metal album. Chapter 40 - 40. Blood And Sand In aplete blood rage, the tiny figure kept punching the giant body like a jackhammer spreading blood and gore over the desert sand. What battle cleric? She was a berserker! Seth decided to silently take some safety distance until the little whirlwind hade back to its senses. In the end the little fairy was huffing and puffing and drenched in blood. She had calmed down considerably and flew to where Seth was spectating her "special" time with the tentacle monster. Seth really had not seen enough hentai, to see this oneing. "You done?", was his onlyment when she reached him. She nodded with a refreshed smile and squeezed some ckish thick blood out of her hair. The dead kraken smelled terrible and so did the little fairy, Seth could not help but frown. No matter how desperate they got, he would never eat this thing! He swore in his heart and overcame his disgust to touch one of the half-burned tentacles to loot the beast. He felt the slimy robust skin for a moment, before it appeared and a few neat leather sheets in his inventory. What was left behind were sickening dark gray tendrils of meat still oozing the viscous purplish blood. The head ache was killing him and this sight did not make it better. "Lets leave.", he said and left with a fast pace, but the stench seemed to follow him. Oh right, Fin was following him. "Se~th... you wouldn''t have water for me? Ple~ase?", she asked in a pitifully. She looked and smelled truly miserable. Wasting water was a crime in the desert... but this smell was worse. Seth could feel his sanity decreasing the longer he smelled it. "Ok,e here." Finnded. Seth took out one of his water bottles and started dousing the fairy. She hurriedly started to wash and scrape away the nauseating blood. She still smelled terrible, but it was a lot better now. If he had deodorant with him, he would have showered her in it. And so, they continued their journey, Fin following several meters behind Seth. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The two traveled through the night and stopped at the big rock formation Seth had found with auto map. When the first rays of the morning sun bathed the sky in a pink hue. Fin imed that fairies did not need much sleep, so she stood guard. She confidently told Seth to sleep a few hours. Unexpectedly the heat did not bother the cksmith with his fire resistance, as much as Fin anticipated. He easily slept a full 8 hours, all the way past noon. Fin on the other hand started overheating with her tiny body in the boiling air. The little fairy was close to fainting when Seth finally woke up and found her panting and sweating on the ground. She was not able to respond, but tenaciously stayed awake. "What a good guard you are. Sleep now.", he said and picked up the smelly little fairy. He folded a piece of cloth andid her onto it. She immediately fell asleep. Seth did not doubt her ability, but prating the innards of a giant sex- ...sea - sand monster! probably took a toll on her. The following hours were uneventful. After a satisfying meal, came the boredom of looking at the unchanging sand fields his biggest enemy. The hot and dry air feltfortable on Seths skin and this gave him an idea. Didnt everything in the desert normally hide during the days heat? So, this should be the safest time, right? Seth felt a little bad, that he still avoided the little fairy because of the smell, despite how hard she had worked. He wrapped her in the piece of ck cloth and put her into the inner pocket of his cloak. Seth had put away his armor while resting and wore his travel clothes now. As long as he kept his hood up, the sun could not hurt him! With the sleeping fairy stored away, Seth fell into afortable pace and started jogging through the desert. It reminded him a lot of his first journey. It was a little harder to run on sand, but his stats had grown, so it made no difference to him. Seth did not know whether his assumption was right or not, but he did not meet a single monster. "Puah!" Seth heard a tiny voice exim and felt something struggling in his pocket. Fin finally managed to unwrap herself and her deep red head out of his pocket. "You! Seth! I- Fin nearly suffocated in there!", she shouted with tears in her eyes. He didn''t buy into her cute act, she still smelled of the blood of the monster she brutally ughtered in front of his eyes. " Why are we moving? wuagh!", she asked and gagged as hot desert air and sand, but most importantly her own smell, suddenly filled her lungs. He exined his ingenious idea to move during the day, since he the heat was no problem, as long as he was shielded from the sun! Fin could rest in his inner pocket during the heat of the day and take over guard, when Seth got tired. He had actually thought, that it would be quite cool to have her on his shoulder, but she still smelled like rotten fish and she would notst long in this sun. Seth estimated the heat to easily reach boiling temperature when the sun stood high. The fairy would be cooked if she stayed outside. It was a boring journey of several days. Fortunately, he had , otherwise he would have been hopelessly lost. They met some desert snakes and scorpions the side of cats, but nothing like the kraken in their first night. It made Seth suspicious whether it was really random, or the systems god had thrown him there on purpose... Either way, he could not change it now. The beasts they came across were not a big deal for Seth, but they also only gave a pitiful amount of experience. The kraken had actually gotten him 80% of the way to lv.14, despite not being the one killing it in the end. Fin had exined that party settings to him. A party could freely choose how the experience of a jointly killed mob was distributed. As the party leader she had set it to 80:20, so Seth got 80% of the experience of mobs they killed together. Since Fins level was a lot higher than his, this was actually in his favor in case they killed stronger monsters, like the kraken! On the third day the desert started to change. The dunes grew tter and spots of dry dirt peeked out among the sand. Even the temperature steadily lowered little by little. Ruins started to litter thendscape, like the dried-up bones of an ancient civilization. They only appeared on the map after he used auto map. It was a lot different from Deltan. When Seth had arrived in Deltan, it had be a partly destroyed modern ghost city with all life sucked out of it. This were ruins like you would see them in archaeological documentaries. Build by the bare hand of many people in hardbor. Even in pieces, it still radiated the life and history that had seeped into them during their golden times. They induced a foreign fascination that modern buildings simplycked. Sanded smooth by the desert winds they still defied time and stood like the desated skeleton of gigantic beast in the middle of nowhere. I stared with the outlines of building and shallow broken walls and the further they went; the more was left of the former glory. Sand covered what was once paved roads and intricate mosaic floors. Barely discernible reliefs still covered the ruins of once luxurious facades. "How big must this city have been in its heyday?", Seth mumbled mesmerized. His fingers wandered over the shallow reliefs of people and beasts and he stopped from time to time to take a closer look. Even Fin had left his pocket to stare amazed at the scenery. "Maybe a hundred thousand? Maybe a little more or less...", she whispered unwittingly. Which brought her a weird look from Seth. Before they knew it, they hadpletely entered the ruined city. The sand on the streets was almost gone and the facades on the side had retained much of their glory. "Hey, look!", Fin suddenly shouted and pointed at the inner yard of a building. there stood a structure thatpletely differed in style and material from the surrounding ruins. it looked a lot more like the architecture he had witnessed in Strata. The sign dangling above the broken door showed apass rose and just read "Guild". "Its a branch office of the adventurer''s guild!" Chapter 41 - 41. Guild And Dungeons "Are you serious? An adventurer''s guild? Isnt this a little TOO much like a game?", Seth shouted out. Fin looked at the young man having an emotional outbreak with a puzzled look. "What does the guild have to do with games? It is a renowned organization which manages the entrance to dungeons, not some gambling den!" Seth pinched the bridge of his nose trying to process what Fin told him. It was pretty much exactly like in novels and fiction. The Adventurer Guild was an institution of the system, simr to the System Church. They specialized in the organization of dungeons and people who would enter them, adventurers. And like the church which followed the God of the System, the guild followed a different god: The God of Dungeons. Legend had it that in a time immemorial, both hit it off with each other and became best buddies during a summit of the gods. They had a drinking contest and subsequently fell into a drunken stupor. Of course, nobody could confirm this, so it stayed a legend. The fact stayed, that the two gods had a synergistic rtionship. Wherever the system opened the Pathworks, dungeons appeared. They would grow in suitable ces and had no high requirements, which means they could grow literally anywhere. The dungeons would spawn monsters from other dimensions and pose a challenge to members of the system. Or a terrible catastrophe, if it was world without system. The monsters would gain strength and break out to attack the surroundings, if they were not regted or closed in time. "Wait! Does this mean there will be dungeons on Urth, too?", Seth interrupted Fins monologue. "Naturally, and the guild will follow them. Dont worry. Thanks to the system nobody really dies in a dungeon, as long as there is no dungeon break.", she calmed his worries. Fin kept going, saying that nobody died within a dungeon. yers would only loose a chunk of experience and maybe items. They would resurrect in the closest guild branch if they were registered. And in a world where no system existed, but dungeons... those people were down on their luck. "And that''s why the guild always follows the dungeons, and there is absolutely no need to worry!", she smiled satisfied with her own profound knowledge. There was no way around it anymore. Seth had understood everything so far and could note up any more questions and Fin started sweating, trying toe up with any more information to convey. Both could no longer avoid the big elephant in the room: 1. There was a guild branch here, so there should be a dungeon, too. Right? And most importantly 2. 2. Why did the branch look so empty and rundown. And why- Why in god''s name, was the whole ce in front of it stained as if covered in dried blood?! The guild was a grand and robust, stone building. Townhall or guildhall would be the first thoughts that came to mind when seeing it. But the windows were broken and the shutters were crooked, some barely held by ast pitiful hinge. The stairs leading to the big entrance were covered in what could be dried blood with marks all over the ce in front. It was unclear whether it had flowed OUT OF the building, or something had dragged bloody corpses INTO it. One could imagine the entrance once sported a majestic pair of double winged wooden doors. Now it was just a yawning, dark void, only shadows being visible past the entrance. Fin was nervous and even more disturbed than Seth by this sight. You have to know, that the guild was abat specialized organization. Even the staff would be able to deal with a crisis, to a certain extend. Something that had managed to devastate such a ce gave the fairy goosebumps. "The ce looks old. The blood has long dried, its almost ck. Should we go in?" Fin nearly lost her soul when Seth nonchntly suggested to enter this scene of gore. Seth, on the other hand, felt that he had seen worse. You could say, any terrible thing he came across in his world was more disturbing than some old blood. He squinted and looked at her. He had even seen a blood covered fairy berserker turn a kraken into minced meat. Leaving the baffled fairy behind, Seth strode forth to take a look inside. An unmanned guild office could hold all kinds of treasure and information! Dont think he just wanted to loot the ce now! It was also important to find out, what caused this. If something like this was still within these ruins, it would be better to find out what it was, before they met it face to face. Fin followed him reluctantly. She was surprisingly meek when it came to scary stuff. kes of dark crimson dust came loose as he climbed the stairs. The inside of the guild was not as dark as it looked from the outside. Sun fell in through the broken windows and the airs was heavy with dust particles, sparkling in the light rays. The hard-wood floors were caked in ayer of old dried blood. The air smelled stale, not like blood at all. Tables and furniture were smashed, deep scratches covered the floors and wooden counters. There was a bar! But it waspletely smashed and littered with ss shards. No piles of bones. No desated corpses or parts of them. He had even expected a nest of bones or something, but nothing. Whatever caused this blood bath had brought away all signs of it, except the blood. ... Time to loot! Seth jumped over the guild counter and started rummaging the drawers with practiced hands. "Hey! Stop that! Shouldnt we first find out what happened?", Fin interrupted him indignantly. Seth rolled his eyes, pulled out a stack of papers and waved it in front of her. When his eyes wondered over the documents, he understood one thing: he could not read it! The signs on the buildings were easily understandable, the spoken word was understandable, but the writings here werent! But he did not lose hope! It was time for Fin the multi-use fairy to show her skills! ... Seth could only facepalm when the fairy started reading the documents like a 4th-grader! She was not a resident of the empire herself, he could probably count himself lucky she was even able to decipher the meaning. Most of the stacks were different quests. Like in most novels, the guild did not just regte the dungeons, but was also a hub to find workforce for different tasks from mercenary work, to hunting and other misceneous stuff. They only got two pieces of information from this. These Ruins were called Ivicer, which now also appeared as abel on his map. And there were two dungeons in these ruins. One had grown in an actual dungeon under a mansion they regarded as the house of the governor or noble, or maybe the king of this city. The other was located in a big structure in the middle of the city they called a temple. ording to Fin, all the quests were processed up to one certain date and thenpletely stopped. Form the state of the guild, it must have been years since then. "I guess we wont find anything more important down here." They had investigated most of the drawers, but found nothing useful except some silver and bronze coins. "Maybe in the offices upstairs? Im sure at least the office of the guild master should have something important!", the fairy suggested. So, they started to systematically search the other rooms of the building. Some were meeting rooms, others personal offices. The papers they found there were of no help. Some contracts reaffirmed the period of when this branch had stopped operating, but they found nothing about why. The most interesting for Seth was the personal living space of the guild staff. He found some spare weapons and armor there that gave off a faint light in the dark. His showed him basic options, so they were probably enchanted! The options were nothing extraordinary. Slight decreases or increases in damage or defense or tiny buffs on attributes. He would look further into itter. Now was not the time. Finally, they reached the office of the guild master. It was the highest floor, right below the roof. It had a big desk in the middle and a window looking out onto the ruins. It was remarkably simr to Simons office, it also had these walls of books and misceneous stuff stored on shelves. As the items of a guild master and former adventurer, these were a lot more interesting to Seth, than the kitsch the priest collected. With his he found a bunch of interesting crafting material on the shelves! Aside from severalmon and umon minerals he could not really use, there were three tiny lumps of dark-silver dirt that turned out to be mithril ore! Another very interesting thing he found was a tooth! < Drake Tooth, Crafting material. Umon The tooth of a young drake. As the tooth off a dragon-race it has inherent prative force that can easily pierce steel and stronger armors.> As he was looking over the shelves for a second time, to make sure he had not missed any goodies, he heard a gasp behind him. Fin had done detective work, while Seth was distracted. There were logbooks of the guild master stored in the shelves, but thest one was missing. After looking around she had found some blood sprinkles on the dirt-caked carpet that covered most of the floor. The had followed the trail that abruptly ended in front of a bookshelf. Obvious signs of a secret door! So, she started pulling out books left and right. The fairy had just taken a break. She gasped when suddenly a part of the shelf in front of her swung open. Did Seth do something? Behind the shelf was a small cab. A desk, a chair, writing utensils, a safe and - a desated corpse. The skeletons face only covered in dried-up skin and a long beard was frozen in an expression of fear and pain. It desperately pressed a big book to its chest. The clothes it wore had been drenched in blood, which had also spilled on the floor and the book. This was probably the guild master! He had a big wound in his stomach. He must have fled up here to hide and bled out in his hideout. N?v(el)B\\jnn The book he held in hisst moments, was the missing log about thetest guild operation. Chapter 42 - 42.Guild Log The book was half filled with the personal logs of the guild master, with thest written pages in the middle smeared with blood. "Try starting a few pages before thest ones.", Seth suggested the obvious. 23rd day of Snowfire, Yr. 564, Namia Calendar. Guild operations are nominal. Our request for the deployment of a A-Rank party, and a high-level scribe, for the further exploration of the Ancient Temple has been granted... Monster activities of the temple ruins are bing abnormally high, especially on the lower floors. Once we find the dungeon core, I will request the guild for permission to close this dungeon. The artifacts and materials dont warrant the risk taken by the adventurers to cull the hordes. -------------------------------------------- 30th day of Snowfire, Yr. 564, Namia Calendar. Guild operations are nominal. The A-Rank party "Crypt Raiders", specialized in the exploration of old ruins and tombs have arrived. They will start their dive into the dungeon tomorrow... Reports of Temple Guardians and Tomb Priests from the lower floors appearing on the shallow levels havee in. Something is happening on the lower floors. -------------------------------------------- The next few entries were short and without much content. Dungeon dives had been paused until the return of the A-Rank party. -------------------------------------------- 8th day of Green Ice, Yr. 564, Namia Calendar Guild operations are partly paused. It has been over a week now and there are no signs of the "Crypt Raiders" return. They have also not re-spawned. I will send a scout party to look for them... The Mansion dungeon shows signs of change, too. The creatures in the depth seem to get stronger and started roaming all floors unconditionally. 2 Parties have already been vanquished and taken huge losses. -------------------------------------------- 12th day of Green Ice, Yr. 564, Namia Calendar Guild operations are on lock down. Three parties have not returned from the Mansion dungeon. I have decided to stop all regr operations.... I will ask for the permission to close the Mansion dungeon. No sign from the scout party sent into the Ancient Temple, either. At this point I hold no hope for "Crypt Raiders" return. -------------------------------------------- 13th day of Green Ice, Yr. 564, Namia Calendar Guild operations are on lock down. After reporting the umon events, permission to shut down the Mansion dungeon was granted. I have sent our strongest B-Rank party "Dune Hawks" to destroy the Mansions dungeon core. ... No signs of activity from the Ancient Temple. Should I send another scout party? -------------------------------------------- 20th day of Green Ice, Yr. 564, Namia Calendar The "Dune Hawks" party did not return. Scouts report that the Mansion dungeon has ceased activity. Im sending a rescue party in to look for them. The second scout party I sent to the Ancient Temple have fortunately returned. Their reports are unsettling. They met beasts from the lower floors right after entering. The beasts had the unknown status "Corrupted" and showed heightened aggression and increase in overall stats. The D-Rank party fled the scene without exploring any further. Ancient Temple might be close to a dungeon break. -------------------------------------------- 21th day of Green Ice, Yr. 564, Namia Calendar .... I convened with the headquarters in Zhiqe. We will pack up and evacuate the ruins tomorrow. The guild will send several high-rank parties to subjugate the temple and shut down the ruins once and for all. This is thest entry of guild master Kano Mede of the Ivicer branch. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om -------------------------------------------- It was thest formal entry on the blood smeared page in the middle of the book. Until here everything was written in a fine and orderly handwriting, even Seth could see this. The next lines were messily spread over the opposing page, ugly and written in a hurry. Fin had a tough time deciphering the scribbles. "To whoever may find this book. I pray you can read these lines in time and be fortunate enough to leave with your life. Take this book and leave these cursed ruins as fast as your feet may carry you! Please bring this book to the headquarters in Zhiqe and report your findings. The code of the safe behind me is 234548. May the funds be your reward of this quest. " < Quest: Guild Mastersst request Difficulty: D You have encountered he remnants of the Ivicer Guild Branch and found the guild master''sst request. Take the guild log with you and bring it to the guild branch in Zhiqe to make the fate of Ivicer known. Requirement: Bring the book to Zhiqe and give it to the current guild master Rewards: Contents of the guild masters safe (up-front payment), experience > Seth talked about it with Fin. They did not see any problem with the quest, since Zhiqe was revealed to be their destination from the start. Thebel had appeared on the town, they were aiming for after reading the name in the journal. They epted the quest readily. But the guild masters note did not end here, so Fin kept reading after the short interruption by the system. What followed was a report on what happened here. -------------------------------------------- This is Kano Mede, guild master. The Ivicer Branch has been wiped out. We had nned to evacuate tomorrow, but it was toote. They came right after nightfall. It was an ambush in absolute silence. The guild staff hurriedly prepared and confronted them in front of the guild when we heard the screams of the adventures across the ruins. We were barely able to see our attackers in the shadows. They resembled the creatures of the ancient temple, but only in shape. They were so strong and so fast. They merged into the darkness of the night, with their skin looking as if they were bathed in tar. Creatures that resembled those we knew already gave us a hard time. Then came abominations we never saw before. I only saw my subordinates die randomly in the flickering light of torches and magterns as if the night itself cut them to pieces. Im writing this after escaping with my life like a coward and hiding like a rat in my personal cab. I was wounded by a giant w piercing my abdomen. I can hear their scuttling on the floors below. The crunching as they feast on my colleagues. I do not think I will ever leave my hiding spot again. If these lines reach any of the guild''s higher ups, even if they are not helpful, please take them as a warning. Do not underestimate this ce. Do note here at night. They fear the light so travel by day! -------------------------------------------- Seth and Fin looked at each other and suddenly rushed to the window. It was already evening and the sky was colored in the red hue of dusk. They swore in unison. There was no time to leave the ruins before night fell. "Maybe we can hide? The guild master wasnt eaten in his cab.", Fin suggested. "Yeah... but that was in a night where everything here was oozing with blood, right? If anything out there can smell us, especially you, we are done for in this little room." Seths argument made sense to the smelly little fairy so they decided to leave after looting the safe. The safe contained a few bags of coins totaling to 150 Gold, 210 Silver and 500 Copper. There were also two promissory stones over 50 Gold. And a tiny red gem. Another rare crafting material? he was in this world for less than week and already found a bunch of good stuff! Having looted the ce and stored away the book, they left the guild. Seths keen gamer instincts told him, that they had only one chance to survive. Cheese it. It was time to prepare some things. Chapter 43 - 43.Cheese For Everyone! Once the hateful sun vanished behind the horizon and left the world in darkness, they left the depths of theirir. They had been the guardian of the temple and servants of the gods in a time immemorial. Their realm had been great and their influence reached far across the continent. They had sacrificed their lives and the vitality of their domain to seal and age-old evil below the foundation of their deity. Here they had found their final resting ce as honorable heroes of their people. In luxurious crypts they had been entombed for their great deed. Their people had to leave their now inhospitablends afterwards. For millennia they had rested in the peaceful embrace of death, until a new power found its way into the old halls of the already forgotten temple. "Rise!", it had told them and breathed new power in their mummified remnants. And thus, they rose again. Despite their new master, their task had never changed. Protect the temple, keep the Seal shut. The power grew the temple. More floors and moreyers spread, more traps and more forces. And the room of the seal kept sinking deeper, and the guard followed to protect it. Unknowing beasts and adventurers came and their corpses changed to be the guardians towards the surface. Intruders came. They were weak in the beginning, but knew what they were doing. And even if they died, they woulde back stronger and better prepared. The guardians were in too, but the cruel new master resurrected them again and again, to fulfill their duty. They could not let those ignorant heathensy hand on the depths of the temple. They might break the seal, making their sacrifice worthless. The intruders grew in strength and the seal grew weak with age. More of the true guardians swept to the upper floors to hold the ground. It was all for naught in the end. A group of intruders unlike any that hade before easily destroyed their ranks and broke through into the core of the ruins. impossible to be reasoned with, the intruders and the master fought and in their stupid squabble damaged the old seal. Their biggest worries hade true. The ancient seal that had grown vulnerable from age and theck of their deities'' power finally gave in. The terrifying power of the old evil seeped out of the cracks and took root in the foolish minds of the adversaries. Following this the evil spread throughout the dungeon and took hold of those that had once defeated it, making them its servant. "More!", it demanded. Its highest goal was to spread and they could only oblige and watch in horror as their bodies turned. New strength flooded their bodies as dried and old bones were soaked in a power as dark as ink. Trapped in their own bodies they could only watch themselves be subservient to their old enemy. Every time their body killed; their victim would also turn into a corrupted servant. None of them vanished and came backter like it had been before. From then on, every night they werepelled to leave the dungeon and wander through the ruins of their once glorious home, searching for more beings to corrupt. They started with the base and camps of the intruders, who had caused all this. One of their holy beasts had fought valiantly and tried to lower the numbers of infected, but died in the hands of the people that once worshiped it. Later came another group of intruders. They were stronger than the ordinary ones, but still fell under their overwhelming numbers and the holy beast that had joined their ranks. Tonight, smelled like fresh life. Somebody had wandered into these old ruins and unknowingly had disturbed its stale air. Mncholy grasped his heart at the thought, that his mindless body would again ughter an innocent soul, to add among their ranks. The strongest scent came from the old base of the intruders, so him and the others rushed there like bloodhounds in absolute silence. Were the neers staying there? Why was there a hint of themselves among the neer''s odor? Tschink! klink klink... he slowed down. Every step suddenly made the noise of metal hitting stone. Some of those beside him lost their bnce and fell which cause even more tinkling. He lowered his gaze to his foot that had been pierced by a sharp iron tip. Looking around, the familiar ground and fallenrades were riddled with caltrops. They did minor damage to them, but still disrupted the movement and slowed them down. "Who had...?", looking around further, the ground was littered with wooden scraps. They all sniffed and followed the human scent into an alley a little further away. They looked up in unison. Up there on one of the highest walls still standing in the vicinity stood a human figure, with the two moons as a backdrop. Even though it was not the sun, the moonlight of the two moons was bright enough to force them to avert their eyes. Up here on the wall stood Seth, ready to stall for time until the sun would rise again. The crowd he saw below him was actually quite terrifying! Not much more than dried leathery skin tightly wrapped around undead bones. It reminded him of air-dried mummies he had seen pictures of on the inte and TV. Their eyes glowed in a red sheen and their teeth were sharpened to tips. They wore no weapons as their fingernails had grown to vicious ws. Ancient rags saved Seth an unpleasant view by barely covering their most important parts. Other than that, the description of the guild master was right. Their bodies were pitch-ck, so dark that details vanished in the twilight and shadows below the moons. Their level was too high for Seths ! There was no way he could get rid of this horde. It came all down to buying time! Their reaction when looking at the moon reinforced his confidence in their strategy. Thunk! A ming arrow hit the eye of one of the squinting mummies. It stood there for a moment before falling to the ground, screaming, and writhing in pain. The ones around it scattered away to evade the brightly burning me. Its health bar appeared, but it did not take much damage from the arrow. A small me lit up the silhouette on and the wall, he heard the sound of an arrow being released and lost sight in his right eye. Normally this would have been nothing. Their bodies had be hardened and sturdy when the corruption seeped in and they were unable to feel pain! Then why? Why did the light of this fire burn his skin? Why did it feel as if the fire that entered his empty skull had pierced into his soul? Just what was this...pain? The first reason he had taken the high ground. It was easy to hit targets bound to the ground! Second reason, they would have a hard time getting up he- Suddenly several mummies nimbly like ninjas wall-jumped between the facades on both sides of the alley to get up to him. Some lost grip thanks to the caltrops stuck in their hands and feet. Seth managed to shoot two down, who fell to the ground twitching and crying in pain like the first one. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om But finally, one reached him! Only to suddenly be hit by a fairy-sized projectile. The force made the mummy instantly vanish from Seths field of view as it shot off into the distance. Second reason, they would have a hard time getting up here. Watching the effect of the fire, convinced Seth that it was even more effective than anticipated. Despite not doing much damage, it had a great crowd control effect! Being hindered in climbing, the creatures finally felt bothered by the caltrops stuck in their appendages. They tried pulling them out, while dodging the ming arrows and the searing light that came with them. But the rough barbs Seth had forged on the tips of the caltrops gave them a hard time and ripping them out with force even caused some permanent damage which severely affected their movement. Seth sneered as he started to specifically aim for the impeded enemies. Fin was not rxing during this time! She took it upon herself to intercept any mummies attempting to climb the walls. The opponent''s levels were in theter 30s, but showed a lot higher stats than the level suggested. It fit the descriptions in the log. Fin had no problem intercepting them, as long as she was not entangled into a fight with these monsters. It took a while for the undead to back off from Seths wall. Even so the fire and arrows did not much damage, they inherently feared the light and pain they brought. A pain they had never known. On the wall, Seth still had one and half a stack of arrows left. Arrows were a pain to make, so he had stocked up on regr ones in Starta. It was when he took a small breather, a dark projectile suddenly shot past Seths cheek and almost made him fall off his wall in surprise! Another managed to hit him in the side and he crouched down on the wall, coughing blood. It felt like a gut punch that crushed his internal organs. His health instantly plummeted to the lower 800s! "Who..?", he muttered. Among the crowd that had taken some distance from the alley littered with burning arrows, new opponents had appeared! Compared to the almost naked guardians, they wore wide and flowing robes riddled with holes and dirt. A caster ss! Like an affirmation another volley of ck projectiles were fired at him! They were not very fast, but almost invisible in the night. The injured Seth was barely able to evade them by the skin of his teeth. It was a harmonic song that alleviated his suffering. Fin the battle priest had finallye to his aid. The leaving pain, left a gap to be filled with wrath. What they can, Seth could do too! But better! He pulled out another secret weapon and in the next moment a spiked ball of mes came down among the crowds of dried-up corpses! It was actually just a piece of wood from the guild branch he had studded with spikes and set on fire. Simr to the caltrops, the spiked wood stuck to the undead, when Seth hit them correctly. And even if he did not, they would be ming caltrops among the horde of undead and force them to scatter! Seth knew from the log that he had no chance to fight these things in an open battle, so he had thought up a number of simple ways to spread fire and chaos among them. Watching the scrambling undead of which some had tuned into torches after being hit by the ming caltrops made Seth unwittinglyugh. So, what if they were super strong and super high level!? They will all burn! Burn! < Ding! Title: Arsonist has ranked up to Arsonist lv.2. "You take pleasure in the despair of your victims burning in the mes!! > The abrupt system notification interrupted his little power trip.. Instead of reveling in the glory of his strategies working, Seth restarted firing arrows aiming for the priests. Chapter 44 - 44. The Holy Beast? So far, the strategy was working. When the crowds split up because of the fire, Fin was also able to interrupt the priests. As a caster ss, their defenses were much lower, so the fairy could finally deal some heavy damage among the opponents. The burning status had also started to show its worth as a DOT (damage over time). Most of the Temple Guardians were missing 1/4 to 1/3 of their health bar. Still, their numbers kept increasing and the hurt ones were swapped out. Seth had spent about a third of his ming caltrops and had a stack of arrows left. Looking at the position of the moon it should be about midnight! They had already made it half the way! And then something happened he had never anticipated. One of the guardians with more than half its health remaining suddenly keeled over after he hit it with an arrow. Again! His remaining left eye was gone, too. he was blinded and the searing fire once again entered his skull with its soul-piercing pain. "I cant...no longer...endure..." Was he losing consciousness? After being trapped in this body for half an eternity was he finally- Seths jaw fell open as a flood of energy rushed into his body and dissipated once he reached lv.17. Not just his, Fins jaw dropped, too. And even the mummies surrounding the fallen one were baffled to see one of their own leave just like that. They had really managed to kill one! The horde reacted ferocious and started to charge at him again! The fresh additions ignored the fires on the ground and attempted to wall-jump to reach Seth once again. Fin had to work hard to stop them. They held out for another hour and when Seth decided that it was time to change location, the situation suddenly changedpletely. All mummies retreated respectfully and lined up to build an alley. What came through this alley was the incarnation of an eldritch horror! The creature was easily 15 meters long. Armored with ink-ck chitin tes covered in tumorous growths. Its body was carried along by hundreds of pairs of sharp insect legs. The front stood upright like an upper body with its head held high like a royal. It looked like the mix of a centipede and a scarab, with the scarab being the head with a neck shield and the body of a centipede. Not fitting to either of the parts were the two pairs of arms ending in long scythes not unlike those of a mantis that sprouted from the upper body. The three pairs of eyes along the scarab-shaped head focused on Seth with an intense gaze. "This is your end, young human. It is regrettable, but you shall find the end of your journey at my hands. Give up.", an old soothing voice echoed in his head. An aura of absolute dominance spread from the creature and culled any type of hope in their hearts. Still, Seth used . Holy beast? Sure, it resembled some of the carvings he had seen in the city. But was this really something they had worshiped here? He could barely even see the name of this thing! Maybe it really was the end. This thing just seemed so strong. Even Fin had retreated in fear andnded on his shoulder. "What should we do...?", she whispered into his ear. Even the fairy was unable to see the level or full name of the beast. Seth looked at the night sky, desperately thinking about his options. Thunk! An arrow burning brightly with a pale blue me bounced off the thick chitin armor of the holy beast. Struggle was his answer. "You are not even the Field Boss! Like hell, I''m going to give up! Come at me, if you dare!", he scowled with rude gesture involving his middle fingers. He then continued peppering the quietly standing undead with arrows. He even used one of his most precious resources to provoke the beast. He chucked a Molotov cocktail at the beast, setting it and the surroundings aze. The minions screamed, but the boss took no damage at all. "You have asked for this, human.", the voice said, now slightly disgruntled. It had wanted to give them a merciful death, but was rejected. The giant centipede rushed along the alley, made a swerve, and started vertically running up the wall!! "I did not expect that, but its all or nothing now...", Seth mumbled nervously. He waited for the right timing. When the beast had climbed the wall about half way up, he decided it was time! Seth summoned a big anvil, probably bigger than himself. It made the wall they stood on look thin and Seth had to use all his power to slowly tilt it over the edge. The sturdy wall, that had probably withstood millennia, showed signs of crumbling under the pure weight of this anvil, as it slowly slid off the edge. Rapidly gaining speed after being released into the air and left to the forces of gravity, the anvil shot towards the enemy. It was already toote. The beast could not evade anymore, when it finally understood what Seth had thrown at it. On the other hand, it was not too worried. It was just an anvil~ What could possibly- THUMPH! The whole alley quaked and debris fell off the ruins in the surrounding, as the anvil smashed into the ground. Not just the ground. Impaled by its horn and pinned below it in a massive cratery the holy beast. It was not dead. It wriggled and struggled trying to free itself, but it was solidly nailed to the ground, like an insect in a collectors showcase! had unlocked with lv.15 and the level up changed his trusty anvil into a giant beast of steel,pared to before. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "How dare you, human! This kind of disrespect! You will pay!", it screeched and hissed, but was firmly stuck there. The beast ranted on and on, but Seth could see, that its HP had barely taken a hit! The beast was ounted for, but seeing their holy beast be humiliated like this made the mummies furious. They entered the enraged status and started mindlessly charging. "Time for n B! Lets go!", Seth told Fin and climbed down from the house. Another two Molotov cocktail found their way to the ground freeing some space for him tond. Time for the final secret weapon, the plumbata! Seth set the rope that was attached to the oversize throwing darts on fire and chucked them into the horde. Even in their rage they instinctively evaded the me and separated, forming a corridor for Seths escape. Their destination was the guild branch. The mummies soon got back on their track and easily caught up to the low-level low-agility cksmith, who was cautiously evading his own traps. That was until the low-agility cksmith used hisst remaining ming caltrops and and molotovs to set the scattered wooden scrap doused in alcohol aze. Turning the whole ce in front of the guildhall into a sea of fire. Once again, the undead backed off. "What will we do now? The wood scraps wont burn long! its still a few hou- Are you undressing!?", the panicking fairy screamed and covered her eyes. Her face became red like a tomato. "You will be flying high up. That should be a safe zone. I ,on the other hand, will stay here and take a cozy fire-bath for thest few hours before dawn.", he exined as he stored all his clothes and equipment into his inventory, so they would not burn. Seth was in the guild master office looking down at the sea of mes wearing nothing but his birthday suit. He stood there until the mes outside weakened. he then started systematically setting fire to the guild hall. From the offices to the staff quarter. All the way from the top, down to the ransacked entrance hall with its dismantled floor, missing counters and smashed up bar. "Lets hope thissts till morning..", Seth mumbled as his sore body plopped down in the middle of the mes. Chapter 45 - 45. A Little Break Hidden in the mes of the burning guild branch, Seth had finally some time to take a breather. He massaged his sore body, that had been hit by a few more dark projectiles during their escape. he was lucky, that it hit the te armor this time and not the cloth. Big dark bruised came to light after he had unequipped the dented steel tes. Seth had finally time to really check his status. Name: Seth Smith Affiliation: System Church Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 17 Exp: 57% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: None Health: 730/1000 Mana: 170/224 (220+4,4) Strength:45 Dexterity:45 Agility: 30 Intelligence:17+5 Willpower:35 Endurance:45 Personality:12 Luck:18(+10) Free AP (Attribute points): 39 Free SP (Skill points): 3 Defense: Physical: 250 (120+50+80) (ENDx3) Magical: 100 (60+25+15) (WILx2) Fire Resistance :100% (50%+90%) n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Skill Window: cksmith (Apprentice) lv.7 (40%) Enchantment (Beginner) lv.1 Goldsmith (Beginner) lv.1 cksmith''s Eyes lv.3 Blueprint (Apprentice) lv.2 Soul Infusion lv.2 Spirit Smithy lv.4 Spirit Capture lv.3 Weapon Mastery (Adept) lv.4 (98%) Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7 Fear Resistance lv.7 Fire Affinity lv.9 Fire Maniption lv.6 Map lv.4 Observation lv.2 Concealment lv.4 His health bar had taken quite a hit, but at least he had no negative statuses. Seths eyes wandered over his attributes and then to his skill window. Level 15 had brought a lot of changes. In his time of need his instincts made him bet on the and leveled it up. The changes that came with it, was the "Anvil of Tartarus" and fitting with the new that had been added- Seth had no idea what the dexterity trial was, but that couldeter. < Fire Affinity> was closing in on lv.10, would it also rank up then? < Fire Maniption> had also leveled up during the fight unbeknownst to him. When he wanted to use to see what it did, he actually found a small arrow beside the skill in the skill window. Most skills had this little arrow. Had this always been there? When he thought about clicking it and small tool tip opened with the caption "Perks". Perks? Below this caption in the small window beside it stated " essory Catalog". When Seth tried actually using the skill it really opened a window called " essory Catalog" filled with basic andmon blueprints of nes, rings, bracelets, and other jewelry he could make at a goldsmiths table! Were these the new system, right? A perk list? He checked the and the perk list mentioned all the crafting stations that were added or had changed with the level up and option to summon separate stations. It saved Seth the time to find out the changes by trial and error! Looking though his skill window, not all skills had perks mentioned in the tool tip. Seth was thest person who wouldin about quality-of-life changes to the system, but like the party option this was just a nice-to-have. All the system rights until now did not really change a lot. Lastly his attention fell onto the Quests. Unspectacrly the quest -The Next Level 3- just stated to reach level 20. Until now he unlocked new skills and rights every five levels. Would this keep going? The sight of the meager 3 SP he still had left now made him almost regret putting so many skill points into . As the skill number increased, they seemed more precious the higher his level climbed... After some deliberation he decided to put the remaining three into and get it to level 4, too. Seth actually had a sneaking suspicion after the s crafting stations were not improved past rare material. And he was right. did not grow to be able to appraise whatever rating came past rare. It got other perks instead! Perk list unexpectedly showed its worth! Perks added were: -Gain the Blueprint ofmon items during appraisal -Disassemble items up to rare to gain the Blueprint. It reminded him of the Scan in enchantment. So now he could also gain blueprints on his own! Thest change he noticed on ident, was that his inventory had stopped growing in both directions. This time he had only gained 5 new sloth, bringing the overall number to 30, instead of 36! So even the system had a limit when it came to free inventory space! After checking the changes of his status, he stared out from the fire surrounding him. Seth could only make out the red glimmer of their eyes, in the darkness beyond the fires shine. He looked around the room he sat in. The fire had spread evenly across every surface of the building. The wood in this world was sturdier than he expected. It burned slow and Seth estimated it would take another 15 minutes before he had to start dodging falling debris. Should he distribute his attribute points now? He frowned at the 39 AP, this made it hard to distributed them so he got even numbers! Seth stayed with his original method of distribution and focused on STR, DEX, followed by END and WIL. He added 10 to strength and dexterity and 5 to endurance and willpower. As he pondered what to do with the remaining 9, he looked outside at the evil eyes that waited for their chance to rip him apart. He put the remaining 9 into agility. "If something goes wrong, its better to run faster, I think." The impact after confirming the distribution was instantaneous. Compared to before, he was not surprised and overwhelmed this time. The increase,pared to his previous numbers was not too big, so he had a better chance to discern what was happening to his body. His muscles bulged up because of the strength and then condensed because of agility and endurance, he guessed. His headache also had lessened and his hand seemed nimbler and more delicate, despite being covered with light calluses. A shocking thought came to his mind. If he were only increase strength and dexterity... would he end up looking like a buff uncle with the hands of fairdy?! The sound of crumpling ceilings and yielding beams brought him back to reality. The guild hall was starting to break down and Seth had no choice but to leave the building. Just the time inside the guild had bought him almost an hour. He was sure that if he kept staying close to the mes and inside their light, he could weasel his way out a stall until dawn! he did not expect, that he would start dodging outside, too. Once he left the building covered in dense light, the temple priests restarted their barrage of dark projectiles! Even so they tremendously weakened the closer they came to light; Seth had no leeway to be hit. He was naked as can be, and could not don his armor, as it might be damage in the fire! Fin, flying high up above the spectacle, covered her eyes with a beet-red face. But, following the old heroic rule which stated "Peeking is not looking", she still watched through the gap of her fingers. For several hours she watched the well-build butt-naked young man jump and dodge around with a great bonfire as a backdrop. Seth prayed for the morning toe. he could hear the high-pitched giggles in the air above and swore he would get his revenge some day! Finally, the shower of projectiles stopped and the undead fled, as the first rays of light peeked over the edges of the ruins. Seth had survived! Chapter 46 - 46. Last Words The sun had finally returned to its rightful ce, and so did Seths clothes. "Seth! Are you okay? Fin was re~ally worried!", the little fairy asserted. "Dont give me that! I heard youugh up there!", he said while fixing his travelling clothes. "Buh! Its not Fins fault Seth jumped around naked like a deviant!", she pouted sulky and turned away, so the young man couldnt see her blush. "I did this for survival!", Seth defended his actions. "oh, shut up...", Seth said annoyed. And then spent some time to exin to Fin, that he had not meant her. Seth, with Fin on his shoulder, stepped out on the street covered in burned wreckage. All enemies were gone, even the one corpse had vanished. Not everyone vanished. They heard the scrapping and scratching of hundreds of legs in the alley way. The holy beast was still stuck under the anvil, or was it? This was not the same beast asst night. The ck tar-like color had vanished together with the disgusting cancerous growths hat had covered its outer shell. The beast stuck in the alley had a pure white chitinous exoskeleton reminiscent of porcin with golden rims. its underbelly was a dark silver and the scarab-like head sparkled in bright gold. Had the sun restored its original appearance? This looked a lot more like a holy beast. Still weird to worship this, but reasonable. "Human. You are back?", the harmonious voice said. It sounded a lot more friendly and seemed to hide a hint of amusement. Wisdom and peace vibrated in its voice as it continued. "Do not worry. I will follow my destined fate soon, not that the curse is gone. If not for it moving this body, I would have died a long time ago. I still hoped you woulde before it happened. I waited for you." "Me?", Seth asked warily. It was still stuck under his anvil. What would it do, cast a curse before finally dying? "Yes. You.", it affirmed as its body started crumbling like ashes and a pure white spirit was left to stand before Seth. " I wanted to thank you before I leave. Take this." has been added to your status.> The phantom touched Seths forehead and then vanished without a trace. Be blinked puzzled. ? Was it a skill? When he looked in his status it was just there. It was literally just there, without any exnation or function to it. He could just hope it was not like a bee sting, where you get marked by pheromones and all the other bees who smell it start stinging you, too. He could really refrain from meeting such a foe again. Fin just looked at Seth weirdly. She acted like she had neither seen nor heard any of it, when Seth tried to exin what had happened. "Fin only saw the big worm crumble to dust! Fin will trust Seth.", she said, acting cute again. And that was all of this. Done with their bickering they hurried along and soon managed to reach the outskirt of the ruins, where the sand once again ruled thends. "Hey, is that vegetation over there? Is that an oasis in the distance?", Fin suddenly asked. Seth checked the map. It was not an oasis. At some point they hade very close to the river that crossed this desert. "No, its actually a river. It is not the direct way, but we could follow the river all the way to Zhiqe.", Seth answered the fairies question. "Stupid human! Dumb Seth!", she suddenly eximed and hit his shoulder with her tiny fists, "Why did you not say that there was a river!? Fin has a boat! We could have traveled on the river all this time!" "Wait! You have a boat? Is this suddenly shaft craft? Why do you have a boat just like that? How would I have known you have a boat?! Why did you not tell me that you have a boat?" "Fin almost drowned once! Fin feels safer with a boat! Fins emotional support boat! Why would Fin tell you of her boaty!? Boaty needs water! There was no water for boaty! Why didn''t Seth aim for the river to begin with!?" "B-Boaty?! I- ... that''s! The river was a detour and I have more than enough water in my inventory. Why would I aim for the longer way when what Ick is food?! Food is my emotional support - No! Whatever! We have a boat and there is a river. Lets stop arguing and get out of here." The few sparsely growing palms and bushes surround the river blocked the noon sun as they reached the river. Here the fairly pulled out a very sturdy looking rowboat. Seth and Fin were very tired, but Seth demanded to cook a proper lunch before they left. With tired minds, but filled bellies, they entered the boat and left the hard work to the steady current of the river. Lying in the boat, both rested on the edge between falling asleep and barely staying awake as they did not know what danger would lurk in the water. Nothing happened for a long time and when night came again, they anchored in the middle of the river and slept on the boat. Despite the existence of "desert kraken", the river actually seemed save. They peacefully drove down the idly flowing river for several days. The scenery slowly changed during their journey. The sand dunes past the green banks of the river made way for a vast expanse of dry grasnd and steppe. Seth used the break to finally appraise the equipment he had found in the guild. Most of them had only slight variations ofmon schematics made from iron or steel and did not suffice to give him new blueprints. Some of them had special properties because they were made of monster materials and Seth got somemon and umon blueprints from them and new entries in the material catalog. Only one or two had true enchantments on them. Seth tried to scan them with by pulling them into the scan-slot. The weapons disintegrated and he got simple circuits for engraving. They would increase damage and durability when magic power was infused into the weapon. They were no groundbreaking enchantments by any means, but they would probably suffice to grind his skills a little, once he finally got the chance again. The biggest discovery was probably from a battered and unassuming red-gold-colored bracer that looked like it was made of bronze. The item itself was too damaged to count as more than scrap. but the material that appeared in his catalog was interesting. A special metal created by an ancient civilization sounded very mystifying. And its properties were quite intriguing. When he talked to fin about it, she exined it. It actually just meant that there was no sentient being left that knew how to do it, during the time the system gained influence on this world. That was why it was "lost". Seth soon got bored of fiddling with their spoils. he could not test anything on the boat. On the third day they had finally left the desertpletely behind and came closer to their destination. The air became more humid and the river had noticeably broadened. Finally! Seth had kept using on all the creatures he had dared to, but never leveled up! After a talk with Fin, Seth understood, that was actually a hard to train and not very rewarding skill. Your own level had more impact on the effect of the skill, than the skill level itself. Coupled with the fact that it needed exponentially more effort to level and was easily detectable, meant that few people put much effort into it. Lately animals had started appearing in the river. There were all kinds of hoofed animals with strong or dangerous looking horns appeared at the banks of the river. They really demotivated the idea to leave the boat. In the water were creatures resembling crocodiles, but they were rather small and their levels were very low. They were no better than regr animals and posed no threat to the boat. Bored as he was, he used his leisure time to observe the animals in the water and on the shore. The river had widened so much it turned simr to a vast marsnd as the neared Zhiqe. And finally, their enjoyably monotonous journey was interrupted when his eyes wandered over the water surface and- This was the highest level he had seen in thest days! He definitely saw more with the new level of , even so it was not that helpful, except knowing mana and health before attacking it. But where was this thing? Seth was wide awake and looked closer at the water surface. There were two bis fleshy nostrils peeking from the water. "Fin! Fin! Wake up! Our boat might be in trouble!" "mnya mnya, just ...", the fairy started to fall asleep again. What surfaced from the water in front of them was....a hippo? No, more like the disgruntled over-sized bloodthirsty ancestor with a mean craving for human meat. Chapter 47 - 47. Zhiqe Magna Buzzy, a monster resembling a hippopotamus the size of an elephant and additional teeth like a crocodile. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Such a beast lifted its head out of the water in front of Seths and Fin little boaty. And it was hungry for human meat! "Fin!", he grabbed the little squishy fairy in his fist and started shaking and spinning her around to wake her up! "Puak! Im awake, stop sha~king me!", she screamed in desperation. "Look!", he pointed the little fairy towards the beast nearing them. And just in this moment the gigantic hippo that had already opened its gigantic maws as it charged towards them- vanished. two even bigger jaws had suddenly emerged without any previous indication and pulled the giant under water! Soon the water turned crimson from huge amounts of blood rising to the surface. Seth paled. Fin wailed. And there was no shore to be seen. Only water and reeds. Even so Fin was a whopping lv. 48 fairy now, she was also just a fairy. The little brute would have already been hard pressed to deal with the Magna Buzzy. How were they supposed to survive against something that just ate it? leveled up and kicked in. Seth hurriedly checked the . "Lets calm down. We are not far from Zhiqe and whatever that was... it has eaten. Everyone knows, after a big meale a good nap, right? So, we should maybe, very quietly, start paddling and get there as fast as possible? yes?", he whispered to his fairypanion. Fin nodded in agreement and the carefully and as fast as possible crossed the remaining distance. Soon they could see the first signs of civilization. Groups of run-down shacks on floating tforms and stilts started appear here and there in the marsnd. they grew in number until the broad river they traveled on until now, was bordered by a kind of slums. These huts made of wood and reed seemed old and abandoned judging by the level of disrepair. Mold grew everywhere and the stench of rot filled the humid air. They did not see a single person which intensified the unsettling atmosphere of this ce. Fortunately, they soon left behind these rotting slums. The marsnd receded and made for drynd. More normal huts could be seen among fields and lush vegetation on the resurfacing shores of the river. Although the people looked poor and malnourished, they could finally make out some normal people in the vicinity. They could be seen working on the fields and ntations. This sight calmed their hearts a little since it was a sign of rtive safety. And soon they saw it. Before them reached a gigantic whitewashed city wall into the skies. It formed a big bridge with several big gates over the main river. These portcullises of different sizes made it possible to regte the entrance to the city, while letting the river flow mostly unhindered. This structure spoke of glory, might and wealth. Or that''s what it would have during its heyday. The wall looked abandoned and deste. Many parts had crumpled away and were never repaired. Moss and vines covered much of the wall, with what could be seen having a tint of green tainting the once whitewashed structure. Only few portcullises seemed to be still functional. Disturbingly, the bigger ones had their metal grilles smashed in, with what was left bing twisted scrap peeking out of the river. Using one of these smashed gateways boaty entered Zhiqe. The banks of the river were fortified by sturdy walls on both sides, the only things that looked mildly maintained. The city they entered looked like it was once a beautiful a vibrant hub of life andmerce. But like the walls outside, it now appeared dreary, empty, and lifeless. Few small vessels were tied to the quay wall restricting the river. The architecture of the city looked magnificent and exquisite, despite the deste state it was in. However, it was probably never as luxuriant as Ivicer in its prime. "We should look for the guild, I guess?", Fin suggested as they entered awork of narrow streets and meandering alleys you would not expect from just seeing the citys skyline. They promptly lost their way in the confusing maze of dark alleys. It was silent and empty. There were no people they could have asked for the way. "Well, well, well, look what we have here! Did you lose your way, my friend?", a voice echoed from the shadows they had just passed. Stepping out from the darkness was not a human, but a kind of lizard man! His face looked almost normal, except for his eyes and small patches of scales. Same applied for other parts like his hand, not covered by his dark and worn leather attire. His reptilian eyes twitched when Seth instinctively used on him. < Name: Asso Title: "Twilight Walker" Age:17 Level: 15 Race: Reptilian Sex: Male Affiliation: Adventurers Guild Health: 970/1000 Mana: 50/74 > Despite looking like a generic robber, Asso was actually an adventurer! Still, Seth kept his guard up. To his surprise Asso did not use on him! " Quite cheeky to just look at someone elses status, arent we? Asso will forgive you this time." "How did you get behind us?", Fin asked agitated. It was one thing for Seth not to register anything, but for her to be sneaked up onto was different. She had a fairly high level! Low-level stealth would not work on her, even without the perception attribute! The other opened his arms showing his unarmed hands and shrugged. "Asso is a very good sneaker. Very stealthy. How would a little fairy see us, hidden in the twilight? Anyways~", he pped his hands together, " I watched you wandering around in this old district and wondered if you lost your way? This ce has been abandoned for a long time, there is nothing to see." Seth examined Asso for head to toe before answering. "The guild? That is easy! Let this Asso help get to the main district. There you will find the guild, the inns and anything else you might be looking for!", the lizardman answered enthusiastically and just stared going. When he saw them not following him, he stopped to wave at them. "Come on!" Seth told Fin what he knew and they judged that Asso was not really a threat.. Thus, they followed their scaly guide through the winding alleys of Zhiqe. Chapter 48 - 48.Zhiqe(2) The change was like apletely different word. Like breaking through the water surface after a long dive or seeing the light of day after wandering through dark caves. Before themy spacious streets bathed in the bright light of the sun. "See! Asso did not lie to you. Asso told you he would bring you here.", the lizardman said jovial and turned around. his eyes squinted and a faint golden glow came from his eyes. With a deep voice he continued. "And now we are at the point, when I ask you for my reward.", he suddenly spoke in first person. Seth heard a shuffle behind them. Two burly beastmen stepped out from the shadows. One had the face and eyes of a frog, the other looked amphibious too, but Seth could not categorize it. "If you would kindly bring out all your items, I would be much obliged. haha, look at the hope slowly dimming from your eyes! Do not worry, I do not intend to take everything! I just want the-" Fwhump! While Seths bare fist had found its way into Assos face,with a satisfying crunch, the fairy had already dispatched the frog and was upied with pummeling thest one into submission. She flew around the burly and thick skinned beastman like a sentient bullet and kept battering him. Seth on the other hand stepped out onto the brightly lit street, where Asso had fallen after taking his surprise attack. The lizardman was writhing on the ground, holding his face in pain. He never expected this human to be this strong! Or fast! "You hit me! Just like that!", he whimpered. With his agility as a lizardman no human in the same level range should be able to hit him! Seth stood over him cracking his knuckles. This brat was quite cocky! "You didnt even let me fi-", a vicious punch to the gut, made Asso shut up. The poor would-be robber whimpered and shrunk into a fetal position, holding his stomach. "Stop whining so much! You barely lost health.", Seth said rolling his eyes as he kicked his opponent on the ground in the back. Asso was quite tough, he still had 75% of his health. But the pain really got to him. Tears fell from his eyes and he even fell back to talking in third person. "Ahh! Please! Please stop! Asso meant no harm! Asso just- I just- it was a joke! Yes! A joke-", another hit shaved 5% off his health for theme excuse. Even without deliberately aiming his punches, the strength behind Seths fist could not be underestimated. "Oh please~ Do you think I''m stupid? Who would believe your bullshit now? I gave you an honest chance not to turn out to be a robber. You missed it.", he said in a deliberately cold voice. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Seth felt no mercy for the opponent looking like a picture of misery. He would pummel him until he could not move anymore and drag him to the guild. That would teach him not to- "Please stop!", he heard a young voice as he kept pounding Asso into the ground. Seth looked up to see a youngdy in rather formal attire run up to them. Her blonde hair was bound into a loose bun and she wore something that reminded Seth of an office suit with a straight skirt, white blouse, and a waist jacket. She looked quite out of ce in the current setting of an oasis-desert city. The street had been calm but not empty. She was the first to care about the situation, other passerbys had ignored Seth and Asso until now. Seeing Seth letting off form Asso, she sped up to reach them. "Asso, are you ok!?", she said out of breath. She crouched down and held his face in her hands. Tapping it lightly to make him regain consciousness. So, she knew him. And here Seth thought there were actually upright people in this world who would interfere with violence out of a sense for justice. Asso still had more than half of his health, he would not die any time soon. "So? Care to exin why you interfered?", Seth asked monotone. His opinion of her had already fallen a little, after he realized that she knew the robber. When Asso showed sign of being awake, the woman stood up again. She took a confident stance to show authority. "Sir! I do not know what happened between the two of you, but the guild will not stand by when adventurers are attacked in public! But if you follow me to the guild, I''m sure we can find a solution! ", she said in an authoritative tone. She knew that she had no idea and did not even bother asking what happened, but immediately started throwing around the weight of the guild. It sounded like she had already made up her mind. Seth felt peeved, being treated as if he was the offender here. He took a deep breath. The scary strong man taking a deep breath gave her confidence. As long as she mentioned the guild, she could defuse the situation and they could settle everything in a calm manner at the guild. Asso sometimes made trouble, but he normally was a good guy. She was sure they could- "I see how it is.", Seth said in an rmingly calm manner and proceed to... give Asso a kick catapulting him across the street, where he crashed against the wall of a house. It looked gruesome, but he barely lost any health from it. Time to y this up. "Fin had described the guild in a better light, but to think they would not only shield criminals, but even try to cover up their crimes and threaten the victims!" The young woman covered her mouth in shock upon Seths reaction. This was not what she had meant to do at all! But the words were stuck in her throat as he continued. "I had nned to show mercy and drag him to the guild. But if this is the guilds stance, I will take it upon myself to make sure he harms no one else in this life." "No, please wait! Thats not at all what I meant to say!", the woman said desperately. "Seth? Dafuq is going on here?" Fin had finally joined the scene. She had dragged the two burly guys to the edge of the alley and came flying over when she saw Seth arguing with someone. "Oh, thisdy just said that the guild wishes to shield our attacker and if we talk, they will get rid of us.", Seth told Fin nonchnt. He winked at her and kept slowly going towards the gasping Asso. "No! That is not what I said! And also, not what I meant! This is all a misunderstanding! Please stop!", the young woman fell in a panic and was starting to cry, distraught with worry. She had just recently managed to get a job as receptionist at the guild! And now she had caused a scene! They would totally fire her! She could not lose another job. She sat down and tears started flowing uncontrobly. Looking at the young girl starting to sob, Fin made a decision. In this rare circumstance, Fin, the happy-go-lucky fairy brute, saw herself forced to be the voice of reason. "Ok, ok. Alright! Everyone calms down! Seth! Stop menacingly going towards that poor sob just to teach her a lesson! This girl is already close to a mental breakdown!" Looking at the battered Asso on the ground and the picture of misery that was the youngdy, he shrugged and let it go. Both seemed to have learned their lesson. "Eh? eh?", the woman looked back and forth between the scary strong man and the little fairy, "Teaching a lesson? So, this was all... a joke?" Seth scowled at her. "Its not a joke. Dont go around making assumptions, without asking about the situation first. " She shrunk back and nodded meekly. Still, she calmed down considerably after understanding that Seth had not been serious. Fin exined the situation to the girl who introduced herself as Mary, and showed her the two guys from the alley. They were members of Assos party. The girl still could not understand why Asso would do something like this. As a promising D-Rank Adventurer he had few needs, but she decided that this was not for her to judge! Dragging the three stooges over the street, Seth and Fin followed Mary to the guild, located in themercial district of the city. The streets changed and there were some more people here, but still not so many that one would start calling it lively. Shops and restaurants lined the sides of the road, but many shop windows and dining rooms were closed and empty. They finally reached the guild. The guild hall of Zhiqe was a lot bigger than what they saw in Ivicer, but looked almost as run down, if not worse. Many windows were broken and boarded up. The facade was covered in graffiti and showed sign of disrepair. Didnt the log call this the regional headquarters or something? Why was it in this state? Looking at this, Seth felt like his sarcastic assumption could be real! Maybe this guild had to rob people to stay alive. The inside was no better. The floors were littered with all kinds of rubbish from dirt to kitchen scraps of the bar/eatery to the right. Nobody cared to clean the entrance hall anymore. The furniture and reception counter were worn down and scratched up. The chairs tables looked like they were barely holding together, even without someone sitting on them. "Mary you arete! What is...this?", a strong female voice broke the silence of the entrance hall. A woman in the same attire as Mary came from behind the counters. She looked a lot stricter. Her hair was in a firm bun and her triangr sses emphasized her sharp eyes. She stocked as her gaze fell on Marys weirdpany of which 3 were beaten up and unconscious. Chapter 49 - 49. Zhiqe(3) After a small introduction Seth, Fin, Mary, Asso and the secretary of the former guild master and head receptionist, Olivia, were all sitting in a big meeting room of the guild hall. The room was not dirty, but you could see theck of care it experienced over the years. What itcked in maintenance was made up in hospitality. Seth and Fin were settled with a hot cup of tea and a te of sugary pastry native to Zhiqe. It contained very sweet honey and tasted quite sulent. The teas strong taste matched it well and calmed Seths mood considerably. Asso had been treated by a guild healer. He still looked miserable, but he was awake and could talk normally. Olivia red at the beastman after hearing what had happened from Seth. Mary was not better off; she knew she had not handled the situation correctly. Both hung their head in shame under Olivia''s sharp eyes. "Exin!", she barked at Asso, who looked like a depressed puppy in this moment. It all started with the reason why Asso even managed to be a promising adventurer to begin with. He had a unique skill called . This skill allowed him to see items and materials that could help him be stronger by purifying his bloodline. As a reptilian he had the chance to rank up his bloodline all the way to draconian if he was lucky and got the right opportunities. The benefits of this were obvious: Stronger attribute-growth and greater multipliers! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Assos mission was initially really to patrol the old district and help people who had lost their way. However, when he wanted to approach Seth and the Fairy showed the young traveler in a golden hue! He had either something on his body or in his inventory that might be of great help to his promotion! Seth lifted an eyebrow at this statement. What could he have, that could help this guy promote? So Asso talked to his party before talking to travelers. He had nned to bring them to the edge of the old district and intimidate them there! Once they emptied their inventory, he would have been able to discern what the item was and either exin the situation if he could pay for it, or run off with it if it was too valuable! He was confident in his agility! He looked almost smug when he mentioned that in robbery was not his first choice. Just how did this guy grow up to think his actions were appropriate? At least it did not seem, like he used violence at any point in time before. Asso knew about , but as a beastman hecked the talent in magic to acquire it. And since his level was not considered high, he also had no skills topensate for thisck, yet. So, he had severely underestimated the two travelers and got his butt handed to him. And now Asso even had to pay the guild healer for treatment... When his report turned into random rambling Olivia told him to shut up. She had heard enough. This guy had pulled off stunts like this before, but it was the first time Olivia could force him to talk about his reasons. Normally these incidents ended with the first option. People got a scare and then sold him whatever trinket or item he wanted. It did not really impact his reputations since he paid well and the people happily forgot the scare. "How far has this city sunken, that a D-Rank can act like this", Olivia thought shaking her head. "Asso is clearly in the wrong. He and his party will pay 5 gold as reparations. At the same time, their dungeon license will be suspended and they will have to do menial quest for 6 months.", she looked to Seth, but her eyes stayed on Fin, "Is this punishment eptable to you?" Fin and Seth just nodded. They did not really care about this anymore. Seth was more interested in the thing Asso wanted. "On another note, I hope you can forgive Mary her misconduct. She is still new and inexperienced.", Mary twitched when her name was mentioned, but looked up, when Olivia actually spoke in her favor. " Fin thinks she has learned her lesson!", the fairy answered while Seths eyes stayed on Asso. "Asso.", he said which made the lizardman wince. "Asso is-! I- I am very sorry for what happened. Please forgive me." "Yeah, yeah. Calm down.", Seth waved his hand, "I more interested in the material you saw with " Seth had juste to this world and people already wanted to rob stuff from him, he did not even know he had! "Lets meetter and look through my inventory. Maybe I will still sell you what you need, if the price is right.", Seth said with a twinkle in his eyes. With this, Olive concluded the meeting and asked Mary and Asso to leave. Soon only Olivia and Seths party were left in the room. Olivia turned to the innocent-looking fairy. "Now then, what else can I do for the B-Rank adventurer Fin Bellsmiter? I have heard about you. Our guild already looks like this. I hope you dont n to go on a drunken rampage like in-" "Lies! Stop ndering Fin in front of Seth! Fin is an upstanding member of society! Fin never demolished a bar!", she cried out, waving her tiny fists with a crimson red face. "So, Fin had a past like this, huh?", he thought and chuckled upon the image of tiny Fin being drunk and starting a bar fight. Seth obviously knew Fin had been an adventurer before, she had mentioned it in Ivicer, but had not further talked much about it. "Anyways, we actually came to the guild for two reasons. I want to join the guild and we picked this up in Ivicer.", he pulled out the log book from his inventory. "Ivicer!? You actually came out of cursed Ruins alive?!" Shock was written all over Olivia''s face. Even when this young man was really an ori huma and Fin was a B-Rank adventurer, it was incredible they made it out of there. Nobody had ever returned from there! "Yes, barely. Without the hints from this book, we might have died without knowing what killed us." Now that the conversation was finally on the book, Seth described what happened in Ivicer and their escape from the ruins without going into too deep of a detail. As if the earlier shock was not enough, Olivia lost control over her expression, as Seth told her the story. He told Olivia about the quest and gave her the book, but the quest did not react. "That is weird, didnt we hand it over like the quest told us to?", Seth asked puzzled. Olivia had aplicated expression after hearing his question. "I dont know how to tell you this but... Maybe you have to talk to and give this book to the guild master. The problem is, that the guild master stopped caring about his job after this incident in Ivicer." She had not been here at the time, so she could only give a rough exnation. 10 years ago, this guild branch was the headquarters of the region. With many strong adventurers they kept the creatures of the marsnds at bay and the materials also brought prosperity to Zhiqe. But something terrible happened and the Ivicer branch stopped responding. The guild master sent a contingent with most of the high-ranking members of the guild to subjugate the threat, but all of them vanished in those ruins. Having lost the forces that culled the creatures in the surrounding area was one of the reasons Zhiqe had lost most of its glory. The guild master med himself for this and was reprimanded on top of this. When she joined the guild, the master was onlying sporadically to the guild hall. This neglect caused new promising adventurers to leave. The branch had lost its standing and was degraded. Lately the guild master only held this role in name, but seldomly showed up in the guild. Like this, only Olivia was left to lead what was left of the guild. "So... you might have to go and look for the guild master toplete your quest. Im sorry.", she said and gave Seth the book back. Seth sighed, of course it could not be easy for once. "Its not your fault, I guess. but I can still register here, right?", Seth tried to stay motivated. The quest could wait.. He still had lots of things to do. Chapter 50 - 50. Becoming An Adventurer Seth had talked about this with Fin in detail. He had opened up to the fairy about his ss and needs during their leisure time on boaty. Fin had been very surprised that Seth actually had a unique production ss, but did not say much else about it. They had concentrated on his options form here on. As a registered adventurer he could enter dungeons to level up and gather materials. It also made travel easier since locals often held a higher opinion of adventurer, than people from other system institutions. They now even had the option to find a guard quest with the guild if Seth could not find a way to travel to Ora with money alone. He could also enter dungeons to level up without much risk to his life. Fin reassured him, that being member of the guild was not against his contract with the church, as the guild normally did not interfere much with their adventurers. The guild registration was rather uplicated. Olivia had left the room after their request to join and came back holding a te with a crystal ball set in it. This device could check Seths status, to make sure he was not a wanted criminal. After seeing Fin not really reacting to his unique ss, they had talked about it. Unique sses did not seem to be umon enough to spark a big sensation. Hearing this Seth had less doubts with showing it here. Seth had to put his hand on the brass-te and the device showed his status and the name of his ss in a system-like window, but none of his skills. Olivia was mildly surprised about his ss-rating, but did not further talk about it. Next came the talk about what rank Seth would start at. He had the strength to easily beat up a D-Rank, but strength was not all one needed to rank up! There was also reputation, but this was covered by Fin vouching for Seth. And so, he became a C-Rank adventurer. Once again, Seth had to put his hands on the te. The small machine started vibrating and he felt a slight burn on his wrist. A small tattoo had appeared there. It was in the shape of a small shield icon and build the connection to the guild. Next, the device started rattling and spit out a small ivory te with all the essential information printed on it! This device did not just check the status, but also printed the license! Truly fascinating. And just like this, he had be an adventurer! Olivia left the two alone in the meeting room to go and collect their 5 gold from Assos party. They used the time to talk about their ns from now on. A lot had cropped up and they might have to stay some time in Zhiqe, which meant they needed an inn. After some talk, they decided to split up once they had an inn. Fin would go around town looking for a way to travel to Ora and for information about the guild master. The fairy had experience traveling in other worlds and could take care of herself in a foreign city. Seth on the other hand nned to exploit Asso as a guide to get around. After finding out what the reptile needed from him, he would use it to make him his guide. Seth wanted to find a hunter to finally dismantle the juvenile. Then he would go and cash in the promissory stone at the bank and give the shops and market here a visit. This town looked like it had to have a bazaar and even if this was not Ora, maybe he could find some useful stuff there. And depending on how long Fin would take with her tasks, he would find a ce to use his smithy. He really needed to repair his armor. They were done talking and devoured the left-over pastries until Olivia returned with their money. Before it was time to leave, they used this chance to ask her about any good Inns in town and the dungeons the guild supervised. It turned out that Zhiqe had 3 dungeons. The guild headquarters were originally located here, because of the business with monster material from the surrounding marsnd not because of the number of dungeons. The first one was somewhat of a mystery. It was a deep round shaft that went straight into the ground with a maze of tunnels spreading off from it in the outskirts of the city. It had always been there and nobody really knew its purpose anymore. But at some point, generic low-level-undead started spawning from it. They ranged from lv.5 to lv.10 on average and it was an optimal beginner dungeon. getting lost in the maze was actually the biggest danger. The description sounded very mysterious and Seth really wanted to see it, even if it was just for sightseeing. The second was the neglected sewer system of Zhiqe, also a beginner dungeon with slimes and rats up to level 15. Wasnt it a cliche for a dungeon to be in the sewers? But it made sense. Dungeons grew everywhere like mold, as Fin had described it. Seth had no inclination to go even near that one and Fin had enough of bad smells, too, after her little adventure in the kraken. Thest one was the ruin of a noble''s residents, that was lost to the marsnds. Thest time someone came back from there, it was reported to spawn a variation of Naga with lv.25 as a minimum and a mix of beast from the marsnds. It was the most dangerous and there was currently no party able to safely go there. It sounded wet. Seth had enough of wet, or dry for that matter. Who would have thought he would start to miss the forest? Not. What Seth missed were the endearingly yellow clouds of smog, the acidic rain falling on bleak asphalt streets on a cold Sunday afternoon. Andscape filled with dreary and colorless high-risers that stood like tombstones on the grave of nature. Seth started to feel a little homesick. Anyways, after asking for direction they finally left the run-down guild. Seth found Asso waiting right outside the guildhall. He looked a lot better already. Seth had been treated by Fin after that night, so he knew, that the magic healers truly were a cheat. "You told me that you might still help me. Did you mean it?", he asked warily. Being totally cool when interacting with the guy who had just beat the living daylights out if, might have been asking for too much. "Perfect, now I dont have to look for you. You can follow us for now.", Seth said smiling and he 3 of them went to find the inn Olivia had told them about. It was some streets away from the guild. The location looked a lot better and the inn seemed decent. The first floor was a big eatery with a lot of guests. A good sign. The food smelled great and made Seths mouth water. A satisfying meal, how long had it been? At the bare was manned by a big burly dude with fabulous mustache. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, showing big hairy forearms that could rival Popeye! "What can I do for you?", he asked with a booming, friendly voice, when the three came before the bar. Bear, was Seths first thought when he saw him. He looked like a big, friendly, hairy bear! Seth realized that he was staring at the man and awkwardly answered. "Ah, err, yes. Do you maybe have a vacant room for us?", he gestured between Fin and himself. Another participant of the conversation suddenly rose to speak. Seths stomach audibly overpowered the bustling dining hall and demanded its due. "And whatever you rmend from your menu.", Seth added with a red face. The burly man just smiled knowingly. "Ha ha, of course. Today special is snake soup and fried couck bird. The room is 6 Silver a day. Ites with ess to the bath and 3 meals a day for both of you. How long will you stay?" 6 silver seemed expensive, but Seth did not care. the food looked good and offering a bath sold it for him. He gave the man 24 Silver for 4 days and exined that they might prolong their stay. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Very well. My name is Harmond. Here is the key to your room. Do you eat here, or should I send to your room?" The three sat down at one of the tables and ate in silence. Asso felt weird at first, but the meal tasted as good as it smelled and he soon rxed. Seth and Fin split up in front of the inn when they left. Fin flew off into the city, leaving Seth and Asso behind. "Alright then, Asso. How do we do this? Should I just take out everything in my inventory one by one? or can you tell me roughly what you are looking for?", it was the first time he spoke to him since the left the guild. The lizardman felt a little calmer interacting with Seth after they had a meal together. Unfortunately, he could not possibly know what reacted to, until he saw it. "hmm, we should first find an appropriate ce. I have a hunch what it might be, but this ce is not suited to take it out. You dont coincidentally know where I can find hunter here? One who can dismantle big game?", Seth led the conversation. He had no idea whether it was really the giant snake Asso was reacting to, or not. But he needed to find a hunter anyways. "Oh yes! I actually know someone who can do that. He has a shop no too far away from the old district!" He actually knew someone! They had also asked Olivia, but she did not know anyone. it had been a long time since anyone needed big game to be dismantled by a professional. "Perfect. Oh, but can you bring be to the system bank first? I have to take care of something there first", Seth said with a friendly smile. The other nodded happily and led the way. Seeing Asso so eager to help, made Seth almost feel bad for exploiting him as a tour guide. Almost. Business at the bank seemedplicated at first, but became a lot easier when they found out that he was an ori huma affiliated with the church. That totally was the reason they treated him like a VIP and not the promissory stone over 650 gold. In record time Seth had opened a bank ount with 700 gold credit, was given a VIP crystal card and had an additional 50 gold stored in his inventory. He was treated with a lot of smiles, tea, cookies, andpliments until he left the door. Money really changed how people treated you! Asso had waited outside and could only look baffled at the bank manager waving after the leaving Seth. "What did you do to them...?" "Im rich, bitch. What else is there to say?" Now that Seth had some cash and a credit card, it was time for business! Chapter 51 - 51. Grumpy Hunter? Seth and Asso were at the border to the old district. he really had not missed these dark and damp alleyways that formed a confusing maze. "Why would anyone open a shop in this ce?", he asked not really expecting an answer, but still got one. "Thend is cheap here, I guess.? This was once the most vital ce of the city, you know? Wares and supplies would all via the river into the city. So many shops and jobs were located here and many people lived here." There really was nothing else to do, so Seth listened to Asso rambling on about the city. After the city lost the support of the adventurers, their troops were not enough to keep the marsnd creatures at bay. Asso was still small when the bigger gates were destroyed by a giant beast! It and the horde following it had rampaged along the river and many people died. Among them Assos parents. After the gates were open once, things kept happening. People kept vanishing in the night and corpses were found in the contorted streets of the old district. The ce was too convoluted for guards to be effective, so they were pulled outpletely. Most people left for other cities, as life here was not safe anymore. Now only criminals, the poor and the stingy still lived here. As if he had perfectly timed it, they arrived at a big double door when his story ended. It was a big warehouse close to the river. Asso just walked in without knocking. He must know the hunter well. Behind the door was a big empty storage space with bare walls and the floor covered in stone tiles. Seth estimated it to be 20m long and 6m wide, so it would probably fit the juvenile. "Yudrid?! You in? I have a customer for you!", Asso opened a door and yelled. A grumpy grunting came back as the answer. What stepped through that door was a 130cm tall ball of bad mood? A long messy beard fell on a rusty chain mail and the dirty leather shirt and pants he wore below it. He scratched his head covered in long, matted, blonde hair, while his other hand was busy lifting an almost empty wine bottle to his mouth. "That him?", a wine bottle was pointed at Seth. The voice did not fit the appearance! It was a rough voice yeah, but it was definitely the deep voice of a woman!? Looking closer at her, the skin beyond the beard and dirt looked smooth and while almost indiscernible, under the chain mail and leather, there were two bulges on her chest. "A female dwarf?", he blurted out. "Hah, a real bright spark, your friend here!", the dwarfughed and shoved her hand toward him war a shake, "Yudrid Dimde, the best damn hunter in this shithole of a city! You got something for me to dismantle? Something bi~g I hope?", she winked at him. Seth felt a little unsettled by the wink, but tried to ignore it. "You gonna take it out, or should I help you?", she urged Seth, while Asso could only facepalm in the background. Seth shrugged and took the juvenile out from his inventory. "hoho! Its been a long time, since someone pulled out such a long schlong in front of me!", she grinned about her own dirty joke and her white teeth sparkled inparison to her dirty exterior. As drunk as she had acted until now, she became a professional when the snake came out. Her movements became firm and controlled. He walked over to a wall and flipped a switch upon which the storage room immediately started cooling down. She started walking up and down the juvenile''s boy to inspect it. Asso on the other hand was euphoric. From his eyes shing in a bright gold, Seth concluded that his guess was right and the reptilian needed something from Seths giant reptile. Yudrid soon came back after she walked around the juvenile once. "Quite the bugger you have here. You didnt catch this thing in the marsnds I fathom?", the drunk slur in her speech was gonepletely. Had she just been ying that? "Nope." Yudrid pondered a little and nodded. "So, what do you want from me? Should I dismantle itpletely? Our do you just want a specific part?", she too looked at Assos brightly sparkling eyes. Did she maybe misunderstand him? "Everything. I dont know what exactly is a valuable crafting material on this snake, so I did not want to loot it." She told Seth toe back tomorrow evening. She would be done by then. She asked for 2 gold to dismantle the whole snake and 50 silver extra for doing it immediately. As the rich fancy-pants Seth had be, he easily agreed on the price. Yudrid had mentioned some of the valuable crafting material like the ribs and Seth could not wait to see, what he could do with them! Asso could only hope that the thing he needed was not a crafting material! Asso had understood that he had be a glorified tour guide for Seth and epted this role. Their next stop would have been themercial district, but it was gettingte, so Seth wanted to return to the inn. He met there with the fairy, who was already happily eating dinner! Asso said goodbye and left. He would be back in the morning. Seth sat down beside Fin and also got his meal. Back in their room after filling their bellies, they talked about their day. The fairy had visited a few different bars and found some information brokers. After lubing some gears, she found a few different ways to get to Ora from here. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The longest one was to take a trade route to the seaport of Oriekot and take the ocean route to a port near Ora. it was not cheap, but they could rx for the whole journey. The second longest one was to join a caravan that would bring them across the desert and thought the mountains via dwarven tunnels. It was the cheapest, as they could join as guards and even get paid for the journey. The fastest and most expensive one was the airship. A magical flying vehicle they could enter in Oriekot. Simr to the ocean route it roughly followed the coastline and visited port cities. Unlike the ocean route it would turn ind after crossing the desert and actually halt in Ora once. It was the most fitting, but with 25 gold for amoner-ss ticket it was also very pricey. The most unreliable option was to ask the system church to send them via the Pathwork. It was fast, it was cheap, but who knew where those quacks transported them? She had a little less luck concerning the guild master, but she would focus on him tomorrow. After Seth had told her about his day and she had a goodugh about Yudrid''s sexual innuendos, they both returned to their room. While Fin fell in the bed right away, Seth decided to give this bath a visit. He could really use one. The bath he entered was actually something like a shared bath house. He just followed the instructions, put his clothes in his inventory and entered just wearing a towel. Seth properly washed himself with soap before entering a big hot spring-style bath. "Well, look whos finally here!", a familiar voice greeted him.. In the hot spring, just wearing a towel and scarring the world with the sight of his giant bush of silvery white chest hair, sat Simon. Chapter 52 - 52. The Bazaar "Simon!" The priest hurriedly blocked the fist of justice aiming for his face. In further consequence he had stood up and his towel unraveled a little, threatening to deal tremendous psychological damage to Seth, if the towel were to slip any further! "Please wait, Seth! Calm down! Neither of us want this towel to slip down!", this tant threat stopped Seth in his tracks. Right, if that towel fell, it would be a whole other kind of personal apocalypse for Seth. He took a deep breath and let go of his anger. "What are you doing here Simon? Was it not enough to throw me into the desert and almost kill me? Are you here to gloat?" "Dont be like that Seth! I came to see if you are ok!", Simon exined cordially. "Why?", Seth didnt believe him. "Cant I be worried about our newesty follower?", now with some sweat on his bald forehead. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Why?" Simon rolled his eyes and gave up. "ok, ok. The fair folk are pressuring us to make sure you and your littlepanion are alive and healthy. Happy? Look, I could not have changed this, even if I wanted to. The effect is built in when a native travels through the Pathwork. Its the interference of our god." Even Simon the happy old man, looked down at this moment. Seth didnt know whether he was acting or it really burdened the priest, but it wasnt important now. Whatever happened, happened. Seth sank down into the warm water and let his worries wash away. Silence ensued. "And why didnt you tell me beforehand?", Seth finally asked after some time. "Its church policy not to talk about it, at least not the first time. And when the fairy joined you, I even wanted to tell you, but you just ran off....", he answered in a mncholic voice. It seemed that the old priest had really taken a liking to Seth in the short time they knew each other. Seth sighed." Alright. I forgive you, but this is yourst chance. Was this all you came here for?" He tried to hide it, but the old man''s wet beard shook in joy. Simon stood up abruptly, which brought his towel dangerously close to slipping again. kicked in and Seth averted his eyes in time, before the elder bend over and started rummaging in at the border of the bath. When Simon finally sat back down, he held a rough dark stone in his hands. Aplicated rune was engraved on it. "Here, this is a teleport rune, I got it from the church here. Its the physical manifestation of a system right you will gain at lv.60. It is only a one-off item, but if you are in life-threatening danger, this can transport your party back here to the church in Zhiqe. You just have to put some mana into it and it will activate." Seth took the heavy stone, the size of a palm from Simon. As he was examining it the priest suddenly reminded him. "Oh, and dont put it in your inventory! It will vanish in your inventory if you dont have the corresponding level to own it." Seth nodded to signal that he had understood. The two still sat in the bath for some time and Seth recounted their adventures aftering to this new world, apanied by Simons gasps of shock andughter. "Well then, Seth. I have to leave now. I wish you better luck on your future journey." With this Simon stood up, this time he held tightly onto the towel, and left. Seth soon followed and went to his room to sleep. It was alreadyte. Seth woke up from small kicks in the face. The fairyy sprawled on the pillow, twitching in her sleep. For a second he imagined doing to her, what his rm clock had experienced, but her cute sleeping expression soothed his ire. His stomach gave a motivating speech and Seth left for breakfast after getting dresses in a fresh set of clothes. Fin soon joined him and they had a delightful breakfast together. Asso was already waiting outside when Fin and Seth left the inn. Fin split off to go and find information about the guild master leaving Asso and Seth behind. Yudrid had said toe back in the evening, so they still had a lot of time, he nned to spend visiting themercial district! Even if he did not buy anything, he could further fill his material catalog. Maybe even gain some blueprints? Seth still did not know a lot about . It had leveled up once, but never since. Except for pumping in SP, he had no idea what the conditions of why it leveled up in the first ce. This reminded him of his idea to find a library. In civilization that got used to the systems influence, books about these details should exist! Finding a bookshop or library became another point on his checklist. Seth didn''t know what he had expected from this run-down citysmercial district, but he was definitely disappointed. Most of the shops they passed were closed and boarded up. No bookshops or anything of the kind and the few weapon and armor shops they found were in no way better than what Klods, rather they were worse. Many of the weapons were not even new, but second hand, badly maintained or damaged. Even the few good weapon made of high-quality steel were worse that what Seth made with medium iron. The only benefit he got from the shops was the recipe for high-quality steel. It came to a surprise to Seth, that he needed iron and coal in his smelter to make high-quality steel. Until now he had thought it was an advantage, that the Soul Fire did not need any fuel inside the smelter! At first nce, the bazaar was not much better than the shops. When you think of bazaar you normally have a big za with lots of stalls and a big crowd of people in mind. With vendors screaming around to sell their wares and a huge hustle and bustle of customers. For better or worse, the big za was almost barren. Seth had feared the crowd of people and was happy there were only few, but theck of stalls also lowered his chances to find anything worthwhile. Unexpectedly, he struck it rich when he came across the artifact stalls. Among the wares, that reminded a lot more of a flea market than artifacts, he actually found some pieces made of ancient bronze. The stall owners did not seem to know that some of their stuff were real artifacts and Seth wa able to get them for cheap. Some small trinkets and jewelry like the bracer he found among the stuff from Ivicer, most of them were damaged and only useful to be melted down. A minority showed signs of broken enchantments on them! Maybe he could scan those? He put everything in one of the bags he got from the tailordy and stored it in his inventory. The bigger surprise came from the ancient weapons the stalls sold. They were in no way in a condition to be used, with most broken or low on durability. But they were exotic enough to give Seth a few new blueprints! Among them was the khopesh with a distinctive de that looked like a ttened question mark with the cutting edge on the outside of the curve like a scimitar. A kind of curved dagger with the de formed like a halved crescent moon and a square spear-tip with four sharp edges. All of them were made of ancient bronze and showed a pattern like pattern-welded steel. Compared to the little trinkets whos worth the owners did not know, these scrap weapons were totally overpriced with the vendors asking for several gold coins for an unusable weapon. Seth ended up spending 3 gold on 2 scrap weapons. He really wanted to melt them down and make at least one weapon from ancient bronze to test its properties and see its true potential. Other than these few surprises there was nothing else to be found on the bazaar. The trip was notpletely fruitless, but Seth had expected more. There was also none of those typical game-events like running into a disguised noble girl or finding an epic ego-item hidden among scrap. He followed Asso thinking of this kind of nonsense. They were leaving the marketce when Asso was suddenly shoved to the side by a member of a team of guards surrounding a young man. Seth had spoken too early! Here it was! An encounter with a corrupt and disgusting young mas- "What did you do that for Nazim!?", the guard was reprimanded by the handsome young master. "Yo-young master, I''m just making sure the rabble keeps its distance from you!", Nazim said, giving Asso the stink eye. "Stop calling our citizens rabble.", he actually gave the guard a bitch p, "Im sorry for my guardsck of discipline." The young master actually bowed his head in apology to Asso. "Young Master Ikram, please dont! Asso is just a lowly citizen. Master Ikram should not apologize to me!", Asso reacted flustered. Seth would have had to be stupid to not understand, that this guy was probably the heir of the city lord or some high-ranking noble, but he seemed polite and approachable. He had not forgotten what Klod had taught him and gave the guards a once over with . Seth proceeded to take out one of the swords he had tested on. They were some of his best works so far and perfect for advertisement! The weapons and armor worn by the guards of a noble should be high quality, right? But even so the weapons were more or less well maintained, they were no better than what could be bought in the shops around here. Seth smelled business. Was Seth wealthy? He sure felt like he was. Did that mean he would turn away from potential business? Hell no! The guards interrupted Ikrams conversation with Asso and pulled him back into their midst, when they saw the young man pull out a weapon. Asso looked at Seth, puzzled. Why did he suddenly take out a weapon? "Young master Ikram, a pleasure to meet you. I am Seth, a humble cksmith. I recently had the chance to visit your-" "Keep your distance, cksmith!", Nazim the distance-inspector interrupted him rudely. Seth scowled. " beautiful city.", he continued sarcastically and looked at Nazims unsheathed de. "I couldn''t help but notice the terrible state that your guard''s equipment is in. Dont you think someone of your standing deserves a better prepared force?" "A cksmith you say...", Ikram mumbled, "There had been no actual cksmith willing to visit the stick since...", he almost inaudibly whispered to himself. "Of course, I have reference works.", he said and held out the sword, with the hilt pointed towards Ikram. "Young Master can test it for yourself if you want, or maybe I should help you discipline your guard?" Chapter 53 - 53. A Deal? Ikram smirked at that offer. Where had such a person suddenlye from in these sticks? No cksmith worth his money had visited Zhiqe since the surrounding had be this dangerous. Not to mention living here. Ikram did the best they could to stabilize the cities situation together with his father the lord, but the surrounding kept bing more dangerous and regr trade had almost stopped. They could not buy better equipment, even if they had the money to! "Hmm, yes go ahead. Nazim, have a spar with this man. Lets see what his wares are worth. " If this man could really bring a major improvement, it might be worth getting a loan from the system bank. Nazim unsheathed his scimitar and charged at the young cksmith, while the young master was deep in thought. He was a lv.30 guard with and stronger than many adventurers currently present at the guild. < Nazim has requested a duel! Do you ept? Y/N> Seth epted and pushed magic power into the sword and its edge glowed in a dim blue light. He barely managed to react to the man''s charge and deflected a downward sh. The force behind it made his arm tremble. The enemies de had a big gash in it from this impact. Nazim easily recovered the deflected strike and angrily started a barrage of strikes in fast session. Was this a skill?! Seth manages to deflect some and dodge the others as he kept stepping back. Each collision brought another notch in the opponent''s weapon, but the other showed no signs of stopping. Although he could keep up in speed and strength. The difference in skill was obvious. This was different from fighting some brainless mobs or cheesing it, this was really dangerous. Nazim did not look like he would leave it at a spar, he was out for blood! Alright! If he wanted a serious fight, he could have it! Seth took some distance from Nazim, baiting him to follow. Suddenly the pale blue Soul Fire covered his sword and he did horizontal strike in front of the charging Nazim, as if to warn him. The other was surprised by the sudden light and averted his eyes, sessfully interrupting his charge. He fixed his eyes on the young man, that kept running and dodging. Again, he charged at him to execute a powerful strike and split him in two halves! Suddenly his charge was interrupted again, he stumbled and fell. A terrible pain red up from his foot and the side he fell on. Caltrops! The ground was covered in them! "When? This little!", with an angry thought Nazim picked himself up, ready to ughter Seth! In this moment, a dim blue edge broke the scimitar in his hand and a sharp tip bit into his throat, threatening to take his life, if it went just a little further. < Ding! You have won your first duel! PERS +1. You have earned exp.> "I guess, I win?", Seth said with a smug smile as he saw a whopping 10% increase in experience. "You cheated!", Nazim scowled and spit on the ground. With the end of the duel all injuries healed. Watching Nazim''s wounds heal and the caltrops being pushed out from his flesh made Seth remember the tutorial. He had totally forgotten that you cannot actually die during an official duel. He had fought serious for no reason at all! The badly battered scimitar,pared to his still pristine sword would have been more than enough to proof his point. He did not have to win the duel in the first ce! He even fought dirty to win... As Seth was reprimanding himself, he heard a p echo in the empty market ce. "Very spectacr! Even so you have a crafting ss and did not even cross lv.20, you defeated my guard. Despite using some...unconventional means, that is truly impressive. ", Ikram walked over to them and picked up the broken scimitar. The edge was broken and serrated, making it look more like a saw than a de. This might be worth it, even if they had to get a loan. "So, Seth the cksmith, you have proven the quality of your works. And I am indeed interested in your services. That leaves just one question: What is your price? I think you can tell from the state of this city, but our treasury is... not far from empty.", he smiled wryly. Even he could not deny, that their home was broke. "I already have an economic alternative for you, but first, how did you know my level? I didnt feel anyone use on me?" "Oh?", Ikram looked puzzled, "Howe you dont know about it? As the son of the city lord, my ss is obviously also city lord. As such I have a skill called , which tells me the rough information of anyone in my territory. Itsmon knowledge that most nobles possess this skill, or a simr one. Its simr to , but specific to people." "I see...." Seth was baffled. No wonder Fin called a low-tier skill. There were skills that did the same, but a lot better! Just not being detected would already be a huge bonus! Seth really needed to find out more about skills and he had the perfect source in front of him. "Anyways. Heres the deal: As the lord you probably have a library, right?", Ikram answered with a nod and Seth kept talking, " Good, I will give you a discount on the weapons, if you provide me a ce to stay, ess to the library and the material." "The first two are easy. But what is the discount worth if we have to purchase the materials first?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "You dont purchase it. You probably have an armory, right? Just give me all the old weapon, armor and scrap you dont need and I will melt it into the raw materials myself. Deal?" Ikrams expression brightened when he heard that Seth could smelt the materials himself, if they provided their old junk. Ikram was honest. They really had a lot of old and broken weapons clogging up the storage rooms and armory. Zhiqe had often purchased new weapons in its heyday and stored away the old ones. They were forgotten, until they got into a mary crisis. Weapons often broke after the guards had to take over the subjugation work of the guild. The broken ones were simply stored away until someone got around to deal with them and reced by old and dusty ones, they fished out from one of the other storage rooms. The current weapons the guards wore were decades old and restored to be barely usable. So Ikram more than readily agreed. Did Seth want to go to Ora? Sure. Was he in a hurry, though? Not really! This was a good chance to grind his skills, why not take it? He just had to exin it to Fin,ter. "Seth, do you have time right now? If you do, would youe with me to the pce and talk to my father. We need his approval to settle this deal." Seth was free until evening, so he agreed to go to the pce with Ikram.. He really wanted to inspect the armory and library. Browsing the collection of a fallen noble powerhouse might yield unexpected results! Chapter 54 - 54. Library And Karfunkel The lord was not that old, but he looked like a middle-aged as the hardships and worries of the past years had taken their toll. His clothes sat lose as if he had lost a lot of weight and the otherwise dark hair was crossed by grey streaks. Listening to his son exining Seths suggestion brought some color back to his face. Seth had no idea what hardships this man had weathered, for a noble and powerful man like him to react as such to a simple offer from a cksmith. BUT! He did not really care, either. The lord happily agreed for Seth to plunder their personal armory and storage rooms and peruse their library in exchange for equipping their guards with high-quality equipment. Seth was surprised when he heard, that would not need to make several hundred weapons and armors. Their personal troops only amounted to 30 people, while Zhiqes security force had been reduced to 150 guards, by theck of funds and the constant loss of life in an attempt to cull the marsnds monsters. He was only asked to equip the 30 private guards and some extra. He would get everything he could find in the storage and armory and 150 gold on top for a set of spear, short sword, and armor for the 30 personal guards. All of qualityparable to the sword used in the duel. The lord suggested the armory as the ce to set up his smithy, since there was already a room, meant for a smithy and offered for Seth and Fin to live in the pce for the time of their stay. There were many empty rooms, as the pce was built, when Zhiqe prospered. Afterwards, Ikram brought Seth to visit the Armory and the Library. The armory was in a dismal state. Rusty, damaged, and badly maintained weapons in all kinds of variations filled the weapon racks. Mostly old des like swords and sabers were left in the armory, but also some spears and blunt weapons like maces. He only took a short look at the armory and they continued to the library. The library looked a lot better, despite ayer of dust covering great parts of it. "Ikram, are there any books on skills? Like a lexicon with descriptions and acquisition requirements?" Ikram gave him an askance nce, but went to one of the bookshelves and came back with a huge tome. "This is not exactly what you asked for, but here is the Catalog of sses. Its sold by the system church. It only useful to people like nobles and lords, so you won''t find it in any bookstores." The catalog held an alphabetically order list of allmon sses and their corresponding skills. When Sethid eyes upon this book he finally realized! He had forgotten that he cant read! Even the characters in a book given out by the system church made absolutely no sense to Seth! "Based in your expression I would guess you cant read this, hm?", Ikram asked with a smirk. "No worries, I also wouldnt be able to read this normally." "But you can read it?" "ha! Of course, even if our city has fallen Im still a noble and acquired the skill.", he said really smug. When you are a poor noble, you have to cherish the moments when you can still brag a little. "Is it a ss- specific skill or can I get this too?", Seth asked with little hope. The library waspletely useless to him if he could not decipher what was written. Ikram looked at loss when he saw Seth bing a little depressed. "Yes, technically you could if you get a skill book for . Unfortunately, you probably wont find one in Zhiqe. Its a rare skill book and very expensive. You would need to travel to Oriekot to try your luck and find one. Im pretty sure you could find one in the System Auctioneers." "System Auctioneers? Is this another one of these system institutions?!", Seth asked puzzle. How many of these were there!? "You never heard of it? Yes, its another organization working under the regtions of the system. People buy and sell anything there, as long as it is appraised and judged to be worthy. I dont know the specifics, but I heard from father that they operate on the whole continent. If you can get that skill book anywhere for sure, then there.", he shrugged. When Seth looked out of the window, he could see dusk approaching. It was time to return to Yudrid! He bid Ikram good bye and picked up Asso on his way out. It was dark by the time they reached the old district and Asso was fumbling nervously as he led the way. Was he afraid? Oh yeah, Seth remembered what they were talking before. About how people started to vanish in the old district overnight. Was the beastman, who didn''t hesitate to try and rob him, afraid of some monsters in the dark? Asso had grown up in this district and upon inquiry started telling all kinds of spooky stories about mysterious disappearances. While Seth wasnt really affected much, it was Asso himself bing more and more nervous. Before he could be a hysteric wreck and run away, they finally reached Yudrid''s big warehouse. They could barely see the river or the quay walls in the thick fog thaty like a thick soup over the district. It looked oundish and toxic in the greenish violet light of the moons. They knocked on the big doors of the warehouse and the echo was muffled in the fog. Silence followed. They awaited a moment and knocked again. Nothing happened. Standing in the dark weirdly colored fog in absolute silence, even Seth started getting nervous. Then suddenly the sound of steps in the fog. Slow, unsettling slow steps drew near them and then! "Oh, hey guys! Did you wait long? I had to get another bottle of booze~", it sounded friendly as a dirty dwarf stepped out of the fog waving with a bottle of booze. Asso tensed up but didnt say anything. Seth just started to rx when suddenly a giant axe came flying out of the fog and lodged itself into Yudrids head, almost splitting the face off her skull! The dead dwarf slumped over and a grubby little hand caught the bottle of booze before it could fall to the ground. Good thing he had , or he might have screamed at that. "God damn vermin!", Yudrid cursed after taking her booze back, "How dare you steal my booze! These swamp sirens keep getting bolder!", she mumbled and spit at the corpse on the ground. Now Asso rxed, too. On the groundid not a dwarf, but a repulsive swamp creature. Its upper body was roughly humanoid, looking like a terribly malnourished girl with big bulbous fish eyes. From the hip down it had the body of a ck eel. Yudrid appearance before had all been an illusion to lure its prey! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Cmon in boys.", Yudrid said without giving the thing on the ground a second look as she unlocked the door and went in. "How did you know that was not Yudrid?", Seth asked as they entered the warehouse that was now filled with the different parts of the juvenile. "Way too friendly.", Asso said and shrugged and he followed Yudrid further into her shop while Seth waited in the storage space for them toe back. "Alright, want me to walk you through everything?", Yudrid asked once she had returned with Asso in tow. Seth agreed and the dwarf starting listing and showing a whole slew of materials, of which only some could be assessed with . There were 150 teeth and over 300 ribs of different sizes and over 20 meter of snake leather she had pulled off in one piece. Here Yudridined about all the small arrow wounds that hadplicated her work! The 4 fangs were rated rare while the rest was umon material. He put it all in his inventory as he passed it. He had to take Yudrids words for granted when it came to other things, like the medicinal use of the different organs such as the liver or eyes. The meat had a strong smell and Yudrid told him, that she would not rmend anyone to eat this. It was not poisonous, but the taste and texture were... not good. Still, into the inventory it goes. The next thing she brought out were two separate small boxes. The first held a bean-sized and milky-transparent stone. It was smooth and had an uneven form that reminded of river gravel. "This is the magic core. I did not expect this beast to have one. Congrats! The next one was of little surprise after I saw the core.", she said. Inventory. Lastly, she brought up the second box. In here was a small rough crystal glowing with a red sheen. He could see Assos nervous reaction behind her, was this the thing he needed? "Lastly we have a Karfunkel. Some call it wyrm crystal or serpent pearl. Its a stone that grows in the brain of reptiles with the potential to rank up into dragon races. Even I have not seen many of these after so many years!" reacted to the magic core, but not to the karfunkel, it was not a crafting material he could use. Yudrid had read his expression and gave an exnation. "As you can probably see from Asso slowly turning into a nervous mess, this is the reason he...approached you. Karfunkel have no other use than to increase the potential of beatsman or reptilian pets and help them evolve. Dont get me wrong, this is plenty enough of use to make this thing extremely valuable.", she added which made Asso behind her look really depressed. The way she said it, made it clear, that there was no way for Asso to be able to pay for it. Seth took the box she handed him and looked clueless at the tiny stone. Looking at the depressed reptilian Yudrid scratched the messy hair on the back of her head and sighed. "You are a cksmith, right?", the dwarf asked out of the blue. Seth could only nod at the sudden question and Yudrid nodded. " You know, I raised this scaly idiot behind me, so his deeds are my responsibility too, I guess. But I also took a liking to him and spent over a decade raising him.. This might be a little rude now, but would you be willing to trade the karfunkel with me?", the messy huntress finally came to the point. Chapter 55 - 55. Explanations And Excuses "And what would you trade me for the karfunkel?", Seth asked interested. An experienced hunter such as Yudrid could have all kinds of interesting material! Upon his question the dwarf left the room and went back into her workshop, only to soone back with a sizable chest in her hands. "In here are two ingots of dark steel and 5 chunks of ck iron ore. I will waive the costs for dismantling the Snake and give you another 25 gold on top. All of it together shoulde to a worth of about 80 gold, which is approximately as much as you would get for the karfunkel from a rich buyer.", she said and opened the chest for Seth to see. Looking at the ore with gave him the catalog entry for Seth guessed that dark steel, was made from ck iron, as the description were almost the same. The dark steel ingots were about as long as his hand and as thick as his wrist, while the chunks of ck iron ore wereparable to his fist. The moment he saw them, he wanted them. He did not care, whether what Yudrid said was true. He had no use for the karfunkel, but these materials made his heart race! He took the chest of materials away from her, before Yudrid could evenment at the fire in Seths eyes. "Deal!", and the chest vanished in his inventory. Now everything from the dismantled juvenile and the new material had found their way into his inventory. And when the chest vanished into his inventory, he realized another thing. It had the same effect as the bags and was disyed as "material chest"! While Yudrid, who was surprised that Seth did not even try to haggle, went to get the gold, Seth started putting his valuable materials into the chest per dragn drop! Joining the new metals were the drake tooth, the boa fangs, the box with the magic core, the blood ga and the 3 pieces of mithril ore. Asso knelt on the ground with the karfunkel in his hands. He looked like he was close to crying in joy. Was he going to swallow that thing? Did Yudrid even wash it, after pulling it from the snake''s brain? Eww, Seth did not want see that and averted his eyes. Yudrid came back and took the karfunkel away from Asso, who was about to kiss the thing. "Stop slobbering all over it, I''m the one who bought it. And I will only give it to you when Im sure you learned your lesson.", she grumbled and gave Seth the money. "I guess, I will take my leave now. Hey Asso, can you bring me back to the inn?", Seth asked. "Oh, sure", Asso had alreadypletely epted his role as a free tour guide. Maybe he could train him to be a free butler...? Nah. They entered the thick fog once again. Fortunately, the lizardman was able to find his way in this neighborhood even in the dark and they soon reached Seths inn. Contrary to his expectation, Asso actually also entered the Inn and took a room for the night. Maybe their short run-in with a swamp siren had shaken him up a little more than Seth thought. What Seth found when he finally entered the room was a pouting little fairy sitting on the pillow with crossed arms and legs. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Where have you been!? Fin was waiting! Fin wanted to eat together with Seth! Fin is now starving!" "Oh! Hey Fin, listen I-", Seth wanted to exin, but was interrupted. "No! Fin wont listen! Get Fin food first!", the brutish diva demanded and left Seth no other choice than to go and get their dinner. they ate in ufortable silence as Fin kept shooting evil res at him, over their food. "Now! Talk!", the tiny overlord demanded her exnation. So, he exined to her what had happened today. He talked about the pitiful excuse of amercial district, hurried over how they might have to stay at the pce for a few weeks, because he made a deal with the lord and the short story of how they met a swamp siren and got the materials from the big snake. "So, we will stay here for a few weeks in a pce?", her pointy and sharp ears had easily picked up the information Seth had tried to hide by only mentioning it briefly. The young cksmith sighed, why did she have to be so smart despite ying cute most of the time? "Yeah, 2 maybe 3 weeks. Its really a wonderful opportunity to grind my skill and even get money for it. " Fin aced disappointed and sighed. "Ok then. I wanted to stay a little longer anyways. I still have no good clues about the former guild master. We missed thetest airship anyways. But try to be done in 3 weeks if we want to catch the next airship in Oriekot. Otherwise, we will have to wait another 4 weeks, you know?" Seth looked baffled at the little fairy. So, they had time anyways! He felt a lot better about their stay now. He had a lot of stuff to try out and finally the chance to experiment and grind again. Maybe they could even visit that dungeon? And he would have the chance to stay at a real pce! he rubbed his hands in anticipation of the royal chefs skills. Asso joined the two the next day during breakfast. He was still a valuable asset for Seth to get around in the city, so they talked about going to the guild and making this his menial quest for the time Seth stayed in Zhiqe. When they were done with the breakfast, it was time for Seth to face his biggest obstacle. Harmond. He really liked this sympathetic hairy man, with great cooking skill and did not know how to exin, that they would move to the pce. He feared to hurt the older man feelings. in the end he jumped over his shadow and exined his deal with the lord to Harmond. "Oh, isnt that great for you? You got work! You worried about me? Haha, dont worry. our business is doing great and you cane back any time you want", Harmond reacted warm and understanding. He even wanted to give them the silver for the remaining 2 nights back, but kept it after Seth protested vehemently. With this they left behind the first inn of another world, Seth had ever stayed in. Asso lead the way for Seth and Fin to the pce. They would take a look at their room before Fin would split of to look for information. Waiting in front of the pce was a man with a crazy white mane of hair. he wore a typical butler outfit and walked up to them when they entered the premises. "Hello there. Are you....em em Seth? The cksmith the young lord talked about? My name is Rusn, the head butler of his highness. I will show you to your rooms.", he gave them a heartwarming smile. They split off from Asso and the wholesome old man invited them into the pce. Seth had been here yesterday, but Fin ogled all the ornaments, busts, statues, and paintings that decorated the residence like a little kid in an amusement park. Rusn gave them a little tour through the living space of the lord and then brought them to the guestrooms. They were big luxurious rooms. You could tell it had been a long time since somebody lived here, but they were clean and well-kept. While Fin stayed a little in the them, enjoying the soft new mattress, Seth followed Rusn to the Armory. The Armory was closer to the servant quarters that were to the back and kind of split off from the mainplex. He had taken a short look at the Armory yesterday and they didnt stay long. Seth asked the butler to bring him to the storage rooms. They had to cross the nearby servant quarters to get to the storage area. The staff rooms were tiny narrow and run-down. The bare stone walls were moist and moldy and what little tapestry could be seen was moth-eaten and slowly tuning to wet dirt or slime on the walls. The ce was deserted. It was almost as if the old butler Rusn was the only one still living in this deste ce. Rusn stopped before a big once sturdy wooden door. Seth was sure it would fall apart if he touched it a little too roughly. The old man took a small magtern from the niche in the wall beside the door. "This is the door to the basement. All the weapons and other equipment are stored down there. The lord told me, that if there is anything else you fancy down there, you can take it. My old bones cant handle the steps down anymore. I hope you can forgive me for noting with you.", he gave Seth a warm smile and handed him thentern and a key ring for the storage room and basement. And thus, began Seths descend into the basement of the pce. Chapter 56 - 56. First Dungeon The little magtern was just enough to illuminate the narrow staircase down. The steps were moist and the air smelled of mold, earth, or maybe it was decay? Seth understood now, how their weapons were in such a bad condition. The humidity of the surrounding marsnd was ubiquitous, but it became really clear as he entered the damp basement vault. It reminded him more of a maze-like medieval prison, than a storage area. There were many doors to storage rooms along a narrow corridor with an arched ceiling whos end vanished in the darkness beyond the shine of thentern. If the doors had small barred windows, he was sure this could have been used to imprison people. It was dark, wet, and cold, but nothing indicated this was anything other than an old basement. Following his practice from games, he started searching the rooms one by one. The first two rooms made him stumbled back out, holding his nose. The smell was terrible as the rooms were filled with barrels and boxes of food, that had all disintegrated into a disgusting ck sludge that was slowly oozing from the containers. No wonder he barely managed to turn the key in the rusted lock. Nobody hade here in ages to look at the food. Or maybe it was on purpose because nobody wanted to clean up this mess? He hurriedly locked those doors back up and carved a little X above the handle. It was his way to mark them, so he could be sure which he had checked or not. In the next two rooms he found the scrapped weapons he had heard about. Negligently tossed into the room he found damaged boxes with broken weapons. The floor was covered in rusty metal shards and broken shafts of polearms. Looking around the room with showed him a plethora of item windows describing broken equipment and metal shards ranging from much medium iron to some high-quality steel. Those must be the remnants of the weapons they had when the city prospered. Just as Seth started to worry about how to store all this, he thought of the material box. When he tried to store the boxes in the room it actually appeared in his inventory as and these boxes stacked, too. This was a great find, since this meant, that he could use items like this in the future and not clog up his inventory slots with all kinds of weapons he could not stack! Subsequently shoved all the broken weapons into the crates and put them in the inventory. The little metal shards and scrap pieces could be stacked and took on the universal shape of the size of a ying card, after entering his inventory. When he was done, he had almost two stacks of scraps and 12 crates filled with broken weapons and padding material. The next three rooms held various kind of damaged armor pieces and sets that were carelessly thrown onto a heap along the wall opposing the door. There were not crates or anything. What was left of once glorious armors turned into 3 stacks of the size of a handprint, from bracers, grieves and helmets, 2 stacks of from more detailed works like scale armor, a stack of , from once borate breasttes and half a stack of damaged chainmail-pieces. The wet, moldy, and damaged leather parts that were strewn around smelled disgusting and seemed unusable, so Seth left them behind. The next room he wanted to check was filled with all kinds of old chairs and tables. Thick dust and spider webs covered everything, but they had not grown moldy yet. Probably furniture stored for feast and stuff like that? Seth shrugged and closed the door again. The next room also held furniture. Seth rubbed his hand and concluded, that he was done collecting the broken stuff. He still had not plundered the armory, but this was already quite the booty. Looking down the long corridor there were still a lot of doors to check. There were still those old weapons stored somewhere down here. And in this manner Seth kept working his way down into these winding entrails of the pce. He came across a lot of simr rooms. Some held old furniture that was put down here a long time ago other only scraps that made it impossible for Seth to discern what is once was. The further he went the more neglected the basement looked. Dirt and mud covered the stone tiles and filled the corners of the walls. Some rooms were simply empty and their floors seem to be covered in rotten hay aside from the dirt and dust. Where were those old weapons? He could not have passed them, right? He had checked every...door? The next door Seth stopped before already had a small little X above it handles. When he opened it, he saw smelly leather scraps covering the ground. His heart sank. " You got to be kidding me..." A room he had already checked had suddenly appeared before him. "hmm, alright then." Whatever did this, Seth doubted he could simply go back now. He decided to be careful and keep exploring. He had the gnawing suspicion that he might have entered a dungeon. Seth wanted to pull out his sword, just to be ready in case something happened. In this moment he btedly realized, that a longsword was not really fit to fight in such an enclosed space. The space in the basement was too narrow. With his skill, he risked to hit the ceiling, wall, floor, or doors, if he was to start fighting here. Whatever ck magic fuckery he had been caught in; he was not aptly prepared for it. Haha! What was he a cksmith for? He took a slow step back, entered the room with the leather scraps and locked the door behind him. He sat down and pondered what weapon would be the most fitting in his situation. Seth did not know whether he was watched, or not, but he fathom he had not much time. The situation might change when whatever it was realized that he noticed something. So, it had to be something small he could do fast like a dagger, a short sword, a club, or a mace maybe? A spear could work very well! But Seth had not seen any wood long enough to make a good spear. He suddenly had an idea as he was looking through his inventory. He summoned the and the in the empty room. It was his first chance to give the anvil a good look. Aside from its grown size its sides were covered in peculiar reliefs depicting scenes from heaven and Tartarus, separated by ornate pirs, and bordered by Greek key. The first thing he did was fixing and equipping his armor. Next, he carefully left the room and walked back to one of the furniture rooms in a slow and controlled pace. Sure, it was a risk to just walk around in armor and rm someone with it, but he rather had the armor on in case he was attacked, than trying to be a smarty pants. He came back after securing a table and some chairs, closing the door with a sigh behind him. Now, he brought up the menu of .It had been a long time since he had created something original, but the handling was very user friendly! He had the idea when looking at the snake ribs in his inventory, their natural curve reminded him of a sword he had recently seen, the khopesh! He loaded in the ribs and fangs of the juvenile as a material and created a blueprint for the Serpent Khopesh. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om In the following hour he smelted some of the into . The sess rate was not very high with 45%, but in exchange the recipe was quite simple. He just needed to introduce additional carbon during the smelting process. How? For example, burning some wood in the smelter. The smelting menu did the rest. Even if it failed, he did not mind. Seth did not need a lot. He activated the blueprint and with some system guidance seeded in splitting one of the ribs lengthwise. He drilled holes and sharpened the crescent edge of the rib making a rib-de. He started infusing the of one of the small snakes into a piece of snake leather, the rib-de, and the steel as he forged a steel-spine that was riveted to the de. Seth used the piece of snake leather to wrap the handle. When he summoned the water barrel and dunked the whole weapon into it, to affix the soulpletely to the weapon he got a different system notification, aside from the regrpletion notification. "Good enough!", Seth said satisfied; not fazed by the systems critique. Now, he had a short sword and his gauntlets for melee damage. After he fashioned a simple shield from the scavenged table top, Seth was done with preparing his secondary weapons.. He was ready to continue looting the basement. Chapter 57 - 57. First Dungeon(2) Seth walked along the dark and narrow basement corridor with just the little magtern. It led like a brick-walled tube further and further into the darkness. He kept checking and marking the doors on either side of the way. he had not seen any forks or crossroad yet. Recently most of the new rooms he came across were empty. Once in a while there was one with some furniture or other junk. He would have probably stopped walking or changed direction if the corridor was not slowly changing like this. It was a chest he had found in one room, that looked empty at first nce. Unsure whether it was a maybe a mimic or a trap, Seth had shot it with an arrow. The impact of the arrow activated a trap and giant steel-jaws snapped out of the ground like a bear trap. it would have decapitated someone kneeling in front of the chest, or cut someone stand there in half. The chest was empty and useless, but Seth happily stored the traps jaws. He had probably been luck, that the hallway was not booby-trapped until now. He became even more careful when treading on the stone-tiled floor and only gave the most rooms a cursory look without stepping in. One thing was clear, he had most likely entered a dungeon. He noticed that something was wrong, when he opened a new door and a terrible stench wafted against him. It was exactly the same room as the first one he checked. Barrels and boxes filled with rotten and unidentifiable stuff. There was even still his footprint on the floor in the terribly smelling sludge. But the door had no mark?! "Dont tell me the doors change, too!", Seth mumbled. If not, only the rooms changed positions, but the doors too, then his marks were useless. Then what could he POSSIBLY do? An amused smirk crept on his face. He took out a broken chair leg and set fire to the doors. Seth did not think the dungeon would regenerate the doors, since the marks left on the doors were still there. So, he leisurely walked down the corridor and set fire to the door left and right, after taking a look into the room. Soon rooms without door started appearing in front of him. Some he had seen, some he had not. "Krryuuu!" Suddenly he heard a sound that did not fit the deserted basement. It was a quirky high-pitches cry somewhere in the darkness in front. Seth took out a fist-sized chunk of table leg, set it aze and chucked it into the darkness. "Krryu-Gha!" The ball of bright fire illuminated the path before him and hit something small standing on the path. It fell beside the creature on the floor and bathed it in pale blue light. It looked like a repulsive little piranha with bulging eyes, buckteeth and four thing limbs. it reached about the height of Seths knee and its forelimbs it held onto a tiny trident. Seth didnt know what this creature was, but he didnt hesitate. Thunk! One arrow easily ended the little guys life. Seth observed the corpse from afar and it vanished shortly after. Thest indicator that he really was in a dungeon! The pces basement had really turned into a dungeon. And he still had not found the rest of the weapons! he felt a little annoyed, since he had no idea, whether he could just leave by going back. Or did he have to find the dungeon core first? "Yeah, lets turn around....", he turned around and what he saw was a wall. "I guess...dungeon core it is then.", he shrugged and turned towards the dark tunnel before him. The dungeon had obviously changed. There were no more doors leading to the rooms and they were merely dark holes along the barely lit walls. Seth did not trust the darkness and started throwing burning pieces of wood to light up the path before him. The corridor slowly turned into an earthy tunnel like the burrow of a beast. Once in a while he met some Swamp Pygmy in the rooms, but they were mostly empty. A disgusting stench wafted into his nose and he soon found the source. Corpses started to asionally appear in the holes on either side of the way. Their half-eaten and rotting bodies were covered in rags that resembled the servant uniforms of the pce. Was this the reason the staff rooms had been so empty? More and more rooms held an increasing number of decaying bodies. Some already looked old a dried up. How long had servants been vanishing from the pce? Or were these people maybe those who had vanished in the old district? "Maybe some of them, but probably not all vanished end up here.", he thought, remembering the swamp siren Yudrid had killed. However, one thing was clear. There had to be something more dangerous than those pygmy''s! The scene remembered him of a game. He had yed Dead Gxy and he knew not to trust a peaceful-looking corpses! Not to mention, that he had seen real undead quite often recently. Seth burned each and every corpse he came across as he walked down the path. After a while walking the tunnel finally widened into a big cavern. The stench made him gag and his eyes water. Hisntern started flickering. Roots were hanging down from a low ceiling and there was an irregr crystal sphere in the middle of the room. Thest thing he saw in the flickering light of hisntern was a heap of corpsesid in a ring around the sphere on the ground. Then thentern went dark. As if it was perfectly timed. The pieces of wood in the tunnel behind him had long burned out and Seth stood in perfect darkness. He waited. Just a moment. Then, as fast as he could, he stated throwing out burning pieces of wood in all direction! The sudden bright light flooded the room and fell on a disturbing figure. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om An emaciated man wearing the uniform of a butler, with a giant mane of bleached white hair hung on the ceiling above him like a gecko! Bulging eyes, the size of tennis balls and dry taut lips exposing a moth of circr positioned teeth! It was the terribly distorted form of Rusn, the oh so benevolent smiling head butler! Kschyaa! Rusn hissed as the bright light fell into his giant bulging eyes and subsequently fell off the ceiling when he tried to cover his eyes. Seth aimed for the moment he fell and gave him a vicious sh with the khopesh, but the skinny old man managed to move his center of gravity in midair and turned the deadly sh into a shallow cut that damaged his clothing but merely grazed the skin "Chou! Chyou are stronger thhan I thhought for a ckthmith!", it spat out and waved its hand. The air flickering like a mirage and it vanished. Seth hurriedly looked around and tried to listen for steps. When he closed his eyes to concentrate on the cracking of the mes and the sound beyond it, it actually started vanishing. The smell vanished. When he opened his eyes, he was home. His real home. He was in his room and murky sunlight fell in through the window. He heardughter in the living room. The bell like voice of a woman and a deep baritone of a man talking andughing. He left his room and entered the living room. There they sat on the couch watching TV. As if it was the most normal thing in the world. There sat his parents. His mom and dad watching one of his dads favorite survival documentaries together. Tears welled up in his eyes. No! It couldnt be true! He looked for the weapon in his hand, but it was gone. He wore a simple t-shirt and pajama-pants. "Dear, what is it? Did we wake you up? Come sit down and watch with us~", the clear sound of his moms voice entered his ears. The fought down the tears. He ground his teeth and clenched his fists. His mother stood up and approached him. She looked just like he remembered, with hair as dark as his and smallugh lines around her eyes. A bittersweet sadness filled his heart and mixed with a burning fury. He knew it was an illusion and hated that it was an illusion. But he could not move as his mother approached him and- A searing pain overwhelmed his mind. The illusion waned and the scene before his eyes melted away. Where his mother had stood was the distorted grimace of Rusn. "Urgh!" The creature''s hand was deeply embedded into his belly, rummaging through his entrails. "cheche, people ffall cho easily for thhese thimple illuthionth", itughed maniacally. "You!" Theughter was stifled as two hand with an iron grip closed around the monster''s throat. This was personal. Seth had let go of weapon and shield and started choking theughing Run''s neck with his bare hands. "Chu cant thuffocate meh! I can-!" Seth let go of all reason and just started pumping his raw uncontroble rage into a jet me of fire exploding from his body. The creature screeched! It scratched! Its w-like nailed ripped apart his skin and flesh, but it was toote. Rusn in his hands burned. His clothes burned. His armor melted. He cared no more. He fueled his fire with his emotions and watched Rusn melt away, burn away, until there was nothing more than ash. Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 17 Exp: 85% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: System Church Health: 1000/1000 Mana: 170 Strength:55 Dexterity:55 Agility: 38 Intelligence:17 Willpower:35 Endurance:45 Personality:12 Luck:18(+10) Free AP (Attribute points): 0 Free SP (Skill points): 0 Defense: Physical: 185 (135+50) (ENDx3) Magical: 95 (70+25) (WILx2) Fire Immunity He was fully healed and recovered. He was lucky this happened in a dungeon! Wait! He seemed to remember he had reached lv.18? ...So, his level could even fall from the experience loss. On top of it, Seth had totally burned all of his equipment, even his ring! Even the boss soul! Why did he have to lose control like this! Skill Window: cksmith (Apprentice) lv.7 (47%) Enchantment (Beginner) lv.1 Goldsmith (Beginner) lv.1 cksmith''s Eyes lv.4 Blueprint (Apprentice) lv.2 Soul Infusion lv.2 Spirit Smithy lv.4 Spirit Capture lv.3 Weapon Mastery (Adept) lv.5 (35%) Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7 Fear Resistance lv.8 Fire Affection lv.1 Fire Maniption lv.7 Map lv.4 Observation lv.3 Concealment lv.4 Was this the reason had finally changed? He had lost consciousness before he could hear the noticepletely but must have ranked up to when it reached lv.10! Overall, he should consider this a profit. He lost his armor and that khopesh, but he could make those anytime. On the other hand, he still made some experience and his skill ranked up! Even so the reason was not quite pleasant. Remembering what happened, he hurriedly shoved pack the memory of his parents. This adventure had reopened an old wound, but he had no time dealing with it. he shooed Fin out of the room and got dressed. Olivia heard themotion and soon entered the room. Fortunately, Seth was fully dressed at this point! As the current de facto head of the guild, him dying in an unregistered dungeon was a matter she had to deal with. Seth had not much to hide and roughly told her what happened, omitting how exactly he used his skill to turn the dungeon master into a pile of ashes. She was shocked hearing of all the corpses. Her panicked expression loosened a bit when Seth told her how he burned them. Seth asked her about it and she confirmed his hunch. Normally corpses, not matter monsters or not, would vanish in a dungeon. he had dodged a bullet by burning them before they were awakened as dungeon mobs! Still, an unnoticed dungeon in the middle of the city with this many victims! It was another sign of just how understaffed and derelict the local guild branch truly had be! The guild master was still missing, so she could not make any executive decisions, but Olivia told them that she would deal with the aftermath. Such as informing the lord and the headquarters. Still, she asked Seth not to enter that dungeon before things were under control. Seth had no ns to enter a dungeon before he made another set of equipment, anyways. He just felt a little peeved about not getting those stored weapons. He could just shrug his shoulders and let it go. It was alreadyte and Seth just experienced his first death so he and Fin went to town to eat a good meal and get drunk! It waste in the night when they returned to the pce. The lord had already been informed about his head butler being a diabolical monster feeding on his staff and citizens and trying to kill his new guest, just to be counter killed. The drunk fairy and cksmith were weed by a pair of maids. Originally the lord wanted to talk to them now, but when he heard they were totally hammered, he changed the date to tomorrow. The maids brought them to their room, where they fell asleep the moment, they touched the bed. Seth woke up to the high-pitched snoring in his ears. It had a terrible effect on his headache, thanks to the hang-over. He had a really disgusting taste in his mouth and could not remember what happened yesterday evening. He left the sleeping fairy behind and went to wash up in the bathroom, connected to their room. When he stepped outside his room afterward, a maid was already waiting for him outside. He had a nice talk with the Lord about what happened and a healer actually got rid of his hangover for him! All that was left was to have a scrumptious breakfast made by the pce chef! It could barelypare to the feast he had with Simon, but there was no one vying for his food this time! The sleepy fairy was no opponent for him at the dining table! Now, Seth felt a lot better. He got a once-over by the pce healer and felt great. He would finally start crafting again! He entered the armory with a motivated gait and summoned the full smithy in the connected room. The Spirit Forge, the furnace, the Anvil, the Grinding Wheel, the Barrel and the new additions: Engraving and Jewelers Table. The Engraving table was a big workbench with many engraving tools and a magic formation covering the whole tabletop. It could be used to power an engraved magic formation that would absorb mana from the surroundings and test for mistakes and problems. It was very interesting. The jewelers table on the other hand was a workbench with a semi-circle cutout with a back to catch precious metal dust and scrap when working on jewelry. It had a lot of tools for small and precise work such as a saw with very thin saw-des, files, a tiny burner spitting soul fire, a pincer and so on. It was a little longer and on the other side was the setup for cutting gems, like a jeweler loupe and a fine grinding wheel and such. This table was the first normal-looking crafting station beside the simple workbench beside the forge! When heid his hand on the tabletop a window popped up. Seth suddenly remembered that it really had said, that this crafting station would need a test to be unlocked! he finally had time and peace, so he clicked yes! < Quest: Make a fine gold chain Difficulty: D "Jeweler`s Table" is temporarily unlocked. To unlock the crafting station "Jewelers Table" permanently you have to prove your dexterity and make a fine gold chain. Requirement: Fine Gold Chain 0/1 Rewards: Permanently Unlock "Jewelers Table". > Of course, he epted. He looked into the blueprints for and found the fine gold chain. It had a dexterity requirement of 50, so Seth barely met the prerequisite to be able to craft it! But first, he needed to make fine gold wire, so he started up the forge and forged one of his gold ingots into a thin bar. When it was thin enough, he was able to use a device that was part of the jewelers table. Before he could only hammer or draw wire, but this device used roller to make the wire finer and finer! He followed the blueprints instructions to make fine rings and link them up into a thin and light golden chain. It was not perfect, as if it was made by a machine, but it had its own charm! His actually increase by 75% with just this one simple chain. Sure, it was fine, but it was not difficult, thanks to his already high dexterity! With his current dexterity, he had a good foundation to level his goldsmith skill! Chapter 59 - 59. A Day In Zhiqe Now that this was out of the way, Seth could concentrate on all the small things that had cropped up until now. The easiest thing was to finally scan the Ancient Bronze trinkets that held some damaged enchantments! He had 5 trinkets that showed sign of simple magic circuits! When he scanned them, he got fragmented circuits? Luckily 3 of the 5 wereplimentary and turned into one enchantment that could increase the wearers defense and health regeneration. So, it did something simr to the endurance attribute. The other 2 fragments stayed in his catalog as parts of a circuit. This meant he now had 3 magic circuits to increase health, durability and damage. He had nothing to enchant at the moment, so he continued with smelting. He had a lot to smelt. The weapons in the armory, the scraps he got in the dungeon, the ancient bronze... but first came his electron bars! He would split them into gold and silver bars. Another thing he wanted to do was smelt the jewelry he had brought with him from Deltan. He had found out that simple jewelry was not worth much more than the materials it was made of, if it had no effects. Another thing he realized was, that most enchantments needed a secondary energy store or source to take effect! It would normally either be the user supplying the magic, a gem stones storing the magic or a magic core from a beast. It was something he wanted to tryter, because the special weapons he made with soul infusion did not need him to input magic power. Seth wanted to see, if he could make permanent enchantments, if he managed to connect the magic circuit with the power of the souls. But this was something for a lotter. Now, he first harvested all the gem stones from the jewelry and smelted it down. It was too hard to enchant already finished products, so he could only save the gemstones forter and get the raw materials. Putting the jewelry, which was also an alloy of gold and silver, and the electron bars into the furnace, Seth started concentration on manipting the furnace. He could distinctly feel the difference between and . He could feel the temperature a lot more distinctly and he felt that the fire itself tried following his will on its own ord and it needed a lot less mental power from Seth. He minutely controlled the temperature in the furnace and once the contents were fully melted the silver, gold and other metals in there started separating into differentyers corresponding to their density. Once the alloys had separated he was able to drain them one by one and turn them into ingots. He ended up with mostly gold and silver, but also some small pieces of metals like tinum and copper. Interestingly tinum was worthless as a crafting material for equipment, because it conducted magic even worse than steel. After splitting all the precious metal and gems and putting them back into his material chest, he decided that this was enough for a morning work and went for lunch! -Chefs Day- There he was again! The pce chef was sweating blood and tears watching Seth decimating the food he and his colleagues kept throwing at him. He was a bottomless eater and they could barely keep up with the speed he swallowed their creations! Did he even chew! The chef had a serious suspicion than Seth was just sucking it in and swallowed it like a snake! It would not have been as bad, if that fairy was not seriously trying topete with him and ate several times her own body weight! The cksmith was one thing, but where did that food even go, once it entered this deceptively cute tiny mouth! Free food was probably the worst deal the lord could have made with this man! ---------- Once his stomachs demands were pacified, Seth went back to the armory. Fin followed him after lunch and watched him do his work. He spent the rest of the day smelting down the and broken weapons he got from the dungeon and turned it all into 4 full stacks of and one stack of generic bronze ingots. He stopped in the evening to go and have dinner with Fin, the Lord and Ikram. -Fins Day- Fin had left the pce after a lonely breakfast. Seth had not woken her up, so they could eat together and she felt a little peeved. Did he fear her stealing his food that much? She would totally decimate lunch as a punishment! "Just you wait!", she thought with tiny clenched fists. That said, she had no idea where to continue today. She had spent thest days to look for an information broker or some underground organization to find the guild master. Even organized crime and shady businesses had given up on Zhiqe! There were no professionals to find! It had been easy to find the information about travelling. People often wanted to leave this ce. She just had to visit a localmerce guild, even so it didnt look much better than the deste adventurer guild. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Fin was not in the mood to look at bars or local businesses. There were little people with loose lips getting drunk at this time of the day. The biggest problem was that there were just no people who still knew the guild master. It had just been too long. In the end Fin decided to try her luck with the guild, again. Maybe Olivia had some tips who she could ask. "Someone who knows the guild master?", Olivia asked puzzled after the fairy had requested a conversation in her office. "Hmm, maybe there is! Wait a moment!", she stood up and opened a cab beside her desk to skim a bunch of folders. After a short while she put a document before the little fairy standing on her desk. "This is the form of a retired adventurer. Old man Jenkins was one of the older regeneration of adventurers. He retired some time before the Ivicer Incident. If he is still in town, he may be able to tell you more about the guild master and her whereabouts.", Olivia asserted. Fin nodded, "Are there any more of the older generation?" If Old Jenkins did not talk, it would be good to visit someone else. "Unfortunately, they all either left, or died. After the younger generation vanished many of the old ones came forth to try and help the situation. Although the system alleviates many problems, age still has a price. Many of them vanished in the swamps." She looked absentmindedly into the distance, "Maybe this was also one of the reasons the guild master had given up. Watching this many old friends and people she saw grow up die... Everyone except Old Jenkins left afterwards. As long as they still had savings, they rather moved with their families to Oriekot." So Old Jankins was Fins only chance! The fairy thanked the head receptionist and soon left he guild. She had met Mary on her way out. The girl was very motivated and friendly to Fin. She felt very indebted to the fairy for what happenedst time and invited Fin for a small brunch. Fin was not in a hurry and epted. They actually went to the eatery where Fin and Seth had stayed until recently! "Hi, Harmond! The usual!", she greeted the innkeeper and ordering at the same time. Seeing the mountains of food that came on Fins order, Mary got goosebumps. She had invited the fairy and wondered whether she would be able to financially recover from this... But looking at the innocent smile of the little sunshine calmed her heart and made it all worth it! They talked about how Seth was upied with his work and Fin was bored looking for the guild master and her problems. "Grandpa Jenkins!? You think uncle would know about it?" "Its my only chance!", Fin answered with a smile and slobbered her dish clean. Old Jenkins was her grandfather and the one who had helped her get the job in the guild. Mary offered to ask him to meet Fin in theing days and they split up.. Fin returned to the pce to look for Seth. Chapter 60 - Ancient Bronze Ancient Bronze. Seth had used thest day to collect more experience in smelting and the use of his new skill. The skill had improved his efficiency tremendously and after yesterday he felt like his was close to level up! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He wanted to start and melt down the ancient bronze trinkets and weapons he bought. Maybe he could even find out the recipe, if he managed to split the alloy! He would be the only one who could produce Ancient Bronze at the present, a material with strengthparable to and magic conductivityparable to ! So, in the morning (after a good breakfast, duh) Seth sat before the furnace and dropped the pieces of ancient bronze into the opening. He had gotten some experience with bronze yesterday and could tell, that it took much longer to melt thanmon bronze. It took even more heat than the steel. Slowly the metal with a golden sheen started to heat up in the furnace and liquefied into a brightly glowing puddle of doom. When Seth used inbination with the furnace he could kind of feel the heat of differentponents in the liquid. The process was a lot harder than simply using the smelting menu, but also more precise. Compared to the bronze or the electrum yesterday, ancient bronze behaved a lot differently. Despite obviously being an alloy, theponents would not split as Seth controlled the heat. The metals stuck together as if glued, staying as a homogeneous liquid form of ancient bronze. Something held them together. It was when Seth poured it into the ingot mold that he saw the glimmer of an unknown energy given off by the liquid metal. It strongly reminded him of the glow souls gave off! Was this possible? Was ancient bronze made by infusing souls directly into an alloy instead of a weapon? Seth had never tried melting down a weapon he had infused with a soul, but he fathomed they would vanish. Destroying the weapon would be like the body dying, the soul would not stay within the metal, would it? Also, the description of the metal he used had never changed! Steel never changed to Soul Steel or something like that. But this glow was astonishingly reminiscent of souls. Maybe he could make new alloys himself, when became a higher level? As Seth could not get behind the secret for now, he just melted the bronze down into 6 ingots of ancient bronze. He put the bronze into his material chest. He was not sure, what he would do with it yet, but it was definitely precious. Seth had also investigated smelting the mithril ore and dark iron. He could have made dark iron ingots, but hecked a special mineral to make dark steel, so he left them as is. The 3 small pieces of mithril ore came together as an ingot the size of his pinky. When Seth tried to smith it, to see how it felt, it was the first time he had a problem! is too low to work with this material!> His skill level was too low to forge with mithril! Did this mean? is too low to work with this material!> He also could not use the ! He didnt even try the blood ga, since his was still lv.1. There was actually a restriction to the kind of materials he could use! No problem at all! He could grind it as much as a wanted while he was here! And he already knew how. Seth would start with the swords for the guards. Why swords? Because the process to make a sword was already ingrained into him and he could make them out of umon now! He could make them fast and maximize the experience boost of free use. And to make them parable" to his own sword, he would engrave the circuits for damage! Just like that he could grind his and skills! Engraving an even surface of steel should be the easiest, another reason to start with the swords! Then came the spears and the armor. He nned to imitate the spikes he had seen on the bazaar. He had found several new types of arrow-heads in the armory and among them was a style called "bodkin" that was the same shape as those spear spikes. It said it was good for armor piercing. This should work well against the scales and thick skin of the swamp creatures he had heard about. If he added barbs, like a harpoon, the spear could be used to control the slippery opponents'' movements. He would have to talk with the guards to find out the specifics. After thinking this far, he simply started forging. After gaining Seth had tried something he did not dare before. Instead of using the tongs to hold the hot metal he used his bare hands now! This made it a lot easier to hold the metal steady . He forged the first sword de in less than an hour. It still had some superficial ws, but they did not matter after he refined the de on the grinding wheel. Then came the heat treatment. He had decided to engrave the de after he finished it. It would be more difficult to engrave the tempered steel, but he could dodge problems with the de warping or breaking when he tempered it after the engraving. Although, it didnt happen as oftentely, but it would still be a great loss of time, if all the engraving was for naught. He had another way to speed up the process. Instead of finishing the swords one by one, he would forge and engrave the 30 des before adding the crossguards and handles. Like this Seth could concentrate on one task at the time. He would not get any experience on his until the swords were finished, but he would get one massive chunk once he was done! Lets leave Seth alone for the moment, as he makes des like a machine and look at what Fin is doing. The little fairy was on her way to meet old man Jenkins to ask him about the mystery of the vanished guild master. Detective Fin finally had a lead and she would squeeze out all the information from that old man! She just hoped she was not forced to use...unorthodox methods. Of course, this was just a joke. The old man was Marys uncle so she couldnt just treat him like a thug...but if the old man did not talk- Fin rubbed her hand maliciously Any thoughts of using "unorthodox methods" vanished when she came before "old man" Jenkins. What old man? Sure, his beard was a little grayed, but what was up with that build?! When Fin came before Old Man Jenkins with Mary, she saw a 2-meter-tall mountain of a man. His worn clothes could barely contain the bulging muscles of this aged behemoth. Was this even a human!? The bald muscr man had a deep and aged voice. "So? Mary said you wanted to ask me something?", he questioned with an amused glint in his eyes. He knew the reaction of people who met him for the first time. It was especially amusing seeing a tiny fairy widen her already big ck eyes upon seeing him. "The old guild master, eh?", he asked running his fingers through his beard and sighed. "She really let herself gotely. Its a shame seeing someone so motivated turn into a drunkard." "She?", Fin asked baffled, until now she had never picked up on the guild master''s identity. "Yes! Yudrid was the best huntress in the city back then when I started as an adventurer. She yed a significant role in the prosperity of this ce.", he sighed "Back then she was like a mother to many of the adventurers and to some she was. What happened in Ivicer and afterwards really broke her." "Can you tell Fin where she is? Please? We, Fin and Seth have a quest we can only finish with her help!" "Let me think...", he said, made some hums and grunts and, "Nope, no idea. Sorry." Jenkins gave her a big grin. He totally knew where she was and did not want to tell her! "Mean old big human! You know where she is! Fin knows! Tell Fin! D-Dont think Fin wont beat it out of you! Fin is definitely not intimidated by your bulging masses of-of!", the fairy stuttered and became silent again. She didnt want to get into a fight with Jenkins, for Mary''s sake. NOT because she was uncertain that she could intimidate Jenkins, not to mention win a fight against him. All she could do was to hang her head and hold back her tears. Looking at the depressed fairy softened Jenkin''s brain. Could you fake your sorrow even more obviously? Fin felt dismayed. Even the big teary puppy eyes had not worked on the old humanoid meat-mountain! Fin had never encountered such a tough cookie. Not even when she plundered the old cookie jar of her grandma (those cookies had hardened for several decades!). Should she really resort to throwing a tantrum? In her life there had only been 4 times, that she had to resort to throwing a tantrum. It was an ultimate technique of the fair folk and should only be used as ast resort. "You have forced my hand!", Fin took a deep breath and was about to throw her little body t on the table, when Jenkins finally reached out his hand! "Stop! Please." Jenkins said in a hurry. He could not take it anymore. Watching the fairy embarrass herself in public just made him cringe too hard. "She is probably hiding somewhere in the old district. That all I will tell you. Now stop whatever you were about to do!" The Tantrum had worked once again! As expected from an ultimate weapon, just the indications of its execution made the opponent buckle and divulge all their secrets! The fairy almost burst with pride upon her impable interrogation skills! Now she only had to find out where in the old district the guild master was hiding! Chapter 61 - 61. Guild Master In the afternoon Seth had just finished the fourth de and quenched it in the water when Fin suddenly came rushing into the armory. She excitedly started talking like a waterfall! "Seth! Fin knows now where the old guild master is hiding! Fin used her impable interrogation skills to have Old man Jenkins tell her! She is called Yudrid and is hiding somewhere in the old district! Does Seth remember? The maze-like part of this town. That''s where she is somewhere!", while talking at high speed she was flying around him like a wasp on cocaine. She must have been very proud. Wait... "Yudrid? Yudrid Dawnde? Fin, that''s the huntress who dismantled the Titanoboa for me! And Assos adoptive mom...parent? Whatever.", Seth added to the flood of words falling from the fairies mouth. She stopped immediately. "You already know her?! That''s great! Then it should be easy to give her the book!" "Yeah, let''s go right now. I have the way on my map and I''m fairly certain we can get there without Asso. ", he said confidently as he packed away the des he had just made. Thanks to the map he could now easily find the way without any help after having visited the shop several times. He had also used automap and was horrified by theplexity of the old district. Even with the map, he managed to get lost! With Asso he had reached the workshop in a quarter of an hour. With the map they walked for 45 minutes until they reached the shop. "There it is.", Sethmented as they finally stood before the big doors of Yudrid''s warehouse. He wanted to knock against the door and it slowly swung open as his knuckles hit the wood. It was not locked. Weird~ was written on Fins and Seths face as they looked at each other. Please dont let it be another adventure! Seth was fed up after that random dungeon showing up. The big store room was empty and dark. The flickering of a candle could be seen from the door leading deeper into the shop. Maybe something happened? Fin flew up above into the darkness while Seth slowly walked towards the door. Behind the door was another ware house filled with shelves and unassuming boxes. A burned down candle was desperately fighting to stay lit during thest moments of its life. I stood on a writing desk with an open book. The book was filled with alternating neat and sloppy handwriting. Probably the inventory list. At the edge of the candles flickering shine, barely visible in the twilight beyondid a copsed figure! "Oh Fins god! Is it dead?", Fin eximed tactfully as she could not identify what the messy dwarf crumbled on the floor was supposed to be. Seth crouched down to check on her and as if on cue the messy dwarf let out a massive snoring. A little further away at the foot of a shelve was an emptied bottle of booze. It must have rolled away, when Yudrid keeled over. "This is our mysterious guild master...", Seth exined. Fin was skeptical, looking at the deafeningly snoring female dwarf with a beard drenched in drool and booze. And was that puke on her chainmail? Fin decided to increase her distance a little. She didnt want to be in range, if Yudrid had some more ammunition in her stomach. "Hey Yudrid! Wake up!", Seth gave her some ps on the cheek and immediately regretted it. The Urge to wash his hand was his biggest problem until the dwarf woke up and emptied her stomach on Seths clothes. Fin was proud. She had made a wise choice and was not even close to the stter zone! "The fuck? Who woke me up?", she looked into Seths face that was distorted in revulsion. Then at the tiny fairy in the distance. "You...what do you guys want? I didnt keep any materials! And Asso already took the karfunkel, so you cant have it back. Dont you can mug me with your little fairy thug!", she asserted and stood up. Her jittery hands tried to straighten her dirty clothes in vain. Seth blinked a little baffled about her defensive reaction. Was it because she was still drunk? "None of that. We are here to give you something... guild master" Yudrid froze when he mentioned her title. It had been ages since someone had called her that. Despite doing her best to wipe away those memories with alcohol, everything came back with just these two words. Her face turned really dark and rigid. They could hear her teeth grinding. "Dont call me that. Im not the guild master... anymore." She walked up to the writing desk and took another bottle of booze from the drawer. "Unfortunately, our quest says otherwise.", Fin said seriously. The fairy had turned solemn upon seeing the dwarf''s reaction. Yudrid sighed. "All right, gimme whatever it is and get lost.", she gestured at Seth to give her item. Seth took the guild log from his inventory and handed over to the guild master in denial He was back to lv. 18! Great! "This is...?", Yudrid took the book covered in dried blood with shaking hands. She opened it and read a few sentences. Even after a decade she recognized the handwriting in the log. "Where did you-?", she looked up at the young man she had puked on and his fairy guard. "We came through Ivicer and found it in the old guild branch. You should read thest page." Yudrid had put away the booze and held the book in both hands as the skimmed though the pages. When she reached thest ones, tears started to well up in her eyes. The wiped away her tears. "This stupid idiot was never good in dealing with sudden situations...", her tears dropped on the blood covered pages. She wiped them away and some of the blood came off too, revealing another sentence. -Im sorry, mom- All dams broke and Yudrid started bawling her eyes out. She cried and snuffled in between sobbing. "Mom! Whats going on?!", Asso hade in and saw the disheveled dwarf sobbing with a book tightly pressed against her chest. Asso walked up and pulled her into a tight hug. He had never seen her loseposure like this. He gave Fin and Seth a sharp gaze before his attention went back to the mourning dwarf in his arms. When Yudrid had calmed down a little she apologized for her reaction. It seemed that this had built up for quite a while. She them thanked for the book afterposing herself, but asked them to leave. Although they were interested in what exactly had happened, they were not tactless enough to ask the old guild master to pour her heart out to them. She had Asso for that. The two left the warehouse with mixed feelings, leaving the lizardman and his adoptive dwarven mom behind. They were d that the quest was finished atst. Well, Seth was happy it was over. Fin now had to find a way to kill time in the next few weeks while Seth worked on the Lord''s order! They talked about possibilities on their way back. Fin could go and explore the dungeons, the library and the city while Seth worked. Or she could return home- This suggestion made the fairy wildly shake her head. She definitely did not want to visit home. They would totally make her a hero and make her do her duties. Or force even more duties on her! No, no, no, she was good. She preferred being bored andze around with Seth, over returning back there! It was dark when they reached the pce. They were in time for dinner! They high-fived and entered the dining room. The Lord and Ikram were already seated at the table. There was also a new face they had not seen before. At the dinner table sat a middle-aged man in long, flowing robes. They were in shades of moss green and ck. His head was cleanly shaven and decorated by ck tribal tattoos. He had sharp eyes and an obviously evil goatee! He looked like the typical evil sorcerer any cheap fantasy movie likes to antagonize! "Ah, you have noticed Megito! Hes our part-time court wizard.", the Lord exined joyfully. "Part-time?", Fin asked innocently as they sat down. "Oh...yeah we-", the Lord started to try and exin, but Megito interrupted him. "Zhiqe is my home. Unfortunately, being a wizard is quite costly. Considering the cities situation, I cannot stay here all the time. I have a business in Oriekot. I travel back and forth and act as a court wizard on a voluntary basis.", he exined in a friendly manner and gave them a smile nobody would expect from this kind of character. The Lord had a thankful expression when he looked at Megito. It was hard to exin for a noble, that they could not pay their own court wizard. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "I fathom you are the cksmith the young master invited?", he asked in a friendly manner. Seeing Seth nod over decimating the food on the table, he continued "Do you think I could take a look at your work tomorrow? If you dont mind, of course." Chapter 62 - 62. Joint Dungeon Dive Seth raised his eyebrow. "And why would you want that?" "Oh, please. I dont mean any harm. Its just, no skillful cksmith has been to Zhiqe for years and suddenly someone appears and offers to equip the personal guards for a fraction of the market price. And in just a few weeks to boot. You have to understand that I am a little suspicious. What if you are not as skilled as you say, or just run off with the money?" Seth thought for a moment about it. Megitos concerns were understandable. Seth was very lucky that his appearance was a great help concerning the Lords predicament. He was desperate and dly grabbed the helping hand he reached out to him. Megito on the other hand had no reason to put his hopes or trust into Seth. "Sure, why not. You cane to visit the armory tomorrow.", Seth said in between two big bites. He would not let this conversation interfere with his meal. The next morning, Megito followed Seth after breakfast into the armory. Megitos eyes almost jumped out of their sockets when he saw Seths smithy. The half Cmaterial and half-immaterial crafting stations glowing in a dim blue, the bright Soul Fire burning in the forge. "You are not a simple cksmith... is that an enchantment table?!", the wizard mumbled and suddenly called out. His eyes had fallen on the covered in magic formations. "Well, its for engraving and iys, but yeah, its also to make enchantments. I dont have much experience with it, yet.", Seth exined as he brought out the materials to start forging. "Your ss? Umon? Rare?", the older man kept asking. "I think you are overstepping a little. You just wanted to see me working, so stop asking so much and let me work." With that Seth concentrated on forging. In the zing Soul Fire, the billet reached forging temperatures. Spellbound Megidos eyes were fixed onto the piece of steel on the anvil. Under Seths experienced strikes the trivial piece of metal grew in length and width. Before his eyes, it took the rough shape of a sword. He watched it gain a de profile, a fuller, a taper. Only after an hour when Seth finally quenched the finished de of a longsword did the Wizard finally wake up from his trance. Barely an hour had passed? He was surprised. The young man before him had finished aplete de in just one hour. If he really held that tempo the swords could be ready in just a week! His eyes wandered to the enchantment table. Did he also n to enchant those weapons? Megido was convinced of Seth''s skill and thanked him before leaving the armory. He really just wanted to make sure, that he did not scam the Lord. "Oh, hey! Before you leave, I also have a question for you.", he said while getting the next billet ready. "Can you get something for me?" The wizard nodded after listening to Seths request. He promised that he would see what he can do and left the smithy in a hurry. Seth shrugged and started on the next de. He still had another 25 des to go. The following week was just as uneventful as he wished. Fin spent her time either watching him or in town. She held off on exploring the dungeons and waited for Seth. On the fourth day, he had finished thest de and could start engraving. When engraving a new or specific pattern one would normally sketch it before transferring it to the metal and engraving it using the engraving iron. That''s where shone! In tandem with , he could project a holographic sketch on the de. Thanks to his rtively high dexteritypared to theplexity of the circuit, and the assistance given by the crafting station his first enchantment did not fail! It was not perfect, but it worked, when he tested it using the magic circle. The beginning was always easy. Seth fathomed that levels above 5 would be hard to crack with the basic enchantments he had. Anyways, motivated by his first sess, he kept going with enchanting. His back hurt and his hand shivered, but after 3 days of engraving, he was finally finished! In the meantime, his had barely reached level 4. Seth rubbed his hands. Once he finished the handles, he should get a huge chunk of experience in his ! "Se~th, are you done yet? You promised we would go to the dungeon today!", the fairy whined like a spoiled child. She rolled back and forth on the engraving table and oozed an aura of boredom. There was really not much left to do in town for her and Seth felt bad for her. He had fun crafting, but Fin was pretty much alone with her boredom. "Ok, ok. Lets go. ", Seth said and stood up. The fairy happily flew around him like a spark of joy and cured his back pain for him as she did so. They wanted to explore the one low-level dungeon in town that was not wet, smelly, or empty. The two wanted to explore the big hole with the maze of tunnels. It would be their first joint dungeon dive! Fin was really excited to fight side by side with Seth. It was her chance to shine a little in front of him. They would enter the deep hole! Their life would not be at risk in a low-level dungeon so Fin could pose a little and show Seth her true prowess, by mercilessly ughtering weak mobs! The dungeon was literally just a big shaft straight down with a 20-meter diameter- A staircase without guardrail spiraled down along its rough stone walls and vanished into the darkness below. There were openings to rooms and passageways at random distances along the staircase. Generic undead like skeletons, skeleton archers, and skeleton warriors up to lv.10 were supposed to appear in this ce. So, the deep dark hole and the dim tunnels did not pose much danger except getting lost in the darkness and maze-like structure. Both were no problems for them with the fairys light spell and Sethss ! Fin told him that the guild had a device that could download a dungeons map made with . If they wanted to, they could sell the mapter on. But it was not their main focus. They entered the dungeon with the mindset of explorers. The cool dark cave-like environment was a wee change to the hot and damp desert city. Seth wore a set of scale armor from the armory he had polished up. He also made a simple mace from . He could only use his experience from video games, but blunt force should work best on skeletons! The mace had given him a whopping 4% on and got his hopes up for the chunk of proficiency he would gain once he started finishing the swords! But Seth didnt really expect to y a big role in theing dive. Fin was hyped up to show Seth her power as an almost lv.50 adventurer after they had to struggle so much on their journey despite that. It was the As a low-level dungeon with skeleton undead the fairy was in her element as a battle priest! Seth had offered to try and make equipment for her, but she was almost like a monk, so she denied wearing weapons or armor. She only wore robes. Still, in the back of his mind, Seth didnt give up. He could maybe make her essories once his skill grew more? As they had no set goal for their excursion, the two simply wandered around and explored without minding the too much. At first the passageways reminded them of mines with low ceilings and roughly hewn walls. This passage was short and it soon started to closely resemble a natural cave. Sometimes the ceilings became very low, so much so that they had to crouch and other times they were so high, Fins light could not reach them. They came through caverns with stgmites and stctites forming impressive natural columns. Deep chasms like bottomless pits beside the narrow path made the trip more exciting than the possibility of meeting monsters. All they saw until now were normal animals you would expect in a cave, like bats. After walking for maybe two hours, they heard a noise that was distinctly different from the surrounding ambient. Their first mob. It was a single skeleton with a bone club just standing in the middle of the tunnel. Its head already exploded the moment it turned towards the light! The fairy with her hand d in holy aura had easily crushed the mob more than 30 levels below her! Seth did not even have time to use on the poor pile of bones! Was this already bullying? The distribution was set so Seth got 90% of the experience. it was the highest setting possible. His experience bar increased an almost invisible amount, maybe 0,5%? If they found enough, maybe he could...? What bullying? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om This was a legitimate hunt! Yes! "Go Fin! Go! Another 200 and I get a level-up!", Seth cheered when another three skeletons suddenly ambushed the fairy by jumping down from somewhere in the darkness above! Seth instinctively dispatched the one thatnded with a swipe of the mace. The mace crushed through its shoulder des and spine without even slowing down. When he looked up the other two had already turned into piles of bone powder on the ground. This ambush might have worked on nooby adventurers, but the two were just overpowered in this environment! One of the skeletons dropped a tiny soul. Before Seth could walk over to pick it up, the soul floated towards him and vanished. "What?", he called out. He asked Fin to wait for a moment and checked his status window. Above his Money disy had appeared a soul disy! It currently showed 1 ! The perk list helped him find the culprit! had gotten a new perk on lv.3! It was called the "Soul Space" and automatically collected souls around Seth. When he tried to shove the stack of small souls into the disy it increased to 54! Once he had dealt with this joyful surprise, they continued exploring deeper and deeper into the maze of confusing tunnels and caverns without many problems. Chapter 63 - 63. The Reach Under the light of the fairys magic, the walls sparkled in a mix of green and copper. They had walked deeper and deeper for several hours. They wanted to reach ces no one else had before. That why they used Seths to always choose the ways leading down. Fin had taken care of everything and packed rations for several weeks! Which would probablyst for a week, if the two were honest about the eating habits. They kept making frequent lunch breaks on the way. Anyways, copper and copper ore covered the walls of the tunnel they entered. Was this the exnation for this maze of tunnels? Was it all just an ancient copper mine that connected to a natural cave? No matter how deep they went, undead were spawning very sparsely down here. One would think the mobs would be more numerous or at least stronger the deeper one entered the dungeon, right? On the other hand, they had no idea where the dungeon core or the master would be in this mess of winding passages and rooms. Seth did not really mind; they had been here long enough for him to gain almost 50% of the experience needed to reach lv.19! As long as the monsters kept spawning at this rate, he would level up even if they turned back right now. Seth had not brought a pickaxe! But it wasnt a problem. He summoned the forge on a bigger crossing and made a simple pickaxe,ting him 3% proficiency because it was rated umon thanks to the steel he used. He had learned his lesson and had also started to carry a stack of wood with him in case he needed to make a polearm like a spear or now, the handle for the pickaxe. "No matter how often Fin sees it, it impresses Fin every time!", the fairy eximed looking at the pickaxe he finished in less than an hour. Why did he suddenly be a miner you might ask? The better question would be, who would leave free raw materials behind? It was another lesson Seth had learned. Get as much as possible when you still have the chance! All the rebar he missed out on in Deltan because of the rain was a painful reminder. And so, they spend two hours excavating the copper vein until Seth had 3 stacks of copper ore and small copper ingots. While Seth was fighting the earth for its resources Fin took over the duty of farming the mobs that got lured here by the loud noises of steel biting into stone. Together with the mobs who got lured when he made the pickaxe, he had gained another 10% experience! After another lunch break, they started traveling again. "Whoa!", he could hear the tiny voice of Fin in the front. Up high on the ceiling shone, like dim stars, luminescent crystals, and moss. Their light unveiled the full expanse of the great cavern they had just entered. Stctites and stgmites formed long and thin columns making it look as if the night sky itself was flowing down to the earth below. Both, the human and the fairy, stood there amazed with their mouths and eyes wide open. For several minutes they just stood there and took in the sight. Seth felt a little relieved when didnt show anything in here as a crafting material. He would have hated to damage this ce. "Should we stay here? It should bete out and Fin is bing a little sleepy.", the fairy brute said unusually tactful. Seth agreed that this was a great ce to take a rest and sleep a little. It reminded the two of the night they met and they talked a lot until they fell asleep, just like back then. Fin had brought an rm system; it was an uncostly device that would rm the user if a hostile presence entered the perimeter. But the night was silent and they slept peacefully below the subterranean firmament. They slept better than expected and woke up well-rested. They had a small breakfast and packed up their stuff to continue. The starry cavern was soon crossed and their party entered back into the entrails of the earth. Being this deep below earth might have made others panic, but since they had the strength and to rely on for the way back, they were very calm. Even optimistic. Seth especially, since his copper stack increased to 5. He had no mining skill, but funny enough leveled up to 6 after hours of swinging the pickaxe! Past the starry cavern, the mobs also started to be a little stronger. Skeleton Warriors and Archers appeared more often and their tactics also slightly evolved. The ambushes were more borate and they used the advantages of the archer''s range and the warrior''s melee prowess. Of course, it was a futile struggle in front of the juggernaut fairy. The tiny berserker easily plowed through any opposition, collecting experience for Seth on the go. If the caves and tunnels didn''t look so rough and random, Seth would have likened it to a famous movie adaptation he knew, where the heroes travel through the abandoned mines of an extinct dwarven nation. Unfortunately, there were not as many mobs. Just imagine the level he could reach if they could decimate such hordes of low-level scrubs. A few hours in, after they restarted their journey, the tunnels started changing again. They became more...regr. Not the neat kind of regr, but rather disturbing. They reminded Seth of the paths in an anthill. Would the mobs change from here on? Giant insects? Fin did not seem troubled at all. It was likely that no other adventurer had reached this far before, at least the Guild had no info about this. His worries seemed unfounded, as they did not even meet a skeleton after entering these tunnels. Maybe the led away from the dungeon core? It was when they started to ry a little that they reached "The Reach". This area had its own name as a biome on the map. In front of them expanded a wide-open floor. The bottom and ceiling werepletely even and parallel. Supporting the ceiling and connecting the two surfaces were almost hourss-shaped pirs. Pale dim light fell in from the distance illuminating this bizarre scene and turning everything into pitch-ck silhouettes. This was nothing natural. The pirs all looked almost identical and were spaced in regr intervals. The ceiling and floor werepletely even and parallel all the way into the distance. This was not natural, but it also didnt look like human hands did this. Where did the lighte from, this far below the earth? Seth only found out where they were after zooming out from the immediate position. They had actually traveled a big windy circle downwards. Their current position was close to the entrance to the main shaft, just hundreds of meters below. So, the light came from the big holes... exit? This unsettling floor was where the Shaft led to?! They were still in shock when they heard a shuffling in the dark. Wha stepped out of the dark was a 3-meter-tall knight wearing a ck suit of armorpletely hiding his features. He dragged a giant sword behind him, almost as big as himself. "Fuck!," Fin cursed without holding back and charged the opponent! Her hits easily deformed the knight''s ck armor, but could not instant-kill him like the skeletons before! He used the chance to observe it. < Death Knight lv--> He didnt get more than the name from , but this was more than enough. From what he was told Death Knight were high-tier undead like Duhans or Liches. This was a big leappared to theughable skeletons they had met until now! Fin was probably able to deal with this guy alone, but it would take a while! More undead coulde lured by the sound of fighting, so Seth decided to help. After finding some of them in the armory, he had made about 50 arrows with bodkin tips. Since Fin had his attention Seth could fire his arrow at pretty much point-nk range. they did not as much damage as Fin''s holy fists, but the arrows stuck in the armor and joints majorly impeded its movement and soon allowed the fairy to finish it off. The death knight finally crumbled into a pile of dented armor and bones. Seth collected the armor and even found a tiny magic stone the size of a pea! The armor was made of iron and nothing special. It was just very thick, which was why it could take the tiny terminators punches. The two stayed alert. Looking and listening into the darkness, but all there was, was silence. No other mob approached They could have just turned around here. Go back to the guild and inform them about this. Who are we kidding? Obviously, they followed their curiosity and approached the circle of light in the distance. Above them was the circr outline of the shafts end. Before them was a giant circr hole covered by a transparent pale white barrier, with erratic veins like a membrane or lightning patterns. Visible in the hole beyond the barrier was a dark fog writhing and pressing against the thin membrane as if trying to break out. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Mystified by what they had found this deep under the foundation of the city, they were surprised by a scuttle in the darkness. Seth knew this sound. Fin knew it, too.. It was something they would not forget any time soon. Chapter 64 - 64. Ivicer "Now then, Foolish human, has your curiosity been satisfied?", a deep booming voice echoed through the darkness and their minds. Both turned around in shock! Theypletely froze. Fin even forgot to fly for a moment and almost fell to the ground. It was almost the same as the holy beast they had seen! Just five times bigger! The golden head with a neck frill or shield resembling a scarab and 3 pairs of blue eyes. An upright upper body with three pairs of arms ending in sickles like those of a mantis. A body looking like a mix of centipede and millipede covered in snow white almost ceramic-looking carapace armor with silver markings. A body so long that it vanished somewhere in the darkness behind it. The hundreds of pairs of legs ending in acute tips able to stab into stone a find hold even on the ceiling. Why the ceiling? Behind the dungeon master had appeared more silhouettes in the darkness, some smaller ones clinging to the ceiling! They were surrounded. "Has the nightcrawler stolen your tongue, human?", Cerno lowered its head the size of a small car and looked Seth in the eyes. "Had your curiosity been satisfied?" His heart palpitated and his thoughts raced. He used instinctively and remembered the announcement just now and- n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "No...", he pressed out between his mped lips. "I actually have more questions than ever!" Cerno lifted his head again and fixated the ant-like human before him. Suddenly a burst of roaringughter filled the floor and it was illuminated by a huge number of glowing crystals. "The Reach" was flooded by warm golden light; revealing another 20 creatures of its kind who all ogled Seth in an interested manner. "Very well, Marked One. We also have many things to us. Follow me... it not good to talk here. Baffled Seths and Fins mouths stood wide open. The situation kept changing a little too fast for them to adapt. When they finally came back to their senses, they hurriedly followed the group of creatures, that had walked off without caring whether they followed or not. Seth had a guess as to why they survived, but they still had no idea what was really going on! Cerno led them to a big cavern at a corner of "The Reach". The walls were covered with golden shining bronze and a dungeon core was embedded in the center of the room. Cerno Bolk curled up around the dungeon core while most of his brethren dispersed. "I wee you to our humble abode, Marked One.", he weed the two when they finally caught up with him. Using Seth immediately realized that the whole cavern was covered in a fine web of ancient bronze! "Uhm, thank you? With marked one, do you mean the in my status? Can you exin this maybe a little more?", Seth asked carefully. He didnt want to make any false assumptions, so he took small steps with his questions. Cerno hummed and thought of an answer. "Has it really been so long, that the world has forgotten about us?", he stared into the air for a moment, "I guess it has been several millennia and apocalypse since then... I shall exin from the beginning. When this world was created our god-" "Ah! Errm, could you- maybe- shorten it? We dont need the whole creation myth of this world", Fin disrupted him hurriedly. She knew this kind of ancient beings. If left alone, they would ramble on for hours! "Ah! I see. Yes, the is something bestowed by us to people of trust. We are the Ivicer, servants created by the God of the Sun, Ivice." "God of the Sun? Nobody mentioned there are still gods in this world.", Fin eximed. This actually made the giant dungeon master look... depressed? "He is not with us anymore. Anyways! Human, we also have questions. How did you get the mark? Are there still brethren out there?" Although he tried to hide it, there swung a tad bit of excitement in his voice. Seeing him excited made Seth feel conflicted, should he tell him the truth? Or lie? At this point, he didnt think Cerno would kill them. But he- Seth shook his head. He just told Cerno the whole story starting with how they came to this world and what they had experienced in Ivicer. Still, he had a heavy heart telling him, that the Ivicer they met was no more. "So, the seal in the capital has already weakened this much. Thank you for ending her suffering.", sorrow swung along in his voice, "At least this means, that there still might be some younglings out there." An awkward silence followed as nobody really knew what to say. In the end, it was broken by Fin. "What is the Seal you spoke about?", she squeaked. What followed was the uninterrupted, story of what happened back then. This ce "The Reach" actually had a permanent portal to what the system called the Pathwork. Back then, the system had not yet entered this world. From this portal that opened in a simple cavern, came a shapeless entity rivaling their gods in power! It created this shaft when it made its way to the surface. The aura it spread corrupted the living and the dead alike strengthened them and made them its servants. As it spread it sucked the life away from this world to gain more power. Back then Ivice, as the God of the Sun and Light stepped up to fight it. The god and his followers had to use forbidden magic that turned their once fertilend into a lifeless desert. They managed to seal the entity under the god''s temple in the capital. While the weakened god and his followers would stay there in undead slumber to protect the seal, the Ivicer would upkeep the barrier on this portal, so nothing like this would happen again. Fin was right, Cerno did not stop after just answering that one question, he forced them to listen to the WHOLE story. It was all toote. It was the beginning of the end. Other gods of the pantheon used the chance to assassinate Ivice and take his divinity. And this led to the God Fall. The god led a war against each other to gain more power which ended with their mutual destruction. About 500 years ago, when this world had been ravaged by the war of the gods, the system appeared and lend a helping hand. And following the system was the god of dungeons. As creations of their god, they denied inclusion into the system. On the other side, they epted the offer of the god of dungeons. They became part of the dungeon in exchange for the power to protect the seal for all eternity. Although, it did not work so well in the capital... While Cerno Bolk kept on talking, it seemed like he had millennia worth of dialogue, Seth could not stop studying the and bronze covering the walls. "Say, did you make this ancient bronze?", it was the only possibility he could think of. The energy of the membrane was very simr to what Seth had seen in the ancient bronze. Cerno was interrupted in his monologue and needed a moment to react. "Y-You mean the holy gold? Who dared to title it as simple bronze!? sphemy!" "The System calls it that... So, you made this? How?" As an answer, Cerno Bolk suddenly spat a thing bundle of thread from his mouth against the walls. "We feed on copper and tin and mix it with our souls'' energy to create the thread for gods'' garments.", suddenly there was a glint in his three pairs of eyes, as if he had an idea, "You mention you are a cksmith, right?" Seth was distracted by a notification. He let out a weird mutter neither Fin nor Seth could understand and a smaller Ivicer brought something in. It was an elongated ball of golden silk. "I had looked for a way to transition to this topic. But this might make it a lot easier." "What do you mean?", Seth was perplexed and didnt understand. Cerno sighed. "You know, marked one, the one disadvantage of living in this dungeon, is that we cannot leave. We keep the number of creatures low, so nobodyes here and disturbs the seal. This also means we cant just cause a dungeon break to take a walk outside. Once they are born, they are bound to the dungeon. You see, many of the young ones you see here have never seen the sun of our god.", he exined sorrowfully, "Would you take this young one with you to the surface? I believe you are trustworthy and the child can help you make holy gold, too! Isnt that a good deal?" The cksmith and the Fairy looked at the small cocoon Cerno had put into Seths arms with wide-open eyes.... Chapter 65 - 65. Pet? "You know...",Fin whispered in his ear, "maybe you could register it as a pet once you reach lv.20?" ""What?"", Seth and Cerno Bolk said at the same time. The giant boss and an unbelievable fine sense of hearing. "A pet, really?" "What do you mean a pet? I will let you know; all offspring inherit the memories of their parent! Dont think you could treat the child like an animal!", Cerno said indignantly. "Oh! No! That''s not how it works!", Fin said hurriedly, waving her arms around in a panic. "Its like an... errm...partner system? It only works when both parties agree and can also be broken up at any time, with one disagrees strongly." She exined about the Pet System to Cerno Bolk. It was a contract that only worked when both parties were willing. It would allow the pet and the yer to share experience and create a pet space where the pet could rest or enter so it did not cause a scene in a city for example. Cerno was slowly being convinced. If their offspring could see the sun, he would even allow them to enter this alien system. Seth on the other hand still was not sure. A pet that spits umon metal thread might be really cool. And the Ivicer probably was a really strong race, as the direct creations of a god. Werent they like angels of this world? They also were Cnot ugly. But was it too much for a simple man to dream of a cool pet? The stereotype would be riding a wolf or a lion, right? Or maybe even a ground dragon, if those existed somewhere? Looking at the sparkling cocoon in his hand. It was soft and he felt a soothing warmth from it. ~please~ he heard a tiny voice in the bag of his mind. Well, at least it would be a very unique partner. Seth embraced the cocoon a little tighter. With this, all parties agreed. "That only leaves one matter to be dealt with. I still need to reach lv. 20 to unlock this pet system!" "Oh, that''s easy. Dont you just need to kill a lot of monsters?" With this Seth came into the grotesque situation that a dungeon master kept summoning easy targets to power-level him! He just had to stand there and strike down skeleton mages with his sword. Why the sword? Thanks to its effect of increased damage to targets with lower strength, he could easily one-shot the skeleton mages. It was simply faster than the mace. Skeleton mages gave more experience than archers or warriors, so they still gave 0,5% on lv.19, if he killed them alone. Which meant he used a little more than an hour to non-stop kill 200 mobs and finally reach lv.20! N?v(el)B\\jnn He was all sweaty and his arm felt heavy, but the fatigue vanished when he took a look at his status. Just like Fin had said, there was a new tab in his status window that said Pets. It was actually split into pets and mounts and he had 1 slot in each of them! He also took a look at his status. Name: Seth Smith Mark of Ivicer Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 20 Exp: 0% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: System Church Health: 960/1000 Mana: 190 Strength:55 Dexterity:55 Agility: 38 Intelligence:19 Willpower:35 Endurance:45 Personality:12 Luck:18(+10) Free AP (Attribute points): 22 Free SP (Skill points): 3 Defense: Physical: 185 (135+50) (ENDx3) Magical: 95 (70+25) (WILx2) Fire Immunity There were no major changes to his status. He opted to wait with spending his point this time. He wanted to be careful about it. The greatest change was the jump in INT he had gotten. What really made his heart race was the skill window! cksmith (Apprentice) lv.7 (52%) Enchantment (Beginner) lv4 Goldsmith (Beginner) lv.1 cksmith''s Eyes lv.4 Blueprint (Apprentice) lv.2 Soul Infusion lv.2 Spirit Smithy lv.4 Spirit Capture lv.3 Spirit Forging(Apprentice) lv.1 Weapon Mastery (Adept) lv.6 (54%) Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7 Fear Resistance lv.8 Fire Affection lv.2 Fire Maniption lv.8 Map lv.4 Observation lv.3 Concealment lv.4 ! He finally got a skill that exined his ss! lv.3> He could directly turn souls into equipment and even fuse it into already finished weapons! He could also wear a secondyer of armor just like that! It was also the first skill that actually needed a specific tool. Seth felt that it made sense, that a cksmith should make and use his own tool at some point. He waspletely caught in the system options, so Cerno Bolk and Fin could only watch him gesturing in the air as he interacted with his menus. A growth item! And he didn''t need to go and gain experience with it, but just feed it materials! but now wasnt the time. Seth forced himself to turn his attention back to the giant Ivicer, the small cocoon, and the even smaller Fin. "Ah, hehe, sorry. It worked. I unlocked the pet system." Seth did not n to over-level, nor did he feel like ughters mobs for several hours. So, this concluded their little power-level session. The two said farewell to Cerno and left with the small cocoon. Today they had probably learned many secrets of this world few natives could ever imagine, but to them, it was not much more than a nice fairy tale. So, what if there were world-ending powers in this world that needed God to intervene? It wasnt urgent or their world. in the worst-case scenario, they would take the risk of porting back to Urth or the Fairy World. Seth grew attached to the little cocoon, thinking about the possibilities his new skill and the little Ivicer gave him. Wouldnt he be able to make scary strong items if he managed to connect all the skills he had? If he couldyer the effects of soul armaments, soul infusion, and different enchantments? These were all thoughts for the future when he got his hands on all kinds of enchantments! He didnt fantasize for long. There was no need to care much about the map on their way down, but on the way up he needed to concentrate to find the right way back. After another two times of sleeping in the dungeon, they finally reached the surface. They hissed like vampires when the bright sunshine fell into their eyes! The dampness and heat of the air hit them like a wall whenpared to the pleasant cave environment. "Maybe we should stay a little longer in the cave, until night time maybe?", Fin who suffered more than Seth under the heat, suggested. ~noo~! Chapter 66 - 66. Experimenting In the small cocoon, maybe the size of a handball was a small baby Ivicer. It had felt the warmth of the sun for the first time and promptly heard someone talking of taking it away from it again! It collected all its power and gave off a weak telepathic shout of disagreement. Its weak and soft voice startled its carrier and the evil witch that wanted to take the sun away from it! "I guess it can hear us? Hey, little one, did you listen in on the conversation we had with your dad, too?", the carrier asked in a friendly tone. It had! But it was too weak to answer now. "You dont have to answer, we can try this. Do you want to be my pet?" A small window appeared in its mind. Seth Smith, it must have been the full name of its carrier. It concentrated on the Y. Seth felt a connection being established between himself and the Ivicer in the cocoon. He could slightly feel its emotions and needs of which "feeling the sun" was an overwhelming wish that was transmitted much clearer than anything else. He also instinctively knew how to call the cocoon back into the pet space. In the pet window, he could now see a picture of the small cocoon and it showed 55% intimacy and 35% loyalty. Looking at the window he knew that intimacy would strengthen their telepathic bond and loyalty was an indication of their rtionship. 30% was the minimum to establish the contract, it was the condition of basic trust and cooperation. If it fell below that the contract would absolve. 100% would mean that they would protect each other with their life on the line. "Ok, how about we stay here for a while and enjoy the sun, before returning to the city? Seth had no problem with staying a little longer if it made the little one happy. Just this small act of kindness already made the intimacy increase to 57%. Fin on the other hand hung her head in defeat. The cute and spry fairy had been overruled by a sparkling fluffball! She was over 200 years old and knew that she should be the adult one here, but her pride still took a hit! After another half, an hour in the sun, Seth could feel the cocoon''s satisfaction. He tried to call it into the pet space and it readily agreed. He still had the connection from the Ivicer and could feel, that it was now fell into a satisfied sleep, within the pet space. With the golden ball stored away, they returned to the pce. They all returned to the pce, where Ikram joyfully wees them! They had been worried when they did not return from the dungeon for several days. The poor pce chef suddenly had to improvise a small feast for the gluttonous smith and fairy! The missing servants had been reced and a new head butler was hired. It came out, that Rusn, who had turned into some kind of vampire, had also embezzled the wages of the killed servants! The money had not been found yet. Maybe it was in the dungeon? The Guild had concluded their investigation of the dungeon at this point and found it dormant without a dungeon master present. The decision to ultimately destroy the dungeon core and close the dungeon was still pending. After a satisfying meal, Seth and Fin were happy to get back to their room. It was a divine feeling to rest on a soft bed once again after sleeping on the cave floor for a few days. At least for Seth, Fin had used him as a bed, so she could notin a lot. They fell asleep the moment they touched the bed. They slept all the way to the morning of the next day. Fin was still asleep, so Seth took the chance to have a long bath and wash up. He also shaved the stubble that a grown during the time in the cave. He had been shaving regrly since they stayed at the pce. When he finally left the bathroom, all squeaky clean and ready for the day, Fin was also awake and they had breakfast together. Seth could no longer wait and promptly entered the armory after breakfast. It was time! He had 30 finished des that waited to have their crossguards and handles fitted. increased by 5% with just one sword ! But what he did not expect, was that also increased a slight bit, with thepletion of the weapon! There were little effects that improved the time he needed to fit a good handle to the sword so he needed almost 3 more days to finish all 30 swords. This brought his him to and Seth let out a relieved sigh and sat on the floor of the armory. Looking at the 30 swords resting on the weapon racks filled him with pride and wonder. He made these. It was him! Seeing his works neatly lined up gave him apletely different feeling than just seeing a stack of weapons in the inventory or scattered around in a room. Of course, these were not the only things he finished in this time. He had also experimented with some things for his own use. Enchantment working with engraving or iys were not permanent but needed the supply of magic power to work. As such there was the option to use minerals like gemstones or magic cores to store magic as a supply for the enchantment. This was one of the things Seth had tried. It was nothing hard, he used a ruby the size of a fingernail (harvested from the jewelry before) and embedded it into the crossguard of a sword, to see how it worked. This actually gave him some proficiency in . It was an ordinary ruby and could only store a small amount of magic. Still, it was enough to try it out. Contrary to his expectations, there was not an automated process. Simrly, to using ones own mana, one guided the magic power from the stone into the de. So as long as the power reached the circuit, it worked. The second thing he tried was enchanting one of the spare longswords with an infused soul. The oue was a kind of a failed product?! What happened was that the enchantment on the de worked for a moment and then started flickering on and off without Seth doing anything. The system did not give him much of a hint, but Seth inferred that the soul he had infused was not strong enough to permanently supply the circuit. Now, the circuit automatically sucked up the magic power the moment the soul regenerated enough for it to work. As Seth sat there in the armory, he thought about and the perk list. If only he could see what future perks his skills had. But there was a hint in the description of and that was that it needed to infuse equipment made of souls into items. So, there might be a change on the third level! The question now was, should he splurge a little? He could either use some of the now 87 small souls to try and level , or he could use his Free SP on the skill. Seth didnt have much time left. In about a week they would have to leave Zhiqe to travel to Oriekot and take the airship to Ora! On the other hand, had unlocked the next level and he needed SP to level it up. The time or ? Thinking back, it had not taken a lot to get to lv.2. Seth decided that the SP was too important for now, he also had a promising idea of what he would make to save time! Back to the roots, Seth made small throwing knives. Yes! The same one he did at the very start of the journey. And he infused them with a small soul each. After 25 throwing knives leveled up! And he was right! The perk for lv.3 was: < lv.3 Strengthen or upgrade souls by consuming souls of the same grade or size. > He tried several things and found out, that it had no restriction. He could fuse two or fuse another soul into an already finished weapon! And after fusing another 4 small souls into the sword the enchantment stayed activated permanently! Chapter 67 - 67. Revisit Seth experimented a little more and guessed that he needed 10 to 20 small souls to change one into . What did not change was the rating! Even these medium souls were rated asmon. This meant he probably could not make umon souls frommon ones. He could think about it all day and get nowhere, so he just tested around and soon found a clear answer. He remembered that the vengeful Soul in his bow had been small, so he simply started infusing souls into the bow. He could feel the energy in the bow grow, but only after 13 souls did the description change! < Vengeful Hunter Bow Unique Damage: 180 Durability:1000 1. Arrows shot with this bow show malice and will correct their trajectory to hit vital points. 2. Inflicted wounds will hurt more, heal worse, and have a high chance to get infected. A frightening weapon made by an aspiring cksmith. A bow possessed by a malicious will to hurt its benefactors'' enemies. Usage Condition: Seth Smith> 13! About the number, it would have needed to make it a medium-sized soul! The "slightly" in the correction of the trajectory was missing and the damage had made a leap! This was when Seth realized that he actually needed to hunt more and bigger prey! It would take ages to get enough souls if he wanted to keep upgrading his equipment. He would need another hundred small souls if it took the same number of medium souls to make it a big soul. And this was only his bow! And this also meant that he needed other umon souls if he wanted to increase the rating. He could not fathom the number of souls he would need in the future... But it also meant infinite potential! Not only could he mix methods of enchantment! He could also add the effects of souls. And this didnt even ount for the stuff he would be able to do with ! He kept dreaming of the future for a little longer and then got back to work. He had not much time left and there was still a lot to do. 50 spears and 30 simple armor sets would be a crunch to make in just a week. Good thing he did not have to make the spear shafts himself! He had ordered 60 at a local carpenter. An extra 10 in case something went wrong. He never made spears before, so he was careful. Hee had talked with the lord about the spears and the spike he had seen on the market. The lord had exined, that these spears actually two tips. One was a leaf-shaped spear-tip and a spike to bnce it out. Seth liked the Idea and did exactly that. He made 50 spikes on the first day and 50 spear tips in the next two. The sockets off spear tips were harder than Seth had expected and cost him some time. He finished the 50 spears on the fourth day and reached lv.9 in cksmith! The cocoon had actually slept this whole time, except for putting it out in the sun for an hour a day. Seth actually didn''t know, that the little Ivicer had also spent some time observing him intensely working in the smithy. It was very impressed as it watched the metal changing its shape under the hits of his hammer as if it was y! It was an almost magical sight. Unknowingly the intimacy had climbed to 60% and the loyalty to 40%. It had taken a liking to him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Now Seth looked a little down. He had miscalcted the time he would need. His unnned trip into the basement and the days they spent at the dungeon had not really helped either. An encouraging feeling suddenly entered his mind and a golden ball fell out of the air in front of him. The small Ivicer actually tried to cheer him up. Seth smiled. At first, this connection had been a little strange, but he also took a liking to the fluff ball. Yeah, so what if he did not finish the armor in time? He had not really set a deadline for when the stuff should be finished. A big weight fell off his heart. He could just finish the armor setster and send them here via the church! At least that was his idea. He would have to talk it over with the lord. But the lord had been very amodating until now. The lord actually had a big smile, when he heard that Seth managed to finish the weapons in such a short time! And his face lit up even more when Seth told him that he had to leave soon, but promised to make the armor sets and send them overter! "That sounds like a good idea! Do not worry, the armors of our guards will still hold for some time, the weapons were the important ones! I cant thank you enough, please travel with a clear conscience!", the lord assured. Finally, this cksmith left! The food expenses had shot into the sky since Seth stayed at the pce. It was a heaven send news, that Seth would leave and make the armor sets somewhere else and stop emptying their pantries! After he settled the matter with the Lord, Seth felt a lot more rxed. Fin had been very bored in thest week, but she still preferred this, to dealing with her people and duties! She happily flew around Seth when he found her in the pce gardens. It was a lot earlier than when he normally stopped working. Seth told her what he had decided and spoken over with the Lord. And Fin was d he had not forgotten their deadline! Seth decision meant they would be able to set off soon. Fin had already taken care of their traveling preparations "There is still one thing we need to do, though.", Seth said ominously. "What?", fin asked interested. She hoped it was something fun and not Seth locking himself in the armory again to make an item! "Get the rest of my payment, of course!" The fairy had a bright smile. Something fun! The guild still had not made a decision concerning the dungeon under the pce and no adventurers were allowed to go there. Was it illegal to enter the basement dungeon? Maybe. But Seth still had the keys! So, technically, who could stop him? One fairy and a cksmith simply passed through the servant quarters as if they owned the ce. The ce was a lot livelier without some evil creature feeding the people to a dungeon! The party came before the basement door. There were no guards or anything. Seth simply unlocked the door as if it was his home and they entered the basement. Nothing really had changed from the first time he entered. This meant the doors had actually regenerated since then! Maybe the traps, too? Seth would dly take on another donation of material from the dungeon! Fins light easily illuminated the long corridor with many doors before them. "So, this was your first dungeon?", Fin looked around interestedly. Since dungeons could grow literally everywhere most of them were quite unique. Seth had told her what had happened before. The first few rooms they checked were the same as the ones Seth found the first time. Rotten food, old furniture. The rooms with the broken weapon were empty. These were probably the rooms of the original basement. As they went on, there was a distinct difference between Seths first experience and now. The path was a lot shorter. There was no almost unending hallway with doors that turned into an earthen tunnel at some point. There were a lot fewer doors, the rooms were empty and there were also no traps. That had all been the doing of the dungeon! As it was dormant now, they had no problems at all and soon stepped into what had been the boss room. The wide earthen cave with roots hanging from the low ceiling was still the same. In the middle was a small pale glowing bead, the dungeon core. The corpses had vanished, the dungeon master had vanished. There were also no old weapons. It waspletely empty, except for the dungeon core. "What now? We found neither the weapons nor the money Rusn supposedly might have hidden here.", Seth spoke out his thoughts. "haha, do not worry! Leave it to Fin!" The little fairy flew towards the dungeon core and... struck it. Then it put one arm around it and poked it with a finger. "Listen here, ya lil shit! We cleared this dungeon fair n square. You OWE us. You better rake over the dungeon reward we deserve. You dont wanna know what I will do to ya, if ya dont. You heard me, right?" Was she...mugging the dungeon core? Would this even- "Last warning!" With a bright light, several wooden boxes and a small chest appeared around the dungeon core. "There we go! Wasnt that hard, right?" There were 8 boxes filled to the brim with old, but intact weapons, 3 boxes of armor, and 45 gold in the small chest. The two stashed away their rich booty and ran off, leaving the broke dungeon core behind. Chapter 68 - 68. A Good Read "Oh! Seth! There you are!", a haughty voice with a tint of friendliness called out as they returned to the pce. It was the diabolical looking, but not so evil wizard Megito! "I have what you asked me for! I already had it thest time I visited, but you were on your little excursion- I mean dungeon dive." Some weeks ago, Seth had asked the wizard who kept traveling between Oriekot and Zhiqe to try and buy him a skill book for the skill Ikram had mentioned. With this, he would finally be able to read the books in the library. This was also an investment for the future. If Seth was to interact with people and customers that came through the Pathwork, he needed to be able to read foreign written words! Even within Urth, there were differentnguages and alphabets in use! A modern world had no unified alphabet, what would the cultures from more medieval or savage worlds look like? In his hand appeared a scroll with a weak yellow glow. Seths face lit up while Fin looked questioningly at his joyful expression. They entered his room and sat down around a table. "Is this?" Seth wanted to grab the scroll the wizard had put on the table, but Megito pulled the scroll away from Seth''s grubby hands and gestured with his empty hand. "Yes, it is the skill book to learn . You owe me 47 gold." Seth sighed. The wizard was friendlier than he looked, but he still knew his priorities. He counted the gold coins and put them piece by piece onto the table between them. Only after he was done did the other handed over the scroll. ? Y/N> Of course, he epted it. He had waited several weeks for this. Now, he only had a few days left to scour the library for information. He felt a small headache after confirming his decision and the skill appeared in his skill window. Automatically trantes allmonly spoken and writtennguages presently registered by the system.> Seth was a little flustered reading this exnation. Wasnt the system already tranting spoken words? When Seth asked fin about this, he found out, that this only happened for foreign visitors. Natives kept theirnguage barriers, only by traveling through the Pathwork were you installed with the trantion software for the world you traveled to. Upon Seths argument, that this seemed really random, Fin only nodded and told that this how it was. It also did not work for entities not registered as yers by the system. Seth didn''t feel like thinking much more about this, he now had the solution. Who cared about the specifics of the problem? He thanked the sinister wizard for his kind help and Megito left their room. Fin and Seth decided to depart on the day after tomorrow with a merchant ship that would travel down the river. Not as guards, but as passengers! The ship had its own adventurer team from Oriekot guarding the journey. The tickets were not cheap with a price of 2 gold, despite the ship being empty. The vessel originally transported important supplies to Zhiqe. The costly price was thanks to the team of high-level adventurers hired for protection. Their work did not be cheaper on the way back. Zhiqe had no wares worth trading in Oriekot, so the merchants brought in passengers as a way to cover the costs. Although pricey, it meant they could rx on this journey. Others would take care of the troubles that came up along the way! Seth spent the time until the day of departure in the library. To his dismay, the book Ikram had told him about, gave him little of the information he was looking for. But it gave him some insight into the structure of sses! The system had given him a rough overview of what was important to him at the start, nothing more. The book listed all sses frommon to epic. The higher the rating, the more skills the ss offered and required. An interesting thing he noticed after skimming through the book for a while was that many umon or rare sses were specializations ofmon sses! Many sses had requirements that mentioned other sses and their skills. A Fighter could specialize and be an umon Swordsman and if he had a talent for magic be a rare magic swordsman. Under the right condition, a Swordsman or a Fighter can also be a Knight and rank up to Pdin. The structures of these regr sses did not seem too rigid leaving even people with amon ss many opportunities to attain greatness! Seth had some conjectures after reading the book for some time. the higher the sses rating the more special were the requirements to get it. He knew this because the book mentioned it as an intro to the few epic sses it listed. There was little known about the requirements of most epic sses, as the circumstances of people varied greatly. There was almost nothing known when it came to legendary or mythical sses. They existed, but no information was disclosed. The most interesting to Seth was the exnation of unique sses, obviously. They were special. In general, they were an amalgamation of skills someone amassed separate from their ss and incorporated them into his ss, in a way that the system acknowledged as its own ss. But this also meant that unique sses were not guaranteed to be overwhelmingly strong. Not like epic or above-rated sses were. To be the originator of a unique ss one needed to be a genius or a nutcase of the century. Seth thought of the berserker fairy he left behind in his room. Genius...? Nutcase of a century, yeah. He also found that most sses worked on the same structure. All sses had primary skills that had more ranks and greater growth potential. One ss primary skill could also be a secondary skill of another ss, this created the conundrum that 2 people with different sses but the same skill on the same rank, could have a vastly different performance. If Sethpared this to himself, this meant was a secondary skill, that''s why it was missing the apprentice-rank. So, if he met a Martial Artist who had it as a primary skill, Seth would be weaker, despite the skill having the same rank! The same counted for any fighter-ss with a specific mastery skill. This was almost like a trap set by the system for people to feel overconfident in their skills! Based on the primary skills, sses had dependent skills. Looking at his own skill, it was skills like or . Their rank rose with , but their level is independent. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om He finally put the book down, that was all he could infer based on his own skills and the superficial descriptions in the book. He looked at the rows of books on the shelves.. He still had time; it could not hurt to read a little more. Chapter 69 - 69. River Tour Seth spent the time until their departure collecting information on the continent. He had roughly known the character of this ce after he had talked with Simon, the priest from Starta. However, the church did not give him a lot of info upfront. After reading and skimming through a bunch of books in the library he had a better idea of the ce he had entered. The books helped him to fill his with names. The world was called Namia and as Cerno Bolk, the Ivicer had told him, roughly 500 years it was almost destroyed by a war between the gods. That was when the system intervened and the Chrona Empire entered the world. The small continent he was currently on was one of three and was called Chrona, after the empire it belonged to. The other two continents a mess split between local factions and people from the Pathwork. Chrona was a giantndmass spawned from the volcanic mountain range spanning from the northwest to the southeast, effectively splitting the continent. The dwarves and humans shared the continent, while the former preferred to stay along the mountains and within their subterranean cities. Ora was one of three big dwarven cities on the surface at the foot of the mountain range. The desert to the south of the continent was their current position. The linear distance between where Seth and Fin hadnded and Ora was almost negligible if one ignored the giant mountain range in-between. The Airship they would take in Oriekot would need to circumvent the mountains by flying along the shores. There was also a big ind to the east called Quendel, which was the territory of the elves. Seth had originally nned to travel there after he was done in Ora. Obviously, if you enter a fantasy world, you would also want to see the beautiful elves, right? And they might have special materials or enchantments Seth could acquire. Now that their journey was close to being back on track, Seth could finally think of his original ns again! First, they would get to Ora. And once he had sucked the city dry and grinded out everything he could, he could go and visit the elves. And then return home. After reading the stories of Namia`s entrance into the system, he was sure that there had to be groups of surviving and whole cities who managed to cope with the situation. As magical as the territories of the Chrona Empire were, nothing beats being a rich weapons trader,zing around in afy modern home, and ying video games! In the best-case scenario, he could even get Fin to stay with him and y coop-games. The small Ivicer gave him a mental nudge. How dare he exclude it from his future dreams! In the past few days, the small guy and Seth had hit it off well. They kept sitting in the sunny library and Seth told it more about the continent and his own world. It had inherited its racial memories, but this did not mean it was not eager to learn more. It listened to Seth with great interested, when he told it about mega cities with millions of citizens, devises to drives around in with high speeds and building so high they touch the clouds. The loyalty had increased to 50% and their intimacy reached 70%, they had be good friends. Fin was a little jealous of the time they spent together, but she found the library to be a terribly boring ce. Another gain from all the reading was, that his INT finally increased to 20! He had not many skills that actually needed Mana, but it did not hurt to have more! The only difference he felt from the increase of intelligence attribute, was that he could memorize more information faster, than before the system. "Seth! We have to go!", Fin flew into the library. All their things were packed and stored away in their inventories. They just needed to farewell to the Lord and Ikram. They also make a stop at the guild, where they met not only Asso but to their surprise Yudrid, too! They said farewell to Olivia, Mary, the lizardman, and the dwarf and went off to the harbor. The active harbor was close to themercial district opposite from the side of the old district. Here the wall of the city was in better shape and the portcullises were intact! This was the ce the river exited the town. Their ride was the only big ship tied to the quay wall. Its nks were covered in steel tes that protected the wood from the smaller monster of the marsnd. The vessel was wide with little draft, so it could travel through shallow waters. They were greeted by the happily smiling merchant. He was big man with a bushy ck mustache and wore robes in light colors made of thin flowing cloth to stay cool in the marsnds hot and damp climate. After a warm wee he led the party on to the boat and showed them their cabin. On deck they met the adventurer party tasked with the protection of the vessel who introduced themselves as the B-Rank party "Star of the Desert". They were made up of 4 B-Ranks and their leader an A-Rank adventurer. This meant all of them had a higher level than Fin, with their leader beating her by almost 20 levels! Seth and Fin rxed a lot knowing this and if they really came across a problem these guys could not deal with, they were most likely doomed anyway. Soon the ship set off. Sin and Seth stayed on deck to watch es they passed the river gates of the city and finally left Zhiqe behind them. Down the river into the marsnds. These wends were just as, if not even more dangerous than those on their way here. When left the city behind the two magicians of the B-Rank party took action and cast a cognitive inhibition spell on the boat. Only a few beasts even reacted when they slowly passed them. It was unexpectedly nice to be able to travel along the river without fearing an attack. It felt more like a safari tour. The terribly giant hippo creatures, Magna Buzzy, they had met before reaching Zhiqe, were swimming in herds some distance away. They also saw the big versions of the tiny crocodiles. And the creature that had eaten the Magna Buzzy.... Lying in the sun on a dry hill sticking out from the surrounding swamps was a gigantic reptile. Not as big as the Titanoboa Matriarch, but easily overshadowing the juvenile. What he immediately thought of were the giant monitor lizard coined with the name of dragons. "Thats a swamp drake.", said someone from behind. The leader of the B-Rank party had approached them. It was a man in his early thirties. He had short blonde hair and wore tight-fitting leather armor. He had seen them stare at one of the most dangerous predators of this region and wanted to preemptively tell them. If one of them had used a skill like on this beast, it would easily kill them all. "A swamp drake? Is it a dragon race?" The leader leaned against the guard rail beside them and also looked into the distance at the giant lizard. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "No, they are apletely separate species. Within these wends, they could even beat most low-tier dragons. But they resemble ground dragons in appearance, that''s why they are named like that. The one over there is still young. When they reach adulthood, they can easily hunt the Magna Buzzi. And they never stop growing... So, dont mess with it." He left them a warning and returned to his party members.. The cksmith and the fairy returned to watching the scenery. Chapter 70 - 70.Oriekot They did well in trusting the B-Rank party. These people knew what they did and the journeymenced without any hups. The money for the ticket was well-spent. During this journey Fin and Seth could be mostly foundzing around either in their cabin or on deck. The little Ivicer especially enjoyed the time it could sun on the deck. Dont misunderstand, Seth also did something productive! Seth checked the contents of the weapon crates they had gotten from the dungeon. He had spent thest days of their stay in Zhiqe in the library and used it as a kind of vacation from grinding. Now he was bored and had time. In the dungeon, he had given them a cursory look but did not check them closer. The weapons were intact but very rusty and ill-maintained, the same went for the armor. When he started to melt the weapons down in their cabin, he stumbled upon an unexpected surprise! It was the Serpent Khopesh he had improvised in the dungeon! He had let go of it before he went up in mes. The dungeon must have collected it. The second thing he had not expected was an actual dungeon treasure! Seth had not been to any regr dungeon yet. His first one had just started growing and his second one was kept weak on purpose. Regr dungeons were a lot more like those in the novels he had read. They were supposed to be full of monsters, traps, and treasure chests! Those chests could anything from potions to equipment or even magical items. What Seth found in one of the crates was a ne. Durability: 20/20 1. HP-regen per minute +5 2. Night vision "Tis but a scratch!" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om You dont need light to find your way. You have a tenacious vitality. > It was nothing that gave a great boost in power, but it definitely didnt hurt. It even healed! He tried to scan it, but it did not work. He asked Fin about it and found out, that items from the dungeon fell under the category of magically enchanted. So, it was of no use to him, besides wearing it. On that note, he also found out that permanent enchantments like those on dungeon items were quite special. Permanent enchantments were often hard to aplish, no matter what kind of technique one talked about. It depended on the kind of magic, but the results of permanent effects were weak in general because they would use mana from the environment to function. To permanently impart strong effects onto an item an exceedingly high skill level was needed to use the required methods. This was why most enchanted types of equipment belonged to those powered by the user or could be recharged after a while. Those that recharged themself with natural mana were a low form of permanent enchantments. Most magical weapons made by wizards or enchanters actually needed a magician to recharge the spell. This system felt like the printer industry. You could get a cheap enchanted armor but needed toe back to recharge the ink every once in a while. His permanent enchantments might not necessarily strong in the beginning, but Seth liked the idea, that he would not need to pay someone to recharge his weapon or armor. They finally reached Oriekot after 4 days. Oriekot was situated close to the river delta where it entered the ocean. Their ship moored at the ind harbor at the entrance of the city. The differencepared to Zhiqe was unimaginable. The wall surrounding Oriekot was easily 15 meters high and snow-white like ivory. The only thing visible of the metropole were the high spires of the pce and noble district seen on a distant hill. These walls had not portcullis but giant flood gates made of massive steel and, just like the walls, they glowed with various magic sigils. There would be no beast breaking through these gates. The difference between their first impression of Zhiqe and Oriekot was like night and day. The harbor was busy with life. Ware came in and left. Everything was filled withborers, traders, crates, and bags. The traders in their fine and often colorful clothing stuck out of the crowd like a sore thumb. It reminded Seth of the masses of people in a modern metropole and all the motivation to leave the ship vanished. Who would voluntarily enter this chaos? A soothing warmth came from the cocoon in the pet space and calmed his mind. "Are you ok?", asked the little fairy and sat on his shoulder. "Sure", he said and meant it. The two had helped calm his mind. There was no need to panic just because of a crowd. With Fin on his shoulder, he got off the ship. They bid goodbye to the adventurer party and the merchant after getting general directions from them. From the info Fin had gathered, the airship would arrive in Oriekot in 2-4 days. Before then they needed to find thepany to buy tickets. The ind harbor was close to themercial district, where also the guild was located. Apanied by his two new friends, Seth lost some of the aversion he had developed forrge crowds. The surroundings also helped a lot. He felt like a young boy that had just entered a magical shopping alley. All kinds of shops and stalls disyed their colorful wares along the streets. Their noses were filled with the mouthwatering smells of dozens of food stalls that praising their products at the top of their voice. Skewered meats and vegetables, fried noodles all kinds of baked goods to go. Seth could not even identify some of the things the customers greedily took from the vendor''s hands! The stores to the sides ranged from normal ones like the bakeries, tailors, or shoemakers to the more fantastical ones such as alchemists, medicine, and potion shops. Weapon and armor shops became more numerous towards the guild. There were also book stores and stalls. Vendors on the street sold souvenirs and jewelry and as if the packed crowd of people was not lively enough, there were also all kinds of people selling live animals or even monsters as mounts and monster eggs for pets! And there was much more Seth did not see or recognize. He would have taken them days to thoroughly explore just this street! Not to mention the wholemercial district. The guild was situated close to a big za with a permanent market made of hundreds of stalls. Here vendors and Adventurer sold their belongings. Cheap weapons and armor for beginner or monster materials from theirst hunt. Fake essories mixed with real ones and watered-down potion among weak poisons. Seth led out a gasp of relief as they finally stepped out of the crowd in front of the adventurer guild. This ce was a little quieter, as adventurers only enter or left the giant guild headquarters. Even if the building in Zhiqe had been well maintained and on the height of its time, the one before them was another step up from there. The guild building towering over them was 5 or 6 stories high with many extravagant decorations and statues adorning the fa?ade. The guild had money and meant to show it to the people. Seth felt like he had stepped into and grand train station or an airport terminal. The entrance hall was wide and the opposite side was filled with counters and receptionists. And filled was the hall with rows of orderly lines of adventurers waiting for their turn with a receptionist. But it did not leave behind the traditional setup of a guild. There were a big restaurant and bar to the right of the entrance hall. To the left was a cafe with several open stories looking down to the entrance hall. Here adventurers could sit down and talk to a guild employee or among their party members. The floor was a dark-brown hardwood while the walls were either covered in a warm light brown wood paneling or painted in a decent crme-color. The wooden counter had brass ents and was reminiscent of old bank counters with metal grids between the receptionist and the customer. The only thing this ce and the branch in Zhiqe had inmon, were the uniforms of the receptionists. Seth lined up at a random line. The receptionists were good in their job, they handled the requests in a fast manner and the lines before them shrunk fast. Within 10 minutes they reached the counter. Thedy greeted them with a well-trained business smile. "How may I help you?" Chapter 71 - 71. Arrival "Hello! We just reached Oriekot and wanted to ask for the general information about inns, dungeons, and what else would be important to know." He put his adventurer card into the tray on the counter. She checked his information and was mildly surprised that he was an ori huma. A C-Rank human and a B-Rank fairy traveling together would be an odd pair anywhere else, but Oriekot was the hub of many races. C-Ranks were quitemon in Oriekot and B-Ranks were not rare, so their strength was no big thing, either. People like Seth were amon urrence so the guild actually had brochures for new or traveling adventurers to save time. The receptionist put a small booklet into the tray, together with Seth''s guild card while exining. "This is a brochure printed by the guild. It lists all the dungeon with their specific information you can find in Oriekot. There is also a list of Inns and shops the guild advocates to new adventurers and exnations to most public facilities in the city. Here you go!" with this, she spun the tray so Seth could pick up his things. "Is there anything else I can help you with?" Seth shook his head. "Great! Please have a good day. Next!" With the little booklet in his hand, Seth and Fin entered the caf to the left of the hall. Looking at the menu Seth was d he could actually read what was written here. Some of the things were definitely NOT safe for human consumption. He ordered 2 cocoa and started reading the brochure. First were the dungeons, Oriekot had 5. Two were caves outside the city. One had grown in the sewers, was this a kind of standard? The fourth was a portal leading to an alternate space located in the middle of a square in the city. Thest one was a tower dungeon. It had 5 stories above ground and an unknown number of basement floors with the level of monsters increasing the lower one got. The booklet mentioned several inns of ranging prices for any adventurer whether they were poor newbies or people ready to pay extra. They did not n to stay long so they chose a moderately priced in close to the guild. Well, it was moderately priced for Seth McMoneyBags. 10 silver a night was considered pricey even for a good C-Rank party. Other exnations concerned different shops where to find system institutions like the bank or the auctioneers. The booklet rmended the different shops for adventurers of different levels, but two names always mentioned were the Arcane Emporium and the Desert Dragon Pavillion when it came to weapons, equipment, or materials of any kind. Those had to be the big shots in this business. Seth wanted to visit at least these two before they left. The location of the airport, where the airship would dock was also mentioned in the booklet. It was not too far from themercial district so they could walk there today, after booking a room at the inn. The inn was quite luxurious and clean, but itcked a sympathetic figure like the hairy Harmond. The personnel was very polite and distant, it was not bad, but also not very noteworthy. After the days on the ship, Seth and Fin were happy, they could finally wash up in a bath again. Even fin had gotten used to having a private bath, after living in the pce for several weeks. Even the little fluffball liked floating in warm water! The little Ivicer had told them that he would probably be able to hatch in the next few days. Maybe they could finally see what a baby Ivicer looked like before they set off on the airship? After washing up, shaving, and donning a freshly washed set of travel clothing. The lord had been nice enough to lend him everyday clothing during their stay in Zhiqe. He had all his clothes washed before setting off. Looking clean and wealthy they set off to look for the airport. It was not hard to find. The airport was a big open field with a giant ramp and cranes to move goods onto an airship. After asking around a little in the vicinity they quickly found out what merchantpany was selling passenger tickets. But when they arrived there and stated their desires- "Im sorry, but we are fully booked. There are no free seats for the next airship." "What? How can this be? Look agaiN!", the tiny fairy swayed between panic and anger. "Ah! Errm, well, that is. its because there will be a big noble conference in Yisivi! Even themoner ces are booked!", looking at the angry fairy the clerk feared for his life. Even so, she looked small, she had the aura of a B-Rank adventurer, which was like a terrible wild beast to a normal person. Seth held the wild Fin back with his hand and gesture to her to let him resolve this. He said two words. "How much?" "Ah! No, you dont understand. We really-" "How much?" He leaned forward and looked the clerk deep in the eyes. The man shrunk back even more. Why was this calm gentleman almost scarier than that wild beast beside him?! "I think you misunderstand how important this journey is to us.", his finger drummed on the counter between them. Oriekot looked interesting, sure. But he didnt want to stay here for another 4 weeks. "How about go and get someone who can make an actual decision, hmm?", a stack of silver coins had appeared in his drumming hand and slowly pushed it towards the clerk. Fear is gone, once bribes were involved! "O-of course. I will immediately get you an appointment with Mr. Shiri! Right now!", after Seth raked over another small stack the clerk actually wrote down the current date into a book and went off to tell his boss that he had an appointment today. "See, as long as you throw money at people, they willply. It a lot more effective than violence." "Pleasee this way, Sir.", soon the clerk led them to the office of his boss. Mr.Shiri was one of the owners of the merchantpany and the one in charge of the air travel and logistics. He was the kind of character that perfectly fit the description of a businessman. "OH, I''m d to meet you, Mr-?", the other greeted Seth friendly. "Smith. Im also d we finally meet.", he implied having waited for the appointment. "Ah, yes. Mr. Smith. How may I help you?" At first Mr. Shiri also said that there were no open seats on the airship. Did it stop Seth? Nope. To cut a long story short, they got a cabin on the next ship for the price of 50 gold. Was it a lot of money? Sure. Was Seth poor? Not really. He could even pay in cash if he wanted to. But they decided to do it via the bank. The money would be transferred after Seth left with the airship. Seth McMoneyBags struck again and actually stole the ce of a member of lower royalty that would have boarded in one of theter stops. Not his fault, nobility was poorer than him. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth left the merchantpany with a big smile. It was actually quite nice to be rich and throw one''s weight around. With this everything important was settled and the next few days in Oriekot were pure vacation! Chapter 72 - 72. Oriekot So, what do you do first when you are on vacation in a foreign city? "" Food!"", Seth and Fin said in sync What followed was a crusade starting with the street vendors. They did not just eat until they were full. They ate and ate and ate to try every stall they could find. They became a notorious couple of food critics in record time. They had lived thest weeks in a pce. Their pte had gotten used to high-quality cuisine. As such, they showed no mercy whenmenting on the food stalls'' products. People even stopped walking to watch them as if they were street performers. Despite eating like ck holes and trying tens of different stalls, it barely made even a dent into Seths finances. The food at the stalls seldomly cost much more than 20 bronze coins. After they felt like the body circumference had doubled, they finally stopped. The stalls fought dirty and defeated them with their overwhelming numbers! Fin could not fly anymore and used his pocket to rest in defeat. Seth on the other hand felt like a balloon. He really needed a ce to sit down and found an empty bench in a park between themercial district and the more sophisticated residential area. The weather was nice, the temperature wasfortable and the sound of wind in the trees leaves slowly made him fall asleep. A short nap could not hurt. "Sir, Its not permitted for homeless people to sleep in this park.", a rude voice woke him up. "Home- Homeless?! Do I look like a homeless person?!" "You are sleeping half-naked on a bench in a park.", the guard standing before him said emotionless. "What?! Oh no! Who steals clothes from a sleeping person!?", he jumped up and looked around. His ne, mantle, pants, and shoes were really missing! The guard just merely looked at him askant. "oh, just you wait!", he equipped his armor and looked at the map. One of the map functions that came after he leveled it up, was seeing his party member''s position. They just never needed it, since Fin was beside him most of the time. Seth ran off, leaving a perplexed guard behind. In his perspective, a random homeless person just jumped up, wore a good set of armor, and ran off into the night. Not the weirdest thing he ever experienced, but still... When Seth arrived at the position where Fin was supposed to be, he found her sitting on a bloody pulp. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Fin had woken up when the evil kidnapper ran off with the maiden, her, in his clutches. Of course, THIS innocent, young, cute, and fascinating maiden with impable charm and manners gave him what anyone stealing a breathtaking and innocent maiden deserves. A good beating until he was close to death''s doors, by the said maiden. Seth was a little baffled as this situation somewhat took the wind out of his sails. He was angry, but the thief already looked, like he would have preferred to die than to stay alive in this situation. Judging by what was left of his face he had been a handsome young man. A shame. He just awkwardly picked his things up, but when he wanted to search the thief- "Fin has already taken all his valuables. We should leave now!", she said with a brilliant smile. Hearing her voice made the disfigured thief whimper in fear. Yeah, Seth reminded himself to never anger the little fairy brute. They left the almost dead thief behind and returned to the inn to wash up and rest for the night. On the next day, they went off to explore the shopping district. Seth wanted to visit the Arcane Emporium and this Desert Dragon Pavilion and maybe take a look at the market and other shops. Thinking of the characteristic''s soul armaments described in the skill description, Seth had an inkling as to what enchantments he wanted to look out for. The cruise with the airship would take several weeks and he wanted to use the time on the ship effectively! Seth nned to prepare as many enchantments to practice with as he could beforehand. Their first stop was the Arcane Emporium. This ce also had weapons and armor, but less of the kind the cksmith was interested in. The emporium was more specialized in materials and the devices or equipment made by wizards. Seth came here to get rid of all the alchemy materials he had no use for, like the snake organs and the bone powder looted from the skeletons in the caves. There were no shops in Zhiqe he could sell them to. They followed the directions in the booklet and found the Arcane Emporium after wandering around a little. It was a big and imposing building on the main street lined with other expensive shops. Looking around it came as a surprise that the Red Dragon Pavillion was on the other side of the street, directly opposite of the Arcane Emporium! One had a roof with blue shining shingles and was covered with green jade-like ones. Was there a small rivalry here, maybe? Seth shrugged, at least the way between them was short! He entered the Emporium and was overwhelmed by the interior. Behind thevish door spread a wide selling floor. The walls were filled with drawers while the room had many shelves and vitrines showcasing everything from equipment like weapons or jewelry to materials or trophies. This ce was in no inferior to the guild when it came to the quality of the interior design. Everything sparkled with a magical sheen that stopped people from randomly touching the products. And people there were. Even the wide first floor was well visited. Some wealthier-looking customers could be seen climbing the stair to the next floor. Seth took a look at the equipment but found nothing new. They ranged between a fewmon and many umon items. Most of them were made of and a few were . The weapons made of monster parts were interesting, but there was nothing past umon. Many weapons had magical effects, but not the kind he could scan. The shop did not disy any raw materials. It worked on the basis after knowing what you want and asking for it. The clerk would get it if they had it in stock. The main reason he came here was Dimmer Salts. It was a mineral that was supposed to resemble salt bit it had a light gray to a ck color and was needed to create . Seth might be unable to forge rare materials, but he could smelt them! He was sure making rare materials would help his to level up! His time in the library was also not for naught. The librarycked specific literature, but he had found a clue to a material that could solve his little equipment problem. Having his clothes or equipment be damaged or melt when excessively used his was a real pain. Seth looked for either an enchantment to make things fire-resistant or material that was naturally fire-resistant. Obviously, materials like the leather or scales of dragons came to mind. Dont make meugh. There was no way to get his hand on stuff like that. The next best option if you ignored high-level monsters spending their life in magma, was the rare material called fire ss. It was a kind of volcanic ss and got its name because of its red transparent color like a clear rubys. Rumors called it the crystalized blood of fire elementals. Finally, Seth with Fin sitting on his shoulder stepped towards the long counter manned by many clerks with a professional smile. Chapter 73 - 73. The Arcane Emporium "Hello Sir, how may I help you?", Seth was greeted as he stepped to the counter. First, a little test. Seth wanted to see whether these people were really professionals or would act arrogantly? He put a small portion of bone powder into a small bowl on the counter. He had almost two full stacks of this stuff and one unit was 100g, so he had almost 20kg of bone powder, amon ingredient for many magical professions. It was neither expensive nor rare, but it did not matter. Seth just wanted to see the clerk''s reaction. But there was nothing unprofessional, he did neither flinch nor twitch. His expression was friendly as ever as he took the bowl and started analyzing the bone powder. There were differences even in something so simple and cheap as bone powder. Did ite from a fresh skeleton or an old corpse? Was it a monster? Was it in or outside a dungeon? After answering some questions, the clerk offered 10 silver per kg. It was the first time the clerk lost hisposure when Seth continued to bring out 20kg. Like this, he added another two gold to his stash. This also convinced him of the quality of the service here. Not even once did the employee seem anything other than perfectly professional. He the price was also fair. Next, he brought out the various parts of the juvenile he had no use for. Yudrid had written down all the prices of the different organs he should be able to get and the clerk quoted them 1:1 as if he too had read that list! Seth had actually looked forward to being able to haggle a little, but the store paid all the money he wanted even without him asking for it. Fin happily watched Seth making money, while the Ivicer in the pet space found this rather boring. Having sold all the parts of the juvenile he wanted to sell; he was able to store another 15 gold coins. "Is there anything else, Sir?" They had easily spent half an hour on this counter, but the employees were still as courteous as ever. "Since we are done with the pesky ordeal of selling. I want to buy. Do you have Dimmer Salts?" The other affirmed and left to get the material. He came back with a bowl of translucent crystals ranging from a gray to almost ck color. These crystals could be ground into the salt he needed to make . As an umon material, they were not too expensive and Seth got twenty crystals for 5 gold. "Alright. Im also looking for fire ss. Do you have this, too?" "Wares of this rank or higher can only be found from the second floor upwards. Im sorry but entry to these floors is exclusive to special clientele-" "How much?" "Ah- Dear customer I didnt mean-" "Oh please, when you say "special clientele" don''t you just mean people who dont have to ask about the price when buying stuff up there?" Seth pulled out the VIP-crystal card from the system bank and the employee''s eyes widened. This was a guarantee that he had at least several hundred golds in his ount. "This should be enough to guarantee that I can afford to go up there, yes?" N?v(el)B\\jnn The employee nodded hurriedly and led them up the stairs to the second floor. This floor was smaller, but it held a lot more value. The distribution was simr to the previous floor, just increased by a rank. Everything Seth could appraise was at least umon with most of it being ranked rare! Unfortunately, just like the first floor, the equipment was of no use to Seth. At least he could not gain any enchantments here. But he good a few new entries in his material catalog. One armor was made of a mix of dark iron and a bright blue stone that resembled ice. There were also armors made of things like and other materials from monsters. These were not necessarily of interest to Seth, as these things were scarce. It was not useful if he wanted to grind and hard to get if he wanted to use it to make his own items. Metals were of greater interest to him. Seth''s window-shopping was interrupted by the employee bringing a giant chunk of red crystal from one of the drawers on the wall. It was thicker than Seths thigh and as long as his arm. The employee was visibly troubled lifting it! Oh yes, this was it! Even ss the color really was up to his taste with its mboyant red, Seth really looked forward to what effects an armor made from this would have! "I take it!" "Oh my god! What a cool stone! I want it!", a young man maybe 14 or 15 years old called out from the other side of the room and pointed at Seths fire ss. He ignored the snotty brat and waited for the employee to release the theft protection. He gave the employee price of 40 gold coins and stored the material in his inventory! "Imho! Did you already sell the fire ss?!", a strict looking man in a stiff robe entered the scene. Behind him stood the little brat from earlier. "I knew it", Seth thought with a satisfied smile on his face. The deal was done, the material in his inventory and he would definitely not take it out again. "Manager?! Yes! Yes, I just sold it.", he said with a business smile. The young man looked shocked at Imho and the manager had aplicated expression. "But, but! I want that crystal for my room! Give it to me!", he said and turned to Seth. Fin balled her tiny fists and was about to say something, but Seth simply ignored the whole situation and turned to leave. "Customer, please wai-" "No!", it was Fin denying the manager''s call, Seth just ignored them and left. The brat on the other side widened his eyes when he spotted Fin on his shoulder and ran after them. His Uncle followed. "I want the fairy! Uncle, get me a fairy, too!" Fin on his shoulder froze and the Managers face fell. He roughly grabbed the teenager and covered his mouth. He held him despite his struggle. "Hes just a kid! He doesnt know what hes saying! Please forgive him!", he rapidly spoke in a panic. What was going on suddenly? Looking to his shoulder he saw Fin giving them a deadly re. "Go away, dont let me see your face again.", she said in an ice-cold voice. The manager bowed deeply, pressing the brat''s head down in the same position. They returned to the shop holding their heads low. "What was that?", Seth asked once the two were out of sight. "Fin has no idea what you mean~", she said with an innocent smile. Did he just imagine her expression just now? Yeah, lets not displease the person who almost beat someone to deathst night. They crossed the street and entered the Desert Dragon Pavilion. The interior was very different from the Emporium. The floors were tiled with smooth gray stone. Cream-colored walls with calligraphy-scrolls and wooden beams and pirscquered bright red. The selling floor was filled with Weapon and armor racks and a giant shelf with pills and potions towered behind the counter. Here too, was everything covered in anti-theft magic. The interior did not look any less exquisite than the Arcane Emporiums, but it had a distinctly different style. The first floor had many items umon items, but alsomon equipment of good quality. Everything had a handwritten price tag. This was a ce people with a smaller wallet coulde to without being embarrassed for asking a price and not being able to pay it. The Pavilion had the same practice of keeping the more expensive thing on higher floors, as Seth could see some wealthier looking customer entering a staircase. At first nce, it looked a lot morefortable to Seth. Chapter 74 - 74. Desert Dragon Pavilion The Desert Dragon Pavilion had a lot more items created by crafting sses. Lavishly engraved and enchanted armors, weapons, and essories were disyed in the store. Despite the rating being lower on average, the things looked a lot more expensive because of the difference in craftsmanship. It was almost a shame that a talented enchanter could take a mediocre armor and take the same price after performing some magic on it as a talented smith who spends an hour on engraving or iys to give his products a simr effect. Maybe it was just his bias as a cksmith, though. The first floor held no surprises when it came to materials, just like in the Emporium. The real gain here was the knowledge he found about enchantments. From what he read in the library he knew that enchantments could be roughly split into 3 categories which were the basic or simple circuits, the moreplex ones, and then there were formations. He found many simple circuits on the first floor. Weapons that would strengthen themselves or the wearer or gain rudimentary elemental damage when supplied with magic. Like their name "circuits" implied these engravings or iys looked like the artistic version of a circuit board. They were not strictly geometrical patterns like in modern technology, but also served a decorative purpose. Their performance depended on the materials used and the execution of the skill. Their description was something like this: < Bow of Ice Common Damage. 80 Durability 150 1. Deal 5 additional ice-damage. Mana Cost: 10/minute A normal wooden bow, roughly enchanted.> One could see that the enchantment was done by an experienced engraver, definitely better than his own first try. The simple enchantments on armors could be summarized as strengthening the item or the wearer by either increasing defense, attribute or resistances. Once Seth was sure which enchantments he wanted, he stepped up to the counter. The smile of the clerk was so simr to the one from the Arcane Emporium, that it was almost scary! Especially since they were people that could not be more different. While the clerk in the Emporium resembled a prim and proper servant, this guy had more of a fighter vibe with his wild hair and robes resembling those of the Gedi from Star Battles. "Hello Sir, how may I help you?", even the greeting was the SAME! The others business-like smile turned into a mischievous one as he read Seths reaction. "Customer must have visited the Arcane Emporium before? Im just imitating their stuck-up behavior for fun. Im sorry if I this made you feel ufortable. Is this better?" His demeanorpletely changed and he started in a familiar less formal way. Seth liked this more friendly way of speaking and nodded. "Well then, how may I help you today?" Seth listed the items he wanted to buy and the clerk''s eyes opened wide. Seth had listed almost twenty different weapons, pieces of armor, and essories. All of it easily added up to roughly 40 gold. This was no small amount pay on just the first floor. After such a huge purchase there was no problem with Seth entering the second floor filled with umon and rare equipment. The things up here were of simr quality to the ones on the second floor of the Arcane Emporium. He found some more interesting materials here. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om There was a robe made of thin and flowing silk. It was almost see-through and the clerk told him the cloth was as strong as steel! But it was not the main feature. The robe had the effect to harden on impact and block attack like te armor. The clerk exined that this was not the effect of enchantment, but a perk of the racial weaving skill of the Arachne Weavers. No one could copy this skill! There was also an armor made of titanium? Well, not the one Seth knew. Seth could guess what the description meant from seeing the armor. it had some unique effects like a huge increase in strength and affinity with the earth element. It even gave the option to increase the wearer''s size for a short amount of time. THIS was what Seth called magic. Among these armors, he found some more examples ofplex circuits. They were a lot more winding and maze-like than the simple ones. It was hard to follow their flow like Celtic knots or tribal patterns. These looked also a lot more like decorative engravings or etchings Seth had imagined. Their effects were a lot more varied and abstract. They could not only affect their immediate surrounding but inflict status anomalies like poison, paralyze or fear. He also found mana drain and life steal! A big difference to the simple ones was also that some of these were suitable for magicians and permanent effects. For example: There were also anti-magician items with effects like silence, noise, dispel, reflect, and some rare ones that could do damage to attributes like intelligence. Most things on this floor ranged from around 10 up to over 100 gold. Seth only chose a few smaller things. After all, he didn''t need the items themselves, only the patterns for the enchantments. 3 daggers, one with poison, one with health, and thest with mana drain. A ring that increased mana by a fixed amount and a small wand that increased mana in percentage. A shield that could reflect the magic and a helmet that slightly increased endurance and could change its size to fit the wearer. Thest one actually had a mix of simple andplex enchantments. Everything together he paid another 65 gold. The clerk was puzzled with Seths choice of items, but it also was not his business what the customers bought. What he did not get to see were formations, but he did not really expect it either. He might have been able to find some on the third floor, but he was satisfied with what he got today. He could not even work with rare materials yet and had spent a lot of money on things he could only use in the future. Seth confronted the vast possibilities of enchantments today and actually feared how many more possibilities there came on the higher levels! He preferred the bliss of ignorance in this matter and decided to leave the Desert Dragon Pavillion for good. "Ah! Before I leave, do you have any umon or rare-rated wood?" It came out that higher rated wood was actually quite scarce! Since these materials would need to be harvested from either very special nts and trees or nt-based monsters. Seth realized how lucky he had been when he got the wood of the hunter vine! It didnt mean they had none in the Pavillion. They had two kinds of special wood in store. Seth would have probably been able to find a greater variety at the Emporium, but the situation there had turned annoying and he forgot to ask. The materials the clerk brought out were and The first was an umon wood harvested from trees that grew further ind at the slopes of the great mountain range and got its name from its hardness. It was hard to log these trees, so the supply was limited. got its name because it resembled the coal the dwarfs mined. It had a dark grey to a ck color and a dull shine to it. It was rated rare and came from the roots of a kind of vine that grew in caves. There was only a piece of each and they were barely big enough for Seths purposes. Seth purchased both for 10 gold and put them away in his inventory. This was all Seth needed, for now, so they decided to leave. At the door, they were passed by two soldiers carrying a young man on a stretcher. Fins and Seths gaze fell on the barely recognizable face of the man on the stretcher. He might have been quite handsome before someone decided to rearrange his face and rip out much of his straight light-brown hair. Didnt they see him somewhere before? As they stepped out on the street- "My son! Oh, my poor son! Who did this to you!?", they heard a wail from inside the pavilion. They looked back into the shop. To the side, where a door for employees led deeper into the shop stood two city guards with a terribly battered young man on a stretcher. Kneeling beside the stretcher was a middle-aged man with a thin long mustache and his hair bound in a bun. He wore the high-quality version of the clerk''s robe. The manager? Finally, they remembered where they had seen that young man before. Seth looked at Fin with widened eyes and spoke with looks. Another? No. The first! Fin had taught the scions of both, the Arcane Emporium and the Desert Dragon Pavilion, a lesson! The brute in question just shrugged her shoulders apologetically. They hurriedly left the shop. Although, it was unsure whether the managers son ever regained consciousness. If he did, they didn''t want to be there to be recognized! The two still spent some time visiting other shops where Seth bought cheaper more normal materials he needed in the future. It was gettingte and tomorrow was the day of departure.. Seth made another tour through the restaurants of the city before finally returning to the inn. Chapter 75 - 75. Rank Up It was a bright day and they could see the sea off in the distance from the terminal of the airport. The ship had arrived this morning and was now ready for departure. Seth wore his fresh traveling clothes and a sparkling clean Fin sat flew around him with a haughty look on her face. They were about to board the airship as VIP with their ticket to a noble cabin! Even the small Ivicer was excited about flying in the sky. The airship really looked like a zeppelin, but only in form. The lower half was made of wood and metal while the upper half looked like a ss dome made of steel a ss. When they boarded Seth found out that this was wrong! It was not ss; it was a barrier with several segments. One of the segments opened for them to enter. The deck of the ship was a wide, open space with all kinds of recreational activities, a restaurant, and a caf. There was even a pool! It was like a cruise. The cabins were below deck; their VIP cabin was quite big andvishly decorated. It was in no way inferior to their hotel room in Oriekot. Also below deck was a casino and a big dining hall with a stage where music was yed during the meal times and parties in the evenings. They could also order food to be brought to their cabin! This cruise would follow the coastline of the Namia continent and had no stops until they left the desert and the mountain range behind them. Past the mountain, it would turn ind. The biome east of the mountain range was a moderate climate with mixed forests. Most of the rich countries and bigger cities of this continent were located here and the cruise would have many more stops. One of these Stops would be Ora, where they would leave the ship. This journey meant to be trapped for several weeks on a flying ship with nothing to do but to grind, eat andze around. It was heaven! Knowing they were among other rich people made the other passengers a lot more friendly and Seth got along well with all the nobles and wealthy merchants. It took a few days ofzing around at the pool, eating good food, and winning some money in the casino to recharge Seth''s batteries. He finally had the motivation to start grinding for real. The items he had bought in Oriekot had long been scanned and just waited to be tested. The smithy was summoned, his mind ready and just as he wanted to start, he heard a happy twitter in his mind. It was the baby Ivicer! The fluffy cocoon had also enjoyed thest few days on the airship. It loved looking down on the desert and enjoying the sun this high up in the sky. They had almost forgotten, that the cocoon was actual still something like an unborn baby! Now was the moment the little one wanted to hatch! Excitedly Seth ran up to the deck to get Fin whozing around on the side of the pool on a deckchair and was leisurely eating a sundae! "its happening!" "what? Werent you about start forging?" "The little Ivicer is about to hatch! Come if you want to watch!" With that, the two sprinted back to their cabin where the golden cocoon was silently lying on the bed. ~Can I start now? ~ it asked the two via telepathy. It''s the ability to talk through the mind had be a lot stronger recently. Their rtionship had also seen solid growth and they had be good friends. They heard the sound of something nibbling and saw a small bulge on the golden cocoon. Bite by bite the small hole in the cocoon opened and started growing. Seths and the fairys eyes started sparkling as the Ivicer slowly revealed its appearance to the world. How could something that would be and fearsome creature like Cerno Bolk be this cute as a baby!? Kyuu~ ~ Bow to my might for I have blessed you with my presence! ~ What left the cocoon was a snow-white caterpir with a round golden head and 3 pairs of big sky-blue eyes! It was about the length of Seths forearm. Its fluffy, puffy, chubby, and soft bodypletelycked any resemnce to an adult Ivicer that gave one the impression of sharp ceramics! Kyuuu~! ~ S-Stop looking at me like this! Its creepy! ~ The whined being stared down by the other two. "Fin first!", she suddenly screamed and jumped at the new-born caterpir that was still several times bigger than her, giving it a full-body hug! "No fair!", he said a pulled both of them into his hug. The little Ivicer was too flustered to react, as Seth enjoyed hugging its soft and fluffy body. Kyu-Kyuu~ ~ Stop! Get away from the great me! Im not a tooy! ~ They spend some time having fun with the new member of their party until it stopped acting haughty with them. The next thing that happened was that Fin used the moment when Seth was careless and kidnapped the caterpir; running off to the pool with it. Seth didnt follow them. He had nned to do something before this, so he used this chance to do it. The very first thing he wanted to was to finally craft was ! But! He could not. The hammer had no fixed material. It was a growth item, but it would start out with the rating of the material it was made of! Seth was so close to the rank up in . He was sure he could make from as long as he reached ! And that was the reason why he started off by making polearms! Why polearms? He would gain lots of experience for less work, that''s why. He had not made any polearms before because he hadcked the wood. Now he had 3 stacks in his inventory. Almost 300 ready-made shafts for polearms bought in Zhiqe. Although the wood wasmon, the would be more than enough to make the results umon! Different kinds of Spears, Halberds, ives, War hammers, but the one he liked the most of was the poleaxe. It had a spike, a hammer, and an ax de. It also gave heaps of experience. They were all part of the basic blueprints he had been given at the start and he followed the same pattern as before. Every time when he started making a new weapon, he would make one or two prototypes with the help of and then go over to make a whole lot in free creation. The experience he gained on for the umon weapons he had never made before ranged between 0,5-1%! Seth spent the next two weeks making all kinds of polearms. He would work all day, except when he went to eat, sleep or have fun with Fin and the little Ivicer. In the end, he had made a little over 150 weapons before finally! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Seth felt relieved. The past two weeks had actually been quite rxed, but Seth was still happy! He immediately pulled out a bar of and put it in the forge. THIS had been the whole reason for thest two weeks. He pulled the glowing hot metal from the forge and put it on the anvil. He swung his hammer and- nothing. The hammer smoothly hit the metal and made a dent into a malleable material! No message that his skill was too low! It had worked! Now he could finally work with rare material and make from . He had already used the Dimmer Salts to turn the 3 ck iron ores into dark steel ingots. His fire maniption had actually leveled up to lv.9 from this. It waste today, so he would make the hammer tomorrow. Seth stepped out on the deck and the cool evening air blew through his sweaty clothes. No matter how often he saw it, the scenery was really breathtaking. The airship was currently nearing the mountain range and thendscape below then had turned from a pure sand desert into a rock desert with many interesting rock formations that threw long and bizarre shadows in the red light of the sunset. And above then on a purplish-blue sky, the stars and moons slowly came into view. He found Fin and the little Ivicer sitting in the caf on the deck drinking hot cocoa and sat down at their table. "Seth! Are you finally done?", Fin asked joyfully. "Pff, done? My skill finally ranked up. Its only the start now!", heughed and ordered hot cocoa, too. They talked untilte into the night. The caterpir had lots of interesting stories to tell! Seth on the other hand had fun telling the two about TV-shows and game plots as if they were fairy tales.. In moments like these Seth got doubts about ever returning home. Chapter 76 - 76.Charon′s Obol It was finally time for Seth to make his own hammer. This was a step any cksmith would have to make, to really graduate from being a beginner. The process was like a ritual. In the case of Charons Obol, it really was ritual! The blueprint for this hammer was special. It was not an option he could just click and use to train the process of making a workpiece like the other blueprints. He could only use this once and it had no guiding function. It came with instructions for the assembly and sketched for the shape of the parts. It described a specific breathing technique that had to be used during the forging and the way other materials like souls or candles needed to be ced in a formation around the smithy. He had bought most of the stuff needed for the set-up in Oriekot the day before. Seth not only needed to prepare this set-up but had to maintain the correct breathing technique while forging the hammer in free creation. Oh yeah, and he had only one shot to get it right. Everything had to work first try because the blueprint would vanish afterward! He was d that he waited to do it until now. It was not just that his skill just ranked up, but also that he had gotten a lot morefortable to just do things in free creation. After making this many weapons in the recent weeks he felt like he was in the best condition he could be in to have only one attempt on this. Seth had prepared three ingots and he decided on the for the handle. The only ingredient he had that was not rare was the from the juvenile. He hoped it was enough to get a rare-rating from the start! He didn''t know how much material and souls the hammer would need to grow, so he hoped he could save some by starting a rank higher! Just setting up everything took an hour, but the young cksmith could finally start making the hammer. The first thing he did was welding the 3 ingots of together to make the billet for the hammerhead. He immediately noticed the difference to regr steel. It was a lot tougher to move and shaped the material. Welding them together was a requirement of the blueprint. This needed to happen while following the mentioned breathing technique. Just welding the rare metal together had taken him a lot of energy and brought him close to exhaustion. It did not make it easier, that he needed to infuse the soul into the material at the same time! But he also noticed something unusual. When he noticed it, he checked his status and saw that his mana was slightly fluctuating between full and missing some points. Following the breathing technique controlled his mana flow and sent out a small bit of magic power with every hit he did with the hammer. When the three pieces were finally welded together, he took a short break to put some attribute points into strength and dexterity, bringing both to 60 and endurance to 50. He hoped this would help him to manage the next step. Forging the hammerhead. Charons Obol roughly resembled the other hammers that came with the . One face was t and square with rounded edges to forge smooth and level surfaced. The other was round and mildly curved to move more material and roughly shape it. Unlike the normal hammers in the smithy, it had steelngets riveted along the elongated handle like some polearms to strengthen the connection and handle. On top of this, he needed to forge two stamps. Seth needed to stamp specific symbols onto the body of the hammer. One was a circle with two beads; one at the top and the other on the bottom of it, directly opposed to each other. The other symbol was a reversed V with a small circle fit into the bottom. He had long put his clothes away and his body was drenched in sweat as he slowly forged the unruly metal into the shape he wanted. The only cloth he still wore was a headband that kept his sweat from flowing into his eyes. He had not forged like this for a long time. He lost his sense of time; the doors were locked and nobody could disturb him. His only focus was on the piece of steel that was slowly taking shape under his hands He drank water and stamina potions in big gulps during the short breaks he took before he kept going. The next step after shaping the hammerhead was the stamps. To save time he used and made 2 square bars where he engraved the negative of the symbols on one end. When he heated hammerhead again until it was glowing red and punched in the reverse V on one side half the souls that were ced within the formation of this ritual made a step towards him! The same happened with the other half when he punched in the circle. He quenched the hot piece and the souls rearranged again! The 20 souls that had seemed randomly ced at the start, formed a perfect circle around hammerhead. Seth''s heart had jumped a little every time the souls suddenly moved closer to him. However, he easily calmed down after reminding himself that this was most likely part of the ritual. Next up was the . It matched the not just in color and rating but also in affinity. It was time for the grinding wheel of Sisyphus and this time he channeled the feelings Sisyphus might have felt. Grinding the wood into shape only worked painfully slow. Despite the potions he had been chugging down he was fatigued, and his arms felt heavy. Watching the wood be grinded away dust particle by dust particle felt as if it was chipping away at his own will. How long had he been working now...? He tumbled towards the engraving table with the finished handle in hand. Iys were also part of the handle. In preparation, he has training making iys in the polearms he made. had gained some experience from that. He had chosen for the iys. They were not categorized as enchantments, but he didnt want to skimp on the materials aftering this far! He felt terrible, but once he sat down at the table he waspletely focused again. It took a lot of strength and time to cut and undercut the channels for the iys. Inserting the wire was the easier part. Not everything was good. The fatigue had its cost and he often had to fix mistakes and rework the channels for the wire to stick firmly. He had not felt this frustrated, ever since he got this ss. But there was light at the horizon. Thest step was to smoothen everything by hand with the files and polish the handle. The entire process came finally to an end. He returned to the anvil, where the hammerhead waited. It was time to fit the two pieces. Seth had to grind and readjust a little, but soon head snuggly fit onto the handle. Seth had fused about half of the Titanoboas soul into the head. Now, he infused the other half into the handle. Like before he could feel that it was a lot easier to infuse the soul into organic material. He nailed on thengets, and with a big sigh of relief, he fortified the connections with a dark steel-wedge. Surrounded by a circle of twenty souls Seth went to the water of Styx, this wouldpletely attach the soul to the hammer and finish the piece. As he submerged Charons Obol in the water it started glowing in an eerie dark blue and the souls around him and the materials ces for the ritual rushed into the barrel, fusing with the hammer! < Ding! You have finished your first ss-exclusive item. +3 DEX +3 STR> n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He did it... HE DID IT! He had finally finished his mostplicated creation so far! And it had a lot of additional effects! He sat down and leaned against the anvil. All the tension left him and the fatigue kicked in. With a tired smile, he checked the beautiful hammer in his hands. It was so dark, it looked like a piece of the night sky in his hands. Like the portals of the Pathwork. Only the dark blue aura along the edges gave it depth. Damage in dark ces would be handy in many dungeons. The additional dark damage was also interesting. Dark elemental damage was a kind of undirected curse. It could randomly cause a wound to hurt, fester, rot. You could call it the element of damage over time effects! The cost was high, but the effects were interesting. Slow Digestion was a skill that was created by a synergy between the snake soul and its growth attribute. It slowed the digestion of materials Seth feeds the item and in exchange increases the effectivity of digestion and lessens the amount of material he needed by 20%. And the biggest perk would be the option that was unlocked by the higher rating. He could forge any material. The possibilities became endless! He would be able to forge all kinds of monster materials now. Bones, teeth, ws, wood, and all he needed was... mana. He looked at his pitiful 200 mana. It didnt matter right now.. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the weight of the hammer in his hand, the pain in his arms, and the fatigue washing over him. Chapter 77 - 77. Burning Savage A huge flying creature resembling armored manta rays were circling the zeppelin-like airship in the night sky. A band of burly men in ragged-looking armors and jackets was standing on their backs. The beasts were controlled by hooded riders whose faces could not be recognized. A beauty lifting a sparkling cuss and signaled the men to attack. She wore a tight uniform resembling a naval admiral that could barely tame her busty figure and a warm fur coat on top. Inplete silence, the band of raiders jumped off the flying sky rays andnded on the shield dome of the airship. They used devices resembling stilettos to prate the shields. Not the shoes, the thrusting weapons. After stabbing into the weapons and the shield started to disintegrate into dust. After each one destroyed their respective segment, they jumped down onto the deck and took out the staff tasked with night watch at the same time. These people looked ragged, but their moves were fast and experienced. These people were no simple raiders. They split up and silently rushed across the empty deck. They secured all exits and left guards before entering the belly of the ship. The interior of the ship was brightly lit by magterns, but it did not impede them in any way. Their movements became even swifter as they took down the remaining guard on the hallways with blowguns shooting poisoned darts. The poison paralyzed the high-level guards who were then helpless against the attacks of the intruders. The poison could not be traced, so it would look as if they died in a fight against overwhelming numbers. They split into two groups; a small team would enter the area with themoner cabins. The rest would go and actually raid the wealthier passengers and nobles. Their target traveled undercover in one of themoner cabins. All they needed to do was to stage this as a bandit attack, get rid of that person, kill and rob some nobles, make sure that people saw them, and described them as raiders. It did not need to be perfect, just good enough to work as an excuse for their client. But not good enough that the target would not understand the message. The senior member would take care of this. Not them This group of three was in charge of being bandits. Everything went great. They could even keep the loot they took from the merchants and nobles. They didn''t kill all of them. They had to spare some higher nobility. As for the others...they only killed men and sometimes children. Some women they left behind might wish they were dead. The task was very much to their liking. The three of them were new members. They had started off as robbers after their families threw them out during a famine. They had found the perfect job. They loved the easy money and they grew ustomed to the feeling of power you had when you decided over another person''s life or death! One day they were approached by an organization that recruited talents like them. They were trained to be even better in what they loved. Everything went great! Their inventories were filled with riches and they had also gotten some action in thest cabin. All these wimps in the expensive cabinscked the will and the skill to stop them from whatever they wanted to do! It became even easier after the light in the hallways turned off. This meant one of their teams had taken over the bridge. They came before the 5th cabin of the VIP-area and it was Frank''s turn to intimidate the passenger, while they would search the cabin and... other stuff if there was the chance. He hammered against the door with his unarmed hand. The door stayed shut. He hammered again. "What do you want!?", they heard an angered voice. Did they wake him up? They would give him an evil awakening and help him find eternal peace right after! "Room Service!", he called with an innocent tone, while the other two suppressed their chuckle. They had long let down their guard, it was just too easy to loot these people. The door swung open and before them stood a tall muscr man who drowsily looked at the bunch before him. His bulging muscles sparkled with ayer of sweat. He only wore a pair of white underwear and a headband that tamed his unruly hair. What had they interrupted here? The three assassins were baffled for a moment but immediately came back to their senses. Frank waved his weapon in front of the man. "Listen here! If you want to survive then bring out all your valuables and-" They were sttered in blood "FRANK!", the one in the back screamed. "No, not Frank!", said the one catching the body of his best buddy. He wanted to touch his cheek, but there was only a stump spouting a fountain of blood! The young at the door did not even give Frank the chance to finish his sentence. In the hand they had not seen because of the door, he had held a huge raven-ck hammer. It was still dripping brain and bone fragments of the human once called Frank. He had simply swung it too fast for them to react and crushed Frank''s head. Literally crushed! His headless body slumped back, right into the arms of his screaming blood-covered friends. The young man on the other hand just stood there, as if he himself was bbergasted of what he had just done. Simultaneously, the man in the back lifted his blowgun and shoot at the man and a cold glint appeared in the young man''s eyes. A greedy smile was thest thing the robber saw before the young man was covered in pale blue mes. The bright light pierced their eyes. The poisoned dart simply evaporated when faced with the roaring mes that suddenly shot out from the door and covered the two men. Still holding the fresh body of Frank, the first one could not escape and ended up screaming and rolling on the ground as he was burning alive. The other was luckier. He had jumped to the side and escaped the fire after getting rid of his lit jacket. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He looked back and saw the ming figure step out of the cabin. He swung his arm and the screams of his friend abruptly ended! No! No! He had to get away! He didn''t want to die like this! He had to tell the others! There was a burning savage on the ship. The higher-ranking members had to deal with this! --------------------------1 minute before ~ Seth, there is someone knocking against the door. ~ He had just finished his new hammer when the little Ivicer called him from the other room. The caterpir and Fin had been asleep until now. Fin didn''t feel like standing up. The Ivicer let him know. "This little..." With a lot of grunting, he lifted his tired and overworked body off the ground. His muscles hurt with every move. He dragged his feet and gulped down another stamina potion, though it did not help his tired mind. He heard the second wild knocking. It did not help to raise his mood so he asked moody what they wanted. "Room service!" Oh! Room service? He could really use something to eat right now. Ah. He still had the hammer in his hand. He didn''t want to scare anyone. He took the hammer into his left hand. He opened the door and hid the hammer in his left behind the door. In the dark hallways, illuminated by the light from the room behind him, stood three wild-looking men in warm-looking jackets and ragged looking armor. They were not the room service. They had no food. They smelled of blood. Not them alone, it was a smell that wafted in from the corridor. "Listen here! If you want to survive then bring out all your valuables and-", he saw at pointed a weapon at his face His mind was too slow. The decision fell before he could think long about it. The hammer fell before any of them could even react. His left holding Charons Obol swiped up and obliterated the man''s head spraying blood, brain, and bone fragments all over them. Seth was dumbfounded as the limp body fell back and the other two started crying their friend''s name. This was the first human he had ever killed. This was his first...murder. It was different from killing monsters or undead. This man had friends. Maybe he had a family maybe- His mind cleared up and his eyes focused just in time to see the effect of killing someone with Charons Obol. The soul of the victim was directly sucked into the hammer! Did this maybe mean... that he did not have to feed it dropped souls, but just use it in fights? Seth saw the man in the back lift a blowgun and reacted with the most natural instinct he had. He sted them with Soul Fire as strong as he could! The man holding the dead body had no chance and got covered in fire. The dart that had just left the blowgun was vaporized out of existence. The only thing left of the third was his burning jacked as he dashed off into the darkness. Seth was too tired to chase him and he was assailed by a terrible headache after overusing . The death throes of the man covered in the fire didn''t help to lessen his headache. He swung the hammer and the hallway became silent. Another soul was sucked into the hammer. Was it maybe a 100% yield if he killed with the hammer? He suffocated the mes that were slowly burning the hallway and returned to his room. Chapter 78 - 78. Hunt Seth was sure he felt a vein bursting in his head. What was up with that title?! It was great that his leveled up, but what was that title? "Whats wrong?", the little fairy asked looking away with a beet-red face. Fin had a hard time sleeping listening to the screams of a man burning alive. She had no problems with the sound of screams in general, but it was just really loud. She decided to leave the bed and found naked Seth all grumpy, entering their room. "Meh, its the system giving me weird titled again... why are you so red- oh... Give me a second." He put away the hammer in his inventory and entered the bath to take a shower. He felt a lot better after washing off all the dried sweat and wearing a clean set of clothes. "There seem to be bandits raiding our airship.", he stated matter-of-factly after leaving the bath. "And you decide to first take a shower?", Fin asked baffled. Seth thought for a moment. He really was in a weird kind of calm mindset right now. Maybe it was the effect of dealing with the trauma of his first murder? Or maybe the second? "Yeah. Do you want me to wear fresh clothes when I''m covered in dried sweat and blood?" Fin rolled her eyes. "So, what are we going to do? If they kill the captain and the crew we will be stranded again." Seth nodded. He also was in the mood for a manhunt. "Yeah, lets go on a-" Maybe he shouldn''t call it that. A rescue operation...yes. Its a rescue operation and it was just a bonus that he would get experience and test his new weapon. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yes, we should go and rescue the crew and other passengers." The two robbers had given him 5% experience each. It seemed meager for opponents that were almost 10 levels higher than himself, but it was still rather goodpared to the dungeons they had visited. Seth equipped the spare armor, the ne, and his hammer. The cksmith and the fairy left their cabin after putting the little Ivicer into the pet space. The caterpir started off with many skills, but he was only level one, so these opponents were a little too strong for it. Before they left Fin showed Seth somethingying on the ground. It was a small ck cube beside Frank. Fin exined to him, that when people who are part of the system died, their inventory would turn into an item box that others could loot. It did not contain everything in the other''s possession, but a big part. The two cubes he found beside the robbers were mostly filled with money and essories! After this small excurse they got back to their manhu- rescue mission! The bandit had run to the right so that was probably the way they hade from. The two started by checking the cabins on the left. The VIP cabins were distinctly different from the lower-priced ones. They had several rooms and passengers here often had a personal guard that opened the door on their behalf. After describing what happened 2 or 3 times to different high-ranking nobles, an old marquis who was known as a general decided to take over the task of gathering the other passengers here. Once all the VIPs assembled, they had a team of 30 people made up of personal guards. The passengers and 15 guards would hole up here and take in survivors. The rest split into teams of 5 to while Seths and a B-Rank party of three made up their own groups. These teams would search the passenger deck and send the survivors back here. 20 people were walking down the main hallway that connected the different sections. They would split up along the way. Some people lingered in front of Seths cabin. The two burned and headless corpses and the singed walls and floor of the hallway were an eyecatcher. The doors of the four cabins after Seths stood wide open. These were also part of the VIP cabins. Everyone looking into these rooms had the same reaction. They ground their teeth and gripped their weapons tighter. The sight was nothing for the weak-hearted. The first victim was always the personal guard lying right at the door. Either their heads were split or their throats were slit. The nobles in the second cabin were spared and only tied up. The rest were not so lucky... There were no signs of mercy. All deaths seemed cruel and apanied with terror and pain, even the childrens. The surviving noble family thanked them and was evacuated. Past these 4 cabins came to a crossing. All sections were along the main hallway and this crossing split off into the two hallways that lead to the noble cabins. Further down were another two crossings that led to themoner cabins. The main hallway ended in a staircase that connected to the main and lower decks. One would reach the other sections like the bridge, staff quarters, engine room, and utilities only through this staircase. One by one the groups split off into different sections. In the end, Seth and Fin entered the first dark hallway of themoner section. The fairy moved her conjured ball of light several meters to the front, so they were walking in the darkness behind the light. This was distinctly different from the other sections. Some doors stood open, with their inhabitants killed and others were still closed shut as if everything was normal. It was as if someone randomly chose who would live and who would die and killed the unlucky ones like livestock. They did not rm anyone, yet. It was more important to check the whole hallway in case the assant was still around! After seeing those scenes in the opened cabins, Seth could feel that was hard at work. It was different from seeing zombies or the remnants of battle without corpses. He had not been confronted with how cold the reality he had entered was before. Not as much as now. Life was worth so little in this world. The rage he had felt, the fear he felt in these moments was somewhere under the surface. Not locked away, but only slowly trickling in. He was tired, but these emotions constantly entering into his consciousness kept him on edge. "At least the people here died fast", Fin assessed looking at the bodies with either their throats being slit or necks broken in their sleep. This was done by professional killers, not looting bandits. Seth felt conflicted seeing that these people were most likely a lot more skilled than the scrubs that came to his door. He had an advantage in attributes, but if the enemy was high-level and skilled... Could they take them on? When he thought about whether he should worry about the assassins, he saw the tiny back of the serious Fin. Her facecked her regr carefree expression and was hardened with bottled-up anger. Seth rxed a little. She was like an anchor, a strong thigh he could hug. It convinced him that whoever those people were, they better worry about getting found by them. Not the other way around. They had not been walking for long when they heard something in fronting closer. Suddenly with unexpected speed, Fins light ball shot along the corridor illuminating two silhouettes dressed in simr armor as the bandits at the end of the corridor. The ball exploded in a bright radiance surprising the malignant figures. It worked like a shbang and blinded them for the moment. Fin rushed in to get a first shot at the opponent, but the other actually managed to block her tiny fist d in divine aura, without being able to see her! His other hand was still covering his eyes. Seth flinched. Instead of rushing in, he decided to pull out his bow and give the fairy covering fire. The explosion of the light ball had left the affected area brightly lit, so he started shooting the assassins from the darkness. Quite ironic, the assassins stood in the light, while the cksmith attacked from the shadows! He focused on the second one, to keep him from interfering with Fin. But simr to Fin''s opponent, Seths was not some cannon fodder. He managed to dodge most of the arrows. Even the ones that arbitrarily changed their trajectory to hit, missed the vitals they aimed for. The assassin, on the other hand, started moving in the direction of the shots and was closing in on Seth. What gave him a little shock was probably, that the arrows became harder to dodge in the darkness! Fin needed light to fight, but Seth wore the . He had . Running towards him into the darkness just made it easier to aim for him. This one did not take out a blowgun. He also didnt start to throw shuriken like a ninja. The figure rushed along the hallway brandishing his daggers. Did he think Seth was a ranger or something? Trying to fight him in melee... When the assassin came close Seth switched weapons to a spear and shield. One might think that a long weapon like a spear had a disadvantage in a narrow space like this, but it was quite the contrary. In this narrow space, Seth could easily keep the assassin at a distance as he had little space to avoid the spear''s thrusts. Themotion woke up several of the passengers in the surrounding cabins who drowsily started opening their cabin doors. The intruder saw his chance! He grabbed a scantily d, potbellied man as a hostage. He held him in front as a shield. "Get out of the way, or this man dies!" He had just ended his sentence when the spear prated both of them and excited at the assassin''s back. Seth let go of the spear and rushed in with the hammer. "Arthur!", the other attacker called out. Another soul was sucked into the Obol. The hostage looked up at him with shock, his hand ced on the spear that had prated his body. "You have...sacrificed me?" "Oh, stop the drama.", Seth rolled his eyes. He simply put the spear in his inventory and shoved a healing potion into the gaping wound. "There, you will survive for now!" When Seth wanted to rush forward to help Fin in her battle, he already heard the announcement. Fin was able to use the distraction of Arthurs death to gain the upper hand in her fight and end it in a sh. What Seth astounded was the overwhelming difference in experience he gained! When he killed Arthur, he got not much more experience for it, than when he killed Frank; about 7%. But for Lance, he got a whopping 15%. As he was wondering why this happened Fin approached him. "Seth! Are you ok? What happened to that guy?", she pointed at the man on the ground. She had not noticed him at first. "Oh...He was a little in the way. Could you heal him?" The man had already taken a potion, so it was not hard for Fin to treat the wound. They exined the situation to the man and other passengers who had woken up. Whereupon they moved towards the VIP cabins and woke up the other passengers on the way. The two searched the item boxes of the two assassins but they did not drop anything of importance.. Their umon daggers were the most valuable, but not special at all. Chapter 79 - 79. A New Quest Towering over the corpse of one of her own men was the busty leader of the bandits. "We really shouldnt have brought amateurs on this mission", she said looking down on the guy who had babbled something about a "burning savage" or whatever. "But Boss, it wouldnt be believable, if there were no actually bandits among us. Isn''t it fine that some of the cannon fodder died? It just helps to make this look more believable." "hmm, you are right. The nobles forming a resistance should also be a good excuse to leave now. The target is dead, I assume?" N?v(el)B\\jnn "Yes. Except for these guys, we only met minimal opposition. We are still missing two of our people, but they should return soon." "Good. The captain?" "We had to kill the nightshift to take over the bridge, but anyone else from the crew was left alone. The airship will be able to keep going without a problem." "Alright, it should be enough then. Lets leave." "What about those two?" "Leave them. They probably met opposition, if they arent back now." ---------------- The cksmith and the fairy kept checking the rest of the hallway, as they had met the attackers about halfway through most people here had left earlier. There was no point in silently checking the hallway anymore, so they started actively evacuating the survivors still left. There were only a few cabins left anyway. Fin was just talking to a man in a nightgown when Seth noticed a pale silver shine from one of thest cabins in front. He left the man to Fin and went over. It was not the shine of light. In the middle of the room, above the corpse of a middle-aged man floated a silver-white colored soul Wait, this reminded him of- < Quest: Ast Request Difficulty: B You have encountered the tragic scene of someone who failed to protect. Despite the desperate situation he had not given up. Even after death his soul still wishes to fulfill his duty! Will you help aplish his duty and finish his task? Requirement: Save Sarina 0/1, Make sure she reaches Yisivi Rewards: Loyal Soul (Middle), Intimacy with the Count of Szek''zos, Experience > Save someone? Before he decided whether to ept or not, he took a good look at the room. It was not different from the othermoner cabins. A bed, a cupboard a small table, and a chair. The corpsey in the little free space in the middle of the room. He could see a little pale girl''s hand sticking out from underneath the man. Seth lifted the man up and his eyes fell on an unconscious young girl. Blood soaked her simple blue dress her curly blonde hair. The attack that killed the man, had stabbed through the man''s back and into her stomach. Her chest barely moved under her shallow ragged breaths. "Whats up with this quest?", Fin asked. She followed Seth after dealing with the sleepy Nightgown-man and came just in time to see the girl on the brink of death. "I just found her; can you heal her?" Seth didnt have a problem with epting the quest if Fin could heal her. The two agreed with a look and epted the quest. Like the first time, the soul disappeared and Fin started healing the girl. It took several attempts until the wound stopped bleeding. It was rather deep, as you would expect from a stab wound straight through the body. Judging by the bleeding-status of the girl, the attack had happened a few minutes ago. They were probably thest people who had been attacked. The girl was still unconscious, so they decided to hurry back to their cabin. The hallway was empty and silent when suddenly the lights turned back on. Had the other groups managed to take back the control? Back at the VIP section, they passed the makeshift guard that kept watch over the section''s entrance and entered their room. Most survivors from other sections had taken refuge in the, now, vacant rooms. Others had friends or acquaintances among the nobles here and stayed with them. They put the girl on their bed and locked the door. Soon there was a knock on the door and one of the ship''s guards stood before them. The whole passenger section outside had be lively with many people walking in the hallways be of the VIP and noble cabins. The other adventurer party from their section had managed to scout the staff quarters and rm the remaining guards of the ship. Apparently, they and the crew were soundly asleep. The B-Ranks reported that they had been put to sleep by a poison fog. They only woke up after the party''s priest purified the ce. With this, the evacuation and search of the ship had progressed rapidly. Half the guards came to the VIP and Noble cabins to help protect the passengers. The rest went to search the ship with the crew. They had reactivated the light, after finding the bridge vacated. It was one of the guards that had knocked on their door to exined the situation to them. He knew from the other people, that it was them who had warned everyone. So, he asked Seth what exactly happened and got a rough narration of Seths evening. Since the ce was now teeming with guards, there was no more need for them to help. Seth was not a hero. He felt bad for what happened on the ship, but he was tired and d that he could simply leave it to someone else. He put away his equipment and wore the simple undergarment of his traveling clothes. The bed was upied by Sarina, so he plopped down on the sofa and fell asleep. Fin was a little worried about Seth''s state of mind. He had acted weird after leaving the smithy. The little fairy decided that she could not do much for the young man at the moment, but keep an eye on him in the future. For now, she sat down on the bed beside the soundly sleeping girl. Her breathing had calmed down and there were no signs of her previous struggles left. Watching the girl for a while, Fin also fell asleep. She had used a lot of mana to heal the girl. Seth slept on the Sofa, Fin, and Sarina on the bed.. Only the small Ivicer was awake and kept watch over them. Chapter 80 - 80. Rina Sarina woke up in an unfamiliar room. She had gotten used to the tiny room she had lived in with Uncle Ben for thest two weeks. Uncle Ben had visited them when her mother had be sick. He was a friend of her father and his sworn brother. He had told her a lot of stories about her dad and their adventures when they were still young. Sarina had never met her father herself. She had lived her whole life with her mother in a small estate in the grasnds. Uncle Ben told her that her father now worked as the Lord of a big city and wanted her to visit him, so he could take care of her. All she knew was the house on this hill and the small vige in the distance, where they would go to buy food and clothes. The big city had a great allure to a small girl from the countryside and she imagined all kinds of fantastical sceneries as she listened to her uncle''s stories. Still, she had hesitated to leave her sick mothers'' side, but Uncle Ben assured her, that her mother would be alright. He had even brought a doctor to take care of her. She decided to leave with Uncle Ben, only after her mother kept urging her to leave. She had looked desperate and coughed a lot back then. She had a big lump in her throat when she promised her mother to go with the uncle. Tears had clouded her vision when she looked back at her mother onest time. She looked tired and drenched in sweat, but she gave her daughter the most dazzling and encouraging smile she could muster. Uncle Ben had brought her away on a carriage and they soon reached a big city. The sight pushed her worries to the far back of her mind. She saw so many new and fancy people. Ben bought her a lot of candy and food and kept her mind upied. She felt overwhelming wonder when they came before a ship that looked like it was made of crystal and would fly in the sky! The small cabin she shared with Uncle Ben was underwhelming,pared to the magnificent outer appearance of glory. But they only spent little time here and Sarina had a lot of fun exploring the ship''s facilities. Ever since she left home, it felt like a magical dream to her... until it turned into a nightmare. "Rina! Rina, wake up!", Uncle Ben woke her up deep in the night. "You have to hide. Listen to me. Hide under the bed and donte out. No matter what you hear! Do you understand?" She drowsily looked up at the serious face. She did not really understand but nodded anyway. Then Uncle Ben pushed her under the bed. Stuck under the bed she slowly realized what had just happened. Uncle ben looked so serious. He was so strong, were they in danger? Her heart started beating faster and faster. She could not see anything but the sounds became clearer and clearer. And then, in between the overwhelming sound of her own heartbeat, she heard the sound of the door slowly swinging open. She felt Uncle Ben jump off the bed and heard the ng of metal, followed by chaotic steps across the cabin''s wooden floor. Another ng, and another. Then she heard a muffled moaning and a loud thud on the floor. Uncle Ben''s face came into her view. Heid on the ground in front of the bed and she could hear hisborious breaths. "Uncle Be...", she whispered. "Dont- Dont talk. Just hide.", he pressed out in between breaths. "Whos hiding?", she heard a strange voice ask. "No!", Ben shouted. Suddenly Uncle Ben pulled her out from under the bed and took her into a tight embrace. She just heard a ripping sound and a thud behind her. Looking over her uncle''s shoulder she saw the dark shadow that had stabbed something into their bed. "Please, at least spare her! She is just a child!", Uncle Ben begged their attacker; hugging her even tighter. "Dont worry. She will live if she is lucky.", the man said sarcastically "you have to get to your father, no matter what. Remember this. ", she heard uncle Ben whisper weakly beside her ear and then Sarina felt a sharp pain in her belly. The pain was too much for such a young girl and she lost consciousness. She woke up lying down on a soft bed. It felt so soft, soft like clouds. She opened her eyes and saw a beautiful room withvish decorations. Did she die? Did she enter heaven? There was a cute little fairy sleeping beside her on the bed in a slopping sleeping posture, and a big caterpir was looking at her with six pairs of beautiful blue eyes. She heard snoring and her eyes fell on a young man sleeping just as sloppily as the fairy, on a sofa. It probably was not heaven. Angels definitely slept more orderly. Who were these people? Where was Uncle Ben? She remembered what had happened and her heart became heavy. Was Uncle ben gone? What was she to do now? Reach her Father. It was Uncle''sst wish. -------------------------------- ~Seth! Wake up! The girl she-~ Seth felt a weak tug in the sleeves of his shirt. His eyes felt crusty and rough when he opened them. His full view was filled by a chubby, teary-eyes face framed by curly golden locks. The girl was biting her lips as if she had trouble bringing herself to talk. "Please help me..." He could see it had taken her considerable resolve to ask a stranger like this. Sarina felt so insecure and afraid. The girl was on the verge of crying after simply asking for help. Doubts kept surfacing. Would they really help her? A big warm hand stroked her head. Seth had no idea how to deal with children, so he just started to pat her head and tried to speak in a soothing voice. "Its ok. You are safe now. We will help you.", he felt tired but tried to sound calm and reassuring. Suddenly the girl started crying and threw herself at him. The girl must have been very desperate for an ally. Seth calmly stroked her back and in an attempt to calm her down, but couldn''t help but think that this would have been a lot better if she was a mature beauty. "You seem to get along quite well already! Fin wants to hug, too!" It was the sloppy fairy that had finally woken up, too. With Fin joining the situation the girl soon started to calm down. Fairies and little girls were simply a match made in heaven. Even when the fairy was a cute acting macho fairy. Seth heaved a relieved sigh! When the little girl had finally calmed down and was convinced that they would help her meet her father, she started telling them her sob story. Unexpectedly, it was Seth breaking out in tears after listening to the scene of her leaving her mother behind. The airship soon restarted the journey. The remains of victims were left behind at the next stop and had been stored in the captain''s inventory until then. Their kin would be able to retrieve them from there and bring them back. It would take another two weeks for the ship to reach Yisivi. Sarina was a very bright and kind girl most of the time. She liked spending her time with the Ivicer and Fin. She treated the big caterpir like a plushy and he let it happen. Sometimes she would also sneak into his room and just watch him forge. Seth was d that Fin had another person to spend time with when he was upied with grinding his skills. After finally finishing Charons Obol Seth was finally able to experiment with his new skill. He was shocked when Fin told him that he had been stuck in his room for three days to make the hammer. He had also mentioned the discrepancy in experience he had noticed. Fin told him, that the 15% were the appropriate amount, but she had no exnation, why he got so little before. The only exnation he coulde up with was that the soul had something to do with gaining experience. It must have been because the hammer harvested the soul directly. At least he could not think of anything else. The first thing he tried out with his new hammer was actually not the soul smithing, but the option added with the rare rating. Seth used one of the smaller teeth of the Titanoboa and started forging material he could have only ground into shape before. He pushed magic power into the hammer and started forging the umon tooth into a curved dagger. In 15 minutes, he shaped the tooth into a de. He spent 75 mana, so it cost about 5 mana per minute to forge the tooth material, but an advantage was that he did not need to waste time to heat up the material. Shaping the tooth felt like forging hard stubborn y, but at the same time, he also noticed that the material changed as it hardened andpressed slightly. In the end, he got 2% proficiency for finishing the . To have aparison he made the same dagger by grinding a tooth into shape and he made aparable steel dagger. The one ground from tooth only had a durability of 200 and gave 1,5%. The steel dagger hadparable performance but only gave him 0,5%. So, the Serpent Dagger not only gave more proficiency than the other two, but also had better performance since it even had an effect thanks to the material it was made of. He had 150 snake teeth! Keeping in mind that the proficiency gain halved upon level, he could get to if he seeded every time.. The only constraint now was his mana. Chapter 81 - 81. Spirit Forging Seth had 8 attribute points and decided to put them all into intelligence. He felt good with the rest of his attributes, so it did not hurt increasing his INT to 28. Still, this meant he could only forge the tooth for 36 minutes. He also tried to see how much he needed to forge the snake ribs he had. The effect it had on the ribs was tremendous and so was the mana consumption. Forging bones got rid of the porous structure within the bone and made it solid like ivory. This huge change cost 15 mana per minute, three times as much as the teeth. The performance of the resulting weapon was a lot better than when he ground it from the bone, but onlyparable to the tooth. The only upside was, that he had a lot more material. Seths mana regeneration was also not the greatest, so for every half hour he forged like this, he would need to wait two hours to fully recover. He had wanted to raise a little more before he tried to forge souls, but with things like this, he decided to just try it. The first possibility that gave him, was to freely change the size of the soul. As an incorporeal substance, it was not bound to a specific size. As such he could use a single soul to make something small like a ring, or something big like a shield. He just needed to forge it into shape. Charons Obol made the otherwise intangible souls tangible and they felt like a tough material under the hits of the hammer. It was like forging a steel ball, just that the souls only needed the slight touch of the Soul Fire to soften. He used a small soul to make a simple bracer and dunked it into the water of Styx. He had expected some special announcement, but it was only the regr notification that he finished an item. Soul armor gave bonus mana?! When Seth thought about it, it made sense. From what he understood of souls until now, was that they were a kind of energy source. His experiment with creating a permanent enchantment with showed that souls had mana and mana regeneration! Undead were the same, how could undead have unlimited stamina and not die, despite not eating or drinking anything? He did not know where the energy came from, but this solved his mana problem! Maybe this was the reason, why the hammer even had the option? Had he made it as an umon hammer, he would probably have a full armor made of souls and a great pool of mana by the time it grew to be rare. Like many other skills, < Soul Forging> had no progress bar, but making soul armor gave proficiency in . The simple bracer gave him 0,3%. Did this change with the soul use? Seth made another bracer from the , he still had from experimenting. 77 mana and 125 magic defense! The armament made using a medium soul had roughly 8 times the effects of the small one and gave 3% proficiency in . This was great, he could easily solve his mana shortage like this. And once his grew further, he would also be able to make even better soul armament. As long as his skills grew it would be a virtuous cycle and he would be stronger and stronger. All he needed were the raw material... Of which he had not many left. He barely had 20 small souls left now. Just enough to make some more experiments. He tried infusing some of the small souls into the first bracer and he could see the defense and additional mana increase by 8 on average with every soul he infused. After 9 souls the left bracer had attained statsparable to the right bracer. Seth tried equipping them and they sank into his skin. He could not see it, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel that he wore the armor. It did not feel like regr armor, but more like a soft and warm sleeve enveloping his arm. In his status window, he could see the secondyer of item slots appear. These were the ces the equipped soul armor was shown. At this point, his mana had regenerated and with the 2 bracers, he had an additional 154 mana and 249 magic defense. There was something else he wanted to see, so he forged two of the snake ribs into saber des. It was fast since the ribs already had the right curve for the weapon. This empties his mana reserve and Seth could observe his mana regeneration. After raising his INT he needed a little less than two hours to regenerate his mana, so it was roughly 1% a minute. What happened was that he needed maybe 13 minutes to get to 154 and then it slowed down. The rest needed the 2 hours to regenerate. The mana regeneration of the soul armor was almost 10% per minute. This was a crazy speed for Seth, a cksmith. He had no skills to increase his mana regeneration as a caster ss had, but now he had a rapidly regenerating additional mana pool. It was a shame that he had no active skills that used mana. It was like pearls thrown before pigs. But Fin would massively from this. It was finally something he could make for the fairy as soul armor had no set size and did not block any item slots. Thest thing he wanted to try was engraving the soul armor. How awesome would it be, if he could technically enchant himself? If he could find the right enchantment, he could turn the soul armor into a growth time of sorts. As long as he kept fusing in souls, the enchantments could grow stronger and stronger. Reality put a stop to his premature dreams. The regr engraving tools could not leave a single scratch mark in the soul armor. They could not even touch it and went right through. After being depressed for a moment, Seth remembered the perk list and Charons Obol. It was not impossible to make tools that could change a soul. So maybe he would get something like thister, if he leveled his or far enough? Unbeknownst to him, Sarina had snuck into his room and had watched him and the up and downs of his mood for thest hours. Seth almost had a heart attack when she took a deep breath. "is something troubling you? What are you working on?", she asked interested. She had seen him switching back and forth between forging bone and vigorously hammering thin air. It aroused the question of whether Seth had lost his mind or was really working on something she could simply not see. In the end, she could not suppress and curiosity and asked. Seth was dumbfounded for a moment. "Ok, but you have to swear not to tell anyone. " "I will never tell anyone!" "Pinky promise?" She swore the holy oath and made a pinky promise with him, so Seth simply told her what he was trying to do and tried to keep it as simple as possible. "Cant you just use those invisible things to make something to work in them?", she asked innocently. "That''s it!" The scales fell from his eyes. Of course. Of course, the hint was in the description. Soul weapons can damage souls directly. It should be possible to make an engraving iron from a soul! He pulled the small girl into a tight hug and she kept giggling as he thanked her and praised her. What an intelligent girl she was and whatnot. After praising her to the high heaven he went back to the anvil. He used one of his remaining souls to try and forge a graver from it. It was really a sess, even the system acknowledged it as a tool. He tested the new tool on a fresh bracer he made from a small soul. He used the enchantment he had gotten from the ancient bronze scrap. It was supposed to raise defense and health. The result resembled his experiment on the sword. The mana pool was simply too small, so the mana regeneration was unable to keep up with the consumption of the enchantment. This happened despite the enchantment needing a lot less mana per minute when it was directly engraved on the soul. Not enough mana? No problem. It needed another two souls and the enchantment permanently worked. In exchange, the bonus mana would regenerate slower. It depended on whether the enchantment used the same amount of mana as was regenerated. Seth was curious, what would happen if he reforged this bracer? He heated the bracer a little in the forge and the first hit of the hammer smoothened out the engraving, destroying the enchantment. He had no problem turning the soul into a simple ring. It was a good thing, he could salvage souls with little loss. There were more ideas he had, but he had not enough souls and other material to do it with clear consciousness. Thest thing he did, was to fuse hisst souls into the ring and strengthen it further. Chapter 82 - 82. Good Byes In the following weeks, Seth alternated between forging the snake materials until his mana ran out and spending time with Fin, Sarina, and the little Ivicer. One of these days the little Ivicer suddenly popped out of the pet space when was just having a short break from forging. "Seth, Seth! I finally did it!", it said excitedly. Surprised the cksmith asked the caterpir what he had done. "Didnt you ask me some time ago about Holy Gold? I can finally make it now!" Ever since they started the journey the little Ivicer was upied with learning the art of making the ancient bronze from the memories of his ancestors. Oneponent was the inner energy unique to his race. To grow this energy, it had to absorb a lot of energy from the sun, to grow its own reserves. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om That''s why it had spent most of its time on the airship sitting and ying with Fin on the main deck. Finally, I had seeded in learning the art and the system even turned it into a skill. Now he just needed to eat copper and tin, or regr bronze. The caterpir exined all this to the cksmith, who kept nodding his head like a bobblehead. To be honest, he had actually somewhat forgotten about the ancient bronze recently and felt a little guilty for it. The Ivicer had used so much time and effort for him. But listening to the exnation he started to get excited again. All the soul stuff was one thing, but being the only one able to make an umon metal was also substantial! "Alright, should we try it?", Seth asked and brought out the copper ore and ingot he had farmed in the cave and tin he had bought in Zhiqe. Just because the bronze had been pushed to the back of his mind recently, did not mean he had not prepared back then. The Ivicer had slightly grown, but the amount of material Seth had stocked up on was way too much for it. It nibbled just a few chunks of ore and then they had to wait. The materials had to be digested first. They would then mix with the energy in its body and- The little Ivicer started spitting thin threads of ancient bronze from its mouth! The buildup on the ground like a crumpled spider. It took a while, but with a tiny squeak, the threads stopped shooting out. The little caterpir was heaving for air and was totally exhausted. "Sorry, that all I can do in one go....", it apologizedparing the tiny heap of thread to the masses of material Seth had brought out earlier. "What are you apologizing for? This is great!", Seth had just sat there and watched in wonder as thing golden bronze wires came from its mouth. It was very thin, like a thread, but also strong like a wire. He had the perfect idea. Seth thought of the armor made of the thread of Arachne and remember was Cerno Bolk had said. That this was originally used to make garments for their god. As long as he found a tailor who could weave this thread into cloth, he could make get a gambeson made from this, or robes for Fin! It was the best material to wear as the firstyer of armor. The Ivicers mood lifted, as Seth exined how useful the thread would be for all kinds of things except just melting it down. "And you will grow in the future. You might have memories of your ancestors, but you are still a baby. So, dont worry too much about the now.", he smiled and patted the Ivicers round golden head. Looking at it now, one would not expect it to have the potential to grow into a terrifying existence like Cerno Bolk, or the Holy Beast. But what was he supposed to do until he found a tailor or weaver? After the Ivicer left to replenish his energy in the sun on the deck, Seth was left with a heap of Ivicer...wool? It had a strength simr to and a magic conductivity close to . Seth thought of covering steel with a thinyer of it. Seth tried something we would call brazing on a small dagger, but it had a terrible sess rate since he had no flux to help the bronze stick properly. After a few fails, he shelved the idea for now. Maybe he could ask a cksmith, once they reached Ora. Seth had reached when they finally reached Yisivi where they would have to part from Sarina. It was not the first stop since Oriekot, but the first big city since then. The ship would stay here for a day, so it was worth a trip. Seth and Fin decided to apany Sarina and take a look at the city. There was already someone at the port waiting for Sarina. There was a well-kempt man with three armored guards. He looked at the picture in his hand and at the little girl that left the ship with a stranger and fairy. They approached the group of three. "Hello! Are you Sarina? Then you must be the benefactors that saved our youngdy.", the man gave a trained smile. Sarina shrunk back and hid behind Seth. She had grown up as a normal vige girl and didnt know how to deal with these strangers. The man''s smile became a littleplicated as he crouched down to get on Sarina''s eye level. "Im Edward, the chancellor of your father. He asked me to bring you to him safely." The girl looked back and forth between Edward and Seth, unsure of what to do. Seth patted her head. "We wille along if that makes you feel better, ok?", he said with a smile. Maybe they could grab a good meal at the noble residence. Also, the quest had not updated, yet. Seth wanted to make sure that the quest waspleted correctly. It was Edwards feel unsure of what to do but agreed for them toe, too. Yisivi was even greater than Oriekot as it was a trade center with various connections via sea routes, the airship, and caravans. It was also the only harbor where merchant ships from the elven grand Duchy would anchor. It was a shame that they could only stay for a day. The Count of Szek''zos was a noble with a territory neighboring this massive trade hub. His estate was located in the noble district along with other great andvish mansions. One could guess how much he profited from his proximity to this city. Sarina looked troubled when a big stranger with a magnificently bushy beard and a golden mane like a lions rushed out from the build and pulled her into a tight embrace. His clothes looked expensive, but notvish or gaudy like some other clothes Seth had seen on nobles. The fine cloth stretched over well-trained muscles as the count hugged his daughter , Experience. Intimacy with Count Szek''zos has risen. > "Im so d you are okay! My poor baby!" Seth blinked perplexedly. Even Fin was surprised. Sarina didnt know how to react and Edward wore a wry smile. The count really loved his daughter, despite never appearing before her. He had always kept in contact with her mother by exchanging letters. Sarina warmed up to him when they talked about her mother and he exined why he could not be with them. It was the typical excuse that he was not powerful enough to protect them. Seth didnt really listen to that part after the Quest hat beenpleted. The count seemed very sympathetic, especially since he did not stop thanking them. He even gave them 50 gold and invited them to a meal. Sarina would be safe if she stayed with this man. They spent the day at the mansion, with Sarina and her father, before leaving Yisivi the next morning. Chapter 83 - 83.Ora Finally, they reached Ora, the great dwarven city at the foot of the mountain range. Almost 4 months for a journey that he had not nned in the first ce. The airship had done many stops in between and Seth had used to chance to actually enjoy this different world. His knowledge of materials had not grown a lot, but his had reached level 4 and he had be ustomed to the system institutes like the Auctioneers. But today was the day his stumbling in the darkness would end. The city before them was Ora, a magnificent city with one half sprawling over a great ne and growing high into the air with its other half being built into a great cliff wall. The raven-ck walls of the city towering over the in could be seen from a far distance. Sections of the wall were separated by giant statues of dwarven warriors and watchtowersced with white and golden ornaments. Behind the ck walls was an ocean of buildings growing higher and higher the closer they were to the cliff, with roof shingles in several shades of blue and their walls ranging from dark grey to white like marble. This was no organically grown vige that had grown into a giant city. This was a thoroughly nned and well-constructed metropole. The airport was situated outside the great walls, so even the nobles traveling on this cruise had to pass the gates under scrutinizing eyes of the guard and the overwhelming presence of the dwarven stone guardians. It was humbling to stand at the foot of the 30-40-meter-tall giants. Even Fin looked up at their hewn faces, ck-jawed before this sight. The 20-meter-high gates of the city, which barely reached the hips of the guardians, were richly covered in decorative fittings. Just the skill that went into these fittings convinced Seth that he hade to the right ce. People enter via a smaller gate embedded into the giant gates. Simr to when he became part of the Adventurer guild, their status was checked to see whether they were wanted criminals before being let in by the watchmen. What came before their eyes was a bustling main street that was slowly rising into the distance, all the way up to the cliff where another great gate was situated in the cliff wall, where people would enter the other half of the city. The part where the dwarven poption lived in high halls andplexes built directly into the mountains. Other, simr gates led to the expansiveworks of mines that pervaded the stone and led deep into the central mountain range. So far and deep, that even among the dwarfs few had an idea where exactly they led. The main business of the city was obvious in the shops that primarily lined the main street. cksmiths, engineers, enchanters, all kinds of weapons and armor shops. Jewelers and gem cutters that sold raw materials and products made from the several rare gems and stones mined deep in the roots of the mountains. Magic and alchemy were also a big part of the scene as many rare materials came from mountains and the dungeons that grew in the old abandoned mines. Just walking along the street started filling his catalogs with all kinds of entries and blueprints. This was what he had wanted all the time. He looked like a very poor child smiling from ear to ear entering a chocte factory. Rare materials like or were easily avable here. Although expensive, they were still a lot cheaper than in the auction house. Some vendors even told him, that adventurers could find materials like these in the dungeons below the city. And even better ones! Fin watched Seth excitedly go around from shop to shop, speaking with the vendors, looking at materials. Their first goal was, of course, the guild. It was the best ce to get information about the city and society. The only dwarf they had ever met was Yudrid. The grumpy huntress was the fairy`s first dwarf, too. The only thing the outer city of the dwarven metropolecked was... dwarfs. And new enchantments, he could identify most of those he saw in the shops. It was soon revealed why, when they reached the guild. The guildhall in Oras outer city was a lot smaller than the one in Oriekot because it was actually split into two branches. The whole city was split. The outer city, which was open for all visitors from any race or faction had a guild branch. And the other one was situated in the dwarven half of the city, the inner city, where only dwarfs and people with their recognition were allowed to enter. This was also the ce to go if you wanted to buy dwarven works. All their shops were located there and dwarves only rarely left their subterranean world. Most of the high-ranking adventurers of Ora could be found there, too. The dungeons growing within the mines and mountain range were extremely dangerous, with rewards fitting the danger. In the guild, they got a brochure very simr to the one in Oriekot. It had a simple map of the city with the locations of the most important facilities and a catalog of inns and shops found in the outer city. Since all the dwarfs were hiding in their mountain, Seth needed to find the way in. The receptionist exined to him the three ways to get entry permission. The first was to be a B-Rank adventurer, which meant that he would need to level up and seed in the rank-up examination. The second was to increase his reputation in the city and take a test by a dwarven official. The third was to be invited by a master from the inner city. Masters of their craft had a high standing in dwarven society and bringing in anyone they liked was just one perk. Not just anyone could waltz into the Halls of Stone, as the locals liked to call it. They checked in with a medium-sized inn called "The Lucky Miner". James the owner was a friendly elderly beastman with droopy dog-ears. He had been a miner in his youth and experienced a windfall when he found an especially big ingot of mithril, which led to a whole new vain. He used the bonus to open this inn with his family, hence the name. His wife and son were great chefs and the inn was known for its food. One of the reasons they chose this ce. After a good meal they wanted to leave again, but the Ivicer wished to stay in the room. It wanted to absorb more sr energy, so Seth and Fin left without it. Following the inn was the church. Seth wanted to send a message to Simon that he was still alive and finally reached his destination...after 4 months! The local church greeted him respectfully after affirming that he was an affiliated ori huma. Sending things with the guild was quite expensive, even letters. Especially across worlds. Sending letters for free was the only free and reliable service he got as ay follower. A shame he didnt have many friends in other worlds. But they kept in touch with Sarina using this system. The girl had managed to reim some of her happiness in the time with her father. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om As Seth started writing his letter for Simon, the priest from Starta, a church employee suddenly spoke to Fin, who was sitting on his shoulder and helped him to write the letter, also known as giving him ideas to make fun of Simon. The employee led her away. Seth had long finished the letter when Fin finally returned. Her face was ashen andcked her usual energetic smile. She looked up a gave a wry smile when she saw Seths worried expression. "Fin is sorry, Seth. Fin- I.. I will have to return home soon." Chapter 84 - 84. Parting Ways Seth''s jaw fell open and he didnt know what to say. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "My father sent me a letter. He says its important that I return as soon as possible and I- I..." She had dropped her cute act. She tried to hold back, but big tears welled up in her dark eyes. She bit down on her trembling lips. "Hey... ", he lifted his hand to ...yeah what? Stroke her? As he stood cluelessly she rushed into his chest and firmly grabbed onto his shirt. She started sobbing with big tears and snot running down her face, promptly soaking his clothes. "Fiwn doews wnot wawnt to weawwe! Fiwn wawntws to stayy with Seth!" "Wha?" He cupped his hands so the little fairy could sit on his palm, her tiny fist still firmly lodged onto his shirt. Seth felt a tinge of sadness at the thought that he would leave his side. Seth had tasted loneliness. Maybe not as much as others... but enough to fear it. Fin had helped him more than she might have known. After his parents died Seth had isted himself, he avoided people. He cut ties. He had not realized it until all the things that kept him upied were gone. He remembered back in Deltan. There were moments when he sat alone in the dark, staring into the forge and asking himself why he was even trying so hard. Grinding had been another way to distract himself, but it was not a cure. Traveling with Fin, having a friend. Simply her being there had helped him a lot to cope with...everything. He hugged her back tightly. "Hey, Fin. This is not a goodbye. Its a see youter! Get it?", he said in a steady voice. "When your business at home is done you cane back here. And if you donte back then I wille over there. I will travel to the fairy world." "Eh?", she looked up at Seths serious face. "And no matter how long I have to look, I will find you. This is a promise." he made it sound a lot more like a threat than a genuine promise, but a big smile appeared on Fins face. She had been worried that she would be bogged down in duties again once she returned. She couldnt help butugh. Thinking of him being thrown to some random ce in the fairy world and rushing around like a headless chicken trying to find her. It had helped to lift her mood. "You better note looking for Fin. We both know what would happen. You are right. Its a see youter! Dont think you can get rid Fin this easily! Fin will hunt you down! You will never escape!" "Oh really? Not if I find you first. I will be stuck to you like a leech!" "No! Fin will be the leech! Fin will be like the thought in the back of your mind. Always there!" They kept bickering back and forth about hunting each other down and that there was no escape. In the end, they could note up with any more dumb phrases and calmed down. The employee had watched the whole drama in awkward silence. The matter was really important and the fair folk paid for an express portal. "Fin has to leave now.", she gave Seth ast hug, "Goodbye." Seth held her back. "Its a see youter. Dont forget it." She smiled and left with the employee, leaving Seth behind. As he looked at the first friend, he had made in a long time leave a warm caring feeling rose up in him. ~Its ok. Im still here. ~ It was his connection with his pet, the tiny Ivicer, that a grown a lot stronger during their journey. It shared a lot of his feeling and understood his current mood. So, it reassured him, that he was not alone. Yes, he still had a friend with him. And had made several others on his journey, even if they were not here now. "Thanks", he said to no one in particr and left the church. Back on the busy streets of Ora Seth felt lost. He wandered the streets; just looking around. It was the storefront of a grimy little pub that caught his attention. The withered sign in the shape of a beer mug hung crookedly above the sturdy door; only held by one rusted chain. Warm light fell through the bull-ss onto the muddy street. He had entered the slums before he knew it and even around here it didnt seem like a very reputable establishment. It was perfect to get fucked up. The floors were caked in mud and dirt, but the pub was filled to the brink. All kinds of rough-looking guys and miners filled tables and spaces in between. The air smelled of sweat and cheap beer. Half a pig was roasting over a big firece in the corner beside the bar counter. Thick grease was glistening on the meat and dropping into the fire below adding another savory note to the mix of odors in the room. The ce was dirty, smelly, and filled with hairy grimy guys. It was revolting. It was the ce Seth felt he had to be. He squeezed into the mass of bodies and made his way towards the bar. The barkeeper was not someone you wanted to buy food from. His skin was rough and tanned and his sharp blue eyes did not ask him what he wanted. He threatened Seth not to disturb him by ordering something. Those eyes were directed into the room, while his hand absentmindedly cleaned a mug with a dirty rag. "Give me something mean. Not your looks. Something to drink." The man stared daggers at the chick that dared to disrupt him. Still, he pulled out an ubeled clear bottle filled with a clear fluid. A small ss was smashed onto the counter before Seth and left a dent in the aged wood. Or maybe just in theyer of dirt that covered it. The clear liquid filling the small ss had a tint of green and a tiny ck maggot was floating in it. The keeper still kept mum, but he smiled disdainfully at the pup that challenged him. Seth empties the ss in one shot. The drink felt like acid shooting down his throat. He chewed the maggot with his mouth open and swallowed it in spite. "Another.", he said and knocked with the ss on the counter. The keeps smile was gone and he refilled the ss. Again, Seth emptied it in one shot. He could feel his health deteriorating, but his HP-regeneration covered it thanks to his endurance and the "Another." The barkeeper lifted one of his brows and looked at him askant before filling the ss again. This was not a booze anybody took a second shot of. He had seen people going (temporarily) blind after the second ss. What was wrong with this guy? "Another." It was the only word the cksmith kept repeating in the lively atmosphere of the pub. The barkeeper would refill his ss and Seth would empty it again. The cycle kept going until the first bottle was empty. The keeper grunted and left unwillingly to get another bottle. "That stuff must taste quite good if you keep drinking it like that. Mind if I join you?", a merry voice sounded beside him. Seth looked to the right and his eyes fell onto a small figure. A short beard, a simple slide cap, a worn shirt, and pants with suspender; everything covered in a darkyer of stone and coal dust. A dwarf? A miner just like the other workers in the pub. "Do what you like." The dwarf sat down beside him and also ordered a ss of whatever this terrible booze was. The barkeeper scowled at but put another ss on the counter before filling both sses. Seth downed the drink in one go. "Uwag!", the dwarf beside his started spitting it all over the ce as his body revolt in a jolt of self-preservation. "What the hell?! How can you drink this shit with a straight face!" "Another.", he said and smirked at the dwarf. The barkeeper had actually stopped caring about the crazy person some time ago and refilled his ss. The dwarf got a different drink but did not leave. On the 5th shot, Seth was already quite drunk when a notification rang in his mind. Seth sighed; the booze had lost its bite. He was already wasted, so he didnt really care that much and took it as a hint to stop there. He knocked on the counter to signal that he wanted to pay. "7 Silver.", the grumpy barkeeper said in a hoars voice. They were the first and only words he spoke to Seth. He looked questioning at Seth the other put 10 silver on the counter. He gestured at the dwarf that had fallen on the counter beside Seth to show that it was to pay his bill, too. He had not asked or looked forpany tonight, but he still appreciated it.. He patted the dwarfs shoulder and left the pub to look for an inn for the rest of the night. Chapter 85 - 85. New Beginnings The bright light of the morning sun that fell in through the windows woke him up and hurt in his hung-over eyes. it was a tiny window and the light fell into a tiny room right below the roof of an inn. The ce was sparsely decorated with the bed hey in, a cupboard, and a table with a chair. Clothes were randomly spread on the floor. Something soft was pressing against his chest and his right hand caressed a smooth back when he tried to move. He had an educated guess but was still surprised. He looked down and saw a cute girl with a pair of fluffy ears poking up from her maroon hair. She was snuggled up against him, using his shoulder as a pillow. His touch had woken her up and now she looked in his face with a big smile. "You are awake!", she said and came up to give him a deep passionate kiss. Seth had no memory of this girl, but he made sure to use all morning to make a few new ones with her. "Phew, you are a real surprise!", she said after getting up. She picked up her things and started to get dressed. Seth stayed in bed and watched the beast girl covering her lithe and well-toned body. She wore a short leather jacket exposing her midriff, knee-high boots, and leather hot pants. "And you are still not satisfied.", shemented on his gaze not leaving her body. With an embarrassed cough, Seth also got up to get dressed. He really didn''t remember how he met such a beauty and seduced her, but he didntin. Or was she a prostitute? Did he have to pay her? As he was hit by conflicting thoughts, she stepped up to him, got on her toes, and gave him another kiss. N?v(el)B\\jnn "This is goodbye, big guy.", with her finger tracing his corbone she added, "If fate is with me, I would love to meet you again." With that, she left before Seth could even say a word. When Seth came back to his senses, he found a stack of silver coins on the table. The girl wasnt the prostitute, HE was! He sat down and looked at the stack of 15 silver coins on the table. He got drunk, get gotid, he got paid all in one night. Waking up with a beauty in his arms was not bad. Maybe he should quit cksmithing and be a male prostitute? He would not mind if this was his kind of customers. He shook his head. Although he felt a lot better after a night of debauchery, it was not the life he wanted. He needed to return to his inn, the Ivicer was probably worried. It had also helped clear his mind. Seth was free to do anything he wanted right now, and what he wanted was to grow his skill. He needed to get into the dwarven district for this. Seth had no idea how he would grow his reputation and get invited. He could open a shop and hope for the best, or rank up as an adventurer. It was a simple decision, really. He would just do both. It was past noon when he finally returned to the inn. The caterpir jumped him and flooded him with usations. It had really worried a lot. Then came the hard conversation, where he had to exin to him, that Fin had to return to her people. Unexpectedly, it had weighed a lot more on Seths mind, than on the Ivicers. Even so, it sometimes acted childishly, it was actually quite mature when it came to things like this. "So, what do we do now?", the small Ivicer asked him. Seth exined the situation to it and set off for the adventurer guild. On one side he wanted to ask for information on how to open a shop. On the other side, he wanted to know what the requirements were to rank up. Andst but not least, he wanted to use the guild for what its primary purpose was: To get a quest and visit dungeons. He was half-way to level 21 and needed another 2 SP to get the next level on . It was not far to the guild and they soon arrived. Past noon most of the adventurers had long left the guild building after getting a quest. The receptionist and a few people drinking in the bar were the only ones in the guild. Seth could walk straight to the counter. The receptionist greeted him with a well-trained business smile, although it twitched a little. Seth had not taken a bath after his... nocturnal activities and the receptionist could smell that. Adventurers that came way toote, long after the morning rush, and didnt even bother to wash up. She was still new, but the training showed its worth. Otherwise, her expression would have been a lot different. "How can I help you?" First Seth asked about the requirements to reach B-Rank. She was surprised to see that he was a C-Rank adventurer as a cksmith that just lv. 20. But the fact that he was an ori huma seemed to exin a lot to her. "There are two ways to be a B-Rank. The first is to be a reputed adventurer and reach the required level, which is lv.50. Of course, we know that depending on ss, race, and other circumstances the power of an adventurer can vary, independent from their level. This is why the second option is to take a rank-up exam. An examiner will judge your abilities and personality during a B-Rank quest. As long as you pass the exam, you can be a B-Rank adventurer.", she rattled the exnation off like reading from a textbook. "Here is a request form to take part in the next rank-up exam. Its in 2 weeks." She gave him a piece of paper via the tray. "Oh, thanks. Say, if I wanted to open a weapons shop here in the city... where would I have to go?" She started to list all kinds of licenses and ces he would have to go and get if he wanted to open a shop in the city. It was a huge flood of information that totally intimidated the young cksmith. What was this? Why was there so much bureaucracy in such a medieval-looking society?! She had a smug smile, seeing his stressed expression. They had these people sometimes. New in town, just trying to gain reputation and enter the dwarven city. Without the knowledge of what it all entailed. After dunking Seth into the despair that was future paperwork, she threw him a lifeline. "If you only want to gain reputation, so you get ess to the dwarven city, you can also simply make a contract with an already existing shop. You be a supplier and other people will take care of the paperwork. And if your products are as amazing as you think they are, you might get invited to enter the city." Seths eyes shined. Profit without taking care of customers was the best profit. He talked with the receptionist about the different shops that came into question for this kind of arrangement.. In the end, he also filled out the request paper to take part in the next exam before leaving. Chapter 86 - 86. Performance Test Seth had 2 Weeks until the exam and quite a few things to do. As the receptionist had exined, the exam would be a B-Rank quest under the guidance of an experienced examiner. A B-Rank quest could easily take several weeks on its own. He would have to make preparations for his journey and look for a shop to sell his weapons. He still had a few leftovers, that he did not sell via the auction house yet. He had actually made quite a sum with the umon snake weapons selling them for 4-6 gold coins apiece. They had be very popr after he had gotten his hands on a poison enchantment during one of their stops. There was another thing they had wanted to do for a long time but didnt get to do during the journey. It was to test the Ivicer''s performance in battle. The caterpir looked like a very cute pet, but it had the skills and memories of an extremely powerful species. It had grown a lot in thest weeks, from a plushy to the size of a hug pillow. Seth nned to enter a low-level dungeon to see what skills the Ivicer could use for now and increase its level for the uing exam. On another note, he could not forget the things he needed himself. There was the need to find a weaver or tailor to make cloth from the Ivicers thread. The little guy had made quite a lot of it in the weeks of their journey He wanted to make padded cloth armor, a gambeson, to wear below his new armor. New armor? Yes. It was a full set of Snake armor. Seth had used almost 25 snake ribs and some of the juvenile''s snake leather to make amer armor and fitting shoulder guards, bracers, and greaves. Themer armor was made up of ovepping tes of snake bone held together by strips of leather. The other parts were technically snake leather armor reinforced with bone tes. Hecked the souls to give the armor any great properties but they sported a natural resistance against poison and corrosion. The durability was a lot better after forging them with Charons Obol whenpared to parts ground into shape. He had not touched the or remaining for this armor, because he was stillcking in some areas. His end goal was to make a fireproof armor, after all. He didnt want to experience the embarrassment of being seen naked after using his fire, again. There was a small episode where the receptionistdy that had found him after dying in Zhiqes dungeon, could not look him in the eyes for the remaining time of his stay. She would blush furiously and look away, any time they entered the guild. Anyways. Because of this armor, he felt ok to face an old enemy. Water. It was time he followed the Isekai cliche and entered the sewer dungeon! The Ivicer''s attack options were mostly magic, so it would be easy to farm weak monsters like slimes and sewer rats. Ora a number of dungeons growing in its extensive sewer system. Oras sewer system was also quite peculiar in that it shared the space below the city with some subterranean city districts. As one would expect from a dwarven city, even the part build for the humans had roots that reached deep into the earth. The Underground was mostly an imitation of the districts above, but with cheaper rents and prices. Below themercial district, for example, were 3 moreyers filled with shops, underground bazaars, and the ck market at the deepest level. The underground districts made a smooth transition into the sewer system below the better residential areas. This came in handy as Seth could cross themercial district and take a look at the shops the guild receptionist had told him about. Seth should have known it, but the shop owners shamelessly abused their status. It was no secret that many people preferred to dodge the paperwork and costs of an own shop when all they wanted was an invitation to enter the dwarven district. As such, tomission the selling of products they quoted rates that were even worse than simply selling the item to them. Splitting the money 60:40 or even 70:30, just to mention the cksmiths name when the item was sold was a joke. Just because Seth had money, didnt mean he would ignore getting ripped off. No, especially because he had money, opening a shop seemed more feasible. Another thing Seth was unable to deal with, was the merchants arrogance. They dared to act as if they did the people, they ripped off a favor! It waste afternoon when he finished visiting all the shops rmended. None of them were any good. Even those with better rates had this pretentious demeanor Seth just could not stomach. He shook his head to clear his mind. It was already gettingte now and he wanted to give the dungeon a visit. There were many staircases located in the district that led to the underground passages below. Seth just needed to enter the first underground floor of the shopping district and follow the signs. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om This underground floor was a lot cleaner and appealing than Seth had thought. Except for the fantasy atmosphere created by the kinds of shops, products, and people of different races filling this subterranean world, it could have been a modern shopping arcade. The sewer dungeon was separated by a big door covered in iron tes. There were two guards at the door, checking people''s adventurer ids. When the door opened Seth could hear the hiss of air as if the door was an air-tight seal. It had to be, because the smell of the sewer that could not the smelled until now, came over him like a wave and hit him like a wall. It this door was not air-tight, the whole ce would smell of this. Seth entered before he could change his mind, but he swore that this was the first andst time. Once the door closed behind him, he summoned the Ivicer from the pet space. A shiver ran through its body and it shook its head around. Kyurg-Kyuu! ~I will only enter this once! We are not doing this again! ~ They were in tacit agreement, to never enter a sewer again after this was over. The Ivicer crawled in front, as it would be the main firepower during the dungeon dive. When the two fought together, the experience was evenly split between owner and pet, but only if both did damage to the target. Although this was only to test its skills in a safe environment, the Ivicer could also level up a little in this ce. The monsters down here consisted mostly of different kinds of rats, slimes, and other critters eating the trash down here. But one should not underestimate these monsters. The slimes for example were not the nice round blobs who did nothing but bounce around and digest stuff. They tended to stick to either the ceiling or hide in the water. They would shoot hardened tendrils like spikes out from their body to skewer their prey. And their prey ranged from normal-sized to giant rats that reached Seth up to the knee, like a small dog. He kept his distance from those, as their yellowish teeth were on crotch-level if they stood upright, like a small dog`s... Other critters down here consisted of big bugs, spiders, and something like a big roon. They had patchy hair and were partly bald as if they had mange. With an average level of 7, these were the strongest mobs in the sewers. The skillset of a young Ivicer consisted mostly of elementary light magic and psychokinesis. As such it waltzed through the dungeon by either shooting low-level rats and critters with pebbles or short bolts of light, like aser. Seth followed it with his new main weapon held in his hand ready to step in. It was a spear he made from the piece of and the umon had he found all the way back in the Ivicer guild branch. Thanks to Charons Obol he was not restricted by the original form of the material anymore, which made it possible to forge the shaft from the piece of wood. The drake tooth shared the prative properties expected of the dragon race''s teeth and was ideally suited to be a spear tip. The spear was infused with the and had gotten a rare rating thanks to this. The enchantment powered by the soul gave the weapon another damage boost. Seth knew what the description meant. The loyal soul would have been more suited for armor, but he had decided on a better weapon at that time. Seth was sure that at some point in the future he would be able to retrieve souls from items. It was a feeling he had gotten when he experimented with the souls. Before he quenched an item in the water of Styx, he had felt like he could separate the soul from the unfinished item using . It was just so hard to level this skill. Seth guessed that the skill leveled up by collecting Souls, but souls had a low drop chance. Normally. To his surprise, the drop chance of Soul had drastically increased when the Ivicer killed a prey. Instead of being 10% or lower as Seth had experienced it until now, it came close to 30% with the Ivicer killing them. Maybe it had something to do, with the Ivicer''s unique energy? Or because they were a race directly created by a god? He didnt know, but he happily collected the fruits of this circumstance! Chapter 87 - 87. Ivicer’s Name In the evening they finally left the smelly dungeon. Unfortunately, the smell had already stuck their bodies. A rigorous bath was desperately needed! They returned directly to their inn to get exactly that. At least this torture was not for naught. The Ivicer had reached a proud lv.6 and its magic improved. It was now able to even kill those lv.7 roons and learned how to create a light shield and a basic healing spell. It stillcked Fins iron fist, but it might be able to take on the role of the healer very soon. Its skills were very close to what Seth would call a priest, but when he thought of the size it could reach... an Ivicer was probably closer to a Pdin or a Monk if it had a ss. If only it could learn some life magic, it would be very handy if it was able to use magic to clean off the terrible smell. Seth was seriously considering buying some skill books for life magic and learning it. Only now did he understand the importance of such skills. The monsters of this dungeon had no special materials, entering the dungeon and killing monsters was just a generic task to keep the sewers clean. The pay for the task was pitiful, but Seth didnt say no to money for something he did anyway. Especially since he managed to collect almost 30 small souls from the Ivicers massacre. Seth managed to fuse them into 2 medium-sized souls and used them on the one weapon he was sure he would not change any time soon. The stats had increased again and this time the chance for the wound to be infected became a guarantee. This became a really terrifying option. Even if someone or something managed to escape, healing was impeded and infection guaranteed. His targets might die a slow and painful death long after they escaped from him! If he was an archer, he would be the terror of the battlefield with skills like . And like this their first day without their tiny energy bundle Fin ended. Seth hugged the Ivicer tightly, as they both fell asleep thinking about their missing friend. The next days were uneventful. The Ivicer would wake Seth early in the morning and they would go to stuff themselves with food. The caterpir tried hard to keep up with Seths voracious appetite, but could not eat several times its own body mass, unlike a certain fairy. They spend these days farming souls and experience in the low-level dungeons. The not so smelly ones. This also gave Seth the chance to explore the different kinds of dungeons. Generally, there were those that grew in already existing structures like the sewer, a tomb, or an actual dungeon. But there were also those that would grow as an own structure. There was a tower in Ora that had 25 floors above and an unknown number of floors below ground. This was the ce they spend most of their time in these days. The most interesting ones were dungeons that existed as a portal that led to space bubbles. They could randomly appear independent from the surrounding. They were the most dangerous and unpredictable kind of dungeons. Sometimes they would lead to apletely different environment, or to something like a parallel version of the real surroundings. One would know where they led before they were explored and they had no divisions when it came to levels. If you randomly entered one such dungeon, you could end up in a forest with mostly harmless animals and suddenly get killed by a dragoning by. N?v(el)B\\jnn After diligently farming all kinds of monsters in the low-level areas like goblins, kobolds, orcs, wolfs and such the Ivicer reached lv.10 Kyuu-Kyuuo! ~I think I am ready to choose my name! ~ It suddenly said one evening after they left the tower. The Ivicer had exined it to him and Fin back then. It was a tradition, that an Ivicer was not given a name by its parents. It would choose a name based on its racial memories and experiences, once it deemed itself ready. Kyuuaa! ~From now on, the great me shall be known by the name of- Puffles, the Mighty. ~ "Puffles?" ~ The Mighty~ "Are you sure about Puffles?" ~The Mighty. You keep forgetting it. Its Puffles, the Mighty! ~ "I will call you Puff." ~Puffles, the Mighty~ "Puff." ~Puffles...?~ "Puff." ..kyuouu With a sad noise, it acquiesced to be called Puff from now on. Now Puffles was strong enough to apany Seth into the dungeon with higher levels so that Seth could use the second week before the exam to strengthen himself. But first came a break to celebrate Puffles finally having a name. They really had enough from the lunch boxes they ate during the dungeon dives. Although they were no gourmets, they still grew to like the higher cuisine in their time on the airship. They washed up at the inn and left to celebrate. Seth wore his best set of clothes; one he had bought when he went to find a tailor to make the Ivicer cloth. The style in Ora was different from what he had seen in the other cities they had visited. The clothing here was high-quality, but of simple yet elegant design. Itcked the gaudy decorations and colors of noble fashion he knew. He was told that it was the dwarven influence. While dwarfs were known for their intricate works when it came to masonry, weaponry, and jewelry, their taste for fashion tended to prefer simple and practical attire. As such Seth wore a simple ck coat, trousers, knee-high boots, and a white shirt. All of them were rated umon and had cost Seth a few gold coins. Only those knowledgeable in the subject would be able to judge the quality of these clothes, but their stats were almost as good asmon leather armor. Their aim today was a high-rated restaurant from the guild''s booklet. The dining room was split into several floors with galleries like a theater. Normal people would eat on the ground floor, while higher up were private rooms and suites for special guests. They had no reservation, but money rules. The floor before them was filled with tables and interestingly enough, Seth was not the only one with a pet here. Restaurants often forbade the guests to bring out their pets, but this was one of the rare exceptions. An already elegant and greatly decorated room was enhanced by the sight of all kinds of magical beasts sitting beside their owners. Ladies in expensive dresses with exotic magical birds. Burly men in evening attire apanied by wolves, dogs... there was even a lion! Based on their pets one could also recognize the adventurers among them. About half of the guests had pets fit for battle, this meant this restaurant was well-frequented by high-level adventurers. Only high-rank adventurers made enough money to dine in a ce like this. Seth only noticed these things on the side, as he waited for their meal. He had ordered the whole menu, twice. Tonight, they would eat until their bellies exploded. Waiters came with all kinds of dishes, making Seth think he was sitting at the wishing-table. Filling the table were several kinds of meat like roasted birds, a giant steak, the obligatory pyramid of anime-style meat with a bone in it. But also, a soup with colorful vegetables, bread, cake and something that could have been pizza. For drinking, there was wine, but also different exotic fruit juices that Seth could not identify, but tasted great. As they were in the middle of decimation their meal, suddenly two elbows rested on his shoulders and chin on his head. "Nyaa~ Who would have thought I would see you again in such a ce?" said a teasing voice from above. He looked up into the green eyes of a cat beastman with maroon-colored hair and fluffy cat ears. His sugar mommy- The girl he had spent a nice morning with was standing behind him. She wore a long wine-red evening dress that fit well to her tanned skin color and fit even better to her lithe figure. Behind her were three more people. A beastman with simr ears and eye color to the girl. He was tall, attractive, and looked well-trained. Her boyfriend? Maybe her brother? His expression lookedplicated. A guy even taller, definitely above 2m, and easily the width of three people. His face looked like he inherited the blood of an ogre and his suit threatened to rip if he just barely flexed his bulging muscles. The third person was a girl with short ck hair and a lean, agile figure. The nice way to say, that she was t as a board and the tight blue evening dress didnt do her a big favor there. She had a col expression and her ears were slightly pointy. An elf? No, Seth had seen some elves on his journey, their ears were longer and pointier, so maybe a half-elf? Seth swallowed what he had in his mouth. "Yeah.... Nice to meet you?" Chapter 88 - 88. Meeting Again The girl that suddenly appeared acted like nothing was wrong. Seth on the other hand felt rather awkward. A girl he did not remember the name of, from a one-night-stand he was paid for, suddenly appeared when he was eating in a fancy restaurant and talked to him. It was an understatement to say, that he did not know how to react. "It must be fate!" she said and joined them at his table as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Are you here to celebrate, too? Wheres your party?" she asked stuffing herself with Seths food. "Ah, yes. Celebrating, but I have no party." Her question had broken his stupor, though his answer was still dyed. He thought of Fin and felt a light pain in his heart. The Ivicer this and jumped in to distract him. Kyyuu! ~I am here! Dont forget the mighty me! Stop this insolent female from eating my food! ~ "Oh my gosh! Is this your pet? Its so cute!" she called out. She had not noticed Puff before, but now her eyes fell on a new target. With a jump, she was already beside Puff and hugged him like a plushy. Tightly. Her arms squishing the Ivicer like a vise. Kyu kyurgh! ~Nooo! Get this female off of me! Im suffocating!~ "Errm, could you please let go of him? Puff does not like being hugged by strangers." She looked up with a greatly disappointed expression but did not let go. It was then, that finally one of her party stepped in. It was the handsome beastman with long hair. "Mina! Stop bothering people!" ~Help... ~ He gave Seth an apologetic smile. "Im really sorry for my sisters behavior. She normally isnt like this. Mina! Let go of the caterpir already. Its face is already turning blue." Mina finally noticed that her tough love was hurting the object of her affection and let the poor Puffles go. Quickly it scuttled away and hid from her behind Seths chair making her look even sadder. But she didnt go back to her party and sat down at his table instead. ~Shes evil and strong. We have to be careful!" "Im Mike. Again, Im really sorry to disturb you. We came here after finally finishing a long quest, but for some reason, our table was double booked. We were talking to the receptionist when she suddenly ran off." He shot a scolding look at Mina that made her shrink away. "Come on Mina. Stop bothering strangers and -" "B-But I know him!" she suddenly broke out. She wouldn''t just bother any stranger! Just the special ones. She looked at Seth with big round eyes hoping he would throw her a lifeline. Seth was at a loss. Were they more than strangers? They had sex, sure, but he didnt even remember her name. Seth was still pondering when the conversation took its turn to the worse. "And how do you-" "Dont tell me he is one of your affairs, AGAIN!?" it was a cold that suddenly cut in. The girl with pointy ears finally decided to speak. Both, Seth and Mina blushed. Mike could help but facepalm; seeing their reaction. "Not again..." His sister had a voracious appetite when it came to men. Because of her increased stats and stamina as a beastman, there were few guys who survived their time with her unscathed. "Wha-I-I made sure to leave money for treatment this time! He cant be holding a grudge. Right? You are not holding a grudge against me, right?" her eyes begged him to say something. "You''d did what...?" this time his was her brother and the girl screaming in sync. Her teammate''s reaction made her realize, that leaving money for treatment after having sex, might not be the right move if you identally broke someone''s hip or worse. It could even offend people, to be treated like a prostitute! She had not paid him for the sex, but to get medical treatment? He had tried to follow their bickering up to this point. Now, he couldnt help butugh. These people were worried that he held a grudge for having sex with a cute beastgirl. Mina, who had acted so carefree before, was now close to tears as her big brother scolded her. It was a great time for a little prank. He stood up and, bedding his chin on her head, he embraced her from behind. Simr to how she had greeted him. And he yed at the few words he still remembered from that morning. "hmm, you know? Fate made us meet again. And Im still not satisfied." he hugged her tightly against his chest. He could see her ear perk up in surprise. Her brother''s jaw fell wide open, the girl was stumped and even the big guy''s eyes bulged in surprise. "Hah! You met an even bigger pervert than yourself this time!" the cold girl suddenly broke out intoughter. Her brother was still petrified from seeing someone acting like this to his cute innocent sister. He knew what she was up to, but she would always be his cute innocent little sister! Minas fluffy cat earsy low and when Seth looked down, he saw her face bing red as a tomato. "Wha-Wha-What are you doing!" she shrieked and got out of his embrace. He smiled mischievously. But his smile soon vanished. This would be a great title to have as a human ancestor living as a tribe somewhere in the ins! It was a shame Seth did not have the habit to travel with a group of naked people. Seeing his sister act all embarrassed calmed down Mike''s mind a lot. At least she had the basic decency not to act naughty in public, or at least not in front of him. Though their first meeting was awkward, Seths joke lightened the mood. Against Puffs protests, he invited them to sit down at his table. However, Puffles the Mighty was immediately appeased, when the adventurers ordered even more food and shared it with him. Mike had finally time to properly introduce his party. They were a C-Rank party called "Yule cats Fur" and they had just returned from a quest that had taken almost a week. The two cat tribe siblings were Mike and Mina. The big guy who resembled an ogre was called Bulko and actually had ? giant blood. And as Seth had already guessed, Lixiss, the girl with the pointy ears and short dark hair, was a half-elf. While even the solemn Bulko talked one or two words, Mina had be really shy and would avoid his eyes every time he looked at her. As they were all C-Rank adventurers their talk inevitably came to the exam that would be held in a week. They had originally not nned to take part in the next exam, but theirst quest was quite sessful. The reputation had grown and they leveled up, so they decided to take part, too. "You are a C-Ranked solo-adventurer as a cksmith ?" Mike had a surprised look. Normally crafting ssescked the offensive skills to get far as an adventurer. "You have to be strong then! Maybe you could join us for the exam? We could use another frontline attacker." Mike offered with a smile. Mike himself was a swordsman and yed the part of a damage dealer. Mina was an assassin and Lixiss was a sorceress. The surprising one was Bulko, with his giant build and muscr arms he was a....priest. A pure priest for heals and buffs. Bulko had a whole origin story of his own. One where he started off as a very violent youth. He used to always use force to get what he wants. This was until he almost killed a priest that tried to stop him. He was no murderer, but in his rage had had almost be one. Instead of handing him over to the guards, the priest taught him his ways and Bulko changed his ss, swearing to never use violence again. Of course, none of them knew how deep the silent giant really was. He never bothered telling anyone. Seth easily agreed. He didnt mind finding new friends and it definitely would not hurt to know some of the people beforehand. The exam was a joint quest after all. Another bonus was, that they could use the following week to train in the dungeon together. With an actual party, Seth and Puffles would be able to visit hunting ground with higher levels safely. As a proper C-Rank party the members of "Yulecats Fur" had an average level of 40. This meant Seth could safely enter lv.40 hunting grounds.. With his level being 20, he would still get more experience like this, even with the experienced being shared among more members.N?v(el)B\\jnn Chapter 89 - 89. Party Play "Im staying at "The Lucky Miner" They had just finished their meal, with everyone being close to falling into a fooda. Before they left and split up again, the conversation led to their ns for tomorrow, where to meet. As Seth was still new to Ora, he suggested meeting at the inn he was staying at. "The Lucky Miner!? Isnt that the expensive inn at the elven square?" Lixiss eximed. She had a rather cold attitude until now but it suddenly changed now. "Expensive? Well, its not cheap. But I would not call it expensive." Seth pondered. The night at The Lucky Miner cost 10 silver coins. That included 3 tasty meals and a private bathroom. Seth didnt perceive it as expensive. But Seth was rich, how would he know what the poor deem expensive? Lixisss eyes became gold doubloons. For C-Rank adventurers like them, 10 silver for a single day was very expensive. A normal citizen would think adventurers made loads of money with their quests and in the dungeons, but they also had huge expenditures. They did not just need to buy food, they also paid for a ce to stay, weapons, armor, and to maintain them. They also had to pay a lot of money for single-use items like potions. In the end, unless you became a sessful B-Rank adventurer, 10 silver for one night was a huge expenditure. And Lixisss new friend just talked about it like it was nothing. The shine of money had thawed the cold beauty''s attitude. They agreed to meet in front of the Lucky Miner on the morning of the next day and split up. Seth held back Mina before she could leavepletely. "Hey. I meant what I said earlier. Would you maybe like to apany me to my inn?" he whispered in her ear. She blushed a little and pondered and then made a slightlyplicated expression. "Not tonight. Hmm, maybe tomorrow?" she gave him a teasing smile and ran off after her brother. Seth shrugged and left, with the Ivicer back in the pet space. The next morning was warm and bright. Seth and Puff and a good breakfast before waiting for the party outside the in. Today they nned to enter the tower''s 6th floor that held monsters up to level 35. With "Yulecats Fur" having an average level of 40 they would have some leeway on this floor. Just enough to train and get used to fighting alongside a new member. Soon Bulko and Lixiss came into view, while Mina and mike stayed at the other side of the street, keeping their distance to the inn. "Hey Seth!" the elvish girl greeted him excitedly. She really became a lot nicer after knowing he had money. Bulko only gave him a nod as a greeting. "Good Morning you two. Whats up with the kitties?" Seth looked at the siblings who looked almost ufortable. "They...are kind of out of sorts with the owners" "Oh! Oh, well. Lets leave then." Was the thing between cats and dogs also a thing between beastmen of the cat and dog tribe? They were about to leave when a shout disturbed the calm morning air. "You unfilial children! Dont think I cant recognize your teammates! Im not so blind as to not see you over there!" James the inns owner had rushed out onto the street and was furiously shouting at the cat siblings. Mina and Mike looked conflicted and remorseful. The grown adventurer had turned back to little children being scolded by their father. "I promised your father to take care of you! We raised you as our own children and you suddenly run off to be adventurers! 3 Years! Noting back for three years. If Sean did not visit the guild once in a while you could have been dead, without us even knowing. Do you even know how worried I and your mother were!" with this he hugged the two siblings who had their stares fixed to the ground in shame. He hugged them tightly and tears ran down his cheeks. What had Seth stumbled into here? A full-blown soap drama? James had pretty much exined the whole plot. He and his wife had promised one of his former colleagues to take care of his children when he was in the mines. Their mother had died during the winter a year earlier. He died during a mine copse leaving the two children to James and his wife. They raised the two like their own children, but the two were adventurous and reckless. Which led to them running away and bing adventurers, a dangerous job their adoptive parents would not have epted. They missed their parents but were also too afraid toe back and be scolded. That''s why they had avoided the inn for three whole years, never even getting close. Th had not known, that their parents had actually kept an eye on their career and had be proud of them. It was quite the heartwarming reunion and stuff like that, but Seth was d when they could finally set off for their dungeon dive. The walk to the tower was not long and they soon stood in the entrance hall where you entered the floors. The tower had a teleportation formation, where you could travel to any floor you had visited before. Seth had not been to the 6th floor before, but as long as he was in Minas party he could hitch a ride to the floor with them. But before they entered the dungeon everyone wore and checked their equipment. The team''s eyes bulge when they saw Seth wearing a high-quality armor-set and spear. They could not know the exact rating of the items, but they could tell that they were definitely not ordinary! Seth understood their reaction when he checked their equipment with . Except for Mikes Sword and Lixiss'' Staff who were rated umon, they wore onlymon equipment. Only Mina daggers had a basic enchantment. This was actually very reassuring. It meant they had gotten where they were with their own skills. This didnt change the fact that all of them were marveled at Seths equipment. "Oh wow! How much did you pay for this?" Lixiss asked with sparkly eyes. "A lot of time! I made them myself after all." he answered with augh. "You made these!?" Mina eximed and suddenly clung to him. "You wouldn''t possibly have a pair of daggers for your girlfriend, right?" "Shameless!" said the half-elvish girl that stated clinging to his arm. Seth wrapped his arm around Mina waste and got really close to her. "I have nothing for free. Not even for my girlfriend." he whispered in her ear. "Buh! Cheapskate! You are no fun!" she said and got away from him. The greedy cold beauty also let go of him after knowing that he would not gift them awesome stuff. Before they entered the floor, Bulko cast group buffs on them all increasing their defense and damage by 15%. Buffed up they entered the teleportation formation. This ce was very different from the floors he had visited before with Puffles. The floors before always looked like human-made structures. The typical dungeons with long maze-like floors and rooms. But this floor was like a small world. Like the portal dungeons that led to a space bubble. They stood in a dark forest with a dim light shining down from the sky. The trees here were colored in shades from ck to purple with grey to pale rose-colored moss and lichen growing on and hanging from them. The leaves were serrated and ranged from ck to dark blue. There was no shrubbery and the ground was just wet dark earth. A cold wind was blowing through the forest and howling through the branches above them their breath hung like a white fog in front of their faces. "Get in formation," Mike said and everyone formed a loose circle around Lixiss and Bulko, he casters. Mike and Bulko had also summoned their pets. One was an armored wolf, which was a monster that looked like a mix of wolf and armadillo. The other was a great snapper, which was a very big and more agile version of a snapping turtle. Both had a bnced attack and defense to reinforce the frontline. Puffles, the Mighty took his ce in the center, beside the casters. The monsters that were supposed to appear on this floor were types of demonic insects. Seth had not met any demons or demonic creatures, yet. But they were a thing in the pathwork. One of the few factions that not just used the pathwork, but was able to hijack other worlds on their own. "Be careful. These things could hide in any and every shadow around here." "There are a lot of shadows." "Yep." They slowly walked along a rough path.. It was only distinguishable because the surrounding trees had a regr distance between them, forming this way.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Chapter 90 - 90.Party Play (2) His feet slightly sank into the soft dark earth of the 6th floor. The floor was dark, but thanks to his pendant he saw everything clearly. Still, it was Mina that was the first to find a monster. With a she had vanished from their formation. With a shout, a big spider with spindly legs and a big bulbous butt fell on the path. It was ck with purple markings and had big wound bleeding with yellowish clear blood on its behind. Mina had brought it into the open with an attack. The monster turned towards them and hissed at their group spitting fluid in der direction. Before it could hit anyone Bulko, the giant priest, had already cast a shield to block the attack. Mike had already sliced the creepy-crawly apart before Steh could even react. It was over before he could even use on the creature! He had gained 1% experience without doing anything. He would have gained more if he did it alone, but he wasnt even sure he could have dealt with this beast on his own. The party had wordlessly synchronized their actions and showed their splendid teamwork. Seth was impressed by their fast reaction and resolved himself to work hard in the future. If he wanted to survive back home, he needed to learn to deal with such situations. "Mina, you loot it." "Yeah yeah...." Mina had to loot all the corpses since she was the party''s lucky hand with 33 points in luck! They kept going, searching for the right way. These nes were fundamentally different from normal dungeons where one could either go back or needed to clear the dungeon to escape. The dungeons that resembled tiny dimensions had the core hidden somewhere in thendscape. You could only clear them by finding the dungeon core or killing all the monsters. Of course, there were also special circumstances. Some dungeons could also be cleared with a quest and you could always use an escape scroll. But those were rare and expensive. In the tower, each floor was like a separate dungeon, and one needed to clear it to climb to the next floor. Obviously, the "dungeon core" of a floor was not the dungeon core of the tower, but simply the power center of the floor. Seth got his chance to shine soon enough! They had entered a clearing when a great group of centipedes silently tunneled out from the ground in the darkness surrounding them. This time he was the first to react since he could clearly see them in the dark. With a shout, he swung the spear. The sharp tip easily mowed down the centipedes like grass. They were about the length and thickness of an arm with thumb-sized pincers. He hit three with one strike! rmed by Seths shout Bulko cast a greater to illuminate the whole clearing. Promptly the rest of the party started to fight the roughly 20 centipedes surrounding them. The monsters were no problem for the lv.40 party and they soon cleared away all monsters. They killed the second tost centipede and Seth finally leveled up. Just one more level and Seth would have enough skill points to level up . He had gained 9 attribute points and used them to smoothen his attributes. He brought strength and dexterity from 63 to 65, agility from 38 to 40, and put the remaining 3 into intelligence bringing it to 31. After they looted all the mobs and Bulko re-cast the buffs they kept going. Mikes party knew this floor already, so they were aiming for the dungeon core. After level up, he only got about 1% experience for the mobs on this floor. They met some more insect-type demons on the way but it was barely enough for Seth to get halfway to lv.22. But leveling up had not been the goal, to begin with. When they finally reached the dungeon core Seth and the party had gotten a hunch of each other''s skills and how to work together. When they touched the core, they got the option to either go back to the lobby or proceed to the next floor. As the party leader, Mike decided that it was enough for today and they left the tower. It waste afternoon when they stepped out of the dungeon. Seth invited them for food at "The Lucky Miner". After having reconciled with their parents, the two siblings and the rest of the party dly agreed. At the inn, they talked about their ns for tomorrow over a meal. Mina and Mike spend the evening with their parents while the other two left. Seth had waited for this. He was not done for the day. It was just another 50% until the next level and he didnt think it would take very long to farm it alone. As such he decided to visit another dungeon with Puffles as the sun started to set. Their destination was Ora''s graveyard. Undead dungeons were the kind of dungeons Seth found himself always returning to. He had gotten used to the gruesome looks of skeletons and zombies. The dungeon was supposed to be an old crypt that was known to spawn undead up to lv. 20. They shouldnt be a problem for Seth and Puffles, who also leveled up quite a bit in theirst dungeon dive, the Ivicer was now a proud lv. 16. He had no attribute points, but his stats naturally grew, increasing his defense, endurance, and mana by a lot. A cold fog covered the nightly graveyard and was dipped in an alien light by the colorful moons of this world. The graveyard itself was well-kept andcked a creepy and terrifying atmosphere. It was filled with an array of beautiful and lifelike statues disying the great skill of the town masons. Seth didnt really know the rites of this world, but people who could afford such tombstones must have been wealthy. The entrance to the dungeon attracted negative attention,pared to the neat surroundings. It was an old and weathered mausoleum. Some bronze letters once spelled the family name of the people resting here, but many were missing leaving the name unreadable. The hinges were so rusted, that the rotten door almost crumbled in his hand before opening with an unpleasant creaking. Contrary to expectations there was no room with nametes or niches for coffins behind the brittle doors, but a big staircase directly leading down into the darkness. Puffles cast the buffs he learned after leveling up increasing their defense, attack, and stamina by 5%. They entered the stairs and the door smashed close behind them. Slowly they descended the stairs. They kept descending. ... The stairs were really long. Finally, they reached a floor. Was this what a crypt looked like? It reminded Seth more of catbs. Long narrow corridors hewed into the stone with recesses for coffins. After setting off a me trap by opening one of them Seth decided to not touch them anymore. He didnt get hurt, but the durability of his armor had decreased a little. Soon opening in the walls started to appear, leading to small barren rooms that held stone caskets. This time Seth could not help himself. He shoved off one of the covers using his spear, evading a volley of poison arrows this way. Inside was a roughly humanoid skeleton and nothing more. It really wasnt worth the effort. As he was upied with the casket before him, suddenly the cover of another one to the side exploded upwards and a pale creature lunged at him. Sharp ws aimed for his face, but he blocked them with his armguards, only to take a hit in the gut. He felt the power prate through theme of his armor. How was it this strong? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om He shoved the heavy attacker away with the spear shaft to gain distance and ready his weapon. It had surprised him, but he was able to deal with it thanks to . < Ghoul lv.21> did its job and told him that the pale roughly humanoid creature before him was in fact not a vampire, as Seth had judged because of the appearance, but a ghoul. It had razor-sharp fangs and ws like hunting knives. These ws had left some marks on the bone-tes of his armor, but now that Seth was ready, he did not give it a chance to get past the spear tip. When it attempted to p the spear aside and rush at him, the spear tip evaded the hit and thrust deep into the creature''s chest. It didnt die, but let out a bloodcurdling scream. Impaled on the spear it caught onto the shaft and didnt let go. In this moment the sound of stones breaking and rubble falling echoed through the corridor outside and he heard fast steps approach shortly after. Was that a call for help!? "Let go!" Seth had not wanted to use it, because it could damage the loot but this was not the time for it. He tightened his grip and a tongue of mes shot along his spear and directly into the monster''s chest. Like other undead before it shrieked in pain and let go of the spear. Seth used the chance to pull the spear out and thrust again, this time into the ghoul''s face. Puffles had cast a barrier to keep the horde outside. Seth turned to the entrance of the room.... the corridor was filled with ghouls. Chapter 91 - 91. Bloodslaves A horde of Ghouls, humanoid creatures with hunched backs and long sharp ws, was banging onto the thin light membrane Puffles had summoned on the door. While the barrier was still holding Seth decided to chuck his throwing knives into the crowd. It was simply faster than using his bow to shoot them in close range. But the ghoul''s reactions were unbelievably fast and while some evaded his attack one even caught the throwing knife with its mouth and bit it into pieces! His attacks did some damage when he hit. Many among the group of ghouls were bleeding in several ces when the barrier started giving in. He readied his spear as the barrier started to get covered in cracks and Puffles positioned himself in the rear, to support Seth with attack magic. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The barrier finally broke and the horde tried to rush into the room. Seth did not shy away from the entrance but used it as a bottleneck. With Puffles shoot light arrows at the ghouls in the back, Seth was able to fight the creatures one by one and kept aiming at their heads, as this had worked on thest one. Under Seths relentless thrusts and the Ivicers cover fire the undead fell one by one. He used the soul fire sparingly to drive back the ghouls if they threatened to overwhelm them. It was an unprecedented struggle Seth had not expected. Once 15 ghoul corpses covered the floor, silence finally returned to the dungeon. Fatigued he sat on the ground with his back against a destroyed stone casket. Just a little more, Seth was really close to level up. It made this struggle worth it! Not really. Even if he could revive at the guild, being ripped apart by ghouls was not his number one choice of death. He stayed put until his breathing returned to normal and his HP had more or less recovered. The increased health regeneration of his pendant was a great help. Seth had been really surprised by the strength of these undead. The young man realized that he couldnt be careless just because his stats and items were overpowered. After feeling better, he got up and started looting the corpses. They only dropped , some eyeballs and a weird crystal shard Seth could not appraise? The ws were amon rated crafting material, the rest were probably stuff for alchemy. As he was walking looting the corpses, he found only 3 small souls on them. 16 ghouls dropped just 3 souls... He sighed and started to pick up the throwing knives that had missed. But when Seth picked up the knife the ghoul had broken, he felt something different! Holding the metal shard in his hand he used and was able to extract the small soul from the broken throwing knife! So, breaking a weapon was the way to get back an infused soul? It felt a little wasteful. But now, together with those he had collected earlier with the party he now had 23 souls. Many stone caskets in the following rooms werepletely broken after the ghouls had burst out from within them. Except for the traps, the corridor was nowpletely safe and without any monsters. There was also no loot. The dungeon itself was rather barren with such little monsters and loot. Although it felt weird how strong the monsters were. Maybe there were not many people visiting or dying here? Seth had heard that dying people were nutrition to the dungeons. That was after his little adventure in the basement dungeon. It could be a sign that the dungeon was starving. Well, Seth didnt have any ns to feed it. At the end of the narrow passage was a wider room with a high vaulted ceiling and five sarcophagi with reliefs of the people they contain on the top. Now, this looked more like a crypt or maybe a burial chamber. But something didnt really fit in with the creepy atmosphere of the dungeon. Two burnt down candles spending a dim light on a shabby table in the corner of the room. It did not fit the rest of the dungeon at all. As Seth got close to the table, he heard a scraping from the sarcophagi behind him. It was not the violent bursting like before, but desated hands slowly moving the heavy stone tes. What rose from the sarcophagi at the corners looked almost like skeletons. Four tall naked figures not much more than skin and bones. The faces had no eyes or lips and looked like a skull with skin tightly pulled over the bone with sharp long fangs. All their head turned towards him when he used . The difficulty had suddenly made a massive jump! Werent there only supposed to be monsters around lv.20? Seth, with Puffles behind him, backed away to the entrance of the passageway. If these things were as bad as the ghouls, they might turn out to be a real threat. They were still slowly climbing out of their eternal resting ce and suddenly Seth did not feel like waiting politely. He equipped the hunter bow and started shooting the closest bloodve. Puffle took the cue and also started shooting. The strengthened effect showed its power when the arrows homed in on the heart. Under the united fire of Seth''s arrows and the Ivicers light magic, the monster stood no chance to leave its casket! It gave him enough experience to level up. He only gained 6 free attribute points, but that was not important as he had finally 5 skill points to level ! This was all he wanted from this dungeon, as such Seth decided on a strategic retreat. Something was not right with this dungeon and he didnt feel like investigating it after the other three came for him. And there was still whatever was in the center sarcophagus. Based on all his knowledge about this kind of room, there would be something a lot worse in there. ~Are we really going to leave these things alone? ~ He only nodded at Puffles'' question and instructed him to put a barrier on the exit of that room. There was something going on in this dungeon, but he would not risk his life to find out what. Puffles was called back to the pet space and Seth printed out of the dungeon. Halfway down the corridor, he heard the barrier exploding behind him. That''s was not the slow crumbling, but an explosive shattering! How strong were these things? Seth soon found out when his lead war slowly shrinking and he saw the things sprinting along the walls and ceiling of the passageway. Seth swallowed the bitter pill and consumed a speed potion. It was a very expensive potion he had bought for 2 gold during their journey. With the boost, he could barely keep his remaining lead. Now he only needed to reach the exit, before the effect of the potion wore off. He reached the end of the corridor, but now came the worst: Running up the stairs! This burned as he rushed up the old staircase towards the exit. Behind him, the monsters cheated! They simply stayed on the walls and evaded the tedious ascent. Taking several steps at once Seth still lost the lead and the monsters started swiping at him with their ws cutting deep into his armor and leaving gashed in his flesh. He didnt dare to give them any attention as he rushed for the exit and left the dungeon with a dive. With a big sigh of relief, he looked back at the bloodves who could not leave the dungeon behind him. He got away and it only cost him half of his armor''s durability... Anyway. It was night and he was alone in the graveyard. He got his level up and didnt want to wait. He used his 5 SP to level his and the perk list disyed a new perk. Chapter 92 - 92. Cerberus An Assistant? Seth was alone on the wide and quiet graveyard, so he summoned the whole smithy to see what it looked like. Among the different crafting stations, Seth already knew towered a humongous figure. At first, it reminded him of Anubis as the three-meter-tall giant was a muscr dog-headed statue. On the second look, unlike Anubis, the golem had 3 dog-faces reminding him of a buddha lycanthrope. The information came to his mind as he inspected the "assistant". The hunk just stood therepletely motionless. Seth needed to ovee another trial simr to the one for the jewelers table to unlock it. His strength was now 65 and he roughly remembered that the trial for the table was rather easy with 50 dexterity. He looked at the dark and empty graveyard, slightly illuminated by the ghostly glow of his smithy. Should he do it now? He had a quiet and lone moment now, so it may be the best chance to fight the giant here and now. Who knew when he got the next chance? Seth was still pondering whether this was the right time but still decided to go through with it. < Quest: Beat the Golem Difficulty: C "Cerberus" is temporarily unlocked. Prove your strength to unlock the workshop assistant "Cerberus" permanently. To prove your strength, you have to best the golem in a contest of strength: an arm-wrestling match. Requirement: Win against Cerberus 0/1 n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Rewards: Permanently Unlock "Workshop Assistant". > An arm-wrestling match?! It took a big load off his mind. Cerberus gave of a suffocation pressure and Seth was unsure whether he had a chance fighting this thing in a serious match, but strength was one of his forte. He was confident in his attributes and epted the quest. The eyes of the three dog-faces glowed up in a purplish-blue as the golem started to move. With slow and heavy steps, it walked towards the anvil in the center, knelt down, and set its elbow in the surface. Cerberus kept clenching and unclenching his fist giving Seth a prompting look. The cksmith stepped up to the anvil and grasped the golems giant hand. Both gripped firmly and thus the battle of attrition started. Seth''s muscles bulged as he consciously used all his strength for the first time. The big stone muscles of the golem made a grinding noise as its force grew along with his. They locked eyes and kept increasing their grip and pressure until their fingers dug into each other''s hands. It was a tie as their hands came to s standstill in their original position. After a while, Seth felt his muscles start twitching as they screamed in pain, but he could also see dust crumbling from the golem''s arm. The back and forth that had existed before finally started to tilt. Unfortunately, in Cerberus favor. As a golem, it had simply better stamina than a body made of flesh and blood. Seeing his hand slowly giving in despite his best efforts, Seth started to panic. But he was a long way from giving up. So, what if his current strength was not enough? He thought and summoned his status. Looking into the purple glowing eyes of Cerberus he started putting his fresh attribute points into strength. Its not cheating! It amon thing for the main character to suddenly power up during a hard fight. His strength reached 70 and the situation was reversed, as it was now the golem''s arm slowly giving away. More and more dust and sand fell from its arm as it tried to fight back. But the oue was inevitable. After the protagonist had miraculously powered up during the battle, the antagonist had no choice but to ept his fate! Its eyes glowed up brightly as the golems elbow broke under the pressure! The golem stood back up straight and its broken arm was restored to the way it was before. Facing Seth, it gave him a formal 90-bow epting him as the new master and awaiting his orders. At this moment a wave of information concerning Cerberus flooded Seths brain. The range of tasks it could be given and the limitations pertaining to it. Many menial and repetitious tasks could be handed over to the Golem. He could also support him in forging like a forging assistant or simr a power hammer. It was a shame, that Seth would not be able to make Cerberus fight for him. As Cerberus was an assistant and guardian for the workshop it could only be summoned in the workshop. Its range of action was restricted to within the workshop or the immediate surroundings. He would not be able to simply summon the golem to protect him as a bodyguard. It was a disappointment because Cerberus was actually a lot stronger than Seth was. The golem''s power was simply nerfed for the trial. Although, it could not simply fight for him, the Golem hat a great range of use. This opened up a great opportunity for him! There were still the bunch of armors he needed to send to Zhiqe. Seth had procrastinated to make them since it was a very monotone and unrewarding task. Now, he could simply use the golem to make all the scales he needed and then assemble the armorster. It saved him a lot of time and effort. This meant opening a shop became a necessity... Forging was loud, it was not as loud as he would have expected, but it was not something he could just do in a hotel room in the middle of a residential area. He had only dared to forge on the airship because of the VIP rooms and their excellent sound istion magic. The golem would be able to work 24/7 all day long until there was no material left anymore, once he had an official workshop. It was already sote and he needed to meet with mike and the other again tomorrow. He decided to find a workshop in theing days. Seth unsummoned the smithy and returned to his inn for a good night''s sleep. Or what was left of the night. The following day started with a simr dungeon run. Seth worked on his teamwork with the rest of the party and they started to build up a good rapport. In the quieter moments, he also managed to start up a conversation and got closer to Mina. As a consequence, he could not go and look for a workshop. After the dungeon, he went drinking with Mina and they spent the night in a different Inn. Obviously, they would not do it at the ce of her adoptive parents. He woke up in a room covered in randomly thrown away clothes. It felt great waking up with a beautiful girl in his arms and actually remembering how he got there. "Nyaa~" she yawned and woke up. Lifting her head, she nted a soft kiss on his lips with a grin. "You know, I might know a solution to your problem." she grinned mischievously. Seth could only think that she meant the shop. They had talked about finding a shop yesterday evening. "Oh, really? Go on." She started moving and moves on top of him. "Hehe, not for free. You have to earn it~" Mina kept him upied untilte at noon so they came almost toote to the team meeting. But she really told him about a struggling smithy in themercial district''s second underground level. She knew the owner and told him that he might be willing to strike a deal with Seth. Seth decided to take a look the next day. Chapter 93 - 93. A Workshop Seth felt only a little bad about leaving their big, expensive hotel room to Puffles and spending the nights with mina in some cheap inn rooms. Today he did not join the team on the raid and decided to visit themercial district with the Ivicer. After he managed to part from the horny- no, the impassionate cat girl he returned to the Inn for a shower, a meal, and to pick up the caterpir. The two leisurely walked around Ora. They had already spent some time in the city, but they still felt like tourists. Every time they explored the city, they found new interesting things. They reached the entrance to the lower levels after some detours. Mina had described the location of the shop to him. It was called Marns Weapons and located on the second underground level. He knew he entered the right ce when the deafening sound of hammers hitting metal surrounded him. The people here either had their own little shops or supplied the weapon and armor stores closer to the surface. The workshops for cksmiths and simrly loud craftsmen were separated from residential areas and needed to meet several conditions such as basic sound istion. Another one was that they needed chimneys leading all the way back to the surface for the smoke of the forges to escape. The shop Mina told him about was a tiny store towards the end of a passage that led away from the main hallways. Like the other stores on this underground level, the front was a dirty brick wall and had a cheap sign with the name of the shop. This was the cheapest level just above the ck market. The ck market had nows or regtions and was rumored to be riddled with all kinds of illegal business and criminals. So, technically this level was already close to a ghetto. The door was locked, so he knocked at the door. He heard a crashing and rumbling from inside. Stuff falling, stumbling steps, and finally the key turning in the lock. A woman? What opened the door was a pale beauty with long blonde hair and pointy ears. She had a fine androgynous face with smooth subtle skin. She looked exactly like elves from games and movies Seth knew. Her hair was disheveled and she had a troubled look on her face. "He-Hello! Im sorry, but we are closed right now." she said with a deep and smooth voice. "Thats ok, Im not here to buy something. I have a different business. Are you Marn?" "AH! Y-Yes. Are you here because of the dept? Please, give me some more time. I-I-" "Calm down. Im not a debt collector. Mina told me you might be open to rent your shop to me. But she said Mina was a man." "Oh! Oh. You know Mina?" she visibly rxed andughed. "I AM a man. Dont worry, many get that wrong." Seth was a little perplexed but followed Marn into the shop. The inside of the shop was aplete mess. Weapon racks and armor stands were thrown around and broken. Weapons covered the floor and even the counter was toppled. It seemed that Marn really had some problems. N?v(el)B\\jnn Behind the salesroom were storage, a room for a smithy, and a small living room. They sat down in the living room to talk. Marn was a half-elf and exined that he had started off as a cksmith in his home vige and originally came to Ora to learn from a dwarven master. Like Seth, he had not known about the separation of the city and the necessity to get a rmendation. He was an elven cksmith, which was an umon cksmith ss. As a pure crafting ss, bing an adventurer was not an option. Marn contracted a dept to open a shop, but business was brutal. There were many cksmiths opening shops to make a name for themselves and learn under a dwarven master. Now he was not only broke but owed money and evencked the means to return home. Yesterday some rough guys had smashed his shop and taken his best weapons as a deposit for the depts. With this, his shop was doomed. As Seth exined his proposition the other''s face lit up. He would take over the shop rights from him and would pay off the dept as long as Marn took care of the paperwork. Marn agreed, but Seth could see a little regret in his handsome face. He was not ready to give up, yet. The half-elf hade here with great aspirations, but they would end with this deal. Looking at the fine features with a sorrowful mncholic expression, Seth could still not believe this face really belonged to a man. This gave him a great idea of how he could help. "You know, I might not have the time to take care of the shop all the time. Do you want to manage the ce in my stead? You could still make your own weapons and sell them here, too." It was a nice way to ask for a clerk. A beautiful Clerk would always draw in customers. "dly!" the elf eximed as he understood, that he would not have to give up on his dreams yet. Of course, Seth did this not only to get a handsome clerk for his shop. Marn was an "elven cksmith". Maybe he could learn some bads for enchanting from him. He had heard that this was an elven forte. After dealing with the business part, they had afortable conversation which finally led to how they met Mina and her party. The elf had met Mina in a bar, too. She had listened to his worries when his shop was down in the dumps. They never ended up in bed together but became good friends. Many of the weapons Mina''s party used were actually made by Marn. Unfortunately, they were also more or less his only customers. A beautiful face brought not only privileges. He often met guys mistaking him for a female cksmith and holding a grudge when he told them he was a guy. As if it was his fault, that they got horny for him. Their pleasant conversation was interrupted by heavy knocks on the door. Followed by the sound of a door getting kicked in. "Marn! Where are you, you little ******!? Do you have the money?" the intruder roared. They stood up and looked into the salesroom. The stood three thugs, who could not look any more like thugs. They wore ripped-up clothes and their hairstyles were variations of having shaved various patches of their head. The weapons in their hand were all umon and from their description, Seth could guess that they were the ones stolen from Marns Shop. "Hey, Marn! Did you seduce another guy? Does he know you have a noodle? " heughed dirty. "Anyways, we are here because Mr. J wants his money. You know what happens if you dont pay up!" he kicked one of the weapon racks lying on the ground to emphasize his point. Seth almost could not believe this really happened. Also, Mr.J? Did they think this was a Fatmanic and their boss was the Jester? "Where is the bureau of your boss?" Seth stepped forward and asked. "Huh? Nobody was talking to you. Marn! If you have the money to get a male prostitute you should first pay your debt! Seth used on the three thugs who shivered when they felt his eyes gaze into their souls. The two in the back were lv.5 and the guy in the front was lv.7. These guys would be barely able to survive the sewer dungeon. Seth felt, that he might identally kill them with their level difference. He summoned Puffles, the Mighty, to show them the ropes. "Puff, can you teach them a lesson?" Kyyuu~ ~Why do I have to clean up after you? ~ "Haha, look! The hoe summoned his little worm friend because he is afraid of us- urgh!" The thug in the front was rudely interrupted by a light bolt in his shoulder. mes were burning in Puffles'' eyes. ~How dare you belittle me! Puffles, the Mighty! ~ "Kyaa!" "Just dont kill them." Seth reminded his pet. Another two bolts pierced the leader''s knees and the same happened to the two in the back. With pain and fear-filled cries, all three broke down on the floor, bleeding heavily... The next moment they were covered in soothing light and their wounds healed. Just as they calmed down another rain of light bolts pierced their joints. ~Im not done, yet~ After Puffles vented his anger on the thugs it returned back to the pet space, leaving the healthy but traumatized thugs lying on the store floor. Their clothes were covered in holes and drenched in sweat and blood when Seth stepped up to them. "So? Where is Mr. Js ce? You know what happens if you dont bring me there.." he gave the leader a light kick to emphasize his point. Chapter 94 - 94. Settling Some Debts Marn exined to him, that Mr. J was the loan shark he had gotten the money for the shop from. He was one of many shady businessmen on the third underground level, the ck market. Seth collected the stolen weapons from the thugs and ordered them to lead him to Mr. J''s ce. The three thugs led them down some dirty staircase into the lowest underground level. This level was not officially made, but hewn into the bedrock by people looking for a ce to stay. As such it had a lot more random and maze-like. The quality of the work also varied greatly. There were ces rivaling the first underground floor made by dwarves with expansive streets and high-quality masonry. And then there were narrow passages that were just wide enough for one person to push through and stone rooms with entrances covered by worn-out rags. Those ces also tended to not smell very good, since these ces were naturally not connected to the sewers. The lighting was intermittent at best. Unlike the other underground floors that were lit by magterns, here there were only a few of them and mostly low-quality ones. Light on this floor came from torches and candles, which didn''t help improve the air quality in these narrow tunnels. Seth did not understand how anyone would be willing to live down here. But on the other hand, he could understand that people were ready to go a long way to survive. He felt the greedy and almost animalistic gazes from the dark rooms, entrances, and shadows around them. He equipped his armor, just in case. Mr. J''s ce was part of a row of houses with smoothly worked housefront and had a reinforced door. The bright light from magterns fell from the only openings in the walls. Arrowslits, thin openings for projectiles to be shot from. The leader announced their arrival with loud knocks on the door. A minion of slightly higher quality opened the door. You could call him a butler if you wanted to be nice, but if you chose to be honest you would call him a bouncer. The thug exined who we were and the bouncer gave our group a once over. He grunted and invited us in without a word. He did not even bother to ask for their weapons. "Asking toe without weapons or handover weapon probably didn''t make much sense in a world where anyone could conceal an arsenal in their inventory." Seth thought to himself and entered the mansion with Marn. Yes, a mansion. It did not look like much from the outside, but the inside wasvishly decorated with all kinds of expensive-looking furniture and ornaments. Loan sharks obviously made a lot of money and Mr. J liked to spend a lot, too. The Bounceler, as Seth decided to call him, led them to Mr. J''s office. Marn nodded when Seth asked whether this was really "Mr. J". At the big desk in the room sat a fucking leprechaun. Well, it was probably some kind of Gnome, but he wore a green hat and a green suit with golden ornaments. "You are.... an elf? Ah! Marn! You decided to give me a visit. How nice of you. I hope you are here to pay your debts. You wont try to tell me that still cant pay, right? I have been really lenient you know? Any other Moneylender would not have such angelic patience as me! You can ask anybody. You havent even paid the interest in 3 months. Mr. G would have skinned you after the first! Mr. L would have salvaged you and sold your organs after months. I feel almost exploited with the way you treat me!" he said theatrical making all kinds of gestured and acting like a poor victim. Seth didn''t feel like going along with the gnome''s act. He really just wanted to leave this ce as fast as possible. The third level was in some way worse than a dungeon or cave. He had felt eyes on him with every step. Eyes that wanted to rob him. That evaluated the risk. Eyes that already calcted the price of his stuff after they killed and robbed him. And this feeling was the greatest inside this subterranean mansion. Of course, he did not think he was in danger, but it was unpleasant nheless. "How much does he owe you?" he interrupted the gnome''s monologue. Mr. J didn''t like it one bit. His face that had been doing all kinds of overacted expressions becamepletely serious. And so, became his tone. "Your friend is no fun, Marn. It is very rude to simply interrupt my monologues. But ok. Lets talk about business. Do you want to pay his debt? Good. Marn originally lends 20 gold from us to buy a shop and materials with a monthly interest of 50%. He paid." the gnome looked in his papers. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "2 interests in 5 months. This means he owes me 50 gold. Do you have this much?" the gnome did not even grin or gloat. His face was still as if made from stone. Interrupting his speech must have really offended him. Seth gave Marn a startled look. He really owed this much? "Y-You took my best weapons instead of the third and fourth interest! S-So I only owe you one interest!" Mr. J red at Marn but looked back down on into his papers. After skimming through some pages, he sighed annoyed. "These goddamn goris..." he whispered to himself. "Ah, yes. I guess that happened. 30 gold then. " The transaction went unexpectedly smooth. Seth paid the money and got Marn''s contract in exchange. 30 gold was no small amount. 10 of it was Marns dept. Seth would have him work for quite some time to pay him back. But with this, he finally owned a shop! Seth had the way back on his map, so they hurried to get out from this unpleasant ce. --------After they left the office----------- "Go and find out who that was. Nobody interrupts me and gets away with it." "Yes, sir." the Bouncler said and left the room. "Is this really necessary?" the gnome asks in the room. "I told you to ruin this elf. How dare you question me?" a voice answered him. "Yes, Sir." --------------------------------------------------- Seth and Marn returned to the shop where the half-elf started to tidy up the smashed racks and fallen weapons with a newfound motivation. The tour into the third level had been longer than expected and it was already evening. This meant Marn could only go to change the papers of the shop tomorrow, making Seth the new owner. Seth returned to the in for the first time in three days and had a long and good night''s sleep.. Tomorrow he would return to Dungeon diving with the "Yulecats Fur". Chapter 95 - 95.Setting Up Shop Marn visited him in the evening a dayter and brought the papers he had to sign to take over the shop. Of course, Seth read them, before he signed them. He finally had a shop! This meant he could test Cerberus! He was too excited to wait for tomorrow, especially since he was scheduled for another dungeon dive with the party. Seth left Puffles at the inn to sleep and followed Marn back to the shop. The Half-elf didnt know what Seth nned to do but dutifully led the way. After all, Seth was his new employer now and gave him a chance to stay as a cksmith in Ora. In the smithing room in the back, Seth asked Marn to pack away his equipment into his inventory to make space. The elf''s jaw dropped to the ground when Seth suddenly summoned the aethereal spirit smithy. Seth didn''t make a big secret out of the rating of his ss anymore, but he still refrained from exining all his skills. So, he just gave Marn a short exnation. Once again, among the different crafting stations towered Cerberus, the golem assistant. It knelt down when Seth approached it. With a shriek Marn crouched into a corner, afraid of the hulking figure that suddenly started moving. "Ah. Please stand up. Act casual." he spoke to Cerberus but Marn also stood up with an awkward expression. Seth felt conflicted having this silent giant act so servile to him. He felt a connection with the golem after their intense battle of strength and judged it unworthy for such an opponent to kneel to anyone. What he didnt feel bad about was exploiting him to the max. Seth took out 200 ingots of and stacked them into the corner of the room. Cerberus was only able to do simple tasks, so Seth needed to make equipment for him, simr to what one might use with a power hammer or a hydraulic press. Using one of the ingots Seth started to forge a punch, an embossing punch. He split the ingot into two parts. He forged a stamp with the positive shape of a scale and cooled it. He ground and filed it into shape until he was satisfied. Then he heated the other part of the steel, shaped it into a nice te, and punched the negative shape of the scale into the softened metal. After quenching the te, he had a simple punch for the scales of a scale armor. Now, all Cerberus had to do was forging the ingots into sheets and punching the scales out of them with its overwhelming strength. It was a simple Task he could leave to Cerberus who could work without a break until the material ran out. All Seth would have to do then, was assembling the scale armors. This method would inevitably end up creating some scraps. Cerberus was not able to utilize the furnace, so Seth gave him a lot more material, than was actually need to make thirty scale armors. Seth could simply smelt the scrap when he returned, so he did not lose any material here. With a satisfied smile, he watched his new - assistant start using the tools in the smithy to forge sheet metal. He wanted to watch the whole process at least once, to make sure it really worked. Marn on the other hand waspletely bbergasted. "This is Cerberus, by Workshop Assistant." he said turning toward the petrified Marn. "Workshop Assistant..." the elf repeated. Then he looked up the 3-meter-tall figure with bulging muscles, wide shoulders, and three scary dogfaces. Using a golem to forge? Sure, dwarves were definitely able to make golems like this, but it seemed like a waste to use it as a workshop assistant. "What is it?" Seth asked when he notices the elf''s expression. "It-it just seems like a waste to use a golem as a menialborer. It looks so strong, shouldn''t you take it to the dungeon?" If only he could... Seth would have loved to bring Cerberus to the dungeon. "Dont worry. It also defends the workshop. So, if people like yesterday show up again... they might not be so lucky next time." Seth patted the half-elf''s shoulder and prompted him to follow back into the showroom. Marn had used the day to tidy up the ce. He set up the undamaged weapon racks in neat rows and got rid of the broken pieces. The only weapons in the store now were some of Marns lesser works. The best ones had long been cashed in by the loan shark. But all of them showed the signs of weak enchantment. It was one of the reasons he kept Marn. He hoped that he could learn the elvish forging bads or at least some of them. Not Seth filled the racks with the leftover from the weapons he had forged on his journey. Since he had sold most of the products, he made from snake bones, these were just the leftovers he did not get to put into the auction house. Disyed on the weapon racks were now 15 umon Serpent Daggers made from the teeth and 10 umon serpent sabers and cusses made from the ribs. Seth had stayed with a ded weapon since the ribs already sported the curved form. All of them had the option to poison the target by nature if supplied with mana. And Seth had used a poison enchantment to further strengthen this option. He had tested them once or twice but it was still not some kind of overpowered instant death poison effect. It was more of a slow-acting poison that slowed movements or slowly drained the HP. Compare to the actual damage of the weapons, they were negligible. Thest step was something, Seth had instructed Marn to get in town. The elf''s experience with theft reminded Seth of the Arcane Emporium and the Desert Dragon Pavillion. Seth had the elf get Anti-theft magic for the shop. It was in the form of an easy-to-use scroll. Once he used it, everything in the room was covered by a thin membrane of light. Nobody would be able to move the product except for those authorized by the user. That was unless the thief managed to find a loophole or overpower the magic. Seth had given Marn money to buy the most expensive scroll, so there should be few people able to get around it. Late in the night, Seth returned to the inn. Unlike Seth, Marn had a hard time falling asleep that night. He was living in the store. In a room right beside a tirelessly working golem forging and punching steel. Past midnight the rhythmic thumping of the hammer finally lulled him into sleep. There was another person listening to the sound of hammering standing in the darkness outside of the store. Covered in a dark cloak he felt the elf finally falling asleep. He had no idea what was making the noise of forging, but he felt no other life inside the building. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om He was hired to maim the elven cksmith and make him leave Ora. He did not need to care about any kind of device. That was what he thought. As the assassin cracked the lock on the front door, a pair of violet glowing eyes looked up from their work. The man stepped into the shop and halted as the sound of hammers was suddenly silenced. With his skill, he could make out a giant figure entering the room from the other side. This wasnt the elf? Was this the other guy his client mentioned? He got ready to end this fight before the other could make any light- Marn who had just fallen asleep jumped up in shock. He was woken up by a bloodcurdling primal scream. Bathed in sweat he rushed out of his room, but only found the empty store. He entered the smithy but only saw the silhouette of Cerberus standing at the anvil, slowly punching a scale by pushing the stamp through the softened metal as if it was y. Was it just a dream? So much had happenedtely. He was so tired... Marn returned back to his room and fell asleep again. In the darkness, his sleepy eyes missed the rivulets of blood, stream down from the canine jaws and across golem''s chest.. All that was left of the intruder was a small pool of blood on the floor, that would have vanished by the time morning came. Chapter 96 - 96. Before The Exam The following days leading up to the exam were dominated by fighting in dungeons and working on his teamwork with "Yulecat''s Fur". They slowly started to fight in more dangerous dungeons and Seth and the group got used to each other. In the time Seth worked with the adventurer party he realized how hard-pressed for money adventurers actually were. Without a well-paid quest, they could only grind the monsters in dungeons and sell the drops. The money they made in this barely justified the work put into it. Seth felt bad for them, but it was good for him. Grinding meant that they had to kill a lot of mobs and he managed to get another level up before the exam. Puffles also reached lv.20 in record time. Regrly fighting monsters in the range of lv.40 made him suspicious of the dungeon on the graveyard. Arguably those lv.28 bloodves were almost as strong or even stronger than the creatures he had been fighting together with Minas party. He decided to report that dungeon before they left for the exam. The receptionist took notice of his concerns and filed his report away. It did not seem like they took it very seriously, but Seth did not feel like it was his problem. He did his duty and that was it. The Day of the Exam was unexpectedly not them setting off for a great B-Rank quest, but only the briefing on said quest. In the morning, the parties taking part in the exam were asked to take a seat in a big hall. On the podium in the front stood a rough-looking middle-aged man in unfittingly formal attire. "Some of you I know personally. Some of you are new. Im the guild master and I will exin the Exam to you. To rank-up, you will have to prove your skill and expertise. All of you are C-Ranks, you will take part in a real B-rank quest under the supervision of an A-Rank and 2 B-Rank parties. They will be your proctors and examiners." What followed was the exnation of what a B-Rank quest was. Unlike the quests on lower ranks, which could normally be taken by a single adventurer or party of the same rank, B-Rank quests required several parties of the same rank to safely aplish the task. The role of the proctors was to examine their actions and step in if it became clear that the C-Rank parties cannot handle the situation. The quest itself was an escort mission for the Pce Trading Company, one of the richest merchant guilds in Ora. The quest was to escort a merchant caravan that transported goods for the twin city of Ora, Tora within the mountain range. Tora was smaller than Ora, but it was the gateway to the central subterranean kingdom of the dwarves. The trade route led through the territory of high-level beasts which warranted the quests rank. "The journey will take 2 weeks, one to get there and one back. You will take care of your rations and equipment yourselves. The beasts you will encounter are wyverns, distant rtives of dragons. Even with the proctors and examiners, there is no guaranteed safety for you. You can drop out of the exam now if you are too afraid. " The parties were given another day to prepare their equipment and set off was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. It was not a problem for Seth, as he had expected to set off the same day, he had already prepared enough food for 3 weeks and a nice tent and sleeping back. But this gave him the chance to visit the tailor he hadmissioned to process the Ivicer threat. He had visited before to get more sets of clothes for traveling but the clerk told him that hismission was not ready yet. "Yulecats Fur" actually had the same idea and were surprised by the bonus time. Instead of jumping back into the dungeons, they used the rest of the day as a break to rx and refill their energy for theing quest. Seth and Mina went on a date to explore the amusement district of Ora. It was a little like visiting a funfair. There were stalls with games and souvenirs. Of course, also a lot of food and they ate lots of sweets. Especially Puffles enjoyed stuff like cotton candy. Seth used the next free day to visit the tailor shop. It was a big store at one of the central squares in themercial district. The founder was known to be a master tailor while the shop itself was led by his apprentices and their descendants. It was a big family business and the best he was able to find when it came to skill, and well known for its quality. If anyone in Ora was able to make something good from the Ivicer Threat then it was the current master of the shop who was close to bing a master tailor or his apprentices. Maybe if he found one of those Arachne Weaver, but Seth found that the true masters rarely left the territory of their race. Seth did not spare any expense when he ordered a cloth armor from this ce. He had no preferences when he ced the order, as the only actual cloth armor he knew was a gambeson. That''s why he left it to the tailor to choose the best kind of armor to make from this material. A big surprise awaited him when he came to ask for the progress of his order for the first time. After seeing the material, the shop master himself decided to take the order. This change meant that it was not ready when he originally thought he would leave. The day before after he had returned to the inn, he got the notice that the master would finish his order on the day before they actually left. That was today. Seth was full of expectations for the work of someone close to master rank. "Hello, Im here to collect my order. I got a notice that it would be finished today." he stepped to the counter and talked to the clerk. "Do you have a receipt?" the young clerk askes friendly. This receipt was a small piece of enchanted paper, printed from a magic device. It was a simple way to make sure the right person received the products. Seth took it from his inventory and handed it to the clerk. His eyes widened when he found his order. "You are the customer who brought that golden threat? That is great! The master wishes to meet you. Would you have time now?" he said with an excited glint in his eyes. "Errm, sure?" Seth answered perplexed and was promptly pulled to the back of the shop. Sitting cross-legged in a room lined with shelves containing bales of cloth was a rather old man. He had a respectable white beard, but and the wrinkles around his eyes made him out to be a man who likes tough. As he sat there and worked on a piece of clothing with the cloth in his hand he looked almost like a meditating master. When he notices his guest, he put away the cloth he was sewing right now and looked up to Seth. "Hello, I am N?del, the master of this shop. Are you Seth Smith, the man who brought this magnificent thread?" he said holding up a short piece of Puffles thread. The golden metallic material caught the light and sparkled magnificently. "Ah. Yes. Was this why you wanted to talk to me?" "Actually, no. I wanted to personally hand over your order and thank you for bringing me such a magnificent material." "Magnificent?" Seth asked baffled. The ancient bronze was barely rated umon. Someone close to master should be able to easily get his hands on something better, right? "You seem confused?" Seth mentioned his ss and exined his confusion to N?del who immediately understood him. "You are still young. You did not have much discourse with other crafting professions, right? Tell me, what makes you think, this is just an umon material?" "I have an appraisal skill?" "What exactly does it do?" he asked with a knowing smile. "Let me bet. It recognizes crafting materials for cksmithing, yes?" He continued after Seth affirmed with a nod. "Many crafting professions have specific skills to appraise materials. And that is the crux of the matter. The judgment is specific. Just like you cant judge materials you cannot use in your profession, all material is judged by the use in your profession. You would probably melt down this thread and make a weapon or armor from the metal, right? " N?v(el)B\\jnn Again, Seth affirmed with a nod and kept listening to the old man''s exnation. "Using it like this is actually destroying many of its properties. To your skill, the metal is barely umon. But a metal wire, thin like a thread, stronger than steel and with a magic conductivity rivaling mithril is a rare material to my eyes, even close to epic." Seth could only look bbergasted at the thin wire in the N?dels hand. "That is why I thank you. It is hard to find rare or epic materials for tailoring. Not many metals can be turned this thin and monster materials are hard to get, as beasts using thread are often especially dangerous. Your material actually helped me to level up my skill, another step closer to master." he said with a benevolent smile. Seth imagined the progress one would make if there was no possibility to upgrade to a better material. No matter what you make only getting the fracture of a percentage. Making hundreds or thousands of products a necessity for a single level-up. He suddenly was d, that he was a cksmith and not a tailor. N?del read his thoughts and could only smile. He leaned back and took out a package from under the table. "Here. Unwrap it and see if it fits. I really put in a lot of work." From the bundle came a bunch of long flowing fabric sparkling in a reddish-golden sheen. It was a long-sleeved jacket reaching down to his knees. It differed from other gambesons he had seen since he came to this world. Disying the typical square pattern ofyered and quilted cloth it was still a lot thinner and flexible than the ones he had seen. This meant he would be able tofortably wear this under his armor without impeding his movements. Completely made of the golden thread of the Ivicer, it was a very shy piece of armor. < N?del''s Golden Jacket Rare Phys. Def.: 500 Mag. Def.:150 1. Strengthen Defense by 45% for 10s Manacost: 70 2. Weight of the armor is halved- No cost. Durability:3000 A high-quality cloth armor made by the experienced hands of Tailor Craftsman N?del.. Excellent weaving and sewing techniques imbued this item with overwhelming performance and effects.> Chapter 97 - 97. Before The Exam (2) Seth''s eyes almost fell out of his face. This jacket alone rivaled the performance of the serpent armor! And he couldbine them. The smooth metallic fabric felt cool under his touch. The inside was lined with a different warm making it unnecessary to wear any clothes below the cloth armor. He equipped the jacket and was almost unable to feel its weight. Even so, it was weaved from metal with severalyers and quilted, it felt no bit heavier or more cumbersome than his ordinary clothes. The hems were intricately weaved and immediately gave Seth the idea to maybe embed gemstone into the cloth armor. "Oh my god..." was all Seth could utter after staring at and feeling the armor for a long time. N?del had a self-satisfied smile on his lips, watching the joy of his client. This jacket really rivaled his best works, mostly because it was hard to get his hand on such materials. "How...how much?" Seth stuttered. He had not expected this. He had no idea what this kind of quality work would cost him. "Nothing. I have more than enough money. Getting the chance to work with this kind of material was already work my time." he said friendly. Seth incredulously looked at him and then understood. N?del was simr to him. He had made a lot of money from his skills. But unlike Seth, he had a hard time finding materials, no matter how much he was ready to pay. This meant his skill stagnated. Having the chance to work with an epic-rated material, for free, was more than worth the time he invested. His reward was the proficiency gained. Next N?del put a few bundles of thread on the table. It was the material he had not needed for the armor, about a third of what Seth had given him. "Maybe there is one thing. Do you have any more of this thread? It was my first time working with this material, I think if I had another chance, I could make an even better one." Now that he mentioned it, the old man''s skill level had increased after finishing this. Maybe the next one he made was epic rated? Unfortunately, despite Puffles making more thread in his free time, it was nowhere near the amount they had brought the first time. "I gave you all the thread I had at the time. I only have a little more." he told N?del honestly. "But you have some more?" as answer Seth took out the bundle that Puffles had produced in the time they had stayed in Ora. It was just a fracture of what Seth had given him before. "At this rate, you would have enough to make another one in a few weeks. But, are you even interested in another armor made by me? Of course, it would be free again!" he reassured. He was really eager to keep working with Seth. Even more so, after knowing that Seth had a source for the material he needed so much. It would have been stupid not to take this chance. Having a high-tier tailor owe you a favor was worth a lot. Even more, than Seth imagined. He immediately agreed. He packed up the rest of the thread and promised toe back once he had enough for another cloth armor like this. It was afternoon. Seth had still time. There was something he definitely wanted to try right now. He did not return to the inn but went straight down to the workshop. At the counter was Marn happily smiling away. "Whats up? Why are you smiling so much?" The elf brought out several stakes of gold coins. "We had customers today and yesterday! The first in weeks. I sold one of your daggers yesterday and today a party came and bought 4 weapons at once! 3 of yours and one of the new ones I made. Im so happy!" This exined the sudden sunshine mood of the half-elf. He had no business in weeks and suddenly great sess in two days in a row. Seth answered him with a smile and bagged the gold coins. This was his shop after all. He continued to the smithing room, where Cerberus was still tirelessly working on making scales. After telling the golem to take a break Seth took his ce on the anvil. The first thing he brought out was his Superior Sword. He was tight on umon souls and he wanted at least an umon one for this. It was unfortunate, but now that he knew that he could salvage souls from a broken weapon, this became necessary. With the help of Cerberus, they broke the Superior Sword apart. From the broken pieces, Seth was able to collect the umon orc soul. It looked slightly damaged, so this way was not the ultimate answer of how to get back souls. From the raids in the past week, he had gained another 50 souls. The orc soul was medium-sized, so Seth started to fuse the small souls, ending up with 4 medium-sizedmon souls. And fused those into the orc soul. After absorbing them the soul had not only healed but also grown in power, but the description had not changed from . With the soul powered up, Seth started to forge it with Charons Obol. With the jacket in mind, he forged a breastte with long faulds to get close to the shape of the jacket. He didnt really know if it mattered that the shape of the soul armor fit the equipment, he inserted it. Maybe it was already enough as long as they would take up the same equipment slot? No matter what, he didnt want to take a chance here. What Seth bet on was that he could use to enchant equipment that could not be enchanted with engraving, iys, or forging bads. Namely cloth and leather pieces that could normally only be enchanted using spells. Seth took the soul engraver and started engraving a circuit for strength increase. To power the enchantment to increase the strength, the option of mana increase had lowered. 15 increase in strength was the best he could do with his current skill. There was still a lot of bonus mana left. Just one enchantment was not able to harness the full potential of the soul armor. Once his skill was higher, Seth would start stering the armor with enchantments for ALL attributes. And all the resistances. And the effect could be greater, too. But for now, his skill only sufficed to do this. His proficiency for and increased by 4% and 7% respectively. Of course, he could have also simply worn the two separately, but he wanted to test whether he could infuse the soul into cloth armor. He could still wear them separately if it failed. Seth brought out < N?del''s Golden Jacket> and started to infuse the . It was very different from infusing a soul into a piece of armor. He could feel the soul slowly sinking into the different strands of thread the fabric was weaved from. It was simr to how he stretched the soul into different parts to infuse into the separate parts of a weapon. Just that it was the different threads that made up the cloth now. Infusion of the soul into many different parts cost a lot of concentration and took much longer than his previous tries. Only very slowly did the soul armor start sinking into the golden jacked and matched its physical form. Again, he could feel that at this point he could take the soul back out with . He didn''t. Putting it in had cost him a lot of energy, taking it out just to see what happens was not an option. Instead, he took the jacked and dunked it into the Water of Styx to fix the soul and finish the item. He noticed a new perk that was added after looking at the skill''s perk list. It was no wonder that he had felt like he could infuse souls into cloth and leather. the new perk was literally infusing souls into cloth and leather items. Not only did his level up, but he was also notified that he had created a unique item! Now, this was an item Seth got excited about! Just the fact that it had 5 different magical effects were already awesome, even so, some of them were more useful than others. He put the jacket into his inventory and wore it via quick-equip. Unlike increasing his strength with attribute points, he did not feel his muscles suddenly bulging as he wore the jacket. But he definitely felt more powerful having his strength boosted past 80. In preparation for tomorrow, Seth also decided to enchant the 2 soul rings he had made before giving himself another +15 buff on strength and agility. He decided on another strength buff to take advantage of the new armor''s options. The only w on this awesome item was the weird name. Anyways, with this item, he felt fully prepared for the uing exam! Chapter 98 - 98. The Exam On the morning of the day of the exam, all adventurers taking part in the quest assembled at the great gates of Ora. The Merchant Caravan was already waiting outside the city. It was a long row of carts and covered wagons with traders and drivers already waiting. Seth wore his new jacket and the serpent bone armor on top. The others had exined to him, that as escorts they had to be ready at all times. There was noing back if you got caught off-guard without wearing your armor. He checked his Status onest time and distributed the nine attribute points from leveling up. "Status" Name: Seth Smith Mark of Ivicer Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 23 Exp: 3% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:23 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: System Church Health: 1000/1000 Mana: 330+200+270 Strength:70+30 Dexterity:68 Agility: 40+15 Intelligence:33 Willpower:40 Endurance:50 Personality:14 Luck:18 Free AP (Attribute points): 0 Free SP (Skill points): 1 Defense: N?v(el)B\\jnn Physical: 1500 (150+50+500+800) (ENDx3) Magical: 864(80+25+125+145+124+365) (WILx2) Fire Immunity Poison Resistance (15%) +22% He was now the same level as his age. It reminded him that his birthday would being up soon. The new armor and soul armor gave him a significant boost in his defense. The biggest change of thest few days had his skill window. He had fought a lot and his weapons mastery had grown to lv.9. "Skill Window" cksmith (Adept) lv.5 (39%) Enchantment (Beginner) lv7 (89%) Goldsmith (Beginner) lv. 5 cksmith''s Eyes lv.4 Blueprint (Adept) lv.2 Soul Infusion lv.3 Spirit Smithy lv.5 Spirit Capture lv.3 Spirit Forging (Adept) lv.1 Weapon Mastery (Adept) lv.9 (16%) Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7 Fear Resistance (Passive) lv.8 Poison Resistance (Passive)lv.2 Fire Affection (Passive) lv.3 Fire Maniption (Ability)lv.9 Map lv.4 Observation lv.4 Concealment lv.4 Energy Cirction lv.1 Universal Trantion lv. MAX was a skill that had appeared in his skill window after the forging of Charons Obol. Seth had repeatedly tried to use it while forging, but never really seeded. His had also leveled up after he kept abusing it on many different mobs in the dungeons. After wearing all his items and checking his status, Seth felt confident to sessfullyplete this exam. When Mina and the rest of the party arrived, their eyes bulged at the sight of the new golden armor and they simply could not stop touching the hems of the jacket. Even Mike would find chances to casually touch it. "Listen up!" a loud voice got their attention. It was the guild master with three groups of people behind him. He introduced the two B-Rank and the one A-Rank party as their proctors and examiners. The three parties were ogled with sparkling eyes. B-Ranks partys equipment wasparable to Seths load-out, while each of the A-ranks was d in a full set of rare or above items. He knew that above rare came epic, but he actually could not appraise it with yet. That''s why they could have even better items among those he could not scan. The guild master exined the quest to them once again and this time Seth got a system notification. < Quest: Escort the Pce Caravan Difficulty: A Safely escort the merchant caravan all the way to its destination and return to Ora. Will you help the caravan reach its destination? Requirement: Help the caravan reach Tora 0/1, Survive Rewards: be a B-Rank adventurer, Experience > He had already decided to take part, so he epted. The part that confused him was that the quest had a difficulty rating of A. Before he had time to further think about Mina interrupted him. "Come on, Seth. The caravan is leaving!" The wagons had already started moving with most of the adventurers have found a ce in the open horse carts or riding on their mounts along with the caravan. Just Seth and the party were still standing around. They started moving and found their ce on the second tost cart in the line. Seth and "Yulecats Fur" had gotten their roles in the briefing and were part of the rear guard. Their task was to watch out for pursuers and react to attacks from behind. What one would not expect from an escort mission in a fantasy world was how terribly boring and ufortable it was to sit on a cart and just watch the surroundings. The cart was not spring-loaded or even padded in any way. His increased stats only helped him If it wasnt for the party engaging in small talk, distracting him from his hurting butt and boredom, who whether he would not have just dropped the quest? If Seth had toin about something that really bothered him besides his bruised behind, then it was going to the toilette. He had gotten used to doing it in the wilderness, but what did one have to do to take a shit in peace? With more than 50 people in the caravan, it was hard to find a private ce to take care of business. More than once he was interrupted and the only pleasant interruption was when Mina could not hold back anymore and found him in the bushes to take care of her needs. Camping out actually felt quite nostalgic to Seth. Setting up a tent together with the others, sleeping in sleeping bags. Although they could take off their equipment during the night, when they were not on guard duty, it didnt mean the environment was safe. To discourage Mina from doing any stunts, the guys and girls slept in two separate tents. Lixiss, the quarter-elven magician, could have an eye on her like this. The first 3 days were quiet. There were some monsters here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary, as far as Seth could tell. Some Goblins, a pair of Orcs, and a group of psychic wolves, really nothing that was able to make trouble for them. Before Seth could even move, they were taken care of by other parties. This was only because they were still traveling through the precursors of the mountain range. The terrain made a dramatic turnaround at the end of the third day. The forested hills they had been traveling through until now slowly vanished as the road became steeper and steeper. More and more big boulders and short shrubbery dominated thendscape. At the end of the third day, the caravan camped on a barren teau at the foot of the mountains. The foreboding silhouettes Seth had been seeing at the horizon for the most part of the journey, were now right before him. Rough rocky walls, slopes, and cliffs; barren mountains with snow-covered peaks towered before his eyes, biting like teeth into the sky and swallowing a big part of his view. Standing there Seth could barely lift his head high enough to see the sky above the mountain range. Seth was not a pure city child. His parents and he would go camping asionally, but the lush mountains he knew, seemed small and insignificantpared to the geological might of the central mountain range. The temperature had also noticeably dropped towards the end of the third day, making some of the adventurers tremble in their armors. Seth was slightly better off, as his pants and jacket were made by a highly skilled tailor, they had a natural resistance against ordinary cold. But he also let out a sigh of relief, like most of the others when they set up camp. Except for the guards, everyone else could change into warm clothes and nkets to dispel the cold. The teau they were on now was right outside the territory of the wyverns. Starting tomorrow they would travel under constant danger. As such everyone properly warmed up and had a hearty meal. It would be thest warm meal for the next three days. Unfortunately for Seth, who had gotten used to good and warm meals during his journey, Campfires and smoke could pull the attention of the wyverns and other monsters in the region. This meant that the next three days were not just full of danger, but that he could only eat rations that did not need to be cooked. He had bought all kinds of jerky and bread, but nothing could rival a warm scrumptious meal. He had not been part of the guard duty this night and was able to sleep, but the rushed and meager breakfast demotivated him almost as not getting enough sleep. But he understood why they had to set off before the break of dawn. The caravan could not stay too long in one ce. Even if it was just the edge of their territory, the longer they remained the higher the chance of being discovered. Hoping to travel three days through the wyvern territory without any encounters was wishful thinking. In the afternoon of the fourth day, Seth heard a mix piercing hiss and a guttural roar from the sky. Chapter 99 - 99. The Exam (2) Above them circled three young wyverns. As rtives of the dragon race, their skin was densely covered in scales. Unlike a dragon who had 4 legs and two wings, their front legs had turned into wings, like a bat or a pterosaur. Their hind legs were big talons like a raptors to grab their prey. Only their head looked like a real dragons with piercing sharp eyes and long teeth like daggers. The only silver lining was that they had lost their dragon breath, so their attacks were purely physical. That was the exnation the guild master had given during the briefing. Hearing it and seeing it were twopletely different things. Seth could imagine what wyverns looked like and had expectations from the novels and games he had yed. All his imaginings werepletely subverted when he saw the giant creature with almost 30m wingspan gliding through the air. Their talons long and curved like sabers glinted in a metallic ck. Their slender, snake-like bodies exuded an aura of strength and might. When their eyes fell on the adventurers and merchant on the ground they stood still, petrified by a sudden pressure weighing down on them. Dragon Might, despite only being rtives they still had the aura that made dragons the peak of the food chain. An oppressive feeling grasped his hard, Seth felt like a mouse confronted by a giant snake. Only the A- and B-Rank parties that came along as examiners were unaffected by the sudden status effect. After the initial shock, Seth felt the pressure slowly lessening. He looked around saw some of the other adventurers kneeling with expressions of absolute panic while most were still unable to move. Was it because of or ? He didn''t know and also didnt take the time to think about it. He shook Mina, Mike and the rest of the Party awake. The wyverns hat used dragon might, it meant they would soon dive down to reap their stunned prey! The party summoned their pet and got in formation, before back away. Keeping their eyes on the sky they closed in on the other adventurers and merchants of the caravan to try and wake them from their stupor. They were not the only ones who got to their senses early and with the help of the other two parties, they managed to wake up most of the adventurers. As fast as they were, they were still in disorder when one wyvern decided to attack. Archers scrambled to lift their bows and shoot at the iing reptile. Most arrows bounced off the hard scales with only a few dealing damages thanks to item effects or skills. Ignoring the flimsy arrows, it dove into the crowd and grabbed one of the adventurers that were still stunned and unable to evade the massive ws. The saber-like talons easily prated his te armor as if it was paper. Impaled in three different ces by curves pike the thickness of an arm would instantly kill anyone. It should! But in the short time, before he was whisked away, he started screaming in panic. The man grabbed was the tank of his party. His extraordinary endurance and passive skills forced him to not only not die, but also experience the situation fully awake. He left behind a bloodcurdling long-drawn screech as he was pulled into the air and ripped apart by the wyvern fangs. As shocked as everyone was, they pulled themself together. There were another two hungry wyverns and who knew whether the third was really satisfied with one victim. Mentioning the other two, they also started closing in and making attempts to dive into the crowd. But at this point, everyone had woken up from the dragon might and was able to dodge the deadly charges. Seth also equipped his bow and started shooting arrows, but his arrows also bounced off the scales. The best they could do was punching holes into the wing membranes. Even when the bows effect activated, all their weaknesses were armored. The arrow could not even prate their eyelids! The wyvern just needs to blink to block his arrows. Soon magicians were done casting and the arrows were joined by attack magic hailing onto the wyverns. This would have been great, if wyvern had no inherited magic resistance, too. The magic attacks dealt just slightly more damage than the arrows. Seth felt a little peeved. These were arrows he had made himself and he had been quite confident in them. "Very well then." he thought and changed his arrows. He switched his arrows to the ones with bodkin-type heads. The pyramid-shaped arrowheads with sharp edges were specialized in armor pration. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The least archers bothered bringing different sets of arrows, especially since this kind of arrows would normally be used in wars between humans, not to hunt monsters. Who would bother to spend the extra money and bring specialized arrows, when skills usually sufficed? The effect was clearly evident. Every time Seths arrow hit; the hit wyvern would let a pain-filled screech. The scales of the wyvern could not simply deflect or block the new arrows and were prated. They stayed stuck in the beast''s flesh causing it terrible pain. The arrows did little to shorten its health bar. But for a creature like a wyvern that was the king of its territory and got rarely hurt thanks to its overwhelming physique, directly inflicting pain was even worse than to other targets. With a smirk, Seth kept shooting his frightening projectiles and the wyverns actually started to pay attention to him and tried to evade his attacks. Only his. Even their random dive attacks had stopped as they tried to evade the little mans mean stingers. Since he already got the wyvern''s attention it did not take long for the other people to notice the beast''s strange behavior. The wyverns in the sky decided that this prey was not worth the pain for now and let off. Seth had not hit any vitals like the eyes yet, but who would not run from an acupuncture treatment with rusty nails. After the threat was gone, all eyes focused on Seth who seemed to be the reason. Even Mina and her party were astonished by his deed. He had never used any weapon other than the spear in front of them, so they were double as astonished as the rest of the caravan. Seth didn''t know how to deal with the sudden attention. How could he have known this would happen? It wasn''t his fault those big lizards were afraid of a little pain! Even the A-Rank party stepped closer. It was a group of two women and three men. At the front was a leader in light leather armor and a sword on his waist He looked like he was in his early thirties. Behind him was a girl in a tight robe and blue hair. The eyes behind her round sses were focused on the bow in his hands. She whispered something to the leader. He pondered a moment before speaking to Seth. "Well done. Follow me for a moment." he said solemnly and turned around to leave. Seth shrugged and followed. At least he got out of that awkward situation. The A-Rank party and Seth went to the head of the caravan where the carriages of the examiners were located. The leader signaled him to enter the carriage with him. He started speaking the moment Seth sat down. "One of the first to recover from dragon might. Good first reaction. Flexible in choice of weapons and adapting to the situation. Well prepared in range and quality of equipment." He sighed. "I dare say, that you have good chances to pass this exam. But that is not why I asked you toe. I asked you here to give you a little advice. Try not to stand out too much. People can see that the bow is special, even without an appraisal skill. And stupid people might attempt stupid things. Be careful. Thats all." With that Seth was dismissed without being able to even say a single word. It felt like he was scolded for bragging when he didnt even intend to stand out. He could only shrug and let it be. The milk was spilled already. He returned to Mina and the others who were waiting for him at the end of the caravan. "So, what did the big boss want?" Mina, who could not hold back her curiosity, eximed. "I think I got praised and scolded at the same time?" he tried to summarize but ended up recounting the short conversation as the others kept asking for details. They congratted him when he said that he will likely pass the exam and became solemn when he told them about the advice. "Now that you mention it, what''s up with that bow?" asked Lixiss intrigued. As a true gold digger, she was interested in everything expensive and rare. "Its actually not that extraordinary if you ask me. It just has the option to inflict increased pain, which was probably the reason the wyverns turned away." he yed it down. There was no need to mention its true abilities to everyone he knows. This was their first encounter with the wyverns. Chapter 100 - 100. The Exam (3) The caravan didnt celebrate for long. The adventurers got back in formation and the caravan hurried along. They needed to keep going to reach the next spot for camping. The dwarves had created several checkpoints along the trade route where they either cutpletely new halls into the mountains or expanded existing caves and caverns. In these ces, everyone from single travelers to big merchant caravans like theirs could stay the night without having to fear a wyvern attack. Their way led through mountain valleys and passes with little vegetation and biting cold winds howling through thendscape. Some people actually had their priests cast buffs to endure the cold. After his talk with the head examiner, few people had the time to ask him about the bow. The journey from here on was mostly silent, as everyone conserved their energy to walk. Yes, walking. They had reached the point where the carts and horses already had a hard time traversing the steep and rough road. Having everyone walk beside the carts and wagons was not only faster at this point, but everyone stayed on guard this way. At least the horses had no chance to panic and hurt themselves during the encounter with the wyverns, as they werepletely petrified in fear. Had they lost any of the horses, one of the adventurers'' pets would have had to take that role. Or worse, the people would have had to pull the cart. It was not dark yet, but the sun had already vanished beyond the mountain peaks. Trudging along the snow-covered roads everyone''s motivation hit rock bottom. Even Seth felt the cold now, slowly crawling under his skin. When he felt unobserved, he would use short bursts of mes to cover his skin below the armor. Even if someone looked, it would only seem like a short glow from the inside of his armor. He had to be very careful, not to damage his armor though. The rest of the party was walking beside him, but their eyes either looked on the ground or into the distance as they tried to keep the warmth inside their bodies. They were still the rear guard, walking at the very end of the long procession of people and wagons. At the moment they were ascending steep serpentines towards a mountain pass. The higher they got, the stronger and louder became the wind howling through the gap between two peaks. In the narrow chasm up above was the checkpoint for tonight''s camp. Supposedly there was the entrance to a big and safe cave somewhere along with the 90 steep rock faces of the pass. If this wasnt such an inhospitable ce, it would have been the perfect ce for an ambush. But no bandits dared to dwell in these mountains. This made it one of the best ces to stay, as the pass was too narrow for the wyverns to dive into. Seth cursed. Speaking of the devil. Just when their goal was in sight and he thought they would reach temporary safety he heard the familiar roar in the sky. Like overgrown vultures, they appeared circling in the sky. This time everyone was ready. The caravan leader gave the signal for the carts and wagon to speed up, while the priests cast shields and buffs against the dragon might. Safety was already in sight; a short sprint would not hurt anyone. While the wagons sped up, so did the adventurers but they stayed in formation and kept their attention on the wyverns in the sky. There were six wyverns this time, but the three fromst time were not among them. They looked even bigger and more ferocious than the ones from earlier that day. They did not attack yet, so Seth did not dare to use and provoke them, but he guessed that these had to be at least grown adults. He and the party were at the very end of the caravan, so they would be thest to get to safety. Fortunately, other parties fell back to ensure the caravans back and reinforcing their position. With three C-Rank parties and their pets making up the rear guard it did not feel like anyone was going to be left behind. Their actions did not remain unnoticed. The wyverns were not dragons, but they still had a good amount of brainpower. They saw their prey hurrying towards the tight ce they could not enter and became aggravated. ying and instilling fear was one thing, but letting their prey get away was uneptable. As such, the beast started attacking shortly after the caravan increased the speed. Seth used his and got a bad feeling about the situation. Four of them were as Seth had expected, but thest one was shown as . Their level difference was not big, and Seth could only see their names, but the pressure they gave of waspletely different. If pitted against each other, the old-timer seemed strong enough to take down the other 4 on his own! The four adult ones started to attack the caravan while the old one stayed in the air. Since the dragon might had not worked, they gave up on simple dive attacks on the people. The casters had a hard time shielding the fleeing wagon from the ws of two of them. The other twonded on the ground and started to directly attack the adventurers. They had evaded the bigger group at the end of the caravan and were attacking from the sides where the manpower wascking. Whether the beats had nned it or not, instead of forming an even group and fighting together, the adventurers split up into their original parties to fight the wyverns. Not only were they ineffective as theycked the cohesion and teamwork between different parties, but it also meant that Seth and the other were actually left alone when their reinforcements rushed off to attack thended wyverns. "These fuckers!" They were now only five people in the rearguard trying to keep up with the caravan. Promptly one of the wyverns still in the airnded beside the easy prey. The monsternded on thest cart of the caravan, crushing it underfoot and cutting off their way towards the caravan! There was nothing they could do, but get into formation and prepare for the fight. What had they trained for, if not for this? The wyvern rushed at them, but was blocked by a shield of light Bulko had summoned quick-wittedly. Having bought some time with this, everyone summoned their pets and Bulko the ogre priest and Puffles, the Mighty, cast their buffs on the party and pets. When the shield broke under the force of the wyvern''s second bite, its face got sted by a light bolt and firence from Puffles and Lixiss respectively. Wyverns have thick faces, so it was only slightly hurt by the casters'' quick attack. This wasnt a problem, using the short time it was upied by the magic, Seth and Mike dashed forward and under the body of the wyvern. With Seth on the right and Mike on the left, they stopped below its wings and started shing and stabbing at its thick scaley legs. They aimed to cut the beast''s tendons. If they could incapacitate its legs, it would lose all mobility. It would not even be able to set off and fly away! The Wyvern let out a painful shriek as Seths spear easily prated its less armored calves. The Wyvern looked away from the party in the front and bend down its neck to bite Seth. Instead of pulling the spear out he changed the grip and started pushing with all his strength as he charged away from the giant maws. Holding the spear like an oar and pushing forward, the spear tip moved like a fillet knife, cut along the calf muscle, and ended up severing the tendon on its way out. Losing the support of its right leg, coupled with the momentum of the turn when it tried to bite Seth, made the giant reptile plummet forward where itnded on its left wing. Between the weight of its own massive body and the rough rocky ground, its fine wing bones were ground to dust. Mike had been unable tond a decisive cut on his leg and his attempt were rudely interrupted by a massive tail swatting him away as the beast plunged to the ground. Mike got the expressway to leave thebat zone, but Seth was still in danger. The wyvern was in pain and angry and Seth was the only one in its field of view. As he ran away there was a long neck with sharp teeth and angry eyes diving after him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om He had no time to run far and could only block the giant maws with teeth as long as his upper arm by shoving the spear in to block the jaws from closing. Furious eyes were burning a hole into him as the pressure kept increasing. The wooden shaft started bending as the spear tip started slowly digging into the roof of its mouth. As the shaft started breaking and the splinters kept popping off the spear, Seth felt like hisst hour hade. In this moment of struggle, a shadow appeared above the wyvern''s head. A figure with two daggersnded there and rammed one dagger in each of the wyvern''s wide-open eyes! Mina, the assassin had finally decided to move and save his life. In agony the wyvern waved its head around, throwing off the figure and ripping the spear out of Seth''s hand. Not caring about the spear, he dashed away and caught Mina on the way. With the girl in his arms, a joined back with the rest of the party. Lixiss and Bolko were helping Mike who had a roughnding after being flung away.. He was okay except for some bruises. Chapter 101 - 101. Somewhere Else Debris flying around, Wall breaking apart. Everything gave way before the projectile shaped like a male fairy with a light beard and a battered crown on his balding head. Following the first projectile was a second. It was shaped like a female fairy with tinum blond hair. "How dare you!?" the second projectile roared as it hit the first, giving it another boost. "Please understand sweetie! You are also not the youngest anym- urgh!" a fist dug into the first projectiles guts and it shot away, shaped like a banana with a spray of blood. "I''m barely over 200 you millennia-old geezer!" Fin was having a friendly discussion among family members. It was NOT a brutal rampage, demolishing their pce in the process. "But sweetie!" Fins father said with blood flowing from his mouth. "NO! No sweetie! You send me a message that grandma was sick! Ie here. I get forced into all kinds of hero parades and nobody tells me what is going on! And when I finally meet grandma, she congrattes me on getting married!?" Two Weeks! Two weeks she could have spent with Seth to explore Ora were wasted. She had endured a parade, an award ceremony, a promotion, and several banquets in these tight and ufortable formal dresses. She didn''t even get to meet the people Seth and she had saved! Her supposedly sick grandmother congratting her on the arranged marriage, after she finally managed to meet her, was thest straw that broke the camel''s back. N?v(el)B\\jnn mes were spewing from her eyes and an intense divine aura covered her fists. The first projectile- Fins father came to a stop lying on a great balcony of the pce. "Honey, please let me-" Like a not-so-jolly green giant, she smashed both her fists into the balcony, breaking the whole structure and cause a rain of debris. After smoke and dust were dispersed by a strong gust, she found her father desperately clinging to the ragged edge. He looked up to her with pleading eyes. But his gaze only met ck eyes, deep and cold like the void. "Long live...the king." she stepped on his hand and kicked it off the edge. "Ahhhhhh!" her father fell and vanished in the dust clouds below. "Are you done with your little temper tantrum?" a beautiful fairy hovered in the air beside the hole in the fa?ade. She had the same eyes and hair color as Fin. Actually, it was the other way around, as this fairy was her mother. "Mom! How could you let this happen!? You hail me as a hero and then you let him stab me in the back?" "Sweetiepiee! Im sorry! I had no choice!" with teary eyes her father flew back up out of the dust cloud. He had yed along to appease her anger; he was not really in danger at any point. He just endured the pain. Fin ignored him resolutely and turned towards her mom. "its true, honey. Its the second prince that asked for your hand in marriage. Its also him that forced the parade and prizes. " Even so, the fairy race was a matriarchically society with a Queen above all, there were still all kinds of lower kings and nobles below her reign. Fins family were mid-level nobility in their country. Her father had not the power to go against the royalty. The cracking of tense tendons filled the room as the grip of Fins clenched fist became tighter and tighter. "Stop it. You know that you cant solve this with brute force." it was the firm voice of her mother. She noticed her parents worrying faces and loosened her grip- They were right. She stood no chance against the royal guards. She would not even be able to go on a rampage and destroy something before getting apprehended. "Suggestions?" she pressed out. It was clear for her, that she would not be forced into a marriage with some power-hungry royal who thought her achievements looked good on him. "Run." her mom simply stated "leave and ignore all summon. Didn''t you say you got a good friend? Use some excuse to return to him" Her father looked bbergasted at his wife. "But what about the prince?" "We did what was expected. If our daughter runs away, its not our problem. Shes 204. That''s old enough to make her own decisions." Fin looked at her mother with sparkling eyes and gave her an enthusiastic hug. She always understood her! They talked about how they would smuggle Fin away. She would leave the world with the excuse of wishing to bid Seth goodbye once and for all. But she would simply stay with him and not return. It was a simple Idea. As long as Fin managed to leave the world, there was nothing a prince could do to a high-ranking officer like Fin. She sent Seth a letter, that she would return soon and got excited about their meeting. She requested a leave from her superiors who were unable to deny a celebrated hero''s request. At least the title was useful for something. Like this she ran off to Ora, leaving her parents behind to deal with the prince''s anger. She sessfully arrived in Oras System Church, but her letter had not been received. There was no Seth waiting here, so she went to look for Seth. She came to the inn, but there was no Seth. How was she supposed to find him now? Would she be able to find Seth in a big city like Ora? The fear of havinge for naught grasped her heart. Just as tears tried to well up in her eyes, the innkeeper continued talking. He told her that he had left a few days ago together with his children and their party. He was away, taking the rank-up exam to be a B-Rank adventurer. The Exam was supposed to take 2 weeks. James, the innkeeper, remembered Fin and offered her to stay in his room until he returned. Fin needed a ce to stay anyway, so she agreed to stay for now. Since she now knew where Seth was, her next destination was the guild to get more information about that quest. The guild was quite hectic when she arrived. The guild receptionists were running around with papers in their hands, while groups of adventurers were standing around with nervous expressions. The fairy waited for almost an hour at one of the counters before a receptionist finally got to her. She was sweaty and out of breath with her hair in disorder. "H-How can I help you?" she tried to give her the trained business smile, but it was crooked and rushed. Fin felt a little bad for her but acted as if she didn''t notice and told her about Seth. The receptionistdys face twitched a little when she mentioned that her friend was part of the exam quest. "You didn''t hear about it yet? You are a B-Rank adventurer, right?" thedy suddenly asked with a glint in her eyes. "Yeah?" "Good, good. I cant simply tell you about the specifics of that quest, but if you want to join the rescu- reinforcement party, I can tell you everything." "Rescue party!?" she eximed. The receptionist signaled her to be quieter. She pushed a form towards. It was for joining the reinforcement quest. The receptionist gave her a short exnation of what was happening at the moment. Yesterday they got the notification from Tora to call back and cancel all merchant caravans and travelers. The wyverns along the road to the city had turned extremely violent. It had already been bad enough after a new alpha took over the lead of the flock, but something happened that Tora could not divulge, but it provoked the reptiles. The situation was vtile and extremely dangerous for any people traveling towards Tora. That''s was the reason for the chaos in the guild. Besides canceling and calling back all kinds of traders, adventurers, and caravans, they also needed to organize a reinforcement party for the Pce caravan that had already entered the wyvern''s territory. The pce caravan was thest to enter the danger zone and had the greatest number ofbatants. The quest required the participants to be at least B-Rank. This exined why the receptionist took this chance to immediately recruit her. B-Ranks were already rare and busy, finding one who was free and had a personal interest in taking part was like a heaven-sent gift. Theplete briefing and set-off would happen tomorrow morning, so Fin had time to prepare. Wyverns. Fin thought about these big flying lizards on her way back to the inn. Although these creatures were extremely dangerous, she was also a little relieved.. Even if it was dangerous, Seth should be at least strong enough to escape from those things. She was sure that he would manage to survive until she reached him! Chapter 102 - 102. The Exam (4) All of them looked at the crippled wyvern. Limping, blinded, and with a broken wing it clearly lost its mobility. But it was still a massively armored tank. How were they supposed to kill it? Seths first thought was Charons Obol. He was sure that the hammer would be able to smash even the wyvern''s skull, but he had his sneaking suspicions about the hammer, which was why he excluded it from his considerations. As he was thinking his attention wandered to the rest of the caravan. They had been having a hard time and no leeway to consider the overall situation. The fourth wyvern had alsonded and the other parties were busy holding the reptiles back while securing the caravan''s retreat. The other C-Ranks had the same problems as Mike. Their weapons were unable to effectively prate the thick scales and deal enough damage to kill or incapacitate them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The escape happened slower than expected because of the problems, so their distance to the caravan had not grown as much as they had feared. The question was, what to do about the wyvern here? Should they just leave it behind and run? Seth came to the conclusion that he had no weapon that would help him end the wyvern in one shot. At least he was not sure to get out of meleebat unscathed. This left only one solution. Turn it into a hedgehog. He shared his opinion with the party. "lets just go all out with ranged attacks on it until it dies." he stated before equipping his bow and aiming for the cavities that once held wyvern eyes. The other looked at him astonished, but when his first arrows hit the creature''s tongue with a spurt of blood, they understood his intention? Well not really. They thought Seth was talking about aiming at the unarmored mouth and killing it that way. While Seths intention was to literally just stick it with so many arrows that it will be tired of living. Hitting the tongue was actually him missing the eye. The oue was the same. While Bilko, Lixiss, and Puffles started battering the wyverns head with attack magic, Mike brought out a bow and Mina a crossbow. The bow was a back-up weapon for Mike so he was not the best marksman. But Mina actually used the crossbow with poisoned bolts quite regrly. The wyvern was blind, so it could not even make out the direction of the people that peppered its head with a barrage of vicious long-range attacks. A good hit into the eye cavity by Seth massively slowed down the Wyvern''s movement. Did he hit the brain? Using this chance, Lixiss prepared for a powerful spell. After a long cast, a regr size fireball shot off her hands and entered the monster''s throat. Seth already believed she had failed, when a massive explosion severed the creature''s head from the inside. The long neck simply exploded in a stter of blood. She looked at the rest of her party with a smug smile, as all of them had expressions of disappointment just a moment ago. What she had used was called apressed fireball. It looked normal at first, but it was actually the power of many fireballsbined andpressed. How many came down to the talent and skill level of the mage. After a set time thepression would be lifted and the ball would explode with power several times higher than just all of itsponentsbined. The sound of the explosion echoed through the wholendscape and pulled everyone''s attention. Not just that of the adventurer, but also that of the wyverns. And not just the adventurers were bbergasted seeing the bloody explosion and a messily decapitated headnding on the ground. Following by the thump of the dead body going limb and falling over. All eyes turned to the party that had just killed a wyvern. Seeing the eyes of the adventurers, but especially those of the wyverns, he knew what would happen in a moment and started sprinting. Not away or towards the caravan, but towards the wyvern''s corpse. It was not just the greed to make sure all the loot stayed with him and his party, no~ It was also not the fear of not being able to loot it after the wyverns started their revenge! Well, maybe a little. But the biggest reason was the two orbs floating on the corpse. A giant glowing orb emerged from the severed neck and a smaller bright silver orb emerged from the head. One was the soul of the freshly killed wyvern The other was the loyal soul from his spear. It was most likely broken apart when the force of the explosion hit. The Souls started gravitating towards him thanks to so he just had to concentrate and reach the corpse, looting it and getting away. At the same time Seth started sprinting, the old wyvern also got on the move and descended from the high altitude from where it had observed until now. Seth saw the giant silhouette dropping from the sky in the corner of his eye. But he couldnt stop now. He was already so close, too close to turn around. He put more force into the sprint and took cover behind the wyvern corpse. A giant pair of talons zoomed past where he had just stood. The notification almost gave him a heart attack. He had looked forward so much to the level up of but at this moment he could have gone without the jump scare. A Whoosh. A crunch. The giant talons had dug into the corpse of the wyvern Seth was hiding behind. As if the old wyvern wanted to recover the corpse of itsrade it started to p its wing and lifted the corpse off the ground. "No, you dont! "he eximed and pped the wyvern corpse shouting "Loot!" With a poof of smoke, the giant body vanished into thin air. The old wyvern suddenly lost control and shot off into the sky as the weight it had been grabbing vanished. Seth had no time to check the booty. Instead, he made a quick getaway darting for the rest of the caravan. For the very peak of the caravan to be specific, where the A-Rank and B-Rank parties were still observing the situation. The rest of his party had not been not just stood around watching him, they had actually already reached the caravan at this point. The situation was rapidly changing as the wyverns that had kept the other adventurers busy also took to the air. They circled and started focusing on Seths party. Seth was d that he had decided to buff his agility at least once. He dodged several dives as he caught up to his party and the caravan. "The head! We have to get to the head of the caravan. Even if we fail the exam, at least we will survive!" Everyone nodded and put all their energy into sprinting past the rest of the line of wagons and adventurers who were still stunned. It was a good thing the wyverns were out for revenge now, or these people would have been dead. The caravan had never stopped moving, but the party still managed to reach the front with the carriages of the examiners and proctors. The other slowed down at first but sped up again when they saw Seth actually zipping past the carriages. Would the stronger adventurers be of help? Maybe. But was even better than help? Safety. He had decided to directly run into the gorge, where the wyverns could not enter. Who cared about the caravan at this point? Nobody! Even the lizards ignored them, they were upied with hunting him and his party. Mina and the rest followed Seth into the gorge. Surrounded by steep cliff walls at the bottom of this narrow chasm they let out a sigh of relief. Followed by a scare when the wyvernsnded at the edge of the gorge above them and kept trying to crawl into the tight space to kill them. Seth led the past the well-made entrance to the dwarven shelter and closer to the exit on the other side. The wyvern followed them like a pack of madmen with bloodshot eyes. Seth had only thought of their own safety when he led the party in here. But now he had a better idea. "If we stay here, the wyvern will also stay here. While they arepletely fixated on us, the caravan can get into safety. Its the perfect excuse." he exined to Mina and the others. The excuse really worked. While beats kept trying to kill them with their looks, the rest of theirpany was able to safely enter the checkpoint.. After thest cart, not the one crushed by the wyvern, entered the cave, they also followed it into the safety of the dark cave. Chapter 103 - 103. The Checkpoint In Ora----------- Ipany of 27 B-Rank Adventurers was ready to set off. They were 4 Party and 6 individual adventurers that had answered the call and took on the rescue mission. The one primary employer was not actually the city, but the Pce Merchant Guild. The cities of Tora and Ora were only the secondary sponsors of the quest. Leading the party was the old magician Venturi. He was the vice-guild master and former A-Rank adventurer. d in a blue robe glinting with magic shields and formations he had a straight posture and looked quite fit for his age. He skillfully mounted his horse like a young man. The whole party was lent special horses by the city lord. Not ordinary horses, but creatures especially bred for high-speed long-distance travel. They had little use in a fight but would enable the party to outrun the caravan and reach the wyvern territory within a day''s time. Venturi briefly exined their task once again, before giving the signal to saddle up and set off. As Fin had not the physique to handle a horse, she sat on the Vice-guild master''s shoulder at the peak of the group. One day to reach the wyvern territory if nothing went wrong. Half a day to reach the caravan if they abided by their schedule. "Seth, Iming!" she thought as the horses dashed off following the caravan. Checkpoint--------------- They entered a giant hall that was carved into the massive rock cliff. A high ceiling was held my massive columns that were covered in artistic carvings. The magterns situated on the walls like torched spend a soothing neutral light. In some ces, the floor was worked smooth like tiles, but in most, it was worn by the constant stream of travelers and mounts that had entered this ce to find refuge from weather and wyverns. Entering had felt like stepping through a membrane, as the entrance was actually sealed the entrance off against other monsters that lived in these mountains. The people of the caravan were not the only ones that had reached this ce. Among the people, wagon, and animals from the caravan Seth could also see some unfamiliar faces. Many eyes were directed at them and talking about them. Not all had seen them kill the wyverns, but soon everyone would know for sure. But he could also hear some snippets of talk among the people about the small group of peddlers that had arrived earlier than them. He had not much time, as one of the adventurers approached him and his party. They were called by the examiners and the caravan leader. The caravan leader, as the name implies, was the person tasked with the organization of everything within the caravan. Dys, damages, victims, it was his responsibility if anything went wrong. "You really did it now." the five could hear an agitated voice from around the corner. They passed the wagon and saw the group of merchants with the leader in the front, arguing with the examiners and proctors. "Now the wyverns wont leave us alone, no matter what. One of your parties actually killed one of them!" The caravan leader was a fit older man. He had a handlebar mustache and looked more like an adventurer than a merchant, with his muscles and leather attire. On the other hand, was the solemn leader of the A-rank party who only silently watched the caravan leader let off some steam. "Ah! there you are." he said after noticing their arrival. He walked up to them and ignored the seething man behind him. "You did well. ying a wyvern is no easy task even for a B-Rank party." he acknowledged their aplishment. "We barely got away with our lives." Mike answered embarrassedly. "That you did. Although your actions weremendable, they were not the smartest. Killing it was already not the brightest move. It was a great provocation. But looting the corpse when the elder tried to retrieve it... Why did you have to loot it?" The party''s eyes unanimously turned towards Seth with a questioning look. He could not tell them, that he had to get the souls. Why did he decide to loot the corpse? Greed? No. He was not blinded by simple worldly greed. That definitely wasn''t it. It was something higher. A great cause even! It was the desire of a craftsman for high-quality material. Yes. "So, it was greed." "Definitely greed." "Dont worry, I still like you." "You were blinded." "Greed." The whole party and the examiner unanimously agreed after he tried to exin to them his great cause. "Yes." Seth acknowledged a little depressed. At least Mina was on his side, somewhat. "Well, take it as a lesson and learn from it. At least you used the aggro for something productive instead of letting yourself get killed. You can leave now." the examiner said and returned to the merchants. "I called them here, why do you tell them to leave? And a lesson? The wyverns will target us from now on. We were upgraded from possible prey to enemies! Do you just want to excuse them?! They have to take responsibility and-" "Let it go. It already happened and nothing will change that. I will take responsibility for this one. Its our responsibility, as it was us who underestimated the examinees and let it happen." the a-Rank held back the caravan leader. "You are still here? Go already." he looked back and shooed them away. The party did not really understand why, but they got away scot-free and were even able to keep the spoils of war! They sneaked to a corner behind the wagons to take a look at the loot. Even Seth had had no time to check the items yet. It was not close to how much he had expected. Loot was a really inefficient method to harvest items. There were 35 of these scales the size of a palm, a piece of leather enough for maybe one armor, 4 fangs the length of his forearm, and a short horn. Seth was the only one among them who had the skill to appraise items, so he read the description to them. Their eyes showed when listening to the first two, the third was ok, and thest one was slightly disappointing. "I dont know about the horn, but I know a good tailor. The leather could be rare, too." Seth assured them. After all, a smooth leather might be of greater use to a tailor instead of a cksmith. "So, how are we gonna split it?" Mina asked into the group. Everyone looked towards Mike, the team leader. Mike in turn looked at Seth with aplicated look. They all knew that he was a fighting cksmith. He had the biggest use for the materials but they couldn''t simply give it to him. Seth smiled amused at Mikes expression. "How about I store them for now. We visit the auction house for a neutral appraisal and Im going to pay you for the stuff I need. Deal?" Mike looked relieved any everyone nodded in agreement. Whether they sold it to Seth or at a store, it was obvious who they preferred as long as the price was the same. Seth packed the items into his inventory and the party rxed in their quiet little corner. They didn''t dare mix into the rest of the caravan after pulling this much attention to them. The n was for the caravan to stay here until the next morning. Hopefully, the wyverns were gone after a night. They send Mina to get some warm food that was cooked and handed out in the middle of the hall. As the assassin, she was the most inconspicuous. Originally it was not nned to cook at any point on the journey, but after getting through such an attack, the caravan leader decided that warm food would lighten the mood. Mina came back with bowls of hot vegetable stew.. After a warm meal, they wrapped themselves into warm nkets and fell asleep. Chapter 104 - 104. What They Did Not Tell The floor started vibrating and Seth woke up. The hall was dark and the only light came from the burned-down campfires. What happened to the magterns? He saw two glinting eyes beside him. Mina was also awake. A cat-type beastman assassin had an impressive perception. Mike was also awake. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Whats going on?" Seth whispered to Mina. "I have no idea. I woke up when the lights suddenly went off. Then the ground started vibrating and you woke up." They woke the rest of the party and equipped their items. Something was going on. Slowly the rest of the caravan got into motion as the vibration got stronger. But before people could cast light or ignite a torch a massive rumbling filled the cave and painfilled screams echoed in the darkness. In a panic, priests started casting light spells illuminating hideous beasts that had broken through the walls and floors of the hall. Elongated reptilian heads with terrible teeth strutting from their jaws and 2 empty pairs of eye-sockets. The scaley skin was pale and desated. "Drakes!?" some adventurer eximed hysterically. A drake was a rtive of dragons like the wyverns. They had no wings but were terrible enemies on the ground. The things that had emerged looked simr but- "No! No Drakes, but what- kyaa!" before anyone could react appropriately the creatures started a massacre. The long terrible ws kept ripping into the closest adventurers. Visible in the light, were more ces where the walls and floor started to crumble away. "We have to get out!" Mike said and they sprinted out of the exit. They were not the only ones who thought of getting out. They passed the entrance just in time before it was blocked by the mass of people trying to get out all at once. All thoughts of formations or fighting had vanished as they tried to flee. Behind them, in the cave, the A-and B-Rank parties were fighting the drake like monsters. Before the people could all leave the cave one of the creatures dived in the crowd, reaping blood and lives causing even more chaos. Some who got out formed a formation outside the cave but it broke down when the panic-stricken crowd rushed out! The examiners did their best, but there were simply too many monsters to stop them from chasing the fleeing people. The narrows space was filled with the screams of people, sounds of fighting, and the reptilian roars and screams of the beasts. Seth and his party stopped at the edge of the gorge and felt conflicted. They watched others just run past them, out into the night without looking back. It was not that easy for them. The cksmith with night vision did not see any of the wyverns at the edges of the gorge, but it didnt mean that they were not there. Others might be able to just run out of the gorge but they had killed one of the wyverns. The lizards might be waiting for them toe out and kill them the moment they left safety. There was no way they could fight that old wyvern. The screams behind them made them look back. Several of the monsters had finally squeezed through the entrance and out into the narrow gorge. Instead of chasing anyone, they started to voraciously devour the dead and incapacitated adventurers around them. More tried to squeeze past their preupiedrades from inside and gave chase after getting out... They waited close to the exit of the chasm, so they had some distance and time to evaluate their situation. Seth now finally found the chance to use on the creature, while they were upied with feeding on the corpses of their victims and squeezing out from inside the cave. " Bloodve!? Like those things in the dungeon?" Seth thought when he read the name. How was this possible? And more importantly, if these were like the creature in the crypt, then they were far stronger than their disyed level suggested. As if it was not bad enough, that high-level drakes attacked. They were also some kind of buffed unholy creatures! "Lets run." Seth suddenly suggested. "Run? Why? We are easy prey for the wyverns out there, we might have a chance against-" "Try checking the stats of these things." Seth interrupted Mike. None of them had a more reliable appraisal skill than to check enemies, but since other members were at a higher level than Seth, they were able to see more than just the name. They were just used to jug by level and had not bothered to read much further before. When they took the time to check the stats of the drakes their faces paled. A Drake was already a beast that needed a C-Rank party working together to kill it. These bloodves had the status condition "Bloodve" which increased all their basic attributes by 50% and "Enraged", which increased their attack by another 25%. With upset hissing and snarling the mass of drake beasts pressed past their brethren upied with the easy prey and started sprinting along the gorge towards both exits to give chase. "Yeah, we should run. Hurry!" everyone agreed and slipped out of the gorge into the night. It had been a long time since Seth got to use to hide his presence. Unlike the people before them, they were not in a total panic, so everyone activated some kind of skill to hide their presence and sneaked out into the night. Mina excelled as an assassin andpletely vanished in the dark of the night. Seth could not even see her with night vision. As fast and as stealthy as they could they gained distance to the gorge where now a steady stream of transformed drakes was flooding out from. Only Seth saw this and he refrained from telling the others. The party was tense hearing the herd of beasts running, trampling, and searching for more prey. They were better off not knowing how many beasts inhabited the darkness of the night. That was until the beasts also started to break out from the steep cliff they had been following until now, very close behind them at that. "Fuck! Hurry guys! They are closing in!" he called out. There was no more time for stealth as the fell into a sprint to get away. What did it matter whether the wyvern noticed them, if they died to those weird drakes anyways? "I found a ce to hide. It''s not far!" a sudden voice made their hearts jump. It was Mina who had appeared among them. She had been scouting the area in front. She led them, following the foot of the cliff. "Here! We have to climb. There is a crevice up there where we can hide!" she said after stopping. This was better than nothing. Even if those creatures could tunnel through rock, maybe they would not find them up there. Outrunning them was not an option anyways. They hurriedly climbed up the steep rock wall. Just like Mina had said, there was a tiny ledge and a crevice where they could squeeze through. The tight entrance led to a short natural cave where they would be able to hide for now. Outside the sound of the drakes galloping through the rocky valley changed. Instead of the thumping of the herd and the asional screams, there were sounds of fighting. As if the drakes were fighting someone. Had the examiners finally managed to leave the cave and take control of the situation? Seth wanted to look outside, but Mina was a little faster. But she promptly jumped back into the cave when they heard a massive roar. One of the drakes had seen her and actually jumped the whole way up to the ledge! With its ws digging into the stone of the cave''s floor it was clinging to the ledge. Despite looking pale and gaunt from afar, the sinewy muscles and broad shoulders were still too wide to enter their little hidey-hole. It snarled and hissed at them as it tried to squeeze it. Its hot humid breath reeking of decay filled cave and made Lixiss feel nauseous. The two pairs of empty eyes sockets still seemed to greedily look at the prey. After the initial surprise, Seth was the first to regain hisposure. He swiftly used this chance and smacked the drake with Charons Obol. The mighty swing crushed the snout with a disgusting crunch and a stter of coagted blood and dark goo. It almost made Seth puke, but it had the desired effect. The creature was stunned for a moment, lost its hold, and fell off the ledge. This must have been how Fin had felt, covered in kraken mush. Seth already really missed his spear; with more range, he would not have been hit by a wave of icky stuff. No kill notification meant the thing was still alive. The party was still upied with processing what Seth had just done when he added an unknown shield on top of the unknown weapon he had never used before. The shield was nothing special. Fitting to his armor, it was a medium-sized kite shield made of a wooden base covered with tes forged from several snake ribs. It was on the heavier side but had a good defense. Equipped with hammer and shield Seth drew nearer to the entrance. He heard chaotic fighting noises from the outside, lots of reptilian roars and screams, but before he could get a glimpse, he had to block a smashed snouting for his torso. It crushed into his shield and pushed him back. Seth swung his hammer again aiming to crush the skull this time! And the drake vanished. No with a puff of smoke but with a yank.. Screaming, with its ws digging into the floor it was suddenly pulled back, away from the cave and up in the air. Chapter 105 - 105. What They Did Not Say (2) The scene before his eyes was as fantastic as could be. In the darkness of the night, only broken by the intermittent light of a spell, was brewing an epic battle. The valley had filled with an army of transformed drakes and the remnants of the caravan desperately fighting for their lives. And the air above the valley was filled with an uncountable number of wyverns. He could only see a mass of leathery wings covering the sky. Over and over wyverns dived out of their flock to grab a drake and take it with them into the clouds and let them rain down or smash them into other drakes on the ground. While the drakes were attacking anything alive, the wyverns ignored the struggling adventurers and focused on decimating their undead rtives. "Wow..." it was Mina who hade to the beside him without him noticing. With her cat earsid back and her eyes wide and dark, she looked at the battle in the valley. Was this how he looked when he set a whole city on fire? The drake had finally died somewhere on the battlefield. He got around 10% experience despite not ying a big part in its actual death. "Whats going on guys?" the rest of the party stuck their head out after they didnt say anything after some time. All they could see were the random shes of light from magic. But they could hear. The mass of wings pping in the sky and the cacophony of reptilian screams and roars. The shout of the adventurers, explosions of magic, and the meaty sshes when the drakes hit the ground from extreme heights. Just the noise of the battlefield was enough for them to pale. Seth exined what was happening, and they got even paler. What was even going on anymore? They talked about what to do now and came to the only possible solution: Cower and hide. Stay where they were until the situation outside calmed down. What else were they supposed to do? Help? That was nothing better than suicide. Run? There was a good chance to be picked off by either the wyverns or the drakes. At least they were safe from the wyverns here. And so, they entrenched themself in the tiny cave and waited. -----------Fins Side------------- The rescue/ reinforcement party reached the wyvern''s territory within a day''s time and rested on the teau where the caravan had stayed a day before. The traces the merchants had left assured them that they were close to catching up. The caravan would have reached the checkpoint by now. The party would have a good rest before rushing after them early in the morning. Like this, they would catch up to the caravan at dawn. Fin looked quiet on the outside, but she was actually on edge. It was not about the wyverns. Well, it was also about the wyverns. But what if what riled the wyverns up, was more dangerous than the flying lizards? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The fairy actually had to cast calm magic on herself to get a wink of sleep that night. She knew that she would have to be at her peak if she wanted to be of help in case something happened. ------The small cave ------------- All of them were starting to get tired after not having the chance to sleep. They were all huddled together at the very back of the cave, looking at the entrance. The noise of battle had not waned, but sounds of people fighting, screaming and magic being cast had long subsided. It was only the scratching of ws, the pping of wings, and the reptilian roars and hisses left out there. It reminded Seth of a movie he had seen one, about a plunged in total darkness with hordes of bizarre monstersing out to hunt. He felt a lot like he had be a character in such a movie. The darkness outside guaranteed the death of anyone entering it. He had no doubts about it. There was no second drake that tried to get in after thest one was snatched up by a wyvern, but they kept warily observing the entrance. They took turns between the guard and resting to conserve their energy. When morning came the valley outside became quieter, but they still did not dare to leave the cave. Seth peaked out of the cave and found the valley covered in the corpses of the drakes and some humans. There were no wyverns, as they recovered their dead. There were still a lot of drakes and wyverns fighting, but it was iparable to the number during the night. When the light of dawn fell over the edge of the cliff into the valley the drakes fell into a panic. The living and the dead drakes started giving off ck smoke as the sunlight hit them. The drakes stopped whatever they were doing and rushed towards the gorge, where they came from. The wyverns to their chance to pick off the more of the panicking enemies. It was then they heard the sound of a battle rise once again. They could not make out what was said, but they hear strong and controlled shouts before projectiles and magic started pouring out from the gorge and hitting the rushing drakes. "There are people!" Seth woke the others. Once again, they assembled at the entrance and looked towards the fight. This time the adventurers'' powers were coordinated and easily overwhelmed the wave of drakes. Their numbers were halved before even reaching the entrance to the gorge. Not counting those the wyverns picked off. The drakes that reached the adventurers met their end under the weapons of the frontline fighters. The difference between the previous night and this was like night and day. "We should go and help." Mike stated. Looking at the valley, there were few stragglers. Most of the drakes were trying to return to where they hade from. They could probably harvest some easy experience if they fell into the drakes'' backs. It would also look better if they came out to help,pared to cowering in a cave to be rescued. They climbed down from their hiding ce and were promptly involved inbat by a drake straggle who had been rushing towards the gorge. A single drake was no great problem for the party and they managed to overpower it quickly. The fact that it was melting in the sun helped, too. Mike beheaded the creature and Seth got 8% experience from it. If they could kill some more this easily, it would a good way to gain experience. They hurried towards the big group of drakes that scrambled to get into the gorge and the other holes where they hade from. Their numbers were already dwindling before the overpowering group of adventurers when Seth and the party attacked the bloodves from behind. Fortunately, or not, the drake corpses rapidly dissolved in the sun, so there was no wall of corpses building up. Obviously, they did not simply jump into the fray. They started the fight with one of Lixisspressed fireballs as an opener. The ball exploded amidst the crowd. It burned and catapulted 5 or 6 drakes away from its impact point leaving a big crater. They could only do it, since they had ample time to cast the spell beforehand. Mike, Mina and Seth rushed in to finish off those in the worst condition. Seth used this chance to verify his hunch. He watched the other two kill their targets and checked his experience bar. He gained 7% and 8% respectively for the two. He killed thest one with Charon''s Obol and it gave him less than halfpared to the others. Seth had not much time to be happy about his discovery as they had to sprint back to their party. Otherwise, they would have been surrounded. The adventurers defending the gorge shot signal magic to show that they had noticed them, but they were not in a situation where they could help them. After the explosive opener, the party went back to orderly and stable party y to safely attack one or two drakes at a time. The sun had a tremendous weakening effect on them, giving the party a boost in confidence. Slow and steady they worked their way along the cliff and closer to the phnx of frontline fighters at the gorge. Everything went great. Soon they would reach the reinforcement party. Until a bloodcurdling roar echoed in the sky. Chapter 106 - 106. What They Did Not Say(3) In their battle against the bloodves they had forgotten their primary enemy, the wyverns. The wyverns also started diving into the remaining herd of drakes, but not just the drakes. Seth and his party had forgotten someone important. The giant ws of the old wyvern barely missed Mike who was blocking a drake. The grudge had not been forgotten. The old one and his 3 friends had noticed the party and focused on them. This was the worst situation possible. They were still some distance away from the others and could not easily run because of the drakes. Every time Seth or Mike were locked in battle, they would dive for them. Lexiss was busy using low-level magic with short casts at the wyverns to deter its attacks. While Bulko kept using shields and the help of the pets to defend him and Lexiss from the lizards in the sky and on the ground. As the one who had looted the wyvern earlier, Seth had the old wyvern''s full attention and kept dodging and weaving between the drakes to evade the big lizard''s vicious attacks. He sessfully evaded several attacks. Then fortune left him and he stumbled over a corpse on the ground. N?v(el)B\\jnn Immediately a tremendous pressure mped down on his shoulder. One of the zombie drakes had bitten into his shoulder! He heard the bone tes breaking. A terrible pain shot through his shoulders as he felt his bones breaking. Only the golden jacket stopped the teeth from sinking into his flesh. Seth was fixed in ce and the old wyvern instantly saw its chance! Like a hawk, it dove down with incredible speed and its attack seemed inevitable. The giant maws of the beast were rapidlying closer when a projectile shot from the adventurers at the gorge. The force of the projectile smashing into the beast''s skull threw around its head. The old wyvern almost made a U-turn in midair before crashing into the ground. The next moment the projectile crashed into the drake, releasing his shoulder. "Seth! Are you okay?" a high-pitch voice screamed into his ears. It was Fin! The tiny fairy was back! Surprise and joy filled his heart and struggled with the fear and graveness of the situation. And she was not simply back, she hade to save him again! Seth had no words and could only nod erratically. His joy was short-lived as the old wyvern was only stunned for a short time. It was already getting back on its feet and ready to attack. Fin gifted him a happy smile before charging at the wyvern Seth heard an enraged growl from behind him. The bloodve was not dead yet and it was very angry after waking up. Its giant w pinned him down and the dented snout was aiming for his face. The next moment a dagger sank into the head of the drake that had him pinned and broke off. The beast let go of his shoulder with a dying cry. His angels hade to save Charl- Seth. Mina had backstabbed the drake and ended its life with a critical hit that broke her dagger. Fin was zipping around the wyvern''s head kiting its attention away from Seth. Mina supported Seth and they ran back to the center of their party. The tanky pets came forth to secure their retreat as a giant tooth shot past the cksmith and the assassin and struck the ground beside them. The fairy was simply too fast for the wyvern and kept pummeling its head. The hard scales could resist the blunt trauma the tiny fists dealt at high speeds. Bulko hurried to cast a shield surrounding the party once they joined the back rows. It was one of Fin''s savage hits that broke the teeth and send them like projectiles into the surrounding. More important than the pure damage she caused to the wyvern, were the status effects like stun and confusion she keptyering on the old wyvern. The wyvern had no chance to pursue anyone as it was busy enough to escape Fins merciless beating. After Fin had rushed over, they got finally cover fire from the ranged attackers among the adventures. They kept the wyverns at bay so Mike could also return into the circle of the party. With Mike and the pets forming their frontline against the drakes, Bulko was able to take a breather and look after Seths shoulder injury. One had to say, that the healing arts of a priest were far above modern medicine when it came to such injuries. Bulko''s giant hands brought his broken bones in roughly the correct position and cast a medium heal. The magic took care of setting his broken bones and growing them back together within seconds. In exchange for such speed, this magic took a huge toll on Bulko''s mana and mental strength, making the giant sweat and pantboriously. Seth thanked him and handed him a mana, and a stamina potion to get back into shape. While they held their position among the group of drakes the old wyvern finally managed to flee from Fins tiny fists of fury. With a bruised and battered face, it took back to the skies and his among the clouds. After the wyvern had left, the fairy joined the party. There was no time to exin or introduce each other, but everyone understood that she knew Seth and was here to help. With Fins support, they finally managed to make their way toward the front lines of the rescue party. "Hah! So, you people managed to survive till the end?" was the greetings they got after getting past the front lines. The gorge was filled with half-dissolved bodies of drakes and a group of adventurers and merchants sitting here and there. The person greeting them was the leader of the A-Rank party. There were also the proctors from the 2 B-Rank parties,pared to the A-Rankers their equipment looked quite worn and torn from fighting the hordes of drakes all night long. The examiners had defended the merchants in the back, which was the only reason they were still alive. "We were lucky." Mike said self-depreciatingly and plopped down on the ground, leaning against the stone wall. All tension had left their bodies after finally reaching safety. They were all very tired after a stressful night and the recent fight. The expression on the A-Ranks faces was not much better than theirs. They had an even rougher night than them. "Dont belittle yourself. Being able to survive in such a situation needs more than luck. Lets hope we can find some others once the danger is dealt with." Fin and Seth exchange looks and wanted to talk, but the fairy was called and had to return to the rescue party to help deal with the danger. The party sat down together with the merchants and examiners and they shared their knowledge of the previous night. The A- and B-Ranks had spent all night fighting the drakes that kept pouring out of the bowels of the mountains. They had protected the merchants of the caravan as much as they could, still only about half of them were still left. Among the survivors was the head of the caravan. He had already been healed, but his armor was scrapped and he was still covered in blood. He was hugging a severely damaged greatsword. So that was his weapon. The merchants looked dirty, sweaty, and worn out, but they obviously did not fight at all. On the other side, they had no idea about the war between the drakes and the wyverns that had raged all night long. This was information that made not just the examiners listen attentively. A man with a long beard and a fascinating robe stepped up to them. "Can you tell me more about that battle? Ah, Im sorry for my discourtesy. Im Venturi, the vice-guild master of Ora." he had a sparkle in his eyes as if he had understood something. As they recounted what they had seenst night the old man kept nodding. Seth could almost hear the gears clicking into the right ces and working in his head. "Oh yeah. I might have another interesting piece of information in that regard. I don''t know how serious the guild took my report, but I met something like these bloodves before." Seth mentioned. And thus, he what had happened in the dungeon on the graveyard directly to the guild master. "hoh... This is really interesting. The information itself might not be important, but in connection with what we are seeing here it might be a crucial part in solving this mystery." The old mage did not tell them any conclusion he came to. He excused himself and returned to the party of B-Ranks that were finally wiping out thest remnants of the horde. They didn''t look any better than the examiners who had fought all night when they joined the survivors at the campfire they had made. Not only was everyone tired, but the motivation had also taken a dive when they found out that the drake corpses could not be looted. Most of the corpses had already dissolved and those freshly killed bodies were already so damaged that loot didnt give any items. Venturi sent two parties to look for survivors of the examinees and one to guard the gorge. Looking at the examiners and Seths party he stepped towards the campfire. "It seems like you are all the fighting power left of the caravan. Its a shame. We had hoped to stock up on manpower on the way, and not tire ourselves this early." he said and began to exin the reinforcement quest and recounted what had happened in Ora. "Will you join us and travel the rest of the way to Tora, or would you rather turn around?" Chapter 107 - 107. Additional Income Seth and Fin were exchanging nces as he listened to the vice-guild master''s exnation. The first answer didnte from the people of the caravan, but one of the adventurers who had fought until recently. "Vice-master, are you sure we are fit to continue this quest? We managed to fight without casualties, but all our equipment is heavily damaged after just this fight. The remains of the caravan also dont look that fresh anymore. Some might even be a burden and slow us down." the man gave the merchants a side-nce. Venturi inspected looked at the adventurer. "It is our quest to collect and protect all travelers on their way to Tora. Not to simply reach Tora. If you dont like it you can leave. Its two days to get out of the wyvern territory on foot. And another 5 to get back to Ora. I won''t stop anyone who wishes to leave." The man shrunk back a little, but everyone had the same concerns. The quest didnt give enough money to pay for their items if they really broke. Everyone here had to ponder about the pros and cons of continuing on this path. Seth sighed. "Im a cksmith. I could repair your items before we continue." he announced with a heavy heart. This was a big sacrifice from his side. Why? Once he summoned the here, it would vanish back in his Workshop and Cerberus would either stop working or outright de-spawn without the necessary number of crafting stations. It meant he lost a weeks worth of scales Cerberus could have produced. But as he was in the position to be able to help, he felt obligated to step forward. It was surely NOT because it was a good chance to get into the good books of a bunch of B-Ranks. The exam already went haywire, so if he didnt get the B-Rank himself they might be of help. And even if everything worked out, being known to your future clients was never hurt. "You are a cksmith?" Venturi and the A-Rank leader asked in synch. While the leader was a little shocked, the vice-master was positively surprised. The people of the rescue party looked skeptical at Seth who suddenly revealed himself to be a cksmith. "Are you really a cksmith? Why should we trust you with our items?" it was the same guy who suggested leaving the merchants behind. "Seth is a great cksmith!" it was the high-pitched voice of a little fairy who was violently threatening the guy with her fists. "Well, I really don''t mind not helping you. Its actually less of a hassle for me." Seth shrugged and signaled Fin to calm down. "Now, now. Everyone, please calm down! Young friend, would you be willing to show us your skill?" "I dont really want to show you. Its kind of a secret. You could just give me a damaged item and I will go over there into the cave and repair it. Im confident to be able to repair anything below epic rating." There was a short silence, but finally, one of the proctors of the exam stepped forward and handed Seth a set of armor parts that were covered in breaks and cuts from ws. "Here, these are close to breaking anyways. No one will doubt you if you manage to actually repair this. And its not too bad a loss for me if you fail." he gave Seth a smile. He belonged to the people that had kept observing them. Seth being a talented cksmith exined the quality of the items he wore. Seth awkwardly smiled back. He was still unsure whether he preferred them taking up his offer or decline it. It could not be helped now. These people more or less saved his life. He was able to rest for a few hours thanks to them and felt ok now. He had used the break to shove a lot of rations into his belly and had significantly increased his mood. He grabbed the armor pieces and went into the demolished cave. Not. It ruined the mood of the moment a little, but first, he turned toward Venturi. "Of course, the guild will take care of the maintenance fee for the equipment separately, right?" he asked with an innocent smile. The vice-master barely managed to prevent his face from cringing. It was the first time the old mage had slightly lost hisposure. "Yes. Yes, of course, the guild will pay your remuneration as a cksmith separately from your work as an adventurer." After making sure he would be paid for his work, he entered the cave. Some of the horses and Wagons had actually survived the drake raid. Less could be said about the skillful dwarven masonry. Most walls had turned into rough entrances to awork of tunnels. Seth summoned the and brought the armor to the anvil. The armor he was given was a rare-rated te armor made from an alloy of mithril and dark iron. Instead of heating it up and actually forging the armor back into shape, he felt it was easier to simply use his hammer''s special ability. Even though it cost mana, it was easier to fix breaks and cuts in the material this way. It had three simple enchantments to increase defense, endurance, and strength. Seth had seen thisbination of enchantments before. Seths level in was not high enough yet to apply several enchantments himself, but it was enough to repair it at the damaged ces. Until now he only repaired his own items, so he was surprised when he got this notification. Both his and his rose by 3%. He had only repaired an item but still got a good amount of proficiency. That was when he realized, it wasnt just increasing his reputation with the B-ranks, but that repairing the items itself was a really good deal for himself! When he came back out after 25 minutes with a set of armor that looked as good as new, he could see the adventurers'' jaws drop. Was it really that impressive that he was able to repair it? "Did you really fix that broken armor in just half an hour?!" the B-Rank eximed as Seth gave back his armor. They had expected such a young cksmith to maybe be able to barely patch up a rare-rated item. They expected the items to be usable, but notpletely restored! Looking at their unbelieving expressions made Seth get the idea, that the increased crafting speed of his smithy might be an even bigger advantage than he had thought before. The better it looked, the better it was. Have them idolize him as the fastest smith in the west! Oh, maybe not. Girls might misunderstand what was meant. The fastest cksmith. That should do it! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om As he was marveling in his own legend the groups of adventurers kept piling up an assortment ofmon, umon, and rare items before him. The collected equipment of over 20 adventurers was more than he had guessed. He squinted at Venturi who also looked a little surprised. "I will be paid per item I repair, not the time I take." Seth stated and collected all the items. He left the old mage who seemed like he wanted to say something behind and entered the cave. Looking at all the different items he found a few he didnt know and had no blueprint of. Seth used the chance to test the perk and disassemble the items he didnt know and gain their blueprint before reassembling and repairing them. They were his first few rare blueprints, but they all had high material requirements. Suddenly his leveled up. So, this was also a way to level up his blueprint skill. Except for the really damaged things he did not even need the forge. Weapons mostly needed to be resharpened and he was able to save time by leaving the grinding to Cerberus. In the meantime, the search parties had returned- They had actually found some survivors who had fledst night. They looked even worse off than the proctors who had fought all night long. Their armors and weapons were broken and they wore their simple spare clothes, just not to be naked. With them returning, Seth''s work increased again. It became early afternoon before Seth was finished touching up on the equipment. Not all items were rare and brought him several percent of proficiency, but there were many items and he ended up leveling and . All the Adventurers had sparkling eyes when they got back their repaired equipment that sparkled like it did the first day, they bought it. Seth also repaired the carts that were still left. After everyone was fully equipped and had a meal, they packed as much as they could on the carts that were now usable. The strong horses were used to pull the carts while the rest of the adventurers, that did not fit on the carts, rode the normal horses.. Like this, the Caravan was about twice as fast as before and they estimated to reach the next checkpoint in the evening. Chapter 108 - 108. Small Break "Seth! Fin had returned!" Fin found him and the party on their cart. The fairy sat down on his familiar shoulder and hugged his face. "Fin! Guys, this is Fin. Shes a great friend, that has often helped me on my journey." he introduced the fairy to the party. One by one he also introduced the party members to Fin and they greeted her friendly and respectfully. It felt awkward seeing someone who viciously beat up a wyvern act cute in front of them "Im really d you are here. But...howe you are here? Didnt you have something to do back home? I thought you would be gone for longer." Fin''s face blushed a little as she recounted the reason why she had left and what had happened after she returned home. She had just met the party, so it was a little embarrassing for her, to talk about running away from marriage to adventure with Seth. People could misunderstand their rtionship. Then Seth narrated to her his time in Ora and the party member kept jumping in when it was something they had experienced together. When he told them about how he set up a shop, the party member listened just as interested as Fin. When he mentioned how Much mina had helped him by introducing him to Marn, Seth realized that something was wrong. The catgirl had not talked much since the fairy joined them, despite her outgoing personality. Seth had been sure she would get along great with the fairy. What happened? Seth was not good at reading people, he knew that. And from a lot of annoying novel plots he knew, that reading too much in someone''s behavior would lead to dumb misunderstandings. So, he did what every dense main character should do. The cksmith left Fin with the party and sat close to the silent Mina. "What''s wrong? You seem down." he asked her how she felt. The beastman girl looked up to him with big teary eyes, like a puppy. "My favorite dagger broke!" she said with a shaky voice. Seth could help but burst outughing. He had thought it was something more serious. "Meanie! How can youugh at my suffering!" she started shaking Seth. "I really liked that dagger! I had to save up money for several weeks to buy it. It was my pride and joy! Now I have to use my crappy spare one." tears finally started rolling down her cheeks. She seemed really serious about it, but she just looked way too cute. He could help but hug her tightly. "You should have asked me; I still have some good daggers on me. I know its no recement for your favorite dagger but it should be better than your spare." "B-But you said you would not give out free stuff! N-not even to your girlfriend." she stuttered and blushed. He really wanted to tease her, but he refrained from doing so. He took out one of the few serpent daggers he had kept and handed it to her. "Its different when ites to a friend and a lifesaver." She took the dagger and made big puppy eyes looking at the pure white bone dagger. He could not appraise it, but she had more than enough experience as an assassin to recognize a good dagger. She yed around with it a little and then hugged him happily. "Thank you sooo much!" With that, he left her to her own devices as she waspletely upied with her new toy. When he sat down, where had sat before as felt a fairynding on his shoulder. "Fin is gone for a few weeks and you get a girlfriend? Di you hold back because of Fin?" she asked curiously with a slight blush. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Girlfriend, huh?" Seth thought for a moment but could note to a conclusion. "I dont know. It started with a one-night stand and I like her. However, its not really a rtionship where I would call her my girlfriend. We didnt even have a serious date yet." he pondered. It was true, they had not really done anything traditional couples did. She also didnt act very lovey-dovey towards him. "And how does Mina think?" "I think she likes me for my device and stamina. I heard other guys have a hard time surviving a night with her unscathed." If Seth had to describe the rtionship it would probably be Friends with benefits. He just didnt know whether this was a thing in a magical medieval culture. Fin looked at him perplexed. So, that was it? She had really thought Seth had fallen in love or something. She was relieved that, in the end, he was just used as a sex toy and was having fun. It lifted a tiny weight off her heart she had no idea it was there. They spend the rest of the time getting friendly with each other. There were no interruptions by the wyverns or drakes on their way to the next checkpoint. Only smaller monsters that the people riding on the horses were easily able to get rid of. On this stretch they did note across any other travelers they were supposed to save. The only other traveler they had met until now, hat been the traders in the first checkpoint. None of them has survived the first night. The next checkpoint was fortunately not a cave. It was a big pir of pure white crystal on a great teau. Magic formations were carved into the stone around the crystal and it created a big forcefield that repelled wyverns specifically. Other monsters could still near the camp, but at least they were safe from the wyverns. They actually met a group of hunters and peddlers with some adventurers that had camped at the second checkpoint. Hunters were the only people who dared to stay alone in these mountains. Their information was important, as they reported that what they had seenst night had happened all over the wyvern territory. The hunters had retreated here from the vicinity and gathered here as it was the safest ce around. The traders had stayed here sincest night, as they did not dare to travel on with the little protection, they had with the few adventurers with them. They greeted the caravan and reinforcement party happily, as they were their way out of this situation. The caravan convened with these neers and decided on guard duties for theing night. They made big bonfires and started to cook actual meals to increase motivation. Wasnt making big light in the dark night asking to be attacked? Not really. The monsters that actually hunted in the night, had a good night vision. They would stay away from the bright blinding light. As Seth had guessed, Fin easily got along with the rest of his party. During the meal, Seths eyes fell on the ten survivors of various parties who were technically naked and unarmed now. Except for the 2 casters they were no better than the merchants who needed protection. Maybe he could use this chance to make some more business. Seth approached the Venturis tent. Not everyone had big tents prepared for them, only the A-ranks. Everyone else had to stay at the simple campfires. It was to save time in the morning. Voices could be heard from the tent; they were probably talking about their next steps. "Hello, Vice-master?" he called out. The voices went silent. "Seth? Is that you?" the old mage came out of his tent. "Yes, I have a little proposition to make. I saw that we have people who are potential firepower butck equipment." Seths suggestion was simple. He would get a tent, make some items for those people and the guild would obviously pay for it. " This greedy little..." was written all over Venturis noble face. But Seth still got the tent and a written promise that the guild would pay for the provided equipment. Seth gave the naked people a visit and told them about the deal. He took some rough measurements and asked for their weapon preferences before leaving again. He reached the tent, that was hastily set up for him and summoned his Smithy and Cerberus. A simple mixed armor of tes and leather became a lot easier with Cerberus at his side. Seth concentrated on making simple weapons from while the Golem worked on making steel tes with its bare hands. 8 simple sets of armor and weapons were done in a record time of 3 hours. They didnt look nice or polished. But their performance was good and they were rated umon. They would suffice. Despite the rough looks, the adventurers were happy not to be naked anymore. Venturi had an appraisal skill and gave the items a once over. He was actually surprised, that all of them were rated umon.. He had no reason toin and Seth had won a tent for him and his party to stay for the night. Chapter 109 - 109. Reaching Tora The night was quiet. They travel during the next day, too. Were the wyverns tired from the fight against the bloodve drakes? No matter what the reason was, Seth and the rest were d not having to fight. Of course, this did not mean their journey becamefortable. The climate of the region became rougher and rougher the closer they came to Tora. Snow covered the environment and the harsh cold creep into their armors. Wind kept pulling on their clothes and the wagons'' covers. This was the reason, they were d, that there were no attacks. Fighting under such conditions would have been terrible. Even the mood to chatter had made way to their teeth''s tter. Theirpany had grown with the additional hunters and traders. The hunters were useful as they knew the region and could scout their surroundings. They found some frozen corpses along the road, but there were no concrete signs of whether they were killed by monsters or the climate. The priests showed mercy and used some mana on buffs to fight the cold, but their relief was great when they reached the next checkpoint; a natural hot spring. The ce smelled of sulfur and other volcanic gases, so it was not a nice smell. Nobody had the urge to go for a dip either. But it was nice and warm in the dwarven cave heated by geothermal energy. They were heavily guarded during this night, to prevent what had happened in thest cave they had tried to stay in. Still, the night was almost suspiciously quiet. It was as if that night had been a lie. They set off early in the morning. The goal was to skip the next checkpoint and reach Tora in the evening. The recent peace had dulled their vignce. The valley they entered at noon changed thatpletely. The road led through a small valley basin covered in a thickyer of snow. Sticking from the snow were a huge number of frozen corpses and body parts. Like a forest of limbs, they were reaching up to the sky from beneath the snow. Judging by the shocked expression of the hunters, this was not supposed to be here. Was this a big caravan that had been ambushed by drakes? Or did the wyvern throw their victim here to store food? No matter the reason, their nerves were taut as the caravan tried to hurry past the macabre scenery. It reminded Seth so much of many scenes from games and movies. He had the powerful urge to preemptively set the whole valley on fire. However, he couldnt. There was no guarantee that there was a real danger. Seth couldnt just reveal his powers and probably increase his arsonist title, for no reason but being cautious. It was when they reached the bottom of the valley basin when Seth saw a small movement in the corner of his eyes. "I knew it..." He was not the only one who had seen the movements. Many adventurers took a battle stance and their colleagues soon followed after Venturi gave themand. The corpses were slow, so the Vice-master acted fast and used the time. The caravans'' wagons were moved to form an easily defendable circle, with the horses and nonbatants in the middle. The parties got in formation to defend the wagon fort. All the damaged and frozen corpses around them started moving in broken and erratic movements. It looks very unnatural and off-putting to watch them walk on broken bones. Their broken arms bend in weird angles as if possessing several joints. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Puppet suggested that someone was controlling these things. Among the shambling marites faster, more agile shadows rose from the snow. They were the same creatures Seth had met in the abandoned dungeon. "Be careful. The fast ones are a lot stronger than their level suggests!" he warned the others as they got ready to defend against the wall of rotten flesh. The undead only The Frontliners were surrounding the wagon fort, while the casters and ranged units stood on the wagons and carts to attack the monster slowly surrounding them. The corpse puppets could pose a threat to D-Ranks or ordinary traders but posed no threat to them. Even with their numbers. The bloodves'' strength could have been a surprise without Seths warning, but with it, the people stayed vignt. The humanoid bloodves could pose a threat to ordinary C-Ranks at most, but not to this party full of B- and A-Ranks. Even if they were stronger than their level suggested, a genuine B-Rank adventurer was lv.50+ and kitted out in powerful items. It was just a matter of time before the undead and bloodves were wiped out under the hand of the overpowered adventurers. Whoever set up this trap had expected bunnies, not bears to step in. The most fascinating show of power in Seths eyes was probably Venturi. The old mage had chanted something for 5 minutes and suddenly unleashed a wave of energy. There was no fire or great special effects, but all corpse puppets in a radius of 50 meters around them suddenly started to blister as if they were burned and melted into puddles of rotten sludge. It was one of the most horrific processes Seth had seen ever since leaving home. The caravan hurriedly left the valley behind after spending two hours exterminating the vermin. Seth got the vague feeling, that someone did not want anyone to reach Tora. Fin had told them what had happened in Ora. About how there was something that had upset the wyverns and Tora didnt tell them. It seemed pretty obvious now what had upset them, but what was their reason to keep these things secret? They increased their speed to make up for the time lost in the valley. Even the powerful horses the rescue party hade with were slowly reaching the limit of their capabilities. It just showed how strong they were, the normal horses with only single riders had a hard time keeping up with them pulling the carts. There were more traps like this on the way. The corpses of victims or monsters suddenly moving and attacking. Unlike before, they didnt stop but simply passed by the slow undead with overwhelming speed. Venturi''s decision was to be fast and efficient. He did not take any more unnecessary fights. The adventurers on the other hand dearly wished to stop and fight. Even the nonbatants had this wish. The wagons were not spring-loaded for the most part and traveled at full speed on rough roads. They would do anything for a break from this torture! Even bigger was their joy when they finally saw Tora appear on the horizon. The city was a lot smaller than Ora but simr in built. The biggest part of the city was located within the slopes of a mountain peak with only a small part being buildings and houses surrounded by a big city wall. Thetter had less of a city and more of a fortified settlement. On the other hand, was Tora the doorway to the subterranean dwarven kingdoms. While Oras prosperity and size came from the many mines it was connected to, Tora was a crossroad where many trade routes of the different dwarven cities came together and connected to the surface. This great trade hubid before them in concerning silence. Chapter 110 - 110. Leaving Tora The great iron gates of Tora were closed. The road and mountain surround the city were empty. There was only the howling of the icy winds over the sharp stones and silent snow. Seth didnt know what a fantasy city in a medieval setting was supposed to sound like from afar, but the silence was unsettling. And he was not the only one judging by the expression of some of the other adventurers. Venturi and the A-Ranks went ahead of the caravan and knocked at the smaller door embedded in the gate. A magtern lit up above the gate. "Who are you? State your business!" a rough an aggressive voice echoed from the gatehouse above. Between the battlement appeared the messy face of a bearded dwarf "Im Venturi, the Vice-guild master of Ora. We are the caravan and the rescue party. You should be informed about our mission. Open the gates and let us in." "Hmmph. Leave! You will regret entering the city. It will be better if you just return the way you came from." the voice was grumpy, but within it swung a hint of resignation. "We are tired and our mounts are worn out. It will be night soon and we wont be able to reach a safe ce. Please, let us in." Venturi insisted. They didnt know the dwarfs reasons, but they could not stay out during the night. "Alright. This is your decision, just don''t me meter. I warned you." With a ttering of chains and clinking of gears the gates of Tora opened for the weary caravan. The Streets of Tora were empty and just as silent as the mountains. "What is going on here?" Mina muttered beside him. Even Fin had a serious expression. The only people they saw were a few guards that came from the guards'' house. The grumpy dwarf was actually the captain of the guards and he heard Mina''s unintentional mutter. "Most citizens have already been evacuated. Tora is in lockdown now. You should leave in the morning." he stated. "What is the situation actually?" Venturi talked to the guard captain. Venturi decided that the party should hear it too, so the Dwarf started to exin. Tora had been hit by something like arge-area curse. Actually, not just Tora, but it seemed like the whole region of the mountains was affected by the curse. The longer one stayed within the area of effect, the stronger the curse would be and reveal itself as a terrible gue that turned the infected into a monster. They became bloodves. The lower one''s level, the easier it was to get affected. On top of infecting the living, it resurrected the dead simr to a necromancer''s spell. The stronger the corpse, the stronger the resulting undead was. Unfathomable numbers of generations of dwarves had risen from the stone crypts below Tora and were striving through the subterranean city. It had cost them a lot to secure the passages to the other subterranean cities and evacuate the citizens before the curse gue could turn too many of them. Only the priests and guards stayed behind to try and find a solution which exined the empty city. It was still dangerous to wander in the city, as the bloodves were hard to eradicate. The guards separate them onto several inns in the cities where they could stay for the night. To his surprise, the fairy did not insist on sleeping on Seths chest and took a single room. The reason soon revealed itself when a pent-up Mina sneaked into his room. Her drive was really something else... This was even approved by his fairy friend. He had no idea these two had gotten this close. Against Seths prophetic expectations, there was no life-threatening action to be had in Tora. Although, Mina tried really hard. The caravan had unpacked the cargo into the warehouses of their business partners. In this regard, the situation in the town had little effect on the nned procedure. From the beginning, the caravan had not nned to stay longer than a night. Of course, that was before knowing that the whole region was cursed and dangerous. They refrained from loading anything to bring back to Ora and decided to travel as light as possible. In the morning all adventurers and travelers were seated on a horse and ready to return. Seth was really thankful for the system and its HP-recovery. He would not have been able to ride a horse with his sore butt from riding the cart. To make it even more pleasant, Seth had no idea how to ride a horse. He got the chance to ride with Mina on one of the strong horses and could closely hug her from behind. "hng! Hey, stop it." She was unexpectedly shy when he got a little aggressive in public and kept constantly blushing. But she didnt dislike it enough to actually stop him. "Stop teasing her!" it was Fin who got upset on her behalf and made Seth behave. Compared to what Seth could have imagined, traveling back like this was a refreshingly safe way. Yesterday, he had been afraid they would maybe have to use those undead riddled tunnels to get back to Ora. He was really d that he did not have to partake in this kind of adventure. Riding a horse while clinging to a cute girl was a lot better than riding a jumpy cart. The guards of Tora were nice enough to give them thick warm cloaks for the way back. Three dayster they came back to Ora. The travel had some fights, but nothing dangerous. They had not seen the wyverns or drakes again. Ora had changed. The streets were not as bustling as before and there were a lot more guards patrolling the streets. What Seth could not know, was that these were the results of his report. Venturi had not forgotten what the young cksmith had told him. He contacted Oras guild branch from the guild''s facilities in Tora and warned them about the curse and the possibility that it was also happening in Ora. N?v(el)B\\jnn As a reaction, the guild sent in an A-Rank party to crack down on that dungeon which led to them interrupting a ritual that was probably part of installing the curse. Still, there were probably more small dungeons like this in Ora so the curse could not be stoppedpletely. The result was, that the city was hit by a severely weakened version of the curse. At least when it came to the gue part of the curse. Corpses still started to rise and walk through the streets. Like in Tora, the bigger problem was the huge number of dwarven undead that suddenly flooded from old crypts and tunnels into the dwarven district. But Seth didnt know this. He only saw the town a little less busy than usual. The first thing Seth did was ignore everything around him and lock himself into his room at the inn. He undressed, washed up, and dove into the bed sleeping a full 24h before leaving his room again. leaving his room had only one consequence. He emptied half the Inns kitchen and ate for almost 3 hours non-stop. The tension from thest weeks, the dungeon dives, the travel, that night, it all fell off him and he needed to recover in his way. "Hey, where have you been?" it was Mina who sat down beside him. "Rehab." he answered between two bites. "Errm, ok? The Vice-master was looking for you. The exams over and evaluate. You should give him a visit. Lets meetter!" she said before leaving. She and Mike had their own things to deal with. Oh yeah. He also needed to get his money from Venturi. He would go give the guild a visit and then look after Marn.. Even though the shop was n B, it did not hurt having a sessful business. Chapter 111 - 111. Halls Of Stone He had not known where the fairy had been, but Fin joined the meal as Seth came to the end of his feast. They finally had some quiet time together and they had a lot of things to talk about. They could not before on the journey. Like Puffles new name and Seths ns in Ora. The Ivicer''s in question actually stayed behind at the Inn. It has leveled up a lot in recent weeks and now needed time for itself to examine the changes it went through. Puffles did not yet want to tell Seth anything but he expected a minor power upgrade once the pet was done with its meditations. Fin apanied him on his way towards his shop and they kept talking on the way. Fin also took her time toin to him about her parents and her people and that damn prince or whatever who wanted to marry her. Marn, the half-elven cksmith was surprised when he saw the amicably talking andughing young man and a fairy enter the shop. Seth had been back earlier than expected. Almost a whole week earlier! How was Marn supposed to exin to him, that his smithy and the golem had suddenly vanished overnight! "Hey, Marn. Im back. This is Fin, a very good friend." Seth saw Marn hiding his uneasiness, but the sweat on his forehead betrayed him. "What up?" Seth asked concerned. Had the loan sharkse again or something? Had he lost money? As all kinds of thoughts flew through his mind, Marn erupted with the truth. He was a terribly honest person. Keeping such a simple thing from his benefactor gave him unusual amounts of stress. Seth almost startedughing when he heard Marn''s concerns. And then he felt a little guilty because he had caused this misunderstanding by not exining the skill to Marn. It was not the elfs fault. they could literally see the weight fall off Marns heart when Seth told him, that there was nothing wrong. In the time he was gone, there were a few new weapons in the weapon racks. Seth had told Marn that he could use some of the he had left and that he did. There were a few new umon des that ranged between daggers and short swords. They had increased stats simr to his first tries with and the description also mentioned it was thanks to "special treatment" It was as Seth had suspected. When he asked Marn, he told Seth that it was because of the few elvish smithing bads he knew. Seth had hoped this was the case so that he might be able to learn them from the half-elf. Fin was a little disappointed when she saw the location of Seths shop, but she was positively surprised by the neat and clean interior and his handsome employee/ business partner. They closed the shop and sat down in the back to talk. Marn excitedly told him how busy the days were when people found out about Seths weapons. Especially the poison daggers were selling like hotcakes. Unlike Seth, the adventurers valued the poison effect quite highly. Slowing a monster and dealing damage over time was often a bigger advantagepared to pure damage. And Seths weapon sported good damage on top of it. The weapons Seth left behind had all been sold and business had calmed down a little, but it was still better than it ever was during the time when Marn ran it alone. Customers would oftene in looking for the serpent weapons. Although most were left in disappointment when Marn told them that those were sold out, some would buy one of Marn''s weapons instead. This made Seth feel a little conflicted when he stored the money in his inventory. He was not like those terrible, ruthless, cutthroat, greedy merchants whocked any kind of conscience and made young cksmiths hand over 70% of the selling price. It was Marn''s decision to give him the money, as he was the store owner and his benefactor. "Marn, I feel bad taking that much money from you," he told him honestly. "Don''t be! You are my-" "Yeah, I know it does not bother you. But it does bother me. I have a suggestion. You sell your weapons here and I take a 10% fee and in exchange... would it be okay for you to teach me some of your smithing bads?" Seth had expected the elf to react offended. That his bads were some kinds of trade secret his master taught him and that he could not simply teach them to him, even if he was his benefactor. "Are you sure that''s ok? I only know a few and I mastered only one. Its one of the reasons I left my vige. Im really bad in singing, for an elf..." he scratched his cheek embarrassedly. Fin in the back almost startedughing. An elf that could not sing! "Thats ok. Dont worry. Just teach me!" Seth''s eyes were sparkling in anticipation but the tiny voice of obligation rained on his parade. "Didnt you want to visit the guild? Fin thinks its important if the Vice-master invited you." "I could go-" "The Vice-master is an important person, you know? What if youete and he simply keeps the quest Creward?" Her unbeatable arguments convinced him. He just quickly went to the back; installing the workshop and making Cerberus continue to make scales before saying goodbye to Marn and leaving. They took their time wandering toward the guild and stopped in front of its gates. The entrance was blocked by masses of adventurers trying to get in. What was happening here? Before they could dive into the horde of people a guild staff approached them. "Are you Seth, the cksmith?" he asked and exined that Venturi had sent him to bring them in via a side entrance. "What is with all these people?" Seth asked as they entered the guild. "its because of the new quest. Anyone below B-Rank can take it. Its about helping in cleansing the city from the curse." "You already have a way to cleanse it?" Fin asked unexpectedly. "More or less. Since we know part of the curse the magicians were able toe up with an emergency measure." the guild staff smiled but didnt borate any further. They stopped in front of a big door, the office of the vice- guild master. Inside was a spacious room, filled to the brim with books and scrolls and weird magical devices. It was what you would expect from an old wizards abode. Somewhere in the sea of paper was the indication of a desk and there sat Venturi reading a letter. "oh! You came." he said when he noticed their presence and looked up from his letter. Fin stayed outside and Seth made his way using a thin path where he could see the floor between the stacks of books and paper and stopped before the desk. "Here." the mage said solemnly and put a leather bag on the table he had fished from somewhere beneath the table. "The remuneration for your cksmithing service. It 55 gold, it should be enough to pay for the maintenance and equipment." Seth nodded and took the heavy leather bag. When he put it in his inventory it was described to contain 55 gold. "Good. Here is the quest reward for the exam and joining the rescue quest." he said and put down a much smaller bag. Inside were another 10 gold. "Well. Shall we talk about the exam grades? You passed. Despite showing ack of wisdom, you made it up with your performance. Give me your guild card, I will upgrade your rank to B." After taking his card, Venturi shove aside a stack of paper, revealing a magic device to edit guild cards below it. "There you go. You did this to get entrance to the Halls of Stone, right? Here." N?v(el)B\\jnn The old man also handed him a scroll of parchment. "Its a rmendation from me. Im undecided whether you are fit to be a B-Rank adventurer, but you have proven great skill as a cksmith. It should be helpful when you look for a dwarven master to get tutge." Venturi was speaking in a very neutral tone the whole time, but Seth could feel a little kindness when he handed him the scroll. "Now leave. I hope I dont have to deal with you ever again..." Seth didnt know what had rained on the vice-master parade. Maybe he got scolded for agreeing to pay him that much gold? Who knew? Seth happily left the office. He could finally enter the halls of Stone! The dwarven district was open for business! The young cksmith did not simply rush towards the gates and enter this new realm of possibilities. He still had urgent stuff to do first. One was to meet up with the party and get an objective appraisal of the materials he gained from the wyverns. He spent some time showing the city to Fin as they returned to the inn, where I found Mike and Mina together with their parents.. He invited them to go and appraise the materials at the auction house and they happily agreed to apany him after the meal. Chapter 112 - 112. Halls Of Stone (2) After the meal, the group of four left the inn. When Seth said auction house, he meant the system institution where he had sold many of his weapons during his journey. He had actually gotten a grey membership card thanks to the numerous products he sold. They didnt have to wait long for an appointment with an appraiser. "Appraiser" was literally a job that focused solely on the appraisal skill. Seth put down the scales, the leather, the fangs, and the horns on the table between them. The professional before them was a middle-aged man in a fine suit. His expression did not change before rare material, as it was something he actually saw often in his job. His gloved hand gently and experiences started to handle and examine the materials. "These scales are... to be barely rated rare. They are just a slight bit above umon. I would estimate them to be worth 20 silver each. The Fangs are very good, a solid rare material. 2 gold each. The horns... well they have a nice pearly white. Just below rare, a mason could use them for ornamentation, 20 silver. This leather is smooth and tender despite its thickness. It has a high affinity with wind magic and is suited for enchantment. Its also a solid rare rating. A good tailor could do some amazing things with this, 5 gold for the whole piece." he said in one long monologue without anyone interrupting him. So, his assumption was right, that some of the ratings were different from what he had seen. Seth and the two siblings discussed what to do. They decided that Seth would buy the scales, the fangs, and the leather from them. He offered to make them custom equipment instead of paying them money and they happily agreed to his offer. Mina was still over the moon because of the dagger he had given her and her raving had long since convinced mike. They sold the horns to the auction house and the siblings took it to split it among the party. It was already gettingte, so Seth decided to visit the halls of Stone the next day. Instead, he gave N?del a visit. "Seth!" the old tailor eximed with actual joy. It seemed like he had really taken a liking to Seth. The staff had immediately brought him to the master when he asked to visit him. "Hello, N?del. Im back from the quest. This is Fin, one of my best friends." he introduced the fairy to the old man. "Oho, a fairy. Nice to meet you." he said with a kind smile. "How can I help you, Seth, you didnte just to say hello, right?" he asked with a glint. It was as if he could smell, that Seth had some good materials on him. "Oh yeah. I actually have several orders today." he said with a smile. He grabbed Fin from his shoulder and held her before the old tailor. "Can you make her something like a martial arts robe from the bronze thread?" he asked with puppy eyes. Fin waspletelyplexed. She had no idea what was going on here. N?del on the other hand looked at her with measuring eyes. "Thats shouldnt be a problem." "Seth! What are you doing?" she asked exasperated. "I am doing what I can to repay your kindness." he said with a smile that made the fairy blush and fall silent. "Next? You said you had several orders." the tailor beckoned him to continue. Seth brought out the rest of the rest fromst time plus some Puffles had made recently. "Do you think there is enough thread left to make a magician''s robe from it?" the person he thought of was Lixiss. N?del had offered him to make things for free from rare-rated material, and Seth was set on abusing this to his heart''s content. "It depends on the size. You dont have another girl in your pocket, right?" he joked. "I will send her here tomorrow. She is not a fairy, but she is on the smaller side. Her name is Lixiss and she is a quarter elf." "There should be no problem then." the tailor nodded understanding. "And?" he could read that there was more. Seth brought out the wyvern leather and N?dels eyes sparkled. He knew that he had hooked the old man again. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Could you make me cloak from this? Or maybe a pair of pants?" Seth asked. "There is not enough for a good cloak. But if I use some cloth made from the thread, I could make you a pair of pants and shirt to wear below the jacket fromst time." the other suggested. It was as Seth had suspected. Even with the little experience he had in sewing, he had guessed that there was not enough material for a cloak. He agreed to N?dels suggestion and left with the stillpletely flustered Fin. He had wanted to make equipment for her for a long while, but until he got spirit smithing and found N?del, he had no idea what he could do for the tiny battle freak. Any kind of armor he could make would have gotten in the way of her movements and his goldsmith skills were not even close to good enough to make tiny jewelry. With he would even be able to enchant the tiny robe for her. It was almost night when they returned to the Inn. After a good eatingpetition with Puffles, they almost fell into a fooda in Seths room. It was like during their journey together and Seth felt his heart calming as he fell asleep. I was close to noon on the next day when he arrived before the gates which lead to the Halls of Stone. Fin decided to tag along while the rest of the party were busy with their vacations. After the exam, it was not just Seth who needed his alone time. The gates dividing the dwarven city carved into the mountains and the outer section shone in the sun. The doors were made of massive gold-colored bronze and depicted the history of creation the dwarves believed in. Born from the spirits of the earth, the first dwarfs were born from the roots of the mountains. Formed from stone themself, they understood this element the best and formed it as they wished. Mason was the first dwarven profession. Theter generations inherited their dexterity and bond with the element and became miners and cksmiths. They made the most intricate jewelry and weapon, even the arrogant elves woulde to wonder and trade for their products. To sum it up, they were really into craftsmanship. The sentries in front of the gate were dwarves kitted in an impressive set of full-te armor. The imposing edgings on the surface hid the intricate magic circuits engraved into the armor. Each piece was umon or rare with 4 or 5 effects that increased various attributes, resistances, damage, and defense. Even without a skilled priest, they were thoroughly buffed and bnced warriors. At least when it came to equipment and its effects. Seths heart pumped faster. This was exactly what he was looking for. Of course, his aspirations were even higher! Once his skill was on par with his dreams, he would be an immortal juggernaut. Fin gave him a p on the back of the head when she noticed him drifting off into daydreams. It was their turn and, although they could not see the dwarf''s eyes below his helmet, the way his eye slits looked at them seemed a little annoyed at them. His hand signaling to hand over their papers enforced this image. After checking their adventurer cards, he waved his hand at them to make them enter. He had not even said one word the whole time... When Seth stepped past the bronze gates into the Halls of Stone he instantly understood the name. They entered an almost stupidly huge hall. It was as if the dwarves had tried to hollow out the whole mountain like a Halloween pumpkin and put the peak back on as a cap. The floor was smooth and polished showing all the natural veins and inclusions of the mountain. The ceiling that vanished somewhere in the darkness above was held by an uncountable number of pirs that filled the like the trunks of trees in a giant forest. The pirs were covered in carvings of lifelike faces. Most of them had a well-kept bushy beard and a dignified, serious expression. Seth was reminded of stories of people being petrified and disyed as statues. This was the level of detail of these carvings. If it wasnt for the warm and inviting light of the magterns all around, Seth would have guessed that he entered one of the most unsettling boss rooms and a game developer coulde up with. Every face had a te with their name and ss below it. Was this maybe some kind of hall of fame? Seth only came back to his sense when he saw the small fairy, stuck in her own marvel of this ce, floating in front of his face. It was rare to see Fin sopletely speechless. They were not the only ones. Some people around them had also frozen at the sight of this hall, while others were actually looking at them with a knowing smile.. Everyone who entered here for the first time, was in their situation at one point. Chapter 113 - 113. City Of Eternal Night Most descriptions of subterranean cities Seth knew from fiction described them as being built in some giant underground cavern, an underground space like hollow Urth, inside the cone of a dormant volcano, or maybe built at the bottom and into the sides of a deep crevice. All of it was things Seth had somewhat expected. But not the totalck thereof. The real meaning of "Hall of Stones" came to him, when the pirs in the distance were not pirs, but skyscrapers. N?v(el)B\\jnn What Seth saw had nothing fantastic, but was almost unfathomable to him. Like a modern, nned-out city,pletely made of massive high-risers supported this city in the darkness the weight of the mountains above. The closer they came, the more intricate andvish the surfaces became. Completely carved out of the bedrock by the hands of true craftsmen there were many intricate ornaments and giant sculptures decorating these high-rises. There were many different sources of light in different colors, either highlighting the artworks or as part of the art itself. Fantasy world? My butt! The dwarven city had a lot more of steampunk or cyberpunk. Living in this city was like living in an artwork. The streets were packed with all kinds of people. Many were dwarfs, but there were also a lot of merchants, adventurers, and travelers. Compared to this ce carved into the roots of the mountains, Ora outside was like a suburb at best. "Is this your first time here?" a friendly voice asked them. It was a young man in colorful clothes. The two had already nodded without thinking as he continued. "Great! Im with the Adventurers Guild. Take these brochures. They have a simple map of the dwarven district and the rmended inns and shops." It was a simr booklet to the one they could get in the adventurer guild, but since not everyone that came here was necessary and adventurer, these were handed out publicly. Looking at the map Seth was again reminded of a modern city. As beautiful and diverse as the giant buildings looked from the outside, they all had the sameyout; a square. The streets were cut out between them a formed a basic grid called the warp and weft streets. There were 23 of these habitable pirs. From the booklet, Seth learned that this was the City of Eternal Night. Each pir was created by one of the great dwarven master masons and craftsmen of Ora''s history. The rooms in these pirs were actually extremely expensive. Seth felt a little relieved when he saw the normal parts of the city. They were simr in theiryout, but in a lot smaller scale and divided into differentyers simr to the outside Ora. Here the magic lights would follow the outside day and night circle. Themercial District was actually like a giant department store. Each big field of business had its ownyer except for inns. The most expensive inns even provided a view of the City of Eternal Night. It was their version of having a view of the sea here. Obviously, the ce Seth and Fin visited was theyer of cksmiths. Here the buildings had several stories and normally belonged to one craftsman who had his workshop and in one ce, often sharing it with several generations of his family. It was a true wondend for Seth. Just window-shopping filled his material catalog with all kinds of new and exotic materials often from monsters he had never even heard of. He doubted that he would ever be able to get familiar with ALL of them. He was so preupied with all the new sight, that he had almost missed the change in Fins expression. After the initial wonder had subsided, an expression of unease surfaced on her face. "Fin... are you ok?" he btedly asked. "Fin is... ok? Its just so...so constricting. Everywhere are walls. Everything is Stone. Fin is anxious. Fin is not used to be this... cut off from the world." This was simply not the right environment for a fairy like Fin, who descended from spirits of the wind and air. She was used to freely fly under the blue sky, this ce exerted a simr influence on her like a tight space to someone with ustrophobia. Seeing that Fin was not doing well, Seth resolutely decided to leave for now, despite her objections. Seth didnt have the heart to watch the fairy suffer, just to apany him on a sightseeing trip. "Fin is really sor-" "Zip it." Seth interrupted her attempt to apologize. "Its not your fault. Forget it already. Lets go and eat! I know a great restaurant!" Seth and Fin fetched Puffles from the inn and visited the restaurant where he had met Mina and the party. The receptionist already warned the chefs when he assigned Seth to a table. The who had once ordered the whole menu had made asting impression on the restaurant staff. Now he had returned to continue his legend. Apanied by the voracious fairy and the insatiable Ivicer they pressured the kitchen staff to achieve their peak performance. As the lights of hope slowly dimmed in the head chef''s tired eyes, the glint of greed grew in the manager''s eyes. Fins mood had marginally improved. With satisfied stomachs the group returned to the inn, leaving behind a dismayed kitchen staff and a happy restaurant manager. They met Mina at the lobby of the inn. Fin and Puffles went to their rooms, leaving Seth behind to talk with the cat beastman. They talked about the partys and Seth''s future ns. After all, Seth achieved his immediate goal; to get ess to the dwarven city. Mina and Mike''s party had be B-Rank to take part in B-rated quests. These quests would often require them to leave Ora for extended periods of time. They were fated to meet less often from now on. It would have been a lie to say that Seth did not feel a little conflicted about leaving their party. He had taken a liking to these new friends and Mina was even a little more than just a friend. "Dont think I will let you off. " Mina suddenly said with a mischievous smirk. "I had a hard time finding someone like you. I will stille and find you whenever we are back." it sounded almost like a threat, not a promise. After getting over the more or less serious talk, they chatted about their day. Mina and Mike and spend time with their adoptive parents. There was a lot to talk and catch up on. Seth blushed when she told him that her mother thought he was a good catch and pressured her to make their rtionship something more serious. Seth was d that he did not have to make a decision in this case, since Mina herself made it clear, that she was not looking for "something serious" at this point in time. Seth on the other hand told her about the City of Eternal Night they had visited and his ns to find a master. Though, he had no idea yet, how to find one. He also worried about Fin, if he was to find a master there, he would obviously start living there. He could not ask the fairy to stay with him and suffer. "Hmm, maybe Fin coulde with us?" Mina threw into the room. She had gotten along well with Fin and the whole party like her. It was not just out of kindness. There would be a great increase in fighting power if the fairy joined their party. It was a good idea in Seths opinion and he told her he would talk about it with the fairy. "Oh yeah, what about that guy from the bar?" she suddenly asked. "What guy?" Seth had no idea what she was talking about. "Dont you remember that dwarf? What was his name again... Vathon something-something. It was shortly after we met and I was about to drag you o- I mean we were about to leave together." she interrupted herself blushing and changed her wording. "He actually came after you and thanked you for paying his bill." Seth had no memory of this at all. But how was he supposed to find a random dwarf in this giant city? "How am I supposed to find him? Its not like I can randomly wander around the Halls of Stone and hope that he approaches me after some random encounter in a bar." "Hmm, true. How about visiting that bar again? It''s worth a try and I wouldnt mind having a drink." she got really close and whispered thest part in his ear.. She seduced him to take her out so they left the inn and walked off to get drunk. Chapter 114 - 114. Vathon Stonechiseler He had a Dj-vu. A warm and soft catgirl was sleeping in his arms and his eyes fell on a room with clothes randomly spread all around. But this time he could roughly remember what had happened thest night. was no joke, if it had not leveled up, he might not remember again. They had visited the bar where he had gone after Fin suddenly left. The barkeeper was still as stoic as before. The bar was so dirty, even Mina who regrly visited ces like this was a little disgusted. When Seth went to the bar and ordered "The same asst time." her face lost some color when she saw the bottle of alcohol with some kind of insect inside. "This is what you drank before we met?" she actually took away the ss from him and emptied it on the floor. "You wont drink this kind of poison with me around. When we found the dwarf, we will leave, got it?" she made clear, that she would not drink anything in this ce and would not let him drink anything either. "Sure." Seth gave up on the drink and tried to talk to the bartender to get some information, but he stayed silent. The only thing he did was looking at Mina with daggers in his eyes. He obviously didnt like how she behaved in his bar. Fortunately, before he tried to offer him money to make him talk someone talked to him. "Oh, hey! Arent you the guy who kept drinking the Vipers Venom?" it was the dwarf who had drank with him back then. "You still remember me?" "How could I forget someone who kept drinking the most infamous booze in this ce like water? You even made me think it wasnt that bad...until I lost consciousness. I had a hard time regaining my sight after that day!" he said with a jollyugh. He said down beside Seth and ordered an Ale. He nced at Mina. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "It seems like that girl is still with you, eh?" Mina blushed. It was painfully obvious in that night that she only dragged off Seth for a one-night stand. After some talking, the dwarf introduced himself again as Vathon Stonechiseler. He was a sculptor apprentice in theyer of masons. When Seth told him about his profession and goals in Ora, he readily agreed to help Seth, especially after they left that run-down bar and went to a nicer ce where Seth paid for all the drinks. A dwarfs appreciation and friendship went a long way if you invited him for a night of fun and alcohol. This time it was Seth who got up first, collected his clothes, and got dressed. "You are leaving already?" the sleepy girl mumbled. "I want to visit the Inn, before going to the Halls of Stone." he said with a smile. Fin and Puffles only looked at him with knowing eyes and a smirk, as he tried to apologize ande up with an excuse why he was gone for the whole night. Puffles stayed at the inn, as it was still absorbed in learning from its ancestral memories. Fin opted to explore the city on her own when Seth mentioned visiting the dwarven city. Like this Seth was alone on his way to the golden gates. Vathon had told him to meet at the sculptors square on the Layer of Masons. The square was rather emptied and he easily found the dwarf who was waving at him. Unlike his experience in the night before when he was covered in stone powder all over, he was now wearing clean clothes and his short beard seemed groomed. He was a young dwarf who worked as an apprentice for one of the sculptors in the city. It was not his first choice, but family business. He was not very skilled which was why he would rather drink in a cheap bar among humans than spend time with fellow dwarfs his age. As one would expect, their main topic was their work and it was ufortable for him to take part in these conversations. He appreciated the humans who either drunk in silence and liked to joke around instead of speaking about work, even when intoxicated. "If I remember correctly, you want to get under the tutge of a dwarven cksmith master, yes?" the young dwarfs inquired. "Okay. Let me think. There are about 5 masters and 7 craftsmen currently working in Ora. Do you have any preferences, like specialization, or...?" "Actually Im an allrounder. I make armors, weapons, jewelry, and enchantments." Seth shrugged. Obviously, he would like a master that could guide him in every part of the field. The dwarf looked at him slightly bewildered. "That... is good. That only leaves one of the masters. Actually, there are three people who teach everything, but only one is proficient enough to teach in all of them." To systematically teach others in a ss or skill one needed to have an appropriate level themself. They needed to be at least a craftsman, although the effect was weaker than a master''s. Seth had gotten a small taste of tutge when a cksmith in Starta had given him advice. Seth had found out that tutge was not simply gaining advice from a master and learning. In the system tutge was a passive perk that could greatly increase the proficiency gain in a skill, apart from the boost gained from an experienced master''s advice. The proficiency increase was up to the journeyman-rank, this was the rank when one was judged to have mastered his craft enough to go on a journey and collect more experience. Seth was already close to journeyman, the next rank after adept when it came to , but and could really use the boost. And just because it was only a few more levels in he was not ready to give up on the boost. "Lets go. Master Tored has his workshop at the central za of the Layer of cksmiths. I never met him, but you should be careful. I heard he is a little peculiar. But dont worry, his skills are top-notch. Its said that he has mastered and while he is a high-level craftsman in ." They kept talking about the different master cksmiths on their way. Besides Master Tored, there were Master Belrun and Master Aidgir. Master Belrun was specialized in and Aidgir in Enchantment>. As Ora was one of the few dwarven cities that traded with the outside world, many of the current epic and higher ranked equipment the A and S-Ranked adventurers owned were produced by these 3 masters and the 7 craftsmen. If one ignored thevish decoration and masonry of many of the buildings, then they all were big square pirs. The workshops of the cksmith at the central za were no different. The only great difference was the shop windows. There were actually many specializations a cksmith could follow during his career. There were shops with purely leather armor, and those with mixed and te armor. There were shops that specialized in weapons, jewelry, or products mainly made from monster materials. All of them with variations of either enchanted or not, except for the jewelry. It was a difference between Urths civilization and this fantasy culture. Nobody wore jewelry just for show. The enchantment was the main purpose and worth of jewelry. "This is it." Vathon said as he stopped before a block. Literally. It was the only shop at the za without any decoration. A look through the shop window showed that the showroom was actually empty and dim. It looked like an abandoned shop, not the shop of the best master. Vathon smirked when he read Seth''s expression. "How could this be the shop of one of the best cksmiths in Ora? That what you are thinking, right? Master Tored only does works on order and the people have to bring him the materials. He needs no advertisements or ornaments; people know his skills." he exined. They entered the shop and stood there in dim silence. There was no clerk and sound that indicated any life in the building. No nking of a hammer, no muffle conversation. Just stale air and silence. Vathon looked a little bted. He had never been here himself. "Errm, Master Tored!?" the young dwarf tried to shout. "Are you here?" They suddenly heard surprised snoring, coughing, and a grumble as the dwarf emerged from the door behind the counter. His head was bald with a ring of sparse white hair, but his beard was long and white. The slightly messy braids with coaldust in it were tucked under his leather apron. A tiny glint of drool could be seen at the corner of his mouth, slowly soaking into the beard. Apparently, the dwarf had been sleeping in his smithy until Vathons rude awakening. Considering that his grumpy mood was understandable. "What do you want?" he said in a growling deep and unfriendly voice. Chapter 115 - 115. The Task "So, you want me to be your tutor." he red at Seth and Vathon, these two rude invaders that had interrupted his beauty sleep. They had just exined the reason for their visit. The old cksmith looked Seth up and down with scrutinizing eyes. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Oh yeah! I almost forgot." Seth said and held out the scroll he had gotten from Venturi, the vice-master of the adventurer guild. Leery of Seth the dwarf took the scroll and read it. It had the official seal of the guild and Venturi''s signature "He guarantees your skill and mentioned that you were quite fast with repairs in the field. Hmm. Alright, I will give you a chance. Come to the back with me. You stay out!" he said pointing energetically at Vathon. Seth entered a big workshop. It was simr to his with all kin of different tabled for different aspects of the job and several forges of different sizes. Master Tored even several magic power hammers. It made sense that the dwarfs, who were also known as engineers, coulde up with something like this. Tored went through another fortified door and stood in the middle of a big storeroom. The shelves were filled with all kinds of materials. He grabbed a simple steel ingot and closed the door in front of Seths nose. "Here, take this and make me a simple dagger. Nothing fancy, just simple and functional. You can use my smithy or the portable one you used on the quest. I will simply watch." Seth nodded. The next moment Tored''s eyes bulged when he summoned the spectral < Spirit Smithy>. This was the man Seth wanted to win as a tutor, so he would not keep this a secret. Seth put the ingot into the spirit me and started working. ----Tored''s POV------- He usually didnt take in anyone. Every time he took in apprentices, they would soon be arrogant and haughty. Their skills grew fast under his tutge, but unfortunately, he was not skilled enough to make them proper people. Even those he judged to have a good heart would be insufferable idiots under the influence of their environment. Thats why he ended up throwing them out, each and every time. Even those he agreed to tutor would start bragging about it as if they had suddenly be a talented master. He had long lost hope in teaching anyone. The young man struck him as a little different. He did note in unting his mediocre skill and talent in an attempt to impress him. God, he almost forgot to give him his references! Venturi that old fart actually praised him. He alsoined that he talked about money during an emergency, but Tored could only judge this as a good sense for business. He decided to test this Seths skills. Anyone who dared to look for tutge could make a simple steel dagger and watching him make it would tell him everything he needed to know about the young man''s skills. That was what he thought and then the young man waved his hand and summoned an illusory smithy. In a pale blue almost white me, that burned without smoke or fuel, the steel quickly started glowing brightly. The young man circumvented the tongs and simply grabbed the metal with his bare hand from the fire. Before the dwarven master could have doubts about the speed at which the metal heated up, the young man pulled out a big hammer. It looked like the mix of a war hammer and a smithing hammer, was this really ok...? He calmed down when Seth started forging the metal into shape. At least his motor skills were normal. He could read the experienced movements and urate hits, even with such a big hammer, he looked quite skilled. It fit his im to be in thetter stages of the adept rank. But his speed was really overwhelming. It was not just that he could quickly reheat the de in this weird fire, but he seemed to need only one hit, where others at his level might need three or four. Within 15 minutes he had shaped the daggers de. He ground it into a more refined shape using the grinding wheel he had summoned. In another 10 minutes, he had forged a simple guard and pommel from pieces he had split off the ingot beforehand. He fit the still malleable red-hot guard snuggly to the de so it would not rattle once he assembled everything. There was nothing special about the handle, except that he did a good job with it. Thest step before the assembly was heat treatment. Instead of quenching the de in oil and normalizing it, the young cksmith got the de up to temperature and quenched it in the barrel of water he had summoned. Next, he sharpened the de on the same grinding wheel and proceeded to merrily assemble the dagger. Was that all? Quenching was all he did? And he sharpened it on that simple grinding wheel? How could the dagger be sharp without using any whetstones? But when the young man came before him with a smile and handed him the dagger he made, Tored could barely believe his eyes. The description spitting in his face! Yes, the dagger was sharp, a a razor to be honest, but the question was HOW?! And that durability was also weird, for steel that was quenched in water and didnt go through a normalization cycle. He red at Seth and then at the Spirit Smithy. It had to be because of this weird smithy, right? Right? "Hmm, this smithy seems quite unique." the old dwarf went and got another steel ingot. "Can you try using by facilities instead?" The second round was more or less as Tored expected. It took about double the time. The young man made no mistakes, probably because he was using but he was obviously not used to things like giving the de time to normalize or sharpening with whetstones. The oue was slightly worse than his first try. < Dagger Common Damage:40 Durability:79 A dagger made by an aspiring cksmith from simple materials. +5% chance to cause bleeding> But it was still a passable dagger. "Alright, I have seen enough." the young cksmith looked up, upon Tored''s words. He seemed a little nervous. "I will give you a chance if you can fulfill one task. You came here with the rmendation of the guild and you entered this ce by being a B-Rank adventurer. You still have to prove yourself as a cksmith. 2 Weeks. I want you to open a shop like everyone else and make it sessful in this time frame. Dont smile yet, I know it should not be a problem with your skill. However, I have a condition. You have to make the items you sell in this store using a normal forge and workshop. You rely too much on this spooky smithy you summoned. I admit that it has great perks, but I will teach in my facilities. So, I want you to get used to working without these perks. Do you agree?" Seth thought about it. Working in a normal smithy? Maybe what Tored said was true and he did rely a little too much on the skill''s perks. He had felt a little embarrassed when he had to use for a simple dagger, just to know how to sharpen it on regr whetstones. He might not always be able to hide his skill if he had to. This might be a good opportunity. Tored smiled when he saw Seth nodding with a determined face. Others might have started toin. Many actually had, as if they knew better than someone close to bing a grandmaster cksmith. The dwarf had be a lot more approachable after he had seen Seth work, so he finally had the chance to bring up that he mostly wanted his tutge in and . When Tored heard that he was perplexed at first, but he was relieved when he heard that Seth was still an apprentice in both. He had no idea what weird quirks this "spirit smithy" had in those departments and he was d that he could have Seth learn normally instead of retraining him. When they left the smithy, they came before a dismayed Vathon. The poor guy had actually waited for several hours alone in the showroom. Seth apologized and even Tored looked a bit guilty. They both hadpletely forgotten the young dwarfs existence. It was past noon and Seth decided it was a great time to invite his Vathon and his soon-to-be teacher to a scrumptious meal! After all, he had learned: A dwarfs friendship deepened the more free food and alcohol you put into it. Chapter 116 - 116. Running The Shop Fin was happy that Seth would stay for another 2 weeks, instead of suddenly vanishing in those dark rabbit holes the dwarves called their home. Seth had talked to her about the idea that she could join Minas party on quests while he was training under Tored. Fin actually agreed to this idea, she like Mina, but it was not because of that. The fairy had set her mind on following Seth, even if he returned to his homeworld. For this, she needed to be stronger to level up further. She had mentioned it to Seth, but she was not sure whether Seth was aware of the difference between his home and other worlds. Urth was a lot more dangerous than other worlds. A world during its transition of the apocalypse was a lot less predictable and the beasts were a lot stronger than they would be in the already pacified worlds. This was the reason Oris were buffed, it was necessary to survive in their world. Fin needed to be strong enough topensate for this, if she wanted to keep following Seth. -------- Seth had a head start for his task as he already owned a shop that had gained a slight reputation thanks to the poison weapons and his recent quest. Marn was a big help in the beginning. It really reminded Seth of the time when he just started. Under Marn''s guidance and the , Seth quickly got used to using a normal forge and kept making steel weapons because he did not want to waste any better material to get used to the new method. Seth also decided to abstain from using Charons Obol. It was not a big restriction, but it meant that he was unable to make the bone weapons. Being forced to use the normal forge had an unexpected advantage. Seth could continue working, while Cerberus could make more scales at the same time. Seth used this chance to have Marn teach him the elvish smithing bads he knew. The bads were very simr to . One needed to sing during the forging process while infusing ones voice with mana. It was not as easy as to randomly singsong the text. Not only needed the intonations and melody correct, but one also needed to time the song itself over the whole duration of the forging. Marn exined that it was like a conversation with the spirits and requesting them to imbue the material with their power. The half-elf only knew the most basic one that appealed to the weakest sprites of the four main elements. Their effects depended on the synergy between the elements and the material used. Earth could strengthen the durability and defense of metals; water did the same on leather and wood. This also meant that bad affinities would lead to little effect. Asking a water sprite to bestow power onto metal would normally lead to a failure. Marn exined that the bads of the elves distinguished themselves from others because they could not only be used during forging but applied to all crafts. Marn could not help a lot, as he had little talent in this discipline, which was why he opted to look for a dwarven teacher instead of staying with his people. Seth had to depend on the blueprint skill to try and learn how to sing... Marn soon fled from the shop as demonic cacophonies left Seths throat and made his skin crawl as if an ant had invaded his body. Seth soon stopped practicing these songs. It was to preserve Marns sanity and because the results had spooked him. He would have understood to simply fail, but the third dagger he made: Although his proficiency in was slightly rising it was not worth messing with demonic power he did not know. Even if he knew them; he was not sure he wanted it. Although Seth had a lot of steel to splurge with, it did not mean that it was a cheap material. All the weapons were solidly umon and the shop was doing reasonably well. Still, Seth didnt like to do all this work, for so little proficiency. Instead, he decided to invest some money. He wanted to use better materials, but the current forge was not able to work with rare metals. This meant he had to purchase a better one. Just because he had to use normal equipment, didnt mean he could not upgrade. Tored workshop was really high-end. Marn was a big help in this, as he knew the fitting craftsmen. But the half-elf did note back after he left in the morning of the fourth day. In the evening, Seth had a stack of different des on the table of the workshop. They had no handles yet, but he used the opportunity to get used to different shapes of weapons he nned to make in the future. It was now, that Seth realized that his clerk went missing. "Marn?" Seth looked for him in his room, but he was not there. --------A few hours earlier------- Marn left the shop to visit a mason on the surfaceyer of the shopping district. It was the branch of famous dwarven siblings, one was a mason and the other an engineer. They were known for their work when it came to cksmith and masonry tools. He never bought anything himself, but he had yearned for their products. It had been his dream to own some of their products for a long time. And now Seth had told him to get good tools and facilities for the smithy, no matter the price. It was his chance! The half-elf had just entered the first undergroundyer when he felt a sharp pain and his eyes went dark. It was a cold torrent of water that rudely woke him up from his involuntary slumber. He was tied to a chair in a dark room but he could make out a small shadow before him. "We meet again, Marn." the figure spoke solemnly "Mr. J? But why...? I paid my debt." Marns mind was still dazed and he could only slowly form words. "Thats because I asked him to." suddenly another figure in the darkness spoke. A dim light illuminated the room and Marn was able to see who spoke. It was an elf. d in an expensive-looking green robe, with an arrogant expression and long pointy ears. "M-Master Lyris?" the face of the elf turned into a disgusted grimace. "I am no longer your master. You dare you! How could you turn your back on me and our craft? And to make matters worse you went to learn from those- those dirtcrawlers!" His serious mask was lifted and he was livid. Not only did this youngling have the audacity to run away, he even stubbornly held onto his attempt to learn from one of those mineralmidgets! He had paid Mr.J to make his life hell, but what happened? Not only did the debt not work. Even the people that were supposed to maim him, so he would have to give up cksmithing, kept disappearing! It hade to a point, where Mr.J sent his bounceler to simply kidnap the elf to appease the elven master''s fury. Marn could only look at the man who had once kindly taught him the basics of cksmithing with sorrowful eyes. "What choice did I have? My dream was always to be a great and respected cksmith like Master. "tears started rolling down the half-elfs cheeks. "Master knows that I have no talent for our bads. No matter how well I sing or execute the bad, the sprites only passively answer my pleas. And no higher spirit ever answered. How am I supposed to get anywhere like this?! I C I-" "It simply means you are not worthy to be a cksmith. You should have epted it and changed your ss, instead of spitting in my face like this. A disciple of Lyris ran off to rather learn from a stonesmoocher! You have turned me into a joke!" "You are a joke." all three heard a voice from the door. Marn looked up and saw Seth''s distorted figure through his tears. "A not very good one at that." he threw the bouncler into the room. His face was bloody and disfigured, but he was alive. Seth would argue that the blood was his fault, but he would argue that he looked better now than before. "Marn, what are you doing? We really dont have time for this. I need that new forge." he stepped forward and started cutting the ropes that bound the surprised Marn. The other two had been stunned by the young man''s sudden appearance and watched him speechlessly. "What do you think you are doing?!" it was Lyris who had found his voice again. "Taking my employee back. You elves have some weird customs for a reunion, but I dont appreciate you interrupting his work." Seth really didnt feel like getting pulled in their little sob story. He just wanted to get back home and was d if he could fob this elvish master off without much talk. Seth had no idea how to find kidnapped people and spent thest hour running around and talking to people who might know something. The only silver lining was that elves were rather rare in Ora, so he found some clues after paying off several stall owners for information. The description of the attacker fit Js bounceler and Seth simply came here to try his luck. Who would have thought that he would crash some weird elvish drama? "You dare?! Do you know who I am? I am-" "Yeah, Yeah, Master Lute or whatever. I dont care. Dont approach my clerk again, got it?" Seth knew, that there was no sense in talking with people like this. So, he did the best he could for his own peace of mind. He tucked Marn under his arm and left,pletely ignoring the huffing and puffing elf. Before he left, he turned to Mr. J "And you... Dont listen to this elf anymore. If I find you messing with my shop again, I will turn everything you own to ashes.." it was not a threat, but a promise. Chapter 117 - 117. Puffles’ Appetite "Is this really alright?" the half-elf tucked below his arm asked, as Seth left the lowestyer of themercial district. Even with and after having walked this way three times it was hard to orient in his anthill-like maze of tunnels. "Oh, sure. I think? Maybe you should not leave the shop when you are alone." Seth sighed. "Its probably toote to order that new forge today, right?" Marn blinked a few times until he understood what his employer meant. "Ah, yes, I guess." Seth put the elf down when they were back in the workshop and went to the smithy to put handles on and finish the weapons. He wanted them on the shelves tomorrow. The next day he brought Fin and Puffles with him to the smithy. He had asked Fin to apany Marn on his way to the dwarven shop. She also urged him to show her his shop. Although the front was unimpressive, sheplimented him on the interior and the appearance of his clerk. This made Marn, the clerk in question, blush wildly. Puffles on the other hand had asked to apany Seth to his workshop. The Ivicer had suddenly stopped his meditation and asked to watch him work. He had often watched Seth making items, while they were on the airship. Maybe he was interested to see the difference when he worked in a normal smithy? Seth started working after the fairy and the elf left and Puffles sat on a table in the back. He had just finished a de when he heard an odd tter in the background. It was different from Cerberus punching scales. When he turned around, he saw the small Ivicer rummaging in the pile scraps that were left from the golems work. "What are you looking for?" the Ivicer flinched when he heard Seth asking from behind. He had been caught! Kyu-Kyuu-Kyuurg! ~T-The great me has nothing to hide! No! I simply inspected the...the quality of your materials! Yes! ~ "I see. Nothing to hide. Then" Seth bowed down and picked up one of the scraps. "... why is there a bitemark on this?" Kyuu Kyurg. ~ I- I have no idea! ~ "Come on Puffles, the Mighty." he said and picked him up from the ground. The Ivicer had grown quite a lot now and it was hard to simply cradle him like back then. "You can tell me e~verything. Are we not partners? I want to help you. I cant help you if you dont tell me. Come on, tell me! Let me help you." he kept whispering to the young Ivicer. Kyuu.... kyurh kyu! ~A-Alright, the mighty me shall allow you to help me. I need specific metals for my development but I simply cant find them in your shop. I tried tasting some, but they are not the right stuff. ~ "You want to eat other materials? Does that mean you can make threads from different materials?!" Seth guessed immediately. Puffles had tried to hide this, since he knew, that Seth would start to stuff him with materials again, to get even more thread. There was nothing bad about this, but making thread all day long was really boring! He was a great Ivicer, a divine being. It did not seem right that he had to spend his time making materials for a cksmith, even if he was his partner. He could no longer withstand Seths stare and nodded. "That''s great! Hmm, lets try the ones I have with me first." Seth actually had not that many metals in his possession. There was gold, silver, high-quality steel, ancient bronze, dark steel, and a pinky-size piece of mithril. Seth was still looking into his inventory to see, whether he had picked up any other metals. When he looked back on the table, the little stick of mithril was missing. "Didnt I already take out the mithril?" he looked back in his inventory, but could not find it. Then he heard the nibble. On the ground was Puffles and he looked just in time to see the rest of his mithril vanish into the Ivicer''s mouth! "You-!" he was about to get angry, when he remembered, that he was able to simply buy more here in Ora. Well, "simply" as in, for a lot of money. Kyuuu... ~Im sorry. I couldnt stop myself. Its simr to how you react to sweets...~ He sighed. "At least we already found one thing you want to eat. How many do you need? Is it like ancient bronze, or is It an alloy with moreponents?" The caterpir thought for a moment. Kyu- Kyu- Kyu ~ Three~ "Then we could go shopping," he suggested. They closed shop and left. The material market had its own square in themercial district. Surrounding the square were specialized shops where you could order specific material in all kinds of quantities. Unfortunately, few of these were not fit for window shopping where you could see a lot of different things. So instead, they entered the market, a kind of bazaar. Here anyone could open a stall for a small fee and sell anything that could be judged as material. Most of the people here were Adventurers selling monster products like bones, scales, and organs. But they often also had weird minerals or rocks and drops from monsters like stone giants. Seeing the chaotic scenes of stalls that ranged from actual structures to simple nkets on the ground, Seth had a bad premonition. "Puff. If you want something, tell me. Don''t. I repeat don''t just eat something without telling me. Did you understand?" he told the big caterpir with a menacing aura. Puffles could only nod. They had crossed about half the bazaar when the Ivicer suddenly stopped. It was a nket filled with all kinds of rocks or ores that showed some sparkling inclusions. Puffles stopped there as if spellbound by this rock. Seth actually recalled it into the pet space so it wouldnt swallow the stone without warning. "hehe, you pet seemed quite interested in my wares." the street vendor said with a crafty smile. Seth had a feeling, that this stone would not be cheap. He looked at the stone with Simr to gold, it was a soft material fit for jewelry. "How much?" he asked out of politeness. If it was too much he would- "2 gold, hehe!" the vendor said rubbing his hand. "Have a nice day," he said and simply left. It was a good thing he was able to stop the Ivicer from simply swallowing that ore. Even if it was rated rare, 2 gold for a barely fist-sized piece of ore was way too much. "Ah! Hey, wait! This is a really good deal! This ore is very rare, you know? You probably wont find any more of it anywhere on this bazaar." the man called out to him. "Oh really? Then how about I go to one of the stores and ask for Serenum. Are you saying they wont have any?" Seth asked interested. Maybe the man was saying the truth, I exined why they had looked through half the bazaar without finding anything. In Seths opinion, there were two reasons why there was no Serenum on the market. Yes, it might be so rare that few people sold it. Or it was so plentiful and cheap, that people did not bother selling it in a stall. They could simply sell it to the stores and save their time. Judging by the heavy sweat on the mans forehead when he mentioned the actual name of the metal, it was thetter. At least, the vendor was not telling the whole truth, that was for sure. "Ngh. O-Okay. 20 silver." the vendor said begrudgingly. This was a 90% decrease! "10 silver. No more." Seth said mercilessly. The man almost started crying but epted the trade. Who would believe his poor act, this man had probably still made a profit. "Here." Seth gave the piece of ore to the Ivicer after summoning it again. The caterpir greedily gobbled it up. After confirming that this was the second of three ingredients they kept going. They hoped to find the third ingredient, too. They had searched the whole market, but they were out of luck. Puffles had not found the third material, yet. They were still not out of options; they could still take a look at the stores in the vicinity. Although only a few disyed the materials, Seth had to visit them anyways to ask for mithril and serenum. Thetter was not as rare and cheap as Seth had expected, but it was far from the price of the mithril. They started window-shopping in the different shops and asked to see samples. Some shops would not, but many did actually have a small collection of samples to show to customers. It was a measure they implemented especially for a cksmith that looked for fitting materials. As expected from a ce that valued cksmiths highly. It was the 7th shop, when Puffles finally reacted. It was not one of the samples shown to them, but a reddish stone in a tray on the counter that caught the Ivicers attention. < Dusk Ore, Crafting Material, Umon, The ore of the dusk iron. An extremely hard and brittle metal that is hard to refine because of its high melting point. Can be refined to dusk iron> n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Do you sell this, too? Dusk iron?" Seth asked curiously pointing at the stone. "Oh that, no." the owner said with an embarrassedugh. "its not very sought after and hard to refine, so we dont have a regr stock of it. This was sold by a customer this morning." as if he saw a chance to get rid of a dead article he continued talking. "Are you interested? Its not much, but I have another box in the back. If you take it all, I can give you a good price." Seth agreed and got a whole box of 20 more or less fist-sized rocks for the paltry sum of 1 silver. It was really dirt cheap for an umon material. This gave Seth an idea. As they kept looking for the cheapest price for mithril, he also kept asking for the and was able to collect 2 whole stacks of for less than he had paid for the Before they left the market Seth bought twenty ingots of each of the others, paying a whopping 80 gold for the mithril and 18 gold for the serenum.. These bars were each big enough to make a short sword out of and Seth really hoped the Ivicer would not need to eat all of it. Chapter 118 - 118. Celestial Bronze Marn and Fin had already returned when they came back to the workshop. One of the advantages of a world where everyone has an inventory was that one did not need to wait for deliveries. As long as it was judged as one object, it could be stored. It was as if you could buy a washing machine and bring it back home in your pocket. The whole smithy was alreadypletely upgraded. A new forge, a power hammer, exchangeable grinding wheels. Everything a cksmith would need to make high-end weapons and armor. The fairy and the elf had really no mercy on his wallet. He really couldntin, he was Mr. Moneybags after all. Funny enough, they used less money than him. They met the two joking together at the counter when they entered the shop. It seemed like Mr.J listened to his advice since Fin had not much to do besides keeping Marnpany. They did not have much time to talk as the caterpir kept bouncing around him. Kyu kyu kyu! The Ivicer was excited and urged him to bring out the material. Seth brought out a bar fo mithril, serenum, and a dusk ore, but the Ivicer did not eat. Kyurr! ~ These two are refined, that one is not. I am not going to ept this uncooked food. Refine it for me!~ He could only sigh. The little brat would not let him off if he didnt do it right now. Dusk iron was allegedly hard to refine, this might be interesting. He btedly excused himself and went to the spirit furnace. He had only agreed to not use it for the shop, this was not for the shop, so he would obviously use any cheats he could get. With antsy Puffles behind him, Seth put several rocks of the dusk ore into the smelter and started controlling the me. Now he just waited for the ore to melt. He waited for the ore. For the ore to melt. Melt? The ore was glowing red but did not melt. Until now it never mattered what metal he put into the furnace, it would always melt in a matter of minutes. Seth took full control of the fire and started to increase its power. Sweat covered his forehead as he used mental force to increase the temperature. Finally, as if a thin membrane ripped, small droplets of liquid metal leaked out and it formed a pool with the g floating on top. The ore ingots strongly varied in size so Seth concluded that he needed 4 or 5 rocks for 2 ingots. If his stamina and mental strength held up, he could make about 40 dusk iron ingots. Hey, just another 20 more times... It really warmed his heart seeing the greedy Ivicer immediately gobbling up the fruit of his hardbor. Not. This unthankful little-! But he wanted to see the new material, so Seth could only keep on pouring sweat and tears into working the furnace. At least it was not without gains. Working so intensely with the fire increased his again! It lessened the burden a little bit, but Seth felt his energy dwindling. It was salvation, when Puffles who had been nibbling away at the fresh ingot, told him after 10 ingots that he had enough for now. Seth worried a little that his would still not level up. But the 9th level was always the hardest. Entranced Fin and Marn joined Seth in watching the caterpir devour the refined metal ingots. After eating the 10 ingots of dusk iron, 2 ingots of mithril and 5 ingots of serenum Puffles stopped moving for a while, and then a bright golden thread emerged from his mandibles. It didnt end there, the Ivicer started to wrap it around himself. Wait... he was going to pupate?! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Completely spellbound sat the three people, a fairy, an elf, and a human, there and watched a caterpir turn into a cocoon of bright, silver-golden thread. It becamete evening when Puffles was finally finished and turned into a cocoon. "Are you okay, Puff?" ~ Dont talk to me. Im will enter my first transition. I will talk to you once I''m done. ~ Seth nodded. He finally remembered and used his on the cocoon. Celestial Bronze? It really had almost perfectlybined the traits of the different parts of the alloy. Seth had not messed around a lot with alloys, but from what he heard, it was actually very hard to harmonize many different metals and minerals in a way to create an alloy that is better than the individual ingredients. judged it as rare, would it be epic for N?del? He hoped the old man would not die from a heart attack once he saw it. After checking the new material Seth put the cocoon into the pet space. Now he had finally time to test the new furnace! Or not, it was alreadyte. To end the day, he invited Marn to eat out with him and Fin. The next day Seth could finally start working with the super material . Everyone knew how strong it was and it had one of the highest magic conductivities there were. Mithril would not only help him in but also in enchantment. Even so, he made umon enchanted steel weapons, they gave almost no experience since iron was not a good medium for magic. He couldnt get much proficiency with the basic enchantments he could use. But he had qualms about using pure mithril. It was a really expensive material and... What was he thinking? This was all to level his skill, not to make more money. The money came in anyway! One ingot was enough to make a short sword or two normal daggers. As long as he didnt fail they were guaranteed to be rare if he made it from pure . He wanted to use this and instead of making two more traditional daggers, he opted to make stiletto daggers. This was not a blueprint the system had given him, but Seth had originally designed this blueprint. He wanted to make a few of them from snake teeth. Unfortunately, the material was not strong enough to make a good stiletto, but was different. This weapon shape enabled him to make 3 rare weapons from one ingot. He was only able to use one basic enchantment per weapon, to begin with. A stiletto had enough space for that. Seth would have made the handles from if he had been using the , but like this, he went with a handle carved from the snake teeth and the small crossguard and pommel from steel. Despite the new furnace, working a rare material gave Seth a hard time. Stilettos had a thin de specialized in stabbing. He had expected that it would be easier than the broader dagger shapes, but it felt actually harder to control the movement of the metal when the goal was a very thin de. He heaved a big sigh of relief when he finished the first stiletto and gained almost 5% proficiency. It was alreadyte afternoon when he looked at the clock. The damage values rivaled the and the durability was also rmendable. What kind of enchantment would fit this the best? A bight silver stiletto with a white boney handle and darker steel elements. As he looked through the catalog of simple enchantments, he could make his eyes fell on the elemental damages. Elemental damage was a simple circuit that turned the channeled mana into a magical attack of a specific element. The one Seth chose was one of the enchantments he had recently gotten on their journey. Lighting Damage. It was an enchantment that did a certain amount of electrical damage to the target and had a chance to paralyze or even stun. Paralysis and stun seemed appropriate for an assassin''s weapon. Another enchantment that fit such a bright metal was frost damage, it could also slow and freeze the opponent. Seth didnt really have to choose between the two, he could just make a few of each and see how they sold. The time flew by and he just didnt expect, how big of a buff the increased production speed from his was. It became evening before he finally finished the enchantment. He needed one full day to make this one stiletto. In one day, he only gained 5% in his and 11% in his . Other cksmiths would feel aplished to make a rare weapon in one day, but to Seth, it felt agonizingly slow. Still, he would not break his promise to Tored. He was looking forward to tomorrow when this new dagger entered the shop. Chapter 119 - 119. Running Business The mithril stiletto was the final straw. Their shop had a good reputation from the poison weapons and the consistent quality of the other Weapons he and Marn made. Seh''s action during the quest also brought in a lot of potential patrons. With the news of a rare dagger making the round they got a lot more influx in their shop and also more wealthy figures. One had to admit, that the location of their shop was bad, so much it could not be worse. Having peoplee to this ce to look for weapons was not short of a miracle. But why would theye down there when the shops on the surface and in the upperyer also often sold rare weapons? One had to know, that many of these adventurers understood what happened in Ora. Many young cksmiths came here looking for the teachings of the dwarven craftsmen and masters. Many opted to sell their weapons through the established shops and make a deficit to gain recognition. A cksmith who rather opted to open an own shop, even in the 2ndyer, was rmendable, but not enough for a lot of higher ranked adventurers to visit it. This changed when Seth started to manufacture rare-rated weapons. A rare rated weapon was a good weapon for a B-Rank adventurer and the dream of any C-Rank adventurer. It was not only the rank that made peoplee to take a look, getting to know a young and talented cksmith was always a good investment for the future. Another aspect that pulled in the masses was the price. Seth had seen the prizes for simr weapons in the other shops when he tried to find a ce to sell his weapons for him. He only spent a day on making the stiletto and had no qualms about mercilessly undercut their prices. With 10 gold for one stiletto, he asked for approximately 10 times the material cost and was still cheaper than the professional stores. The real sess was not selling the stiletto and other weapons but pulling in customers. Some B-Ranks approached Seth tomission weapons after seeing the delicate stiletto. Most of them were thieves or assassins looking for a new dagger but some others like archers also came looking for short swords as secondary weapons. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Marn and Fin were staffing the counter. While Marn was dealing with the customer, Finzily watching the hubbub. Seth was working on making the third stiletto and only met some customers. Those who wanted to order customized weapons. This was the real sign of a sessful shop, Customer paying him money to make weapons to order. Seth had little experience with customers, but by now he had worked long enough with weapons and had held a huge variety in his hands, that the basic knowledge had stuck with him. Two short swords were never the same. For a customer, he had to take into ount the size of their hands, their strength, their preference in fighting style, weight, bnce, and weapon length. He knew the basics, but Seth was nowhere near a master who could simply look at a person and their hand and urately judge what weapon they needed. That''s why he only spoke with few customers, as each one took 20 minutes to half an hour of his time to specify the weapons they wanted and needed. He diligently made notes for every weapon, so he would not forgetter. One thing he was d about, was that not everyone wanted mithril weapons. Some specifically asked for steel stilettos. The weapon design itself was a huge hit with many adventurers. It didnt just look stylish but offered increased stabbing damage withoutpletely losing the option of shing like some spikes or armor-piercing daggers did. At the end of the second day after introducing the mithril stiletto they had sold two stilettos, one frost, one lighting, and had 15missions for more weapons.7 of them were asking for steel stilettos, 3 for mithril daggers, and the other 5 were a mix of orders for different weapons. They had only a little more than a week and Seth was sure this was enough. Not just that, it might actually a little too much to finish alone in the rest of the time. This was when Seth asked himself the question: Why should he do it alone? "Oh Marn~ How about we close shop for a few days and you help me with this." he said with an alluring smile. He had an employee who was also a cksmith, why would he suffer alone? The next few days they closed the shop and Marn helped Seth finish the umon weapons made from steel. Using Seth was able to finish the 7 stiletto des in one day and half-elf started making crossguard and pommels on the smaller forge. Afterward, Seth started working on the mithril Stilettos, while Marn worked on assembling the handles. It was really busy in the smithy with both men sweating and working intensely. Fin had watched the spectacle for some time, but it became too hot in the smithy for her in more than one way. Two half-naked muscr men swinging their hammers together in sync was a sight that soon attracted Mina who had recently returned from a quest. Fin graciously took it upon herself and led the drooling cat girl away from the tempting disy of masculinity. It was definitely not because the fairy was bored without Puffles and thought she could have some fun going around with Mina. While the two girls hit it off with each other, the two men didnt even notice they were gone. There was a satisfied smile on Marns lips. Just working in the smithy without worrying about money or expectations in him. This was all he had ever wanted. The two continued this routine. On the third day having the shop closed, when Marn had finished the 7 steel stilettos and Seth finished two mithril des, they started with the other 5 weapons. Namely, there were 2 mithril short swords, a stiletto from and 2 mithril spears. While Seth got onto making the des, Marn was left with finishing the shafts and handles. Seth first made the spear tips as they did not take too long and then went to make the stiletto from . Even so, this was also a rare material, it was a lot easier to forge than . It made him once again realize that there were differences even in the same rank, it was just not disyed by most system skills. The from the old man at the auction house was able to judge a material''s status within its rank. On the fourth day after closing shop, they were mostly finished and reopened. Marn stayed a the counter while Seth finished up the weapons. By making the Weapons in tandem the proficiency was shared, simr to the experience in a party. Seth still got a whopping 35% proficiency and was now only missing about 20% to reach lv.9! The proficiency of on the other hand was not shared and he slowly got better in engraving, which increased his experience even more. In the end after finishing everything, his skill leveled up and he stopped at . He was also looking forward to what N?del was able to make from the wyvern leather. "Its good to see you again, Seth." N?del greeted him when he entered his workshop. "Hello, N?del. How are you?" he asked and sat down on one of the chairs in the room. "Good, good. Bettertely, since you bring me such great materials." he smiled gently and brought out four packages. Four? "You finished these really fast, didnt you?" It had been maybe 2 weeks since he had bought N?del the materials. "haha, yes. Let me show you. Lets start with the robe for your quarter-elven friend." Now Seth remembered why it was four. After he told Lixiss to visit this shop, he had actually forgotten about it. He thought she would get the robe herself. The robe was golden through and through with a dark-blue fabric lining the inside. N?del exined that the lining was weaved from the wool of midnight sheep. It had a natural property to weaken one''s presence. A great perk for any mage. Simr to his jacket, the robe had the effect to lighten itself and strengthen its defense. Seth decided to give it to herter when he finished everyone''s equipment. Next was Fins new robe. It was not a traditional robe like priests usually wore but was more like a suit martial artists were often seen wearing. It was made up of pants, a jacket, and a belt. The outside was gold while the inside was lined with thin wyvern leather. Seth could imagine the fairy, wearing this golden robe and surrounded by her divine aura. She would like one of the characters from a cartoon he watched as a child, Dragon Cubes. She would be Super Saiyafin! Unable to wipe his grin off his face, Seth urged the old tailor to show him what he did for him. N?del saw how happy Seth was about the fairy''s equipment and moved on to the set of shirts and pants he did for him. When N?del had said he would need to use some of the ancient bronze to have enough material to make the shirt and pants, Seth had expected a normal kind of leather shirt and pants with gold ents. What N?del did was to intricately weave or sew together stripes of the golden cloth and the wyvern leather. The leather he had dyed a deep dark red while the golden stripes almost looked like embroidery, forming a stark contrast between each other. The inside was lined with a soft dark fabric. "I know, the color scheme might not be to everyones taste, but I guarantee you, that the effects are good. If you find an enchanter the natural effects could also be strengthened further." Set-items? The pieces were already great on their own, but he would even get a bonus when he wore them both! And that without any kind of enchantments. N?del was really a master of his craft, even so, he was still a craftsman. Not just increased defense, but if he worse both he would have 25% more movement speed. He would be able to run like the wind! "Try them on. I have to make sure they fit correctly." the old man encourages him. Seth didnt make him wait and equipped the new clothes instead of his casual attire. He could not just feel, that the clothes were light, but he felt his whole body lighten when he put them on. Was this the effect of increased moment speed? It fell as if a weight that was pushing down on him was slightly lifted. He started to nimbly jog and run, back and forth in the workshop and N?del observed him see, whether there were problems in his work. He happily nodded as he watched Seth joyfully jump around and could not see any problems. "I''m really d to have met you, N?del," Seth said a little exhausted after he tried his new equipment "As thanks, I will give you something to look forward to." he continued and brought out Puffles in his cocoon. The old tailor''s eyes shot open wide and his jaw almost touched the ground. He shuffled close to get a good look but didnt dare to touch the cocoon. "Oh, my goodness..." was all he could say at this moment. Seth stood widely grinning beside him. It was a good thing N?del didnt get a heart attack. He gave the man some time to deal with the situation before asking. "So, what rating do you see it as? I see it as rare, and you?" "Epic... definitely epic. A master might even be able to make something legendary from this thread. Just where did you get this?" Seth pondered for a while but decided to trust the old tailor. He put Puffles back into the pet space and told N?del his story. Not the full one, but enough for the old man to understand what the Ivicer was and how it made the thread. Seth didnt know how much longer he would stay in the world of Namia or when Puffles would wake up, but he made a deal with N?del, that before he left, he would bring the old man all the thread Puffles had made until then and let him make something from it. Seth stayed with N?del for lunch. In the afternoon he could finally make his way to the Halls of Stone. He knew the way thanks to the map and soon arrived before Master Tored''s building. He hade here a week earlier to give him a status report.. This time he came because his task was finished. Chapter 121 - 121.Fulfilling Promises Seth could already hear the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil even before he entered the masters shop. The rhythmic ding of metal hitting metal chimed not just from Master Tored''s shop. It was heard all around like the cksmith''s choir. "Master Tored?" Seth called him after stepping into the store. The sound of the hammer from inside the smithy went silent. The dwarf that stepped into the room was a lot different from the Tored he knew. He wore a clean set of clothes and an unsullied leather apron. His beard was properly braided with golden ornaments weaved into it. A newther cap covered his baldness and there was a fresh glint in the dwarf''s eyes. "Oh, Seth! There you are! Good timing. I already prepared everything for the ceremony." "C-Ceremony?" Seth asked confused. What ceremony was the dwarf talking about? "hmm? The one to ept you as my disciple, of course." Tored lifted one of his bushy eyebrows. "Could it be, that you didnt properly do your research before asking me to be your tutor?" the cksmith asked with an impish grin. H had warmed up a lot, after watching Seth managing his Shop for two weeks and saw great potential in him. "I-I tried. Nobody told me there was a ceremony, though." Seth defended himself. "Ah, probably because itsmon knowledge. Maybe I should first exin everything to you from the start... Ok then,e here and sit down." he signaled Seth toe behind the counter. They entered Tored''s little office, where they sat down to talk. "Hmm, where to start.... Normally this is done between a master and his disciple when a new cksmith chooses his ss. It is an oath don before the system, that the master will teach as best as he can and the disciple will learn as best as he can. Of course, being a Tutor is a little different from being a master. A disciple would be able to inherit the ss of the master and learn their special skills, as most masters like myself have long chosen a higher specialization. As your tutor, I wont be able to teach you the skills of my specialization. I can only help you train the existing ones we share. Although you wont be my direct disciple, the ceremony stays the same, only the oath is different. It''s necessary to make a contract with the system." Seth had kept nodding. He knew about the perks and the difference between tutor and master, but nobody had told him about the ceremony. "Its just a simple thing. here." Tored gave him a small note with text. "This is the oath. We stand on opposite sides of my anvil, speak the oath and shake hands. That''s all there is to it." Written on the oath was only a simple Sentence. It was not hard to recite. Once the old dwarf was assured that Seth understood what he had to do. They took their positions and spoke. "I, Tored Tungsten, hereby acknowledge Seth Smith as my student. I will tutor him to the best of my abilities and swear to only support his growth and never betray his trust." "I, Seth Smith, hereby acknowledge Tored Tungsten as my master. I will learn and grow to the best of my abilities and swear to never betray his trust." Tored nodded. They shook hand above the big anvil and it suddenly started shining as if to confirm their oath. "Good. Now tell me all about your ss." Seth was shocked at first, by Tored''s sudden request, but he soon understood when Tored btedly exined. To really help their student, a tutor needed to know them. Tored needed to know his skills and masteries, so he could make a training n for Seth. Especially thest part of the oath was meant to make it possible to have no secrets between master and disciple. Tored was unable to talk about Seths secrets and Seth was unable to disclose the dwarfs. Seth was convinced and they talked a long time about Seths ss, his skill and what he found out, and questions he often had. "Truly incredible. A new kind of enchantment that delves into the realm of mysticism. Well, there are a few things I can help you with right off the bat. I don''t know a lot about souls, but I can affirm your suspicion. A big chunk of the experience adventurers gaines from the soul of their defeated opponent. So, your hammer absorbing the whole souls should be the reason for the missing experience." Seth pondered. Souls made up a big part of the experience gain, was this also why he didnt get as much experience for that creature in Ivice? Because the Soul Fire burned away its soul and killed it that way...? Anyways, if it was like this, he could not use Charon''s Obol during party hunts. The hammer would keep feasting on souls until it was full, h could not simply still half the experience to grow his weapon. He also needed to feed it materials for it to grow... "Oh, now that I think about it. Can I have a week off, before we start my training?" Seth suddenly asked and interrupted the master. Thinking of the party reminded him that he still had some promises to keep. It was not just the equipment for the party, but also the armors for the lord of Zhiqe. Cerberus was finally done with the scales, so he just needed to assemble to armors now. He exined it to Tored who started tough. "Why "take a week off"? Just make them here and let me watch you. It will be a chance to watch how you regrly work. We can continue this talk then while you work," he said with a smile. "By the way, master?" "Yes?" N?v(el)B\\jnn "You seemed awfully happy and propper today? Is the oath really that big of a thing?" "What...? Oh! Pff, no. Im not dressed like this because of you. Didnt you hear the choir of hammers? The cksmiths district is getting a big assignment and there will be an official eventter." Seth blushed, having thought the dwarf was happy enough about his new disciple to even dress up. "A-and what is the reason?" he tried to y down his embarrassment. "Oh, you should actually know about it. Remember that thing with the fiasco with the curse? Its still notpletely under control, but the reason for the big order is that the masterminds have revealed themself." "What?!" "Yeah, the news came recently. A bunch of demons, demon worshippers, and all kinds of dark figures have taken control of a duchy in the north and keep expanding their influence using stuff like this curse. They had the gall to dere war on the dwarven kingdoms. We got a big assignment for the military. Hehehe, those shadowgoblins will cry for their mommies when they face an army fully d in divine and blessed armor..." the old dwarf said with a diabolical grin moving his hands as if it was him, crushing their skulls with his own hands. "Anyways." the dwarf came back from his fantasy. "You can work and stay here from now on. No need to keep going back and forth." They didnt talk for much longer. Seth soon excused himself, since he still had to talk to Fin and Marn about his ns for the future. It was actually not as hard as he thought. When he told Manr that he could run the shop on his own while he was gone, the half-elf smiled so hard from one ear to the other, that Seth was afraid the upper half of his head would fall off. Fin understood him and was more than ready to now, to join Mina''s party for the time being. Of course, Seth didnt want his Friends to worry or feel bad, but he actually felt a little lost when his friends let go of him so readily. At least he had Puffles, round, silent Puffles, the mighty Cocoon. ~Stop hugging the great me and put me back into the pet space! ~ Chapter 122 - 122. Keeping Promises(2) Starting from this week began Seth time under the tutge of Master Tored. Under the master''s watchful eyes, he summoned the spirit smithy and started working on the equipment for "Yulecat''s Fur" and the armors for the lord of Zhiqe. The Armors for thetter were nothing too special. He used the snake leather that had been clogging up his inventors as a basis. The scales made from were stitched to the leather in a way that the next row ovepped and covered stitches of the row below. Normally one would use rivets for this, but Seth decided to use some of the ancient bronze threat N?del had given back to him. At first, Tored only watched Seth fumble with the needle, but soon the dwarf would start giving him advice and taught him about the basics of sewing. Following the 30 scale armors, Seth continued using the needle. He was in the zone and Tored''s advice kept helping him making improvements. With Tored''s help, he made patterns of Mina''s measurements to make a tight leather suit, fitting an assassin and Mina''s usual taste. He decided to use a big part of the juvenile''s leather to make theplete attire together with a cloak. When he finished thest stitches, he heard an announcement. He had finally gotten the skill after such a long time! He started with the item for Bulko and the effect was immediate as his stitches became a lot more confident and regr. It would have been great to have gotten the skill before he made Minas. It still came out as umon, but the durability and defense could have been increased. Well, he would simply give Mina a mithril stiletto, that should make her more than happy. Another big part of the juvenile''s leather became a steel-reinforced leather robe for Bulko and for Mike he made a simr armor from snake bones as the one he used until now. He also nned to incorporate some of the wyvern scales at the vital parts. "Hmm, is this the effect of your hammer?" the old dwarf asked interested when he saw Seth forge the snake ribs. "Yes. Its very handy. Using the hammer as a medium, I can use mana to make organic materials malleable and forge them like metal." Seth exined proudly. Tored pondered and nodded as if he understood something. "You asked me about the energy cirction skill, right? Have you tried it ever since the attempt you mention? No? Im fairly sure that your hammer is the reason, you were unable to correctly learn it." "What?" Seth eximed "hm hm. is a special skill most cksmiths only learn on the higher stages. Your hammer already fulfills one of the biggest uses of , which is manipting organic materials." "But there are a lot of low-quality weapons made from monster materials on the market. "Seth interrupted him. It couldnt be that high-level cksmiths would make anything below umon. Tored sighed. "Its because there is an exception. Its a pitfall many young cksmiths fall. The ss "Beast Forger" is an umon specialization of cksmith one can choose right after reaching the apprentice. Now, back to-" he tried to rush the exnation and get back to the topic. "A pitfall?" Tored sighed again, heavier. But he decided to exin. "Its a shame. The ss itself is okay, dont get me wrong. It gives an array of passive improvements, harvesting skills simr to a hunter''s and . A high-level beast forger can make great weapons with strong effects from monster materials. Unfortunately, its simply a bad choice for a young cksmith. The ss needs a huge amount of mana to forge beast materials, as they be unable to use metals for their works. They will need a great investment to purchase monster materials from adventurers. I think you get the gist of it. They suffer crippling poverty and painfully slow growth until they can either change their ss or manage to grow into a sessful beast forger. Despite our efforts to warn them, there are many young cksmiths every year blinded by the chance of a quick advancement. Are you happy now? Can I exin the skill now?" he ended a little grumpily. "Im sorry. Please exin, master!" Seth appeased the old dwarf. Tored exined that the skill helped to circte mana during the work on the forge. The mana would follow your breathing and flow through your hammer into the workpiece. This can be used to forge organic materials, but when Seth used Charons Obol the hammer got into the way of the skill. If Seth already knew how to use the skill, it would not have happened, but since he had always used Charon''s Obol, he had no chance to get familiar with the skill. Following the dwarf''s instruction, Seth stopped using the Obol and used a normal hammer to train the skill. He worked from dusk till dawn...well he couldnt see the sun in this subterranean city. He worked every day until exhaustion under the watchful eyes and guidance of the dwarven master. The effects were obvious. Even though nothing he made was very special or had a high rating, he got 1.5 to 2 times the proficiency gain and random spurts of experience when he learned something from Tored. Though it did not make a big difference for his , the sewing skill grew to level 4, just from making Bulko''s robe and the leather parts on Mike''s armor. reached level 3 and Seth managed to understand the skill. It felt a little like the breathing techniques in novels he had read about. The mana followed specific pathways in his body and following the skill he had to time the flow of mana with his breathing and his movements. If he seeded mana would flow through the hammer and into the material he hit. It improved the quality of the material slightly and had a simr effect to the option of Charons Obol. Just a little slower. After he reached the third level Seth was able to use the Obol in conjunction with the skill. This not only improved the hammer''s effectiveness, but also the resulting enhancements from using such as increased durability and conductivity. The usability of did not end there. Tored told him to take a break and follow. They went down into the basement where he showed Seth the training area. The dwarven master showed him that this skill was also used inbat. He took an ax from one of the racks to the side and demonstrated to Seth how it was used. It was very simple in theory. The skill helped to release mana in bursts, only when striking or defending instead of constantly channeling mana into a weapon or equipment to strengthen it or activate its enchantment. Tored was not only a cksmith but also a skillful warrior with the ax. Since Seth had the the dwarf used this chance to add sparring to their regr schedule. On the seventh day, he finally started working on the enchantment for Fins new robe. Tored''s curious eyes looked over his shoulder as he started. It was time for the leveled-up to shine. The new perk enabled him to extracts souls from objects. It was not specified, but releasing souls from the item he made was part of it. Seth extracted the orc soul from his padded jacket, which turned back to . The orc soul on the other hand had lost the shape he had given it. It was slightly weakened and damaged. Seth infused one of the few medium-sized souls, he had managed to scavenge from the drakes to repair and strengthen the umon soul. It seemed stronger but was still judged as medium. The increase showed in the soul armor he forged from it. Since his was getting close to rank-up the result of engraving the circuit for strength increase was getting close to the best the circuit could do. The enchantment added the option of +22 Strength. To infuse the armor, he shrunk it to the size of the actual equipment. The training suit for the fairy was a set simr to the pants and shirt N?del had made for Seth. Instead of making two separate pieces, Seth tried something different- He split and stretched the soul like he did during while forging. This had an unexpected result. Rare Set-Item 1/2 Phys. Def. 150 Mag. Def. 200 Durability:1000 1. Strengthen Defense by 50% for 10s Manacost:70 2. Weight of the armor is halved- No cost. 3. 5% increase in Movement speed 4. + 150 Mana 5. Increase STR +12 This extraordinary piece of clothing made to the size of a fairy is part of a set made by the tailor craftsman N?del. A peculiar enchantment waster added to the equipment. Set-Effect: 20% increase in defense, 15% increase in Movement speed. Skill: Rule of the Strong> Rare Set-Item 1/2 Phys. Def. 150 Mag. Def. 150 Durability:1700 1. Strengthen Defense by 50% for 10s Manacost:70 2. Weight of the armor is halved- No cost. 3. 10% increase in Movement speed 4. + 150 Mana 5. Increase STR +12 This extraordinary piece of clothing made to the size of a fairy is part of a set made by the tailor craftsman N?del. A peculiar enchantment waster added to the equipment. Set-Effect: 20% increase in defense, 15% increase in Movement speed. Skill: Rule of the Strong> The Skill granted by the set-effect was slightly different from the effect Seth knew about. He was sure the little fairy brute would love this kind of skill. It had a great synergy with the rest of her skills and her overall fighting style. Technically, this skill could increase her damage by 4 times for a short time. On top of that, the armor would grant her 24 strength and 300 mana. Seth felt a little prick when he thought that this effect would be better with someone who had an abnormal amount of strength since Fin derived a lot of her damage from her speed. But this was the best most fitting one he had for her right now. He decided to talk to her if he ever got his hand on something better. It took Seth 8 days to finish everything.. His training had not even officially started yet, but he had already learned a lot. Chapter 123 - 123. Santa Seth Seth returned to the Inn to look for Mike and Mina. He had not left the Halls of Stone for a week and was happy to find Fin and the catgirl at the inn''s eatery. He had not known how much he had missed her until Mina suddenly caught him in a tight hug; pressing her soft body against him. He had not much time to enjoy it before a sobbing fairy tightly gripped-embraced his face and blocked his sight. "Seth! I already thought you wouldnte out anymore!" she whined, rubbing snot and tears on his forehead. It had never felt this ufortable to meet Fin... Had she be stronger? "F-Fin! Let go! You are c-crushing my skull!" he stuttered and the pressure on his head finally weakened. Everyone calmed down and they sat down at one of the tables. "I finished your equipment. Do you know where the rest of the party is? Could you get them?" he asked Mina. She nodded and went off to collect the crew, leaving him alone with the fairy. Fin looked a little down. Having finished the items, meant that he was ready to start his training. "hey, it will be alright. Its not like he will lock me into the workshop. We can meet up when you guyse back from quests." he gave her a smile. "Remember. No goodbyes, only see youter." With that, he took out the tiny martial arts robe from his inventory and put it before Fin on the table. "This will remind you of me and make sure you return to me in one piece" The fairy had still been mopey until now, but her eyes suddenly started shining and she threw herself into the golden outfit. When she started floating wearing the golden dragon cubes-attire an overwhelming aura emitted from the tiny figure as sheughed in a sinister manner. She had instinctively used "Rule of the Strong" and it got her blood boiling. "I can feel it! Unlimited power!" she screamed and started throwing fists d in golden energy in the air to test her new found powers. Seth took cover as the fairy started indiscriminately throwing fists and kicks. She created winds in the eatery that made the cutlery jump and furniture tremble. "Fin! Calm down!" Btedly the fairy slowed down after the skill''s effect wore off. "Whoopsy! Fin is sorry. Fin lost control a little bit..." she acted cutely and apologized to Seth and the inn owner couple. Seth exined to her the effects of the robe until Mina returned with the rest of the party. It was fortunate none of them saw Fin getting overexcited. For Bulko he had the reinforced leather robe. He had gone out of his way and infused a medium-sized soul that strengthened the poison resistance of the snake leather to 25% and gave the Priest 100 additional mana. "Im sorry I cant do more than this. But I can''t make staffs or simr caster equipment, yet." he apologized to Bulko, as it was not much,pared to what the others would get. The good-hearted giant with ogre-blood only nodded understanding. He was more than satisfied with an umon-rated robe like this. It gave good defense all around and even had additional effects. Mike got the snake bone armor and shield, which was simr to his, but had a better performance thanks to his growth since he had made his own. He also gave him a sword made from with a simple fire-enchantment made with mithril iys. It was his first fire enchantment and the idea was Tored''s. Seth''s thoughts had always been more focused on what he could do with his armor to cover his weaknesses. It came as enlightenment, when the old master told him, that enchantments that aligned with one''s own affinity would have better results. As such the sword did almost 50 fire damage without any increased cost and was rated umon after he finished the enchantment. He gave Mina the tight-fitting leather clothes that fit her athletic figure. For this one, he had the help of master Tored, as Seth knew no enchantments that fit the job of an assassin. Tored was not a master for nothing. After rummaging through his warehouse, he found a pair of gloves that gave the effect to slightly decrease one''s presence. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om After Seth had learned it, he used several small souls to give every piece of the attire the permanent effect to decrease the wearer''s presence by 5%. If she wore everything it would decrease the likelihood of being discovered or noticed by 40%. On top of that, he gave her a . Lixiss was thest one. Seth pulled the robe that looked as if it was made from golden silk. "This is for you. Its made by N?del a craftsman-level tailor. Its current rating is rare, but if you can find the right enchanter it might grow to epic." He had not messed with the robe N?del gave him for her. He was of the opinion that he had done enough by providing the material and the craftsman. He was also not sure how the enchantment of a wizard and would mesh together, this was why he left it up to Lixiss to find the fitting person for the job. dding a whole party in umon and rare items seems like much, but Seth felt that he had cut enough corners to make it an appropriate payment for the wyvern materials. Seeing everyone marveling at his present warmed his heart. They kept talking and exining untilter in the day when Seth remembered that he had another thing to do before returned to the dwarven district. He excused himself from his merrypany and left the inn. Walking down the darkening streets of Ora he thought about the past and the future. He felt a little sad that he would not be able to spend as much time with Fin, but he was also looking forward to increasing his skills. Once he finished his training, he would return to Urth. Why return to a ce where death lurks around every corner? A world in the middle of destruction? Seth came up with many logical answers. Many people advised him to return, not just the church, but Fin and recently also Tored, when he heard that he was an ori huma. Allegedly there was much to gain in a world that was going through its transition, such as legendary and even mythical new materials. But he also said there would be other advantages a pacified world like theirs could not offer an ori huma. He trusted these people, but their words were not the real reason. Was it homesickness? It was itching in his hands. A fire burning in his chest. It was a distinct difference he felt growing ever since he had left Urth. Why was he thinking about this? He stopped this train of thought when he reached the system church. This destination was the reason for his strange thoughts. Once he felt ready, he woulde here to return to Urth. But for now, he was only here to send off the 30 armors for the lord of Zhiqe. "Hello, Mr. Smith. Did youe to send something, or would you like to check your mail?" Seth was greeted by the clerk. He came here regrly since he still had contact to Sarina and the people in Zhiqe thanks to the letter sent via the church. That and he was also the only ori huma currently in Ora. "I have something to send away. I will check my mail since Im already here." "Alright. Give us a moment to process your shipment. Lets see, you have one letter. Its from Priest Simon." Simon, the Priest from Starta, had written him a letter once in a while after Seth had informed him, that he had finally reached Ora. The staff gave him the small letter. Inside was only a short note written. "Things look dire. Dont return to Urth for the time being. -Simon" Seth was perplexed by this sudden warning. Since when had the Priest cared this much about him? It wasn''t like he nned to return to Urth any time soon, anyway. He shrugged and had soon forgotten the concerning word when he saw the shipping costs. It was the first time Seth sent merchandise through the church and he understood why merchants rather took the risk of a caravan than teleport stuff around. The teleportation fee for the three boxes with armors in them was 15 gold. If Seth was just a retailer, there would be no way for him to make any kind of profit in such a deal. If he thought of the remuneration, he got for taking part as an adventurer in a B-Rank emergency quest... 15 gold would be enough to pay a B-Rank party to protect a whole caravan or several C-rank parties. He paid the money and left still grumbling about this robbery in open daylight.. Well, it had already be evening. Chapter 124 - 124. The Training Begins Seth sat in Master Tored''s workshop. The dwarf stood before him with a ckboard and piece of chalk. Seth looks questioningly at the motivated dwarf. "Since your training officially starts today; we will do it right. Since you never had a formal education as an ori huma, I will start from the basics," he said and wrote down 7 words. "As you probably already know, or not, the system knows 7 ratings: Common, Umon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Myth, and the outlier Unique. You will find these in every aspect of the system. What do you think they rate? Strength? Rarity? Those are only partly true. What they rank are the requirements. My grandfather taught me that before the system descended materials had specific requirements that a cksmith had to fulfill to be able to work with them. Take for example. A metal so thoroughly soaked in darkness; does it make sense that you can simply forge it? During my grandfather''s time, a cksmith who wanted to work with it needed a high resistance against darkness. A high affinity with the earth was needed to work with mithril. Constraints like these weremon and limited the number of materials the different races and individuals were able to use. When the system came, they were categorized into the 7 ranks and now you only have to reach the skill level corresponding to the rank of the material. Im starting with this, since you asked me about the reason as to why you were unable to use , when you were an apprentice. This is the reason." Tored made a short break. "But sses and items are also ranked in the 7 ranks, this exnation doesn''t make as much sense with those..." "It doesnt? A ss is ranked by the requirement you need to fulfill to attain it. The strength simply coincides with the difficulty of conditions that need to be met. The only exception is "Unique", as this truly just means one of a kind. Items are usually ranked by the skills a crafter needs to make the item. But take what I say with a grain of salt. The system is no dead and rigid automaton, otherwise there would not be something as ambiguous as the unique ranks." Seth nodded. He had experience with the system being quite flexible at times. From there Tored went off on a tangent about his grandfather who was given a unique ss as an ori dwarf and how back then all the dwarven masters had to grind their sses because the system made them start from beginner and lv.1! It followed a short history lesson of this continent and the structure of dwarven government. The dwarfs were organized in many small kingdoms with a dwarven high-king or emperor at the peak. Seth did not really understand why he needed to know this, until Tored started to exin their work from now on. "I am telling you, so you wont embarrass meter. We, the dwarfs of Ora, are officially tasked with supplying the imperial army with equipment. This means you will also take part in this order. Lets get to work!" "Wait! That''s it? I thought you would give me basic education or whatever...?" "I think this is enough? I will teach you about the rest while doing it. Its a lot better to spend time working and learning instead of wasting it will talk." the dwarf said dismissively. This was how Seths work under Master Tored started. And as the dwarf said, he exined as they went along with it. The first thing he did was to bring show him several ingots of a material Seth had not seen before. "This is the metal that will make any demon worshipper pee his pants and make vampires cry for their maker. The enemy in the north were the people responsible for that horrible curse and the allies of demons. Items made from this metal would be a devastating advantage. "Unfortunately, we only have these few bars." "What?!" Even the dwarven empire that spread far and wide through the underground of the central mountain range, only knew a few mines where could be found. As expected from a material that crystallized from the shed blood of a holy being. To further save time, the Ora received was split among the craftsmen and masters to increase manufacturing speed. "Is it really ok, to only use rare material to arm an army on such an important-" he bit his tongue as he got a p to the back of his head. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Did you just turn off your brain or something? I thought I just told you, that the rating is not always a solid indicator for strength. What do you think would be better in this situation than the blood of a holy being? Do you want us to get the blood of god to deal with a bunch of necromancers? Not to forget, arm a whole army with it?!" "I-Im sorry...?" "Yes, you should be! Disrespecting such a precious metal like that." the dwarf rebuked him seriously. Then he exined to Seth the n. The craftsmen were tasked with making the armors, the masters were going to make the weapons. They would make spear tips from , a metal refined from with a high affinity to any magic and able to retain different traits. These spear tips could be blessed by a priest and would be able to retain this power for longer than most other metals, while channeling a users magic at the same time. So, all skills or magic used with these weapons would also retain a slight holy attribute. In addition, simr to how Seth used as iys for Mike''s sword, they would use the to make iys at the tip of the spear''s de. Just getting in touch with this metal would work on undead and demons like the sun on a vampire. Or so Tored told Seth. "You will take care of the iys. Here, take this." the dwarf said and handed him a small scroll of paper. Seth instantly knew what it was, an Enchantment Scroll. The first time he had heard about this, Seth had thought these were random scrolls that would put a random enchantment on a weapon. Things like this existed as dungeon loot. But in reality, these were scrolls created by enchantment masters and were simr to skill books or scrolls and instantly taught the user a specific enchantment, if they possessed the corresponding skill. Seth had seen a few of them, but he never used one. Their price was astronomical. It was cheaper to simply buy a weapon and sacrifice it to the skill, to learn the enchantment. A master like Tored giving it to a disciple was the only way to get them for cheap. These scrolls took an ungodly amount of mana and time to create, hence their price. "What exactly does it mean to deal damage to a demon''s connection?" Seth asked the dwarven confused. "Oh, yeah, another basic thing to learn, heh." he scratched his head, trying toe up with a way to exin. He pulled out the chalk and the ckboard "Demons are a little special. They are independent of the Pathwork, just like dungeons and angels and many gods. A demon normally enters a foreign world by being summoned there and they would make a contract with the summoner to stay connected, like an anchor. Banishment directly deals with damage to this connection. When the chain that connects the demon to the anchor breaks, the Demon is literally banished from this world." apanying this exnation was a set of cute chalk drawings. The old dwarf was really good at drawing chibis with chalk. "And like this we have all our enemies covered. The weapons will deal damage to the undead, to demons and anything with the dark or unholy attribute," he said with a big smile and signaled him to start working. First Seth needed to turn the ingots into wire. In the meantime, Tored was already cranking out the spear tips made from . The first step of making these iys was to cut a channel into the base material. For this Seth used an engraving tool from therge variety in Toreds shop. This one was made of mithril. The circuit was made up of mostly line work and still judged as a simple enchantment by the system. Technically Seth was able to make them as a beginner. Technically that was. It was a lot moreplicated than the enchantments he had tried before and he had little experience with making iys. His first few tries failed when he made mistakes while cutting the channels for the wire. Tored actually had to re-smelt those tips. But the dwarf did not me him but encouraged him to keep trying. It took Seth a week before he stopped wasting the master''s spear tips. He still made mistakes, such as cutting the channel too deep, or too shallow. But these could be fixed and did not lead to failure. It helped a lot that Tored was there to show him his mistakes before he finished and failed the enchantment. After cutting the channel came undercutting the sides of the channel. Another chance to make a lot of mistakes, but again. Seth really felt the difference of having a tutor look over your shoulder. If he had been alone, he would have failed dozens of these before getting it right. Lastly came setting the Purum wire into the prepared channels by hammering it in and filing the surface flush. The only silver lining despite all the failures was that the experience he got for finishing these enchantments was a lot higher than before. And in this one week of failures, he had already closed in on the rank-up in .. If you took into ount that the needed proficiency kept almost doubling on level-up, he had earned as much proficiency in a week as he had in all of the 4 months before when he tried on his own. Chapter 125 - 125. Training Although he had never med Seth for ruining his perfectly fine spear tips, the old dwarf''s smile became a lot more genuine when he saw Seths quick growth, which meant he could stop scrapping down perfectly fine spear tips. During the second week, it finally happened! He had finally ranked up in which enabled him to use moreplex enchantments. The enchantment looked a bit more abstract than the simple circuit. Where the simpler circuits resembled geometric patterns, theplex circuits were more organic reminding of a winding maze or knots. Not only did the moreplex version of the simple enchantments have a greater effect, but there were also new and more abstract effects than before. While the simple circuits had more direct effects like strengthening the user or the damage, the new ones provided crowd control like fear, silence, or direct paralysis. Theplex ones also started with effects to manipte mana. Storing it, amplifying it, stealing it from the opponent. Seth needed at leastplex enchantments like these to make things like staffs for caster sses. Seth celebrated this milestone for a short while and then got back to work. Their task was far from over and Seth''s training still had a long way to go. The following two weeks he worked with Tored on making the weapon for the imperial army. Once in a while, he would take a break to visit his friends. Marn was doing great managing the shop. Seth had left him with most of the he had left and Marn managed to reach the adept level recently. With the store''s reputation at an all-time high thanks to Seths work and reputation, Marn was able to shine out from the other cksmiths and was close to getting and rmendation himself. He kept talking that he might soon join Seth in the Halls of Stone. Seth timed his breaks so he could meet Fin and the party when he left the smithy. At those times they would often go and eat together in that restaurant, on Seths ount of course. With the fairy''s strength and the new equipment, they were doing very well in their quests as they traveled around the country. Fin joyfully recounted their adventures and the new sights they came across. She animatedly recounted the fight in her martial arts robe, she refused to take off. He didnt get to spend a lot of time with Mina, but the time they had together they spent well. If you know what I mean. Like this, the time went by. Soon, Seth and Tored finished their task and thepleted spears were fetched by the logistics department of the military. Following that the ck smiths district became a lot quieter as everyone went back to their daily work. Except for Tored''s smithy. Since the important task was over, the old dwarf started to concentrate on teaching Seth. As his and were severelycking behind his skill he started with making Seth a jewelry ve. Seth started off with simple blueprints and designs for rings and pendants made from normal gold and silver that incorporated simple enchantments. Following those, the old cksmith kept giving him different tasks and designs that used gemstones as an energy source and storage. Soon the resulting jewelry went from failures tomon and sometimes umon items. Tored was happy, that Seth used his own materials, the gold, silver, and gems he had scavenged on Urth, for these and Seth was happy because it meant that he could keep them and sell themter. They were no items an adventurer would buy, but a merchant or wealthymoner would not reject them. It was hard and finicky work for Seth as he was used to swinging his big hammer, but it very rewarding. The designs and enchantments Tored kept making him do, together with the dwarf''s advice maximized the proficiency he gained. which had been stagnant on Beginner lv.4, because Seth just didnt do a lot of essories, easily ranked up to within a little more than a week. Now that both and were on roughly the same level, the difficulty dramatically increased. The tasks and blueprints Master Tored gave the young cksmith were always barely in range of his capabilities, which meant that he often failed, despite the master''s advice. Miraculously, this approach worked a lot better than grinding things he could do over and over. Increasing the difficulty was the incorporation of umon materials starting with the apprentice rank. It was not as simple as using apletely different material, but the dwarven master taught him how to make alloys with specific properties using gold, silver, and umon metals like . Alloys were seldomly part of his material catalog, so he had to memorize the mixing ratios on his own. Tored told him, that there was a whole skill around the creation of alloys, but it was hard to acquire it in a short time, as it needed a lot of research to obtain it without the fitting ss. It was a lot of work, to memorize the ratios, mix the alloys correctly without the systems help and then make an essory from it that was barely within Seths capabilities. But the work was worth it. The better the alloy fit the item and the enchantment, the better was the oue and the proficiency he gained. It was like knowing all the cheats and shortcuts in a game. Reading a guide to beat a boss, instead ofing up with the strategy yourself. He just needed to follow his guide Tored. The only diversion during this time was the sparing with master Torred in the underground training room. The had, for the time being, little use during his training in goldsmithing and enchantment. It was thanks to the fights with the old dwarf that he was able to not only gain experience in actual fighting but also raise his level of . After a few weeks, he had stopped counting at some point, he had used up all the regr silver and gold and the gems. The result was, that he had reached the adept rank in both and . The first was simr to in that it only unlocked more materials, the further the skill grew. Thetter on the other hand now gave him the ability tobine simple andplex circuits. Like this, he could either strengthen one kind of enchantment or give the workpiece two different effects. Seths joy was short-lived. He had just gotten used to working withplex circuits and now Tored was already waiting with several sheets of tasks to push him further. The young man could hold on anymore and fell on his knees before the dwarf. "Please, let me have a break. Just a short one! You didnt let me leave the building for thest 3 weeks!" he begged, close to tears. Tored sighed. "Oh c''mon. It was not that bad, stop being such a wuss. But ok, go ahead and take your break." Before Tored hadpletely ended his Sentence, his young student had already vanished like a ninja. The dwarf did not even hear the doors open and close. Seth had just left the golden gates of the halls of stones behind him when he felt a change in his pet space. N?v(el)B\\jnn ~The great me has returned! Are you happy? ~ It was Puffles who suddenly announced his presence. What weird timing this was. The Ivicer had not responded even once, ever since he pupated. "Did you lie low until I got a break?" Seth asked suspiciously. ~ N-no! How could you think something like this! E-even if the great me DID finish two weeks ago and enjoyed the break, I would never tell you! ~ "So, you already finished 2 weeks ago!?" ~No! Believe me, I would never lie to you. ~ Seth didnt believe one word, but it was not like he could change anything about it. He could not change the past, but he could change the future. He would simply have the rascal work even hard in making a thread! Puffles was d when Seth stopped asking, but he had an ominous feeling and was unable not pin the reason for it. "Whatever. What are the changes?" they found a ce to sit down at one of the squares in Ora and Seth summoned his pet to examine its growth. The Ivicer had entered a growth-phase for several weeks and the changes became obvious once he summoned the caterpir. The Ivicer now looked a lot less like the cute caterpir Seth had gotten used to. And had be more simr to the grown-up Ivicers he had seen. The cute chubby caterpir body had grown to a size that could almost be used as a mount and was now covered by an exoskeleton made of white almost ceramic material. Puffles portion he held upright reached the height of a human adult and the stubby caterpir feet had be more defined and spike-like. But they were not yet the terrifying knife-like legs of an adult Ivicer. The round golden head had now the beginnings of a neck frill growing. The biggest change was probably the growth of a pair of front limbs that ended in terrifying sickle-des. These were not the only changes, while the initial magic power of the caterpir-form had grown even further and Puffles could now take on the role of a priest, his physical attributes had caught up. The Ivicer had great endurance and defense, coupled with its holy magic and the sickles. The closestparison Seth coulde up with was calling the Ivicer something like a pdin-type pet. As they were sitting there, they got a bunch of people looking at them. People walking around with their pets was not unusual, but insect-type pets of this size were notmon and he got a few interested looks from their surroundings. "Seth....? Puffles!?" Chapter 126 - 126. Reunion There were Fin, Mina, and the rest of "Yulecats Fur". It looked like they had just returned from a quest as they still wore their dirty and slightly damaged armors and travel cloaks. It was Fin and Mina that had called out to him, the rest all looked skeptical at him as if doubting his identity. That was when he gave himself a once-over and did a little self-introspection. They had not met for over a month, which he spent alone with a dwarf in his workshop. His attire looked no better than the party''s battle-worn items. His face was covered in an unkempt beard and he still wore the sweaty clothes and leather apron he wore during work. His whole person was dirty, covered in a mix of metal shaving, sweat, and soot from the forge. He had not even the chance to wash up before fleeing from the workshop. No wonder they had a hard time believing it was really him. Obviously, Puffles also had changed a lot. He looked more dangerous and a lot less cute. "What happened to you two?" Mike finally asked. "Well, Tored didn''t let me leave the shop for thest few weeks. I really had to beg him for this little break. Oh yeah, I wanted to visit my shop. Do you guys want to join us?" Seth had already forgotten his appearance when remembered one of his break''s objectives. He had 4 boxes full of umon essories and jewelry he wanted to disy at his shop. "How about youe with us to the inn first? We can all wash up and make ourselves presentable before visiting your shop. How does that sound?" this time it was Mina that persuaded him to follow them. Seth only realized how much he had really needed that bath when he submerged into the warm bath water and a dark cloud was released from his skin, ckening the water in the wooden tub. He realized again that learning some household- and life-magic before returning home was no bad idea. They were minor spells that could clean clothes or purify water. After shaving, wearing a fresh set of clothes, and bing somewhat presentable he was intercepted by Mina before he could join the others making a second bath necessary. After a second bath, they shared, they finally joined the rest of the party. Everyone in the party knew why they had taken so long, but didnt mention it. Except for Fin, who gave Mina a big thumbs-up causing the two to slightly blush. It didnt end there. As the group left with the shop as their destination, the fairy sat down on his shoulder and started whispering in his ear. "You know~ You should take better care of your affairs. Do you know how hard it was for Mina in thest few weeks without meeting you? " Despite blushing herself, she kept talking "You know, Mina told Fin about your "activities" and you should take some responsibility for what you did to her. She said it became really hard to find someone who could satisfy her. You should have really taken some more time for the two of you." "Dafuq?" Seth was shocked. What happened to the innocent Fin? The fairy that kept acting cute and brightly flew around him? Instead of happilying with him, she told him to take more time for another girl? Their rtionship must have really greatly improved if she was acting like Mina''s pimp... "I mean, you are doing her, right? You should [omitted]" Even Mina who was listening from the side started blushing. "Stop it! Drop it! Bad Fin! Bad Fairy! No more of this. Naughty girl. Go wash your mouth with soap." he started scolding her. Instead of feeling bad or berated, Fin only smiled smugly. The dark seed had been nted; her job was done. Their bickering stopped when they came before Seths shop. It was closed. At once all kinds of scenarios came to Seths mind. Did something happen to Marn or the shop? Had the elven cksmith returned and finally done something to Marn? Just at this moment, the door with the closed-sign hung on it opened and a dwarf stepped out of the shop. He was of a slightly smaller and delicate staturepared to the kind of warrior dwarfs Seth had met until now, like Yudrid, or Vathon. His bushy beard was cut short and looked very soft. It fit his overall elegant style and the expensive suit he wore. "Seth? Mina?", a half-elf asked confused as he followed the dwarf. It was Marn, healthy and in a good mood even. "Marn, are you ok? Why is my shop closed?" "Your shop?" the dwarf interrupted before Marn was able to answer. "Yes. This is my shop, and Marn is my employee. Do you have a problem with him?" The dwarf seemed amused when he saw Seth immediately side with the half-elf andughed a little. "Then you must be Seth Smith. Quite the contrary. I am happy to tell you, that you will have to find a new employee as the Merchant Association has decided to give this young man a rmendation to enter the Halls of Stone." he said with a bright smile that made Marn blush. "My name is Bertram. I am a representative from the Merchant Association," he said and shook the baffled Seths hand. The Merchant Association was part of the governmental body of Ora. As the name said, they were originally a group made up of the wealthiest merchants of Ora and they took on the task of managing the city''s business and finances. "I-I wanted to tell you about it, but you didn''t returntely and-" "I just handed over the rmendation letter, for Marn to enter the Halls of Stone." It was great news, that Marn finally achieved his dream. The only thing holding him back now was Seths shop. Seth knew this and it would have been a lie, if he said that he did not feel regret, letting such a handsome clerk and cksmith just go. On the other hand, this was not only a chance for Marn. The shop was in a bad location to begin with. Taking Seths skills and his recent growth into ount, this was simply not fit as a ce to sell his products anymore. He would start producing rare items from now on. He couldn''t sell those in the ghetto. And as chance had it, there was a representative of the administration right in front of him. He ignored the stuttering Marn who still tried to exin and spoke to Bertram. "That''s great. I was already thinking of moving shop anyways and this might be the chance." This was, of course, a bald-faced lie. He had not given the shop any more thought after starting his training. Except for dumping his items here, and raking the money after Marn sold them off he had shown no more interest in the shop. "Since you are taking such a precious employee away from me, dont you think you owe me something. How about a little help finding a new location on the surface of themercial district?" Some might think of Seths approach as presumptuous. The party members behind him were definitely shocked. But Seth knew, although he had not cared much about the shop, he had a good reputation in Ora. There was a boatload of B-Rank adventurers that not only remembered him but had kept advertising his shop. Even so it became a bit quieter around the shop after Seth had left, the fact that it had kept running smoothly until now and even helped Marn get his rmendation, showed that he was not forgotten. Bertram had fallen silent for a moment when he heard Seths assertion that the dwarf owed him something for fulfilling Marn''s wish. The representative looked at the flustered elf. Marn was handsome, more than handsome. Customers of both genders were touched by his looks and gentle nature. Bertram was a merchant true. Saying that causing such an asset to leave the business rued debt, seemed reasonable. "Alright, I will help you find a ce on the surface. Of course, for a small fee." "I only pay a fee, if you take care of the paperwork, too." "Deal." And like this, before any of the other really understood, what was happening, Seth had already abandoned the shop location and made a deal for a new one. "So...its okay that I leave?" Marn asked carefully. "No. No, it isnt. You will have to help me find a recement for you. Thats the least you should do." It sounded mean, but Marn was relieved, that Seth didn''t hold a serious grudge. Bertram promised to search for possible locations and left. Seth went ahead and invited Marn and the party for an eating conte- lunch. It was his break and he wanted to enjoy it. Over dinner, they talked about their experiences of thest weeks. Everyone listened attentively to Marns soft voice as he talked about stories from his work. Lixiss blushed wildly every time she looked at Marn ever since the first time they met at the shop. She had never met Marn before, as she did not usually need items from a cksmith''s shop. Even Fin was spellbound by the narrating elf. Only Mina was weirdly immune to his elven charm. She was sitting beside him and concentrated on decimating the food while everyone else wasn''t looking. She had a hard timepeting with Puffles and Seth. The first didnt understand humanoid beauty standards and the second had long gotten used to Marn. When Seth asked why Mina didn''t care, he got a shocking answer. "Elves have no stamina. They are total nks in bed. Why do you think they have so little offspring? Dont believe their "long-lived races are less potent". Look at all the mixed-bloods, guess which parent is the elf. 90% of the time its not their father." she gave him a dirty grin as Seth looked at her stupefied. She used this moment of carelessness and stole a piece of steak from his te. "YoU!" it was the start of a merciless battle one of the two had to win, regardless of the consequences. By the time the other escaped the spell of Marn''s voice, the table was wiped clean. The food was gone before they even got the chance to touch it. The most heartrending oue of the battle, was Fins sorrowful expression as she looked at the three greedy pigs. Their betrayal broke her tiny, tiny heart. Were they notpanions? Friends? Were they not brethren on this battlefield of food? She could have understood to eat without the others... but to eat without her?! The cruelty of her friends hit the small fairy hard and she broke down in tears. The three culprits only watched her with stone faces. Others might fall for her acts, but not them. Their brethren on this battlefield knew exactly, that she was the first to lift her fork if it came down to hogging food to herself. "Tch." Fin clicked her tongue and stopped acting when she saw, that Seth was not going to order another round of food. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om All this was of course in sense of good friendship.. They ordered another round of food and everyone had a good time until they separatedter that day. Chapter 127 - 127. Surprising Encounter The others had to go and visit the guild, while Marn went to pack the stuff at their old store. Seth did not know, whether Tored would let him leave the next day that was why he wanted to deal with everything today. His destination was the merchant association, maybe Bertram had already looked for locations. No matter how medieval this world looked, many things were surprisingly modern and fast thanks to magic. The merchant association had its seat in a big and imposing building close to the border between the nobles'' andmercial district. When Seth passed the big wooden doors, he stood in an expansive entrance hall with a reception counter. A short talk with the receptionist and Bertram was called to the reception. "You are really impatient... Yes, I have already looked into it. We have 4-6 locations depending on your preferences." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om He brought Seth to his office where he showed him the different shops that could be rented at the moment. Seth excluded three right off the bat. They were the most expensive ones, located in prime locations and one even had a sound-insted smithing room. Why did he exclude those? All of them reached between 300-400 gold to lease. He really just needed a ce to drop off his training products, he didn''t want to spend a third of his money on something like that. If he wanted to open a losing business, he could have tried to sell his stuff in the halls of stone and try topete with the dwarfs. The other three locations had no smithies, which was no problem as he didnt n to work in the shop. They were a little off of the main streets, but the price dropped rapidly with just that. He excluded another one because of its size. He focused on making jewelry during his training, he didn''t need a big warehouse or showroom. From thest two, he chose one that was located in an alley off the main street at the halfway point between the adventurer''s guild and the city gates. He guessed that he would get the best mix of travelers and adventurers there. What convinced him was that, instead of leasing it for a long period of time, he could simply rent the ce for 7 gold a month. This was not cheap, but since he didnt how much longer he would stay, this was better. He also filled a form to sell the shop on the secondyer of the shopping district. Seth had thought that he had leased it, but Marn hadter exined, that he had actually bought the shop back then. He would no longer use or need it, so he decided to leave selling it to the merchant association. The sun was slowly setting, but there was onest responsibility had to fulfill before being chained down in the workshop again. Find a substitute for Marn. There was no way that he would find a trustworthy clerk with the little time he had left, instead, he bothered Bertram with it and ced a job offer with the merchant association. They would look for candidates and Seth would only have toe by and choose from the applicants. Once everything was decided he left all the paperwork to Bertram and left. It was evening and the streets had be dark. Seth had not realized it during the day, but Ora had changed since thest time he left the workshop. There were more people on the streets and not in a good way. Beggers and refugees in worn-out clothes and shady-looking people were crowding the streets of the nightly city. Seth felt unsettled after he got used to Ora''s peace. What was happening? He hurried back to the halls of stones and master Tored''s workshop, where he found the dwarf preparing stuff for tomorrow. "The streets? Oh, that. Remember that war up north? The imperial army really wiped the floor with those malicious bastards the moment they dared to set foot on our territory. Like the cowards they are, they fled and started wreaking havoc in the human territories outside of our space of influence. You saw the kind of curse they use... I heard there were many refugees and people who lost their homes to them." the old dwarf exined this serious matter in a casual and carefree manner. "However, I hope you had fun on your little break. Tomorrow the real work starts. I already prepared the materials and tasks for your training from now on. We will also up the difficulty of our spars, to raise that ." That was all? After what those people had done in Ora and Tora and other dwarven cities they just shooed them away and started ignoring them? Tored easily read what Seth was thinking from his expression. "Listen here. The dwarfs have a memory of stone. We definitely won''t forget this grudge, but we wont waste our precious time to hunt people across the continent, thatck the balls to face us." He shrugged and left Seth alone in the workshop, while he went to his room to sleep. Alone in the dark, Seth didn''t know what to think. Was it really that simple? After such an opener, those demon guys simply ran off as if they had underestimated their opponent? Seth had given this business not much thought until now. He had rather concentrated on his skills than spent time thinking about the people who had caused most of his near-death experiences in the recent time. But now that he noticed the changes, he was not so sure, that this was really over. The malicious necromancy-practicing demon worshippers were in a frenzy to kill humans. If this was a novel, it would be clear that they were growing their forces. Yet the dwarves did not move to nip the problem in its bud. He really hoped they had a good countermeasure. If this was simply their confidence, he hoped to leave this ce, before the shit hit the fan. Seth decided to keep an eye out for news on that situation. Maybe he could get information from the guild or Venturi directly. Writing a note in his mental notebook he also went to sleep. It cost Seth another week of exhausting training and overworking before he could finally wheedle another break out of Tored. He first visited the shop, but it was empty. Fin and the party had also left town. Since he didn''t find any of his friends, he went to the merchant association to see if there were any updates. "Seth, you came just at the right time. I was just about to contact Master Tored to send you over. The paperwork is done and we have a few applicants for your job offer." It didn''t take long to sign the documents to take ownership of the shop and screen the applications. "Can you invite these three? I want to interview them." "Sure. Give me a moment." the dwarf said and left. The three Seth had chosen were two men and one woman. From the portraits on their application, they fit the requirements for a clerk. One guy looks tall and quite handsome, the other was rather innocent and soft. The girl looked cute and a little chubby. Their skills were also sufficient, but he wanted to see their personality before he decided. "I have sent someone to go and tell them toe here for a job interview. They should arrive here in a few hours. Do you want to wait, or should we go inspect the shop in the meantime?" "Sure, lets go. By the way, do you know where Marn is? He wasn''t at the shop when I visited earlier." "Marn? Oh, he stays here at the association until we find the right master for him. Since we rmended him, we offered to lend him a room." "Can I meet him?" They made a small detour to visit Marn in his room. When they knocked on the door, they heard a panicked scrambling from the inside and a barely clothed half-elf opened the door btedly. Marn only wore a bathrobe and his face became red as a tomato when he saw Seth and Bertram at his door. It was no just Seth, even Bertram had a knowing smirk on his face. The elf was obviously living life to his fullest. "Marn, whats up?" before anyone talked a slightly more clothes quarter-elf looked around the corner and became even redder than Marn a second ago. Lixiss, also only wearing a bathrobe, became so red when she saw Seth and Bertram, that they could almost see the steam rising from her head. "Wow. Sorry, Marn, I really didn''t want to interrupt...whatever you guys were doing," he winked, "I just came to ask for the stuff from the shop, since we are on our way to the new one." The wink made it even harder for Lixiss in the back to calm down. Marn hurriedly gave Seth some boxes with weapons and jewelry and hurriedly shooed the two away.. The dwarf and the cksmith had a goodugh and merrily went on their way to the shop. Chapter 128 - 128. New Shop Seth urged Bertram to hurry. This was one of the few cherished breaks and he still wanted to get a good meal, after dealing with business. The dwarf had a hard time keeping up with the cksmiths speed and under Seths constant nagging they arrived at the shop in a record time of 10 minutes. Bertram had a hard time catching his breath as he tried to exin the features of the shop. The building was smaller than the shop he had underground, but the showroom was about the same size, with a small room for storage and an office in the back. The shop had anti-theft magic built-in, together with a binding feature and a defense system. The items could not only not be moved by unauthorized people but also bound anyone who tried to steal an item. The defense system would protect the shop and products from harm in case a fight broke out or someone tried to break in. Seth kept nodded as he listened to the dwarf introducing the features of his new shop and went to the back. There was a small storage room built like a safe. He put everything from the old shop and the new stuff in there. His new employee could take care of sorting and disying it. As Bertram was exining to him how to control the features, they heard the sound of bells. Someone had entered the shop. Who woulde to a close shop just after they entered it? There stood three people heavily panting with sweat soaking their clothes. "Errm, hello...?" Seth triedmunication. He had no idea what was going on until he saw their faces. These three were his potential employees, but what were they doing here... "Ah, I can exin. I didnt know how long he would take, so I left a message at the guild, to send them after us if they were faster than expected." the dwarf exined. They had been in the shop for maybe 45minutes. Taking into ount the walking distance from the merchant association...how fast had Bertram''s messenger found them? Seth gave them a waterskin and they waited for them to calm down and catch their breath. After a short introduction came the job interview. Seth had already thought of something and brought out amon ring he showed the three of them. It was one of the first he seeded to make. The workmanship of the ring and enchantment was barely existent at best, and that was the point. "What do you think of this ring?" he simply asked and gave it to them. The tall and handsome one scratched his head "It-It might be a nice gift?" The smaller innocent looking on the other hand made big surprised eyes. "What a beautiful ring! As expected of such a skillful cksmith as Sir. Smith!" An idiot and a snake... Next was the cute girl. She was a little chubby and her personality seemed joyful and bubbly. But when she took a closer look at the ring, she looked disappointed. "I heard that this was the shop of a well-known cksmith, why are you showing us such a crude ring? Are you telling me to sell this? Not even a broke merchant would want this. If this is the kind of merchandise I''m supposed to sell, then I will leave." "You are hired." "What!?" eximed snake and idiot. "I prefer honest people, what can I say? The ring is garbage and fits to be recycled. Anyone with eyes can see that. Of course, this is not the level of stuff we sell here." The girl''s face only lit up after Seth showed her one ring, he nned to sell. It was still ratedmon, but it was worked more intricate and the engraved enchantment was well hidden. Only then did she turned back into a happy, bubbly bundle of joy. Her name was Cnot important. Bertram pulled out a magical employee contract that eased Seths doubt in leaving his stuff with her. It actually worked simr to those ve contracts or cors in fantasy. After signing it, she would not be able to do anything to harm the shop or steal stuff. If she did, the contract would punish her. She still looked quite happy, until he showed her the crates of products and told her to sort and shelve them in the shop while he would go for lunch. Seth woulde backter and tell her the prices. Seth had dealt with the business in a satisfactory manner and invited Bertram for a meal. The magical contract was a great idea and brought the dwarf some bonus points with Seth. As they sat in a caf the dwarf suggested and waited for their order, Seth had time to watch the crowd. There were even more figures in worn-out and damaged clothes. Dirty from a long journey they would stumble among the regr crowd or sit in a corner, begging for money or food. Their numbers had easily doubled since thest time Seth came out. "A shame isn''t it. The human countries in the north keep losing to the demon army. That is if you call the popce being turned into mindless puppets or undead and killing their own soldiers "losing to an army". More and more people flee in fear." Bertram suddenly said. He had followed Seth''s gaze andmented on the situation. "Why aren''t the dwarves helping them? Isnt it bad that those guys keep amassing troops?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Bertram could only shrug his shoulder at Seth''s question. "No idea. Im not high enough to be told the reasons of the royals. I heard that they shared the way to get rid of the curse with the humans, but it did not seem to help." Master Tored had said they easily repelled them, but the human armies had such a hard time, even dispelling the curse? Something didnt seem right in this situation. Seth was seriously debating, whether he cared enough to try and investigate the truth when their food finally arrived. Seth didnt hold back and Bertram, despite his slim looks, was also a big eater. They enjoyed their food and talked about happier topics, like items and making money. Everyone knows the best decisions are made with a full stomach and an idle mind. He decided not to care about the big picture. He was not some hero of justice that had the urge to reveal the truth and fight some terrible conspiracy. "Im a cksmith, that''s not my job. Leave it to some hero." he thought to himself and enjoyed the warm feeling and sluggish mind after a good meal. There probably was not even a truth to reveal. Chapter 129 - 129. Ding! Ding! Ding! Headache After finally reaching adept in all his upational skills, the growth slowed down. Compared to his experience with he was still a lot faster thanks to Tored''s tutge and help. The items, design, and enchantments he made Seth do were the most efficient way to level up the skill. Still, even Tored was surprised with Seth''s growth at first. Even without his cheatsy , he was growing much faster than an ordinary apprentice. It was until the dwarf remembered, that Seth was an ori huma, to begin with, and enjoyed a great growth buff from the start. It was one evening during the sparring with the ax-wielding dwarf. His had been stuck at 99% of Adept lv.9 for quite a while. Tored had told him that this was not too umon since was a secondary skill. These often need some kind of inspiration or breakthrough to level up, especially on the higher levels. The trigger was . With its level rising, the effects of the skill became more pronounced. The forge was where it really shined because it was a cirction optimized for cksmithing. It eased the stress of constantly working with high-tier materials and he was now able to barely forge non-metallic materials. Unfortunately, the efficiency was still even worse than simply using Charon''s Obol. When used in battle it would strengthen the weapon with short bursts of mana during crucial moments such as blocking or swinging the weapon. These burst could also be used to activate the item''s enchantments at that moment. Using the skill optimized for cksmithing in a battle had taken a lot of time and effort to get used to. A change appeared starting from level 5. When used on the weapon it would not only strengthen it but also apply something like an energy de to the weapon. This made the skill once again harder to control. It took Seth several weeks to get used to it, but he came to like this new feature. Tored had stimted his imagination when he told him, that was the skill that allowedbat sses to shoot energy attacks from their des. Seth was motivated to increase the skills level, even if he needed a much higher skill level to do the same thing, he would be like those protagonists from martial arts novels. Using sword qi and posing as some immortal sword master really tickled his fancy. He often trained alone until deep into the night to get a feeling for the energy de. During the aforementioned sparring with Tored, Seth watched Toredunch a transparent energy de at him using his ax. he dodged it and, after gaining some insight from the dwarf''s attack, tried to imitate him. The new insight he gained from the skill gave him a weird idea. The next moment a panicked dwarf jumped out of the way of a quickly approaching wave of pale fire. N?v(el)B\\jnn Seth had simply tried tobine the principle of and his ability to control fire. It triggered a terrible headache and flood of messages as skills that were previously stuck leveled and ranked up like a falling row of dominoes. had ranked up to the expert- rank, which was a rank exclusive to secondary skills. It bridged over the journeyman- and craftsman- rank a primary skill had. So the next rank of would be master! "What the hell was that!?" the grumpy dwarf shouted. Tored was still patting his beard that was slightly singed by Seth''s little experiment. "I simply tried to use my simr to how works. Guess it worked better than expected?" he said massaging his temples. "But your cirction skill is only lv.6. how did it get so big?" "7, it just leveled up. Probably because its an ability and not bound to my mana? In exchange, it took a lot of mental energy and gave me a massive headache. So please don''t talk so loud." "hmm, I see. Then you will have to learn how to control that in the future." And like this, another lesson was added to his daily routine that would cause him to go to bed with terrible headaches for a week or two. The functions were not much different from . Technically those were synonyms! His control over fire became a lot more instinctive and smoother with the rank-up. The cost of normal usage also lessened, while the precision increased. The rank-up helped a lot in adapting to using it in conjunction with . Seth could only tremble at the thought, that he might have taken months to adjust the output during training. This would have been months of sleepless nights, tortured by splitting headaches. With he got the hang of how much he could use without side effects after two weeks. The first night without a headache felt like heaven and Seth learned just how blessed one was, to be able to get a good night''s sleep. Now, he cursed himself for not sleeping more in the past. Wasting his time on games, when sleeping and eating were the true pinnacles of life! But he really enjoyed pulling all-nighters to y a game or read a good story, so he forgave himself. At least the result of this terrible training was worth it... more or less. He could not really fire off impressive energy des or me waves without incapacitating himself at the moment. Instead, he could use this method to cover a sword in a very thin and sharpyer of pale blue almost white me. This cost Seth a lot less, than directly using his ability to cover the weapon and the visual effect was very cool. Simr to a lightsaber, the weapon would leave a trail of light, heat, and fire. What was to be expected, was that this application was a lot more powerful in the smithy. When forging he could use it to control the heat of his workpiece. He could keep the temperature of the material constant for a longer period of time and did not have to return as often to the forge. Formon and some umon materials, he only needed to heat them up once in the forge and then he could keep working them on the anvil until he was done. It not only saved time but also helped in training his fire-rted skills and the . His other skills also came along well as Seth had already reached lv.3 in and . He kept spending a lot of time and money on the materials he needed for Tored''s tasks. Fortunately, he was also able to make back several times the money, with the newly set up shop. Despite the current situation in Ora and the lesser frequented location business was doing well. Seth''s reputation was good and the fact that he was working under one of the cities 3 Masters brought in many visitors through word of mouth. Despite spending money like crazy, it came back in even faster than he could spend it. Of course, while Seth was sweating blood and tears, he made sure not to be alone. Whenever Seth was forging or sparring, Puffles was not far away cranking out . With the speed after his evolution, Seth was sure there would be enough thread for a new gambeson from N?del! As he got more and more used to fighting and skillfully using the soul fire, he felt the urge to return to the dungeons. He was more than fed up with quests and fighting after what happened with the B-Rank exam. That was back then. Several weeks of peaceful and exhausting training had recharged his adventure batteries. He needed some change! Seth wanted to see the fruits of his training. Also, he was lv.24 with only about 50% to go. There were more system privileges waiting and maybe he would unlock another ss skill? He had been thinking about this for a long time now and it was driving him crazy. Tored also would not tell him about the system privileges. To sum it up, the increase in fighting power, was the perfect excuse to run away from training and level up to see what lv.25 would bring! Chapter 130 - 130. Crawling The Dungeon Seth talked with Tored about his ns to test out his new skills and asked for a break. "Sure, I won''t stop you. Actually, I am also quite interested in the power of this me inbat. Show me your equipment." Seth was a little baffled at the suddenmand, but he brought out the set of serpent armor and his padded jacket from N?del. It was then that Seth realized, that he was actually quitecking in the item department now despite being a cksmith. And a good one if he was allowed to praise himself a little. Tored inspected the different parts of the serpent set with a mixed expression but gave an approving nod when he saw the thin golden gambeson. His eyes even shone a little brighter when he touched the fabric. "Good stuff," he grunted. "I won''t let you leave the house wearing the rest of this. You are now my disciple; I will let you run around in such a shabby armor." His evaluation of the serpent armor was quite harsh, but Seth could somewhat understand it. His skills in enchantment and goldsmithing had grown a lot and now the enchantments on the bone armor just looked ugly, like a child''s doodle. Tored took the serpent armor and vanished in the storeroom with it. Seth heard him rummaging around and soon the dwarf came back with a new set of armor in his hands. "I made this as practice when I was about your level. it should fit you." At first nce the armor did not look very fancy, Seth might have been able to make armor like this himself if he spent a week. It was a set of ck full-te armor. The main material used was with mithril iys for the enchantments. Seth''s jaw dropped. The other pieces had a simr effect but strengthened other attributes. Each part for itself was not too impressive, but seeing the full set revealed its overbearing nature. It was no brutish show of savagery, but an aura of nobility. The armor told everyone who looked at it, that he was not good enough. Too weak, toocking, not worthy to even look at the dark knight''s overbearing might. It was like the cold arrogance of absolute power. It reminded him a lot of one of the most feared opponents of a game known for its merciless difficulty. "I''m supposed to wear this...?" Seth asked unsurely. "Sure, I will lend it to you for your adventure." At the dwarfs urging he put the armor into his inventory and equipped it via the system window. Agility, Strength, Dexterity, Endurance increased by 25 points each filling him with an overwhelming feeling of power. The helmet had an enchantment that allowed him to have an unimpeded vision, despite the helmet. Tored looked up at him with big round eyes, before shaking his head anding back to his senses. The set effect did not even halt before its creator. Non-allies meant anyone who was not in the wearer''s party. He could not even wear this on his way to the dungeon, he could cause a mass panic! "Ok, take it off. Did the automatic sizing work? My enchantment skill was still a little immature back then." "Everything ok. It fits like a glove," Seth answered after taking the armor off again. Feeling the buff effects leave left him with an empty feeling. 25 points increase in all physical attributes was no joke. He wondered whether there were people that got addicted to this... "Oh, and use this when you go to the dungeon," Tored said and pulled out a sword. The sword was very thick, slightly dull, and heavypared to what a sword was supposed to be. It felt more like a steel pipe and less like a sword! First, he gave him this overpowered armor and now an almost unusable sword... The dwarf read Seth''s expression andughed joyfully. "You said that you wanted to test the effects of your new skills, didnt you? Using this will make for a much better test and training. There is no way you will die with this armor, as long as you don''t overdo it. Now, go and get some experience in real battles." Seth kept thinking about Tored''s intentions on his way to the guild. It made sense, that using a worse weapon would help to increase his skills, but why did he only give it to him now? The only reason he could think of was his rank up in . Maybe he simplycked the skill to reliably use this method before? Or it was needed to guarantee continuous growth? Seth wasn''t sure about the reason, but he was certain that Tored had his reasons. This was actually his first time at the dwarven branch of the guild in the Halls of Stone. The building was part of the City of eternal night. A big pir decorated by illuminated carvings of adventures and heroes. The inside was dominated by intricate works of marble in different colors. The biggest difference was that it was filled with dwarven adventurers and only a few other races. The general description for a dwarven adventurer should be "armed to the teeth". No matter their ss, they were all armored like tanks and armed like damage dealers. You could only mage out dwarven caster by attentively inspecting their weapons. A caster''s staff normally had a nucleus, like a crystal embedded at the tip. If one looked closely, one could discover these embedded in war hammers, polearms, and maces of dwarven casters. Without his Seth would have seriously thought every dwarf was a frontline fighter and there were no casters sses at all. He came to the guild to get information on dungeons. With the restrictions he had, he decided to look for a dungeon in his level range. He had little to no idea about the dungeons in the Halls of Stone as those were not part of the little tourist booklet he was given. He stood out like a sore thumb as he waited in line for one of the counters. Unlike what one might think, the surrounding dwarfs did not look at him with leery and unfriendly eyes. No, their eyes were actually sparkling as if they saw a sessful businessman or star. The reason was simple, to enter the Hall of Stone as a non-dwarf one already needed to be an aplished person like a good craftsman. Any non-dwarf had to be a respectable person. Especially as an adventurer. B-Ranks were respected far and wide. They were the mostmon powerhouses in the guild. A or even S-Ranks were hard to meet, even as a guild staff. Seth was a role model who had aplished their aspiration of bing a B-Rank. He finally came to the counter where he found the only kind of dwarf in the whole room, that did not wear heavy armor and weapon. It was a dwarvendy with a shiny blond beard and hair. She wore the guild''s staff uniform which made it a lot easier to discern her gender. "How may I help you?" she asked in a deep and smooth voice. Seth got a list of all dungeons that were part of the dwarven district. Many were old mines and caves that had transformed after they were not used anymore. The scope became a lot smaller when he looked at those in his level range. There were only three. Two were the kind of cave dungeon where monsters like Orcs, Hobgoblins, or Trolls appeared. The one that pulled his interest was thest one. It was an old dwarven garrison that originally guarded a now-abandoned trade route. The route became less and less profitable and the soldiers were recalled only leaving a small guard team. At some point, they were overrun by monsters called Cave crawlers. The ce was not worth recapturing and was instead closed off. Only once it had turned into a dungeon and broke out was a subjugation force sent and the guild started managing the ce. The cave crawlers were ant-like insect monsters the size of a wolf. Unlike ants who build a hill, their behavior resembled wolf spiders or tarants. The lived in a kind of family or tribe and hunted withouts in the expansive cave and tunnel systems. An old ruin filled with ant-spider sounded a lot more interesting than a cave with goblins. Seth had the utmost trust in the new armor and treated this as more of a sightseeing tour than something dangerous. The level-cap of the crawler in the garrison was 30, so there was nothing to be afraid of. Before leaving he asked for a quest at his destination. He could also make some extra money since he was there anyway. < Quest: Alchemists Order Difficulty: D Alchemist Elric needs the poison sacks of Cave crawlers and asked the guild to get them. Will you get the sacks for Elric? Requirement: 0/30 Poison sacks Rewards: 150 Silver > n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Chapter 131 - 131. Crawlers In The Dungeon After epting the quest Seth left the guild. He used the analog map in the little booklet to find the passage that led to the old trade route. After showing his adventurer card the guard let him enter the locked-off tunnel. He had to walk for almost two hours after leaving the bounds of the city. It was a wide tunnel fit to allow 2-3 carriages to travel beside each other. Dust and dirt had umted from the years of neglect. There were only a few footprints from other travelers or adventurers that hade this way, too. He had equipped the dark knight armor after leaving the city. This made his journey very quiet, almost peaceful. There were few monsters, to begin with, but those that appeared hurriedly ran away when they saw their "prey". After these roughly two hours, the ceiling above his head became higher as he stepped onto a square in a big cave. On the opposite side of the square, he could see the entrance to the ruin. The fortification''s structure was rather simple. It was a double door system with one gate in the direction of the dwarven city and one gate facing the trade route, a road carved into the side of a big gorge with a deep abyss on one and a steep wall on the other side. The gates that had once blocked the entrances were long destroyed and only the twisted metal fitting told about their existence. Seth could see right across the inner square of the garrison and onto the path in the gorge. Seth equipped the training sword before stepping through the empty archway that once held the gate. The only light in the square fell in from the various arrow slits directed into the gorge on the left and the exit on the opposite side. It created a tranquil twilight. Pitch ck windows, like hollow eyes, filled the wall to the right. There were the facilities of the fort carved deep into the stone. And there was the actual location of the dungeon. Seth was not bothered by the darkness, since he had the ne that gave him . Seth had a different problem; his height. As he entered his found all the ceiling to just high enough for him to stand upright. He would not be able to make any big overhead swings or diagonal shes without hitting the ceiling. This was a great strategical advantage for dwarfs who couldfortably fight in this environment, but it was a big disadvantage for Seth. Seth concentrated on his surrounding as he walked through empty hallways. Where were the crawlers? Did the run from the presence of his armor? He was just rxing a little when he heard scuttling behind him. And turned around just in time to block something that jumped at him with an ear-splitting hiss. Slime-dripping mandibles closed mere centimeters in front of his face as he held the beast back with the sword. The cave crawlers looked nothing less than revolting. Six-legged hairy spiderlike ants with disproportionally big behinds. She never had had a problem with spiders or ants, but this was a really ugly mutant, almost unnatural. Instinctively he shoved the thing back and sent it flying with a kick. He activated his "breathing technique" and "sword intent" covered his de. Of course, this was his wishful thinking, but he felt a lot cooler if he called that way. Maybe he could fake being a cultivator when he returned to Urth? It was slightly hurt and had little mana, had it used a skill to sneak up on him? Seth wanted to test how strong these crawlers were and deactivated . What ensued were 5 minutes of painful death for the cave crawler as Seth kept bludgeoning it with a blunt sword and overwhelming attributes. If it had a mind, itsst thoughts probably were "If you are this strong, why not just kill me? Why are you so cruel?" After turning the insect into mush, Seth bted realized that he had destroyed its poison sack. Looking at his experience bar he gained about 3%. This was his only profit, as the crawler didn''t even a drop a soul. With this amount of exp he would need to kill 20-30 cave crawlers to level up. He kept going deeper, these ruins were just an appetizer. The crawlers here were not actually dungeon mobs. The dungeon entrance was where the actual dungeon was originally located. He had the directions from the guild, but he simply used to map out the whole ruin and find the entrance to the dungeon. This door was neither withered nor dirty. It looked like a solid, glossy gate. He entered the dungeon and stood in a long messy hallway with dark prison cells to the left and right. The ceiling was a lot higher and vanished in the darkness above the torches that illuminated the hallway below. The cells were open rooms with a wall of iron bars towards the hallway. None of them were really intact with a bend or broken bars and door open and ripped from their hinges. This design seemed quite generic for something he would find in a game, but it was a lot more unsettling in reality. Especially the fact that no light from the torches actually fell into the prison cells. Anything could hide in them... or in the darkness on the ceiling above. This was supposed to be a dungeon full of cave crawlers, right? So, what exactly had broken out from those cells? What did the dwarfs hold in these cells that had the strength to bend and rip iron bars? Seth calmed himself with the theory, that this was simply the quirky taste of the dungeon master when it came to interior decoration. He had especially checked with the guild before. There were no anomalies with this dungeon. Just a week ago a different party had visited this dungeon without problems. This just had to be some generic theme for a dungeon. Seth stayed vignt as he entered the hallway after reassuring himself that everything was ok. He had even left Puffles at the workshop, so the Ivicer could keep making . He had gotten used to havingpany, so now he felt a little lonely. He was soon able to push these thoughts back. As he started exploring, he finally encountered his prey. Sometimes single exemrs would suddenly jump out from the dark cells on the sides of the hallway or try to fall at him from the ceiling. Most of the time he found in groups of 2-4 on the way. Fighting them with just the and its "sword energy" was already a vast improvement to the bludgeoning he did before. It behaved almost like a sharp sword. Still, the nature of the training sword made it hard for Seth to execute the moves how he wanted to. He felt like he was actually fighting one or two ranks worse than usual. The effect was good, considering the new rank, he was able to the bar increases by tiny slivers, fractures of a percent. In the cases when he missed his objective and left openings for his attackers it was time for the new armor to shine. And it kept shining, even if it was hit by an attack, the cave crawlers could not even leave a scratch on the rare armor. He felt the impact, but any damage was simply negated by the strong defense. This greatly calmed Seth''s mind. He rxed a little and got in the mindset to experiment and training his skill. Although he felt a lot worse when it came to his handling of the sword, channeling the Soul Fire into the de as a kind of sword energy felt overpowered. Imagineparing a steel de to aser de, that was how Seth felt. When he shed at the chitin shell of a cave crawler and the pale me covered the edge of his sword, he could barely even feel an impact. The stench of burning flesh and hair filled the air as the crawler''s shell and meat were burned and carbonized. It was like theser sabers from Star battles! Imagine the effect if he used a good weapon. But... Was this because the skill was really powerful, or were these creatures just terribly weak to fire? He had to know. It would be terribly embarrassing if he tried to sh an orc-like this and all he got were light burns... Once he found the next group of three crawlers on a fork in the road, he decided to test it. He switched from using the weapon and as a medium to directly bending fire with . A big difference to before was that this new skill made it a lot easier to detach the fire from his body and at a lot lower cost. How cool would it be, if he could make a martial art move like the fire benders in a cartoon he knew and fire a giant wave of fire at his enemies? Unfortunately, this was not the scale he was operating on, yet. Seth formed a fist-sized ball of pale fire and shot it at the closest crawler. This was the most he could manage without getting a splitting headache. Despite itsughable size it simply prating the crawler like a marshmallow. Leaving the burning target behind it collided with the next one and exploded, setting them all ame. The prated crawler was dead and the burning two tried to rush at him but broke down from the pain before even reaching him. Seth blinked. What did this mean now? Were they weak to fire, or was the Soul Fire just too domineering? He realized that this experiment had no other result but crawlers being weak to his fire. No matter what form. After making this conjecture he stopped using the fire. On one side he wanted to recover his mental strength and on the other, he came to train his fighting skills and .. It didn''t get him war, if all his enemies melted like butter before a hot knife. Chapter 132 - 132. Greatest Dungeon Crawler Seth had just killed thest crawler and stood in front of the gate to the boss room when a flood of notification sounded. He first took a look at the system rights. His inventory had expanded by another 5 slots and the system window now had two new tabs called "Sets" and "Reputation". The first was an option to store and register 3 premade item sets and use a quick-change to swap between them. For example, Seth could register his casual clothes he wore in the workshop, the travel attire, and this armor. Then he would not have to equip every item separately, but swap his whole attire in one go. It had a small time dy and could not be used inbat, but it was still a huge improvement in quality of life. The second was a list of people and ces he had met and visited. He had a good reputation in Ora or Zhiqe and intimacy with the Lord and his son for example. But there were a lot of names he had never heard before and he could not think of how he gained that intimacy off the top of his head. The highest value he saw was 830 and the name beside it was Fin Bellsmiter. He could have guessed that. Slightly below was Mina with 650 and Marn with 600. The other party members ranged between 500 and 600. N?v(el)B\\jnn There was also one negative value of 200 with the name Lyre beside it. He could not, by the love of God, remember who he offended to be hated. Seth made the bold guess that 1000 was the maximum in both directions. He dared to say that his friendship with the party of very good and Fin was his best friend. If 0 was neutral and 500-600 was probably the value for really trustworthy friends... then was 1000 like... Anyways. He shook his head to stop those thoughts. He got mixed feelings when he looked at his skill window and saw a new skill. It reminded him of his dark history. They had tried for a long time and even with Tored''s teaching, Seth''s skill in singing forging bads was horrible. Even after learning those of the dwarfs, which sounded more like a deep chanting, the results were cursed weapons with random effects like: < War hammer of Urge Umon Damage: 130 Durability:530 1. Targets will feel the sudden urge to pee A steel war hammer made by an aspiring cksmith. An Unknown entity was amused by the maker''s attempt of singing. > After trying for a few weeks Seth had finally given up. Getting this skill now made a mockery of his efforts! It even had the perk to make him a good singer, even so, he had no talent or knowledge whatsoever. The knowledge was crammed into his head the moment he activated the skill. Theck of talent made it so he was only a good singer. Had someone with actual talent gotten this skill, they could have be a superstar! The worst effect was, that his singing now sounded rather good and he already found himself subconsciously humming a tune... It felt a little inappropriate to hum a happy tune in front of the door of the boss room... He looked at the big door. Should he take a look at the boss? The guild had especially warned him not to enter the boss room. His goal was already reached and he had more than enough poison sacks. He could simply leave now and- Suddenly the gate shook. "Hey! Are youing in or not?! Do you know how annoying it is if someone just stands at your door without doing anything?" a roaring voice echoed from behind the door. "I was just about to leave! Bye!" "No! Please! Don''t leave. Do you know how many people just leave after killing the critter! I''m so lonely. Being a dungeon boss is so boring!" "Why don''t they enter?" "Because I''m too strong, of course. I''m the mighty Lich Al''Zalsa!" "Oh great. I will leave now." "No, no, no. Please stay. I swear I won''t attack you if you enter. I need your help to leave his ce." "My help? How would I be able to help you?" "I''m stuck here since that stupid dungeon core summoned me as the boss. I can feel from your aura that you should have an ability that can help me release these shackles." "oh! Let me phrase this differently. Why should I help you? Releasing a powerful undead from o''s shackles... it does not quite strike me as a pro-gamer move." "A pro-what? Anyway, I''m sure I won''t be in a state to do any harm if it works like I hope it will." "Exin first." The ability that had woken the Lich''s interest was . It felt the passive attraction the skill used to automatically collect souls. It took the Lich half an hour before Seth agreed to its n. The n was not tooplicated. Seth entered the boss room and took a few minutes to get used to the skeleton in avish ornamental robe and more jewelry than a street rapper. Even Mr.D would feel silly with this much bling. Definitely, the spiciest undead he had ever seen. Al did NOT pull the prank of mming the door closed behind him. Not even as a joke. He also didn''t attack him. He showed Seth the ce where the Lich''s phctery was sealed by the dungeon core. Oddly enough it was a long, delicate pipe covered with colorful paintings of golden clouds and dragons. before the core could force Al to attack him it was time to shine. Thest level up was not specifically the ability to remove souls from the items he made but to remove souls from items in general. ording to the Lich''s guess, the phctery was not an exception. As long as the Lich allowed it, that is. Seth tried to capture the Lich''s soul and was surprised by a massive wave of power slowly oozing out of the delicate pipe. It was not the size that surprised him, but the feeling of density the souls gave off. Fine cracks started to form on the ceramic pipe as the biggest part of the soul left the phctery. The pipe turned to a cloud of fine glittery dust after Seth finally extracted the soul. The skeletal figure of the Lich Al''Zalsa turned to dust leaving only a pile of dust. Level 180?! How had an lv.30 dungeon an lv.180 boss? Wasn''t the experience a little too little with his kind of level difference? Was this because a Lich was technically nothing but its soul? This meant it would be almost worth 180 levels of experience! The Soul had to be at least epic then! He had not leveled up for so long, that he had almost forgotten about the perks of leveling up, Fee SP! With the two level-ups, he had 5 now. He needed four to level up his appraisal skill and would still have one left. Just great! As close as he was to journeyman-rank now, this was the best option. Otherwise, he would be unable to appraise the materials he needed to level up quickly in this rank. Now he could see the information of the soul. "Al''Salza was a girl and she wanted to fight a dragon?" he mumbled surprised. ~How did you know? Hey, did you appraise my soul?! That''s rude! You can''t just stare at a woman''s bare soul like this. Avoid your eyes already! ~ He heard a feminine voice in his head, simr to how Puffles spoke to him. "... So this is what "Ego" meant." Her soul was not bigger in original size than the wyvern''s soul, but it was a lot denser and contained several times the power. A soul that still contained an ego from before, would he be able to make an ego item like this? ~ Hey, what''s that glint in your eyes? Stop staring at me and loot my body, will ya? And don''t forget to rob that damn dungeon core! ~ Loot her corpse? But all that was left was a pile of dust... Seth shrugged and squatted down to rummage through the pile of fine powder. He did not see the need to use loot and potentially lose something good. He actually found three things in her remains. Chapter 133 - 133. Crawling Out Of The Dungeon In the pile of dust, he found two rings and a bone fragment. He could only appraise one of the rings and the bone. The other ring was probably out of his appraisal range. "Almost became a legend, almost slew a dragon. What with all the almosts..." Seth mumbled. ~ It''s this dungeon''s fault! I was about to fulfill my revenge and kill that hateful dragon. I was casting a spell to finish that guy off and a teleportation formation suddenly appeared around me and I was summoned here! ~ "Oh, did I speak out loud? Sorry... But how can an lv.30 dungeon summon a boss at your level?" Seth could not hold back his curiosity. ~ It was lucky! That stinky dungeon master drew gachas and randomly summoned me! If the dungeon had not automatically sealed me, I would have long taken this ce apart! Do me a favor and punch the dungeon master for me. ~ Now that she mentioned it. A dungeon boss and the master were not necessarily the same person. So where was this dungeon master? Seth could only see beyond the boss room. ~ He''s hiding behind that pir over there! Go get him! ~ The dungeon master was a small humanoid demon, an imp? It had run away and hidden the moment Seth''s armor took effect. It was an absolute weakling. Seth went with calling it an imp. It was unable tomunicate, but it seemed very afraid. "Look at how pitiful it is, are you really telling me to hit it?" ~ It''s only afraid because it stands no chance! Do you know how often this thing humiliated me by abusing its authority as the dungeon master? Hit it, I say! Smite it! ~ Al actually shared some of her memories of the imp''s actions. She had to serve it and got kicked and spit on by the arrogant little shit without a way to even resist. Seth gave the creature a mighty kick that smashed it against the dungeon wall. It wouldn''t turn into a prince from this, would it? Then Seth used the great technique he had learned from Fin. "Hey, you! Where is my reward, eh?" he poked the training sword''s tip against the crystal core. With a tink, tink he continued. "You wouldn''t want me to crush you right? There is no one protecting you now, or do you think that wimp will stand up to protect you?" The next moment a treasure chest appeared beside the dungeon core. "Now, now, don''t be so stingy. I defeated an lv.180 boss. Don''t you think your life is worth a little more?" he could not just break the core without the guild''s permission. But he could still threaten to do so. The next moment a second chest appeared beside the first. Core sessfully mugged. The contents of the chests added up to about 45 gold in gold silver and bronze coins. There were also some umon weapons, but nothing overwhelming. The only thing of slight interest was a thin silver bracelet. Umon Durability:300 1. Immunity to umon Diseases 2.20% resistance against rare Diseases > It was simple, but Seth could appreciate not getting sick. Diseases were one of the most annoying details in many survival and role-ying games. Health was even more precious in reality. It was a shame this was a dungeon item, so he would not be able to scan and copy these effects. "I guess, I''m done here." ~ I can finally leave this cursed ce! ~ Al stayed silent after he put the Lich''s soul in his soul space. Seth appreciated this, he felt very nervous talking to a 200year old soul of a lich. Before reaching Ora, he used the new quick-change function to swap to his travel clothes. Back in Ora he visited the guild,pleted the quest, and finally returned to Tored''s shop. A lot of things had happened on this trip that way only supposed to test his skills. "How was it?" the dwarven master greeted him as he stepped into the smithy. The dwarf was currently sharpening a short sword. Seth thought about how he had harvested the soul of a being that could probably wipe out Ora and decided to stay silent about that. He told Tored about the effects of the sword burning through the bugs like a hot knife through butter. "You leveled up, right? Why don''t you put some points into Willpower? Maybe that will help with your headaches." Toredmented casually. O.O He hadpletely forgotten to distribute his free attribute points. It had been so long since hest leveled up. He had 32 now and decided to put half of them into WIL bringing it up to 55. He put 10 into agility and 5 into endurance. Thest 2 increased his INT to 35. He could easily feel the difference the increased willpower did when he started ying with a small blue me. Now he felt like a mutant, just casually ying with a small me in his hands. It felt really interesting. "You done? Stop ying around, I already prepared your next tasks. Go get to work." When Seth got back to the crafting table and looked at the ns for the next item, he was supposed to make he suddenly remembered. "Oh yeah, I also got a passive skill that will increase my chances with singing!" Tored''s hands halted and his face paled. They had really tried to teach Seth singing and it had the dwarven master a lot. He was not mentally ready to listen to Seth''s "singing" again. On the other hand, he was a respected and powerful dwarven master. How could he be afraid of his disciples singing? His hand started grinding the sword again and he answered in a calm voice with a forced smile. "t-That''s great. Then we should test it outter!" This was his burden to bear. He couldn''t hinder his fosterling''s growth just because he was afraid to lose his reason. That didn''t mean he couldn''t buy some time to mentally prepare! It was a weekter; Seth''s skills were slowly growing as he made the essories and items Tored ordered him to make. and were closing in on lv. 4 and he also started creating different weapons under the master''s guidance making his grow, too. "Today we will try out the new skill you mentioned." The dwarf suddenly said, wearing a pair of ear protectors. Seth knew his singing was bad but did he really have to go this far? Feeling a little hurt, Seth grabbed a piece of steel to test out the effect of the skill on using a forging bad. He started chanting a dwarven bad that was supposed to ask a low-level earth spirit for its blessing and strengthen the material. A throaty deep chanting filled the smithy and drilled through Tored''s ear protectors as if they were not even there. The master had to admit that the singing became a lot less nerve-wracking than before, but it still sounded very wrong and disharmonious. At this point, it was already clear this would end again in failure or a curse. "Stop! Stop, halt! No more. Shut up, Seth!" a clear voice disrupted his work. An illusory figure stood behind him. It was a tall blurry-faced woman with a loose, very revealing robe and a boatload of jewelry. "This is the wrong approach. Youpletelyck any kind of talent tomunicate with the spirits and your trantion function ispletely tearing up the words," she said and waved her and dismissively. "What do you mean- Wait who are you?" the dwarf stared and the ghost that had suddenly materialized in his smithy. "I''m Al''Zalsa the spiciest sorceress of- Whatever. Shut up dwarf, I''m not talking to you." The dwarf suddenly made an awkward duck face. Tored''s mouth was mped shut and he could not open his lips, no matter how hard he tried. The Lich''s souls that had not given any signs of life for thest week had suddenly projected an illusory figure beside him and "offered advice". She even told his master to shut up. "Okay, then I will ask. What do you mean, I have no talent tomunicate with the spirits? And what does this have to do with my trantion function?" She sighed. "You wouldn''t understand it if I tried to exin. So, let''s save time and ept that there are trantion errors, ok? But even then, it would still have a slight effect, if you had goodpatibility with spirits. " "Does that mean that my singing is not even that bad?" hope was rising in his voice. "What? No! Without that skill your singing would be horrible. " A metaphorical shattering could be heard as Al smashed his hopes with a sledgehammer. "Does it mean that I really have to give up on forging bads?" She patted his shoulder. "No. You just have to choose the songs better. Try this one." An illusory finger pointed at his forehead and knowledge started pouring into his brain. It was a new bad in apletely foreign and archaguage. "It has a simr effect to the one you just tried to use. It will help strengthen the weapon. Uurgh- It''s really hard to use magic without a medium for my soul. I wille back after some rest." With that, she simply vanished. Tored ripped open his mouth with a loud gasp. "What was that?! " Seth was btedly forced to exin what had happened in the dungeon. Chapter 134 - 134. New Ballad "You are telling me that was the manifestation of a 200+ years old lich you released from a dungeon?" Tored asked in disbelieve "That about sums it up," Seth answered meekly. "And she just taught you a foreign forging bad?" "Yes." Seth was not sure whether he wanted to really use this bad that was taught to him. What if it was dangerous? Or not a forging bad. He did not really trust Al, yet. "Let''s try it!" the dwarven master said with excitement visible in his eyes. "It''s been a long time since I saw a new forging bad. And this should be an ancient one, considering that Lich is more than 200 years old and from a different world!" It was painfully obvious that this old man was a forging geek. He couldn''t wait to learn something new if it was connected to his profession. He did not even put the ear protectors back on when Seth got ready to start again. The song leaving his lips was nothing the dwarf had ever heard before. Different from his previous tries, Seth immediately felt a connection, despite not knowing thenguage. A deep disharmonious song filled the smithy and at first, it sounded unsettling and appalling to the two listeners. But on second thought there was ayer of demonic charm swinging within the deep chaotic melody. He felt his mana saturate his voice and the song kept urging them to keep singing, to keep listening. Finally, as Seth kept singing a sting of dark reddish runes slowly left his lips. Like a snake they slithered through the air and fell onto the steel he kept forging and folding on the anvil. At this point, there was no stopping. Seth kept singing and forging and the steel turned darker and darker as more and more of these runes found their ce within the metal. Seth forged it into a short saber, a Yatagan. He had kept practicing this shape for the snake and wyvern fangs. Now it had inexplicably surfaced in his mind. Thepulsion to sing finally ended when the de had taken shape. He really did it! This was not some curse or failed product. With the bonus, his finally reached lv.4. He could not wait for the finished product and appraised the unfinished de. "Hoh, so this a demonic bad." Tored suddenly appeared beside him. Sweat covered his forehead and he seemed tired as if he himself was the one forging just now. "Demonic...?" Seth was not sure what he should think about this. Remembering his previous fails, did he have the talent to ask demons for assistance, instead of spirits? It exined why he ended up with so many cursed weapons and peculiar effects. "It imbued the de with the inherent ability to heal and strengthen itself. That''s pretty good. You even managed to increase the rating of the steel." he said appreciatingly. "You should finish this weapon. It might be really powerful if you enchant it with bleeding and life steal." "I don''t know. I don''t really want to mess with something like demons." "Stop worrying for now. You already did the enchantment. No need to hesitate at this point." he encouraged Seth. Seth followed the dwarf''s advice. Life Steal was aplex enchantment while bleeding counted as simple. Since he reached the adept rank he could put either two simple enchantments on an item orbine a simple and aplex one. After finishing the hilt, he carved the circuits for bleeding and life steal into the reddish dark de. An excellent weapon made by an aspiring cksmith. This weapon shows greatly improved performance owing to special treatment. > Strengthen the user? Would it be like in some novel, where the protagonist could steal attribute points from his victims? Nah, that would be too powerful for a simply rare-rated weapon. Unless... It had a good performance considering the base material was and he didn''t use on it. And it would even keep growing stronger. Just imagine how good this would be if he used a better material like for this. Or if he used something that fit the demonic nature... What was he thinking? He didn''t want to mess with such entities. Even if he had the talent to hug demonic thighs. Well, maybe... He should ask Al when she rested up. Until then he would not do that again. For now, he decided to just continue with Tored''s tasks until the Lich called again. It took another week of peaceful crafting before the lich-sorceress ghost spoke again. In the meantime, he had visited the human district of Ora but had not found Mina, Fin, or one of the other guys. He had looked for Bertram to meet Marn, but the elf had also vanished after starting his tutge under his new master. Was their timing really this bad, or did something happen? They wouldn''t avoid him, would they? He decided to leave a message for them with the guild since the guild would not hand out information on running quests. They were B-Ranks, they could simply visit him at the shop once they were back. Feeling slightly down, he cheered himself up by splurging on a meal before returning to the halls of stone. Al appeared once he closed the shop''s door behind him. "Would it hurt to take my soul out of that weird space of yours? Do you have any idea how much power I have to spend to astral project myself out of there?" she said before vanishing again. Seth had no idea, that storing souls had also the effect to seal them... He went to his room and released the soul of the sorceress from his space. ~Finally, outside. Not cool man, I thought you would bring me out for a conversation after I talked to you, but you simply kept me away for another week! I even gifted you a forging bad! Oh yeah, how did that work out?~ Seth felt a little overwhelmed by the flood of words flowing in his mind. "S-Sorry. I forgot that we could talk like this, too." ~Hmp, don''t lie! You just wanted to ogle my astral body. Admit it!~ she used self-assertive. "It''s not like I don''t like the view, but I really just-" ~I''m joking- Wait, wha-? Forget it. Anyway, how did the bad work?~ Seth exined to the Lich what had happened and the effects. "haha! As I thought. You have a great affinity with demons, considering that horrible musical talent of yours. It''s a shame I don''t know many demonic bads. I, with my angelic voice and talent,ck the affinity with demons. I''m also not a cksmith, so I only learned those for research." "But isn''t it dangerous to mess with demons? Using these bads wouldn''t mess with my mind or the user''s mind, right? Or summon a demon? And I don''t really want to create the kind of demonic weapons that take control of their wielder..." "Pff, where did you get those dumb ideas? Why don''t you worry about that when asking spirits and elementals to bless your weapon? They are no bit better than demons when ites to this. Using bads is a simple trade of entertainment for a blessing. Well, demons will also take mana, but that''s the only difference." She fell silent for a moment. "If you really want to summon demons you should consider Bard as your second ss. Then you could even learn more bads because of the ss-specific-" "What? A second ss?!" Seth interrupted her This was the first time someone mentioned a second ss. "Oh, whoops. Forget that, you aren''t supposed to know that." "Toote! Tell me!" "No... te he, not for free." "What do you want?" "A new physical medium! I will also teach you the other demonic bads I know. Deal?!" It seemed like she really didn''t like being a soul. "Deal." Chapter 135 - 135.Lich In A Bottle "Puffles, are you in here?" Seth asked carefully. He had left the caterpir in this room for several weeks and only met him to eat together. He had left the Ivicer here to make his new alloy threads. Kyurr kyuu!? ~ Is it time to eat already? Or will you finally free me from this ve task?! ~ The room was filled with wool made of with some orderly reels stacked to the side. It would soon be enough to visit N?del for a new jacket "Errm, no. I just wanted to get some " he said a little ashamed. A full reel flew towards his face; with force. He would better take the Ivicer with him the next time he went to town. "Thanks, Puff. Let''s go eat out tomorrow, what do you think?" Kyurr! ~Alright. But don''t think that enough to make me forgive you! ~ Seth wanted decided to use some of the Ivicer''s bronze as part of Al''Zalsa''s "medium". He had noticed early on that the energy of the Ivicers was simr to that of souls, so he guessed that it would have goodpatibility with his skills. Originally Al gave him a blueprint and aplicated list of materials that were needed to make a new kind of phctery that she could possess. Seth had different ns. For this, he summoned his full and pulled out Charon''s Obol. The first step was forging a small frame from to guarantee the durability of the item. It was big enough to fit something the size of a dog tag. The next material he brought out was the bone fragment of Al''Zalsa he had found in the bone pile. ~W-What is all this?!~ asked the main ingredient when he brought it out. Seth had not used any of his ss skills since he met the Lich, so she had no idea about his abilities. He put the bone and the soul on the anvil and started activating ~H-hey what are you trying to do? What is this weird fo-rce?~ Using the hammer''s special skill together with he started to forge the bone. Under her constantmentary andints, he slowly melded the Lich''s soul into the bone fragment. ~No, stop! This is not what I wanted! I wanted a-~ she kept on struggling putting huge pressure on Seth''s mental force. It was a big difference between a powerful lv. 180 soul with ego and the small one he had used before. At this moment he was very d that he had boosted his willpower. Especially stretching out some parts from her soul to infuse into other parts like the frame took a lot out of him. Finally, he had thoroughly melded the soul into the bone of its former body and distributed his evenly throughout the dog tag sized bone te he had forged. ~Ouch, this hurt. This won''t work! I don''t know what you are nning but I will be able to detach my soul from this with enough time! I told you to make me a phctery! ~ "Oh, don''t worry. That''s because I''m not finished yet. Do you really think I would simply help resurrect an overpowered Lich? Don''t worry too much. if you prove trustworthy, I can still make you this substitute ph-whatever." Seth had no idea whether this would actually work, but he could always release her again with . He had no idea what would happen, but he looked forward to seeing results. He set the bone te into the mithril frame and used small pins at the sides to create a mechanical connection. Then he infused a small part of the soul he had set aside into the me, creating a magical connection. On the top and the bottom, the frame had small holes. On the bottom he fixed a tassel made from and at the top, he used a string from the same material so he could tie it to his belt. Something he found out when experimenting was that when he used the skill with the engraving tool, he could engrave organic material by discing material, instead of removing it. It came handy in this case, where he had not much material and it was very precious on top of it. On the front of the bone, he carved the figure of Al''Zalsa or at least the silhouette of her astral projection he had seen. ~Ouch! It hurts. Why does this hurt!?~ the sorceress kept whining in his ears as he worked with utmost concentration. Except for using a skill to not lose any material this work was purely for aesthetics. On the backside, he carved theplex circuit for mana gathering and the simple circuit for a bonus in will power. "And now the most important step." "Wait! Hey, what is it with this water barrel? I can feel a really dangerous aura from this! D-Don''t put me in there! Noooo!" Seth dunked the sorceress into the Waters of Styx. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Hiyaa! Wha-What is this?! Hng, ah...this- this doesn''t feel too bad..." Another weird skill hade along his way... he was too tired to stillin about these undeserved titles. It irked him more, that many of his attributes he had finally evened out on 5s and 0s had be 1s and 6s... It was great to gain points, but it didn''t look as good. His mood improved a lot when he looked at the new item and the proficiency, he got for it. He got almost 10% through the board for all three crafting skills. Compared with the option of summoning a powerhouse for one hour, his enchantment seemed more like a blemish on the token, than an improvement... "With this, our deal is finished. Can you still hear me?" ~...Yeah, I can stillmunicate with you~ Seth''s eyes shone. "Can you tell me about the second ss you mentioned?" ~No! ~ "What? But I gave you a physical medium. That was the deal." ~At lv. 50 you will be able to get a secondary job. I won''t tell anymore! Although it''s not bad, this was not the medium I wanted. ~ "Oh really? Can you still say this...now?" "Yeah, I can. What should have cha- O.O" Seth had used the summoning option of the token and before him stood a beautiful older woman in a loose robe revealing a lot of well-tanned smooth skin. She was made of flesh and blood and stared at him with an expression of disbelieve. "T-This warmth. I can feel the air... I can breathe. I can taste the smoke in the air..." Tears started to well up in her big green almond-shaped eyes. "200 years... I lived in a cold unresponsive husk. How did you do it? I looked so long for a way to get back a fleshly body and you simply-!" "I have no~ Idea how it works. Also, this onlysts for 1 hour a once a week. How is your power?" Seth had noticed that it had no option to strengthen his own mana as the soul equipment had. Was it because he directly infused it into the item? The point was if he didn''t get a boost, it either vanished or Al controlled it. It was a shame he didn''t get the mana boost, but it would not be so bad if he could have her fight for him in the worst-case scenario. The beautiful sorceress calmed down a little upon his question. It was a valid point to test, so she gripped her fists and the air in the room became heavy with mana. "I have about a third of my original mana... I guess the rest goes into maintaining this body for the hour you mentioned." She suddenly licked her lips. "Since I only have one hour, I- we should thoroughly test this body." With that, the loose robe slit off her body. "You can''t be serious." "It''s been more than 200 years... I am more than serious." They spent the precious hour doing the fun things in life.. Seth was unable to walk normally for the next two days. Chapter 136 - 136. A Pickle "Kyaa!" Screams and explosions filled the previously quiet night. Thepany of merchants was attacked by an overwhelming horde of monsters. Corpsewalkers led by a pack of lycanthropes. Now, if Seth had been here, he would not have called these things werewolves. They had a big, bulky stature and were almost naked with thick leathery skin. Their heads resembled a wolf''s skull with terrible burn scars. These were demon worshippers transformed by drinking the blood of a specific arc demon. The corpse walkers were a simr creation. The name was chosen by those who had to confront them on the battlefield. Once normal people andmoners of the northern territories, they had turned into these sick abominations after being hit by a curse or drinking water poisoned with demon blood. Their skin was dried and wrinkled with a texture and defense like tough hardened leather. The deep, sunken eyes only hungered for fresh meat and blood. They got their name because they had no more intelligence and walked around like zombies. But despite looking and acting like the undead, they were still alive, making them immune against many countermeasures that worked on the undead. Thepany had left Ora several weeks ago and had taken the risk to travel further north close to the front line of the war with the demon worshippers. The merchants estimated to still be far away from the battle and wanted to sell supplies to the fortified cities that may be soon entangled in battle. They were wrong. The enemy moved faster than anyone expected and they were stuck as theyid siege on the second city they visited. Unfortunately, "Yuelecat''s Fur" was part of their escort and also stuck in this small city they didn''t even know the name of. The human territories were able toe up with a countermeasure to the demonic curses, but their troops were far inferior to the cursed soldiers that roamed thends. Trying to survive the situation all adventurers and soldiers of the town were recruited to defend the walls and gates. As dangerous and cumbersome as the constant fighting was, there was an advantage. As the defender, they were in an advantageous position and could literally ughter dozens of enemies. Their levels rose with unprecedented speed. Fin, Mina, and the rest of the party all finally reached lv.50 the original minimum to be B-Ranks. And they were finally able to grab one of the reasons B-Ranks had a qualitative change in power,pared to C-Ranks. The secondary ss. A second ss gave not only new skills but also changed the modifiers of attributes by at least double or more, depending on the ss. It was simr to how Seth had about double the attribute points than regr people because of his race. It came at the price of needing double the experience per level past 50. It exined why B-Rank quests would normally deal with beasts and situations a single B-Ranks party couldn''t handle alone. It was all for the experience. Their boost in strength came a little toote to make a change in the situation as the rations were running out and the authorities became desperate. They knew there was no hope for reinforcements from the surrounding regions. Nobody answered their messages, they might even be thest city still standing. Those who answered were too far away or close to a crisis themself. So, they decided. Before the troops became starved and weakened, they would attempt to breakthrough. The soldiers would buy time for the citizens to flee from the encirclement. They knew this would cost many lives, but at least some people would have the chance to survive. --- Fin''s fist smashed a Lycan''s head like it was a pinata. She had originally wanted to take a ss that was already simr to her current ss. Something like a monk to increase her survivability and supporter qualities. Everything came a little different when she saw the options she could choose from. Changing one''s ss and choosing a second ss was a little different from Seth''s first experience in getting a ss. To begin with, people born into the system are born with a ss. To change it they needed to visit the system church. In a dark room, one would see a random ss wheel but also options based on all the qualifications they had, like current ss, former sses, skills, race, etc. Choosing a second ss had the same option and different ss wheels on top of it. The system was a little nicer to those who had already reached lv.50 so instead of a random ss wheel with everything, there were wheels split into different categories. Why would someone use a ss wheel instead of a known option? In case one had little to no qualification, or there was no option of interest. The fairy had ample experience with the procedure, as expected from someone with a unique ss, and she instantly knew her choice when she saw it. It was a second unique ss called "Melee Queen". It did not only increase her overallbat prowess in meleebat but also added melee attack skills of a royal theme. This was what she had alwayscked as a Battle Cleric. The royal theme came from the fact, that these skills derived part of their damage from the dignity stat she owned from her inheritance as a noble. As such her fighting style had be a lot more elegant and dignified while packing an even greater devastating power. Like an animalistic savageness hidden behind a sophisticated fa?ade. Royal indeed. It was almost tailor-made for her, the big advantage of a unique ss. In a ce further away from the head-disintegrating fairy a horde of corpse walkers was diced and swept away by a circr wave of shadows. The next moment a dark figure appeared behind the shocked lycan thatmanded this troop and stabbed a bright de into the crown of his head. It easily prated the leathery skin and thick skull. In a dazzling light, the dying lycan''s brain was fried by lightning. This needed to be done, so it would not rise again as an undead. Heavily panting, Mina stood above the body of the fallen lycan. She had not just gotten a secondary ss, but also changed her primary one. Based on her experience thanks to Seth''s equipment she chose "Shadow Assassin" as a primary ss and took "Shadow Mage" as a secondary ss. Shadow assassin was a rare-rated ss and amon specialization for most assassins. It maximized the ability to hide from enemies'' eyes. Shadow mage on the other hand was an umon ss, a specialization of Dark mage. Beastmen seldomly had the talent for caster sses. How did Mina get this ss then? It was Mina''s lucky hand. N?v(el)B\\jnn None of the options she had satisfied her and they were not exactly in a situation where she had a lot of time to ponder or gain skills to change her option. They were in the middle of a siege. She chose to use the ss wheel of dark professions. In the worst case, she would get a ss that was of not much help but still get some boost. Best-case Scenario: Something like Shadow Mage. With these two sses, she got the skills to hide and travel through shadows. She could either strike like an assassin or hide and chant shadow magic to attack. The only disadvantage was that shecked mana for the magic skills. She was an assassin for most of her career, she had no reason to invest her precious point into intelligence. So, despite the ss-modifiers and caster skills that boosted mana, her mana pool was pitiful. The other party member had also powered up in a simr fashion which was the whole reason why they got confident in breaking through together with the other B-Ranks and their employer, the merchantpany. They were still hard-pressed to get away from the pursuing army of undead. The only purpose of these minions was to stall them until the bigshots of the enemy. "Yulecat''s Fur" and the other B-Rank party hired by the merchants were already exhausted after several ambushes of this kind. All of them joined the merchants on the carriage and the driver spurred the horses on. It would still take another week before they reached Ora and it was unsure how far the enemy forces had already invaded. Ora was located on the east side of the central mountain range and almost at the halfway point between south and north. They met enemies just a week''s journey away from there. Nobody expected that the army of demon worshippers had already gotten this far south. Everyone was exhausted, the horses, the merchants, the adventurers, and even the carriage made dangerous creaking noises as they traveled at full speed. They were in a real pickle. Chapter 137 - 137. Looking For Group It had a high price, but the sorceress kept her word. She taught and exined to him the demonic bads she knew. Tored was wary at first, but when Seth exined everything to him, he helped Seth learn and train the new forging bads. It was finally time that forging weapons was also included in his curriculum again. Having changed to demonic bads also gave a chance to shine, even so the songs themself were nothing one would listen to for enjoyment. His days were packed with grinding, making jewelry and essories, weapons with forging bads, and sparring with the dwarf. Time flew by and one day his age turned to 24. How long had it been since he left home? How far had hee? "Status!" (no items equipped) Name: Seth Smith Mark of Ivicer Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 27 Exp: 2% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:24 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique) Affiliation: System Church Health: 1000/1000 Mana: 380 Strength:73 Dexterity:71 Agility: 53 Intelligence:38 Willpower:58 Endurance:58 Personality:17 Luck:21 Free AP (Attribute points): 0 Free SP (Skill points): 1 Defense: Physical: 224 (174+50) (ENDx3) Magical: 141(116+25) (WILx2) Fire Immunity Poison Resistance (15%) "Skill Window." cksmith (Adept) lv.9 (23%) Enchantment (Adept) lv8 (24%) Goldsmith (Adept) lv.7(17%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.5 Blueprint (Adept) lv.3 Soul Infusion lv.3 Spirit Smithy lv.5 Spirit Capture lv.4 Spirit Forging (Adept) lv.1 Orpheus Voice (Passive) lv.3 Weapon Mastery (Expert) lv.3 (2%) Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7 Fear Resistance (Passive) lv.8 Poison Resistance (Passive)lv.3 Fire Affection (Passive) lv.6 Pyrokinesis (Ability)lv.2 Map lv.4 Observation lv.4 Concealment lv.4 n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Energy Cirction lv.9 Sewing (Beginner)lv.6 (45%) Universal Trantion lv. max had grown a little faster because he trained it with weapons and jewelry now, but all his skills were getting close to the next rank. Everything was slowly rising, except for the skills he could hardly grind in safety. Seth had lost the urge to leave the workshoptely. Fin and the party still had not returned and Ora was slowly suffocating under the flood of refugees. The times he went out, he stayed in the halls of stone to eat and drink with Puffles and Al. Seth had managed to appease the starved sorceress with other joys of life, like food. This meant he would have a huge food bill once every week. It was the price to keep her robe from slipping. Today was his birthday and he wanted to go out. He even invited Tored toe along and the reclusive dwarf decided to apany him. Tored told him that he knew a very good restaurant in Ora and Seth had not heard of it yet. The dwarven master led them out of the halls of stone and to themercial district. He also tried to invite Vathon and Marn, but could not find either of them. The human district had changed tremendously. The alleys apart from the main roads were filled with homeless people and refugees. It was less bustling with life and more beggars filled the streets. Apparently, the human territories were on a losing streak and refugees kept flooding south. The situation was so bad, that the guards at the gates had the order to keep those out. They heard that a kind of slum city had grown outside the city walls. Thousands of people living in tents and makeshift shacks strangled the trade routes and merchants avoided the cities hit hardest by this development. He followed the dwarven master off the main streets and into the alleys. The restaurant he brought Seth to was on the smaller side and off the busy ces, simr to Seth''s shop. Tored had assured him that this was one of the best restaurants he knew in Ora. That was why Seth didn''t judge yet and stayed open for a surprise. And he did well in doing so. The restaurant had a small andfortable feel to it and offered private booths for customers. Seth, Puffles, and Tored sat down there and looked at the menu. The restaurant served traditional dwarven cuisine, which meant everything was very hearty, savory, and served in big quantities. It was perfect for the trio of heavy eaters. It was the first incident of a chef not despairing upon seeing Seth and Puffle enter the feeding frenzy. The dwarf in the open kitchen saw them devouring his and epted their challenge. The cksmith, the master, and the caterpir stocked for a moment when they felt the aura of a predator. As if a sleeping dragon had awoken, they felt the might of the dwarven chef oozing from the kitchen. With experienced movements and skilled hands, the chef ramped up his cooking speed. The three could barely follow his hand speed as he cut, cooked, and seasoned his ingredients. They acknowledged the chef''s caliber and appreciated his efforts by eating even faster. Now it was the chef''s turn to feel pressured. Seeing the food vanish the moment the waiter put the dish on their table, it felt like a magic trick! Did they really eat the food or did they teleport it straight into their stomachs? Both parties did their best in this battle of skill and stomach capacity. The unbelievable oue was a definitive draw as both sides copsed. The restaurant closed for the day after the three waddled out with bulging bellies. They had eaten almost all the ingredients the restaurant had prepared for the day. The trio left the restaurant and Seth re-equipped the sorceress'' token. He had found out, that he could make her shut up by putting her in his inventory. She had been constantly nagging andining about how they dared to just go and eat without her. "Unfortunately" the summon was still on cooldown. It was when they stepped on the main street and went on their way back to the Halls that they heard screams andmotion from the direction of the city gate. A crowd of refugees, beggars, and citizens came running in their direction. From the gates sounded the horns that signaled an attack and the air was filled by the rattling of giant chains as the city gates werepletely sealed off. Followed by the impacts of giant bolts that locked the gate and made it as strong, if not stronger than the walls around it. It didn''t end there. After the gates closed, a magic shield rose from the city walls and closed off Ora''s airspace as it joined with the tall cliff wall at the back of the city. At first, they wondered why the barrier was raised but soon dark spots appeared in the sky above Ora. A mix of flying creatures filled the air above Ora. Some were humanoid with batwings and spears, others seemed likepletely deformed beasts and birds. "Just what is this?" Seth could not help but ask. They had found a corner to hide from the panicking crowd. "How would I know? I bet that guy over there will tell us soon enough." the dwarf said and pointed at an especially big humanoid creature with goat legs and batwings. It looked like a genuine devil. One, ancient priests imagined to scare people. "Your time hase, dwarven worms!" it bellowed so it could be heard in the whole city. "Your soft heart has opened us your doors! All the vermin that fled here have turned into our troops! Your pathetic walls cannot stop us!" It let out a high-pitched screech and suddenly a great part of the beggars and refugees that had just rushed into the city started attacking anyone in their sight! It was like a scene from a zombie apocalypse movie as they started to bite people and rip them open with their bare hands. And here started the distinct difference to a modern scenario. They simply didn''t just run away crying for help. The refugees had no way to defend themself, but among them were many adventurers and merchants, or well-off citizens who switched to armor and defensive gear to protect their own life. In a city like Ora,mon armor could often be bought for cheap so many people opted to have at least some kind of life insurance in their inventory. Wealthy traders would sometimes have better equipment than adventurers, despite being nonbatants in general. The horde of corpse walkers was slowed down by groups of defiant citizens and adventurers on break. Seth and Tored also equipped their gear and jumped into the fray. Unlike the two cksmiths, that were able to mow down the corpse walkers, the citizens and adventurers were slowly overwhelmed by the refugees that had turned into monsters. "Haha, you can try to struggle, but you will all be our ves in the end!" the demon in the air roared and smashed a giant staff against the barrier, trying to break it. "Shit, there are so many of them!" Tored, Seth and Puffles were fighting back-to-back with the help of other adventurers. "It''s ok, we just have to buy time for the defenseless to get away. This situation will soon be dealt with." the dwarf answered confidently. Older adventurers and the few dwarfs among the defenders had a simrly confident expression, while the younger ones were bing nervous. As if to answer the demons im, horns sounded from the direction of the gates and were answered by an even louder horn from the golden gates of the halls of stone. The next moment a magic spark shot along the city walls and a shock traveled through the barrier. Outside the barrier, it created an energy wave that unceremoniously disintegrated the enemy''s whole air force only leaving the big demon with horrendous scorch marks behind. Its red skin was blistering and oozing blood. "Urgh- This will not stop us! We will-" "Out of my sight, demon scum!" An enraged roar interrupted the demon and made the city tremble. The next moment a mighty energy beam, originating from the golden gates, prated the demon''s chest and it exploded. At the gates stood a wizened dwarf. Its bald head reflected the rays of the sun and the smooth white beard reached down to his feet. He wore a majestic magical robe and held a thick staff with a big crystal ball at the tip. Even the corpse walkers halted at the sight of the giant energy beam that had just illuminated the city. "Dear citizen, there is no need to panic. I, Mayor Ray, will not let any more harme to you." It followed several chantless lightning strikes, that jumped across all the corpse walkers like chain lightning and turned most of them into charred corpses, without the walking part. This was inside the city, outside the city looked like a lightning storm as a myriad of strikes descended around the city. This was the most shy and mighty magic Seth had seen so far. The sight rivaled the giant hanging tree covering a whole city with its crown. Just what level was the mayor.... Chapter 138 - 138. Happy Birthday They had to ditch the carriage and the horses a long time ago. The horse met their end and the carriage''s wheels broke. They had been running for a week with barely any sleep or rest. They had food, but no time to eat. They had already been on the run for more than a week, the traders had already lost their lives a few days ago. Bulko was supporting Mike who had a festering wound on his hip, the priest was unable to heal even after his power boost. Mina was scouting their way and they were finally reaching the vicinity of Ora. Only to find that the enemy was already in front of them. The city was surrounded by hordes of corpse walkers and other monsters. They came just in time to see the army be decimated by a storm of lightning. Where it hit it would jump between several tens of monsters and turn them into charcoal. The field of lighting kept expanding even past them. One of the other B-Rank was suddenly hit and turned into a terrifying lycanthrope before dying! It had been among them the whole time! Once the lightning slightly died down, they dared toe near the city. Thend surrounding the city was filled with charred corpses. They had finally reached Ora, obviously a safe ce. Except for Fin''s and Lixiss'' golden robes, all their armors and weapon were damaged from the long journey and endless fighting. What would Seth say when they finally meet him after weeks of silence? The sorry-looking party reached the locked gates of Ora an hourter. They called for help and entry but got no answers. After sitting at the foot of the gate for a while, finally, the smaller gate opened. A tall knight in terrifying ck armor wielding a unique hammer was the first to step out. The second was a dwarven warrior with a great ax d in bright silver armor. As the leader of the party, Mike got off the ground despite his injury. "Please, let us in. We have injured people that need treatment." he gestured towards the party leader of the other party, that was even worse off than him after he took a hit protecting them in a critical moment. "Guys?" they heard a surprised voice from the terrifying knight. It sounded somewhat echoy but familiar. The knight lifted his visor- "Seth?!" the group eximed. At the urging of the sorceress, Seth had decided to join the scouting party to assess the situation outside the gates. Seth had understood her reason after taking a look at the open field outside the city. Many remnant souls were left behind by these creatures, more than he had ever seen at once. There were even quite a few medium-sized souls among them. Who knew that he would meet the group of friends he had been looking for, for weeks, out here at the gate? They looked really miserable as they sat there dirty, injured, and in their damaged gear. He was the disciple of one of the city''s three dwarven masters so his words had quite some weight among the dwarven guards. Not to forget his master was right beside him. With these two vouching for the party, they were quickly taken into the city to meet the healers. Seth and Tored on the other side stepped out onto the battlefield of this one-sided massacre. He only needed to walk around and the souls gravitated towards him and vanished into his soul space. A party of rag-tag B-Ranks apanied the two as they inspected the battlefield. Technically their job was just to make sure that everything died to the Mayor''s lightning and there would not be any weird surprises. Who knew what the sick lunatics were able to cook up? After what had happened today, nobody could really be sure. Despite so many people dying here and gaining almost 350 small souls, there were no umon souls among them. He would have guessed to find some with a grudge, maybe they died simply too fast? He also found almost 30 medium-sized souls. With this much, he was sure that he would be able to level up and at least once. This cmity was really a blessing in disguise. He thanked the lich for telling him toe out here, otherwise, he would have missed this chance. It was really a great birthday present. N?v(el)B\\jnn The sky was slowly bing dark when they returned to the city. They could not find anything wrong with the corpses left after the Mayor''s attack. Since it was deemed safe, the city would send out a troop of people to clean up the remnants the next day. Seth unequipped the dark knight armor and everyone around him let out a sigh of relief. "Hey guys, I''m d you made it to my birthday!" he greeted the party in the medical wing of the guard garrison. Lixiss, Bulko, Mina, and Fin looked tired and bruised but were fine otherwise. Mike was lying down on a bed with a Doctor still working on the wound at his side. Mina and Fin jumped up and clung to him like frightened puppies. What was happening? He had just stepped in and suddenly had two beauties hugging him tightly with tears in their eyes. Mina pressed her face against his chest while the fairy was hugging his face, smearing snot and tears on his cheek. He tried to think of something smart, or a joke, but he ended up simply hugging them back. "I missed you, too." "The poison dagger you gave me broke, please give me a new one." the catgirl whispered in a pitiful voice. This was a low blow after he became so emotional. "Ah, no fair! My robe has a cut and the durability fell below half, please fix it for me!" the fairy stepped fort to ram another dagger in his already wounded heart. You too, Brute? Seeing his hurt face both startedughing. It was them who made a cruel joke on his cost this time. In response, he hugged them tighter. After the doctor was done and left, they sat together and talked about what had happened during thest weeks, since theyst met. When the sky got dark Seth left so they could finally get their well-deserved rest after such a long journey.. All-in-all this was not the worst birthday Seth ever had in his life. Chapter 139 - 139.Calm Days Ora was on high alert for the next few days. Seth and Tored had secluded themself in their workshop as they did not feel like dealing with any of what was happening outside. Instead, Seth made new items for the group part of his training. He knew they were past level 50 and had chosen their secondary sses but they could not tell him about it before he reached the point himself. They could only tell him their primary ss and what they wanted orcked at this juncture. For the most part, he simply repaired and improved the item he had made for them. For Mina, he went as far as using 3 mid-sized souls. He made her a robust dagger made from to match her shadows assassin ss andyered everything he had onto it. On top of that, he made 2 rings from that each raised affinity to darkness by 5% and mana by 130 each. For Bulko he made a mace from the blessed that was leftover from making weapons for the army. He used during the forging since a demonic bad was obviously not fit for the weapon of a priest. Besides the option to increase mana that came from the soul he also enchanted it like a staff with mana efficiency and magic damage amplification. Technically it was now a staff that would really hurt if someone was hit with it. Even more than a regr one. Mike''s sword was broken in the siege and Seth had to make a new one from scratch. Mike had be a magic swordsman so Seth used regr for the sword and gave it simr enchantments like Bulko''s mace. He didn''t know what kind of magic Mike would be casting, so he kept it neutral instead of giving it fire damage again. Turning normal weapons into something rivaling a casters staff without a magic focus was possible thanks to . It was Al the Lich who exined the concept to him. Normally a staff would have something like a crystal as a focus where mana could be collected and amplified. By turning the whole item into a body housing a soul, it could take on the same function. Melee weapons for caster sses were not an umon thing, but Seth could save a lot of money by not needed this most expensive part. This didn''t mean he would suddenly start selling such items. The souls were too precious to be wasted on random strangers for some gold. His only rose by a few percent after doing all this. was not much better. Only budged a little. He knew this feeling, all of them had entered the level range just before the rank up and it became ultra-hard to level them, even with the right materials. As for Lixiss and Fin, he would have to visit N?del to repair their robes. His sewing skill was way too low to touch them. This came at an opportune time. Seth estimated that there was now enough for an upgraded version of his gambeson. He would bring the man the material when went to ask him to repair the robes. Sweat running down his forehead Seth sat down and finally took a break. He had finished everything in just two days, he had gotten very fast even without using his "Yo! You are finally taking a break?" the dwarf walked into the workshop. "There are is someone waiting for you outside," he said with a raunchy smile. Seth stepped out a saw Mina waiting in the shop. Today she wore a rather normal outfit, almost prim for her standards. "h-hi, I wanted to invite you to a meal?" she slightly stuttered and even blushed. Just what had happened to her? He agreed toe with her after he washed up and wore a fresh set of clothes. As they left, she even tucked her arm into his and leaned against him. They wandered through the streets of the hall of stones and finally entered a small but nice restaurant. The meal was nice and the catgirl awkwardly tried to start a conversation which soon turned into a pleasant dialogue. Mina tried really hard to hold back and actually have a nice and normal date with him... but it soon devolved into a drinkingpetition that once again ended with them waking up in some small room at an inn. It finally broke out of her, with a reddened face and close to tears she admitted that she had attempted to have a normal date with him. "A prim Mina is nice for a change, "he hugged her tightly, "But I prefer the one that tries to drink me under the table," he said with a grin as he saw her blush wildly. After spending the morning with Mina, he went back to work. He visited N?del''s shop with all the Puffles had made so far and the two robes Fin and Lixiss had left with him. "Seth! Are you okay?" the old man greeted him. Ora was in an uproar after what happened recently and had notpletely calmed down yet. "oh yeah, everything fine. I came because I have something for you." He smiled as he saw the tailor''s eyes starting to shine. N?del obviously expected the "Can you fix these for me?" Seth brought out the two golden outfits. The old man''s eyes dimmed as his hopes were shattered. "Oh, of course," he said with a weak smile to hide how disappointed he was. "Oh yeah, and can you make me another under armor with this?" he said and brought out the bundles of . The fire in the man''s eyes was instantly relit. "You are such a mean man, Seth. To break this old man''s heart just for fun. Of course, I can make you another one. This should be more than enough and it can guarantee that it will be epic rated!" After a short talk, Seth left the tailor alone with the thread. He felt a little disturbed watching the old man handle the material like a long-lost lover. As if by chance he met Fin who came to have lunch with him and Puffles. She acted normal and they enjoyed visited the dwarven restaurant Toed had shown him for a meal. This time the chef was mentally prepared and fought valiantly, but Tored was just a light eaterpared to the fairy with the bottomless stomach. The party took a long break in Ora after this terrible quest and Seth had a lot of opportunities to meet them during the breaks he took. Tored''s tasks for items became more and more demanding and he direly needed these breaks. But it was worth it as his proficiency kept growing despite bing closer and closer to the rank-up. had also reached lv.9 and to N?del and his skills grew, it would soon be time for him to think about his own gear. Chapter 140 - 140. Burden Of Peace ---Previously on Seth''s Birthday-- "Ori humas are really something special, it only took you a few months, what other need years to achieve. You will soon reach the journeyman rank. What are your ns afterward?" a bloated Tored asked an even more bloated Seth. "What do you mean?" he said with azy mind. "Well, your tutge ends once you reach journeyman. Did you forget that? I could keep you as a worker if you really want to stay, but there won''t be any more benefits afterward." Seth had forgotten it over thest few weeks. Or maybe he had suppressed the thought. Journeyman means one had mastered all the basics of the craft and was fit to go on a journey to find their own ce in the world. The apprenticeship would end there. In general, this was the point when a normal cksmith would travel into the world to broaden their horizons, to gain experience, and find enlightenment in working with many different materials. He realized that he had avoided this thought by concentrating on grinding. "I guess, I will return to Urth." "Oh, are you sure? I know it''s your home and I''m not saying that it''s a bad decision but... Isn''t it currently quite chaotic and dangerous there? You could be a great cksmith if you stay." Yeah, why exactly did he want to return again? It had always been clear to him that he would return andtely he felt this growing urge to return. But why again? When he closed his eyes, he saw the mountains where he went hiking with his parents when he was younger. A sea of bright mes burning a whole city. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The pictures of a small bedroom came to his mind. The picture of a girl his age maybe younger, mutted and abused lying on the bed... A square filled with blood and broken weapons. A sword prating the skull of a giant snake while he was on the edge of death himself. A tiny fairy meekly crying for help on the dark surface of a vast ocean. His fingers absentmindedly stroked the edge of his dish. The growing urge to return burning in his chest. "Homesickness, I guess," he said. Seth had no idea about his goals. Did he want adventures? Or help people? What was this fire, this turmoil he felt in his chest despite living a happy and peaceful life now? Finding this answer might be the answer to why he wanted to return. The dwarf only nodded at this short answer. Present------ Seth almost broke down at the anvil. For thest few days, he had worked like he was in a frenzy. He was covered in sweat and soot. With his wide-open eyes and a scraggly beard, he had looked like a madman singing the demonic bads and forging weapons. Seth dragged himself to his room and fell asleep. He had finally reached the first step and all tension fell off him. --- Tored stood in his workshop where several finished weapons with terrifying demonic auras were haphazardly lying around on the floor and the workbenches. He knew from Seth that these weapons were technically not evil, but they still had an unsettling vibe. From their differences, the dwarf guessed that Seth knew maybe 4 or 5 different demonic bads. Some of them were like the first one the young man forged, weapons that drank the enemy''s blood to strengthen themself. This was the big difference between demonic bads and normal ones. The ones Tored knew worked just like that and used mana to function, the price for the demonic ones was often blood or lifeforce. Either the targets or the users. Looking at these terrifying weapons the dwarf wished back the days when his student made cursed weapons with funny effects like causing a cold or sudden back pain. He felt a little blue, thinking that Seth was rushing to leave. Tored did not wantpany at first, but now he had gotten used to this young man living in his workshop and the asional visiting fairy and beast girl. He didn''t appreciate the elf that recently started toe by once in a while, but he tolerated him. He put on thick gloves for smithing, the ones normal people without fire-resistant hands needed, and put those not-evil weapons with evil auras away. He wouldn''t want to touch them with his bare hands. -- Seth woke up with a thick headache. He did not drink enough during his forging frenzy and was now terribly dehydrated. This was one drawback of the system, the automatic recoveries did nothing if itcked the resources to do it. He crawled to the bathroom and started to gulp down copious amounts of water. After lying down on the bathroom floor for a few minutes he felt his head clear up. His first thoughts went to his skills. He had ranked up in , just 2 more to go. He stood up and returned to the workshop. Tored saw him look around like a confused zombie. "I put the weapons in the storage if you are looking for those," Tored said casually and Seth started taking them out one by one carving various enchantments. "F-Finally..." he eximed and threw away the engraving tool. "hey! Don''t just throw the tools around!!" "Oh, sorry," he said absentminded. Why had he been in such a hurry? It was like a trance had been lifted from him. What could make him rush to rank up his skills...? "Oh...fuck." he was wide awake. He rushed down into the smithy. "Tored, I''m gonna empty you- take some stuff from the storage!" he called while passing by the dwarf and threw almost 200 gold in cash on a workbench. He started loading random boxes into his inventory before another thought came to his mind. He turned around and rushed out of the smithy. "What is going on?!" Tored had watched him totally confused and could not react until Seth had already left the smithy. Seth ran to the dwarvenmercial district. What wasn''t taken by the boxes and other items, was filled with bags of rations and water. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" In a haste, he left the halls of stone. He found nobody at the inn. The owner told him that the party had gone to the dungeon. He had no time to wait. Seth sprinted away from the inn towards N?del''s workshop "Seth! Great that you already came, I just wanted to-" "Sorry, N?del. I''m in a rush! Is the gambeson ready? Can you give it to me?" he interrupted the old man and hurried him to give him the new jacket. "Ah, yes. Sorry. You tend to talk a lot when you get older..." he brought out the shiny bright golden cloth, but Seth had no time to appreciate the view. He grabbed the gambeson of a simr style like thest padded jacket and stuffed it in his inventory. "No, I''m sorry. If I''m wrong, I will exin itter. If I''m wrong... then this is a good b- a see youter. Maybe." he said and was about to leave. "I don''t understand... but I hope you will be ok. Oh, Seth! What about the rest of the thread?" "Keep it! Make something from it! I will try to contact you if I have the chance!" With that Seth was gone from the shop and back on the streets. He didn''t know how long he still had, but he was sure that this skill implied that he had not much time. If he would have hurried that much to rank up his skills, he couldn''t have much time left. He had wanted to prepare so much and now his time was running out. Where next? His shop or the auction house? Auction house! He came to a grinding hold before the big building of the auction house. If Seth had to describe the function of the auction house, he would liken it to yebae, an online auction site. There were terminals where one could search for items that others wanted to sell. Seth used a lot of money to directly buy and get instant delivery of the items. He got a skill scroll for life magic, a refilling bowl, and an artifact tent. He couldn''t think of anything else. As he wanted to run out, he saw the information counter. Maybe... "Hello! I''m probably going on a rushed journey to the middle of nowhere. Do you have any tips on what I should buy?" The clerk looked at him a little perplexed. "I don''t know, but how about a one-use portable auction interface?" he said with a business smile. "You just have to insert Mana and you can buy whatever you need once to have an idea." "Great, give me a few and-" "Sorry, these are limited to one per customer." "Then one, hurry. Thanks!" With that, he grabbed the little silver stick and ran off in the direction of the system church. Chapter 141 - 141. Somewhere Else(2) -Gamma City, Northeastern central region of Urth- It had been several months since the world ended. One day everything was still normal and the next everything had changed. All connections between the great cities had broken down. They entered the system era. Most people were perplexed by the sudden message of the apocalypse. Others fell into a panic but it was not that bad at the start. Except for the broken-downmunication system, there was no change. Few people did the tutorial, as they did not take it seriously in the beginning. This led to a great number of citizens being assigned a random ss. Still, the city stayed mostly civilized. There were those who had done the tutorial and exined everything to the others. The leadership created an emergency government to keep the city under control. N?v(el)B\\jnn Then Monsters started to randomly appear from portals. They found out that modern firearms were useless in the system era, you could not even hurt a normal yer with them. Still, the crisis was solved. Even with random assignments, every third person had abat-oriented ss. Within the first few weeks many stepped up to fight the monsters and a system was created to efficiently deal with the invaders. Inspired by history bands and guilds were formed under the leadership of the government. People were sent out to other cities to get information. Of course, there were those who wanted to use their newfound powers for their own benefit. But as the saying goes, in a world where everyone is special, no one is special. A thief trying to rob an olddy ended up in hospital when the olddy took out her bow and shot him down with a multi-shot skill. Attributes and Skills were not bound by age. Many older people became a lot healthier as if they had be younger. The news made the round when they managed to connect with some satellite cities. Yeah, everything was looking great... She and her group were currently hiding in the outskirts of a satellite city at the border of Gamma. They were on the run. She pulled the curtain aside and looked at the streets outside. The once neat suburbs looked as if a horde of beasts had rioted in the streets. Windows were smashed and the streets were filled with all kinds of broken furniture and rubbish from the demolished houses. It was evening the world was darkening as if to match her mood. Just how did this happen. The sound of shattering ss made her jump. It was in the back of the house! She rushed to the kitchen in the back to be confronted by a horrifying scene. It was her uncle standing over the limp bodies of two of her party members. Her brother and cousiny there on the ground with severely bleeding w marks. Their armors were cut like paper. In its hand, it, her uncle, held the neck of her father''s limp body. "Hehe, there you are!", the creature that was once her uncle spoke in a deranged voice. Tears filled her eyes and sorrow and anger welled up in her chest. Her uncle did this, but it was not her uncle''s fault. Who was she supposed to me here?! "Uwehehe, dont look at me like this, sweetie~" Swift, way too fast! In the blink of an eye, the creature had moved and grabbed her from behind. With its grotesque arm covered in a hard shell and ending in w-like fingers, it held her waist while the other caressed the cheek. She was petrified! Her uncle''s once familiar face pressed against her cheek and a long alien tongue wandered over her skin down to her neck. "kikik! Why so distant? Dont be like that. Soon you will be ve~ry close to me. Just like your mom was." Nausea grew in her stomach. Scenes of the day merely a week ago shed in her mind. The day they caught her uncle and ambushed the hide-out. Worse than wild beasts onlymanded by the lowest human emotions and basic instincts. Completely unfettered the horde had pounced on them. Sorrow clouded her mind and something dark sprouted in her heart. She had been indecisive. She had been too emotional. It was her fault. Her gaze fell on the bodies of her father, brother, and cousin. The light in her eyes dimmed. It could feel her body stopped trembling. "Kek! Did you break? Did you finally give up?" Oh, how long had he waited to taste the tender flesh of his niece? Ever since. Urgh- Bittersweet waves of pain flooded his body? How? What? The girl he had just held in his arms had grabbed both his wrists and crushed his flesh to the bone. Her eyes lost the light as her hand wrapped in divine aura crushed that face that once belonged to her uncle. She held onto one of the wrists and didn''t let go. She could barely overwhelm it in strength when she used the skills of a Monk. She would be dead, the moment the creature could move freely. This needed to end fast before the effect of the skill stopped working. It was stunned after taking hits to the head, so she pinned it to the ground and kept whaling on it. At some point, the skull caved in, but she kept pounding until there was little left above the neck. These things had a tenacious vitality and often revived from even the most life-threatening wounds. She knew it was not dead. There never was a kill notification, no matter what one did to them. Heavily breathing she stood over the body of the thing. She looked at the bodies of her family on the ground. It was not over yet. The two on the ground were unconscious, her father was dead, for now. She took up her father''s sword and started to dismember all of them. Not once did her face change as she divided her loved one''s bodies. Not even when their blood sprayed into her face. Theck of a kill notification proved that it was toote for them. A rare ss? While she stared at the system window the rest of her party returned. It was her sister and her sisters boyfriend. They were out scouting during the attack. They looked at the scene and the girl''s lifeless eyes. Her sister pulled her into a tight hug. She tried not to look at the ground. "A Zarkist?", the man asked looking at the parts of the creature on the ground. "Uncle Jacob," she answered taciturnly. Her sister froze for a moment and the man beside them cursed. The three wanted to mourn the dead, but they knew that their time was limited. They collected the body parts with a heavy heart and put them all on a makeshift bonfire and doused everything in gas. Even burning would not kill these creatures. All they did was buy time. Several days, maybe a week. Leaving the burning remains behind they hurriedly set off. The fire would lure even more of them. They got into a car the two had found when scouting. It looked as if an enraged gori tried to tten it, but it was still running. Sitting on the backseat her eyes again focused on the small system window. A ss change.... Chapter 142 - 142. Down The Rabbit Hole People were turning their heads when Seth ran past them. But as he was sprinting towards the church, he felt thepulsion wear off and became slower. Was it over? Oh no... "Seth!" a fat old man with a Santa-use-beard wearing a red robe came running towards him. "No!" Seth denied reality. "Seth, you have to flee! They areing!" Simon insisted as he grabbed the young man and started pulling him away from the street. "Ok, ok, I''m ying along. Who?" "Angels!" answered the old man and pulled him into the shadows of a dark alley close to the church, while vigntly staring into the sky. "Angels? You got to be kidding me." "Messengers, Angels, call them whatever you want. Hurry, they are after you!" "But why? I don''t think I offended anyone! I even fought demons just a while ago." The priest looked at him bbergasted. "So that is how they knew. Look, here we don''t have much time. To sum it up, some really evil god in an antagonistic rtionship with the Chrona Empire is not OK with ori humas joining us and somehow found out your location. MAYBE because someone was spotted by demons. Not ming anyone, of course." He paused slightly and gave Seth a meaningful nce. "Anyway, do you still have the teleport stone I gave you in Zhiqe? You should be able to escape if you -" "I don''t have it anymore." Seth interrupted him embarrassedly. "Look, once you have an Inventory, it gets really bothersome to keep things on your person! Don''t look at me like that. I forgot it during a stay in an inn..." Seth tried to exin himself while Simon looked at him with bulging eyes. "Do you have any idea how expensive tha- No, we don''t have time for this. We have to get to the church and immediately prepare a portal to-" Hisst words were drowned by the roaring of a giant ming gate that opened in the sky above Ora. What came out of the gate looked not much better than the demons that appeared recently. The humanoid bodies were covered in pitch-ck skin with a metallic or wet sheen. Featureless nk faces and too long limbs that ended in delicate hands. They were just there in the air, no floating, no wings, they stood there as if on solid ground. "Hurry,e!" Simon urged and pulled him along into the church building. An unsettling voice that sounded like dissonant static noise, but with clear meaning, echoed through the city without being hindered by distance or walls. "Resistance is Futile. There is no escape." "Prepare the Warp-tunnel!" Simon screamed at a clerk while he kept pulling Seth further into the church. "What?! But the warp tunnel is-" "Just do it! We have no time!" "Wait, what is the warp tunnel?" "No time to exin!" "Resistance is Futile. There is No Escape." Simon pulled Seth into a big hall with a big bottomless pit in the middle. "The pit of death?" Seth uttered. "Activate!" Simon called and a row of runes around the border of the round hole lit up. "Take care over there!" "No, you can''t be serious about this. You really gonna-?!" Simon kicked him into the pit of death. " This is all I can do for you!" he screamed as Seth started falling. It was drowned his Seth''s earth-shattering scream. Seth fell and screamed and fell. He took a short break from screaming because his throat was sore. He also tried to take a break from falling, but that didn''t work. He soon lost his motivation to scream and his sense of time as he kept falling down this ck tube. Seth finally had the time to calm down and used the time to think about his situation. Simon arguably tried to help him, so this warp thingy would probably bring him to Urth... somehow. This happened at a really... inopportune time. At least he managed to finish his training. There were no changes in his status but he felt really satisfied to look at his skills. cksmith (Journeyman) lv.1 (0%) Enchantment (Journeyman) lv1 (0%) Goldsmith (Adept) lv.9(30%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.5 Blueprint (Adept) lv.3 Soul Infusion lv.3 Spirit Smithy lv.5 Spirit Capture lv.4 Spirit Forging (Adept) lv.1 Orpheus Voice (Passive) lv.4 Weapon Mastery (Expert) lv.3 (2%) Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7 Fear Resistance (Passive) lv.8 Poison Resistance (Passive)lv.3 Fire Affection (Passive) lv.5 Pyrokinesis (Ability)lv.2 Map lv.4 Observation lv.4 Concealment lv.4 Energy Cirction lv.9 Sewing (Beginner)lv.6 (45%) Universal Trantion lv. max Compulsive Precognition (Ability) lv.1 It was not just the 3 crafting skills that had grown a lot. The new skills like < Energy Cirction> and had grown and brought him many surprises. Especially thetter. Not only did it now increase the sess chance by 100% but it also increased the effects of bads by 30%. He felt confident that he would be able to make great items to survive on Urth, especially with the materials he had swiped from Tored''s storage. But Seth would have preferred to make those awesome items before being thrown back into that world. Who knew how Urth looked now, after over half a year? He would have to make things work with the items he had for now. As for weapons, he had his Hammer, his Bow, and several demonic weapons. Armor-wise there was still the dark knight armor which should serve him well for some time. He also had the gambesons made from ancient and celestial bronze. He also finally had some time to take a look at N?del''s new work. His eyes almost fell out of his head. This was a cloth armor whose pure physical attributes surpassed the cuirass of the Dark Knight-Set, which was te armor. On top of it came the abilities it inherited from the . Just what would be out of this, once he infused a soul? Above all it was immune to fire, so he would not end up naked anymore! Aside from this he also had a box with some rare rings and essories he had not yet brought to the shop. He would have to see if he still had something fitting. There were also the epic ring "Dragon Bane" and the token. He was upied with his inventory when things started appearing that fell together with him. A broken chair and table that looked rather modern. Papers with printed text. Trash made up of stic wrappings. He could also feel that his fall was slowing down. Was he getting closer to his destination? Seth equipped the Token, maybe the Lich had something to contribute in this situation. ~ You! You put me away for several weeks! How dare yo- Is this a warp tunnel? What sick fuck threw you into a warp tunnel?!~ "What do you mean? Is it dangerous? Simon kicked me in without exining anything." ~Is it dangerous, he asks! Noo~ The travel is really safe, it''s thending that''s the problem. Some might call the exit point of these things unprecise; others would say totally random. ~ "Oh. If it''s only that, then it is ok. Even when I travel with the pathworks portals the exit would be random." Seth said relieved. He had been prepared toe out in some random location, to begin with. ~Pff. Those are not the same. The system god''s interference will still make sure youe out in somece where you have a good chance to survive. It''s not random. This tunnel can spit you out at any ce that gives enough room for you. A tiny hole in the ground or 3000meter above the open sea. Guess what will happen then? You will starve, suffocate or fall and turn into a fine paste upon impact with the ocean. 100% death. Do you get now what random means? ~ She sounded really smug about exining his possible deaths. "Oh. Yeah, that wouldn''t be nice. Let''s pray and hope I''m lucky. The both of us." ~Why should I pray for your luck? You cheated several meals from me and kept me sealed in that inventory!~ "Think about it. if I die in the open sea this token will sink to the bottom of the ocean. How long would it take for someone to summon you again? Spending Eons on the sea bed, surrounded by silence and fish. Maybe you are lucky and we both die when Ind on solid ground. At least it would be over fast, right? " ~ just summon me, if wee out somewhere dangerous. ~ His fall had now drastically slowed and at this point, it suddenly felt as if the world had turned upside down. He was not falling anymore but rising. Then appeared a circr hole in the distance, the exit! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ~ Put on whatever items and armor you have. I can''t help you if you die from a sudden attack or impact before you summon me.> Following her advice Seth put on the N?del''s Set and the Celestial Gambeson he got from N?del, then the Dark Knight Set from Tored. He wore the bracelet that increased health, the Dragon Bane, the Pendant of the Nightcrawler, and a ring that increased his endurance and strength by 25 each. Andstly, he equipped Charon''s Obol and the big shield he had made from the snake skull of the titano boa. With that all preparation to ensure his initial survival were done. Chapter 143 - 143. Return The light became bigger and he finally floated out of the tunnel. His eyes met a bright a beautiful sight. Before him spread out the snow-covered slopes of mountains and valleys that led down into a wide in. For a moment he was free of gravity as he enjoyed this view. Then gravity kicked in and he fell, before he could react, he was already tumbling down the steep rocky slope below him. He once again felt freed from the fetters of gravity, as he flew over a cliff. With the sound of breaking branches and rustling leaves he crossed the crowns of the trees and smashed into the forest floor like a meteorite. "Pain...immeasurable pain." His HP had fallen to 413/1000. It was fair to say that he was half dead. Fall damage was a bitch. ~ Why didn''t you summon me? ~ "No time... urgh. Puffles?" Kyurs Kyuu ~Look who only remembered the great me in his time of need. ~ The Ivicer was summoned and started casting healing spells on the mangled Seth. The armor had some dents and scratches but was fine except for losing some durability. When he could finally slightly turn his head, he looked up to the cliff he just had the pleasure to fall off. He had rolled down the mountain and fell straight down into the forests at its foot. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It took about 20 minutes before he was healed enough to stand up. That was Puffles skimping on the healing spells, otherwise, it would have been faster. Kyuu? ~Where are we? ~ The caterpir looked around the mountain forest. That was a good question. Seth pulled up the and found the familiar world map of Urth. How much he had missed the look of this giant continent. His marker was close to the center. If his geographical knowledge didn''t betray him, he should be somewhere in the neutral zones between the city regions Delta in the center and Ypsilon in the southeast. This meant he was about a day''s journey away from civilization, in each direction. Delta was northwest up the mountains, Ypsilon southeast in the direction of tternd. The decision was easy, Y City became his destination. He wanted to find a good and safe ce to set up a workshop, the city seemed the best option. Using the automap function, he scouted the area and found his way around the forest. On the way he tried not to think of the loose end he had left behind because of this emergency escape. He wasn''t sure whether Fin would be angry or sad when she found out that he was gone... "I have to find a church and send them a letter..." --------- "Why are we in this forest?! We should go to City Y and,haftataata, make some new followers, kihig!" Whoever spoke got a powerful blow against the head as an answer. "Shut it. You still don''t manage to control your urges. Stop stroking your thing already! We have our orders, why else would we lurk here to ambush travelers?" "uhurg! Can I go first if we find one? I-" "Shh, there is someone." a third voice warned them. The figures fell silent and looked down at the path, below their hiding spot. It was a small party of three people. There was a handsome guy in sparkling armor, covered invish edgings. Following him were two more or less cute girls, a typical priest and mage wearing tight robes, not much better than their starter gear. A typical mid-level harem party. All of them were looking at the two girls with a wolfish grin. Easy prey and such an entertaining one at that. They could have a lot of fun with those two. The five figures dropped from the trees and surrounded the yboy''s group. Revealed in the light was a group of almost normal-looking humans. It was just that their proportions seemed slightly off, but at a second nce, one could see growths and bulges moving under their skin. "Tehik! Hello there. We didn''t want to scare you!" one of them said but he had a hard time swallowing his salvia while speaking. The young man at the front of the party unsheathed his sword and brought forth a big tower shield. The steel glinted in the dim forest''s light. They were made by the cksmith from a Starta Vige close to City Y. "Who are you?" he said while getting into a defensive position and activating the few effects of his armor pieces. It had taken many dungeon dives to assemble his armor that was a mix of dungeon drops and parts bought from the cksmith. Even though they were stillmon, they were a lot better than starter gear many others were still using even today. The mutations looked at the ugly and mismatched armor parts and grinned with schadenfreude. Then at the girls in the back who had readied their staffs. "Ahik, are you proud to own such an ugly set of armor? Kihik, you think some flimsy hammered metal and items can help you?" Its teeth and ws grew longer and sharper as it was talking and now it rushed at the young man. The other 2 also made their move and jumped forth aiming to capture the two women. They would not turn them, yet. It was no fun afterward. "Zarkists?!" the young man said under his breath as he attempted to block the ws with his shield. An attempt was made. The ws ignored the thin energy membrane that covered the shield and directly cut the metal into strips as if it was paper. The man had to step back to evade being hit by the terrifying weapon. Grasping this chance, he used and shoved the attacker away with what was left of his shield. His sword didn''t rest as he attacked the two that tried to get past him. An energy de cut off the left leg of the closes right above the knee. The one furthest away was met with a Watercutter right in his face that destroyed both eyes and left a deep gash. Both of them were now lying on the ground screaming in pain. "Good reflexes. You will be a great addition to ourmunity!" The leader jumped at the man from behind and the other was barely able to react and block the iing ws with his sword covered in mana. Again, the coating gave little to no resistance and the sharp fingernails cut deep into the edge of the weapon. His heart jumped when he saw, that the block had seeded. They had two downed, as long as they managed to incapacitate the leader, they would be able to flee. "Kukuku, it''s painfully obvious what you are thinking!" The young man''s face fell as the screams of pain made an unsettling change and sounded more like squeals of joy. He looked to the side and that leg he had cut off had grown tentacles and went to reattach to its owner! Suddenly he felt a burning pain in his stomach and a gush of blood and vomit traveled up his throat. "Kihik, never look away in a fight, duh." The w hand not stuck in the sword had easily prated his armor and was now snuggly fit in the hole it had punched into his torso. The leader pulled away and blood gushed on the forest floor. It was over. There was no escape for him anymore. If he had no hope anyways, he could still help the girls escape! With newfound motivation, he went into a suicidal frenzy and attacked the monster before him. "kahak, hit me, hit me as much as you like. Let me show you what real armor looks like! Not the pitiful trash those useless metal-kneaders sell you!" The sword crashed into the leader''s chest with a loud bang and finally broke in two where the ws had cut it. The dying man looked at the monster with empty eyes as it ripped off the flimsy cloth covering its body. The skin was covered in horny skin and bone growths. There was not even a scratch where the sword just hit it. "Kyaa!" the one who had lost his eyes had recovered first and attack the priest. When the mage girl finally finished her chant and threw a fireball it burned away the Zarkist''s clothes. It stopped the charge but did no damage at all. The creature''s skin was covered inyers uponyer of thick leathery skin ps that shielded the body. "Rejoice! Soon all of you will- urgh?" he was interrupted by a gush of blood from his mouth. "Metal-kneaders, you say? Let me show you what a real armor looks like." Behind the leader stood a tall knight in ck armor. The dark visor exuded a menacing aura as he kicked the creature forward to pull his weapon out of its back. Blood was dripping from a long, sharpened spike. It was a raven''s beak with the sharpened spike like a beak on one side, a hammerhead at the other, and a long spike at the top. An oppressive feeling befell anyone who looked at the knight and they all felt the strength leave their bodies. Everyone froze and looked afraid at the new actor that entered the stage. "Who are you?" the leader pressed out as his body frantically healed his ruptured heart and lungs. The knight gave no answer but his weapon did as his hammerhead crushed the leader''s head like a watermelon. "Kihurk! You are open!" The one who had just regained his leg jumped up to attack the knight, only to be shot down by a light arrow from the shrubbery behind the knight. There was now a crisp smoking hole in his head and he crumbled on the floor. "No, you." Chapter 144 - 144. Zarkon Initially, Seth had not nned to interfere when he came across this altercation. He was not a hero and it really was not his business if 2 groups of people fought each other. He didn''t want to rm anyone, so he only judged them from what he saw and his experience. The harem party seemed to be a little weaker than C-Ranks in Ora, so somewhere in the early to mid-thirties level-wise. That wasn''t right. Since he was back in Urth they should be in the mid-teens to early twenties, he guessed. He could freely use his but Seth could only shake his head when he saw the standard of their equipment. The robes of the girls were just cloth and had barely any defensive value. The young man''s armor was a bad fit. The parts with options that probably came from the dungeon changed to fit his size, but the other parts were either too big or too small and kept getting in the way of his movements at times. Defense-wise his armor was about as good as the first one Seth made for himself. With the difference that Seth''s opponents back then were a lot weaker. Scaled to Urth''s standard these guys should be around Seth''s level or maybe a little lower. With a level difference of between 5 and 10, the harem party had little chance. As he had expected, the young man put up a good fight, he probably had an umon ss like a knight. "kahak, hit me, hit me as much as you like. Let me show you what real armor looks like! Not the pitiful trash those useless metal-kneaders sell you!" Seth pursed his lip. He was about to simply walk away, but this just became something personal. Did he want topare weapons? Seth would show him what armor pration looked like. What was better than a raven''s beak? The beak to cut leather, mail, and flesh, the hammer to crush te, and the spike on top to pierce in the gaps and keep people at distance. With and his increased attributes it was easy to appear behind the braggarts back unnoticed. Instinctively he swung the heavy weapon from below to cut through the gap between rips and right into the lungs and heart. "Who are you?" At this moment Steh actually hesitated for a moment. Metal-kneaders... He was dead anyway; this was just showing mercy by ending his suffering. With a satisfying crunch, the head exploded. There was no kill notification, despite crushing the head. At this moment another one attacked but got shot down by Puffles. Again, not notification despite a headshot The third of them finally came back to his senses and furiously attacked Seth. He dodges, weaved, and evaded many of Puffles'' attacks. Those that hit only left a small mark on the leather ps that covered its body. Seth ignored the ws and took a mighty swing. The creature thought it was lucky as it hit his cuirass and could only look in surprise as its ws simply slid over the metal without leaving more than a scratch. The surprised look was locked on its face as the crow''s beak prated the crown of its skull. Again, no notification. HP 1/1000 told him that all of them were locked at 1 HP and healing. "We have to hurry! They will soon heal and attack again." The mage girl overcame her fear of the armor and urged them all to leave. "What about your friend?" The young man had lost consciousness and was slowly bleeding out. "You don''t know Zarkists? It''s toote for him, he is already infected and will turn into one of them. We have to leave; there will always be reinforcements when one defeats them!" "Hmm, alright then. Where are we going?" "The is an outpost of City Y close by. We should go there. I-is that okay?" Seth nodded. He had no concrete ns anyway. ~ Wait! Don''t you see it? Take off your helmet and look at their corpses. ~ It was the Lich that suddenly decided to talk. Taking off the helmet? The two girls were bbergasted when the knight suddenly took off his helmet and showed the face of a handsome young man. Once he had taken off the helmet, he saw what Al was talking about. The Souls of the Zarkists were bound to their bodies by chains that linked far into the distance. A smirk appeared on the young man''s face when he saw that all of them had medium-sized souls. "hehehe, well look at this bountiful harvest." The two girls saw himughing to himself and suddenly the ck gauntlets smashed into the chest of the incapacitated. This was Seth using to release the soul from the chains and collecting it. Finally, a kill notification and, with the soul harvested, the body suddenly started to rot incredibly fast and tuned into a kind of ck residue. They said there would be reinforcements? Seth was tempted to stay and harvest the whole herd. Better not. Und the unbelieving gaze of the two girls he went around and got rid of all the bodies and their dead friend. "We should go. I''m not confident that I can fight a big group of these guys." His equipment was nowhere near as good as he would have liked and he had no idea what levels these guys could reach. It was better to leave. The girls nodded still staring at him until he gestured for them to lead the way. He put the helmet back on and followed them. What? Who was the "Host of Many"? This was the first time he had gotten a message like this. What was going on? "Al, do you know something about a "Host of Many"?" he whispered so the girls couldn''t hear it. ~Nope. Never heard of that. Why are you asking? ~ "Oh, just got swiped right, I guess...?" ~What are you even talking about? ~ "You know what, forget it." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om They followed the path and Seth kept checking the map. The path really led toward Ypsilon, the territory of City Y. ~Boing~ They heard a weird noise from the front. "Is that... a slime?" Seth asked awkwardly while the girls were panicking. "It''s an Oozer! Just where did youe from, that you don''t know this? We have to evade it, these things are almost immune to physical attacks, and magic is also weakened, too." the mage girl suggested. It was a giant blob of 2 meters in diameter that moved by jumping almost 4 meters up into the air. It looked simr to slime, but it was a ball of toxic green jelly and about ten times the size of the ones he knew. had provoked it and it now came in their direction. "Are you trying to fight it or something?! These things corrode weapons! I''ve seen a steel sword dissolve in a matter of seconds after being covered in Oozer fluid!" "It''s that corrosive? Hmm, this might be interesting." Seth brought out a demonic yatagan made from one of the snake''s fangs. The material had lower durability, but an inherent resistance to poison and corrosion; it would be a good test. Seth also wanted to see what an Oozer would drop. The two girls saw him bring out a weapon and decided that they had no choice but to cooperate with him. The priest girl managed to finish the chant for a buff right before Seth started to take a swing drawing a thin blue line of light across the Oozer''s massive body. The monster quivered and jumped back as if in pain, despite the cut slowly closing again. Even if Seth couldn''t hit the core, his Soul Fire could easily vaporize the viscous body. On top of that, Seth suspected that his me also did damage to the soul. Healing the body was easy, but an injury to the soul made even the undead weep. After his second swing, he finally spotted the creature''s core moving within the gtinous body and he tried something he hade up with during his training with Tored. Seth aimed for a stab and pierce the weapon into the Oozer''s body all the way up to the handle and then shot a tiny concentrated fireball from the tip straight at the core. It was the best way to conserve mental energy when using the Soul Fire. The fireball missed the core and exploded about 10cm behind it. The bubble of the explosion sted all the ooze around the core away. Seth took a step back to await the creature''s next move, but its body suddenly started melting into a corrosive puddle; only leaving the core. As the two girls kept staring stupefied, Seth bowed down to loot the corpse. Technically he could have just grabbed the core, but he didn''t really want to touch the acid. So, he touched a small part of the core where the ooze had run off and used loot. When he checked the yatagan for damages he found that the durability had gone down by quite a bit, but the max. durability had increased and the poison effect on the weapon had strengthened. This meant that despite the enchantment talking about blood, the effects would change depending on the kind of "blood" the prey possessed. "Hmm, interesting." Chapter 145 - 145. Zarkon(2) "The life lights of four followers have been extinguished. What should we do?" Asked one of the two figures in dark robes. They stood in a wide hall with a vaulted ceiling and no windows. The walls were covered in a moist red growth, like membrane and blood vessels. Here and there were lights glowing at the ends or crossings of these vessels. Some were bright, some became dim and just now 4 had been extinguished. "What do you mean extinguished? Speak clearly, man! These lights can''t be extinguished, if you see some of them dimming, send reinforcement to their location. You''ve been here long enough to know that. Hah, man. These noobs taking years off my life with their jokes." "Eh, b-but I mean it. Three of them just extinguished and one that had just started flickering also went out. What does that even mean?" What did it mean? The lights in this hall represented the condition and connection of all followers of this branch to their apostles. The light being extinguished meant that the follower lost their connection somehow. But how would that happen? They were immortal. Even if their enemy was overwhelmingly strong, even if their bodies were mangled, burned, and buried, they would still stand up again. Death was simply impossible. "I will have to talk to the high priest." he sighed and left the room. ---------------------- "So, you are saying a few months after the apocalypse Gods descended onto the world and started handing out blessings?" "Yes." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "And these Zarkist are the follower of some crazy flesh-god and his apostle?" "Exactly." "That''s crazy." "Yeah, the whole apostle thing is crazy. I heard the gods are watching us for amusement, like some kind of game show. And if they see someone fun, they will lend them part of their powers. Despite creeps like the Zarkists appearing, I would call it a Net profit since many apostles are ...ok, I guess. At least they fight on our side most of the time." On their way to the outpost, the magician girl had collected all her confidence and started talking to Seth. He felt slightly bad for them, but he did not dare to take off his armor. He had a bit of uncanny luck when it came to meeting field bosses on Urth. After some Smalltalk, she calmed down and they talked about what happened after the world went haywire. He didn''t reveal much about himself and the girl didn''t dare to ask. He appreciated hearing news about what happened in Urth in general. He had been stuck in a flood for the most part and didn''t really have a way to get news. The girl could also only really tell him about City Y, City B, and City D. These districts were rtively close and were not instantly wiped out by a catastrophe like City A was. The situation afterward sounded quite chaotic at first, but people managed to adapt. This didn''t mean that survival was easy. Beta and Ypsilon both bordered the sea and had to resist the invasion of a maritime empire on top of the randomly opening portals and dungeons. Delta, the most central city of Urth and originally seat of the world government was located in the mountain range that split the continent into west and east. They had to deal with the volcanic activities and the constant invasion of demons. While City Y and City B kept their autonomy, City D swore allegiance to the Chrona Empire to deal with the demon threat and the volcano. Many who did not agree evacuated to the other two districts close by. The Chrona empire made a non-aggression pact with the demons and used magic to calm and control the volcano. Delta was now split between the demons, humans, and the Chrona Empire. This was not a bad situation ifpared to what they were told by refugees from other districts. Allegedly City T, situated on a big sub-continent, waspletely overrun by the maritime empire and City G, Gamma, had be a warzone between the followers of Zarkon and some empire of the undead. Seth was more concerned about the gods at the moment than about the global situation. Was the "Host of many" maybe a god? What had Seth done to get that person''s interest? The girls became slightly concerned when he suddenly fell silent, thinking about this matter. Seth didn''t mull long over it, nothing changed. He needed to find a safe ce to craft his equipment and maybe he could find a system church in City Y to send his friends a letter and tell them that he was ok. At least he was convinced that he was ok for now. The gear situation in Urth seemed abysmal. There were even idiots that counted on bone growths and skin-ps like some animals. The drops were trash, too. The materials were not even umon and their inventories only had japtem. Their only worth was their souls. Wow, he already sounded like a viin or something. He didn''t really dislike that. Anyway, Seth felt that he had made the right decision to go to Ora to learn. Now he could build a monopoly with high-quality weapons and armor! "How much further until we reach the outpost?" Seth asked because they had been walking for two hours already. This time it was the timid priest girl that finally found her courage to speak. "N-not far. Just a little more," she said with a stutter. They had been leading the way so Seth didn''t get a chance to see, but it seemed like she was about to cry. Maybe she and that armored guy were in a rtionship? Had she been holding back ever since they started walking...? "By the way, there are surprisingly few monsters on this road. Could there be something very dangerous that keep them away with its presence?" The mage girl looked at him confused. "No? This road is regrly patrolled by adventurers from our cities. Sincemunications broke down it became important to keep thend routes safe for travel." "Can''t you send letters via the system church?" "Most peopleck the money to use that service... And many people distrust that church. Who ensures they don''t read our mail?" Seth nodded. It was already hard for people from the information age to regress to the medieval ages. How were they supposed to trust some foreign organization with their mail and money? They had no way to hold the system church liable IF something happened. Seth had more than enough time to get used to it. "I understand the distrust, but what do you mean by expensive? Isn''t it just a few silver coins?" The girls almost stumbled. "Just? Just a few silver coins?" He looked at their equipment and remembered the young man. Maybe the people of Urth had a lot harder time making money and that''s why their equipment was so poor? "Oh, I''m sorry. To talk about money in front of poor people..." he said jokingly with a sardonic smile. It was a shame they could not see it because of the helmet. The two girls blushed and looked away refusing to talk with him. At least he managed to distract the healer girl for a bit. An hourter they finally reached the outpost. It looked a lot different from what Seth had expected. He had spent over half a year in a fantasy world and had gotten used to stonewalls fortified with magic circles and sigils. Seeing an outpost build like a modern military base with trenches, barbwire and electric fences seemed really alien to him now. Especially when the soldiers wore knight outfits. The two guards were d in a mix of te and mail armor and armed with long spears. All if it wasmon steel and looked like it was from a low-level apprentice. Seth was not a master yet, but he had be good enough to judge works like this. The mage girl greeted the guard in a friendly manner, they seemed to know each other. The men flinched when their eyes fell on the almost two-meter-tall ck knight that followed. They had expected the amicable young man, but instead, their heart fell seeing this intimidating figure. The girls showed some kind of paper and exined what had happened and how they met Seth. They were friendly enough to omit what he had done to the Zarkists and their friend. It might be trouble if people knew that he knew how to kill those guys once and for all. It wasn''t because he cautioned them not to talk about it. No. Though it might be a good advertisement,ter on, he didn''t want the attention until he finished his preparation. "Can you identify yourself? Do you have any papers on your person that can prove your identity?" Papers? Really? Didn''t they have a status checker or something? Howe that a modern world like theirs suddenly felt so much like the boons...? He took off the helmet to show his face and looked into his inventory to find a "proof of identity". "Does this work?" he asked and handed the man his adventurer card. "You are with the adventurer guild? ...B-Rank!? S-Seth Smith, is that you? And your ss is..." at first the man was astounded and then a dumb smile floated on his face. "Yeah, yeah, I''m Seth Smith. And I am a cksmith. Haha funny. Now give me back my card, please." What? What had he done this time? Another god or whatever was watching him? Did the "Host of Many" host a watch party of his live stream or something? Shouldn''t god be rare, why did they gather on him.... Maybe his aura that attracted field bosses leveled up and now attracted full-fledged gods? Chapter 146 - 146. Outpost "Oh, sorry. Pleasee in." the soldier said. He gave back his card and the guard made way for the group to enter. The inside was nothing imposing or surprising. A crowd of people, a few barracks and training space, the usual stuff. The most important thing was probably the g of Y City disyed everywhere. This meant that they had already entered the district. They couldn''t be far from actual civilization now. "Please excuse me." with that the priest girl rushed off to one of the barracks. "Her and Tom were a couple." the mage girl said matter-of-factly. Seth only nodded. He didn''t really care. It followed an ufortable silence. "What that over there?" Seth asked to break the silence and pointed at a ckboard with a crowd of people in front of it. "It''s the ckboard, the Leadership posts quests there, and registered adventurers can acknowledge." "The leadership, not the guild?" The Leadership or the government of a district. Why would the government take over handing out quests instead of leaving it to the guild? "I really wonder where you have lived thest few months. Do you really think the officials would leave such a profitable and powerful business in the hands of a foreign organization like the adventurer guild?" It was again a trust thing. Well, also a power thing. "Do they at least leave the management of the dungeons to the guild?" "Well, duh. But I could bet they wouldn''t if they could revive the dead themselves." True that. Only people registered with the guild could be resurrected at a guild branch if they died in a dungeon. It was unique to the guild unless the government managed to strike a deal with the dungeon god. "How far is the city from here?" The mage girl pondered for a moment. "You can reach the outskirts in an hour or two on foot and the next satellite city in two. It would probably take two days to get to Y City itself. But there is a transporter every few days that can take you there." On the way, they had talked about safety within the district''s territory. Monsters kept invading from random portals, but dungeons were more or less managed which made the journey within the district a lot safer. The centers of the satellite cities and especially Y City were the safest with mostbat ss fighters and their guilds having their seats there. Y City also had the only branch of the system church within the district. Since Y City center had safety and the church, he decided to wait for the transporter. After he reached the satellite city. He would not risk staying in some rinky-dink military camp. "I will be leaving for the satellite city then." "You are leaving? But, but-" "But? I thank you for showing me the way, but that''s all it was. I have to contact my own people." "Then... let mee with you!" she suddenly demanded. "Why would I do that?" he looked at her in surprise as she puffed her cheeks. "How could you shoo away a cute girl just like that? I owe you my life! Is it that weird that I want to repay you?" Seth bowed down and took a good look at her face. She was barely 1.60m tall and her face was indeed quite cute. She was also well endowed which was entuated by her tight robe. She blushed as Seth was so tantly checking her out. "Hmm, I might have a way for you to repay me," he said nodding. The girl blushed furiously. It almost looked as if she was steaming. "I-I I will do anything I can." Her hands were fidgeting and her eyes kept shifting from side to side. "Great! You will be the poster girl of my new shop, once I open it. " Her nervousness instantly died, she seemed almost lifeless. "Your... shop?" "Yes, I''m a cksmith. Did you forget? Obviously, I would open a shop sooner orter. At that time, you will be our poster girl. Imagine how many guys wille to my shop if I have a cute girl in high-quality armor do the advertising." "I will get equipment?" her eyes sparkled in excitement. She kept swinging between sadness and joy like a metronome... "Well, of course. For advertisement purposes. Do you need some time to talk to your friend?" Seth gestured towards the barracks where the priest girl had vanished." "C-Can I?" "Sure. Go, I will wait." ~ Are you sure you want to take a burden with you? ~ The lich started talking the moment they were alone. "We should be safe from here on. And if I can''t deal with the situation, I can always summon you. You should be able to take care of some burdens." Seth used the time to stroll around and find a ce to get some warm food. He took off the helmet and the cuirass to weaken the set effect. When he finally found a ce and entered the canteen: They only epted City Credits. He btedly realized that he was rich in system currency, but had no Urth money on his person. It was the smell of the food that lightened his mood. The food smelled unappetizing and vorless. This soothed his regret, as the rations he had brought seemed more appetizing than the freshly cooked food here. Was it because it was a canteen and the food was not as good in general? Everything was ok if that was the case. The worse option was that the food in Namia was delicious thanks to the skills of the chef-ss. He had gotten used to that food; it might be hard to find ptable food on Urth if that was the case. His rations had just be that much more important. Maybe he should be a chef with his second ss... He imagined the sheer amount of different ingredients a chef would have to deal with and decided not to. Two crafting sses might be a little too much for him. "Here you were!" he heard the voice of the mage girl. She approached from behind. "I almost didn''t recognize you without the armor and helmet!" she said out of breath. Behind her was the priest girl, her red teary eyes hidden behind a curtain of blonde curls. "Can we bring her, too? After what happened to Tom, I can''t just leave her behind." Seth inspected the priest girl. She had a good figure and a passable face. She might have the potential to be a clerk, so he agreed to let her tag along. With that, he had already staffed his shop, before even finding a location! Something seemed wrong with the order, but who cares? The priest girl''s face lit up slightly. "Errm, maybe we should introduce ourselves? I''m Mary." Jane, the mage girl had mentioned her name on the way, but Mary, the priest girl, had not really taken part in their conversation. So, they once again introduced themselves to each other again. To his surprise, Mary and Jane had already packed their stuff and were ready to leave with Seth. It looked like they were in a hurry themself. "Jane, do you know where I can buy a map? Ah, more importantly, can I exchange System Currency for credits somewhere? Why is everything here still using credits anyway?" "Huh? Are there no shops where you came from? You can just look over there." It was not some new system feature he had not seen before, but an official shop under government control that bought materials, items, and currency. In Ora one would visit the guild or the merchants to sell materials, here everything was managed by the city. This was a lot less apocalyptic than he had expected... n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The shop was small and run-down with a fenced-off counter. It felt like a state-owned pawn shop. "What is it?" the clerk spit out. He was a rough-looking man with a stubbly face and a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He didn''t even look up from his reading material. Seth felt disillusioned. Why was the customer service here worse than in some medieval fantasy setting? "Hi, can I exchange money here?" "What''s with that question? Is this your first time in a shop? We buy materials, items, and system currency for credi..." the man became quieter and quieter and finally stopped talking after he finally looked up from the magazine he was reading. The man seemed to have an appraisal skill and he fell silent after seeing Seth in his armor. "Good, I want to exchange some silver for credits. You don''t sell anything here, do you? I need a map." "Oh! Oh, sure." Seth found the exchange rate printed on a poster in the back behind the man and was very surprised. One silver exchanged for roughly 1000 credits. This meant the 1 bronze was 10 credit. Was there intion or something? Why were credits suddenly so easy to make? Seth put 20 silver on the counter. The clerk''s eyes bulged when he saw this "huge" amount of silver. He hurriedly took it, checked it, and stored it away. In exchange, he put 2 bundles of money on the counter which added up to 20000 credits. This equaled the money he made monthly from his apartment building. Now he just needed to pull out some small change to get it. He took the bundles of money and felt their weight. How long had it been since hest saw paper money? It seemed like civilization had not yet managed to recover the banking system and fell back to using hard cash. The guy also added a map of Y City and the current region of Koku City, the closest satellite city. "Please have a nice day.." the guy spoke in a forced friendly tone and gave him a strained smile. Chapter 147 - 147. Koku City --Shop- The clerk hurriedly rummaged through a drawer below the counter and pulled out a mobile radio. It looked slightly modified with a magic rune carved in the side. "Sir? Yes. No, I''m not cking, Sir. I-I know, Sir. It is important, Sir. Just now I saw a man decked out in items I could not appraise. Sir knows I can appraise everything up to umon. All his gear must be rare or above!" "You didn''t offend him, right?" the man on the phone asked worriedly. "No, no. He exchanged some currency and I gave him a map of Y and Koku, Sir. I think Koku will be his next destination. He just left the shop." "You did well in calling fast. You might get a bonus this month." With that, the voice ended the call and left the guy with a smile. Even so, he had to humble himself, headquarters always paid well for reliable info in this crisis. ---------- Seth felt relieved holding an actual map in his hands. He had only been in Ypsilon once before on vacation with his parents. But at that time, they had visited a city on the coast. Koku City was located on the border in the direction of the central continent, so pretty much the opposite side. Remembering that vacation with parents lightly ached his heart, but he also found that he really appreciated the . Y-City district spoke apletely differentnguage and he would have had it a lot harder trying to stumble through conversations with his broken knowledge of the Urth universalnguage. He opened the map of Ypsilon or Y City for short. It was the district located almost directly south of the center and split into 14 smaller administrative units of satellite cities. Some of these regions were X-ed out, one of them was where he had been for vacation. This surprised him, when he chose yes, his opened on its own and the previously grayed out area was filled with a picture of the map in his hands. Now, the map looked like a mix of 3D-Model and an image. The ces he had been to were a detailed model, while the rest of Ypsilon was filled with an image of the map. Had he known that he could integrate analog maps into his skill he would have bought more maps... The outpost was located outside of the district''s borders and as Jane had said, they walked for about an hour before they reached the metropolitan area. How much had he missed this view? Giant skyscrapers filling the skyline of the gray megacity. Covering everything in his sight like a dirty gray carpet. Itcked the yellowish smog-screen, but thendscape of concrete and ss still warmed his heart more than he had expected. No more forests, caves, deserts, or swamps for him! He even started to silently hum. "Asphalt roads, take me home~ To the ce, I belong. Concrete jungle, fatty fast foods, take me home, asphalt road~" Thanks to the text didn''t matter. It sounded good enough to enchant the two girls and make them sing along despite the weird text. Except for some obviousbat damages on the buildings and road, the city itself looked like apletely normal modern megapolis. The pedestrians were the ones that made it look weird. A big part of the crowd was wearing generic-looking fantasy gear; armors, robes, and hats. When Seth heard there would be a transporter, he had thought that cars were running again and she meant a kind of bus. He gave up on that idea after seeing the roads being used by people riding mounts and beasts pulling carts. It also exined why the air was so clean. It was not a weird Idea to think that cars would be working again, electricity was working too, after all. Jane didn''t know the specifics, but apparently, there were sses like a variation of the dwarf''s engineers. These people had now found a way to recover some of their original energy sources and were also researching new alternatives. Seth was looking forward to the future. Hopefully, those people could bring back the era of gaming. Maybe he could relocate Fin, Mina, and the party to Urth once he secured his footing here. He had often thought of introducing the fairy to the world of gaming... he should have enough money to shoulder the destroyed screen and controllers if the fairy lost. If he was lucky, he could even get Marn to immigrate after his training. Depending on the equipment situation in the city, they could even make a lot with Marn''s current skills. How good would it be if he could leave everything to Marn and y games all day? These were dreams of a far future, right now he would first have to make sure that this world was even safe and look for a good ce to stay before he could even n to get them here. Seth took off his helmet and they mingled in the crowd. Another hourter they reached the bounds of the actual Koku City center and looked for a hotel to stay in for the next few days. Seth had money and he didn''t n on economizing with this small change. He was actually d that he had only used silver coins back at the shop. Imagine he had pulled out several gold coins with each being worth 100k or more in that dirty little shop. It was the girls who rmended an expensive hotel. They were originally from here and knew the ce. 300 credits a night was expensive, but it couldn''t faze Seth at all. If you converted the currencies, he had been staying at ces that cost several thousand a night. And it wasn''t like he paid too much. The hotel was a Bonafide luxury hotel with pools, a spa, and a massive suite. It was better than any inn he had visited during his travel. It would definitely do until the transport came. After realizing that they could not mean a bus when they said transporter, he had asked the girls what exactly it was. The answer was a kind of train that was not bound to tracks. It was one of the early inventions of this new era. Powered with monster cores it was a piece of magitec that roughlybined modern engineering and magic. It was a heavily armored transport vehicle of the military and supposed to deliver and transport all kinds of cargo and supplies between the cities. They also transported a small number of passengers for a hefty sum of money. Strong adventurers could travel for free if they agreed to help in case of a monster attack or a raid. It reminded Seth slightly of the age of stagecoaches and railways, just that both were somehowbined. Seth enjoyed the evening with a long visit in the spar and a good meal in the hotel''s restaurant. He was d, that his impression of food from the canteen at the outpost did not trante to the food here. Food still tasted great, even if the chef had no corresponding ss. All stress left him when he finally returned to his room andid down on the soft warm bed. Before he fell asleep, he opened his inventory. Besides the weapons and items, he had worked on most recently and his rations there were the boxes he had snatched from Tored in a hurry. Since he wanted to finish his own equipment and maybe start a new life based on his profession, he needed to organize his resources. He had a quiet minute now and decided to use it productively. Taking out all the boxes he started to sort and order the materials. It was a bummer he had mostly grabbed those boxes in the front. Some of the boxes were not full, but he still got his money''s worth. Everythingbined he now had 30 ingots of , 33 ingots of , 42 ingots of , 17 ingots of , and a thick sheet of leather from one of the boxes. He had thrown 200 gold at the dwarf and he might have even made some profit. A lot in fact. Aside from these he also had a stack , the , and , and the materials from the snakes and the wyvern. N?v(el)B\\jnn He judged that it was more than enough to make his equipment and start a shop. The only thing he was not sure about was the piece of leather. This was a dilemma. How would he know whether this was cursed or not? He could show it to a tailor... but were there even tailors skilled enough to appraise this on Urth? He could just send a letter to Tored and ask about it. He just needed to hope that Tored didn''t want it back. After checking and sorting everything he finally fell asleep. Chapter 148 - 148. Mark Baker Seth was fighting a huge group of armed attackers. Arrows and magic showered him, but simply bounced off his armor. Like an Invincible giant, he strode through the enemy ranks and slew them with his burning sword- Knock knock A knocking on the door woke Seth from his nice dream "aww...." Knock knock knock He struggled to get off the big soft bed and he crawled towards the door. "I''ming! Stop knocking already." He finally reached the door and ripped it open. Before him stood a tall slim man in a streamlined suit andbed back hair. He looked quite handsome and stylish and wore a pair of delicate rimmed sses he just adjusted. His eyes behind the sses looked at Seth up and down and stopped at his waist. "I appreciate the view, but this seems a little inappropriate for our first meeting. Maybe you could..." Embarrassed Seth realized that his bathrobe was not closed and his visitor was appreciating his best piece. He hurriedly bound his bathrobe correctly. "I''m d you enjoyed the view, but I don''t swing that way." "Hmm, that''s a shame. Anyway. Hello, my name is Mark Baker and I''m an executive manager of Y Cities Special Defense Department." "Special Defense Department? What is that and why did they directly send a manager?" Seth had never heard of a special defense department. Did theye up with that after the apocalypse? N?v(el)B\\jnn "Ah, yes. Maybe you don''t know about us. The SDD is in charge of monitoring and dealing with special existences, especially those who appeared after the apocalypse." "Oh, and why did a manager of that ce suddenly appear in my hotel room?" "Maybe we could talk about this inside your room? It''s not quite appropriate to talk about in this kind." "Sure, give me just a second." Seth closed the room door and threw away the bathrobe. He used "Clean" a spell from . The skill was simr to and was set on lv. Max. There were no ranks or level up, he simply got a list of spells to use. "Clean" simply cleaned his body of any dirt. It was not as satisfying as a real bath or shower, but it did the job. After cleaning up Seth equipped his golden shirt, pants and gambeson, and the Dark Knight boots. Thisbination was almost asfortable as normal clothing but held more defense than umon te armor. If the guy tried anything funny, Seth felt confident to be able to deal with it. Only after wearing his essories and token, he opened the door. Mark couldn''t help but widen his eyes when he saw Seth opening the door again in his dazzling outfit. It took him a moment before he could speak again. He harrumphed and spoke. "This really isn''t necessary. I''m not here to offend you." "Oh really? Thene in and sit down." Mark stepped past Seth and took a seat on the big white couch in the middle of the living room. Seth sat on the two-seater to the side. "So~ Why does an executive manager of the SDD visit me in my hotel room?" "Ah, yes. Straight to the point. One of our employees reported a man dressed in aplete set of armor with a rating above umon. By the way, he described it as ck te, not a golden cloth..." This was the perfect opportunity for Seth to show off his full armor, but he didn''t. The bait was way too obvious. So, he just signaled the man to keep talking with an interested look,pletely ignoring the implied question. "Well... and the reason I''m here is that. Items rated umon are still very hard to find, but you are decked out in rare items. The only possibility would be that you have a reliable source or you are someone from a different world. In both cases, we would wee your cooperation. This is an important matter. We could not leave it to some low-ranking member that is why I am here." Seth nodded. It made sense that he was very conspicuous with rare-rated armor if people already had a hard time getting umon stuff. "Well, I can assure you that I am from Urth. I am originally from City A. My name is Seth Smith." What? Why again? He didn''t have the time to think about it too much as Mark continued talking. He made a conflicted expression. "I hope you understand, that we can''t check that. Nobody we sent in the direction of C City and A City ever returned. All we know is that there is a giant forest growing." Seth flinched when he heard, that the forest even covered C City. That meant the whole south-eastern corner of the continent was covered in that cursed forest, but this was not his problem right now. The current problem was that Seth didn''t really want someone to appraise him. Although being an Ori huma would be the strongest proof that he was from Urth, he didn''t want people to know his skill ranks. Things might get really annoying then. Once they knew his abilities it might not even matter that he was a native... There was only one option. He thought for a moment a came up with a lie. "Well, you will just have to believe me then. As for a reliable way to gain items, I was very lucky. I got a few of these things from a dungeon. They open an auction interface where you can purchase any item you might want. I was able to grind my way up until I had a fairly good armor." Surprised the SDD official looked at the silver stick. For a moment he feared it was a shy-thing that would erase his memories. But nothing happened to Mark. "Unfortunately, this is myst one. I was looking for civilization to find a way and get more. I could give this one to you since it won''t be of much use to me right now. Of course, it''s not for free." Seth rather sold off the portable one-time ess to the auction house, than having to deal with the government. "What''s your price?" he looked at the thing with sparkling eyes. He totally swallowed his lie. What did he want for it? Seth thought about it, "I want identification papers that work on Urth. 200k credits and... could you give me a ride to Y-City?" Mark looked at him surprised. Those were some surprisingly doable things for ess to high-grade items. The SDD had a few working vehicles that were not open to public use and Seth didn''t even ask for ownership, just a ride. Those were very sensible conditions from Mark''s point of view. Seth just stated what he needed at the moment, he didn''t know that his price was cheap and it pleased the official. "Deal. I will have your papers ready in a few hours. Same with the money and the ride." This was the advantage when one was talking directly to the manager, he could make the decisions directly. "Great. I will give the thing to you then. Make sure you have loads of system cash on you if you n to use it right then and there. Good stuff is expensive. I will stay in the hotel until youe back." Mark nodded and left. Seth sighed after he closed the door. This could have ended worse. Seth had no intention to go against the government or something, simply because he had no idea about the power levels in Urth. Seth had spent a long time in a different world and actually had an easy time since all his stats were double than his level suggested. But the people of Urth had just as much time and they had the same inherent buffs. He had no advantage except for his items, but this did not guarantee that he could beat someone with strongbat skills. Especially if their level wasparable. Except he severelycked attack skills. The easiest way to make up for that was reaching lv.50 as soon as possible and get abat ss. The other way was making special items. Like his bow or the robe he made for fin, weapons had options that had a simr effect to skills or granted them when worn. That meant he needed to find more abovemon-rated souls. He actually had the hope that he could find more on Urth, than on Namia. In all his time in Namia he had only found one. He had found two during his first few days after the apocalypse. They were also often connected to a quest, maybe he had to act in a way that triggered more quests...? But then again, he didn''t get a quest to help the girls, even so, it would have been the prime opportunity. What other connection was there... maybe he had to look at ces with lots of tragic deaths? Or look for the really depraved people and monsters to kill. Thest thought was based on the Orc that gave him an umon soul. He could easily increase the power of a soul, but it was hard to increase the rating. He actually had no idea how he could increase the ranking of souls... When his thoughts came to this point, he decided to stop there. There was nothing to gain in mulling over things he could not solve at the moment.. It was more important to go and tell the girls about their change in ns. Chapter 149 - 149. City Y Seth knocked on the door of the guestroom, where the girls slept tonight. He could hear scrambling and rummaging in the room. He knocked on the door and all movements in the room stopped. "Hey, get up and ready. We are leaving soon. I got us a ride." the inside stayed silent. He was worried. He really didn''t side to open the door to maybe get a view of girls in underwear. "I''ming in~" Well, he could say that this was 100% the scene he had expected. The girls were only dressed in their underwear, but they were currently wrestling some guy in dark attire. "You know, if you want malepany, you should have gotten your own room. If you had asked nicely, I would even have taken the role of your partner. But inviting some stranger into my room is re~ally rude, you know?" "C-Can you stop joking and help us!?" Jane called in distress. Seth used and the guy and identally also on the girls. ss: Thief ss: Apprentice Sorceress ss: Apprentice Priest This showed the difference in attribute distribution between caster sses and physical sses. It took two casters to physically ovee a single thief. Something like a knight could probably throw these girls around like ragdolls. Inparison, the girls probably had higher intelligence and willpower than even Seth (without his armor). He stepped beside them and grabbed the thief''s neck with one hand and lifted him up. He proceeded to press him against the wall with his feet off the ground. "ok, Bob. What are you doing in my suite? " "Urgh, let me down! Who do you think you are? Do you feel strong just because you can -" Seth held the thief with his right hand and d his left in pale fire. "Listen here. I just woke up and found someone having fun with my property...I mean employees. Talk or die, those are your option." Seth was not really serious, but threats cost nothing. The thief''s pupils shrunk when he saw the bright me that was emitting a terrible heat, even at this distance. "No, no, no, I talk. They owe the boss money! I only came to collect a debt after I heard they were back in town. I didn''t know this was your room, or that they were your property!" Seth''s hand got tighter around his neck. "Don''t call them property, you scum. Humans are no objects. They are my employees." "Yes, employees, employees! I misspoke. But I only came because my boss told me to collect the debt. I didn''t mean to offend anyone!" Seth turned to the girls, without letting go. "Do you guys owe someone money?" "No! It was Tom''s dept. He got a loan to buy that armor. It has nothing to with us." N?v(el)B\\jnn Mary''s face got dark when Tom was mentioned. "You heard her." "His loan is the party''s lone!" the thief argued. "The dude is dead and your money is gone. ept it and stop bothering grieving people. Tell your boss that the information was wrong. Make up some story about how you got info on their death because Tom actually is. Deal?" "Why should I-" "Deal or death. Do you really want to die here?" "D-Deal." "Good boy. " Seth kept the thief hanging in the air until he threw him out of his suite. "Do you really think he will keep his end of the deal?" Jane asked unconvinced. "Doesn''t matter. We are out of this city in a few hours." The two girls had followed him into the living room. Seth appreciated the view of the girls in rather revealing underwear standing in the room until they followed his gaze and noticed it themself, "Perv!" Jane covered herself and furiously blushed. Mary blushed even harder and followed in as they ran back to their room to get dressed. Seth was not really bothered by this. He went down to eat in the hotel''s restaurant. Sometimeter the girls also came to eat and went back to the room again afterward. Several hourster Mark joined him at his table. The official had a satisfied smile on his face. He ignored the mountains of emptied dishes that filled the table and squeezed an envelope on the little free space on the table. "Your papers." He squeezed in another thicker envelope. "Your money. A car is waiting outside for you and your...entourage." Seth paused eating as he watched the official. "You work really fast." "Executive Management." "Well, I''m about done with my meal anyway. I will go call the girls." A few minutester he arrived with his employees at the entrance and checked out from the hotel. Mark stood beside a bulky-looking ATV and waited for them. He reached out his hand waiting for something. "Hmm, you want it now? I originally wanted to wait until we reached Y City but... How could the world work without some trust? Ok, here." With that, he put the small silver one-time-use auction interface into the manager''s hand. "Don''t forget to prepare lots of cash before using it." "I will, thanks." They entered the car and left Koku City. ------------- "Yes, I acquired the item. What? Yes, I will bring it to Y City. Yes, I will bring Koku City''s reserve." he ended the call with a sigh. Had he known that he would also have to go to Y City he would have just joined Seth. It would have been a chance to be closer with a strong potential ally. Mark just hoped they would not meet some of the more ambitious officials in the capital. He wasn''t worried about Seth as much as he was about the consequences of offending him. It was one of the reasons that Y-City had..plicated rtionships with otherworldly factions like the Chrona empire. The officials'' approach, in the beginning, was...unrefined and forceful to say it in a nice way. It is a weird thing, people be really offended and hostile if you try to rob and swindle their, or their subordinates'', items. The approach worked well if you were in a position of power, the lesson they learned was that they were not exactly in a position of power. Even with increased stats and proficiency gain, they still severelycked the knowledge to contest with these people. Some, like Mark, learned that it was better to simply deal respectfully with all of them. Trust was one of the few solid currencies one could garner in this chaotic world. It was a shame that he knew, that he was only one of few who understood this. ------------ "Say, how did you manage to make a car like this?" Seth asked the stoic driver. He asked because this was no just a normal car like the ones before the apocalypse. He could feel magic power coursing through the whole thing, it was obviously powered with magic. Apparently, most modern technologies had lost their function in the central continent, like after an EMP or something. This was a peculiar difference to Seth''s memory. After all, his phone still worked fine and he used a bike to escape back then. He didn''t know about the bike, but phones definitely didn''t survive in areas like Y City. Also, the girls had told him that people had just begun researching how to adapt modern technology to the system era. This car seemed a little too advanced for that to be true. On the other hand, this was the military. The military always had the best and newest toys. "Hrmph. I will only tell you this because it is not ssified information and you are a guest of Mr. Baker. There are sses like Technomancers and Mechanics who can create MagiTech based on technology. From our interactions with the empire, we know that these are a unique trait of technologically advanced worlds." "Unique to... Does that mean there are also Gunners and stuff like that?" Seth asked intrigued. But the driver only smirked and stayed silent. Chapter 150 - 150. Y City (2) What would have taken maybe two days on foot, was easily conquered with the cars in about two hours. It was enough time for Seth to get a good look at the city. The buildings became bigger and more imposing the closer they came to Y-City, the center of the district. The great metropolitan area around them was marred with rubble and craters of fights, but still mostly intact. The magical ATV really attracted attention, as it was the only working car on the streets. Other travelers were mostly going on foot, some rode their mounts or were using repurposed cars as carts pulled by mounts or tame beasts. The first distinct sign that they had entered the capital was a steel wall, that formed a barrier between Y City and the rest of the territory. Seth could make out several incantations and magic circles on this wall. It had been enchanted and would probably be able to withstand the attacks of weaker monsters. However, Seth was not an expert in this, as it was the domain of enchanters. Y City, as the center of a huge city association, had the highest number of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. If looked at from the air, the big towers and ss facades looked like a crystal protruding out of the surrounding cityscape. The car stopped at the feet of one of the medium-sized skyscrapers. "This is the SDD headquarters. You will have to find your own way from here." the driver said. He pressed a button and the doors sprung open on their own. Seth and his employees left the car and it drove around the corner, entering an underground garage. "What now?" Jane turned to Seth and asked. Seth looked at the map. "Let''s go to church." "Do you want to pray or something?" "The system church. I need to write some letters." The system church was quite a bit different from the ones in Namia. They had bought a whole skyscraper that now belonged to them. They entered the lobby. Different from the row of counters, they found a receptionist. "How may I help you?" "Hi, I''m ay member. I need to get in contact with some people abroad." N?v(el)B\\jnn After touching a crystal for verification, he left the girls in the lobby and entered the elevator. They had a whole floor dedicated tomunications. "Are you Seth?" He was greeted by another old man in a red robe. He was tall andnky. His long face was cleanly shaven framed by long white hair. He was like theplete opposite of Simon, except for his aura. He seemed just as kind as Simon when Seth first met him. "Yeah, that''s my name." "Simon asked us to keep an eye out for you, in case you turn up at one of our locations. Who would have thought you woulde to one of our main branches," he said with a smile. At least Simon took a little responsibility for throwing him into some random wormhole. "I''m d you are alive. I heard that you wish to contact some people. Come over here. We have a room where you can write your messages in peace. Simon might turn upter." The room was like a normal small office. The was a table and chairs. Seth sighed and sat down. He started writing letters to Fin, Mina, and Tored, describing what had happened, telling them that he was okay and his current situation. He also tried toe up with ns for the future. The most immediate thing he wanted to do was obviously to find a quiet ce and forge his equipment. Next would be to look for a safe location for a fixed workshop and shop. If he managed to build a safe ce, he hinted that he would not hate if they came over and joined him. Of course, only if they wanted. It would be quite nice if civilization managed to recover and they all could live here together. When he finished writing the letter, he sealed them with wax. What the people of Urth didn''t know was that the way stamp gave a magical seal to the letter, if supplied with mana. If the seal was broken it would mark the letter as read and the receiver would know, that someone had read it. "Seth! I''m d you are okay!" It was Simon that greeted him as he left the office. His counterpart stood beside him with a rxed smile. Seth still slightly resented Simon for throwing him into that tunnel, but he somewhat understood that it was necessary. They talked about what Seth had gone through aftering back and then Seth finally got an exnation of what even happened. "Starta Vige, where we met, was attacked and raided by one of our enemies. They follow some really radical war god, the Bringer of Chains. Like the name of the god suggests, they are really into the whole "make people submit"-business and very. I think you can guess why they would invade new chaotic worlds." "But what has that to do with me?" "Ermm, well. They found out about you from the records in Starta. Now Chrona Empire or more specifically the system church and the theocracy of chains are diametrically opposed to each other. The system god wants ori humas to make free decisions and struggle. But their goal is to forcefully enve people. In their opinion, you joining us is stealing from them." He exined that it would not have been a problem, since they would have no way to locate him in the other world. That was until some demon probably sold the info of an ori huma to them and they added one and one together. "But I''m safe for now, right? It is not like they can find me here among all the other people." "Well, yeah. Just be careful. Their goal is still to conquer and enve the people in this world. Although, they will have a hard time moving on Urth..." the old man said with a grin. Apparently, the only gateway the theocracy could open was close to the location of Starta. Since Starta was gone, the forest would restart its growth and soon devour the rest of the south-eastern corner of the continent. Simon could not help but grin at the thought that those damn angels would have to deal with stuff like the hanging tree. He had a hard time getting away with his life and built quite a resentment to those messengers of the Bringer of Chains. All the talks of gods made Seth remember something important. He was pretty sure he could trust Simon at this point. "Hey, Simon," he whispered. "There is something we need to talk about. Alone would be best," he said and looked at the other priest. He didn''t know that guy well enough to trust him. "oh, sure" They entered the small office again and Simon was so courteous to cast an isting barrier. "All this talk about gods reminded me about something. The girls I met told me about gods choosing champions in our world. What is that about?" "Oh! Oh, you know... technically god choosing champions is something very normal. It''s just that it urs a lot more often in worlds newly added to the pathworks. I mean, the reason is clear, right? There are many bored gods that justze around in their eternal life. Watching mortals is their only pastime. When the system god opens a world, it means that it''s an interesting one, so the gods flock to it. Their reasons for choosing a champion, really just depend on the gods." "I had three notifications of entities watching me since I returned. Are those gods?" Simon looked surprised at Seth. "You barely entered the world for a few days and got the attention of several gods? You really are a lucky bastard." Simon said with a grin. "Don''t worry about it. Best case you get a considerable boost in strength. Worst case they will ignore you again.. Just take it as a blessing." Chapter 151 - 151. Y City (3) Her hands were drenched in blood. Tears left trails in the dirt and blood that covered her face ashes trembling hand reached for her mouth. A long tongue stretched out from a small mouth and licked the fresh blood and bits of meat off the long sharp nails protruding from her fingers. A devilish smile crept on her face, but her eyes were disgusted with herself. It was over. She had finally killed her sister and Edward, her sister''s boyfriend. And now she could not stop herself from gorging on their bodies like a beast. It all started with her attaining the Rakshasa ss. She gained skills that improved her strength, agility, and endurance far beyond her level. She became even stronger in the darkness and there were other unbelievable skills like illusion magic and transformation skills. She became also immune to diseases, poison, or curses. And to top it all, she got the ability to kill her enemies, the followers of Zarkon. Her new ws could inflict permanent wounds on their ever-regrowing flesh and take their lives once and for all. But everything in the world came at a price. Like a vampire that needed human blood to survive, she needed to feast on human flesh. It was a terrible price, but one she was willing to take in exchange for the ability to exact revenge. Their encounters with the Zarkists became a lot less dangerous. With her new ss, she was immune to the curse. And the hateful enemies were her source of sustenance. At first, she hid it from herpanions. She only told them about her gains, not the cost. She would smuggle away part of the bodies after their fight and eat them alone. It was disgusting. Human flesh tasted bitter and the texture of raw bloody meat in her mouth and when it slid down her throat made her gag. In these moments she wanted nothing more than to vomit it out again. Without she might not have persisted. Despite her disgust, the gains were obvious. She kept growing stronger and they did not need to fear the Zarkists. They even started hunting them. It also helped that the main force of the Zarkic Cult was distracted fighting other enemies. Everything went well and they even manage to organize at first. She finally decided to open up to Stacy and Edward. They were shocked at first, but epted her decision and supported her. ...It was her fault. No, it was their fault. Those despicable, repulsive vermin who dared to call themself human. Someone had eavesdropped on them. The next thing that happened was her group being ambushed by a huge number of Zarkists. They had been sold out. No good deed goes unpunished. She had helped people and in exchange, she lost what little of her family was left. Her sister and Edward had turned into these disgusting monsters. It had taken ages to recover her strength and track them down. She could not let her family exist as such beasts. She had ended their suffering with her own hands. The tears subsided once her hunger was quenched. Once she had buried the two her head finally cleared up. Where was she even? ----------------------------Y City "And that''s why I want to borrow a floor." Seth ended his pitch. Originally, he had thought of renting or buying a location in Y City, but he was unsure whether he would stay here. The system church owned a whole skyscraper, if he could borrow one of the floors his problems would be solved. Simon looked to his counterpart. Samuel, this was the name of this branch''s priest, nodded hesitantly. "I could lend you a room for free, but a whole floor..." he scratched his cheek. "Even if many floors are empty right now, I can''t just hand out stuff for free. You would have to pay rent." "Deal," Seth answered happily. A floor was big enough to use as a living space and workshop, without disturbing anyone. And just like that Seth and his entourage started to live in the church. This had an additional advantage. If someone tried to mess with him, they would first have to mess with the system church. Although they looked kind and amiable on the surface, they were not to be trifled with. While the girls could enjoy their free time, Seth started to work on his equipment. He knew that the skill would not be as easy to level as it had been in the past, now that he reached the journeyman rank. That''s why he did not hold back on the materials he wanted to use. Seth started with some moremon soul gear. He needed a huge pool of mana for what he nned to do so he used medium-sized souls to make generic armor pieces that each raised his mana by roughly 100. With about 1000 bonus mana, he now had 1400 mana to work with. He had even consulted with Al to n out the enchantments beforehand. She was not a cksmith, but as an enchanter and former Lich with over 200 years of experience, she was a great help when it came to meshing together the several kinds of enchantment to gain the best possible effect. While nning the most ambitious part of his new equipment, he had ordered special materials from the church. This was another thing the people of Urth didn''t know or didn''t want to do: the church acted as an interdimensional trader. Just like how Simon had bought weapons from Seth or how he sent goods through the church. As ay member of the church, he could also order things at a discount. What he got was a dark, crooked, and twisted branch the length and size of his arm. < Dark Ghostwood, Crafting Material, Rare The wood of a tree that grew for over 300 years on a cursed or haunted ground. The resentment and regrets of the dead have seeped deep into the wood coloring it ck through and through. A scarce wood often used in dark rituals and curses. > It had taken Seth a long time to gain knowledge of this kind of material. During his time in Ora, he realized that there were only a few ores and minerals that had an affinity with souls. Organic materials like those from monsters did a lot better in housing a soul. It was then, that he realized, that he should not restrict himself to the materials a cksmith would use. Right, this was not a crafting material for a cksmith, but it was normally used by caster sses as part of dark rituals or curses. It had cost him a hefty sum, 50 gold for this single piece of wood. Seth thought it was worth it since it would most likely have a high affinity with the vengeful soul. The reason materials like this were not generally used in cksmithing was that they varied too much. Any tree could produce this wood as long as it meets requirements but not all wood was fit to be used in a weapon. The price came from the fact that this branch was the wood of a 500-year-old ash that grew on a cursed battlefield. This technically made it fit to be used to make a bow. Before he made the bow, there was something he wanted to test. He brought out a pauldron from the guy who had died in the forest. It was a cheapmon item from a dungeon with an enchantment that raised defense slightly. Next, he forged a simr pauldron from a small soul and carved a simple shield-circuit into it. This enchantment was able to create a shield with a strength proportional to the mana supplied. It had its limits though. Seth wanted to test whether these enchantments would get in the way of each other if he infused a piece of enchanted soul equipment. He would be able to put double the number of enchantments he could put on an item like that. Four different enchantments were close to the realm of a master! Seth infused the soul pauldron into the enchanted item and seeded! At least nothing exploded, but there was no notification that he had finished an item... As he looked at the item with he could see that the now two options looked corrupted. Looking at the pauldron he could see the shield circuit bleeding through, like a stain in the metal or a stigma. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Then he got a failure notification. It didn''t work. At least notpletely. It had taken some time until it was determined a failed product. This meant that maybe in the future he would be able to find a way. He was not too disappointed in this oue; it just reinforced his desire for higher-rated souls. It was already proven that the inherent qualities of the souls did not get in the way of enchantments, while still giving and influencing the effects. Seth was d he had tested it on a cheap japtem instead of potentially ruining his new items. Chapter 152 - 152. Epic Having tested that Seth started making the bow. He used both, and the effect of Charon''s Obol in tandem to forge the crooked branch into form. It was always interesting to see the skill work its magic. When his hammer strikes hit the bark''s surface it was smoothened and ttened. It reacted much much more like a metal than wood. He turned the uneven stick into a smooth uniform billet with a length of about one meter. The fact that not even the bark was damaged in the process, but fuse into the surface and homogenized with the rest of the material led to the billet looking likeyered steel with twists and turns visible where the wood had been crooked before. At this point, Seth needed a break. This was still a rare material and even with thebination of skill and hammer, it was hard to forge it. He was not exhausted, but he needed to be in shape for the next step. So, he went out and had a meal in the church''s canteen. "Seth, there you are! I have not seen you since morning." Simon approached him as he sat down to eat. "Yeah, I started working on my equipment. Why are you looking for me?" Simon rummaged through the pockets of his red robe and brought out an envelope. It was not from Fin or Mina, but an answer from Tored. The letter was brief, it fit the dwarf. ------------ I''m d you were able to safely return, Seth. That piece of leather is safe, use it to your heart''s content. Keep surviving over there, you still owe me! The money you left was not even close to enough to pay for the stuff you took! Stay alive until you paid your debt. -Tored ------- Seth could feel the care of the dwarf from these short words. There was no way the dwarf would see that money. Simon saw his smile. "good news?" "I guess they are." They ate together before Seth returned to his room. He had recovered and felt rxed. It was the best condition to start. He removed the vengeful souls from the bow and started fusing them with medium-sized souls. It took about 9 before the modifier on the soul changed to big. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om With the soul ready he took the woodth-No, billet, and singing. The t shook under the vibrations of the guttural demonic song. This song was one of the more terrifying ones Al taught him but it fit the previous effects of the soul very well. It would imbue the projectiles with the attribute of decay. As he sang the demonic runes slithered from his lips and entered the wood. At the same time, he had to concentrate on infusing the soul even into the material. Both tasks took a lot of mental force and his head soon started to ache. His forehead was covered with sweat that started running down his face. Even if he wanted to, he could not stop at this point. The demonic bad forced him to continue as it consumed his mana. Fold by fold he infused and distributed the enchantment and the soul throughout the wood. More and more the wood looked likeyered steel and he started shaping the bow. He used twisted wire made from three threads of as the bowstring and infused a tiny bit of the souls into it. The bad finally ended and he had finished infusing the soul. His clothes were drenched in sweat, he looked as if he had taken a walk by heavy rain. He felt really exhausted and his head ached, but he gave the bow the finish it deserved. After sanding and polishing it he tumbled towards the water barrel and dunked the bow into it It was a smooth and sleek-looking recurve bow. The surface was densely covered with a ck and gray pattern, making it look pitch ck from the distance. Standing on the ground it almost reached his chin, so it was a little shorter than 180cm. And he had yet to carve an enchantment into the bow. He suddenly had the thought, that maybe he shouldn''t enchant it himself and find an enchantment master like Tored instead. He had a n for the enchantments beforehand, but he had not expected the weapon to be epic-rated. The enchantments felt slightly shabbypared to its current abilities. When his excitement over the new weapon finally waned and he stopped touching and ying with the bow, he realized what the messages had said. Epic items also brought epic rewards. +5 on all his stats! That was like 5 or 6 level-ups, but unlike the normal attribute points, these were also distributed into luck and personality! This meant he would look even better from now on. Wasn''t there something else? He tried to remember what other message was there between these announcements... oh no. There was another god watching him now! But wait. He started watching him after he made the item. Maybe this god was interested in crafting? Then he would give this god a good show! There was nothing to lose. He might even get some overpowered blessing! Seth had big ns, but the time was not right. He needed to take the next step in one fell swoop and hecked the energy now. Instead, he started making some weapons to sell. On one hand, there was still a shop in Ora he needed to supply. Seth had not forgotten about that. He had written a letter to Bertram to tell his clerk to keep selling the stock but at double the price. His wares would still be below market price, but the stock wouldst longer. He also contacted Marn and asked if he wanted to take over the shop. It was still a good ce to sell his weapons. Otherwise, he would have to close the shop or find a way to send merchandise via the church. The other reason was that he didn''t feel like converting his currency. So, he nned to casually make some weapons and sell them for credits through the church. He had mana to spare and used a demonic bad he had not gotten to use until now. Using he made a bunch of umon swords and enchanted them with a demonic bad. It was simr to the curse on the bow, but the effect it created was like soul-bound items in games. Once an owner was registered, nobody else could use this weapon. These were meant to be sold in Urth. Seth guessed that people would appreciate weapons that cannot be stolen with the current situation in this world. He also put a simple enchantment for fire damage onto the weapon. The only w was the description. People really didn''t need to know his reasons... Everything else seemed fine. Seth did not want to introduce the people of Urth to too strong weapons. He was already doubting whether this was not already too good. The weapons also needed to be affordable... Yeah, as if. He would thoroughly bleed them dry. From now on, this was a pay2win game and Seth intended to be the Item Shop. He made 7 swords in a matter of a few hours until it became evening. "Is Simon still here?" he asked Samuel when he met him in the canteen. "No, he already left. Can I help you with anything?" Samuel asked as they sat down. "hmm, I think you are more qualified anyways. Are you interested in a business?" After Seth had pitched his idea, they relocated to Samuel''s office. It was a simple deal in the end. The church would be his front and sell the weapons he made for credits. In exchange, the church would get a management fee. One might ask why the church did not just sell weapons, to begin with? On one side it was too big of interference into the lives of the ori huma. And it was not cost-effective.. It was expensive to transfer weapons and goods from another dimension and the natives were poor. Chapter 153 - 153. Auction House "What is this!?" -15 Minutes earlier----- Mark Baker was at the headquarters of the Special Defense Department in Y City. In his possession, he had a whopping 130 gold. These were all assets of Koku City. Together with roughly 70% of Y City''s budget, it added up to 667 gold. They did everything they could to collect system currency, but the supply was simplycking. The only source of gold in Urth at the moment were dungeons and trade with people from the pathworks. The rough methods used in the beginning had...plicated their option of trade. It was not like there were few dungeons on the territory of Y-City, but the number of dungeons they could sessfully raid was limited. This was all the gold they were able to buy from their citizens via the shops. Mark was currently located in a meeting room inside one of the most important buildings of Y-City. The highest-ranking officials had gathered here. Spending this painstakingly collected money was an important decision. The money and devise were handed to a magician with an umon ss. He had a psychic ability to share his sight, like this all members could see the effect of the item and confer among themselves. When the mage channeled mana into the silver device a window opened in front of his eyes, simr to the system windows. "Hello, Customer. You are essing the Auction House via a portable terminal. Your current dimension differs from the purchase location. Please keep in mind that cross-dimensional purchases will each have an additional shipping fee of 3 gold. The Auction House wishes you a nice day." Following this message was the main site of the auction house. It resembled the websites of simr purposes. There was a search bar, rmended articles, and a long list of different product categories. One difference was that the user could choose between local and inter-dimensional. Everyone in the room knew how to navigate on a site like this and understood the additional shipping fee. Without anyone even telling him, the mage first sorted by local. There was nothing. Nobody on Urth was selling something via the Auction House. Begrudgingly they had to change to interdimensional trade. What they needed the most were good weapons and armor. It involved many losses to defending the city with just their skills and bare bodies- And there was no chance to get an upper hand. The whole situation could flip, once they got a chance to get an upper hand. -Present----- Seeing the prices of items in the auction house made those present call out in rage and despair. Most of themon weapons easily exceeded the performance of many of the items officials ever saw on Urth. They already dreamed of equipping a whole army and razing the dungeons, but the price of 5 to 10 gold per weapon shattered their dreams like broken ss. The armor parts were even more expensive than the weapons. One had to keep in mind that this was an auction house. The prices were not fixed. However, this was the only chance, so they had to pay the instant-buy prices. It made sense, even if these items weremon ranked, there would not be any mediocre items in the auction house. Not everyone was like Seth and sold for cheap because they only needed a way to empty their inventory. With these prices, they might be able to fully equip two or three squads at most. Was this enough to make a difference? No! These items were definitely much better than what they had right now, but it was not enough to bridge the difference in strength to their enemies. Those squads would only die trying to clear more difficult dungeons before they break. Even if the people came back, the items might be lost. The official took an hour toe to a solution. After all, this was their only chance. The decision was to buy higher-ranked items and form small elite teams. This seemed like the best use of their money. This was also a good idea for public rtions. They could make them heroes to motivate and reassure the popce. Tears ran down their face as the mage changed to umon ranked items. This was simply heart-rending. Umon items ranged between 20 to 30 gold. If they were frugal, they could maybe equip a group of 5 people with umon items... They almost did not dare to look at the rare items. They lost all hope. The rare items started at 30 gold and there didn''t seem to be an upper limit. What had Baker said? There was a guy going around in a set of rare or above items? Just what did he do to umte that much via this Auction House? They ended up purchasing a mix ofmon and umon items to equip two elite teams. The next step would be to choose the heroes of Y City. -------------------------------- While others were hard-pressed with the decision of buying umon items, Seth light-heartedly left a bunch of umon swords with Samuel to sell. His opinion of the priest had really risen and Seth saw that the same applied to Samuel as his affinity with Seth rose to 300. He was quite the devilish old man. When Seth told him that he really wanted to make people bleed, the Priest came up with many fiendish ideas to maximize their profits. The church would take it upon itself to advertise and host the new and uing event: A public auction. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Hosted by the system church, not even Y Cities leadership could pull some shady stuff like "confiscating" the items. They even publicized the performance of the sword and the fact that an owner could be registered. This option caused great ripples than even Seth had anticipated. If no one but the owner could use the sword, it would make theft or "confiscation"pletely useless! In the eyes of these people, who had been fighting with weapons that were barely better than the Billhook Seth made in the very beginning, these swords were legendary items. The higher-ups were also shocked by the church''s revtion. They had just obtained a collection of high-grade items and soon after they dropped such a bombshell. The worst thing was that anyone with money could buy these swords. These people might get in the way of their Hero-project. They would have to pull together all their assets to get all items. Seth didn''t know that the events he himself had kicked off, woulde together bring him a windfall.. Seth was upied with the preparations of making his own equipment. Chapter 154 - 154. Epic (2) Various potions were lined up on the table in the room. Stamina, Health, Mana, Concentration, and Satiety potions. Thest potion had the effect of providing nutrition for three days and suppress the hunger during this time. These were his preparation for maybe the longest forging session ever since he became a cksmith. The second tost potion helped the mental force to strengthen and recover. It was the morning of the day when Samuel would announce and start advertising the auction. Seth summoned the . He took off his shirt and wore a headband to stop the sweat from getting in his eyes. Seth ced two of the Wyvern Fangs on the anvil. They were the length of his forearm and just as thick at the base. For the weapon he wanted to forge he needed at least this much material. In this session he even had Cerberus help him. The golem had the peculiar skill to mirror the summoner''s skills. The two, man and golem, took turns hammering the teeth into shape. The was never a moment when their hammers stopped as they forged the teeth into two uniform billets. This was just a preparatory action. The next step was to forge weld the two billets. This was easier said than done. Seth had already gotten a taste of the difficulty when he folded the bow''s wood the other day. Normally when it came to forge welding metals the billets would need to be thoroughly heated to the right temperature before welding them together with hammer strikes. In this type of forging there was no heat involved, but mana. This meant Seth would have to keep the teethpletely soaked in his mana to keep them malleable until they became one piece. N?v(el)B\\jnn On top of this came not just singing the demonic bad but also a partial soul infusion. Exactly, partial. Seth brought out the . This was his big n. This soul was not just rare-rated but also gigantic and extremely powerful. It would be a waste to put it in just one item, so Seth decided to use it to make a whole set. He separated out a fourth of the wyvern soul and brought it on the anvil. Then he started infusing mana in his voice and began singing the blood drinker bad. His was the start signal and everything came into motion. Golem and cksmith were forging the ivory-colored billets to the dark tunes of the demon world. Like yesterday, the runes and soul were slowly fusing into the material as the two working it. The ivory color turned into a dark grey with a reddish sheen. He felt much better than yesterday, thanks to the potions he had drunk and they soon started giving the material its shape. The weapon Seth nned to make was neither a saber nor a sword. It was a broad single-edged de as long as a longsword and slightly curved. The weapon Seth nned to make was a Kriegsmesser. A big one simr to a bastard sword in size, maybe slightly bigger. After the de had taken shape, the bad was close to its end and the soul piece was almostpletely fused into the de, during thest verses Seth made the big crossguard and the characteristic nail from and fused the rest of the soul into it. To finish the construction, he used a piece of the snake fangs for the handle scales and quenched the weapon in the waters of Styx to seal the soul inside the item. He knew it was technically finished, but he got no notification that he had finished an epic-rated item. The reason was that he was still using soul infusion to keep the other 3/4 of the massive soul stable. Seth was making a whole set, so it was only finished when all pieces were done. This was also why he prepared to work for a long time! He needed to finish all 4 items in one go. Before he started on the next item, he sat down to enchant the Kriegsmesser, only then, it would really be finished. The enchantments he chose were the twoplex circuits life steal and armor destruction. He didn''t choose bleeding because Al had advised him against it. This was a weapon made from the tooth of a race close to a dragon and he infused the soul of its previous owner. The Lich had conjectured that together with the bad, the properties of the material would generate a skill like on their own. He got the notification that he seeded in enchanting, but the weapon was not finished. The next part of the set was a ring. For this, he used something he had kept up his sleeve for a long time, ever since he had found it. He had looked into it and found nothing better for this purpose, the Blood Ga. It was a product from a dragon race, this was a step above something like a wyvern which only counted as rtives. It had a strong affinity with fire and he had long thought about how to use it. This ring was the essence of his will to use more of his fire-rted abilities in the future. Finally, his had caught up in rank! For the ring''s body, he chose and as the nucleus the . Seth had no bad that fit very well with what he wanted, so he chose the one with the least drawbacks. It slightly increased the durability and added the chance of strengthening an attack with a random curse. The enchantments were inspired by "Dragon Bane" and he had Al''s help to do it. One enchantment lessened the cost of skills and the other increased his willpower. The ring was the easiest of the items he had to make and worked as a small break in between the two most demanding items. Seth had to turn on the lights before he continued. It had already gotten dark outside. The found its ce on the anvil. Next up was the cuirass. The lump of was just enough for a breastte, but Seth would not stop there. Apanied by another bad they started to forge the lump of red opaque crystal into an elegant breastte. The demonic runes turned the ss darker and darker until it became dark crimson and almost clear. The effect of this bad would give Seth the option to reflect a portion of the damage he received in exchange for some of his blood. Technically it was an armor of thorns that would do damage to both parties. But a lot less to the user. Above the heart, Seth added 4 wyvern scales forming a cross to protect his heart. Under the constant strikes of hammers, the dark green scales and demonic runes fused into the crimson red ss and turned a deep ck. Seth was in a good mood and yfully carved the relief of dragonhead onto the sternum of the breastte. He split and forged 20 of the remaining scales and used part of the to add a scale skirt to the breastte that reached all the way down to his knees. As he looked at the almost finished cuirass before him, he again felt that the nned enchantments were somewhatcking, simr to how he felt with the bow. This wasn''t a problem, since he could always add themter. The sky outside was already lightening again. He needed to finish thest part of the set, the Shield. Before the exhaustion caught up to him. He used the same song he used for the cuirass and started merging the 11 scales he had left behind. Seth used for reinforcement and made a round shield, slightly bigger than a buckler. Inspired by the cuirass, he molded a terrifying dragon face onto the shield and by the time the song ended, the scale had turned almost ck. When he dunked the shield into the water barrel a barrage of notifications flooded into his mind. x4 4.+ 50% damage against enemies that cannot defend themselves 5.+ 150% Damage against armors A kriegsmesser forged by Journeyman Smith from rare materials. A plethora of special treatments and enchantments massively increased the weapon''s performance above what just the materials could aplish. Set Effect: 2/4 Ring + de + 50% damage on all fire rted attacks. + 25% damage on physical attacks 2/4 de/Shield + 50% on all physical attacks + 25% overall defense 2/4 Shield/Cuirass +50% overall defense 4/4 + 50% damage on all fire rted attacks. + 50% on all physical attacks + 50% overall defense Skill: Dragon Might Usage Condition: Seth Smith, 70 strength> Seth had not seen many epic items butpared to the ring "Dragon bane" this did not look too shabby. ~ See! I told you, you would not need an extra enchantment. ~ Al said smugly. What she was talking about was This skill was like a higher version . This was not the only difference. The fear effect had changed, this was most likely a synergy between the material, the soul, and the enchantment''s effect. The fear effect most likely went into the Set-Effect''s skill This seemed way too strong... was it really ok for him to have this at lv.27? The effects depended on the difference in basic strength, so Seth would have to test this in action to see its true worth. But just the description sounded very powerful. The sword was already such a big surprise, what would the other items look like? Next, he grabbed the ring from the jewelry station. A Ring created by Journeyman Smith. It''s the essence of the maker''s hidden desire to be an even more efficient arsonist. Set Effect:(copsed)> How did the system know his deepest desires?! No! What the hell was wrong with this description! He definitely did NOT n to be an arsonist! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ~Oh Seth. I knew you were good with fire. But I didn''t know you were that naughty~ Al teased him full of schadenfreude. She too had often suffered from the sarcasticments the system would randomly add to the item description. The first version of "Dragon Bane" called her a rejected dragon-con! ~The great me always knew! Knew it all the time! ~ It was Puffles the lost son. Thezy piece of caterpir that had been loafing around in the other room, while Seth was working hard. He used the situation to besmirch his reputation as revenge for his day as a silkworm. "You shut up! What were you even up to while I was working hard?" K-kyurr! Kyu. ~I-I meditated, yes. D-don''t question the great me! I am beyond any doubt! ~ Seth red down Puffles until the Ivicer retreated to his room. The ring''s effects were great, but Seth did not feel happy for some reason. He equipped the ring and the de and started to channel his energy to test the consumption of the fire de. The energy moved a lot smoother and the consumption of the ability was almost negligible! He checked his status. The decrease in consumption was one thing, but why was the energy flowing so smoothly? It was then that he saw, that not only had upgraded to < Energy Cirction (2) > but he had also gained a new skill . Finally! Tored had taught him about this skill. This was a smith skill based on . Energy cirction had the passive effect of slightly strengthening the material. was the intentional use of this effect. The perk of this skill was that it could also be used to strengthen finished itemster on. His mood had improved after finding out about this power-up. On the enchantment table waited the shield for him. It was thest item he had made the other day. The wyvern face on the front of the shield looked really life-like. It fit the effect of demoralizing those who look at it. The shield was another one of those options that made Seth doubt whether he should be owning this so early in the game. Measured on the current yers, the majority would probably be unable to even break his shield. Just equipping the shield turned him into the popemobile without anyone able to touch him! The shield''s effects looked a little in at first nce but were not to be underestimated. Seth''s eyes wandered to the piece he saved forst. The cuirass was probably the most ambitious part of the set since it used 3 very different materials as mainponents. ~ Oh, ho ho, this one''s something else! ~ Al eximed and told him to check number five. How had this happened? 50% reflection and no cost? Also, the matter with the wounds. This was way stronger than what the effect of the bad should have been... "THIS FUCKA!" Seth eximed when Al''Zalsa confirmed his suspicions. He WAS cursed! Like hell, it was safe to use. It was by pure chance and luck that the bull''s terrible curse had mixed with the enchantment and made something... positive. Still, there was no way he would dare to use the rest of the leather for anything! That curse could easily hurt him if he dared to use this leather randomly. Imagine equipping a pair of leather boots and they start sucking the life out of you because they bestow you with the curse that makes nature and earth itself despise you. This stuff was worse than drinking the blood of a unicorn. Even Tim Roddle would not dare to suffer this curse. "Seth, are you ready? The auction will start now!" Chapter 156 - 156. Auction --POV of Rando He entered the skyscraper that was once the main office of the Limar Group but had now be the property of the system church. It was really a shame for one of the biggest enterprises in Y City to vanish overnight. It was an unmistakable warning to all actions and authorities of the district. Never thoughtlessly mess with Otherworlders and most importantly don''t offend the system church. Today he hade because he was personally invited to a "public" auction on the premises of the church. Public, in this case, meant that anyone with enough money and the means toe in time was wee. A huge crowd of mostly familiar faces filled the venue for the auction. Anyone of rank and name, who had the means to reach the church in time hade. He knew many personally and some only fleetingly. Everyone hade for the chance of obtaining powerful equipment. They had kept their money and property but... No matter how much money and property they were able to amass, thest months had made it obvious that strength was the only solid currency in this world. To preserve what they had built up they needed to adapt to this world. Even the old monsters who had long retired had decided to show their faces here. There were not just the elites of the old world. A good portion of the guests were up-anding yers. There were people with special sses like the Saintess. Nobody knew her exact ss but she was able to singlehandedly keep a row of tanks alive during a raid. And others that were lucky like the Golden King, who had golden hands and was lucky enough to gain umon items from dungeons. It was even rumored that he had some rare ones. It did not matter what they were before, these people throve in this new era. Sess was now decided by one''s ss, skills, effort, and talent. This made items so important. They were the only way to bnce out what onecked. They could turn a kitten into a tiger or add wings to a tiger. Like in the case of the Golden King, he managed to be a prominent figure with his fortune alone. "All of the guests have now arrived. I greet all of you to today''s event!" The priest of the system church, Samuel, had made his entrance on the stage. His imposing stature made the hall fall silent. --------Seth Samuel fulfilled his part of their little deal perfectly. For the cksmith, this was just a little additional ie. For the church and the upper society of Ora it was an event that might change the course of history. It was the first time that such good items were simply sold in such a way. It was a full house with several hundred of the richest people of Y City and aplished adventurers. This auction was merely an appetizer. The biggest act of advertisement. Today they would sell 7 Swords, but this was just to whet their appetite. After today the info would spread far more powerful. Once all of these people started talking and bragging to their friends and acquaintances. Then during the next auction, all rich people of the district woulde to throw their money at them. Seth had entered the hall in his good attire from Ora; effectively disguising as an otherworlder of the church. He came to take a look and collect some information. He listened to the gossip of high society. "Isn''t that the adventurer that managed to close a dungeon in the southern district?" They were pointing at a woman in herte twenties. She looked pale, almost sickly. Her robe and other visible items weremon, but her pointy witch hat was actually an umon item that strengthened "Witchcraft" and affinity with nts. It was most likely a dungeon drop. "The Forest Witch?" "Quiet. Don''t call her like that. She doesn''t like that name." "Ah, sorry. She''s a C Rank now, right?" "Forget her. Look over there. That''s the Pdin. He got an epic ss and used the money of his family to fully equip his own guild." They pointed at a man who attended the auction in a full suit of silver te armor. They were all goodmon items butcked any interesting effect. They increased stuff like endurance slightly. The armor was nothing special, but his weapon and shield were both umon. The effects were mediocre, but they shined like pearls in this environment. "Wow. Even if we have money, we can''tpete with an epic ss." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Don''t talk about epic sses. We could not evenpare to those with rare sses. " Another good use for this auction. Seth could get a picture of the current strength distribution and powerhouses in the region. He had an easy time in the other world because he had technically double the attributes. It was not the same on Urth, he was clear that hecked this advantage here. When he imagined the power of the beasts on Urth he was afraid, but there was also tingling of excitement. The beings of Urth would push him to the limits but he couldn''t wait to make and improve his items and grow stronger. When he thought back to his greatest enemy, the titano boa juvenile, he was still unsure whether he could beat that monster in a fair duel. That was the advantage beasts had, they were strong even without gear. On the other hand, he still had truckloads of materials from that one monster and all of it was umon. Imagine the amount of rare or even epic materials he could get from a genuine field boss! This was the reason he was looking at the prominent people of this world. If Seth wanted to harvest whatever this world could give him, he needed allies, a party. Most people that were able to carve a ce for themself in this dangerous world were now here. If this was not the best opportunity to get an impression of possiblepanions, what was? It was also a good time. Right now, he had kind of a monopoly on good items but he could not keep his technological advantage forever. The yers of Y City were slowly gaining an upper hand as their levels grew. The stronger they were, the easier they could farm better items from dungeons. This was a long process, but it could not be stopped. ~So, this is what the high society of your world looks like, eh? There are not many promising people here. Are you sure you can make a party? ~ The Lich on his belt asked unconvincedly. "What are their levels, Al?" Seth whispered. This was the reason he wore this inconspicuous token and masqueraded as an otherworlder. He could freely appraise people''s items, but would immediately rm the target. Al''Zalsa on the other hand had genuine and could spy at people''s status. ~ The good ones range between 35 and 40 with the highest being level 43. It''s not bad considering they had less than a year to reach those levels. ~ Those were the people that had gotten this far without many chances to gain appropriate equipment. Just how much further would they be able to go in the future? They would be strong allies if Seth could use- get them on his side. "As mentioned in the invitation every one of you has received, the church will auction off 7 swords today. Each of the swords is rated umon and features 2 enchantments. The ability to be bound to an owner and a superior fire enchantment. Which we will now demonstrate." At this point, Samuel paused and gesticted to the people backstage. A few people brought out a big cage onto the stage. Within the cage was a terrifying roughly humanoid sea creature. Seth and Samuel had talked about this before. In the beginning, the greatest threat for Y City was an oceanic empire that attacked the coast. It was not widely known to the people of the district but Samuel told him, that the humans had actually lost 4 and not just 2 satellite cities at the coast. Even if they managed to push back the enemy forces, those cities were razed and these beasts were still roaming the ruins. These were mindless soldiers and could be easily caught by the church''s hunters. Everyone in the hall knew or even fought these things in the past and they were easy toe by, as such they were the optimal test dummy for demonstration. For this demonstration, the church had asked a well-known swordsman onto the stage. ----Stage Inigo Monte was already slightly older. His ss was umon and he already knew how to wield a sword long before the apocalypse. Everyone knew his prowess even so he was not one of the strongest or most prominent figures of Y-City. This man took one of the swords on disy and scrutinized it with a surprised look. He gave it some test swings before channeling mana into the sword. A fierce me surrounded the de that surprised even him. After getting used to the sword he nodded towards the man beside the cage. The door of the cage opened and the man rushed in, shing at the beast. These creatures had once brought true terror upon the citizens of Y City and it had taken many losses to drive them back. Inigo himself had fought hard battles against these creatures. He knew just too well how hard it had been to even injure these things. It was a bitter memory, watching hispanions die one by one as they could only chip away at its health. Now, one of them was almost helpless as it tried to back away from the man''s burning sword. The weapon did not bounce away or slide off the mucus of the beast''s skin like he experienced before. Big burning gashes opened every time he shed at the beast.. It was only a matter of 3 or 4 shes before the monster shriveled up and burned to death. Chapter 157 - 157. Auction (2) Inigo looked perplexed at the sword. Was this really possible? There were even small tears in the corner of his eyes. This reaction was quite normal, for someone who wielded a good weapon for the first time. Inigo was a Fencer, an umon advancement from a swordsman. His attack power was based on his attributes Dex/Agi and the performance of the weapon. Like mostbat sses, the power of his skills was based and scaled with his basic attack power. The difference in effect between this sword and his original sword that had a damage of 75 was simply astronomical. He felt like was eating soup with a fork and now somebody finally gave him a spoon! "I think this should suffice to demonstrate the weapons performance. Thank you, Mr. Monte." Very reluctantly Inigo put the sword back in its sheath and onto the disy. As he left the stage and gave it onest wistful nce like a lover seeing off her husband. "As you can see, we have 7 Sword. Supply is limited but there is no need to be anxious. From now on, we will hold this auction regrly. Even if you don''t get an item today, you can alwayse back! Let us begin." The course of the auction was a good example of supply and demand. In Ora, Seth would sell this kind of weapon for 5 or 6 gold. If a gold coin equaled 100k he would get only 500k for one of the swords. But the demand for these weapons was over the top and the bidders easily drove the price into the millions. And the price kept climbing with every sword that was sold. In the end, the swords very sold for the sum of 67 million credits. Seth would have no financial problems in the near future. As for who bought the sword...Three of the swords were actually bought by an acquaintance, Mark Baker. Seth had no idea that he too hade to Y-City, but he guessed that he acted as the representative of the SDD. On that note, Seth felt curious whether they had already used the interface and what they bought. Were they consolidating good items to make an elite squad? Depending on their decisions Seth might need to hurry with putting together his team before they snatched people away from him. While Samuel was busy auctioning off the swords and people were busy bidding on them, Seth was notzy. With the help of his All-seeing Al, he was able to spot the people with potential. And with some gossip, he also got a rough idea about their reputation and personality. There were some promising people, but one person really attracted his interest. The Gourmet -lv 31 ss Gourmet Hunter- Unique A mix of a hunter and a cook with the ability to gain permanent powers from cooked food. Seth''s eyes sparkled. How good would it be to travel with someone like that? --------- "Hah, how unlucky." The auction had just ended. He was unlucky and unable to buy any of the swords. The prices had far exceeded what little fortune he was able to umte since the world went downhill. In the end, Money still mattered. Although he had no skills to use a sword, he could have tried to gain and train the skill. He might have even thought about changing his ss. With the strength, he could gain it would be easier to protect his daughter. s, since he did not get one, it meant he had no fate with those swords. He could only sigh and move on. It wasn''t like he was doing bad at the moment. "Mr. Jackson, do you have a moment?" As he was about to leave the venue a clerk suddenly approached him, they knew his name? What could the church want from him... he didn''t offend them, right? It couldn''t be that he identally did something heretic and now they would punish him... "Mr. Jackson? Are you okay? The patron of today''s auction would like to invite you to a private meeting." The patron? Tekar was hesitant but it did not seem like they wanted to punish him. This might be a chance. Patron sounded like it would be an important person. He followed the clerk to the elevator which brought them to one of the upper floors where they entered a cozy-looking meeting room. It seemed like the church hat modified this ce and it looked more like a lounge withfy chairs and couches. In the room were already several people waiting. There was a young woman with long straight hair. If not for her rectangr sses, her face would be hidden behind that curtain of her hair. She wore a dark purple robe and had a silentposed aura. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Leisurely sitting on the couch with his arms and legs spread away from him sat a young man in colorful casual clothes. His bright blond hair was styled into spikes making his head look like a brush. He wore funky sunsses and a big self-confident smile on his face. "Please have a seat. Your host will soon join you." the clerk said before leaving the room. Was he thest person to arrive? Tekar didn''t know the girl, but the man on the couch was the gourmet hunter. He knew that the hunter had a unique ss like himself. What could this patron want from them? Judging by the fact that he did not even know who the girl was, none of them were very strong or prominent figures. The only reason many knew the gourmet hunter was his entrical behavior. ------------------- The other two also observed the neer. A hulking ck man with a buzzcut and a pencil mustache. He wore a tight suit that had a hard time restricting the bulging muscle from making the rest of the world feel inferior. Nobody talked as they waited for something to happen. It did not take long before a different door opened and a man entered the lounge. He was tall, no as tall as Tekar, and he had a muscr build, more bnce,d and not as massive as Tekar. He wore alien-looking clothes in a style, not from current Urth. An otherworlder? He wore a kind smile on his handsome face as he started speaking. "I''m d all of you decided to follow my invitation. Miss Arrcany, Mr. Lighting, Mr. Jackson. " The woman blushed when she heard her name and cringed when she heard the hunter''s name. The hunter had a wide smile when he saw that he did not hesitate to use the name he gave himself. Tekar also cringed a little when he heard the name Lightning. "It seems I have a little advantage. I know all of your names, but you don''t know mine. Let me introduce myself. I am Seth Smith-" "I''m a cksmith from A City. And I''m the one who supplied the swords for the auction today." They all stared at him surprised. There was actually someone from Urth able to craft such items? But how? Their question was written on their faces and Seth decided to answer them. "Since I started with a crafting ss, I went and studied my craft in a different world." "That totally makes sense...not! How did you simply travel to a different world?!" Lightning, the gourmet jumped up. "If you join the church they transport you for free. I found a starter vige after escaping from A City. But that''s not the point. I recently returned and I wish to build a ce for myself." "And what does this have to do with us?" Tekar asked calmly. "I wish to invite you to join my party," Seth said with a big smile. "I really believe we could be a great team." Chapter 158 - 158. Oddball Leader Originally, Seth had wanted to test the water alone before looking for a party, but Samuel had moved faster than he had expected. The SDD, too. Back then he had just looked for a way to get them off his tracks but had not thought about the implications. He had to take care of the whole party stuff before he even got to finish his own equipment. Seth knew that he neededpanions if he wanted to survive in this world. The problem was that he was not the best at dealing with people. Of course, he could go ahead and offer something like a working rtionship. He could have them sign a contract and then lend equipment to them. But this was not what he wanted. All of these people before him were special in some way. All theycked until now was an opportunity to truly grow. Seth felt that it would be the wrong way to start their rtionship this way. These people had suffered, probably more than him. It felt disrespectful to just "buy" their cooperation. What would happen once they grew stronger? What if Seth left Y City? Over time his monopoly over good items would diminish. Would his items really be enough to keep an employee by his side? He didn''t want these people as subordinates. But as partners, as friends! And he knew that they could be a great team and reach greater height together, than individually. The gourmet hunter could not just harvest their prey with maximum efficiency but also cook meals that strengthened the party. Seth didn''t mind that hecked the firepower of a regr scout or hunter. This could be easily fixed with stronger weaponry. Wizard Arrcany would grow stronger the more knowledge she gained. Seth had a great sorceress with over 200 years of wisdom. He could offer her greater knowledge than anyone else. Not just on magic, together with the gourmet hunter''s harvesting, she could dabble in alchemy which was another useful source of knowledge. Tekar had a humongous amount of defense but wascking as a tank since he had no helpful skills for a fight. His sscked skills in attack and crowd control and it was extremely hard for him to learn those. Seth could not just boost his defense to new heights, he could also think of items to grant him such skills. Seth knew all of this because of Al who had helped him appraise the people in the auction hall. These three had the greatest growth potential if they all worked together. And Seth knew that in a story the main character would normally find some really smart or natural way to get these people on his side or they would not care and establish a contract. Miraculously the people would be friends over the course of their journey and the earlier work rtionship would be just a joke between friends. But Seth also knew that he could not do that. He did not believe to have such charisma and he was also not smart or eloquent enough to convince people while keeping his secrets. It felt all so bothersome and over-convoluted. Instead of doing all that, Seth simply told them the truth. He told them his story and about his ss. He told them all the aforementioned and even his reason for telling them (that it was too bothersome to n out something smart). The three looked at him like some absolute weirdo. This was no calctive or very smart move, but telling the truth had its very own effect. There were no suspicions about how he knew their names or skills. There were no doubts about his reasons. He even answered all their questions and showed proof willingly. Being honest during the first meeting had be something very special in this world. So even when Seth told them the truth, they still had doubts. And he epted this, too. He also knew that one of them might leave, if they did not like the truth. But this meant that he did not need to keep secrets before those who stayed. He was also not afraid of "betrayal". So, what if they knew his secrets? Seth had reasons to be afraid of the world, not of the people at least. Not only had he just finished an epic set and nned to equip himself with even more items like that, but he also had the church behind him. He did not want to see the world burn, but if it provoked him, he felt not opposed to being the fire starter. "Well, to sum it up. I hope we can be friends and partners who support each other in the future. I understand if you want some time to think about my offer. You can visit me at any time once youe to a conclusion." It seemed like they needed some time among themself. Seth smiled and left the room. N?v(el)B\\jnn After he left the room, a wave of fatigue came over him. This had been really hard. It was so exhausting to deal with strangers. Now, it was finally over. He had done everything to leave a good first impression. He rxed a little and sacked down on a chair in the small side kitchen. He had wanted to make an impressive exit that would leave an impression. He had identally entered the kitchen instead of leaving the lounge... What was he supposed to do now? -------------------------- They were not shooed away by any staff, but the clerks even kept supplying drinks and cookies. Silence reigned in the lounge as all of them sunk in their own thoughts. What Seth offered was not a simple job. They threw nces at each other. IF what he said was true, they could go a long way if they relied on him and each other. "Is it true that you can cook food that gives permanent buffs?" Tekar suddenly asked the gourmet hunter. The female wizard also peaked her ears for the answer. Tekar himself felt not too offended for his "secret" to be revealed. Anybody could find out about the drawbacks of his ss by listening to rumors. The chance to fix these ws and make a name and carrier for himself weighed much more. Seth''s offer was undeniably tempting if what he said about the others was true. This made it even more important for all of them to ascertain whether the information was correct. The gourmet hunter, Link Lightning, sighed. It seemed he would have to make the start. It irked him a little that his secrets were exposed, but he was never guy to hold grudges. Was it really that big of a deal? Compared to this chance, it was negligible. Especially since he got to know their secrets, too. "Guess I will go ahead? Yeah. I cannot just cook food that gives buffs, but as long as I get my hands on special ingredients, I have a low chance of making food that will grant a permanent buff. My skill level is still too low to make it something certain. My turn! Dude, do you really have like double the defense of a normal tank? I heard that you were tough, but that''s a surprise. And you! Magical Girl, can you really grow stronger just by reading books?" He didn''t feel like being the only one answering questions, so he threw some at the other two. The girl, Alison Arrcany, just squinted at him and nodded in the end. Tekar blushed a little, hearing that someone like the gourmet hunter knew about him. "Yeah. It would be great, if I didn''tck in every other department aside from keeping myself alive." heughed self-ironic. They were talking among themself and even the wizard girl had joined them with some shortments. Suddenly Seth came back to the lounge. With a deep red face, he stormed through the room in a straight line, aiming for a specific door. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I can''t wait any longer! I really need to use the toilet!" With that he left the lounge again through another door leaving the three with a perplexed look on their faces. After Seth had left Tekar and Link startedughing while even Alison snickered silently. They took this as a cue to leave. All of them had their own circumstances wanted return home and sleep a night over it before making a final decision. But in their hearts, they had already decided. All members of their new party were unique, but their leader was a real oddball. Chapter 159 - 159. Joint Dungeon Dive Seth sat in his room. Now all he could do was wait for them to make their decision ande back. In the meantime, he could finally get back to finishing his loadout. There were still a lot of things to make, but what Sethcked were the fitting materials. He had a lot of good materials, but hecked the means to imbue them with the effects he really wanted for the items he needed to make. His standards had grown after he finished something like the epic set. He didn''t want the other items tock behind. At this point, he really regretted having sold off the auction interface. Even if he asked the church to procure specific materials, it would take a long time. ording to Samuel, the only Auction House on Urths was in Delta, where the Chrona Empire had taken residence. ~ You should just do what you can instead of wasting your time on worries. ~ Al was right. There was one thing he could do for now. Especially with her help. Over the next two days, the three came back and agreed to join him. They joined his party one by one and decided to make a dungeon dive to get to know each other. It was like the time when he joined "Yulecat''s Fur" to get to know them better. They would not enter anything dangerous. First, they met in the adventurer guild of Y City. This was Seth''s first time visiting an adventurer guild in Urth. It felt like a bank. No, it WAS a bank. It was one of the biggest banks of Y City that had been remodeled into the guild''s main branch in this district. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The receptionists at the counters were separated from the customer with clear polycarbonate walls and the ckboards with the quests were fully digitalized touch-screen terminals. Although Tekar, Link, and Alison were people from Y City and had fought here from the very beginning, they had little knowledge of the dungeons in the district. Dungeon business had mostly consisted of containing the dungeon breaks. Not preventing them. The reason was theck of small elite troops. Dungeons were mostly unfit for big groups or raids, so they were not able to clear difficult or high-level dungeons. The only choice was to wait for the break and overwhelm the monsters with numbers. The human wave tactics worked but demanded a great number of sacrifices. The receptionist had a friendly business smile, Seth recognized it immediately. These were actual guild people, not natives of Urth. He was relieved that he could act as he always did in the guild. It was a shame that they had no booklet with aprehensive rundown of dungeons in Y City. The reason was that more dungeons kept randomly appearing and kept being closed all the time. The people of Urth were still quite rowdy and did not care whether the guild approved of destroying a dungeon core. It was a direct consequence of the government''s previous actions. The leadership did not listen to the guild at the start and had people shut down any dungeon that could be cleared to ensure the cities safety. From a modern regr standpoint, this might have been understandable, but it was simply short-sighted from the perspective of people who understood the system. Closing all dungeons that could be cleared meant that there were no low-level dungeons left for yers to train and gain levels. This created another problem. It split the people even further into the elites who managed to get gain levels by closing dungeons and those who could not gain levels because there were no dungeons in their level range. This was why the number of small teams that could deal with greater dungeons was severely limited. At this point, there were very few low-level dungeons in Y-City and most of those only survived because they had opened after the guild took over the management of the dungeons. It was strictly forbidden to close these dungeons. Adventurers who did would be expelled from the guild. Seth asked for dungeons around lv.20 and the receptionist gave him a rundown of a very short list of options within the city. Considering the cities size this was pitifully few. At least the kinds of dungeons were quite interestingpared to Namia. In the otherworld, the dungeons were a lot like you would expect from RPGs or fantasy games. In Y City many dungeons had taken over the subway stations or whole buildings. It felt more like urban fantasy or post-apocalypse. The dungeon Seth chose was called "Third Hospital". It was the kind of dungeon that had floors with increasing difficulty. The hospital''s first floor was an lv.10-20 area and perfect for a team-building measure. The rest of the party made long faces when they heard what dungeon their new leader chose. They had encountered the horror more than once. The floors actually went up to lv.60. As such nobody had yet been able to clear this dungeon or properly decimate the monster poption. That was why the Third Hospital had broken out several times in the past. What crawled out from there equaled some of the worst horror games in history. Why had Seth chosen this haunted house of nightmares? It was the thrill. This was not a horror game so Seth did not have to fear artificial ammunition scarcity or scripted events. How exciting would it be to break through a horror game with pure violence? Seth did not think of it as much more than a haunted house. All of them had an almost 10 level advantage, what could go wrong? A such they went on a 35-minute walk to enter the southern district. The third hospital could in no way be called small. It was a giantplex and offered all kinds of treatment before the apocalypse. From what the guild staff told him it sounded as if the patients and staff had been turned into the monsters when the dungeon initially formed during the apocalypse. There was a safety parameter around the hospital in case something unexpected happened and the entrance was guarded by ck suits. From the outside, they could only see darkness behind the rows and rows of empty windows. The ss doors of the main entrance stood wide open; inviting people toe in and die. Seth wore his new equipment while using parts of the ck knight armor to cover the missing pieces. The others wore their original items because Seth wanted to see their genuine performance before deciding on what items to make for them. Tekar wore a bulky set of steel-te armor. It looked like someone welded armor tes from a tank together and made Tekar resemble some generic bulky robot from an anime. Link, the gourmet hunter, was better off and wore a tight leather outfit. The main piece seemed to be a dungeon drop with the effect of increasing agility by 5 points. The rest was probably made by a tailor but had a good performance. Tailors seemed to do better than cksmiths in this new world. Just how far could the clothing industry go once they started to mix skills and technology. What might have happened to this world if Seth had not returned? Would they develop superhero suits that buffed the wielder? Seth really liked the medieval style, so a world where people wore skintight superhero suits as equipment seemed like a cringey nightmare. He might be able to ept it, if worn as proper underwear below a suit of armor, though. Alison, the wizard girl, wore the same outfit as during their first meeting. Was this her only set of clothes, or did she visit the auction in work attire? She also carried amon staff that helped her save 5% mana per spell. But it really seemed more fit to whack the monsters really well. Seth had left Mary and Jane at the church since this dungeon would be too dangerous to take the two along. They approached the entrance in silence. There was nothing visible from the outside. Only after they stepped in and the doors closed behind them did they get a good look at the hospital. He felt reminded of A City where everything had been overgrown and destroyed in a matter of days but looked like it had taken decades. Even so, this was a perfectly functional hospital just 8 or 9 months ago, now it looked abandoned and run down. Dim light fell in through the dirty and broken windows. Dirt covered the tiled floor and kes of paint and ster had detached from the walls making everything look blotchy and damp. The air smelled stale with a hint of hospital and mold. "Link, can you scout ahead? The rest will go in a line. Tekar in the front, then myself, Alison, and Puffles takes the rearguard." "S-Sure..." answered the gourmet hunter. He did not seem very confident as his eyes kept jumping left and right. Was he really that afraid of this ce? Actually, Tekar was not much better. Although Seth could not see even an inch of his skin, his movements had be choppy and robotic after entering the dungeon. The only one who kept a neutral expression was Alison in the back who kept observing their surroundings. Puffles waspletely unaffected by the horror location. The Ivicer never saw a horror movie or yed a horror game. The concept of a hospital waspletely foreign to it. Seth had put the caterpir at the end because its physical strength had improved quite a lot after thest evolution. Not only could he take the role of a healer, but also act as an off-tank. Puffles'' physical prowess rivaled Seth''s when fully buffed, despite having a lower level. It just showed that a divine race was no joke. It also meant that he did not need to worry about outgrowing Pufflester on. If the Ivicer ever grew to the size and power of Cerno Bolk, that giant Ivicer from before, they could easily raid most field bosses with just the two of them. Link came back, sweat covered his forehead. Seth had to stop with the daydreaming. They were in a really creepy dungeon right now. He was really supposed to concentrate. "There is a group of five patients in the front, around lv. 17. Maybe we should take another route and look for some weaker ones or a smaller group...?" he asked nervous. "Why are you guys so afraid? All of us are around lv. 30. These creatures should not pose a problem to you even without fitting equipment." "You have not fought these things yet. I don''t know how the fights in that other world looked like, but the fights are totally unbnced here. The level and strength arepletely independent of another." It was Tekar, the tall ck robot-looking man who answered in a solemn echoey voice. It reminded Seth that levels were not always an urate representation of strength. He was the best example. In Ora, he had strength rivaling a B-Rank adventurer, despite being only half the level. Seth nodded to show that he understood and turned serious.. Maybe this would not be as easy as he thought. Chapter 160 - 160. Third Hospital "Link, did you say there was a group of patients ahead? Where are they?" Seth asked as he looked down an empty, dimly lit hallway. The only thing there were, were some hospital beds stained with a dark sludge, maybe old blood? "They were here just a moment ago..." the gourmet hunter answered confused. Seth and Alison both looked to the ceiling. The ceiling looked normal for now. In a game, it was a reurring phenomenon that mobs would suddenly break through the ceiling and surround you. "Tekar. I think you should go forward; we will follow with some distance. Just in case we trigger a trap or an ambush." As if on cue, Puffles cast a shield on the iron man. "Eh? Ah, okay." He was the Tank after all. Slowly and taking tiny steps the colossus of steel shuffled his way along the corridor. His bucket-shaped helmet kept turning left and right as he held up his shield and sword ready to react. Unexpectedly, nothing happened. No monsters falling from the ceiling, no hand suddenly grabbing from the ground... The Walls on either side of Tekar exploded and two bulging monstrosities looking like naked goris on steroids attacked the robot from both sides. The shield broke before Tekar could react in his cumbersome armor. He had not much time to cope as the two mobs started grappling him and hammering away at his armor leaving deep fist imprints in the thick steel tes. "Shit, it''s the mental wardens! Why are they so close to the entrance?" Link shouted in shock. Alison on the other hand had gotten into stance and already started chanting a spell. Seth did not stop to listen to the hunters mumbling and charged forward. The pale me lit up on the wyvern de''s edge as he shed into the calve of the hunk on the right. He aimed for the leg, to minimize the risk of hitting his own tank. The strike felt like hacking into moist rotten wood. Steam and a terrible stench filled the air as the de cut off the leg below the knee. Seth almost stumbled but managed to recover and take a step back. These creatures were a lot tougher than he expected and the de had been slowed as if going through tar. Had he aimed for the torso, his weapon might have gotten stuck. The monster lost its footing, literally, and Tekar was able to shove it away making it fall into Seth''s direction; leaving him with only one opponent. The tank was now desperately trying to get his shield between himself and the warden to gain the upper hand against the touchy-feely foe. In this time Alison finally finished her chanting and a row of stone shackles grew for the floor and the wall. They grasped for the warden that was still wailing on Tekar and managed to catch its ankles, torso, and one of the wrists. The Ivicer also recast the shield which gave Tekar the time to finally free himself from the enemy and fix his posture. The gourmet hunter took aim with at the caught mob with his bow, while Seth decapitated the Warden on the ground. Shortly after the hunter had sunk his fifth arrow into the constrained warden''s head and they all got the kill notification with a sigh of relief. Seth checked his experience bar and saw no difference. If the message had not said he gained experience, he would have doubted he got any. Even if the mobs were strong, it did not change that they got almost no experience thanks to the level difference. These mental wardens were easilyparable to many lv.40 or lv.50 mobs he had seen in the dungeons of Ora. No wonder people had a hard time dealing with the dungeons. This was just the first floor and there were already creatures like this. They regrouped and checked on Tekar. The damage looked worse than it was. Although the breastte and shoulders had imprints and deformations, thanks to the thickness of the material it was still usable. Despite his huge pool of endurance, Tekar lost some health from the blunt force of the strikes. It was not much and Puffles was able to fix it with a weak healing spell. Seth turned to Link. "You said they are normally not this close to the entrance? What are these mental wardens?" "From what I heard about this ce; the wardens are originally a kind of wandering mini-boss in the mental ward." "Then why were they here?" "I have no clue. The mental ward is actually a differentplex linked to the hospital via a single corridor. So, there is no way we identally walked in there..." At this point, Alison pushed up her sses and interrupted them. "There are actually not that many peopleing here. Most information is actually from the few survivors from the clearing attempts before the guild took over management. We technicallyck information to judge what is the normal situation and what is not. The chance is high that the survivors simply met the most fortunate circumstances." Seth nodded. That made sense. It would be best if Seth let go of his habit of relying too much on the information. He had picked this up in Ora. There, one could get all the info on a dungeon from the guild since many adventurers had cleared it before. The dungeons on Urth were simply too new to be thoroughly investigated. It was best to prepare for an unexpected situation like just now. Since Tekar was okay they decided to keep walking, with the hunter scouting their surroundings. As for the loot, Link harvested the two wardens but except for the 2 monster cores, these humanoid monsters were useless. There were also no souls. There were actually people with dark professions like ck magicians or necromancers that were interested in the brains of these creatures... but everyone agreed that they would not do something as unappetizing as harvesting the brain of a humanoid monster. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "By the way, Puffles, what happened to your shield? I get that these monsters are stronger than we are used to, but why did it break so fast?" Kyurrr! Kyu! ~ You should be happy he had my shield! He would be mush already without the great Me''s support! ~ ~He''s right, you know? Those things used a skill resembling when they charged through the wall. Your armor could withstand it, but that guy would look like a smashed- what was It called again...? A smashed can of beans if the shield had not blocked that first attack~ Kyuhuhu~ ~See? See?! Even the horny ghost agrees with my magnificence! ~ ~Who are you calling a horny ghost, you worm! ~ K-Kyou! ~Who are you calling a worm, you rotten- ~ "Can you guys please stop having a mental smackdown in my brain? I have to concentrate..." Seth whispered. He didn''t want the others to think he was crazy. Although he told them that theymunicated with him telepathically, it was still awkward. The party kept moving deeper into the hospital. After the initial shock from the wardens, they became a lot more careful. Link still scouted, but he stayed within their sight. "3 Patients around the corner," he whispered after returning. The party approached the fork. Seth finally got a good look at the creatures. Their eyes were simply empty holes and the mouths were grown shut. They moved in sporadic erratic motions iling their arms as if they were blind. The skimpy patient gowns they wore made the view even more horrible if you approached them from behind. Puffles and Alison started off with a magic attack. The Ivicers magic bound the two creatures with glowing chains while Alison cast a fire wave that set them ame. Seeing the burning humanoids Seth wanted to try something and signaled Tekar to stay back for a moment. From about 10m distance Seth tried to take control of the fire that was burning on the Patients. Seth''s go-to was the spirit me because it was extremely powerful, but when he tried to control this normal fire, he realized that it was a lot easier. He was able to strengthen the me and envelop the patients in a fire tornado; tremendously increasing the burn damage. He kept them burning until the binds were released. The moment they charged at the party a row of arrows from the hunter prated their bodies and they were hit again by two magic attacks. One was Puffles light bolt, the other was a stone needle that shot up from the ground and prated the other''s stomach. Seth equipped Charon''s Obol and ended their lives, collecting two souls in the hammer. He had concluded that they were not grinding for experience anyways, so he could collect their souls on the way. Looking at the oue of this fight, one could say that the normal monsters were manageable as long as they did not seed in a surprise attack. But when they turned around to return to their original path the hospital looked different. The corridor had be dimmer and darker. Vines were growing on the walls and from the ceiling. All kinds of dark ooze and puss started flowing from the walls.. Looking at the hallways the two mobs had been, the same had happened. Chapter 161 - 161. The Other Side ~You have to get out of there. This is not the dungeon anymore! ~ "What?" Seth squinted and looked around when he heard Al''s warning. He didn''t know what it meant, but he trusted the sorceress. "Hey, didn''t the dungeon cha-" "Okay guys, that is enough. I think we should leave for today." Seth interrupted. He pped his hands and took the lead on the way back. The ce 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 deste 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 d 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 andcked the materials to make a good circlet, Seth decided on a soul helmet. 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 ce...?" ~ 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 cksmith 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 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 ck-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!" Linkplimented 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 apanied byplicated 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 exin, but it''s good we left the hospital. " "Why?" all of them asked confused. "Because the pathworks are not connected to this ce. 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 probablye 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 shees 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 hourter both barriers and Al''Zalsa disintegrated leaving a disheveled Seth and an embarrassed party behind. "I''m just d Fin isn''t here to see this...." Seth mumbled as he tried to fix his attire. Chapter 162 - 162. Empty World Filled With Danger Now that the Lich got what she wanted she became silent and did not react to Seth''s attempts ofmunication. He could only hope she sunk into some state of deep thought toe up with a way to escape. Whatever was the case, the four of them and Puffles were now stuck in this familiar-not so familiar world. "I expected this to be a horror scenario but I expected something like Violent Hill and not Stranger Dings..." Seth muttered as they walked through the empty twisted streets of this foggy mirror city. They could barely see farther than a few meters in this thick fog that nketed the streets. What they were looking for was a safe ce where they could camp out for the next week until Seth could summon Al again. Technically this meant a ce with less tentacles, vines, and goo. Especially less goo and mud. Their feet sank into the viscous substance that covered the streets and at times they feared losing their boots. Seth already had a solution, but hispanions hurriedly convinced him to look for a ce first and keep that as ast resort. It was quite unsettling to walk through the empty streets that showed no life or sign of human habitation, despite looking like a city. "Wait! I heard something. Get ready." Link mightck the attack power of a regr hunter, but he had a particr set of skills of which some were gained from special food. Among them was which tremendously enhanced his hearing. The fog might have been able to block his sight, but not his hearing. The gourmet hunter pointed in the direction of an ally and the party got in formation. Seth and Tekar stood in the front and readied their shields. Alison and Link took cover behind them while Puffles protected the rear. It would have been helpful if his teammates also had pets. It was a shame that the pet situation was even worse than the item situation. At the moment only the elite and people with tamer professions had pets that were useful inbat. After a few moments, they could feel the vibrations of heavy thumps from the alley, but they heard no sound. TING! A tentacle smashed into Tekar''s shield and dug into the steel. Another tentacle aimed for Seth but was blocked by the auto shield. What stepped out of the fog was... not nice to look at. Alison looked away, Link almost vomited and they could even hear Tekar gag under his helmet. Only Seth was not terribly appalled by the creature. It had a cone-shaped head that split into four jaws like the chameleon. Unlike the chameleon, its body was like a giant dog''s with terrible acid burns and tumorous growth. Its skin was covered in a yellow puss and several appendages grew from its back. <*+~x?? lv.?> only gave back a bunch of jumbled gibberish. Seeing its attack fail the creature gave off a mind-piercing shriek. It was like stabbing an icepick in their brains. Alison lost focus and her skill failed while Link could not act as he reflexively held his head in pain. Only Seth, Tekar, and the Ivicer werergely unaffected despite the headache. Seeing his two party members affected Steth decided not to take a chance. "Dragon Might!" He activated the set skill and the piercing cry of the wyvern sounded from the shields engraving. The creature''s deformed knees instantly buckled as if a great force was pressing down on it. Despite the skill''s effect it kept struggling and its horrifying eyes were fixed on Seth, the source of this overwhelming power. Not for long as Puffles finished his multi-cast and several light bolts prated the monster''s flesh and eyes leaving behind steaming holes. At Seth''s signal Tekar charged at the blinded creature with a shield bash and kept pressing onto it with his heavy shield to sealing its movementspletely. The cksmith stepped before the helpless and blind monster and ended its life by shoving the full length of his burning de through the head all the way into the torso. There was no experience but: What happened next made Tekar shrink back in disgust. The creature''s body started to dissolve into ck sludge and fog. All that was left, to Seth''s surprise, was a soul. It was slightly bigger and had a violet hue. An umon soul! How long had it been since hest found one! ~ hoho, these creatures are quite special! ~ a previously silent lich suddenly called out. "So you were awake! Go ahead, what is special about them?" ~ You could say this soul has an inherent attribute of the mind. That cry was a mental attack and it was able to resist the dragon might. ~ "Their natural willpower must be quite high then since I gained a full point with that one attack." "You gained an attribute point?" One of the things Seth had forgotten to mention was that he had weapons that could strengthen the user''s status. But this was a good turn of events. Willpower was not only the basis of mental strength but also for mental resistance. Well, it made sense, that the higher one''s mental strength, the higher their resistance against mental attacks. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om He lent the other three a demonic weapon each. If they found another one of the monsters Seth would immediately use dragon might and all of them would start hacking at it. Like this, they could increase their WIL until none of them was affected by the mental attacks! Fear quickly subsided in the face of absolute gains. And the creatures of thisnd, who had known no fear until now, were introduced to a cruel reality. The party started to actively search for these sweet pots of permanent improvements. In their eyes, these sickening creatures now looked like the loveliest piggies for ughter they had ever seen. Even Alison became a wild berserker when shing at the creature to draw as much "blood" as possible. Their hunt had several obvious benefits. The first was the strengthening of the party. The second was that most of them dropped umon souls. Which would have been even more awesome if he had not been interrupted by a notification after he collected the second soul. This dampened his mood a little, but he let it go since Samuel had said that there was nothing bad about being watched by gods. The third benefit was that he could study the practical effects of these blood drinker weapons. While Seth gained 0,5 to 1 point of WIL at the start, he soon only gained something every second time and then every third time. Past 80 he hardly gained any more. Tokar was in a simr situation. He also started with around 70 points of willpower and earned less and less the closer he got to 80. The weapon stats did not increase as much. Alison and Link on the other hand kept getting consistent gains, even after almost 20 monsters. This brought Seth to the conclusion that the creatures in this area all had about 80 in willpower and they could no gain anything past that using the enchantment. For the blood drinker enchantment to work the most effective one needed to fight something that was stronger than oneself in a specific area. Unfortunately, they ran out of monsters before the other two could reach that threshold. After 23 monsters they could not find anymore, no matter how hard they looked. Since their prey was hiding, they decided to take a break. The original goal was to find a safe ce.. Unwittingly they had created a safe space on their own. Maybe this week would not be as nerve-wracking as they had expected? Chapter 163 - 163. Not All Who Wander Are Lost The sky started to darken and the bloodthirsty crew decided to carefully enter one of the buildings. As the city outside everything was empty. Empty hallways, empty rooms, empty doorways, everythingcked signs of human presence. The dark vines and growths that covered the walls were the only thing except for the cold stone walls. It just looked manmade, but might have been a natural structure. It was important to stay vignt in such a tight space. If something like the chameleon-thing attacked them, it might be hard to dodge an injury or even a casualty. Night had fallen outside and everything had gone dark. Seth and the gourmet hunter didn''t need light, but Alison cast a magic light for herself, Tekar and Puffles. This was the reason Seth had almost missed a dim light in one of the rooms down a corridor when they came upon a crossroad. He signaled the party to follow him and they slowly went to the room with the dim light. The others could not see this light, but Seth knew exactly what it was. The rest of the party was surprised to find the desated and overgrown skeletal remains of a human. His clothes were dirty and ripped apart but they were recognizable as modern streetwear. At one point this man had worn ck jeans and a white button-up shirt. "This looks really old. He might have died even before the apocalypse." Alison suggested. ~Judging by the state of the remains this corpse is at least one year old. ~ Asserted Al, speaking to everyone this time. "Who said that?" "Was that Al''Zalsa?" Al could talk to everyone? So, she just had fun making him look stupid, talking to himself. Seth just nodded at the party''s questions; he was upied. Above the ribcage of the remain floated a dim blue soul. It was his first time seeing a "degraded" soul. Seth had assumed that there might exist something like this, but... Well, it wasn''t like he went around looking for souls a lot in the past. He was grinding for one and the other reason was, that it did not make sense in a world with dungeons. Dungeons generate anywhere they got a chance to. An old ruin? Dungeon. A big tomb? Dungeon. A giant cave? Dungeon. The problem was that dungeons dissolved any and all corpses in them for sustenance. It made little sense for Seth to go around and look for the souls of fallen heroes or stuff like that. The souls did not automaticallye to him, the reason was: < Quest: Wanderers Request Difficulty: C You have encountered the Lost souls of a wanderer. On the way back home from work, he was spirited away from his world. Desperately he fought to return. He was a normal person without power but managed to survive in this inhospitable dimension for several months trying to return home. Lastly, he lost not only his way but also his life before he could return home to his sister. Will you help the soul? Requirement: Find the sister and make sure of her wellbeing 0/1 Rewards: Restoration of the Lost Soul(small), Lost Soul(small) > A short sob-story clip had shown him a short glimpse of the man''s struggles. Had this happened after the apocalypse...this man could have been among the top few percent. The world was not fair and it became even scarier after finding this dimension... He epted the quest since it was not that hard with his connections. Like before the soul vanished. The party was still caught in their own thoughts and what it meant to have found this corpse in this weird ce. Seth had already gotten a bit numb to their own world''s weirdness after his talk with Simon. Or maybe it was just . Anyway, he crouched down and started looting the corpse and looking for usable stuff. Ripping away the small roots and nts that had grown on the bones he found a wallet and a moldy little notebook. Seth knew his and the sister''s name and looks from the vision, but with the wallet, he had all his personal information. The notebook was a diary that started sometime after he arrived in this world. The vision he had seen was more or less a summary of this book. This person had actually managed to survive in this world, he hunted these creatures with traps to cripple them and then overcame his disgust to cut off and eat their flesh while they were still alive. This guy had survived like that and wandered around the city for months to find a way back. Seth flipped through the pages and skimmed through the text and suddenly stopped at a specific entry. It was one of thest entries... "... Today I saw people in the city. I almost couldn''t believe what I saw. They were three people of unurthly beauty and they rode on giant white horses through the streets. All of them had a halo and seemed to emit light in this disgusting thick fog. Two of them wore luxuriant medieval armor and weapons. The third wore a gorgeous dress and surpassed the other two in beauty. Her fair skin was like porcin and her xen hair like golden threats. I was spellbound and could move as they passed me. They spoke with each other in melodiousnguage and their velvety voices healed my soul. Just thinking back at the encounter warms my heart. I followed them and found that they camp on one of the squares. Maybe they know a way back. I will observe for a bit longer and maybe approach them." Seth had a bad feeling about this. The next few entries were about him observing them and describing them with a flowery vocabry. The second tost entry mentioned that he nned to approach them. Looking at the corpse before him, this encounter probably did not go well... "I feel so weak. I feel so hungry. My skin is... My blood is... I should not have approached them. I don''t think I will survive this. I''m sorry Eeva. Brother won''te home." This was thest entry; written with chaotic handwriting on a page somewhere in-between the empty ones in the back of the notebook. He had a lump in his throat. When he let the others read Link had a simr reaction. Tekar had wet eyes and Alison outright cried a little. N?v(el)B\\jnn They decided to camp in this room tonight. None of them felt awkward because of the skeleton, they all felt like lending this brave man somepany, even so, he was already dead. "We should look for his sister and tell her about his fate," Tekar said resolutely. Link looked confused but Alison nodded approvingly. Without the Quest, Seth might not have agreed with them, but like this, he was happy about the chance of getting some free help. "Sure, I nned to ask the Church to look into it. Maybe I could even ask the SDD about all this." They made a fire and talked a little more while eating some of their rations. They decided to sleep in shifts and Alison went ahead and closed the doorway with a stone wall, an earth spell. The night was uneventful. Except for some unsettling loud thumps in the distance that is. They were more or less well-rested in the morning. There thumps in the distance had be louder. "Seth! You shoulde and see this!" Chapter 164 - 164. The Taller They Are, The Harder They Fall Alison called. She stood at the window and looked outside with a shocked expression. Seth stepped beside her at the window just in time to see a giant leg descent from the thick fog above them. The leg wasparable to a bus in size and covered in a rough carapace. The faded cement-gray color resembled the surrounding building-like structures. It smashed the street''s surface and created a deep crater. Seth stared at the giant crustacean leg. "Alison... this is too big for our cooking pot. Stop being greedy." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "I-I didn''t mean that!" she said blushing. "I know. We should-" He was interrupted by the sound of falling rubble and breaking buildings. They could hear a muffled war cry swelling in the distance. The next moment the thick pir of a leg lifted off the ground and started toppling into the structures on the opposite side of the street. Following from the fog was another leg and somewhere in the fog above them, they could make out the silhouette of a giant knee or joint that stopped lowering somewhere above the buildings. Did whoever owned those legs just...falter? "Maybe we should get some distance..." Everyone nodded and hurriedly left the building running in the opposite direction of the giant legs. They heard another cry and the knees that had floated in the sky crashed to the ground. Standing to the side they watched thendscape get crushed under the falling colossus. Like a previously floating ind, the body came barreling down ttening several apartmentplexes. "I really want to go home..." Tekar mumbled. Everyone nodded in agreement. The creature''s knees had buckled and its shape became vaguely visible. What became visible in the fog was the shape of something like a giant spider or harvestman. They all were twitching in disgust, it really looked like it would harvest one''s soul with just its looks. Alison and Link already had a problem with the small representatives of their kind, imagine seeing a creature like this, but the size of a small mountain. This time they could hear the war cry clearly as a mass of light exploded somewhere above the creature''s body and made it finally crash onto the structures on the ground. Big regret grasped the group''s heart, they would have preferred if this thing had stayed up in the fog... Various tentacles, mandibles, and feelers were still moving vigorously until there were a few more harsh explosions and they started moving slower before going limb. Someone or something had killed this giant. "Let''s leave. I suddenly feel like going back to the hospital." Seth suggested and everyone agreed to evacuate the area. Nobody argued in favor of trying to talk with whoever just killed that thing. Seth thought about whether he would have been able to kill this thing... it was definite maybe. With all the power-ups he had gotten for his fire, he might have been able to turn it into charcoal. On the other hand, he would have rather chosen to cripple it and run away. He could really go without the terrible headache that came with overexerting an ability. "Where are you going?" "Didn''t we just agree to get as far away, from this ce, as possible so we would not meet-" Tekar had started answering when he realized his mistake. Everyone else had frozen in shock. It was not any one of them that had asked the question. Except for the big tank, everyone was staring at a tall figure standing behind them. She had a swanlike neck, long slender limbs, and big almond-shaped eyes. She looked off, but very ethereal and beautiful, only at the cusp of the uncanny valley. If Seth had not already met elves before, he might have mistaken her for one. What calmed down him slightly was that she did not quite fit the people from the diary. She had no halo and her clothes were covered in dirt and a darkish blue ooze. Considering that she took the initiative to talk to them instead of immediately attacking made Seth believe there was a chance of survival. He had no doubt this person was the one that just ended daddy longlegs''s life and had almost blinked right behind them. As such, he put on his best business smile. "Greetings. Is there something you need from us?" Confused at the sudden change in attitude, the new guest made a step back. "What are you doing in this ce? Humans are prohibited here," she said with a serious tone after she adapted to the situation. "Be assured, we do not wish to be here either. Wherever here is, we were pulled here against our will. Could you maybe tell us how we get back to Urth?" "No idea. But this is my first time meeting a human. Are you guys strong? I, the amazon Lyca, challenge you to a duel!" Seth had ck lines on his forehead. They had met a muscle brain... How to disarm a muscle brain? "Oh, I''m sorry, but none of us are fighters that could rival you in strength. We have a tank that can take a beating, but not put up a fight, those two are pure ranged fighters and I''m a cksmith. Really none of us would be a match for an amazon like yourself. I hope a great warrior like yourself won''t take joy in beating up the weak?" She fixated on the four of them for a while and ended up sighing. "I guess you are right. Looking at you people, there is no enjoyable fight to be had with you." The four heaved a sigh of relief. No beating today. "Well, then, take care of yourself." With that, she turned around and attempted to leave. "Ah, one second, please! Didn''t you say humans were prohibited here? And where are we?" Seth asked her before she could leave. It would be very helpful to hear from a person that might actually know... She scratched her head for a moment as if thinking about stuff. "I''m not an enforcer so why would I care about the rule? As for what here is... Nah, too hard to exin. Just make sure to find a way home soon. This ce can be ugly for humans." With that, she vanished. It was not magic or anything, but more like a martial arts movie, when someone is too fast to see their movement. Seth had experienced meeting magical races during his trip to Ora. He was a lot calmer than the rest, despite this being his first Amazoness. "Is it just me feeling aroused?" the gourmet hunter suddenly asked. "What are-?" "Come on! Didn''t you see her? And she''s not just sexy but also really strong. Who doesn''t have a thing for tall strong women? Do you think I would have a chance if-" The look in Alison''s eyes made him shut up. Had she been a witch, Link would have already turned into a cockroach by now. Maybe Seth could buy her a skill scroll with that skill? Before they left, Seth checked on the daddy longlegs, but it had already turned into fog and sludge. The party found a new building to make their base for the next 6 days. Hopefully, Al would be able toe up with a way to return. As the only person that had traveled to a different world before, he was the expert of xenobiology in their group. Excluding the 200 years old sorceress. "Did you ever meet an Amazoness before...are they all this strong?" Alison asked him as they sat around the fire. "No, not really. I met quite a few weird races, but not Amazons. Until today I too, thought they were just myths." "Do you think... all Myths are actually true?" she continued a little shaky. She thought of all the terrifying mythology out there that might prove to be true. Seth thought of the fact that Gods, Demons, and Angels had already started moving, what guarantee was there that not all of the ancient folklore woulde down on them? "Looking at the world, it might be the case." They spend the next 3 days there while asionally hunting the weird monsters of this ce. Although they varied in size and design; their skill sets were all simrly focused on mind attacks. As such, they were no big hurdle, once they were suppressed by . When they encounter creatures like the chameleon Seth would rigorously set the whole building on fire and they would wait outside. This was not just a great way to have a bonfire and get rid of enemies in these narrow environments, it also helped Seth increase his to lv.6. The most valuable that came from these hunts were the umon souls the creature dropped once in a while. It was the fourth day of their stay when they heard the sound of chimes for the streets outside. A small group of people, with gs and chimes like a procession, was traveling along the road.. They looked very clean and unearthly with their head being illuminated by a faint halo. Chapter 165 - 165. Nowhere To Hide The moment he saw this group it was clear to Seth that these were the people mentioned in the diary. He used and signaled the other to do the same. Alison cast a hiding spell on herself and Tekar while Link used a simr skill from the hunter skillset. They did not dare to look out the window and only listened to the sound of the chimes with bated breath. Beside the chimes, they could also hear the clear voices of these passers-by. Like a clear harmony, their idle talk was unaffected by the fog. "There are surprisingly little nightmares in this region" "Someone must have trespassed and hunted them. We should be careful. I heard even a Gaiosk vanished here." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "As if! It''s just a rumor. There is no need to worry if it''s just some human-likest time." "He was weak but surprisingly witty. Good thing he actually approached us first. We might not have been able to get him otherwise." "Oh please. You wouldn''t have gotten him. Not all of usck in detection magic like you." With that, they stopped talking and only the chimes could be heard. They became quieter and quieter until they slowly faded in the distance. A huge weight lifted off the party''s chest. "Maybe we should relocate?" Tekar asked after a while. "No, I think it''s better to stay put. We have not seen those guys in thest 3 days. If they are a regr patrol, we are gone by the next time theye along. We coulde across another patrol if we move now." "I agree with Alison. It''s darkest under thentern. They just came by here and didn''t get suspicious, so this is the safest ce for now." Seth said and even Link nodded. Tekar also agreed to stay after Alison''s exnation. They would stay here like before but refrain from further hunts. Although Seth could get umon souls from these creatures, there was really no need to risk meeting that glowfolk. He already had almost 20 small and 10 medium-sized umon souls. It was enough to experiment with once they got back home. They stayed put in the building for the time being and used the day to rest. Al''Zalsa had already told them, that she had found a way to transport them back to Urth as long as she was summoned, she could warp them back. Apparently, the problem had been easier than she had thought. This was not some twin dimension of sorts, but a hub-world. It was the fog that acted as a medium for the travel between ces that mirrored each other here and in other dimensions. She had given them a simple exnation and it sounded very mystical. Seth remembered some old legends that had simr stuff. Just another two days ofying low and- "Guys, I need your help! She''s severely injured and needs first aid!" On the morning of the sixth day, the gourmet hunter suddenly kicked open their door after he went to scout the vicinity. In his arms, he held the barely conscious and heavily bleeding amazon. "Oh no, you didn''t..." "Please, we have to help her!" he said again and put her on the ground. This guy really had a heavy crush on this slender mythological creature. He endangered their whole party because he had a fantasy boner... The corner of Seth''s eye twitched as he tried not to smite the fool. Alisoncked his iron will and kicked the hunter in the head. Feeling satisfied with that Seth heaved a sigh. It was already toote to put the amazon back on the street now, so he summoned Puffles to heal her. "Th-thank you," Lyca mumbled after her face started to look like a face again and less like something you would get at the meat counter in a supermarket. "Don''t thank me. I would have preferred if that idiot left you wherever he picked you up." Seth said honestly. At this point it didn''t that she could probably wipe them out, someone out there beat her to near death and Seth had no wish to meet those people. Especially since he had a suspicion about who they were. She didn''t get angry and only nodded understandingly. As a warrior, she understood his mindset, especially since they were not very strong. Once her bones were set and the worst wounds were dealt with Puffles took a break. He was very exhausted. The strength difference was just too huge, so it took a lot of effort to heal her. "So, who beat you up?" Seth asked unceremoniously. They needed to be sure, so they could make the right decision. "They call themself the Tuatha de. They are sneaky and dishonest. I asked for a fair duel and the moment we started fighting the people in the audience cast a weird curse on me that suppressed all my power...They all attacked and I could only run away. My power is still not recovered..." she exined depressed She had been fleeing from them for the whole night. She copsed once she finally managed to lose them. The gourmet hunter had found her soon after. "Hmm, but you could have beaten them, if not for the weird magic?" "Easily!" The party held a meeting about what to do. It had not been long since Lyca managed to lose the glowfolk. They would definitely search the area. It was best to leave immediately. But the actual question was whether they couldpletely lose those pursuers. "Hmm, leave it to me. I have a great idea how to cover all our traces," he said with a meaningful smile. After the amazon drank an HP potion and rested a little, she was able to walk again. The party was ready to leave and watched Seth''s actions with great interest. He had really wanted to do this for a long time. It had been like an itch; Seth had really held back every time they smoked out a building. He summoned the furnace, fired it up until the pale mes red like a jet me, and then kicked it over. All the tiny roots, vines, and disgustingly fleshy veins that covered everything in this ce caught fire like tinder. "Okay. Let''s hurry before we get surrounded by the fire." It was a race against the fire that was spreading all across the structures around them. With Lyca''s directions, they managed to leave the pseudo-city. Only after leaving the danger zone, did they dare to turn around and look. The rising heat dispelled the thick fog that nketed the world and revealed a terrifying sight. Once again, the pale fire covered a whole cityscape in an eerie inferno! The gods were still peeping on him even here... Now, his mood was gone, but the title''s effect was really good! At least he was not the only one who was spellbound by the scenery, the whole party was staring into the fire. Lastly, Seth summoned and de-summoned the furnace. Now there were no races of the left. Except for the raging fire... but nobody could prove that they started it. Seth pped his hand to bring them back to the present. "Let''s leave. We wouldn''t want to meet some medium-rare and angry glowpeople, right?" Everyone hesitatingly nodded and turned away from the burning city. They walked across a dead wastnd covered in fog.. Seth''s only worry was that they needed to return if they wanted to get back home. Chapter 166 - 166. Chase "Where did this firee from?" he pressed out between clenched teeth. "Stop talking and concentrate on stabilizing the shield." the other reprimanded him. The patrol had split up in search of the amazon that had intruded. The two had been looking for traces and found a burned-out building they were investigating when the sudden wave of fire swallowed the pirs of stone. The incredible heat singed their hair even with the shield they were painstakingly maintaining together. These two were still lucky to have entered an already burned-out building, so they only had to withstand a fracture of the fire''s heat. Who knew what happened to the rest of their team? The fire washed past them in a matter of minutes after which they broke down in exhaustion. After the shield was gone hot air rushed at them, it was almost too hot to breathe. looking out the window it was the first time they saw this ce without thick fog. Instead, the cityscape was twisted with heat res and filled with the crackling of heated stone. Had the firested longer, maybe all these structures would have broken apart. "Just...what was that?" he said gasping. "I don''t know, but someone must have set this off. Maybe the amazon?" "Or whoever burned off the world roots in this building beforehand." "Another intruder?" "Probably... We should go look for the others if there are still others." -------- The party stayed close to the road that led away from the city. There was not much more they could do if they did not want to lose their way in the fog. Seth approached Tekar who was walking in the front- "Tekar, take this. Just in case we have to confront them at some point." Seth brought out an armor box. Tekar''s eyes shone with a bright light when his eyes well on the contents. "Are you sure you want to give me this?" "I will lend it to you. It would suck if your tank dies because of crappy armor. Also... it''s the only full suit I have that can change its size." "You are really strong. Are you really just a cksmith?" Lyca asked, approaching them from behind. The phrase "Just a cksmith" irked Seth somehow. Seth thought of Tored''s power. "What makes you think I am not just a cksmith?" The dwarf had easily handled Seth even when he started using the fire aura in the sparring sessions. "cksmiths can be really terrifying, you know?" Lyca''s eyes widened. "Really? " ~Oh yeah. I once heard of a very terrifying cksmith. His deeds were a nightmare story for young nobles. ~ The amazon''s eyes widened like a deer in the heamps when Al in her astral form joined the conversation. "Oh, do tell." Seth was also interested. They had long left the city and slowed down considerably. The rest of the party also sharpened their ears to listen to their idle talk. ~Hmm, okay then. The smith was called Went. In his youth, his vige was raided and he had to flee into the mountains. After the death of all his rtives and the vige burned down, he could only try to survive in the mountains. When he was almost starved to death, he was found by a dwarven woman, who was kind enough to adopt him. He was allowed to live among the dwarfs, where he learned his craft from a divine dwarven grandmaster cksmith. He had a great talent and soon had learned everything the master was willing to teach. Now he was an adult and knew a craft. It was time for him to leave and join his own people. He made a name for himself as a great cksmith and soon got the attention of a King. He was invited to his castle andmissioned with the production of a legendary sword. In the night the king''s men assaulted him in his sleep and cut the tendons in his knee pits. Like this, he would never be able to run or jump again. It was the idea of the Queen, to make sure that they would never lose such a good cksmith. Locked into the smithy Went was left with no choice but to make the sword for the king, but secretly he nned his revenge. With the kingdom''s resources, he made a sword of iparable power. Using a simple trick, he then switched it with a weaker de he delivered to the king. The vain king could not discern the difference and was very happy, granting more freedom to the cksmith. He used the new freedom to seduce the king''s daughter behind his back. When the king asked for two new luxuriant cups, he slew the king''s two young sons and fashioned a pair of sublime golden chalices from their skulls, which he delivered to the oblivious king and queen. After drinking from the skulls of their own family the couple was cursed by the gods and soon died a painful death from illness. Now only the Princess and Want''s unborn Son were left to inherit the kingdom. The moral of the story is to never underestimate a cksmith, even if he is weak or crippled even. ~ The party was not too shocked by the story. They were used to modern horror, so the story was still somewhat mild. But the amazon became pale like a ghost when the lich talked about the parents drinking from their children''s skulls. She slowly nodded when Al summarized the moral. "Yes, I understand. Just like God Hephaistos, even if he isme and ugly, it never bodes well to underestimate him. So it was because he is a cksmith." Seth nodded approvingly, while the rest of the party could not quite understand this jump in logic there. "Thank you for enlightening me. My seniors always said cksmiths were weak and not worth an amazon''s attention, but they were simply ignorant." "By the way, are you talking about the Olympian god Hephaistos?" Theta, a district covering a warm subcontinent was the origin of this mythology on Urth. Although that region was now overrun by monsters, thetian mythology was actually quite popr in Urth. Although, no one knew where exactly Mount Olympus was supposed to be on Urth. Since she knew Hephaistos, were they really like those mythological amazons? They kept talking for a little while and Seth got the impression that they were a race of muscle brains. They looked down on the use of weapons and armors and instead trained their bodies to an unfathomable level. They sounded like they were body cultivators, but in their case, it was a racial trait. They had no mystical technique that could be exined and learned. The party joined their talk and soon they also started about their home and the system. "The Pathworks? They are actually quite a fun way to discover new ces," she stated happily. She was not part of the system, so she, unfortunately, had no helpful tips or tricks to cheese the system. From her point of view, the pathworks were portals that would bring you to a random world. Without the guidance of the system god, a targeted journey was impossible. The party told the interested amazon about all the changes that had happened to their world and the system, that suddenly gave the magical powers and Lyca listened with a bright sparkle in her eyes. "Maybe I should visit your world at some point in the future. It sounds really interesting." "You coulde with us, once Al brings us back!" Alison suggested enthusiastically grabbing the amazon''s arm. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "No, once you guys are safe, I will return to my own world and recover. I might seem quite free, but I actually have duties to fulfill, you know?" She had gotten them into this mess and she was responsible enough to stay and help in case something happened. They kept moving for the whole day and finally camped out beside the street.. Tomorrow the Token''s cooldown would end and they could return home. Chapter 167 - 167. Foggy Night A ghoulish chime gave the gourmet hunter who stood guard goosebumps. It also woke the rest of the party resting around the burned-down campfire. A group of will-o''-the wisp lit up in the fog surrounding them. "Ignes fatui..." the amazon mumbled with shock on her face. The ghoulish chime rang from the ball of light floating in the fog. Their pursuers had caught up with them. Everyone got ready to fight. Alison cast a buff on everyone while Seth and Tekar wore their armors. Tekar wore an intimidating ck suit of armor, the dark knight-set Seth had given him the other day. One had to admit that it looked even fiercer on the hulking giant that was Tekar. Seth really wanted to give him a giant sword or halberd now... and then kick him off a ledge. Cancel thest bit. "There is no escape for you, Trespassers!" Bright shes of magic shot at them from 3 different directions. "Evade it! That''s the magic that weakened me!" Lyca warned in a panic Puffles summoned a shield to block all 3 attacks, but when they hit the barrier Seth got a notification. "Seriously!? Puffles get back in the pet space. Take care everyone, the curse also hits you if you block it-" The moment Puffles shield was gone, another three shes shot at them from three other directions. Everyone hurried to evade after Seth''s warning. Were there six enemies? Or did they change positions to confuse them? The fog was simply too thick to see. "Alison, can you do something about this?" Seth asked the all-elements wizard. "I''m on it!" she barked and concentrated on chanting. "Tekar, Link, you guys protect her, I will try something else." So what if he could not see the enemy? As long as he got the general direction, his bow could do the rest! With that thought, he brought out the upgraded cursed bow and started shooting arrows in the directions where the curses came from. Unfortunately, there was no sound in the fog, except for the unnerving chimes. Seth had no clues as to whether he hit someone or not. He had more than 200 basic arrows, he just kept shooting. As long as he hit, the curse might do the rest. It also distracted the glowpeople from casting their curses even if he did not hit them. After another wave of curses where Tekar was almost hit, Alison cast a wind st that forcefully pushed back the fog wall revealing 4 figures stumbling from the sudden push. Four? With a quick scan, Seth saw two figures winding in pain on the ground. He had hit someone! And there really were six. At least they didn''t look as glowy anymore. Their glorious long manes of hair had burned away in the heat of the burning city; they were all bald. Together with some of them still having terrible burn marks and ripped clothes. They looked like some ouw raiders... The four left looked at their fallenrades that were suffering from necrotizing arrow wounds. They knew that theirrades had been hit but could not ascertain their situation in the fog. "Now you''ve done it! You will die here!" one of them shouted angrily and stormed at them, pulling a slender sword made from some kind of clear crystal straight out of the air. As if he formed it from the fog. The others did the same and rushed them. Although Tekar had no taunting skills, the Dark Knight armor worked just fine. These people were too strong to get the debuff, but they were provoked by the armor''s effect. 2 Were rushing at Tekar while Seth and the gourmet hunter took on one each. Link had no skills to end his attacker, but he was able to keep him upied by using traps. Seth blocked the crystal sword with the wyvern shield and the tremendous force that hit the shield. The shield was still impable, but She lost some health from the force. "Dragonmight!" "Urgh!" the eyes of the dragon face on the shield lit up and all the glowpeople suddenly stopped and crouched down a little, as if lifting a heavyweight on their shoulders. The amazon was not much better off, as she was not part of their party. "What is thi-" Seth did not miss his chance and hacked away at the confused attacker in front of him. The sharp de of the Kriegsmesser made from wyvern tooth easily split the head in two, from crown to neck. The other tuatha de looked shocked in their direction, seeing one of them actually dying. These people were strong. They had high physical strength and were probably even better with magic. But they wore no armor and could ultimately not withstand the power of Seth''s weapon with just their physical bodies. Their mistake was that they had simply underestimated them for being humans. They had not expected a bunch of yers. Link and Tekar had also managed to injure their opponents using the moment of surprise, but they did not manage to take a life. But now that the cksmith was free to join them, it was different. Seth had no scruples about dashing into the fight when he saw a chance and striking down the enemy from behind. Others might have called this cowardly, but who would dare to say it to his face after watching him unhesitatingly split a person in two from behind? Alison blew another one away with a zewave after he got stuck in one of the hunter''s traps. Just as Seth attempted to strike down thest one standing, an unexpected curse came flying in his direction. Lyca finally showed her worth and pulled Seth out of the line of fire at thest moment. It was the attack of one of the arrow victims who had justy on the ground until now. The other one was frantically chanting something as a purple magic formation grew below him. ~ Quick stop him! He''s opening some kind of passage!~ Before anyone else got to the man lying on the ground, he was silenced by the gourmet hunter''s arrow that thrust in his throat. ~You have to get away from here. Although he did not manage to open the passage, the other side should have received the coordinates!~ Seth sighed. There were really no breaks. But there was something he had to do first. Check his spoils. N?v(el)B\\jnn The six tuatha de had dropped 3 big souls. What a great haul! Seth looked for their weapons or armor, but they had nothing on them, so he incinerated the corpses before the party fled. This time they followed the road back to the, now burned-out, city. There were only a few hours left on the cooldown. Once they summoned Al there was no need to worry anymore. Even if their pursuers found them before they returned. The sorceress asserted that she could easily wipe the floor with these people. They rand for their dear life all the way back to the city and hid in one of the empty charred buildings. They went all the way to the top floor where they finally broke down in exhaustion. Seth gave everyone a small stamina potion to help recover. If their pursuers found them, it would be best to be in top form. And so, they waited. Being on the rooftop it was as if they stood on a tiny ind in a silent ocean of fog. They were strung to the breaking point as they listened into the fog for the most minutes noises and changes in the idly blowing wind. The wait was the worst. And for hours, they waited. With bloodshot eyes, they finally heard a distant chime. They heard the chime for another hour as it became louder and quieter. Until it sounded clear and close as if those people had stopped right before the building below them. "Cool down is up. Let''s go, let''s go!" Seth suddenly broke the solemn atmosphere and summoned the spicy sorceress. Al''Zalsa made a few erratic gestured with her hands and chanted. A purple magic formation, simr to the one the enemy had cast, appeared below her feet and the fog in front of her started coagting into a dull gray mirror. "This is the portal. Just go through it," she told them. "I guess this is goodbye then?" Lyca said with a smile. The amazon had made it clear that she would go to her own home, once she knew they were safe. Now, she summoned a simr portal using an item and vanished in her own dull mirror. After the amazon had left the party also hurried into the portal the sorceress had created. When only Seth was left, she stopped him. "Are you sure I shouldn''t just wipe those guys out?" "Can you like, leave them a present?" They both smiled and left after the sorceress left the "present". Chapter 168 - 168. What Are You Doing Here? "What are you doing here?" Three people said in sync. They were seated around a small round coffee table in a tiny but cozy study. One of them looked haggard and pale with a beard and hair so dense and ck it made him look even paler. But nothing could hide his handsomeness and the fascinating attraction that radiated from his deep dark eyes. "Once again we are aiming for the same man, Nephew" he spoke to one of the two others. This man''s build was also slim, but his bare arms bulged with hardened muscle. His face too was covered in a beard. It was a dark reddish-brown like the light of embers shining on soot. His face was normal, but the big crooked nose and wild beard gave him a rough and unattractive look. The man sighed. "Uncle, howe we always choose the same one? Can''t you look for people among other professions...?" They were interrupted by the third man. "It''s great that you two have a family reunion, but can you have that somewhere else and leave him to me?" He had a long handsome face with a dark goatee and a big toothy grin. He wore a thin sleeveless white linen coat and beige wide trousers. His clothes revealed his broad muscr body that was honed by battle and covered in scars. His wild mane of ck long hair was tamed in two triangr topknots that stood up at the back of his head. His eyes focusing the other two were two intimidating empty holes that spoke of war and destruction. "Oh, please. Stop the parlor tricks. You won''t impress anyone with that." said the haggard one with a voice so cold it made the other shudder. "I see you are having fun! Let me join!" said a joyful voice. A fourth person had entered the room and just closed the door behind himself. This person was very different from the others. The neer wore a blue robe with all kinds of chaotically scribbled yellow stars on it. He also wore a matching cone-shaped hat. On the robe fell a long snow-white beard that almost touched the ground. It was tucked behind a broad leather belt. When he turned his face towards them there was...nothing. It was like the featureless face of a mannequin made of polished ck marble. This was the System God and host of this little get-together. The tree guests froze from the sudden appearance of the host. "You don''t seem to be up for fun anymore..." he said a little disappointed. From somewhere in his endless wizard robe he pulled out amon clipboard and pencil. "Then should we start with business? After all, I AM a very busy person, you know. I recently found a really funny guy to watch on the northeast of Urth. Ah, anyways. You guys were invited here because all of you im patronage of... wait a minute" he moved the pencil as if searching for something on the clipboard. "The cksmith Tim Thornhammir, yes?" he looked up questioning. "Not? Oh, my fault, my fault. Wrong cksmith with a ridiculous name. Here he is Seth Smith. And you want the system to rule in this case." The system god sat down on the table and a tiny espresso cup appeared before everyone. "Then tell me your ims and we will see who ims the exclusive streaming rights- I mean patronage. Let''s start to my left and go clockwise, yes?" The man with the ember beard stood up to speak, as he sat directly left to the System God. "He is a cksmith through and through. As the god of cksmiths, I, Hephaistos, want to take him as my champion on Urth. I think this is more than enough justification." The system god nodded at him as a sign that he heard him and that he could sit back down. Next, he looked at the haggard man. He did not stand up to speak, like his nephew. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "He inherited the ss of one of my previous champions. His abilities dabble in my jurisdiction. I don''t think it is appropriate for him to have the powers, without being my chosen champion. As such I demand exclusive streaming rights- I mean patronage of this man." he had kept a cool atmosphere that was broken when he identally spoke his thoughts. "kekeke. You pretentious people."stly the burly man spoke, he also did not bother to stand up to speak. "Nobody has more justification than me! He carries my name! Since ancient times this is an act of asking for my powers. His fighting style fits me, too. He''s ruthless and takes any chance without being hindered by useless chivalry. And the way he uses fire, merciless like the desert sun. And I also have some power over ores, so he is totally mine. Stop arguing with me already." The System God nodded with crossed arms after hearing all of their ims. "Except for Seth, all your ims are valid." "Hey! You are being biased! He carries my name, doesn''t he! By ancients right, he is one of mine! It''s a rule!" Suddenly the room became dark and the System God''s presence swelled by several tens of times. "I AM the System God, I AM the RULES." then he returned back to normal. "Got it? Your objections have been heard. I have made a decision." even so the face was featureless, they could hear the god''s smirk. "You three will share the streaming rights and neither of you will be his full patron. Each of you will give him a blessing outside of your realm of expertise. It can''t be part of your main aspect. On the other hand, you are allowed to keep your right of choosing an additional personal champion." "A Champion can be shared?" Hephaistos asked doubtfully "Did I stutter? I am the rules. He can be shared if I say so. It will also be fun to see you three share the streaming rights." And just like this, it was decided, that Seth would not be the champion of one God, but gain blessings from three different ones. The system God stayed seated as the other three grumbling gods stood up and left the room. They needed toe up with a way to share the rights and what kind of blessing they were to give Seth. Why had the System God made this kind of decision? He brought up the clipboard, which had turned into a tablet pc and showed the scene of Seth and his party returning to Y City. This god had also watched Seth once in a while. He even "helped" him once. The simple reason for his decision was, that it was much more interesting this way. He had no idea what blessing these three would give Seth, but it would definitely be funny since they had to bless him with something not part of their direct authority. Otherwise, the god would have had an easy time foreseeing Seth''s future path. As the champion of Hephaistos, he would have started making mind-blowing weapons and probably created an army of automatons. This was still a possibility, so this blessing might have been redundant and just saved him some time. As the champion of Hades, he would probably have concentrated on the aspects of the afterworld. Maybe he would have chosen to be a necromancer and revive demigods as soldiers or stuff like that. With Seth''s blessing... he would have probably turned into a crazy but very charismatic warlord. But now, the possibilities were endless.. The System God watched in excitement. Chapter 169 - 169. Taking A Break The party stumbled out of the gate and stood on a dark street in the middle of the city. The street was empty and the night was quiet. Not ghostly quiet, but the quiet of a big city. It was... soothing. Even if it was empty and dark, they could feel the city breathing, the presence of people, and the small sound and background noise that assured them, that they were not alone in the world. Link knelt on the ground and kissed the boardwalk''s concrete with tears in his eyes. Despite ying tough most of the time, this trip had hit him harder than it seemed. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Seth, here take it back." It was Tekar, who was trying to return the Dark Knight Armor. "Keep it until I made you something better," Seth told him tiredly. Although they were all in a terrible condition and tired to the bones, this unexpected trip had really welded them together into a party. Seth decided to make their equipment wholeheartedly, no strings attached. Well, they still had to pay for it. But did working it off with their bodies really count? "T-thank you," Tekar said touched. He had felt really powerful wearing this armor. "Okay guy, you should all return home for now. I am in favor of taking a good long break after this nightmare." A tired "yay~" came from the party members who split up and scuffed away. "Didn''t you forget something...?" said the one member still with him. "Al... Can we please not do this? I''m really tired." "This just means you can''t resist!" she answered with a spark in her eyes. Sheughed in the next moment seeing Seth''s wronged face. "Just gimme money and I will go plunder a restaurant or something. I won''t force you... today." Seth hurriedly shoved a bundle of bills in her arms and ran off towards the system church. The sorceress would simply vanish once her time was up, so it was no problem for them to split up. The encounter with the 200-year-old predator gave him the adrenaline rush he needed to get back to the church. The night staff looked at him with wide eyes when he suddenly stumbled into the foyer. He used a church token to use the magically enhanced elevator to his apartment. He had been gone for quite some time and there were people that probably wanted answers, but Seth did not care. He really just wanted to hug the pillow and not wake up for another week. It was not a full week but he kept doing nothing but sleep, eat, and poop for the next three days. After the first day, he finally told Samuel what had happened. The priest looked concerned when he heard about the foggy world. He assured Seth he would inform the guild about the Third Hospital. Seth also asked the church to look for the sister of the corpse they had found. Then he stopped caring about the world for the next two days. After replenishing his energies Seth thought about the next steps. He warmed up with some generic armors for the next auctions. After giving away the knight''s armor he needed gloves or gauntlets, pauldrons, greaves, and boots toplete his armor again. Originally, he nned to make the boots with the white bull hide but he was uncertain now that he knew, that the material bore the curse. He was lucky the first time but he might not be as lucky the second time. For the gloves, he needed to write N?del, or find a tailor on Urth. He hoped to get another boost on his firepower with a glove of as the base. Seth had decided to specialize a little more on his , since it was his only special attack skill. Seth sighed and put away a finished umon breastte. He simplycked the thing he could have had easy ess to in Ora. Did he really have to relocate to Delta, so he could get regr ess to the auction house? He had heard that the road there had be rather dangerous and cumbersome after the apocalypse. Before there had been many roads and railroad lines that connected Delta, Ypsilon, and Beta through awork of tunnels in the extensive mountain range. Thiswork had be unusable. People trying to traverse them had simply vanished. The only usable routes were those that led across the surface of the mountains. Side roads, maintenance ways, and ancient dpidated trade routes. On top came the monsters that had appeared in the mountains and made them their home. They did not bother to leave the mountains but they didn''t say no to prey that visited them in their territory. Reports of mutated eagles, tribes of orcs and mountain trolls, the yeti so on and so forth all kinds of wild stories were circted and many were rue,ing from the mailman that was responsible for the sparsemunication between the districts. To sum it up, the journey was not veryfortable and Seth knew from experience that traveling across mountains was not really his thing. epting that he currentlycked the things for the stuff he really wanted to make, he opted for a set of rare equipment made from and as substitutes. They were also a good test for the new souls he had acquired. They were all umon and seemed to have an effect rted to the mind. He only knew the full potential after using them a little. First, he made a gauntlet using a medium-sized soul from the monsters. Just infusing the soul already brought 2 special effects that would have counted asplicated enchantments if he had to engrave them on the item. That was ignoring the fact that he did not even know the circuit for those. Looking at the effect of these souls gave Seth a good idea for Tekar''s items. With these souls, there was the possibility to turn their "useless" tank in one terrifying weapon of crowd control. Thinking of the equipment for his party was a wee distraction at this point. For Alison... Seth was no tailor but he still had his padded jacket made of . Maybe he could ask Al''Zalsa to enchant it for him. If not, he could still infuse one of the new souls into it. And for the Gourmet Hunter... Seth bet that Link would appreciate a cooking knife made of mithril! Jokes aside, Seth wanted to talk with the hunter before deciding. Right now, Link was using a bow but maybe Seth could convince him to change to a crossbow? Using the and these new souls he might be able to create a wicked crossbow. After a quick tangent, Seth ended up thinking about his own equipment again. There was another kind of soul he needed to check; the ones dropped by the Tuatha de. Big and umon meant they had an effect and gave somewhere around 1000 mana. Seth made a gauntlet from and infused one of the big souls into it. Seth was shocked by the effects of the soul. Those glowpeople must have been the born magic users! And this was just the effect an umon soul, what could a rare soul from them do? This reminded Seth of a thought he had a long while back, could he upgrade the rating of souls by fusing them? Back then he could only try withmon souls, but now he had a whole bunch of umon souls. Even if they did not upgrade wouldn''t their effects grow stronger if he fused the same kinds of umon souls? Chapter 170 - 170.Strength Of A Soul Seth had 17 small umon souls and 302mon small souls. It was enough for experimenting a little. First Seth made an item with a small umon soul to see what its effects were after infusion. The effects were simr to that of the medium-sized soul but much weaker, giving 5% resistance to mind-based status effects and a 5% chance to cause the mind disruption effect. Next, he used 13mon souls to upgrade a small umon soul into a medium-sized one. When he made another gauntlet with this soul, he found that the effects could notpare to the one that had originally dropped as a medium-sized soul. The new only gave 15% resistance and a 23% chance to trigger the mind disruption. Seth had a theory, so he tried fusing some of the small umon souls into the new . He could observe the effect strengthening further with each soul until it even surpassed the previous one after he infused 2 more umon souls. He guessed that just usingmon souls to bolster umon ones would have a limited effect. After some point it might end up just diluting the soul and weakening the effect... but what about the resentful soul in his bow? It had just kept getting stronger, despite him usingmon souls to bolster it. Or had he been weakening it? He was brooding over this when he remembered that he had an expert for this with him! "Diluting a soul? That sounds dumb... You are looking at this a little too simple. All Souls differ and I presume these effects that you can infuse using the souls are the properties inherited from the individuals they once were. There are stronger and weaker beings out there. There is no diluting, it''s simply that there is a limit to the properties one soul can have. You can also see that in how your skill rates them. It''s still just a soul, despite being rated umon. On the other hand, you have stuff like your loyal soul." Seth understood. Even with all the resources in the world, a simple man would not be an Immortal. But a genius will keep growing the more resources you feed them. Special souls like the resentful or the loyal soul were geniuses. They would just keep powering up, the bigger they became. As for those that were not geniuses... Seth was sure he was on the right track. Even if they could not be immortals, they could rival them with the strength of numbers. If he just kept fusing together umon souls, maybe they would turn into a rare one. And so, he started fusing together the small umon souls. His will wavered after the fifth soul, but he kept going. But the soul had not upgraded, even after he had fused together all 12 souls he had left. At this point, did it still matter? Seth extracted the small soul from the item and fused it, too. Then he fused the result into the gauntlet with the medium-sized soul he had made. No upgrade. 17 souls. He had just merged 17 umon souls into one but there was no visible change... B-But its potential had to be amazing, right? There was no way, this was not amazing, right? The upper limit had to be extreme, right? To save his efforts, Seth fell into a frenzy of fusing smallmon souls into it to power up the item effect. Considering it was a steel gauntlet, to begin with, its performance had greatly risen after the infusion of almost 60 small souls and the effects of the soul were almost double that of the simple medium-sized one, but... this was simply a waste of resources. Seth admitted it with tears in his eyes. Considering how many items he could have made by just strengthening the individual souls...The simple man had disappointed him! Even in numbers, they could notpare to a genius. The genius! Seth''s eyes lit up. This was the only way he could cover his losses. The experiment was not over yet. He extracted the soul from the gauntlet and repaired it with 3 more small souls. And then he started infusing medium-sized souls until it became a "Alright, let''s see what will happen." He brought out the . The resentful soul was still rated umon, even after bing big. Maybe it would make a growth spurt after injecting it with a whole dose of other umon souls. Even if it did not, just adding the mind disruption on top of the curse would be terrifying. When Seth started infusing the soul into the bow it was the first time, he felt a resistance during a soul infusion. He could not simply push the soul in and have them fuse like before. He did not understand the theory of what Al hat told him but if souls were like people, there was probably a rate ofpatibility. That was what it felt like to him. Seth had to be the matchmaker then. He had to bring these two strangers together and make them one. "Call me Dr. Love, here we go," he mumbled and felt weird to think this way about the souls of a woman and a tentacle monster...He overcame this numb feeling in his stomach, shrugged, and continued. Merging the souls was like solving a puzzle blindfolded. He had to try and mix and see what fit and stuck. It cost a huge amount of mental energy and Seth could feel the sweat running down his face. His sense of time was long lost. Finally- has leveled up!> n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He seeded. With great relief, he took a step back and looked at the upgraded bow. These were the effects and he had not evene up with what enchantments he wanted to add on top of it. The effect of Mind Decay was literally to slowly have the mind of the target rot away. This was the description when he looked at the system window. He had no idea how far this effect would go, but it sounded quite terrifying. The basic attributes of the bow had also gained a boost. After fusing two big souls, there was also finally some mana left over. A loud noise echoes through the room. His stomach signaled to him, that it was time for food. He took a deep breath and stored the bow away before leaving his apartment. Chapter 171 - 171.Some Peace A scrumptious meal and this sess alleviated Seth''s mood enough that he was ready to deal with the less fun stuff in life: human interaction. He sat down and wrote not only a letter to N?del, consulting about the gloves, he also wrote one to Tored to confront him with the fact, that the leather was, in fact, cursed. He had calmed down enough, and doubted that Tored would knowingly harm him. Maybe someone had even tried to harm Tored with this leather. Something this underhanded was not the style of dwarves, so who would pull off something like that? It was not Seth''s ce to get involved anymore, but he wrote to Tored to inform him at least. It was also a good excuse to never pay for the surplus materials he took from the dwarf! Maybe he should extort some more from his master... No, it was ok. He also answered the letter of little Rena he had saved during his time on the airship. What concerned him a little, as he thought about his correspondence, was that there was no letter from Fin or the party. He hoped they were doing okay. It would be a shame if he managed to build a ce for them here and they ended up lost in some dungeon or battlefield. Next was Samuel. He wanted to talk to him about the next auction and about the quest he had picked up. Seth had left looking for the sister to the church while he waszing around- recuperating from his arduous adventure. When She left his room, he came across two moderately cute girls that were happily chatting with each other as they walked down the hallway. "Mary, Jane!" he called out to the two employees he had picked up. "Seth, you are finally up?" Jane asked him surprised. They had not seen their Mast- Employer for almost 2 weeks. Mary kept a little in the back, still a little shy. "haha, yeah. I neglected you guys a little recently, haven''t I?" "Oh! Please don''t worry about it. Life here is very quiet and enjoyable. There is not much more we could wish for." Seth nodded satisfied. "What are you guys up to?" "We were going to grab some food. Want toe along?" How could Seth say no to food? He had eaten not long ago? . How could Seth say no to food? That was why Seth made a detour and spent some time with his employees at the church canteen before looking for Samuel. He knocked on a big door at one of the top floors of the church building. It had been the office of some bigshot CEO at one point as far as Seth had heard. He waited for Samuel to invite him in before he stepped into the enormous office. It was very minimalistic with lots of empty space and a tiny looking desk before a giant window in the back. "Seth? Take a seat. Would you like some tea?" Seth sat down opposite of Samuel and epted the tea gratefully. They started off talking about the next auction. Instead of just one kind of weapon they would offer a few different kinds and 2 suits of armor. The reception of thest auction had been great and they were expecting almost double the number of people toe during the next one. Seth used the opportunity toin a little about the church''s ability to get materials. It really wasn''t that they could not get his stuff, it was that they were penny pinchers, so they took their sweet time to get his stuff somewhere at a cheap price and rip him off with the price it would have in the auction. Samuel acted apologetically, but he did not make any promises to correct their way. He was a sly old man. Once they were done deciding about the contents of the next auction, Seth came to thest reason he came for. "Did you find her?" he asked about the sister, Evee. They had not found her yet. From what the church had originally found out from the government documents she was a 17-year-old by now and once lived with her brother in Mibo, a satellite city close to Y-City. After her brother vanished, she went to live with her aunt in Arigiri, another satellite city at the coast where Y-City''s big river entered the greatke and then the ocean. That''s where the lead broke off since this satellite city was overrun by the merpeople in the early days of the apocalypse. There were no more records of her afterward. Which was mostly that the leadership was still recovering even now. There were more pressing matters than thoroughly registering all kinds of refugees. So, even if that city where she was supposed to be was overrun, she was not necessarily dead. Many people died back then, but many also managed to escape. There actually was a good chance that she managed to escape. Samuel already sent people to look for refugees from that area and see, whether people knew of what happened to her. This was all they could do for now. If this led to nothing, they would have to hire a diviner to find her whereabouts, if she was alive. Seth sighed. "Samuel, you seem to forget: I am the one paying. Get a diviner to do some work right now. Who knows, she might be dead, by the time you slowpokes find a clue." The world was in constant change, the life of a random teen could end any day with simple bad luck. It was not Seth being a concerned adult. He wanted the quest reward. After his recent experiment, the "Wanderer''s Soul" became much more valuable. It had a descriptor, this meant it was a "genius". These were the souls with the potential to stay with Seth until the end. Of course, their specific abilities mattered, but in the end, it depended on Seth and how he was able to utilize them. But to utilize them he needed to get his hands on them. So, he needed the girl alive and well. Samuel nodded. "Alright, I will call for a diviner to look for the girl." "Great!" It would take a few days to get a professional diviner toe to Urth, so Seth had time on his hands. Seth decided to finish the items for the auction and for his party. This way they could soon start dungeon diving and leveling like crazy. He sent a messenger to them to invite them for a meeting, where he could finalize their item wishes. Until then, he made the auction items and things he definitely wanted to make. He recreated the and the using , and the smithing bad that would be able to reflect part of the damage and went with t attribute increases when it came to the enchantments. Both came out as epic. < Mind Gauntlet Epic Damage: 280 Phys. Def: 415 Mag. Def: 285 Durability: 2000 1.+10% Mana regeneration in Darkness 2.+20% Resistance to negative status effects (Mind) 3. 35% chance to cause mental disruption on hit (Effects: Stun/Confusion) 4. +35 Strength 5. +35 Dex 6. 20% of the received damage will be reflected to the attacker. A gauntlet made by Journeyman Smith and imbued with peculiar effects using special means.> They looked like the opposite to the items of the Dark Knight set as they had a silver color with dark elements and designs on them. Seth created a pair of boots and greaves in a simr style, but he refrained from using souls on them. With the Wyvern Armor''s scale skirt going way past his knee, he did not really fear someone attacking his feet. Even if he could extract souls, they would still be slightly damaged and needed to be repaired with other souls. He rather saved the souls for other things. He had already splurged a little on the two gauntlets. When he looked out the window, he found that it was already dark outside. He decided this much was enough and went to sleep.. His party woulde early tomorrow for the meeting. Chapter 172 - 172. Some Peace (2) The next morning, he was woken by the bright sunlight. He was d to live at the church right now since he could simply visit the canteen and eat as much as he wanted. Late morning, when he was done with his breakfast, the party members started to slowly arrive and sat down with him at his table. Mary and Jane also joined when they saw the group sitting around Seth. He nned to work with all of them in the future, so he was happy that they got along without any problems. After breakfast, they went back into that meeting room, where they had first met. "I asked you all toe by because I wanted to talk about your equipment. We already spent some time with each other in something others might call a Life or Death situation. I got a rough idea, but I did not want to ignore your preferences." "I actually really like this dark knight set." Tekar was the first who spoke up. He was scratching his cheek embarrassed. He was sure that asking for this full set of rare armor was too much, but maybe Seth could make him something simr? But Seth just sat there and nodded while thinking. He had already nned to leave the set to Tekar, simply because it was not as useful if the full set could not be worn. "That''s good, then I only need to make you a better weapon and shield. Actually, I had an interesting idea. You don''t have any good sword skills or something like that right?" The big man blushed and nodded. He barely managed to gain lv.1. "How about we focus on your ss''s advantages and you use 2 shields? Since you can''t deal much damage no matter what, let''s max out your defensive power. We have others for the damage." Tekar nodded relieved. He had also thought of this in the very beginning, but since hecked any kind of taunt skills, he had to use a weapon to provoke monsters. It was different with Seth around. He could simply make items, that fit him and fixed this weakness. Listening to their conversation gave Alison the courage to also speak up. "I-I know a cksmith is probably not versed in making stuff like robes or hats, but could you maybe make me essories that buff agility and casting speed? I finally managed to learn yesterday, which allows me to move while chanting. But my agility is... nonexistent." This surprised Seth. She exined that she had tried hard thest few days because of the experiences in their week together. She had used her skill points to level up her chanting and ended up gaining . Seth still had the "padded jacket" as an ace up his sleeve, but he asked. "Hmm, so where would you get good robes then, if not from me?" "Ah! Err, there is actually a famous apprentice tailor in Y-City who manages to make umon equipment once in a while. I have been saving up money to get a robe and hat from there." Seth was a little surprised that there actually was an apprentice tailor in Y-City. on the other hand, they definitely had more than enough time. It was good, that she could get a hat on her own. Maybe they could get a good one from the dungeons, too. "I have a good cloth armor for you, so use that money to get a good hat. As for the essories, I will try to make you something that increases your agility, too." "Me, me, me next!" Link suddenly broke out. He was the only one left anyways...why did he have to act like this? "We have to hunt a little in the next few days, I would like some better leather for your equipment." The gourmet hunter''s expression turned when it sounded like he was the only one who had to wait. Tekar already had his armor and Seth already had Alison''s cloth armor, only he would need to wait until their next hunt or longer. "But I have a suggestion I wanted to talk to you about. Your weapon skill is , right?" Link nodded surprised. What was Seth getting at? "That means you could also use stuff like muskets or crossbows, right?" Another nod. "Would you change to a crossbow? I have a really cool idea for a wicked crossbow." The hunter''s eyes lit up and he excitedly agreed. It was good that he was not attached to using the bow. It had been a good idea to speak with him before he went ahead with making the items. How would he have known that Alison had managed to learn ? Seth had no problem supplying them with essories. He still had a badge he originally wanted to sell in his shop. They were just generic enchantments, but they were all rare rated and would more than suffice for now. For Allison''s robe, he decided to sacrifice one of the big souls from the Tuatha de. Using he shaped the big soul into a shape simr to the padded golden jacket. He had learned from experience, that the closer he got the soul to the shape of the item he would infuse it to, the less loss there was. It was something he had to ept. When he infused a soul into an item, there was always a slight loss in the power of the soul. But when he used he could reduce the loss, the more precise he worked. It was just that it was quite hard to forge intricate details into a metaphysical item like a soul. Seth guessed that it would be easier once the skill level increased. Once he had forged a he used the soul engraver to enchant it with and Agility. The reason why he did not choose any overly powerful enchantments was simple, the simple effects of the soul were already the most beneficial for their wizard. A huge increase in her mana pool was together with the inherent effects of the soul was already more than enough. Like N?del had said back then, the jacket was not far off an epic item, and with the infusion of the soul, the oue was an epic caster item. If Seth was a mage or had ns to be one, he would probably not give this away. He was sure this would give their wizard a great boost in power and survivability. For Tekar''s shields, Seth chose to make something simr to his . For the first time in a long while he used ''s function to design them. They were bigger than a regr buckler but smaller than a full-size round shield. On top of the shield boss, he added a long vicious spike, so Tekar could deal more damage with attacks like or . As the main material, he chose , not just because it fits well with the armor. The material had goodpatibility with the dark element and dark magic. This made it a good base for enchantments that would give nefarious negative status effects. Seth wanted to make the tank as annoying as possible to an enemy. During the forging, Seth used a demonic bad he had avoided so far. Al''Zalsa had not taught him many different bads and some he had avoided because their price was too high. This bad''s effect was very simr to the mind disruption that the monster souls were able to inflict. The range of mind-based status ailments was a little wider, but the price of the effect was that the user himself also needed to withstand the demonic corruption. It made the enchanted quite literally a cursed or demonic item like Seth had always read about in novels. Seth''s worries were alleviated by the inherent effects of the monster souls to grant resistance. Using this to counteract the cursed effect he infused a medium-sized umon soul into each of the shields. Seth used the two snake fangs, that had been aging in his inventory, to forge the shield spikes. The spike''s shape would lend itself to pierce armor and cause bleeding. He added a deadly poison enchantment, the more intricate version of a simple poison enchantment, to add anotheryer of status effects. As a second enchantment, he chose shield for one and agility for the other. He finished the first shield in the evening after their meeting. He infused another 2 medium-sizedmon souls to max out the effects of the souls. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Seth deliberated and decided that he would use the bad for reflection on the second shield, so the burden on Tekar''s mind would not be too overwhelming.. With that, he ended his day and went for ate dinner. Chapter 173 - 173 Some Peace (3) Seth took the freedom to oversleep the next morning. Although the work in the smithy was fun, it was still hard work. There was no need for him to hurry or anything. He had no ns to off on adventures before the diviner arrived. Who knew with what kind of situation Seth would have to deal with, once they found the girl? One possibility to end the quest Seth could think of was that he would need to retrieve the girl''s corpse from the demolished and merpeople-infested city ruins. There was nothing out of the ordinary this morning, so gee got back and finished the second shield afterying siege to the canteen. Like he had decided the other day, the second shield was not cursed, but did notck behind in anything. Active Skill: Shield Cost: 100 mana Cooldown:5 minutes Creates a shield with 500 durability around the user thatsts for 1 minute. The shield skill was simr to the one on his Wyvern Shield, but was slightly worse and fueled by the wielder''s mana. With these two shields, the tank would be a nightmare for their enemies. With this, it did not matter that the tank could not deal much damage or taunt the enemy. He just needed to jump in and back people with the shield. With this many options, it would be a wonder if he did not inflict at least one negative status effect on the opponent. The worst thing that could hit an enemy was probably a mix of them. Especially the "Deadly Poison" Was a dreadful enchantment. Unlike the simple Poison enchantment, this poison would not stop until an antidote was applied or a priest purified the victim. Although the strength would lessen over time, if left unattended it could lead to death. Even Tekar could win a fight of attrition using this. If he gained some points in luck, he might even be able to stun lock opponents. Seth took a break for the rest of the day. Looking back, he had really managed to finish a lot since the meeting. He could still make that crossbow tomorrow. Thinking about what to do with his break, Seth decided to take a stroll through the city. He was not opposed to just spending the day in bed, but it felt a little cramped after spending several days without going outside. Since he came to Y-City he had never really taken his time to take a good look at the city. He invited Mary and Jane to apany him on his stroll, but they declined. They had decided to join the church and took up a strict training regime with one of the priests. Seth had no idea what had gotten into them, but he did not mind. The stronger his employees became, the harder it would be for people to rob his store. All alone the young man left the church and entered the crowded streets of Y-City. Seth could feel that he had changed. Even so, he was alone in this mass of people, he did not mind it. He still remembered how stressed he had felt back in Starta with just a few townspeople on the streets. Now it almost did not bother him. Looking around the city, it seemed almost normal. Stores were open all along the streets, people were on break or on their way back to work. Some others were also just strolling and window shopping like him. It did not feel like the world had changed much. Except for the obvious changes, of course. There were no cars on the streets, people wore all kinds of colorful fantasy equipment. The shops and stores had changed from disying stylish fashion to stylish (but crappy) armors and items. But the modern clothes had not vanished. There was still normal street ware and stylish clothes mixed in. Seth could see that these were made by skill holders and had a tiny bit of effect like increased durability. The jobs of people had also adjusted and adapted to the new setting and sses. All in all, society did a good job of not devolving into a bunch of raiders fighting over thest scraps of civilization. Seth''s only regret was, that the shops and stores had no use for him. Materials sold to the public were justmon stuff that was barely enough for the crafting professions to grind their skills. In his opinion, it confirmed his decision to go and learn the basics in a different world. From what Seth could see, the apprentice tailor Alison had mentioned was probably among the top of crafters in Y-city. As an apprentice, he would be barely able to work with umon materials. But even if he could, it did not mean there was even a supply of umon materials for him. As he aimlessly walked around the city he more and more often came across posters of adventurers in supposedly awesome-looking armors. They were advertisements of various guilds that recruited people to join them. Since every citizen was a yer, it meant anyone could take up the job of being an adventurer. Of course, this did not mean everyone wanted to. Some also talked about the hunter association, which was established by the leadership. They even advertised that they would provide equipment befitting the yers'' level and ss. As Seth thought about it, not only did the government do its best to hoard good items and talented people, but they also collected quite a lot of materials via those shops. The best crafters in Y-City were probably public officials or hidden by other factions like the guilds that supplied them with items. Having others provide him oodles and oodles of materials to grind his skills... It was a shame that it was not an option for Seth. These factions simplycked the strength to provide Seth with the resources he needed. That''s why he needed to do it himself. It made more sense for Seth to just found his own faction since he probably was the biggest amalgamation of high-level skills and precious material currently walking around on Urth. Good thing nobody knew, that he would drop better stuff than a small dragon if he was killed. Since there were tamed beasts for cargo transport here and there he guessed that it was ok to have your pets out. Seth decided to bring out Puffles and plunder the street stalls with him. It had been a while since they just spend time together. Seth actually ended up buying a lot of small souvenirs and knickknacks. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om This had nothing to do with survival or making big money, but he felt like having some fun with these in the future. On his way back they came across a big crowd of gawking people. "They areing out!" "Is that really Squad 1!?" "Wow, it''s squad 1! Look at that armor. They say it''s rare!" "Are you for real?" "Timothy, I want your child!" a middle-aged man in histe 40s screamed. Thinking of what he screamed, maybe it was a woman. Seth had a hard time judging. When his mind finally recovered, he looked at the people that left the portal-type dungeon. Their items were a mismatched mix of mostly umon and one or two rare items. They were not pretty to look at, but the overall performance was outstanding inparison to Y-City''s standards. "Squad 1?" he mused about what the people called them. His conclusion was, that these were likely people from the Hunter Association and the items were probably bought in the auction house. He was curious and brought out the token from his inventory. "Hey, Al, can you take look at them, are they special?" ~ Oh, now you remember me!? When you need me, you bring me out and if you don''t you just leave me in the inventory! I have feelings too, you know? ~ "I''m sorry, okay? I forgot. I definitely did not leave you in the inventory on purpose to enjoy the silence or anything like that." ~Grr. Just you wait. No, they are not too special. They have rare sses, but rather ordinary ones. They have potential, but I don''t think they are a big loss. ~ Seth nodded. He trusted her judgment, even though she was a little grumpy at the moment. If she said, those guys were not a loss, then he did not care any further. He turned around and got on his way back to the church. He had walked a few steps when he heard someone calling from behind. Chapter 174 - 174. Squashed 1 "Hey you, is that your pet?" the crowd split, and one of the people that had been surrounded by it stepped forward. He wore puffy leather armor with fur elements and his well-toned arms were bandaged in leather straps. He was pointing at Puffles, who was at this point almost as tall as Seth and happily munching on a bunch of meat skewers. The Ivicer had a growth spurt during the week they spent in the fog world. Even so, it had not leveled up, the caterpir had be bigger and stronger. Seth had made the mistake to look back to see what was going on. The guy took this as his affirmation that Puffles was his pet. "What is your level?" he kept asking rudely. Seth turned away and wanted to ignore him, but then he felt the itch of an appraisal skill on himself. "Heh! Just level 27. This pet is wasted on you. I''m the Beastmaster Cedric from the Hunter Association''s Squad 1! I will pay you a good price for this creature if you hand it over! With my skills, I can truly bring out its potential!" It was not just Seth, even Puffles was baffled, looking at him monologuing like a jerk. Seth, who always tried to see the best in people, fathomed that this guy might have a mental disability. Since it was probably rude to call him out on this, he decided again to ignore him and leave. ~ Are we really leaving this pest? The great me feels peeved to let this go. ~ It was rude to just appraise someone else, but he really could not me a handicapped person. Seth whispered to Puffles and it understood his intentions. He was being the bigger man here. "Hey, where do you think you are going when I''m talking to you? Didn''t you hear what I said? I''m from Squad 1. How much do you want for your pet? Hey, are you retarded? I''m talking to you!" He grabbed for Seth''s shoulder and the next moment he was squashed under Puffles massive hard-shelled body. Seth could be the bigger man, but why Puffles was already the greatest, so why hold back? It was Seth''s turn to use , though it did not give him a lot. "Get it off me, you pleb! How dare you attack a member of Squad 1!" He was still very talkative and keptining and ming like a child. Despite Puffles being more than 10 levels lower, he easily overwhelmed the yer. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Cedric? We are leaving what- What is going on here!?" a group of young people had finally followed the Beastmaster, led by a young and charismatic-looking magic swordsman. Wow, they really looked like a generic hero-party from aic book. Just that their equipment was ugly and mismatched. But hey, only performance matters, right? Behind the leader was a High-priestess, a Sorcerer, a Scout, a Guardian, and a Shadowthief. They did not just look like a generic party; their stat distribution was too. As if following an online guide, they all focused on two or three attributes at most. Theypletely ignored the rest. Just like most would in an MMORPG. The information was conveniently supplied by Al''Zalsa in form of sarcastic remarks. The man in the front took in the scene before him and Seth could see the resignation on his face. "Not again..." he mumbled while facepalming. The party members in the back also looked rather annoyed. With a sigh, the leader stepped forward. "Hello, I''m Kai, the leader of Squad 1. I apologize for my useless party member''s rude behavior and hope you could forgive him this one time." This already seemed studied. Did this guy act up so often? "Kai? What are you saying, I only said that I could make much better use of this pet- Kyaaa" One of Puffles'' scythes had dug deep into the Beastmaster''s shoulder. "Kyurrrr" ~ Vermin like you has no right to talk like that. ~ "It''s right. Shut up you beast-crazy maniac! I''ve had enough of your bul-hmpph!" The high-priestess had started to rant from the back but was silenced by the Guardian''s massive hand. "Lena, stop it. It''s bad enough Cedric acts so shameful in public. Sir, please forgive him and let him go. I''m sure the is a non-violent way to solve this." the leader pleaded sincerely. Looking at the chaotic group of yers Seth judged a fight to be unlikely. He had already had a n to subdue them. Since none of them hat a lot of points in Willpower it would have been easy to tten them with . s, it was not necessary for now. He had a better idea to solve it. These people had just left the dungeon, maybe he could mug- ask for some materials from them. But how to go about it...? Brute force, what was there to lose? "Hmm, sure. There is an easy way to solve this. I don''t need money, but I''m a crafter ss and you probably saw how hard it is to get good materials around here. Maybe you could reimburse me with rare material? I would appreciate leather specifically." he said with a huge business smile. The party blinked, even Cedric was a little surprised by this turn of events. What Seth did not know was that rare materials were practically worthless at the moment. The government hoarded them for the time when the crafting sses got that far, but at the moment those things were simply stored away somewhere. This made Seth''s offer the more enticing solution. Nobody in the hunter association would miss some rare leather, but the party would be hard-pressed if they had to reimburse him with their own money. On the other hand, it was also slightly suspicious that a crafter asked for a material he probably could not process. Seth didn''t really get their confusion and just kept waiting for an answer. It created a convenient misunderstanding in the party''s minds: Seth chose this option because he knew it and he gave them face by offering an easy solution! Their hearts warmed at the thought, that there were still good people like Seth in this city. Well, except Cedric''s who got closer and closer to death due to blood loss. "We have two kinds of rare leather, will these suffice?" The leader brought out tworge sheets of leather. One was thin and gray while the other was very thick and brown. . High affinity with Earth-Element. > "Yes, these are great. Thank you very much!" Seth said joyfully and Puffles got off of the Beastmaster. Unwillingly, the high-priestess started healing Cedric while Seth said his goodbyes and left. What a fortuitous encounter, Seth thought to himself as he returned to the church. He had gotten a bunch of leather for Link''s armor, without working for it. Maybe he should leave the house more often? Seth shook his head. He reminded himself, that the city might seem peaceful, but this world was not a big orchard where he could go around and just pick fruits. It was an orchard with venomous snakes hiding between the fruits. It was best he stayed in a workshop, instead of the battlefield. Yes, yes, safety came first. It was definitely not, because he wanted toze around.... Chapter 175 - 175. The Diviner Arrived Seth used the acquired materials wisely and finished and the equipment for the gourmet hunter and what he himself was still missing. He used most of the bat leather for Link''s armor. It was a quite traditional design of a hardened leather armor that still offered a big range of movement. Seth did not really like leatherworking. His skills made the crafting process not much faster, which meant it took much longer than forging. As he was stitching, boiling, and waxing the armor and its different parts, his thoughts wandered. Yesterday, he had seen once again that most technology had vanished. In this silent moment, he started thing of the why. Because in Alpha his phone and kitchen appliances and really everything else had worked just fine after the apocalypse, even the motorbike he had found had no trouble running. Maybe he was just paranoid, but he could not avoid the question that maybe there was some catastrophe still waiting to happen. Compared to other districts he had heard Y-City was really quiet, except for the invasion from the ocean. Although he heard that Beta and Delta had the same problem, this did not mean anything. Maybe all three districts would suddenly explode or something? His thought did not really get anywhere while he sat there and crafted the armor, but he decided to ask Samuel when he got the chance. Whatever it was, Seth was sure Samuel would also have a book like Simon, that contained the worst scenarios their world had to offer and how to avoid them. His wandering thoughts stopped when he heard the notification that he had finished the items. He had finished Link''s leather armor and boots for himself. The armor included cuirass, greaves, bracers, and pauldrons. It was a shame that the ability of Charon''s Obolus and could not be used to harden leather. At least he could use , the skill he had gotten after upgraded, to increase the armor performance and durability a little. Seth sighed, this was as far as his ability in leatherworking went, there was a reason why there were sses that specialized in this kind of work. The finished armor was of a dark gray color with a tint of violet. The rare item increased movement speed and the affinity with the wind element thanks to the material properties of the leather. Seth infused the cuirass with a medium-sized soul that increased dexterity by 70 since it was the main attribute of a hunter and a cook. He used two small souls to infuse into the two bracers which increased agility and dexterity by 10 each. It was nothing special in Seth''s eyes, but it would be more than enough to serve the hunter for a long time. The most important for the ss canon would be his weapon. For himself, Seth used the rest of the bat leather and some of the ape leather to make almost knee-high leather boots, which he armored with . The new material had opened up new possibilities. So he would rece his current boots before even using them once. He used the thick and sturdy ape leather for the soles and the softer batwing leather for the body and shaft. Seth followed Al''Zalsa''s advice when it came to the enchantment. She said there was a good chance to build upon the fact that the ape leather was originally used for skill activation. For the enchantment, he took a medium-sized monster soul and used to turn it into a pair of boots simr to the one he had already finished. Seth was positively surprised. He had gotten used to the idea, that he would need to use SP to level his ss skills. But he had actually managed to level . This was a great relief, because it meant, that he could level this skill, as long as he kept grinding it. He paused and immediately looked at the perk list, but lv.2 brought no interesting new perks. He returned to the boots. Under Al''s guidance, he interweaved theplex enchantments of strength and . "Tremor" was an enchantment that was barely within Seth''s capabilities. He actually had to buy the enchantment scroll via the church for a hefty price. Well, he got a good discount because he imed that he would use the enchantment for the batch of weapons for the next auction. "Tremor" was the lesser version of "Earthquake". He was used by striking the earth with one''s weapon which would create a shockwave that could disrupt the opponent''s movement, skill, or chanting. It was already veryplex on its own, but now he had to interweave it with the moreplex version of the strength enchantment. Without the 200-year-old sorceress giving him instructions, he might have failed miserably. His clothes were damp and sweat was running off his face when he finally heard thepletion notification and- -his skill level went up. Lately, he had not paid much attention to his proficiency, since he was prepared to level insanely slow after reaching journeyman rank. But it was true, that he had actually managed to make quite a few epic items recently which brought his close to a level up, too. N?v(el)B\\jnn Only had barely any proficiency yet. But that was okay, it had only upgraded recently. Seth took a deep breath and stood up; taking a small break to eat and drink. All that was left was to infuse the soul boots into the actual item and see whether Al''s n woulde to fruition. A knock on the door interrupted his break. "Come in!" he called. Drinking from a water bottle inrge gulps he saw a clerk enter the room. "Sir Smith, I''m here to inform you that the diviner, you had asked for, has arrived today," he said with a smile and his hands folded behind his back; waiting for Seth to dismiss him. "Isn''t it early? Wasn''t the diviner supposed toe tomorrow?" or had Seth unwittingly lost his sense of time during crafting? "Yes. The diviner supposedly finished his previous business earlier than expected and was able to arrive sooner. Do you wish to meet the person immediately, Sir?" Seth thought for a moment. He didn''t really know that person''s situation. He just arrived here, maybe a break was needed? "Did Samuel say anything? Or the diviner?" "Master Samuel offered to have a meeting over dinner in the evening, Sir" "That''s a good idea. Please notify me again in an hour." With that, the clerk left and Seth could get back to his boots. Carefully he infused the soul boots and proceeded to dunk the pair into the water of Styx. The oue was better than Seth had expected, maybe even better than what he had originally nned to do with the ox hide. Seeing the effect, Seth kept infusing small souls until there was no more improvement. Active Skill: Disruptor Wave, No Cost, Cooldown: 120s Stomping will erupt in a shockwave disrupting movements, attacks, or chants and causing a wave of small pebbles to shoot out, causing small physical damage to the targets. Pebbles have a chance of 8% to cause mental disruption on hit (Effects: Stun/Confusion) The skill was the synergy between the Groundape''s original skill "Shockwave" and the enchantments of tremor and increased strength that had created a whole new effect. It really seemed like a great AOE skill. The only problem Seth saw was that it did not differentiate between allies and enemies. There were no concerns as long as he was alone or in a duel, otherwise, it would probably be ok as long as he had a distance to Alison and Link, Tekar should be able to easily withstand the skill''s effects. Seth was pulled out of his thought when the clerk knocked on his door once again.. It was time to meet the diviner. Chapter 176 - 176. Ambiguous Divination The clerk led Seth to a luxurious dining hall. On the table already sat two people. Samuel and a beautiful Lady. Her skin was smooth and her eyes bright. Seth could not even begin to estimate her age but she was overflowing with a mature charm. She wore an otherwise loose robe that was tightened in exactly the right ces to show off her curves. "Seth! Come, here. Sit own. Let me introduce you to our guest." "Good evening." Seth greeted the two as he sat down. "Good evening," she answered with a smile and a clear pleasant voice. "Seth, this is Liza as contracted diviner of the church. " "It is nice to meet you, Mr. Smith." Despite her sweet voice and friendly demeanor, Seth felt nothing toward her. Literally, nothing, as if she was a robot. She felt almost ethereal or detached. Her expression made it seem as if her mind was not here, but somewhere far away. And she simply looked through the here and now. "Ah, yes. Nice to meet you, Miss Liza." Seth answered awkwardly. He had no idea how he should deal with her weirdness. As such he simply concentrated on the food, while Samuel took over the part of talking. He praised her and exined that she was one of the top graduates of some magic institution and her master was a very famous Augur who would often be hired by some of the highest kings of other worlds. As Seth concentrated on the food and only listened with one ear, he missed the two cracks in Liza''s fa?ade. She blushed a little embarrassed when Samuel kept praising her and recounted some of her achievements. The other was when she watched Seth decimate the dinner table''s contents. It was not that he had bad manners or was a sloppy eater. Food kept vanishing before her eyes at a speed that seemed like a magic trick. And it had something disconcerting because it felt as if it always happened when she didn''t pay attention. In one moment, there was a full dish of meat and rice before Seth and he ate normal, and the next time she looked it was an empty dish! And she was sure, that it was only the timespan of moments. As both were stumped by the other''s behavior it was Samuel''s burden to carry the conversation to the main point. Finding the girl. Lady Liza needed to know as many details as possible to improve her skills uracy. Seth retold everything that had happened. This was also Samuel''s first time hearing the full story about the brother that had been spirited away. Both, Lady Liza and the priest were touched after he gave them the diary to read. "We will finish preparations tonight and tomorrow Lady Liza will perform a divination for the girl you are looking for," Samuel said with unexpected enthusiasm. So the priests of the church were still human, eh? He tended to forget when you saw their face while making money. Liza smiled radiantly to transmit her confidence in her skills and reassure the customer. Seth felt weird, suddenly being radiantly smiled at by a beauty that felt so ethereal. Especially after retelling such a horrible story. He was looking forward to finishing the quest and seeing what rank the Wandering Soul would have after it was restored. This was really his biggest concern. The next day he was invited to a big hall with all kinds of symbols and diagrams drawn onto the polished floor. There was a bunch of bizarre materials ced in different circles of the magic formation that looked like monster parts and herbs. "Please stand over here." thedy signaled him to stand in a big circle. He also saw the picture of Evee, the little sister, in one of the circles close by. The exnation was vague but easy to understand. This divination skill could tap into some of the data of the system and use them to search for yers, as long as some kind of connection could be used as a basis. The fact that Seth had a quest to find and care for the sister meant the system had information on the sister. Lady Liza could use her skill to try and tap into that information. Once Seth was in position, she started chanting in a deep disconcerting voice. It sounded like a deep rumbling;pletely unfitting the ethereal beauty uttering it. Slowly glowing lines started to rise from the drawn circles and diagrams. They gathered together in the center of the room and formed a three-dimensional holographic map. The map showed the Y-City district before zooming and erging an area in the south close to the sea. That was Arigiri at the coast of Homju Lake and the ce where Evee had lived with her aunt''s family. After it zoomed in on the city a huge area in the city was marked by a circle. It reminded Seth of quests in some RPGs and FPS he had yed, where not a specific quest goal was marked, but a huge mission area where the yer had to find or solve the objective on their own. When Seth checked he found the marked area among the quest information and also marked in the map of his skill. he had never been to Arigiri, so it was a big red circle in the middle of a greyed-out map. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om When he looked up, he found that the big circled area had started changing colors between red, blue, and green. Sweat started forming on the diviner''s smooth forehead as she frantically chanted. This went on for a while, but the area kept changing nheless. Her fa?ade finally broke and she started wildly gesticting and chanting. Seth could see the distress building up on her face until she fully covered her face with her hands and let out a big sigh. The color finally settled on blue. He guessed, that the area was probably not supposed to be blinking like that. Quite simr to Seth''s thought, the diviner soon exined. "I was able to narrow down her location to this area but... Her current condition is inconclusive. If she was dead the color would be red. Green if she was alive. Blue means that my skills can''t urately discern whether she is dead or alive. I can only tell you, that she is probably not fine and healthy. I''m sorry." After hearing the brother''s story, she felt very invested in helping to fulfill thisst wish. She had tried everything, but her skills were simply not enough to give a better divination about Evee''s location. Seth bore witness to the whole process and recognized her efforts. Locating someone to this degree, with just a picture, a wallet, and a diary, was already a great result. She was a good person and definitely worth her money. He would have given her a 5 Star review on pley, but he didn''t think anyone would care with the current shape the world was in. How much did Seth have to pay? He just needed to give Samuel 3 of the blood drinker weapons he nned to send back to his shop in Ora. This added up to values of about 50 Gold. After a moment, the light started dimming and the hologram vanished. She had canceled her skill. The diviner looked so dejected that Seth approached her and patted her shoulder. "Don''t worry. This is already more than enough. We will definitely find her and bring her back thanks to your work." he tried to cheer her up. It helped a little and she put up a half-hearted smile. Her demeanor from before was gone and she seemed much more approachable. "Thank you." she gave him a sweet smile. Less like a mystic master of divination and more like a clumsy but charming neighbor girl. Seth resisted the urge to pet her head, he still had no idea how old she was. He couldn''t possibly pet the head of someone much older than himself, right? "It''s good that you are satisfied with the result. Should I prepare the information on Arigiri for you? " Samuel stepped in with a big smile. He was very happy that everything had worked out in the end. It would have really hurt his heart if Seth denied paying. "That would be great, thanks.. I will talk with my party and we will leave as soon as the preparations are done. Chapter 177 - 177. Finish Up Seth returned to his room intent on finishing the items, so he could assemble the party tomorrow. ~ That was quite the show. She was the real deal, you know? ~ Al suddenlymented. "I guess? I never saw a "real" fortune teller before." Seth said as he prepared the materials for the crossbow. ~ Don''tpare her to a fortune teller. That like calling me an illusionist or whatever you called those quacks. You should get closer to her; she could be useful in the future. ~ He stopped for a moment to think. Getting close to a clumsy beauty who yed an aloof, ethereal diviner as a job... Meh, maybe if he got the chanceter on. He shoved a piece of into the forge when he heard a knock on the door. If this was the diviner then the coincidence was simply too great. He called for the visitor to enter and barely remembered to remove the steel from the forge. It would have been a shame if he burned a rare material because of his forgetfulness. "Sir, I brought the information on Argiri." It was a clerk sent by Samuel that brought him the information on the quest area. He took the file from the clerk and thanked him before he left. He put the file on his desk and got back to the forge. For the crossbow, Seth had created a new blueprint, since all the blueprints he had were crossbows that used wood for the body of the weapon. Using he created a crossbowpletely made from metal and bone, which was closer to a tactical crossbow as Seth had seen on the inte. He also added a modern magazine for the bolts. Imagine the power of reduced reload time coupled with a skill like that magically doubled the bolts after shooting. Once the blueprint was finished, he got right into forging the crossbow limbs from . He used this material because was good in imbuing properties and he had a lot of it. He used the same bad as he did on his "Wyvern Ring "so the crossbow could add curses to bolts. For the soul, he used once again a medium-sized monster soul. The process was very simr to the time when he built the hunter bow. A little moreplicated, since he had to keep the soul split between the limbs and the body while singing his bad at the same time. He used some of the rib bones from the snake for the handle scales. It was mostly for aesthetics. And simr to his own bow he used some of the for the string. He was d that the system simplified many of the crafting processes like heat treatment and quenching. Otherwise, it would have taken Seth quite long to produce something simr to spring steel. Since Seth was alreadyrgely used to the materials and the construction he did not have to spend too long on the crossbow. He carved the enchantments onto the limbs. To enchant the crossbow he used theplex circuits for paralysis and silence. The logic was simple in theory. On one hand, there was Tekar who could shower the enemy with debuffs in a melee battle, and on the other, there was Link, who could aim at casters and other ranged opponents. And then there was their wizard that could also use all kinds of magic for damage and more. The only role Seth still wanted to fill was a strong melee damage dealer. Seth was able to deal a good amount of damage thanks to his items butcked melee skills that made the best use of these items. Take a skill like that could multiply the output and deal several times the weapon damage. It was a normal skill for amon warrior to have. Also, Seth did not want to be the main fighter. He wanted a party so he could leave this stuff to them! But with this Seth was sure, that they would be able to manage anything not too overwhelmingly powerful, despite Urth being a lot scarier than Seth had thought. Even if the enemy was strong, if it could not move because of constant stuns, what could it do? Seth felt very satisfied when he looked at the finished crossbow. Seth nodded. The crossbow looked pretty decent. The bone elements and string even gave a low poison and burn chance. On top of the crossbow, he decided to make a kitchen knife for the gourmet hunter. No, not a kitchen knife. A mithril knife for dismantling. It was nothing fancy. I was enchanted with superior sharpness, theplex circuit for sharpness which also helped with the edge retention and +35 strength so the hunter could dismantle even the toughest corpses. N?v(el)B\\jnn With this, Seth had more or less finished all the items he had wanted to make. He sat down to read the file about Arigiri. The city had been devastated by the first invasion of the merpeople. At this point, it was a ghost city. Mostly monster-infested ruins were left. The beasts'' levels were in the mid-30s on average, so slightly higher than their party''s average. But still high enough that Y-Citycked people for a sweep to clean up the area. The most numerous were the beasts like the one that was used at the auction. Big amphibious berserker fish. But other maritime life was crawling inside the ruins that were given up by their previous inhabitants. It was really not a ce for a 17- or 18-year-old girl to stay. After reading the file Seth felt bored and decided to make some more arrow and crossbow bolt heads. He still had 85 snake teeth and decided to use 45 of them to make roughly 250 heads for arrows and bolts. With this, there would be another small chance to poison the target, as long as some magic was channeled into the projectile before firing. He packed away the tips and finished for the day. It was alreadyte, but he left his room and went to the reception. He asked them to send a messenger to the members of his party so they could meet up tomorrow. He would give them their equipment and brief them on their first mission. He also instructed them to buy readymade arrow shafts and bolts. Seth did not want to bother with making those himself. He did not have a skill for that, so it was not his job! Why waste time on something, if it does not even help grind his skills? With thoughts of the next day, he returned to his room and got ready for the night. Chapter 178 - 178. Gear Up The next morning came as a surprise. Seth was woken up by knocks on his door. Drowsy he got off his bed and went to the door. What were these guys doing here so early? At his door stood not a clerk, or maybe his two employees that lived on the same floor, no. There stood his three-party members with unkempt hair and ruffled clothes, Alison was even still in her pajamas, just like Seth, and they stared at him with a huge grin. "What are you guys doing here...?" he askedzily scratching his head. The others were undeterred. "What do you mean? You asked us toe, right? You send us messengers so early in the morning. It has to be important, right?" Link said excitedly. Seth''s gears started running smoother as woke up more and more. Had these guyse running the moment they heard he would give them gear? The guys had at least worn streetwear... Alison''s hair looked like a bird''s nest and she was wearing wide pajamas with cute bears on them. Did she run here barefooted? Despite looking hungover, her eyes were the brightest of them all. "Tekar you have something hanging there...is that a sock?" On the shoulder of his crumpled ck t-shirt stuck a pink children''s sock. "Ah, oh! It''s my daughter''s." He said with a warm smile before putting the sock in his pocket. "Stop evading the topic! Let''s start the meeting right away!" Link interrupted them. This guy was totally hyped. Seth had to throw a cold bucket of water over the gourmet hunter''s expectations. "No. You guys look like you rushed here right after waking up. You have to take better care of yourself. I will go wash up. You guys can take turns using the bath in the empty t over there. And then we will go for breakfast. And THEN we can have the meeting." With that, he got rid of these three intruders and did what he said. Although the breakfast was not as enjoyable as usual with these three rascals urging him to hurry, he still made sure to get his fill. After a proper breakfast, they gathered in the cozy meeting room. Seth put down the file about Arigiri City so they could read it themselves. All of them made aplicated expression. Unlike Seth who had only recentlye to Y-City, these three had been part of the war with the oceanic empire. All of them had fought hard in that war and had almost lost their lives more than once. They were still low-level back then and the invasion was repelled, but even now it was still a dangerous zone for them. On top of it came a slight trauma about the aquatic enemies. But none of themined or argued not to go. To say it in a nice way, they were touched by the brother''s tenacity to try and return to his sister. To say it in a realistic way, Seth was the leader and the guy that offered them a huge number of benefits. And the thought ofing back after a power-up and taking revenge on the monsters that had scarred them in their beginner days was also no small motivation. "Okay, shall wee to the distribution of gear?" The eyes around the table lit up like bonfires. "Let''s start with Tekar since he already has his armor set." Seth brought out a big box from his inventory and set it down before Tekar. Inside were the two Fang Shields and Seth exined their function as Tekar took them out. "it''s cursed?!" Tekar called out when Seth exined the "Cursed Fang Shield". "Don''t worry. Al assured me, that together with your heightened resistances and the bonuses from the shields, there is no danger. There is a reason why only one of them has that option. If you feel that something is wrong, you can change to the raven''s beak." Besides the two shields was also a blood drinker raven''s beak, like the one Seth had used to kill the Zarkists. Below the offensive gar was a smaller box with a Ne and 4 rings, the maximum number of rings one could usually wear. They were nothing fancy, as hey we originally meant to be sold in his shop. The only change Seth had done was to infuse souls to make their effects a permanent buff, instead of a temporary buff the user had to activate. Two of the ring increased endurance/strength and the other two increased agility/willpower by 15 points each. The ne increased HP regeneration and mana regeneration. He prepared simr sets for the other two and had spent about 80 small souls to upgrade these essories. Alison''s and Link''s eyes twinkled when they heard they would get somethingparable! The wizard''s box was a little smaller since Seth had fewer things for her. He was simply not as versed in caster equipment andcked the materials to make a good staff for her. This didn''t mean that her gear was any less impressive. The woman in her pajamas squealed in joy when she appraised the long golden padded jacked. It was the first epic item of the day and it was hers! The others looked at her with envy, when Seth exined to them the effects of the golden jacket. Alison''s rings primarily increased her agility and intelligence, as she had asked for. The Ne was focused on increasing mana regeneration. Seth had also found the time to make her a pair of leather shoes from the leftovers. They were rated rare and increased movement speed, wind, and earth affinity. The gourmet hunter was close to exploding from excitement when it was finally his turn. The first items from his box were the different parts of leather armor that would increase his survivability. Next were his essories. The rings increased strength, agility, and dexterity, while the ne had the shield skill. It was meant as a lifeline for the squishiest of their party. Link''s eyes had slightly dimmed. He could notin as all of them were awesome items and several times better than his current gears but...pared to what the others got he felt left behind. They lit up in excitement once again when he saw Seth pull out a dagger in its sheath. Finally! Would he also get some epic, super special item?! "A dismantling knife made of mithril. With this, you should be able to even dismantle dragons. It can also dabble as a kitchen knife on a field trip." Seth could not help but grin in schadenfreude as he saw the other''s face fall. He had dashed the hunter''s hopes once again. Of course, he could only act like this, since he knew what thest item would be. "Andstly, the Nightmare Crossbow!" Seth pulled out the almost ck crossbow, with silvery engravings, white bone handles, and the golden glimmering crossbow string made of . Seeing the item in the cksmith''s hands, the gourmet hunter was petrified, since he could not express his emotions anymore at this point. He started exining about the magazine and the effects of the crossbow but there was no reaction from Link. His eyes were simply glued on the crossbow. And when Seth finally handed it to him he hugged it like a lost child and started cheering! The rest of them could not help butugh with him. His mood swings were simply too adorable. When he finally calmed down, Seth spoke up again. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Alright, how about all of you equip your equipment now? I want to see how they look will look on you." The party looked quite impressive afterpletely gearing up. There was the giant dark knight wielding two intimidatingly pointy shields. A female wizard in flowing golden cloth armor and a big new witch hat. A hunter d in a full leather outfit and a fancy-looking crossbow. Andstly Seth in his dark red/ck Wyvern Armor, silver/ck gauntlets, and a big de on his waist. "Let''s visit a dungeon today, to get used to the power-up.. I think we can set off for Arigiri the day after tomorrow." Chapter 179 - 179. Power Up This time around Seth led the party to a dungeon with an average level of 30. He was sure that they would have no problems with the new equipment. Here they would also be able to finally gain some experience. The range of choice in dungeons had increased since thest time they had visited the guild and there were now more dungeons in the lower levels. It seemed that people started to understand, that keeping these dungeons open, was a benefit, not a danger. This was a good sign for Seth since it meant that the average level of people would soon start rising and so would the quality of materials. With more people in the higher levels, the demand for better equipment would rise, too. yers needed good equipment to gain levels faster. This only became more important, the higher the level became. The dungeon was an apartment building filled with lizardmen. The setting felt terribly weird. Weren''t lizardmen supposed to be in swamps? Normally one would expect zombies and other humanoid enemies in apartments, right? It was not just Seth; the rest of the party was also confused by it. The dungeon was technically a normal apartment building but when they entered, they saw stuff like slime, moss, nests, and egg sacks sticking to the otherwise unchanged walls. Seth guessed, that not every dungeon could be cool and thematically fitting... He burned the egg sacks from afar. He did not know whether this was the right move or not, but his gamer instincts told him, that those could only contain disgusting stuff. And he really didn''t want to be jumped by disgusting stuff. The lizardmen themself were originally tough opponents. Their scales worked as natural armor and they had overwhelming strength and agility. Normally only the elite teams of guilds and the hunter association would enter these dungeons to train and cull the herd. Tock Tock Tock Tock Four lizardmen at the end of the hallway keeled over, either stunned, paralyzed, or unconscious. On top of those, one was cursed with weakness and another got slightly burned. It was a reurring scene ever since they entered. The gourmet hunter had a naturally high luck stat, which meant almost every encounter ended like this. Seth had put away the "Wyvern de" and equipped the "Mind Decay". He shared the job of finishing them from a distance with Alison, while Tekar and Puffles guarded the party. Had Seth overdone it a little? He didn''t even get to use things like Dragonmight, because even if a mob came into melee range it was skewered by Tekar before he could even change weapons. Of course, it would seem weird if Sethined about the easy experience but... Was this really, okay? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It was fun at the start, but now it just felt like they were bullying the weak. It also meant, they were theoretically able to easily deal with monsters in their level range and physique. This made the traps in the dungeon the greatest danger left. One would not expect traps like poison darts, pitfalls, or pistons in an apartment building, but they were there. A step on the wrong tile, in a hallway covered with white tiles, could trigger a giant boulder to suddenlye rolling at them. It was thanks to Alison and Link that they were not squashed or skewered. Alison was able to use "Dungeon Scan" which could reveal anomalies like trap triggers and treasure chests but it only had a 45% uracy. The gourmet hunter''s skill in trap detection and especially defusal were invaluable. Mentioning treasure chests, they found some containing various potions and junk. They could sell those, but the most useful thing to Seth was still the small souls that kept dropping here and there. It was a shame that the rooms only looked like living spaces, but there was nothing they could scavenge like food or household supplies. Also, the experience. Lizardmen brought Seth 0,5 to 2% experience. With enough mobs, he could have easily leveled up at this pace. It was a shame, that there were no more than 60 Lizardmen guarding the dungeon. The main obstacle was really the traps, while the monsters were distributed across the 20 floors of the building. The biggest gain for the party besides exp was probably the lizardman corpses. There was nothing that interested Seth as the rating of their leather was too low. Still, Link diligently dismantled the corpses and put away the materials. Apparently, the meat had the potential for cooking and some of their organs were used in alchemy for potions like water breathing, poison, and antidotes. Since they nned to have Alison pick up alchemy, everything of use was stored. What they did not need would be sold after they left the dungeon. After working their way up 19 floors and checking an uncountable number of rooms and apartments they finally stood before the boss floor. Here they found a fountain of healing. Although they did not need it, the gesture was appreciated. Drinking a few gulps of the water alleviated their fatigue and brought them back to top form. "Let''s take a break. How about I cook something up?" Link suddenly suggested. Seth never said no to a meal and the others also readily agreed. Eating some buff food made by a cook could only ease their fight with the boss. Everyone had realized, that they were pretty overpowered for this dungeon but... one could never have too big an advantage, right? The gourmet hunter brought out a big cauldron, all kinds of condiments, vegetables, and the lizardmen meat he diligently cut with his new mithril knife. He filled the cauldron with water from the healing fountain. "What are you cooking?" Seth asked interestedly as he watched the hunter prepare the ingredients. "I''m going to make a stew. It might take a while, but the chances are high that I might be able to make a food with a permanent buff! The water from the healing fountain and the lizardmen meat are both rated umon. However, my skills are barely good enough to process these ingredients. Don''t expect too much!" All of them waited patiently for Link to finish cooking. The importance of buff food could not be underestimated. Chefs were one of the most appreciated jobs in the current era as the buffs the yer could get with food stacked with the buff from supports and were one of the few possibilities topensate for theck of good equipment. Without the improvements the meals brought before the battle, they might havepletely lost the war against the oceanic empire. Seth was even clearer about the merits of food. It not only tasted good, but permanent improvements by food had no limit. Despite not getting a chance to eat such food during his time in Namia, Seth had heard about the different options to permanently increase one''s strength. In general, there were two reliable ways: Potions and Food. The potion had a huge effect, but one would only be able to use the same potion once or twice. The ingredients were expensive and the skill requirements to make them high. Food also had high skill requirements if a chef wanted to make one with a temporary or permanent buff. The advantage was that the one would not gain immunity. Theoretically, one could eat the same food over and over and gain stats from it. Of course, it had limitations. The effects always depended on the ingredients and the ones consuming them. A level 70 warrior with several hundred points in strength, would not gain strength from a meal made out of a monster that was tremendously weaker than himself. One needed to consume those of simr or greater strength to gain something. As they started to get bored Link finally jumped up and cheered. He had seeded! "Resistance against diseases?" Alison asked confused, Link also looked a little stumped. "You two didn''t know this exists?" Seth asked them surprised. He ignored the fact that he also would not know without the bracelet that had a simr effect. Tekar had 25% Disease Resistance thanks to his ss. In general, he had at least 25% resistance against everything... But reading the description again, Seth saw that the effect of the soup was different. It had no restraints like the bracelet, that differentiated between diseases of different ratings. This was 1%plete immunity to any and all diseases! He exined this to the other and unwittingly kicked off an eatingpetition. Even so, he did not know, that the other had started hurrying to eat as much of the soup as possible, he was still the one to consume the most! With a big burp, he finished his 7th bowl and looked into his status window. He really had gained 7% resistance to all diseases. Puffles was in second ce with 4% resistance. The others had only managed to get 2 or 3 bowls, but nobody was disappointed since there was still a lot of lizardman meat. They could make Link just cook more after they left the dungeon. But Link dashed their hopes. "The water of the healing fountain loses its quality over time. It only works fresh. So, unless we find something of simr quality, I will probably fail to give it a permanent effect. At least until my skill grows stronger." Slightly dejected, they got ready to vent their distress on the boss. Chapter 180 - 180. Tear Up Floor 20, the highest floor below the roof was one wide hall. The dungeon core was sparkling on the wall opposite of the stairs they had just ascended. Between them and the core was a hulking lizardman. He was about twice the size of the regr ones, so about 4m in height. This one actually wore a kind of barbarian leather armor and a huge single-ded sword with a jagged edge. It greeted them with a roar that shook the whole floor. It was not done roaring when a wave of bolts was sent on their way to shut it up. To their surprise, it did not work! Just before they hit the giant lizard, they were deflected by an invisible shield! Behind the hulking boss hid a decrepit and old lizardman in a tattered brown robe. It had cast a shield for its warrior. This was probably the dungeon master. <(Boss)Lizardman Chieftain lv. 33> <(Elite)Lizardman Shaman lv.35> Seth had heard about it, but never experienced that the dungeon master fought together with the boss. As the bolts had been defused by the support mage in the back, it was time for regr party y. "Tekar, can you upy the big guy?" "Sure!" the big man said enthusiastically. Tekar put on his helmet stepped forward. With the setplete, the Dark Knight Armor''s set effect activated. Since they were facing an elite and a boss, they were not intimidated, but still weakened. The chieftain understood the tank''s actions as a challenge and focused on the knight with two shields. "Alison, you take care of the magic. I and Link focus on the shaman." Alison started casting while Seth and Link focused their ranged attacks on the shaman. Since it had to evade and block their attacks, it was unable to help the tank in its fight against Tekar. Seth could have used dragonmight, but he had a good reason not to. If he solved every little fight with this skill and overwhelmed the opponent, the party would be weak. Without the experience to work together they would be doomed if they one day met an opponent immune to dragonmight. Since this fight was not dangerous it was a good chance to train. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om In his new gear, Tekar was able to rival the giant Lizard in overall strength. Unfortunately, he reallycked in damage. Because of the chieftain''s own high defense and boss status, most of the debuffs had a lowered activation chance and were hard to trigger. Tekar''s luck was not enough to ovee this disadvantage. The shaman kept blocking the aiming arrows of Seth and evaded Link''s volleys, making the fight a stalemate. It did notst for long. "...Dispel!" their wizard shouted. Alison was done casting and a soft wave of wind washed over the room. As the name suggested, it was magic that dispelled all magic in the room and hindered the use of magic for 10 seconds. The moment the shaman lost his shield he was hit in the lungs by the "Mind Decay" and in the head by the "Nightmare Crossbow". The shaman had not even time for ast breath as it keeled over leaving the Chieftain behind to deal with a group of blood lusty intruders. It did not take long for them to tear up the lizardman. With the gourmet hunter and Tekar working together the debuffs started to stack on the boss. Seth equipped the "Wyvern de" and started sneaking up behind the almost stun-locked chieftain. With one swing he cut the giant beast across the lower back. "Lacerate!" he recovered the de in a smooth movement and activated the skill for a strike straight down. It cut off the Chieftain''s tail in a massive spurt of blood and Seth gained +1 in strength! Alison stole thest hit with a Wind de that beheaded the chieftain. The headless body slowly knelt down, before crashing to the floor with a loud thump. The whole fightsted less than 2 minutes. The core almost wanted to cry. It had just summoned these promising champions after the dungeon was wiped a week ago! Link got into carving up the two corpses. The Shaman was a hopeless case, but the Chieftain was a great source of materials. His leather was umon, so Seth was actually willing to keep it. "hoho! This guy actually had one!" Link suddenly cheered out and held up a bloody irregr formed crystal. "A beast core? So what?" Seth asked confused. What was there to cheer about? These cores were a verymon resource in Ora and could be used as the power source for an item''s enchantment or a power nucleus for equipment. Depending on their quality they could also bring additional effects. But that was the crux of the matter. It all depended on the quality. Most cores were a cheap and unstable optionpared to evenmon gemstones. And those that were useful were overpriced because of their rarity. Seth simply had better options and thus never used them during his time in Ora. From Seth''s perspective, his reaction was normal, but the rest of the party looked at him with shock. "So what? It''s a beast core! And a big one. We can get a lot of money for this!" the hunter called out. After some exining, Seth understood what was going on. In Ora, these cores were usually used as a power source for some specific magic tool, but that was it. There were many other better methods to get around using beast cores. It was different in Urth, a world with high technological advancement. People were used to and dependent on all kinds of devices. As Urth stillcked knowledge about magic formations that could gather energy from the surrounding even without a nucleus, these cores that could be used like batteries were the first step to rebuilding technology! The government and researchers with corresponding sses had a high interest to buy them for their research. Theck in numbers and strength of adventurers that could easily farm these resources increased the price once again. This umon rated core with the size of a fist was just as precious as an umon item. Which ranged in the millions. Mentioning Items, the two also dropped some items. The Shaman dropped an umon crystal sphere that decreased casting time by 10% and increased the power of magic by 15%. This was better than what Alison currently owned, so it went to her. It also dropped arm wraps that increased Mana regeneration by 10 per minute. She was able to wear these below the golden jacket. The chieftain left behind his armor and the giant sword. Neither was of use to them, but could be sold since at least the armor was umon. After cleaning the corpses came mugging the core. A treasure chest was already waiting in front of the core. It contained some gold, silver, potions, a dagger, and a circlet. Seth tried ckmailing the core, but it did not work this time. It did not spit out anymore. Although Seth was convinced, the reason might be that parties regrly managed to get to this point, so the core was broke. The two items were actually amon set made of iron. The set effect was to lower the wearer''s presence by 5%. Seth could only shake his head. This was almost too bad to even sell. The dungeon core might really be broke. With that, they left the dungeon. Despite the core being a nk, the materials they had harvested and the items for their mage made the dive worth it. "Alright, I think you are used to the new items. We should be able to set off tomorrow. Is everyone okay with that?" Seth talked to them on the way back. "Errm, could we maybe wait another day?" Tekar asked embarrassed. Seth looked at him questioning. He had judged their tank as a very reliable man. He probably had a reason. "The journey will take about a week, right? M-my babysitter ditched me after we went missing for a week and a need to find someone who can take care of my daughter until we return. " Chapter 181 - 181. On The Way Seth thought for a moment. N?v(el)B\\jnn "I actually know two lovelydies who have a lot of free time," he said with a smirk. The party had met Mary and Jane before and after Seth exined to Tekar who he was talking about and where his daughter would stay in the meantime, he readily agreed. Having solved this issue, they arranged to meet tomorrow in the church. They would set off for Arigiri at noon. ------- Mark Baker sat in his new office on the higher floors of the hunter association. He had been promoted to Y-City after the sessful acquisition of the auction house ess. He was sifting through the reports from the division he was supervising. "The Keep, The Gourmet Hunter, and a wizard. Just what is he up to?" Mark was not stupid. He had already suspected something when Seth gave away the mobile ess so easily. It was a great relief when the device really worked and it brought him a lot of benefits. His suspicions grew when he saw the prices of the items in the auction house. When Seth immediately entered the church and soon after the church started item auction, he felt confirmed. Seth still had more of these devices or had another way to get items. After his promotion, he had appointed people to shadow him and see what he was doing. Lately, he had been meeting with a group of people who started to frequent the church. Especially after he ran into Squad 1 and revealed a strong pet Mark''s interest had grown. "What do we have on these three people?" he asked his subordinate standing at the side. "Yes sir. We know the most about...Link Lightning, the gourmet hunter. We also know a little about Tekar Jackson. There is no information on the wizard Alison Arrcany, except for her being a strong wizard." the subordinate recounted. "Ok, Let''s start with Link- the gourmet hunter." "Yes, Sir. He was a small-time criminal known for theft and drug dealing. After he gained the unique ss "Gourmet Hunter" he took part in the logistics troops of several expeditions during the war. The ss is supposedly a mix of hunter and chef. Itcks the damage multiplier of a hunter ss, but there is an increased chance to make food with permanent improvements when cooking self-hunted prey. Supposedly he also has the ability to gain skills from the food." "Is this information reliable?" Baker inquired. "Yes. It''s mostly based on what Lightning himself said when he was either drunk or promoting his skills." If only everyone was this open with their special sses. His job would have been a lot easier. A hunter ss that lowered the damage in exchange for gaining abilities from hunting, cooking, and eating prey. "Sir?" "Ah, yes. Keep going." "Yes. Tekar Jackson, lv. 34. He worked as a construction worker before the apocalypse. His wife died during the first invasion. He lives with his daughter. His ss is "The Keep" like the most fortified tower andst stand of a castle. We know little about his ss and most is deduced from his performance in battle and the testimonies of witnesses, rather than confirmed by any specific source. The ss has no typical tank skills that allow for the control of monster aggro or the active shielding of allies. In exchange, his defense seems to be double or more than that of normal tanks and we assume that he might have a basic resistance against most or all status ailments." "And the wizard?" "Nothing. Except for the fact that she seems to know an above-average number of spellspared to other wizards at the moment. But other than that, there is nothing special." "Alright, keep an eye on them." Just what was Seth nning? Was he also building a party, but what did he want to do with these failures? Mark could not wrap his head around it but he did notin. At least there would be no one else aiming for people the association wanted to recruit. "They left the city this morning? What''s their destination?" "South-west, Sir." "But there are only ruins there. Just what is their purpose..." -------- They were lent a wagon by the church that could take them to the edge of the safe zone. Edge might have been the wrong way to phrase it since there was no defined line that split the habitable city from the monster-infested ruins. The safety zone was just how the citizens called the zone where people of the military and the hunter association were patrolling. Past this point were technically still safe ces to live. The chance of monstersing here was slim, so people still lived in these ces without official protection. There would still be officers that kept public order and hunters woulde if monsters attacked. Even further away came the slums, where people lived that had no other option. This area was unsupervised by the government. They had simply lost too many during the war and there were not enough people to regrly patrol those areas. The monsters from the abandoned ruins were not the only dangers in this ce. It was rife with desperate people and criminals making their living in the shadows. The only officials and hunters in this ce were those that needed to manage the dungeons. The wagon came with a small team of church adventurers and was pulled by a massive armor-bull. The bull was a beast armored by bone tes. They would wait for Seth and the others and ensure the wagon''s security in the meantime. It was an interesting experience to travel through an advanced megacity by wagon. The bull was not slow by any means but they still had to spend a night at a hotel and arrived at the edge of the safety zone on the second day after their departure. They would still need at least another three days by foot to reach their destination in Arigiri. Thankfully just walking posed no problem to a yer''s stamina. Past the edge of the safety zone was not that much different from inside. There was no sharp separation that signaled an increased danger. There were fewer people on the street. The city looked a little more rundown since many damages caused by monsters were not repaired. From what Tekar and the others told him that a lot of ces here were empty. A big part of the former poption of almost one billion had died during the chaos after the change and the war with the merpeople. They were still a lot better off than Alpha, A City, that had beenpletely wiped out by the forest...Seth had no idea whether there were any survivors other than himself. These outskirts were still safe since there were still people keeping up public order. The party was still rtively rxed as they walked along with one of the greater highways that originally connected the satellite city with the capital. Actually, if they had ess to a manual cart, they could have used the railways to get to Arigiri. But most working means of transportation were controlled by the government and could not be used without permission. Especially not if they were traveling into a danger zone where their return was uncertain. After two days of quiet journey, they became vignt as the city around them slowly transitioned into the slums. One could call the slums already part of the abandoned part of the district. It was just that people without a better choice and the scum of society had taken up residence in this thin border just outside the reach of the executive authorities. Dungeon breaks could happen here at any moment since adventurers and guild staff were often obstructed from managing them. It was amon thing for monsters and crooks to roam the streets. It was still a day''s journey until they reached the quest area. Chapter 182 - 182. Arigiri It slightly reminded Seth of his exploration of Deltan. The city was partly in ruins and severely marred by the activities of all kinds of giant and humanoid monsters. Not just traces of fights but also signs of primitive settlement or nests. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Graffiti and broken barricades bore witness to human habitation past the apocalypse. Dried blood could be seen here and there but there were no corpses. An ecosystem full of monsters and desperation would not waste any resources. Seth was using his to navigate then and they had left the highway and entered one of the narrower normal streets between the ruins. They had spotted flying creatures above the highway from afar and fathomed the chance be spotted was slimmer here. But they had not gotten very far when they heard a soul-stirring screech from above. On the peak of a crumbled rooftop sat a gargoyle. Its wings were wide open as it screamed at them as if to provoke and intimidate them. It was not as big as the things they had seen from a distance, but it was troublesome. ~Kill it quickly and hide in the building! ~ The Lich warned them via telepathy. Link and Seth shot at the screecher, easily reaping its life with surprising ease. Even so, it had a higher level it was not a strong creature, especially not if measured against their weapons. They hurriedly broke open the closest entrance door to hide inside. Just before closing the door, they got a glimpse at why the lich had hurried to warn them. The scream was not just a weak sound attack, its main function was to call the swarm! Big bulky gargoyles were gathering the skies above! The bodies were big and grey like a boulder and their batwings looked disproportionate to the body like those of a fat fly. Despite looking clunky and slow they had arrived at an unprecedented rate. The fact that they looked so slow, but were actually quite fast made them very dangerous. They were also not small in numbers as at least 30-40 individuals had gathered at the call of the annoying little screecher. Using would have rmed them, so they needed to depend on Al''s ~ They range between lv.40 to lv.50. They have incredible strength and defense. You should hide for now and go on after they leave. ~ Following her advice, they activated their spells and skill to hide their presence and waited. They used the break to eat some rations and recover their stamina. When the gargoyles did not find or see anyone after 15 minutes they dispersed again. The hunter took a moment to look for the screecher''s corpse, but it was gone. This ecosystem did not waste anything. Even if it was the corpse of arade. The party changed its approach after running into the screecher. Instead of using the streets, they changed to traversing the buildings and ruins. Like this, they were only for a few moments in the open when crossing the road to the next building. They had not done this before, because the narrow space in a building was not favorable to them. In case other monsters inhabited the ruins and decided to stage an ambush on them, it would be harder to cope with. It proved to be less dangerous than they thought. Seth guesses that it was because this was the territory of the gargoyles. They did not meet any dangerous creature in the building. The detour through the buildings and ruins cost them some time but nothing more. They traveled a good part of their journey in the territory of the gargoyles. The change was evident when they left it behind. Monsters of human size and humanoids like mutated beasts or merpeople became more frequent. They had probably circumvented the slumspletely by traveling under the "protection" of the gargoyles and came right into the multicultural hotchpotch of the abandoned zone. It was not just merpeople and their monstrous creation left from the war that they saw, but they also came across the settlement of orcs and lizardmen and the nests of wolves. It was the aftermath of many different dungeon breaks and invasions through the pathwork. This ce was actually in a kind of bnce where all these beasts were in a standoff and kept each other in check. The party did the only sensible thing. Sneak past all bigger groups and get rid of any individuals they came across as quietly as possible. If this had been in a game, Seth would have been intent on stirring up some trouble and tilt this bnce into a full-on massacre. But right now, the quest came first. He had to find out whatever had happened to Evee and bring her back if she was still alive. They spent the night in a rtively intact department store. Seth would not go out of his way to plunder at this point in time. But since a jewelry shop was throwing alluring nces at him, he packed up the whole jewelry section and whatever he found in the safe. Electric watches were not working in Y-City, but he found a luxurious selection of mechanic watches in the safe. He could sell these as is and maybe enchant one for each party member. Watches took the same ce as bracelets in the system menu, it would be a shame to waste such a precious space. As for the jewelry, he would dismantle and melt down those he could not use and enchant the others as is. He would give them simple enchantments in his free time. It would not give him much proficiency, but it sounded fun to flood the market with "cheap" enchanted stuff. The next day they finally arrived in the area of Arigiri. The oceanic creatures had grown in numbers here. There were slime-covered tunnels and caves dug into the buildings and streets. The city was also distinctively more destroyed. Broken down and burned-out ruins, signs of ws, and destructive magic everywhere. Rusty and broken firearms were littered among the rubble. It was still the time back then when people had not realized yet that firearms did not work on these otherworldly and magical monsters. The party did not get around fights in this area, but the beasts here were unorganized and their advantage in levels was not great enough to ovee their unfair gear. But the beast gave a good amount of experience and soon the people in the part started leveling up one by one. Thest to level up was actually Seth when he finally reached lv.28. Several skirmishester they finally entered the quest area. What greeted them here was silence. The cecked monsters; it was almost eerie after they had ughtered their way in. "I don''t have a good feeling about this..." Link mumbled. "Well, we are going in anyways," Seth answered. There was a slight resistance like a temporary headache as they entered deeper into the quest area.. But it was nothing they worried about. Chapter 183 - 183. Evee Edmonts It was the beginning of everything. Before she could react, the house shook and she heard explosions and screams outside. "Evee! Evee! Wake up! We have to hurry! There was a warning. We have to evacuate; someone is attacking the district." Her aunt rushed into her room in a panic, grabbed her hand, and started pulling her out of the room. "Auntie! Wait! What is going on? Did you also get that message?" "That''s not important. Click it away. We have to evacuate with the forces or else we will be left behind!" Evee could not do anything before her aunt pulled her out of her room and towards the front door. It was night outside and she could see the burning cityscape outside through the kitchen window. "Get whatever you can carry! We need to hurry!" Her uncle and cousin were already busy packing a few bags with food and other stuff. Her breathing sped up. It was the beginning of a panic attack. When her brother vanished, she had waited for him at home. She called the police and stayed home alone for several days while they were processing the case. She moved in with her aunt''s family after a robber broke into her home and... Her heart was racing, and her hands started shaking as her vision got distorted. "No, no, no.." she grabbed the couch to lean against and her nails dug into the leather. This was not the time. She had to calm down. She- "Evee! Evee!" her aunt grasped her face between her two warms, slightly sweaty, palms. "Evee, concentrate on my voice. You have to calm down. Concentrate on your breathing. Slow controlled breaths. We have to go, Sweety. Are you okay?" She had slightly calmed down. She had no idea how much time had passed, but the bags were packed, and the family was ready to evacuate. Evee looked out the window. There were still screams and gunshots in the distance. The sky was tinged in a red glow from the fires in the city. "Are-Are you sure we should leave?" she uttered. "Of course, once we are at the shelter, there will be people to protect us. But we have to hurry." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om While they were talking, she could hear her uncle from the door. "What is this? Safe Zone? Of course, we have to leave!" Her uncle stepped out into the hallway. Her elder cousin followed, after making a weird face and nodding. "Come, Evee. We need to leave. Everything will be okay." Holding her hand she stepped to the door, paused for a moment, and stepped outside. When Evee stepped toward the door, she got a message. "A-Auntie, are you sure? It says this is a safe zone, so shouldn''t we..." "Sweetie. If we stay here, we will be swept away in a warzone... Hurry we- "Noo, get back! Run. Emily, get back into the apartment!" It was her uncle that came running back from the stairwell. He was covered in blood; the bags nowhere to be seen. "Rick wha-What happened!?" The answer came rushing from the stairs. It filled out almost the whole hallway. A leathery warty skin stretching over terrifying mountains of muscles. Its giant maw filled with shark teeth came shooting down the hallway. It snapped shut and her uncle had vanished. A cleanly cut-off pair of legs fell to the ground as the giant beast swallowed its bite. The cold dead eyes focused on her and her aunt before the giant mass of flesh got back into movement. "Come back in!" Evee screamed and pulled on her aunts'' hand, but her aunt was petrified. She tugged and pulled as tears filled her eyes and her bodily functions went haywire as the panic attack came back. She couldn''t cross the doorpletely without answering the question. All she could do was tugging on her hand and gripping her shoulder In one moment, she tried to pull her aunt into the safe zone, hectically looking between her and the monster. The next moment they were gone. Her aunt, the monster... her hands were gone. The creature had charged and was on the other end of the hallway now. Leisurely crunching something with blood dripping to the floor. She fell back into the apartment andnded on her butt. All she could do was look at the bloody stumps where her hands were once supposed to be. Tears kept clouding her vision as she fought to calm herself. Her blood kept spurting all over the ce and she knew this would be her end. With feet and elbows, she searched the kitchen for the first aid kit. She almost fell back into a panic when she realized that it was most likely in one of the bags outside. In the end, she managed to find belts among the stuff strewn over the floor. It was terribly difficult to use two belts to put a tourniquet on, just using her teeth and feet. When the blood stopped flowing, she was drowned by a wave of relief and fell unconscious. The first thing that came to her mind when she slowly came back awake was the annoying golden sentence. The characters kept jumping and spinning. Tears started flowing when she remembered what had transpired ever since this had appeared before her. What was going on with these? She had calmed down...as much as it was possible considering she just lost her family and hands. She needed to know more about the situation. She finally epted the tutorial. Evee learned about the system functions and the different windows and was then thrown into the battle simtion with a goblin. Without her hands. But it was fair. The goblin had no hands, too. She had not much time to panic as the creature came charging at her. Now the creature was only about half her size and came brainlessly charging at her. In a fluid movement, she kicked the goblin against the head. Her heart raised like an engine. She had not taken self-defense sses for nothing! The goblin faltered and knelt on the ground. She had to end it. This was her only chance! She kept kicking her opponent on the ground. She kicked and stomped and didn''t stop until it moved no more. Now she understood what titles were and how useful they could be...but why did most of them ask her to seek death? It was time for her to choose a job. There was a list ofmon jobs, a random job wheel, and a small list of jobs. From their description, she understood that these were based on the titles she got. For example, "Berserker" a warrior that kept growing stronger, with the loss of HP. Or a "Bloodmancer" that had various ult skills that used life as a resource instead of Mana... There was only one ss among them that actually assured her survival and didn''t try to drive her to her demise. Chapter 184 - 184. Evee Edmonts(2) Seth and the party were carefully walking into the silent zone. ~Rx. There are no monsters because this ce is protected by magic wards. Someone with a caster ss must have put these up. ~ Now that the all-knowing sorceress told them, they spotted wards drawn here and there on the walls and the street. They were less like magic circles or circuits and more like ominous special sigils and formations. The group slightly rxed as there would be no terrible monsters, but this didn''t mean the ce was safe. There could still be people. They didn''t know who set up those wards. What if they were hostile? They were now within the quest area. All that was left was finding Evee or someone who could tell them where she was. Link went ahead to scout. He had shown his prowess in finding people when he went for a walk and brought an amazon back home. Maybe he coulde back with the quest goal this time? Considering she was a young woman; the chances were high the gourmet hunter would not miss her. The buildings around them had been mostly burned down and blown up by modern weaponry. Somebody had gone through the effort to clear the streets of most of the rubble. Without the constant cries and roars of monsters, they could hear the wind howling in the ruins. After the arduous journey here, this sudden silence was almost more unsettling than the constant danger they had gotten used to. "I couldn''t find anyone. But I found something strange. It''s a huge graveyard. I looked around and it seems to be roughly in the center of the warded zone." "A graveyard?" Link led the party past a few blocks and soon a big plot ofnd covered in makeshift graves came into sight. Mounts of earth and rubble with wooden boards and crosses on them. Hundreds of them. "Do you think Evee made these?" Alison suddenly asked. Evee was the only one they knew that was definitely here. How long did it take to dig so many graves? Had she stayed here all this time? Or were there more people that did this? They started searching from the graveyard and looked through the intact houses and buildings. In the third house on the third floor, they started hearing a silent whimpering. An eerie weeping and sobbing were echoing through the hallways. It became louder when they reached the fourth floor. "Ma-Maybe she''s a ghost?" Link said afraid. "Should we, we really keep going?" "We have fought mind-consuming eldritch horrors in a fog dimension. And you are afraid of ghosts?" Alison mocked him. "Yes, they are my kryptonite. You got a problem with that?" he barked back. "Calm down, you guys. Did you forget my ss? A ghost would be a great fortune." Seth reprimanded them. They followed the weeping into one of the few apartments with an intact door. There sat a humanoid figure with dark grey skin. Her back was turned towards them and the crying was heart-rending. The figure threw her head around with tears sshing away and looked at them when she felt used on her. Her eyes werepletely ck and her slightly opened mouth was filled with sharp fangs. "Errm, Hi! Evee?" Seth said awkwardly. N?v(el)B\\jnn ----------------------- The ss she had chosen was called . The description during the ss selection was an undying witch that could revive herself, even if she died. It sounded like a great epic ss, perfect to survive, right? She had struggled a lot with depression after her brother vanished... but looking immediate death straight in the eye made her realize that she could not die yet. There were still answers she needed. She could not die here. That''s why she chose this ss. Despite her newfound motivation...when she left the tutorial and heard the notification that she gained new skills, a wave of lethargy came over her. She felt tired, listless, and weak... Right. She had almost forgotten that she had not just lost her hands, but also a huge amount of blood. Was there not a skill she could use for that? Her tired mind checked her skills. She had a lot of passive skills like , , and that would make sure she would not die. She lost focus for a moment but found what she was looking for when she concentrated. It was a high-tier healing skill that could deal with even the worst wounds. Even regrow limbs and organs. Her joy was short-lived as she had 2 problems. She had not even close to enough mana to use such a strong skill. The bigger problem was that she needed hands to cast magic, she could not cast magic to heal her hands without her hands! This counted for most skills she had. , , . Everything that could help her in her situation was greyed out because she could not activate the skills without her hands. Tears started to well up again. She wouldn''t die but...she had also no means to get away. Was she supposed to stab that giant beast to death with her bone stumps? Could she really recover from being eaten and digested? Would she live as a pile of poop? With those chaotic thoughts and broken hopes, she fell asleep. Her life from here on was empty. She recovered thanks to the passive skill . It healed her stumps and she recovered from the blood loss but her hands did not regrow. She did not dare to leave her the safe zone. From her window, she saw the monsters roaming the city. Sometimes she saw people leaving the buildings. Had they also stayed in their safe zones and survived? They fought for their lives with these amphibious monsters using their starter weapons and equipment, but they never survived. It strengthened her fear and resolve to stay. Her only problems were food and water. Her aunt and uncle had packed up almost all the foot when they fled. Tap water was still working but she had no hopes that it would keep working forever. She filled every bottle she got her hands on. There was nothing else she could do. She kept vegetating like a corpse in her safe zone, spending her time in fear and depression. She had barely recovered from the loss of her brother, now she had fully rpsed. Still, she wanted to survive. She was waiting. For help, for a chance, anything that could help her get out. After a week, she saw no one try to leave their zones. Was everyone else dead already? There were fewer people but the monsters became more numerous. She would often hear the scraping of ws and heavy steps in the hallway outside the front door. She rationed the little food she had. She also started rationing the water once I stopped running several dayster. Over the following weeks, she kept growing weaker and weaker as her food supply dwindled. The scraping outside became more and more often. What if they came in? She drank more and more water to fight the hunger. Her health bar started to decrease as she slowly started to starve. In her delirious mind, the idea to leave and scavenge for food started to overpower her existential fear of the monsters outside. Maybe she REALLY could stab those monsters to death? It came to the point where she felt the scraping was annoying and she became angry at those annoying monsters. It ended quickly when she remembered how easily those things would rip her apart. The cleanly bitten-off bony stumps that were left of her forearms were the best example. She had starter gear in the inventory, too. But she could not use the staff without hands and the robe was not useful in her case... Finally, there was a change. Not a favorable one. Her decision of going out was taken away from her as one day the door suddenly burst open with parts and splinter beingunched into the room. < Ding! Wee, Adventurer! You are the 25 869 348th to leave the safety zone in this region. > She had been lying down close to the fall; pondering to leave or not leave. The elerated splinters and wood chips perforated her. She was already dying when the giant amphibious lizard thing worked its way through the door frame. Her eyes slowly fell shut as the beast worked its way in. Her head cleared and she looked up to the giant monster towering above her. She felt no hunger, fatigue, or pain anymore. Now she could fight! That was what she thought. In the end, she died again. She got revived.. And died again. Chapter 185 - 185. Evee Edmonts(3) The girl jumped off the ground and took a fighting stance. Pointing two sharpened bone stumps toward them. She was missing a big piece of waist where her shriveled up intestines were visible and there were some other parts where chunks of meat were missing. She was covered in stitched-up cuts. She was an undead, this exined the diviner''s ambiguous readings. She was not dead... but one could not call this alive either. "Ah, please calm down! We are not here to hurt you, Evee!" Seth hurried to say. He stepped into the room signaling the rest of the party to stay back. Dark ooze or puss from crying stained her cheeks, but her eyes were vignt and focused on Seth. She was like a cornered beast. "How...How do you know my name?" she asked in a dry and raspy voice. She had hesitated as if shocked from hearing her own voice. She was still sentient. Seth wanted to give her the brothers'' wallet first. He btedly realized that she could not hold it... He wanted to flip it open to show her the pictures and the ID, but tears had already started to well up again from her big dark eyes. She had recognized the wallet because it was a present from her! She limped closer and clumsily took the wallet from his hand. She sunk to the ground and embraced it. "What happened to him?" It was the first clue of her brother ever since he had vanished. Despite everything that had happened to her, this stayed the deepest scar in her heart. In front of them sat the poor undead girl. Seth recounted their adventure and how they found her brother in that ce. He showed her the book and told her what he knew from their expedition into the fog. It took a while to exin, and it gave her enough time to calm down enough to talk with them. Once Seth ended his quest and his intentions to help her, it was her turn to exin what had happened to her. -------------------------------- It was a circle of dying anding back to life as a different undead. Each time after she died, she soon revived barely in time to prevent her from being eaten whole. She lost pieces of her legs and arms and the beast had even bitten a big chunk of meat out of her side before she finally got away. She had revived as a ghoul queen, a rather high-ranking undead, which gave her enough power to flee from the beast. It was all that was left in her mind at that moment. She had no hands and running had be hard after a part of her leg was missing. It was Evee''s new race that gave her the nimbleness, despite all hindrances, to get away and hide. She crawled into the next best niche in-between rubble, where none of the beasts would fit in. It took her a while to find the courage to check her body. When looking at the unreliable leg, she found her calf missing and the leg bone broken. The bones of her forearms were exposed, skinned during her hectic escape. The biggest horror was the giant hole in her belly, where her intestines were hanging out. Undead felt no pain, this was the only reason she was able to run or even stand in this kind of condition. It was her status that made her despair. Her attributes were greatly increased, but she had even less mana now. There was no way she could cast or even if she miraculously got a new pair of hands. How was she supposed to turn back into a human now? Her ss would not allow her to die, but her existence as an undead was... terrifying. Even without pain, she could feel her whole body like a damp heavy, and stiff clothing. It felt foreign. Every movement was a conscious effort. And the world felt unbelievably cold and empty. Even without her hands and close to death; being alive was a lot better than this! She sat there for a long while, she didn''t know how long and mourned herself and her family when it came to her. What shecked was strength! All she needed to do was level up. She would gain more mana and maybe get a skill to help her! Hope was budding again. She thoroughly studied her skills and her new body. It was rtively strong. She fathomed she could maybe try to kill weaker monsters in battle. All that was needed was to create a chance. The most reliable skill she could use without her hands was the . She only needed somehow draw or form the specific ward and initiate it with mana. As long as she managed this, it would have at least some effects. Setting up a ward cost mana in the initial creation but afterward, the ward would consume the surrounding magic to not just power, but also strengthen itself. One of the most basic wards was able to deter enemies. The beasts here were all not too intelligent, so even the basic wards could influence them. She used this to set up a small safe zone for herself. From here she kept exploring the ruins, looking for weak enemies. In the beginning, the only creatures weak enough to be her prey were her brethren. People who had died and were stuck under rubble or locked in the ruins. Her first victim was a helpless zombie, stuck under rubble. The beasts were too big to get in here. She sat at his side for several days until she finally found the resolve to end its misery. It was hard to kill without and good means of attack and barely a working limb. She sat on the rubble and kicked its head with her one good foot. It took her two or three kicks to crush the skull. Learning from this she had to make her jokee true. She fully exposed the broken off bones of her forearms and sharpened them to points. She also learned how to use the skills of her undead race. It was possible to activate using her bone spikes now. It became easier after her first kill, but she still felt sorry. These people were like her. They had not chosen to be a monster. All of them had just wanted to live their peaceful life. She started burying the zombies she had killed and the corpses she found in the ruins. She could not do much more for them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Over time her skills grew and she gained new skills like . The wards became stronger and her range of activity grew. She was still no match for the bigger monsters, but she could hunt the smaller ones. Her n got a small dent when she leveled up the first time and found out, that her APs were spent automatically because of her race! But it was just a small hurdle. Her mana still grew slightly, so all she need was time. She was the immortal witch, she had time! She just needed to persevere. Yeah, just needed to persevere. When she reached lv.5 it unlocked a few new skills. None of them could help her in her current situation, but it gave her hope. Maybe she could unlock er? No matter how unlikely it was. She needed this tiny hope to keep going. Time was lost in her continuous routine of hunting, setting upwards, and taking some time to mourn for her dead family and regret her life. As an undead, she needed no sleep and could see in the dark, so it went on unobstructed by the time of the day. And one day when she was upied with mourning the dead again, she felt a prick in the back of her head and found a bunch of visitors hade. Chapter 186 - 186. Heads Stuck Together Seth''s quest was not finished yet. This meant it was time for him to take care of the girl. He wanted to bring her to Y-City and help her level up. Her ss sounded interesting and he was not against her permanently joining hispany. The elephant in the room was obvious. They could not just bring an undead back with them to Y-City. Sentient or not, Seth was unsure whether people could understand her existence and ept it. This meant that they had to somehow solve her problem. They all sat on the ground and stuck their heads together. They thought about the problem that presented itself before them. Well, the problem was not that hard to solve. The primary problem was that shecked hands to cast with. Everyone already had the same idea and was staring at Seth. It was Alison that boldly spoke what everyone thought. "She needs hands, can''t you make her prosthetics?" she asked Seth. The cksmith in question was sweating buckets of water. He probably could. But he didn''t know how. He had to make them usable for casting, too. "Maybe? I don''t know, ok? I had some ideas, but I don''t know whether they would work. I have no idea about anatomy or undead. How am I supposed to make a prosthetic that allows an undead to cast magic? The only probable idea I have could hurt her and not work at all! Let''s ask the oracle!" Thest thing he wanted to do, was worsening the situation. He opted to ask the expert. ~Don''t call me that. ~ "Expert of Undead Anatomy!" ~ I don''t know if that is better...but spit out your ideas." Seth listed the options he came up with. His first thought was obviously making mechanical hands and connect it to Evee''s sinew or something. Did undead even use sinews and muscles to move? The problem was that he was far from a universal genius. The idea sounded great, but he had no idea how to actually build such a hand and connect it with her biological functions. N?v(el)B\\jnn His next idea was to maybe make a hand using enchantments, like those edgy MCs that would lose an arm and exchange it for a silver artifact armter on. But he didn''t need Al''Zalsa to know that his enchantment skill was far from being able to make that. ~Yep, with your skill it would be impossible. It might even be hard for me to seed first try. 1 hour would not be nearly enough. ~ Al''Zalsa stillmented. The rest of the party was silently listening. These were the two ideas they also had. But none of them was a clocksmith and knew how to do it. Seth''s most promising idea was to make a gauntlet and infuse part of her soul into it. This was the idea with most uncertainties. He thought that maybe she would be able to move it, because of undead properties. He didn''t know whether this would get in the way of her skills. He didn''t know if this would enable her to cast magic. Worst case he could damage her very soul... ~ Stop worrying so much. Souls are more robust than you think. Let me take a look at her. ~ It followed several seconds of silence. The party looked around cluelessly. Evee was nervous, ever since she heard a foreign voice in her head. ~ Oh, she''s an immortal witch, no need for worries. Though my advice would be that you make a skeletal hand and new arm bones. Those would work better. ~ Seth grimaced when he heard this. He had avoided this topic on purpose. "I have no idea how a skeletal hand looks like in detail." ~ Aren''t there a lot of corpses outside. Just dig one up and get some hands for reference. I don''t see the problem. ~ He did his best not to show it, but he really didn''t want to doctor around with rotting human remains. Undead and killing them was one thing, getting close up with a corpse was ...unsavory. He was seriously considering dropping the quest here. It was hard to withstand Evee''s and the party''s sparkling eyes when they heard that he could do something so cool. he felt really unwilling, but sometimes one had to make sacrifices. Link, Tekar and Evee went down to the graveyard. Tekar looked at the bone spikes at the end of her arms. "Did you really dig these all? Alone?" he asked worriedly. She looked away with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "I had a lot of time..." was her onlyment. She showed them where she had buried a female zombie. It was a shallow grave not much more than the corpse covered with rubble. "We are really very sorry. We will bring them backter! Promised." Tekar said before they took the two forearms from the grave. They came back and found that Seth had already summoned his smithy. He unwillingly took the two limbs from them and put them on his worktable. The boney were covered in dirt and rotten flesh. Seth could deal with clean bones, but this was really nothing for him. With a sigh, Seth used and modeled a pair of skeletal hands based on these two examples. Like this, he would not have to deal with this longer than he really needed to. When he was done making a blueprint for "Artificial Skeleton hands" Tekar and Link brought the arms back to their original owner. As a material, Seth chose . He had considered using the umon snake bones before until he realized the extent of this endeavor. There were 27 bones per hand in addition to ulna and radius for the forearm. 29 per arm! Seth needed to make almost 60 bones... If he used the bones, he would have to use and the skill of Charon''s Obol. Seth also refrained from using smithing bads. He had no concentration to spare since he needed to use and at the same time. To begin with, he got the idea because Evee gave him a simr feel like his items or Al''s phctery. Maybe it was because of Evee''s skill that detached her soul from the well-being of her body. From what they found out from Evee and their great sorceress. If she had enough mana would create a whole new body for her, if her original was destroyed. The skill would recover the best state before death. But Evee got her ss after losing her hands, so her best state would have been without her hands. Using his skills, he could pull out a part of Evee''s soul and infuse it while roughly smithing each bone one by one. It was a lot harder to keep the piece of the soul separated and mixing it into the material. Using his skills on a still living sentient soul was a great challenge. He also had to ignore Evee ambiguously moaning beside him. Every hit with the hammer or tug with his skills provoked a reaction from the young ghoul queen. She had fallen unconscious when Seth had started pulling out pieces of her soul. Using the jeweler''s table, he refined and fit them. When they were smooth and fit together in a way that satisfied Seth he walked to the waters of Styx and started dunking them into the water barrel. "What now?" Seth asked looking at the pile of metallic bones on his workbench. ~ Remove her crippled ulna a radius. You will see it then. ~ "Tekar, you do it." Seth delegated this important task. Tekar sighed and pulled out what was left of Evee''s forearms. What happened next was something the party had never seen before. He had no chance to take a step back when the bones escaped from the workbench and shot towards the unconscious girl. The arm bones took their ce and the hand assembled itself. Now Seth understood what the sorceress had been talking about. It was like those Skeletons that kept reassembling themself if you did not break them with special means. After a few seconds, a new pair of steel gray skeleton hands with a blue hue had assembled at the end of Evee arms. After her Souls had reassembled with her body the girl woke up. The first thing she did was touching her face and rubbing her eyes with her new hands. Her drowsiness turned into soon turned into shock and joy as tears started flowing again when she realized that she had hands! For the first time in almost one year, she had a pair of hands. She could not stop using her fingies like a newborn. "I guess this solves our first problem, huh?" Chapter 187 - 187.The Smaller Problem? A pair of sparkly new skeletal hands extended from the girl''s arms. She was still rapt in fascination while looking and ying with them. Meanwhile, the party was also staring at her hands. Baffled by what had just happened. "Link, how about you cook something for us?" Seth suddenly said breaking the atmosphere for the group. Evee was still locked in her own world, ying with her fingers. "Ah, sure." They were currently inside Evee''s ward. The area was not small and it seemed safe to light an actual fire for cooking. They left the girl to her own devices and left the building where Link made a fire set up his cooking equipment. Sitting around the fire the party started speaking casually among themself. "That was really something. Seeing a metal hand assemble like that." Tekar eximed. Although they lived in this world with magic skills, seeing something truly fantastical was still rare. "Now that she has hands, she should be able to cast right? Will she revive now?" Link asked "She stillcks mana. Didn''t you listen?" Alison reprimanded him. "You could lend her that awesome jacket. Wouldn''t she have enough mana then?" the hunter barked back. Alison grabbed her cloth armor and blushed a little. She knew that this idea would work but... who would willingly hand over an epic item once it was already theirs? Even for just a short moment? "We-We could also just help her level until she has enough mana!" the female wizard changed the subject. Seth sighed. "Why do I have to stop your fights all the time? I will do something about her mana, don''t worry." Seth already had ns to make her some soul armament. Sure, this was a slight loss for him, but he had his reasons. On one hand, there was obviously the quest, but on the other was winning her as a team member. She was immortal, she could brew potions, she could also take the role of a healer and cause debuffs. She knew , a skill that could even revert death outside of a dungeon as long as it is used shortly after death. It was a typical high-ranking healer skill Puffles did not possess. Seth would happily take her into his party. And it was an excuse to grind his a little more. Soon the savory smell of roasted lizard meat was drifting through the air. A drooling ghoul queen was lured to their fire by the smell of cooked food. Did ghouls eat? Yes. What did they eat? ...corpses and raw meat. Evee had survived on raw and rotten meat until now. Although her taste was almost nonexistent as an undead, this didn''t mean that it was pleasant for someone with an intact human mind. They just wanted to eat when Link suddenly looked up. "Someone ising," he said, raising their vignce. Everyone corrected the gear and stood up. Seth looked regretfully at the freshly cooked food. How could somebody so cruelly disrupt them during mealtime! A bunch of rough-looking men was walking down the streets towards them. They wore a patchy assortment of dungeon loot. Seth could not take a sneaky peek at their status, but their equipment was above averagepared to the adventurers he had seen in Y-City. Their faces were unshaven and had an ugly smile. "Hehe, who would have thought that she had more friends?" "Hey, monster! Are you done running? Your stupid wards won''t help you anymore!" Theyughed ignoring Seth''s party as if they were just some flies on the wall. They had only malicious eyes for the ghoul queen standing beside them. "You know them...?" Seth fell silent when he saw the expression of pure hatred on the face of this innocent girl. Now her looks fit the race of a ghoul queen. Her story had made Seth a little suspicious but now he was sure that there was something she had not told them. A big something. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Keke, today will be your end, monster. And will also wipe out thest of your friends!" only now di he turned to Seth and the others. "This is nothing personal, really. We can''t have random people running around on our turf!" "Bro, those guys are filthy rich! The worst thing they wear is umon and most of it I can''t even appraise!" "Ho! An unexpected windfall! Forget what I said. This just became personal!" he said with a toothy grin that showed his rotten teeth. " Stay back, I will take care of them!" Evee said more with a snarl than human speech. With great speed, she charged at the group of 5 crooks before Seth or anyone else could stop her. No matter how disgusting these neers were, their party y was well-trained. Despite Evee''s overblown physical stats thanks to her undead race, she was soon beaten ck and blue. Some broken bones and cutster, she was hit back, rolled over the floor, and came to stop close to the party''s feet. "Wow, you are soo cruel! Letting your little friend fight all alone! Are you afraid? I will give you a chance, leave your equipment behind and we will spare your lives!" "D-Don''t! They are lying!" Evee pressed out between clenched teeth. She could not move anymore. The crooks had thoroughly incapacitated her. What kind of drama was this? Seth had let her get beaten up because he thought it was a good punishment for keeping secrets from them. But now even the brat was doubting their strength? He scrunched up his nose and used on the five crooks. He didn''t even bother reading their names. They all ranged slightly above lv. 30. Where did they get their arrogance from? Their faces distorted when they felt the skill used on them. "You saw we are decked out in better items, and you still want to threaten us?" Seth sarcastically. "Kek, items are not everything. Forget leaving here alive! All of you will die!" "Stop stealing my lines. Link?" with a nod he signaled the hunter to attack. The other had already gotten ready hidden behind Seth''s back. Immediately after the nod, a volley of bolts flew towards the party of robbers. But it was blocked by a barrier cast by one of the bandits. "Hehe, that won''t work on us! Pord!?" The priest in the back had started violently sneezing and was unable to stop. Sethughed out loud and gave Link, who was still looking clueless, a thumb up. The curse option had triggered and just like the curses the Tuatha de had thrown at them, blocking with a barrier could not stop this effect. "Damnit, Pord get your shit together!" They had no time to care for theirrade as a giant wind scythe was rushing down the street towards them. Alison was not just standing around. Although a little slower, she too had been chanting from the start and had just finished casting. Hurriedly the Tank and the Off-tank lifted their umon shields and activated their skills to shield the members behind them. The two managed to block the huge wind de, but there were deep gashes in their shields. They had almost been split apart. It was the effect of Alison''s training. Seth had promised her knowledge and he kept this promise. Although he could not hand over the token to her, she was able to spend some time under Al''Zalsar''s tutge in the fog dimension. With Seth''s rmendation, she also joined the church as ay follower and got ess to the church library. Magic was a proficiency-based skill like those of crafters, but proficiency was not only gained by using the magic, but also by gaining knowledge about it. And for someone with the title "Bookworm" that granted the passive skill "Devourer of Knowledge," this was like jumping over the Dragon gate. The skill granted additional intelligence for learning specific knowledge and skills, mana for reading books, and damage for learned spells. Her skills had grown to a terrifying level. It was just that at this party, she did not get much opportunity to shine because she needed some time for casting. It was the only drawback; shecked skills that decreased the casting time. Seeing her power demonstrated validated Seth''s decision to use a big soul for her equipment. Chapter 188 - 188. Popping The Problems Seeing their shields almost fail rattled the two robbers. "What are you two doing! Can''t you see they are reloading? Rush them, you numbskulls!" their leader was raging and pushing the tanks from behind. While their priest was still trying to cope with a terrible sneezing attack the rest of the party rushed towards Seth and the others. The tank was a temr, the off-tank a knight, the leader an ax warrior. Thest one vanished when the boss gave his order. It was a shadow thief, simr to an assassin ss, but more focused on a thief''s talents. "Tekar, you take the back. I will y with these guys." Seth felt a bit peeved thinking that Evee had actually told them to run away. Did they look that weak? He readied the big "Wyvern de" showing his intent to take on all three of them on his own! ----- An unwitting smile appeared on the opponent''s faces as they saw his baseless bravado. They had an appraisal skill themself. They knew he was just lv.28, what could he do to them? He was just as dumb as thest guys who had helped the little monster escape. With the shield in front of his chest, Seth took a stance and wound up for a wide horizontal strike. The bandits'' confidence and their grin grew seeing him telegraph his attack like that. The tanks lined up to block whatever attack it was together, again. But the de didn''t move. "Dragon might!" They heard a shout, and their bodies froze. A sudden weight forced them to stop in their tracks and an indescribable feeling of fear and imminent crisis encroached on their minds. Now, the de moved. The edge lit up with a terrifying pale light and as it moved into a horizontal sh and massive cloud of pale me shot towards the petrified group of attackers. Seth was not the smartest, but he also wasn''t stupid. Why would he go into a melee fight with sses that were specialized in meleebat? Even though he had considerably improved during his spars with Tored, it was still painfully obvious that he had a great disadvantage againstbat sses. Especially if they had a great level advantage. The two tanks were able to get a grip on their thoughts and activated their protective skills right before the cloud of fire washed over them. They were surrounded by bright light from all sides and felt like getting cooked in an oven, despite their skills. But they withstood it! The boss looked miserable ducking in-between the two tankers, but soon the attack would have passed them! . Moments passed. Soon the fire would have passed them. Soon it would be over, right? On the outside stood Seth and controlled the mes to form a rotating dome around the three. At this point, it cost Seth almost nothing to just maintain this dome. The street pavement started melting and glowing in a bright orange like magma. No screams would escape his hellish pizza oven. Seth waited for the kill notification. < Ding! -Extra 3 lv.33- has been killed. You have gained experience.> He pursed his lips. This wasn''t Seth''s kill. The thief had stood no chance against thebined might of his other party members. When he looked back, he could only see a headless corpse and some bloody residue on Tekar''s shield. Did he pop his head with the spike?! Did their skills finally run out? The notifications followed each other quickly. The dome of fire dispersed the moment Seth stopped controlling and fueling it. On a red-hot bed of molten streetid three burned ck corpses in twisted and broken poses. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth''s heart raced and his stomach turned a little. It was the first time in a long while that he distinctly felt . It was easy to think of a way to reap lives, but this was only the second time he had to kill another human. But the effect was a long shot off from his first time. Was he getting used to killing humanoids? "Are you okay?" Tekar asked worriedly with his deep warm voice. All of them had lived in a do-or-die world for a long time. The big man understood his feelings. Seth took a deep breath and sighed. "I''m okay. Let''s loot these guys and see what presents they left for us." The equipment of the briquettes was ruined. Even if he melted it down, it was just ordinary materials that got their abilities from a dungeon at best. But there was still the item box that every yer dropped. The thief''s equipment was still okay, I could be sold in the city for some money. In the meantime, the gourmet hunter and Alison had gone ahead and tied up the sneezing priest. Alison turned away as Link stripped the poor sob down to his underwear. He had just seen his friends get wiped out. Copious amounts of snot, tears, and drool had joined thepulsive sneezing. The wizard girl had no intention to get in range of the projectile-like body fluids. Stashing away the loot and looking over the situation; Seth felt quite satisfied. He crouched down beside the incapacitated Evee and poked her cheek. "Saw that? Huh? We are no pushovers. I knew your story sounded a little fishy. Who would spend so much time crying, when they already have a n and strategy to gain strength? You would be a lot stronger at this point if your story was true. Before I help you any further, I want to know the truth. No more lies." He kept poking her cheek to emphasize his words. And it was a little fun poking her puffy cheek, while she was looking at him with reproachful eyes and no means to stop him. "I didn''t lie. Not fully..." -------------- She was not a ghoul queen when she escaped the beast''s maws but an Archzombie. She really had spent some time mourning and hunting. And there had really been visitors. It just was not Seth''s party. It was a few weeks after she had found her new way of unlife. She needed no food or sleep, so she spent day and night hunting and drawing wards. A safe zone in the middle of guaranteed death had soon attracted a bunch of people. At first, there was a misunderstanding, but she was lucky. The first people she met were other survivors from the immediate neighborhood. She had even met one or two of them before the disaster. They were able tomunicate, and she dly offered them to stay within the boundaries of her ward. In time they all got closer and formed a party to hunt more monsters and widen the area of the wards. Among them was a farmer and they tried to start a field, so they would not have to scavenge for food anymore. Their littlemunity kept growing with every desperate refugee that somehow found his way into the safe zone. Many of them became her friends and it helped her to keep going. It was a distraction from her pain, to hunt and to live with them. It worked for the first few months but there were not only nice people in the world. After some time more and more bad people started appearing in the ruins. It came to fights and losses. The number of graves kept growing until one day everything changed. All the criminals and crooks that had fled away from Y-City''s influence banded together and decided to conquer the one safe zone in hell. However, Evee and her friends had lived in the ruins for several weeks, they had becent. Protected by Evee''s magic they spent the time mostly peaceful. They stood no chance against the numerical advantage and were either killed or enved.. Evee herself was caught, too. Chapter 189 - 189. Evee Edmonts(4) The group of criminals called themself the Raiders Union and were pushed out of the slums by bigger groups. Their Leader was known as Marn and had the epic ss "Knight Commander" which was able to power up their troops. They hade across the safe zone and found it easy to conquer. It was the start of Evee''s hell. They interrogated the prisoner and found the reason for the safe zone. They found out that she was technically immortal and the reason for the safe zone. Starting there began her new daily routine. She was kept chained up in a dark cer during the night. For most of her day, she was used as a punching bag for the raiders to train in arena matches. This was the real reason why she gained a skill like . She lost many of her levels dying in these matches. Sometimes they would bring her out and force her to create more wards and if she didn''t, they would kill the survivors of the little settlement. Otherwise, the prisoners would work for the raiders. Farming food, serving them as ves, or to ...release their more secr urges. Evee was lucky that at least none among their oppressors had a special kind of thing for the undead. For some time, she felt like a true undead. There was no hope and she mindlessly followed the orders of her captors. Once again, she had lost many people she held dear. However, this time she had to get a grip on herself. There were still people alive. Seeing them suffer made her realize that she could not stay like this. Evee started using the nights to scout out the Raider''s base with her astral projection. The map, the guards, the patrolling routes and shifts. She found where her friends were held and started formting a n. On the days she kept dying and creating wards she not only trained her skill and learned new wards. She also learned more about . The skill randomly turned her into an undead race when shecked mana for . One night, when all preparations were done, she enacted her n. The catalyst was her dying several times in the arena until she revived as a Ghoul Queen and managed to survive until they were done with her. This was an undead strong enough to even fight with the elite criminals. She had realized the power of her new body and concealed it during the fights, barely surviving. Now she only needed to recover and wait for her chance. In the night Evee broke her chains and escaped her cell. Sneakily taking out the guards on her way. She had fought all of them in the arena, she knew their habits and powers. She evaded those that were too hard and snuck into the ve barracks. Her people were dirty and malnourished. They slept on thin nkets on the ground, but they were alive. She silently woke them one by one and exined her n. Once they were out, they would flee and hide in a new safe zone. While ying an obedient ve she had not just ced wards to fend off monsters, but she had also set up many that would confuse enemies and hinder their pursuers. She had also not just prepared their escape, but also prepared to copse the current safe zone. This was possible because of the changes in her skill level. Wards for cancelling, remote cancelling, and remote activation in an area were unlocked. Herrades were weak and could only follow her quite slowly, but they were not helpless. Their first destination was the armory of the raiders. Next, they plundered the pantry and loaded up on rations. With everyone armed and fed they left the base and followed Evee through the ruined city. She had scouted their escape route with her astral projection long ago, to make sure there were no stronger monsters waiting for them outside the safe zone. When they crossed the border, she canceled the wards that kept the raider base safe. But she did more. She activated wards that attracted monsters to the region. There was no n from here on out. It was just running straight and get as much space between them and the raider''s base as possible. An ear-shattering cry from above signalled the sess of Evee''s n! A gargoyle screecher had been attracted and spotted the left-over guards. It summoned the whole swarm to their location. The raider base was sieged by a horde of gargoyles and their noise helped to attract even more monsters that would join the fray soon. They hid in the distance and took a moment to watch the chaos from afar. The guards were ripped apart by the gargoyles and their screams rmed the bandits inside. More monsters like a giant Komodo dragon was attracted from the vicinity and the giant beast broke down the ramparts and walls. The bandits were tangled up in a sudden life-or-death battle with a monster horde and were hard-pressed for survival. With many of the beasts now attracted to the battle, Evee and the survivor were able to flee in rtive peace. They returned to their old base, where they stayed for a short time to recuperate. The defiled corpses the bandits had left to rot had turned into Zombies forcing them to end their friends themself. No beast had feasted on them or killed the zombies, thanks to Evee''s wards. They had not much time but did the best they could to give them a proper burial. Some may have said it was a waste of time but they could not have lived on with a clear conscience if they didn''t do it. After crossing the territory of a group of Drakes a few days of travelter, they thought these would be a good guard. They build a new base in the shadow of the drakes, thinking they were safe. They were wrong. The leader of the bandits had not given up. He was even more eager to find and kill the survivors now. A week before she met Seth, he had led an army from the slums to raid their new base and kill almost everyone she knew. Badly hurt she had fled with some others back to their old base, but they soon died from their heavy wounds and constant attacks of bandit patrols. She was left alone after watching them die and could only bury them beside their oldrades. That was where Seth and the party had found her in the end. She had a lot to mourn. She had lost her brother and her other rtives. Finding new friends andrades had helped alleviate the pain. her mind had been constantly upied. Even during her life as a ve, she was able to find a purpose and even managed to escape with the people that were left. Here she was alone. And in her solitude, things started to fade like a dream and her mind kept wandering back to her brother. Despite everything that had happened, the loss of her brother was still the deepest scar in her heart. Before the apocalypse, she had already spent every day like a corpse. People had kept telling her that her big brother had abandoned her. Her loving brother who had always workedte to support them both. Her warm brother who had alwayse home and greeted her with a wide smile. Her big brother who protected her all this time. Was she really a burden to him? Had she held him back until he saw no other way but to run? The longer she waited for him, the stronger grew her doubt. They ate away at her heart. Without the shock from the apocalypse, she might not have found the strength to survive. It was her bothers diary that resolved this heart demon and she was really grateful to Seth, even though she would never see her brother again. It had helped her a lot. She had often paused while telling her tale. Goopy tears had filled her eyes again. She looked up to Seth. "When you told me about my brother... You can''t imagine how much it helped, getting even just a little bit of my old life back." her metallic skeleton hands hugged the diary of her brother like a stuffed animal. Seth nodded. He didn''t really know what to do. He had no real experience inforting people, so he awkwardly glossed over the situation and changed the subject. "So... do you want revenge on these guys? I wouldn''t be opposed to raiding them once we fixed you," Seth had felt bad after killing those guys, but he was over it. Right now, he felt a lot better about killing them and was eager to kill even more. The reason was simple. Evee''s story had really touched him...Yeah no, not really. He had gotten almost 30% experience from killing these henchmen. How many levels would they gain by raiding the whole hideout? Compared to monsters, humans were a much easier target to farm experience at the moment. N?v(el)B\\jnn "T-there are over a hundred bandits! We couldn''t possibly..." She nned toe back once she grew strong and take revenge. But not like this. She had never wanted to involve her benefactors in her own painful problems. She had even lied to them... "I didn''t ask about chances. I asked whether you want it. Do you want to take revenge and kill everyst one of them?" "Yes....please" Chapter 190 - 190. Revenge Is A Meal Best Served Hot "Then let''s first fix youpletely so you can savor the meal I''m about to serve you. Okay?" They didn''t just rush off; everything should be done in order. While Evee was slowly regenerating her HP, the party sat down and finished the meal Link had cooked, before they were rudely interrupted. Once the really important matters were taken care of, Seth went into the building to solve the little mana problem. Evee''s needed a whopping 500 mana to activate sessfully. needed 200 mana to be used. Seth went ahead and started forging soul armaments. He used medium-sized souls and started with gloves. After finishing the second glove he suddenly got a notification. He felt relieved, that making soul armament was enough to grind this skill. The problem with his ss skills was, that they did not show a proficiency bar like the other skills did. Level 2 had no perks, but it became easier to define details and the performance got a tiny bonus. Seth forged five more soul armaments from medium-sized souls and- wore them himself. He would give Evee the two gloves he made first and the older pieces he exchanged for the new ones. Seth also took the time to enchant the soul armament. He infused a few more souls to strengthen them because he wanted to keep the regeneration of bonus mana. The enchantment was nothing fancy, just a simple willpower upgrade that increased his willpower by 125. This gave him the confidence to avoid the headache, even if he went a little overboard. He unsummoned the smithy and returned to the outside. The girl had recovered enough to sit at the fire together with the party. "Evee,e over here for a moment." He had told the party everything, but if they saw him hand out candies to newbies, they might ask for some too. No need to trigger that nuisance. The girl''s eyes became big and round when he showed her the glowing transparent armor pieces. "Take these and wear them. They give a great amount of bonus mana." When equipped with the armor it was visible for a short moment as a kind of ghostly armor and then sank into her skin. "I really worked! My mana shot up by almost 700 points!" she eximed in surprise. The next moment she was encased in bright light. Her wounds vanished and her flesh regrew as color returned to her skin and eyes. At first, her arms only recovered to stumps but she used and the flesh crept up over the foreign bones forming a pair of fair hands. In a matter of seconds, the ghoul queen had turned into a healthy looked girl with ash brown hair and big brown eyes. Nonbelieving she stared at her hands and touched her cheeks. "I- I''m alive again! I can feel! I have hands!" It looked like it worked, but there was one thing Seth found suspicious. "Where are the skeleton hands? Did, did they really substitute your original bones?" he asked puzzled as he had not seen what exactly had happened. ~ Yeah! She literally had fists of steel. ~ Almented chuckling. "Did you know about this?" ~Of course. I have seen a few immortal witches in my time. Slowly exchange parts of their body for stronger materials and items was a custom among them. Since they are not reliant on their body for survival, they can do some pretty amazing stuff to strengthen themself without getting any kind of health issues. ~ Seth dreaded his future. Would this girl ask him to exchange her full skeleton for high-rated metals? He didn''t deny that it sounded interesting but... Oh well, maybe he would be able to find a medical model of a skeleton. One made of stic. He would not mind that. "Oh well. One problem solved. Let''s go out and greet the Party, Evee." he said, and they returned to the party. They stepped out into the daylight and Evee shuddered when she felt the sun''s warmth for the first time in almost a year. "Guys say hello to Evee. The alive version." The party looked at her with great surprise and there was a certain glimmer in Link''s eyes which provoked a sharp jab of Alison''s elbow in his ribs. Her gaze was murderous and told him quite clearly to leave the girl alone. Seth and Evee joined the party at the fire. "Okay guys, here''s the n. We gonna get some easy experience." The first step was interrogating their sweet little prisoner who had finally managed to stop sneezing. Seth''s interrogation method was crude, to say the least. "Look what I did to your friends." he pointed to the corpses solidified in poses of terror and pain thatid on the circr field of cooled molten stone. The molten metal of their items had burned deeply into their flesh. "Tell me where your hideout is and how many of you are there." The man struggled and tried to look away. He shook his head and stayed silent. Seth grabbed the priest at the nape and shoved the squirming man headfirst into the charred remains of his friends. "I told you to look. Take a good look." The skin was charred but the meat below was still juicy. As he was pressed against the body''s surface, the still hot juices leaked and ran across his cheeks. The priest could not help but vomit. He retched and coughed for several minutespletely emptying his stomach on the remains. Seth waited until he was done before crouching beside him. "I can assure you, that I can give you a fast and painless death or let you die an even worse one than them. The only question you should answer yourself now is, are yourrades worth the torture?" "P-please spare me! I- I only joined them recently! I just wanted to survive!" "Hum hum. Let''s make a deal. Do you see the young woman over there? If you tell me everything you know about this Raider Association or whatever they call themself, I will leave your fate in her hand. Maybe she will have mercy?" Evee lookedpletely innocent and was not recognizable after turning back into a human from an undead. Hope grew in the bandit''s eyes when he thought that a young girl might really spare his life! He willingly told them everything he knew. The location of the hideout, their overall number, and the number and size of teams currently dispatched to search for the undead. He told them everything he knew and even drew a map of the hideout for them. When the bandit finally fell silent, he looked at Seth expectantly. The other nodded and kept his word. He stepped aside and handed Evee a blood drinker stiletto. "It''s your choice whether he will live or-" Seth had not finished talking as the stiletto already pierce the man''s left eye. The glimmer of hope slowly dimmed as life left the body. Another 5% was added to Seth''s experience bar. "Oh, I earned a point in intelligence?" Evee eximed in surprise. "He-He lied. He was among the first group of people that attacked us. And he did some of the worst stuff afterward. " She exined herself when she saw the party staring at her in surprise but did not give any more details. Seth sighed. "You should have let me finish talking. You could have gained more stat points if you stabbed him some more. Now it''s toote." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Oh! That reminds me that I should distribute my points!" she eximed and became busy with her status window. Afterward, she exined that her status points were reset upon revival. She had regained the points that were automatically distributed while she was an undead. She followed Alison''s advice and put about a third of them into intelligence and distributed the rest on endurance, agility, and willpower. In the meantime, Seth exined what they were about to do to the Party and they came up with a n. Chapter 191 - 191. Raid On The Raiders Paul Lane, the leader and founder of the Raider''s Association was sitting in his bigfy chair in his room. He was reading a book and eating dried meat on the side. It felt good to be back in power. He enjoyed spending thete evenings like this. Paul was a rough man in the middle management of the underworld before the apocalypse. He was ruthless and not dumb, but he missed what was necessary to get to the top. This had not changed even after he gained an epic ss. Despite his personal strength and the ability to power up all his allies, he was pushed out of the slums. He was lucky enough toe across some idiots that owned a safe zone. Life was great with a bunch of ves and more than enough food. He simply took over a well-feathered nest. The monster raid and escape of the ves was a great setback, but he survived. He and his close aides only grew stronger through this experience. He returned to the slums and rebuilt his organization. But it was already toote topete with the set power structure at this point. Instead, he opted to return. Paul was not ready to let it go so easily. Somewhere in the ruins were those ves and the undead that could create wards. He would find them again and everything would go back to the leisure days! The search was long and arduous, but in the end, he found them and took control of the new safe zone. It was a shame that they had be too strong to suppress and had to be killed. The biggest regret was that the sentient undead had managed to escape. As long as he got his hands on that monster and gain control over it, he could literally found his own country! He could be a king! Paul used a lot of money and even prepared a mage who specialized in stuff like mind control. He had sent many teams to search for it, leaving the base with 50 men for defense. Every team had at least one person that knew how the undead looked. This was a risky y on his part. The ruins were very dangerous, and he could lose many men on this search, but it was worth it. They were a sacrifice he was willing to make. His elites stood by his side, he had only sent the new ones and some of the weaklings that survived through fortune. He was just getting to the good part in the book when he smelled smoke. Had those idiots in the kitchen messed up dinner again? Their base was a small mall close to the center of the highjacked safe zone. They had chosen this ce because the walls were thick, and the entrances already had several reliable safety measures. Sturdy barricades on all entrances enforced the defense again. Even if the wards were deactivated, they were confident to defend this ce against most monsters in the city. "rm! Fire!" Bells suddenly resounded in the mall and the rm was rung. Paul threw away the book and ran out of his room into the main passage. His room was close to the main entrance. Before the backdrop of the dark night sky, he saw the barricades outside burning with an eerie fire. "It''s an enemy attack!" he heard another call. He had just stepped outside and saw a swarm of fireballs raining down on the mall. They set fire to the roof while the ghostly me was rapidly encircling the mall and blocked their escape routes. This was no normal fire. It was so hot that they had no choice but to flee inside the mall. Even from several meters distance, they felt like being burned. But they were not safe. The thick walls and fire safety door could not stop this me! It easily entered the mall where it devoured anything mmable and liquified everything else with a rapid speed. The bandits activated all kinds of protective skills in a hurry, just to be able to flee. The few mages among the cast water attribute magic which was like a drop on a hot stone. Those with lesser defense were lost to the fire while Paul and the few elites managed to reach the rooftop. The regr fire up here was almostfortablepared to the terrifying me below. Through the fire and the smoke, coughing and wheezing they looked for an escape route in a panic. The weird fire surrounded the mall, but there was still a gab at the rear. One of his men spotted the chance. Sure death or a 30m fall? They jumped without much hesitation. Paul and nine of his mennded on the ground. He rolled off and managed to avoid any broken bones. Others were not so lucky. 2 of his men were crippled as both of their ankles broke. The rest had also smaller issues like broken ribs or dislocated shoulders. All of them had lost a bunch of health, but this was not the ce or time to whine. They grabbed their crippledrades and limped away from the terrifying fires that were eradicating their beautiful base. They could not see far in the darkness, but they knew that they needed to find shelter. It was suicide to wander around in the ruin in their condition. And somewhere out there were people aiming for them. They needed to get some cover and aimed for the closest building. The door was kicked open and they stumbled into the dark hallway. A pair of giant fists and the terrifying sight of three rabid dog faces greeted them. It was thest thing Paul remembered when he woke up again. A terrible pain ran through his body. Paul could feel that his limbs were broken, and he felt a tight rope stopping him from moving. He looked around. He and his men were stripped to the underwear and tied up. Theyid in a row on the floor of a dimly lit room. "Oh, you woke up sooner than I expected. Never underestimate a high level, I guess?" On a chair to the side sat a tall man in dark-red and ck armor. Paul could spot something like golden chainmail beneath the impressive te armor. Those items had to be extremely expensive, what had they done to offend such a figure? "Wh-Who are you?" he spat out. He could only talk with much pain as his throat had been parched and burned by the hot air in the mall. "It''s not important who I am. It''s important who she is." he pointed at a young girl, maybe 18, with long ash brown hair and big eyes. Paul only noticed her now. She was staring at him with her unwavering dark eyes. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Who is she...?" Paul asked confused. "Your judge. Your jury. And executioner, I guess?" he said with a big smile that betrayed the gravity of what he just said. Paul now noticed the girl holding a dagger with a long, very slim de. It was a quick and decisive movement, but the tip of the de stopped just before piercing his eyes. A big gauntlet had grasped the girl''s hand and stopped her attack. The tall man had jumped off the chair and stopped her. Did he change his mind and save him? Maybe there was still hope? "What did I tell you? Control your emotions a little and don''t make the same mistake twice. Stab him several times and let him slowly bleed out. Also, try using the stilettos skill. We have more than enough time, you should be able to use it once or twice on each of them." the man reprimanded her. "What are you saying, man! If you don''t help me, just let me die in peace! Why the hell did you have to step forward!" was all Paul could think as he watched the girl nod with a determined face. She proceeded to stab him several times, avoiding vital areas and inflicting a heavy bleed status. All he could do was watch on as his HP drained away and the girl went over to do the same to his subordinates. ---------- Chapter 192 - 192. Blessed By The Gods Seth was close to lv. 30. Burning down the base with almost 50 people had brought him to the cusp of lv. 29. Now he was watching the ruffians slowly bleeding out after Evee had stabbed them over and over. Just as the first one died, he leveled up and was swept away by a flood of messages. A bright golden light was engulfing him as he received one blessing after another! has been created. The skills , have been received. Dexterity +10, Strength +10> , , have been received. Luck+5, Personality +5> < Seth, the Heliopolitan God of Chaos has gazed upon you and blessed you with some of his powers as the God of Storms. The skill has been received. The blueprint has been learned. The recipe has been learned. Personality +5 Strength+5> An overload of information was flooding his brain and he hurriedly sat down as the golden light slowly dimmed. He had gained so much stuff in this short moment... "Status!" (Without items) "S-Skill Window?" His Status had not changed by a lot, but he remembered a lot of skills being added. What was going on with these blessings? Even if one became a champion, wasn''t there supposed to be only one blessing? And why were they so...misfitting? The god of the underworld gave him mining skills, the god of cksmiths gave him a movement skill and the god of chaos gave him recipes? Seth had no idea what was going on anymore... "Are you okay?" Evee asked the stupefied cksmith in a slight panic. "Oh? Oh, yeah." "Are you sure? You suddenly lit up like a firework and then just stood there for a while " "Just a bunch of blessingsing in." "Blessings?" Tekar asked surprised. The party had been cleaning up the what was left of the bandit base. They had returned just in time to overhear their conversation. "Blessing? Did you reach lv. 30 Seth?" Alison asked curiously. "Yes, why do you ask?" "Wow, to reach lv.30 and immediately be a champion. That really cool!" Link interjected. It became clear what they were talking about when he checked the system privileges. The quest to reach lv.30 had made him eligible to be chosen as a god''s champion. But he had received blessings from three different gods... The party looked puzzled when he described what had happened. None of them were champion, so they had no idea how it was supposed to be. But this was the first time they heard that someone was chosen by more than one God. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, it''s weird, but what did you actually gain? Champions with one God are already totally overpowered. With three blessings, you must have gotten a tremendous power up!" Link said eagerly. Seth btedly looked at the list of skills he had received. and were rather self-exnatory. was the same as had been. It granted resistance and increased power to earth element skills and enchantments. The blessing of Hephaistos was a bit more interesting. The first one made sense to be a blessing by the god of cksmiths. A skill that weakens the power of one''s own weapons if used against oneself. But the movement skill? Concentrating on the walking technique. Seth''s mind was filled with the basic knowledge of how to execute the skill. The skill had a lot to do with precise body control and a special way to circte one''s mana while following the steps. Using this skill would make it seem like Seth was limping and slow to an onlooker, betraying the actual speed and range of his movement. I seemed like an unexpectedly good addition to Seth''s fighting skills. The did not look like much at first nce, but his opinion changed when he read the description. This skill sounded truly terrifying. It was not just manipting people with words, but with intent. He could greet someonepletely normal but provoke him with the greeting as if he had cursed his mother. In the right hands, this skill could raise nations or destroy them. Seth realized this, but he also knew, that his were the wrong hands. He simplycked any interest in conquest or domination. But it was a neat skill for him as someone who often had problems articting his intent. He roughly summed up his gains as he talked with the party. The other hadplicated looks on their faces. "What''s up with you guys and those constipated faces?" Seth asked confused. Evee didn''t really understand what this was about and also looked at the other three. The three kept quiet in an awkward silence until Alison couldn''t take it anymore. "To begin with I''m not saying those skills are not good, okay? It''s just... are you sure you got blessed? Normally a champion would be overwhelmingly powerful. I''m sorry butpared to what we heard about the powers of champions these skills... are a scam. A joke." "Skills...? Oh, I also got some enchantments, recipes, and a trait. Give me a second." He was not really bothered by what Alison had said. What exactly this meant became clear to Seth when he took a look at his enchantment catalogue. He remembered that the notifications he had gotten after receiving the trait. There were two new categories which were "Olympian Enchantments" and "Underworld Enchantments". He was almost happy if they were not greyed out with everything except the titles unreadable. It said that his level in was too low. Seth guessed that they would unlock bit by bit as long as he leveled the skill. When he looked at the blueprint of "Staff of Seth" he found another row of blueprints greyed out and unreadable. This time it was his that was not up to par. But he found the staff. It was a was-scepter. Except for the material requirement, there was nothing difficult about this weapon. The material needed to make this staff were of course the . He looked it up in his material catalog and found the recipe, which was quite mystical and not very scientific. were rated between rare and legendary. It could be refined from ordinary iron. To refine it one needed to draw a formation with the blood of a jackal and a donkey. The formation would need to be infused with mana during the sixth hour of the day. The better the quality of the material, the higher the sess chance and resulting rating. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om This was one of the first recipes Seth saw that sounded like true magic. And it didn''t end there. He found that another recipe was added to the catalog, . This material could be refined from ordinary silver and was also rated rare to legendary. The refinement method sounded just as magical but was totally different. To create one needed to smelt silver in a special furnace using the heat of an active volcano while following a special energy cirction technique to infuse power into the metal. It was pretty obvious that thetter was unlocked through his new trait and was the metal Hephaistos mostly used to create many of his divine armaments. It was true that he had not gotten a great immediate power boost but looking at these gains made him look forward to the future. Chapter 193 - 193. On The Way Back "Boss?" Link asked carefully after Seth had stiffened with a weird expression on his face. Were Alison''s words too harsh? "Oh, sorry. I spaced out for a moment. Hehe, you may think I got scammed on this one but just you wait and see. You will understand in the future, just how unfair this blessing is." Seth was right, except for the fact that he himself still not understood how unfair this blessing really was. The others just looked at him weirdly. He harrumphed and changed the subject. "Anyway. I guess we are finished here. Let''s go back to Evee''s base and prepare for the way back." There were still about 50 bandits scattered across the ruins, but they did not have to hunt those down. Evee would cancel all her wards after leaving. The bandits would have no choice but to try and return to the slums or die out here. Thetter had a higher chance of happening. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om It was still dark when they returned to the girl''s hideout, and they decided to have a good rest before returning. The gourmet hunter meticulously prepared a great meal before they went to sleep. The wards really showed their usefulness. It was the first party since they left the safety zone that the whole party could get a good night''s sleep. Not only did the wards repel monsters, but they could also warn them, if something managed to enter the perimeter. In the morning Seth was woken up by a small rough tongue licking his face. When he drowsily opened his eyes, he looked into another pair of big green eyes that stared at his face. "A cat?" he thought still not quite away. No, no this was no cat. Wasn''t it a little too big? As he slowly woke up his thoughts became clearer. The size of a dog... a lynx or a bobcat? He had never heard of ck bobcats. It looked much more like a normal cat with the size cranked up. He cupped its head in his hand and rubbed the soft fur. It was very tame as it closed its eyes and enjoyed being petted. How did ite to this? He sat thee early in the morning, petting some strange big cat that had woken him up... Seth heard a chuckle from the door and saw Evee hiding at the doorframe. "Is this your doing?" he asked and gestured at the cat, without taking his hands off the purring furball. It turned out that Seth was not the only one who had gained a lot from their little killing spree. While the others had leveled up or were close to a level up, Evee had the greatest gains. She had jumped straight past lv. 15 and unlocked several witch skills. Among them was . For Evee the Pet-System was unlocked at lv. 15 instead of lv. 20 and the reason was this skill. As a witch, she obviously needed a familiar. For this, she had an additional pet space for her familiar. This gave her the ability to have two creatures to assist her inbat, her familiar and a pet. Normal people like Seth could only have one pet and a mount. The difference between a mount and a pet was simple. A mount would only defend itself in a fight. It would not fight for its contractor and could refuse toe out during a fight. A big difference between familiars and pets was that they would not die. Even if they were defeated inbat, they would only return to the pet space and recover. If Puffles was killed in a battle, there would be no return for it. Evee had already checked her skills yesterday and held back from testing them. But she could not hold back from testing it after waking up early. She had drawn a magic circle with mana and mumbled some cryptic spells. The result was said to be totally random. There was no way to control what familiar a witch would summon with this spell. Evee was very happy when it was a beautiful big ck cat that appeared from the magic circle. Since it was early in the morning, she decided to y a prank on Seth to surprise him. While Seth was still petting the fluffy familiar, she exined the other perks. A familiar would not only be able to fight alongside its summoner without the risk of permanent death. It could also grow on its own by defeating and devouring enemies. And she could upgrade the familiar''s power the more the skill itself grew. As she bragged about her new skill and powers it started to sound more and more like a sales pitch. Seth had already nned to count her to his people, so it was quite funny to see her so eager to join his party. Looking at her skills, Seth could not help but think that witches were a really rounded ss. They could cast spells for attack, brew potions for buffs, and had a familiar for defense. "You guys are already up? Oh, who is this little fur buddy?" Tekar asked surprised when he saw the familiar on Seth''sp. He hade by the door and happened to look inside. He joined Seth in pampering the big cat. A littleter, after Evee unsummoned her familiar to save it from being rubbed by four people at once, everyone got ready to leave. Seth had given Evee a set of simple armor, one of those he had prepared for the auction, before they left. On the way back to Y-City they decided to not be as quiet as they were on the way here. They wanted to gain some levels and gather some more materials. They put Evee into an armor to protect her since she had such a low level at the moment. With Evee''s scouting with they not only easily avoided stronger monsters whilemitting genocide on weaker ones, but they could also have a good rest during the night thanks to her wards. Evee''s ward also opened up a way toplete Seth''s n idea of having the mobs fight each other. I just needed some ward to attract and confuse the mobs to have them enter each other''s territories and fight. While several monster tribes had suddenly fallen into an all-out war, the party sat on a nearby roof waiting for a chance. As orcs were wrestling with Lizardmen and Kobolds were furiously ripping apart goblins Alison used the chaos to cast a fire rain over all of them. This was not meant to be any kind of finisher but a way to steal some experience. In the chaos neither side could tell who had cast the fire and it just provoked them even more. And every time they killed each other the party got some experience thanks to the damage Alison dealt. After most of them died or were severely wounded, the party swooped in to finish off all the remnant and harvest the loot. The materials could be sold, but they were all at most umon. On the other hand, the material Seth did appreciate and collect were steel and precious metals from the ruins. Now that he had recipes to refine iron and silver, he could not miss out on free resources. By the time they reached the slums their inventories were packed to the brim with stuff. But in the end, the biggest gain was still the experience, as everyone leveled up and Tekar even reached level 40. Evee was given a free bus ride and she reached lv. 26 while her familiar was close to lv. 20. But no matter how fast the familiar grew, it could not keep up with his Puffles. Puffles had not only reached lv. 33 like himself but also kept growing without stop. Puffles also became quite ravenous swallowing everything that was left of monsters after Link had dismantled them. Seeing those changes Seth guessed, that Puffles might be close to another metamorphosis. Would he learn to make an even better thread? How was Seth supposed to sustain this glutton? The already needed several different rare materials and they had needed to visit a bazaar to find them, as the ivicer itself did not know which materials it needed. Mentioning those materials, Seth''s stock of those was also dwindling. He had made Puffles produce celestial bronze nonstop, so he could send it to N?del at some point. There was no way to restock those on Urth... "You there! Stop right there! Who do you think you are, that you simply cross the Shield Gang''s territory?!" Chapter 194 - 194. The Index Three people were leisurely sitting in the front row of what looked like a home theatre. A few others were sitting in the seat behind, but only their silhouettes were visible. This was the solution of the three, Hades, Hephaistos, and Seth. Instead of showing the other god''s clips one by one, they sold tickets for their theatre where they yed the highlights of Seth''s adventures. On the screen was the scene of Seth''s attack on the bandit base. Unnoticed by the guards, the hunter had quietly spread elerant around the bandit base and the barricades. All Seth then needed to do was set light it with his powerful spirit me. The terrifying fire surrounded the base in the blink of an eye. Alison cast a storm wind to further stoke the fire before she continued to cast the fire rain. In the meantime, Seth had prepared an escape route out of the encirclement. At the end of the route waited his summoned smithy aka his workshop. Here Cerberus was already ready to give their guests a heartfelt wee and a big hug. Seth wanted to capture them alive, so Evee could have her revenge. During the best part, when Seth received their blessings, the door to the home theatre flew open. It might be more urate to say that the two wings of the door exploded and flew into the theatre. "Seth! Where are you! You mutt!" an angry voice echoed. It was a featureless god in a funny-looking wizard robe that had entered the room. "S-system God! Why are you here?" Seth asked shocked. The other gods in the room had hurried to vanish. Only the three entrepreneurs were still in the theatre. "I said clearly nothing from your specialty! What''s with that voice skill?" "What do you mean? I''m mainly the god of chaos, destruction, and violence. Giving him the voice of a storm god should not be a problem, right?" "Don''t think you can fuck with me! That voice skill is clearly of chaotic nature!" "So what? I''m the god of chaos, of course, I cheat. The blessing is given. There is nothing you can do about it now." The two Olympian Gods backed away from Seth as they felt the system god''s anger bend time and space around him. The system god raised his threatening index and at this moment this finger seemed to grow in presence while everything else darkened. As if this was the only object in the universe. Seth could not help but sweat buckets, but he stood his ground. Then everything returned to normal, and the index was slowly lowered. The system god did not need violence, Seth was used to beatings. There were more painful means. "Yeah, the blessing is given, and I won''t take it away. But don''t think there is no punishment. No private champion for you! Hehe, this third of a champion is all you will ever have on Urth. How do you like that?" the system god said full of schadenfreude. Seth''s face fell. "You can''t do this!" "Hah! I can and I did. That''s your punishment. Oh yeah and you!" the terrifying index was suddenly pointing at Hephaistos'' forehead. "Thin line! VERY thin line, my friend. Hephaistos, "the crafty one", don''t think you can mess with me." With that the system god left the theatre as suddenly as he had entered it, leaving behind two gods dripping with sweat. The only one still calmly sitting on his seat was Hades- The other two looked at him hatefully when they heard him rummaging in his popcorn. He only gave them a contemptuous smile. "I always y by the rules," he said with a smirk and ate some popcorn. It was true, hades had not tried to circumvent the rules, instead, he gave their champion the probably strongest blessing. The skills themself might not have been too special, but the point was the level. With the skills given by Hades, the little cksmith would be able to find and harvest even epic materials. If this wasn''t the most useful and powerful blessing for the current Seth, then what was? -------------------------------- The street was blocked by three people, while five more were in the surrounding building and aimed their bows at them. "What''s the Shield Gang? Are you highwayman or something?" Tekar mumbled unwittingly. "Don''t call us that! We are fair and just businessmen. We keep this road clean and safe, so you have to pay a highway tax for using it. That''s not unreasonable!" "Yeah, it isn''t!" one of the three confirmed. "So... you are a kind of Militia?" Seth asked. "Militia? Hey Tom, what''s a Militia? Are we a Militia?" N?v(el)B\\jnn "I don''t know Jom. We should ask Papater." "Tom, Jom, Som! Stop wasting time!" one of the archers shouted. He wore a pair of small circr shades and slurred the end of the words. "Archi, is that you!?" the gourmet hunter suddenly called out. "What?" the archer lifted his shades to get a better look at the travelers. "Link? The heck are you doing here? Didn''t you be some bigshot in the city or something?" he said and lowered the bow. "Guys lower the weapons! I know that guy. No need to fight." he put away the bow and jumped down to the street and greeted the hunter with a bear hug. "Archi, I didn''t see you ever since the war. Why are you living in the slums?" "Com ''on, Link. Not everyone can have a super cool ss and make it in this world. You know me, also this is dangerous, it''s a simple life." he answered and patted his shoulder. "Anyway, how about we talk at our hideout? Don''t worry about these guys, they are actually more or less okay." Link gave Seth a questioning look. The other just shrugged his shoulders and they followed Link''s friend to the gang''s base. On the way, Link told him that he knew Archi from the time before the apocalypse. He had no problem telling them that he was involved in some shady stuff. Times were tough back then. It was a block of four barricaded buildings making up the gang''s hideout. Unexpectedly, it was not an ambush. Women and children were living in this stronghold and going about their daily life. They saw people tending to gardens and washing clothes. It was a really rustic picture of society. "Tom, Jom, Som! Why are you bringing in people again!? You were supposed to find food or money. Not more mouths to feed!" a grumpy older man with a big unkempt bird was standing in their way and scolding his three sons. "Papa, are we militia or highwaymen?" Jom suddenly asked. "What the heck are you talking about? You know what? Just be silent. Archibald, what is this? Who are these people?" "Boss! They are friends of an old friend. This is Link! We were partners before the fall." he introduced them to the boss of the stronghold Bart. They were no dangerous criminals. At his ce were mostly people that ran away from something. Debts, thew, oppression, or simply the old life. They were a little like settlers. They had conquered a piece ofnd for themself and lived by their own rules in this ce. Seth could feel the romance of simple life, but he wasn''t tempted. He was a child of the city and civilization. Bart invited them for lunch. It was a rather meager meal, not justpared to Seth''s usual portions, but alsopared to a normal-sized meal. He had obviously not managed to control his expressionpletely. "I apologize, but we are a little hard-pressed when ites to food. Our farms are not big enough to sustain uspletely and the ruins are more or less cleaned of rations in this area. All we can do is ask travelers for... kind donations." Seth felt a little bad for these people. As someone who appreciated good and big meals, seeing people starve touched him. Link was also throwing nces at him as if he wanted to say something. They had a lot of meat in their inventories. But Seth was not touched enough to simply donate their "hard-earned" spoils.. But he had an idea. Chapter 195 - 195.Goodies On The Way "Boss Bart, don''t you people hunt the beasts around here for safety reasons? Don''t you harvest them for meat?" "Of course, we do. Our hunters are actually quite good at their job. But it''s simply not enough to get by." hemented. "Then what are you doing with the other materials? Can''t you sell those for money?" Bart heaved a big sigh at that question. "Most of us can''t show our face in the city, how would we sell this much? Even if we managed to sell the stuff, there is a high risk of our people being robbed on the way back. We have no choice but store most of it in the unused rooms." he shrugged helplessly. This was what Seth wanted to hear. It was even better than he had expected. The party had many stacks of just meat clogging up their inventory. It was a lot more than Link would need. Since proficiency would slowly decrease if one did the same thing over and over again, they just needed to keep part of the different meats. Trading the food for the material would help the stronghold without anyone losing out. It was a win-win situation. He discussed this idea with the other with Link being an avid supporter. The others also readily agreed. Y-City had no problem with the food supply. Crafting materials on the other hand were always in demand. After speaking about it with his party, Seth suggested the deal to Bart. The leader of the stronghold happily agreed to trade the direly need food for the materials that were slowly gathering dust in their storerooms. He led them to one of the four buildings that was mostly used for storage. It was the sturdiest of the four buildings and doubled as a keep. If they were ever overrun, this would be the ce they would entrench themself. Bart proudly told them, that his oldest son, Lom, was an enchanter and had further fortified this building. It had even withstood a band of Tauren warriors that had one invaded from a portal. He didn''t go too much into the details, but he mentioned that they had also prepared some means to escape in an emergency. Like a tour guide, he kept talking about the ce as he led them to the storerooms. The rooms were packed with neat wooden boxes that all looked the same. He mentioned that his daughter''s husband had the carpenter ss and made all the boxes and shelves. Seth knew about carpenters, but he never met one. Besides stuff like furniture, low-level carpenters were also the people making stuff like the readymade spear and arrow shafts. The storage was well sorted with several rooms ofmon materials for all kinds of crafting professions. The next floor had some room with boxes full of umon materials. They now had two people who would have a use for alchemical materials in the future. Evee, who had the brewing skill of a witch, and Alison who was working hard on acquiring the alchemy skill. Seth left the choice of materials to those two. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Although Alison had not yet acquired the skill, she had already studied the alchemy books at the church and roughly knew what she was doing. Her memory was something that scared Seth. Evee had the which allowed her to identify and judge ult and mystic materials or items. A door at the end of the hallway on the second floor picked Seth''s interest. It looked a lot sturdier than the others and had an additional padlock. "What''s in there?" Bart scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed. "It''s stuff we couldn''t appraise. Some of it we locked it up because we thought it would be very valuable. But there are also some dangerous things we put in there for safety reasons. Since we don''t really know what the things are or can, we put them away until someone can appraise them." If they were able to separate themon and umon items, so the stuff in there was at least rare. Now Seth really wanted to take a look. "Would you let me have a look? My skills are pretty good, I can appraise cksmithing materials up to the epic level. I can also offer you better stuff than just food. I bet you have some use for better gear?" he asked and tried using his new skill to be more convincing. This wasn''t all. Seth also had Al''Zalsa with her max-level . Maybe they had something good in store and he could really profit? Bart was deliberating for a moment before he nodded. He unlocked the door and let Seth enter the treasury. The room was emptier with small chests and boxes neatly organized on tables and shelves. There was also creepy-looking organic stuff in ss jars on one shelf. The rows of jewelry chests on tables and some bigger boxes on the floor were Seth''s first stop. He avoided the ss jar stuff. "Ah, don''t touch it! That one''s dangerous!" Seth had opened a redcquered box with a big orb inside. "Anyone who directly touched it got hit by a strong electric shock. Some people almost died to it." Seth exined to him that this was the effect of the Curse of the Storm. Whoever touched it without meeting the requirements would hit by a lightning discharge. Bart exined that it had been the main weapon of the Tauren mage that was part of the group that had attacked them. It was an item and also counted as a crafting material since it could also act as the focus for a staff. The other rare weapon was a bone sword that could only be wielded by a lv.30+ Tauren warrior. The rest of the items were mostly cursed junk. Cursed junk was the ng for nks that could be dropped in a dungeon. They often had terrible curses and little use. It was one of the risks of dungeoneering. One would fight through a huge number of monsters and terrible traps and end up with junk because the items created by the dungeon were more or less random. This didn''t mean they were useless, but the effort needed to make use of them was often not worth the result. The best use was to give them to an enchanter. A high-ranked enchanter could recycle these items. He listened to his private lich when it came to other items in the room, but they were of little interest to Seth or the party. The biggest surprise held a chest that had been put under one of the tables. Inside were shards of dark turbid ss ranging from ck over dark brown to green. There were 50 or 60 stones in the chest. Among the obsidian pieces, there were also a few that were different from the rest. Chapter 196 - 196. Goodies On The Way (2) "Wow, where did you get these?" Seth asked excitedly. Materials with an affinity to fire and earth were great stuff for him. It was a shame that obsidian was very fragile, unlike the he had used for his cuirass. This meant that these materials were more suited to be used in jewelry, than as armor or weapons. Of course, he could also use them as nuclei for enchantments on weapons or armor. Those were mostly needed as a power source for semi-permanent enchantments. Seth did never have a need to use this method, since it was mostly to hike up the price, in his opinion. He admitted that semi-permanent enchantments were better for regr adventurers, but as the person making the items, it was a waste of time. Even without this method Seth never had a problem selling his items and he himself had no need for it since he had . Nheless, he could make some great jewelry from this obsidian, and maybe he could use some of them in the items for the auctionter on when the average item quality rose. It was a cheap way to make a rare rated item and here were a lot of obsidian shards. "One of my cousins is a miner. He was part of a scavenger squad looking for rations when they came across a giant battlefield. It must have been a fearsome fight between giant beasts. He described the buildings were toppled and crushed. The ground was turned upside down with deep trenches and holes everywhere. He found these with . At that time, they were scattered all over the ce." Seth was not a scammer, so he truthfully ryed what these obsidian shards were to Bart. "If it''s true what you say, then the fight must have crushed some ore vein. Hehe, even if he had found the vein, there''s no way he would have been able to mine it. I saw the light in your eyes, do you want these?" "Yeah, but I don''t think I can give you anything that rivals their worth." Even so these shards were good, Seth was not really willing to part with anything rare rated he made himself. It would break the bnce too easily and fasten the progression of others. On the other hand, offering them money or system money also made little sense, since they had no possibility to use it. "Hmm, what can you offer us?" Seth contemted and offered them all the loot from the bandits they killed. There were a lot of goodmon and umon items among these. At least good enough that Seth thought of selling them in the city. He didn''t consult the others this time, as this was merely a question of money. Seth brought out several boxes holding the armor, weapons, and essories they had looted from the bandits and their base. It was no small amount, but for Seth, their value was vanishingly smallpared to a full box of rare minerals. Bart''s eyes widened when he saw all the items Seth offered for the box of ss shards. He had heard what Seth had told him, but to him, they were still rtively useless ss shards. Where would he get someone that could process them? But here his trading partner offered him a whole armory of supposedly good equipment for it. This was a fantastic deal in his eyes. The power boost this would give their stronghold would permanently improve their living conditions and chances of survival in case of an emergency. Bart reigned in his enthusiasm. He sent for someone who could appraise the items, to make sure they were real. Seth nodded to show that he was not offended. It took only a short while for someone to arrive. "This is my cousin Art, short for Arthur, his ss is Trader, so he has a universal appraisal skill." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Art nodded as a greeting. He was not a man of many words as he immediately started checking the gear. He may not speak a lot, but his expression easily betrayed his thoughts, when he looked at the items. The trader confirmed that they were allmon or umon items with mediocre to good effects across the board. Bart could not hide the twinkle in his eyes as he hurriedly sealed his deal with Seth. Seeing the other so happy, he had no scruples about this deal and stashed away the box of obsidian. In the box were roughly 50 pieces of and 15 pieces of . It was a shame that he could not make pure armor out of these, but they would definitely turn into some great items in his hands. At the thought of making some great items, he remembered something. "Oh yeah, would you be willing to give me that storm orb? I could offer you these." He brought out the boots and greaves he had made to wear before he ended up making his "Disruptor Boots". As Art was unable to appraise them it was clear that these were also rare items. When Seth exined to them the basic enchantments of Agility and Endurance +35 each their eyes went wide. Although it would cost them mana to activate, it was a tremendous boost. It was a phenomenal deal for the stronghold. They switched a ball that only hurt people for some boots and greaves that could be used as-is. Seth packed away the red box with the orb. And thus, their deal was concluded. The stronghold''s people had gotten a massive power-up. With these items, they could equip all their fighting personal and resist even stronger monsters. And the party had gotten a truckload of more materials to train , and even cooking. Seth still needed some time toe up with a n for what he would use the obsidian, but he already knew what to do with the sphere. The important part of the sphere''s description was that it was not only a finished item but also a crafting material. Seth could use this orb as the nucleus of staff for Alison. A mean one at that. They stayed in the stronghold for a night before setting off again. Link had asked Evee to set up wards before they left, but the party decided against it. Learning from Evee''s experiences, it was not a good idea to own the only safe zone in awless monster-ridden world. At least not, if youcked the strength to defend it. They entered the great highway again and had a more or less quiet journey back to civilization and they soon met up again with the mercenaries from the church. It looked like they had no trouble staying at the edge of the safe zone for the week the party was away. But everyone was happy to finally return as the party entered the wagon and they got on their way back. The party mostly slept on their way back.. Not to mention Seth and the others who had kept running around for several days, Evee who had not slept for almost a year had a lot of sleep to catch up on. Chapter 197 - 197. The Present The group of Tuatha de reached the roof of the building. They knew there had been people until just moments ago but they somehow vanished. Had they jumped dimensions? Their leader, a young man approaching the 400 cycles (~450 years), was grasping in the air while mumbling a spell. "There are definitely signs of spatial magic. To be able to do this without the magic of the fog... it must have been a terrifying druid or shaman to cast this spell." They investigated the roof but could not find anything else out of the ordinary. It was only when they tried to leave the roof when they noticed that their way back was blocked. A red transparent membrane of magic was blocking their exit. It only became visible once they touched it. And in the same breath, the rest of the membrane was exposed. The whole roof was surrounded by a bubble of transparent red power looking flimsy to the eyes, but sturdy to the touch. The magic caged them on the rooftop. Neither magic nor physical force could break this alien spell and after several hours of trying to escape, they came to a horrifying realization. It was the innocent question of a tired warrior who suddenly asked. "Hey, Iach... doesn''t this barrier seem to shrink?" In the beginning, the barrier encased the whole rooftop but when they checked it, the rim and balustrade were now outside of the magic wall! The space was really shrinking, and the walls were moving closer! They were almost twenty people and with the speed, the walls were closing in, they would be paste in less than 2 days. Horror filled their hearts and panic their minds. They had already tried everything they could. There was no way out. "Silence! Everyone doesn''t lose hope. The other groups will soone looking for us if we don''t return. Maybe they can do something from the outside." the leader spoke up. After his speech, most of them somewhat calmed down. The leader was right. Maybe this spell was only strong from the inside. The others might be able to break it from the outside. With some hope, they waited for theirpanions to find and save them. Soon the scouts of other groups had found them. At this point, the magic barrier was clearly recognizable as a cube. The captured glowpeople inside were already huddling together in fear. Not only were the wallsing closer, but they also became less and less transparent. They were slowly turning into solid crimson walls. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Outside theirrades tried everything they could to break this vicious barrier. But even with a spell using thebined chanting of all 50 of them, they were unable to break it. Of course, this was what Al''Zalsa wanted to begin with. This was her present, how could others break her spell. All the ones outside could do was watch the horrible spectacle happen. As the walls closed in the people inside could not help but cry and scream. They begged for their life with tears and snot staining their beautiful faces. They hammered with their hands against the walls and begged the onlookers to do something. And soon the cries and screams turned from those of panic into those of pain. As they were slowly crushed against each other, and their armors and weapons dug into each other flesh. Raw animalistic screams echoed into the fog as the cube shrunk more and more, crushing the people inside. These were scenes and cries that would haunt them in their darkest nightmares. The feeling of helplessness as they watched their friends and colleagues die in such a way. The screams fell silent one by one as those inside lost their lives. The walls now had turned opaque and crimson red. They no longer saw what was going on and only the sound of breaking bones and crunching flesh escaped from the red box. There was no way they would ever forget this sound. This was far above and beyond anything Seth had imagined when he said to leave them a present. He had thought of a bomb or a curse or something. The 200-year-old Lich on the other hand decided on a psychological trauma for those left behind. It kept shrinking down to the size of a small package. It stopped shrinking; ribbons and the rim of a top appeared. It was a present. A small crimson red present filled with the crushed andpressed remains of therades. Many of those that had watched this spectacle had already run away when they could not take it anymore. Only themander of the search team and some of those with a stronger stomach were left to look at this present. They were shell-shocked and only managed to move after staring at the present for several hours. The first thing they did was not approach the present but empty their stomachs over the rim of the building. In all their long lives they had never seen something so cruel. Whoever was responsible needed to be punished! Disturbed but determined themander took the heavy present. They immediately returned to the royal capital to report. Seeing their pale faces and listening to their reports the decisions fell fast. Their high king would not tolerate the existence of someone so abominable. Especially not after killing over 20 of his people. No matter how often hostile creatures invaded their world through the fog, they seldomly saw the need to retaliate. The best druid was Dadag was sent to analyze the remnant of spatial magic and find a way to follow those fiends. It took a week for the Druid to reverse engineer the magic and the destination. In the meantime, the subjugation force that would pursue the fiends was already prepared and on standby. Under the royal edict''s orders, the druid opened a fog portal for their warrior to invade this different world. The disciplined troop of elites crossed the fog and entered the Field of Canyons on the other side. It looked not much different from the region in their world. The canyons and pirs were filled with ugly goblins but the air in this ce was filled with several times the amount of magic. They felt as if they were bathing in a dragon vein. The crowd of goblins that filled the canyon was split into two kinds. Some stood still and stared at their beautiful faces; dumbfounded. The other half had fled the moment they saw these alien warriors stepping out of the void. Decisively the leader grabbed the head of one of the petrified goblins and used a spell to search for information. The creature struggled and screamed with tears, snot and drool covering its face. Themander showed mercy as he extracted the information and absorbed the things life force. Its body shriveled up and its life ended just like that. He gathered that this was a giant city that had recently gone through some kind of catastrophe. There were still several hundreds of millions of enemies, but their power was puny at best. Originally without any magic at all, this world has recently been connected to the pathworks and the natives had just started growing. His judgment was that there were no creatures that could stop their search. Numbers did not matter before overwhelming power. He snapped his fingers and his army of 150 elite fighters dispersed to look for clues. All of them wore crystal talismans that could detect the magic signature of the people that had left this "present". -------------------------------- The piercing sound of rm sirens filled the city; signaling the citizens to stay inside. A group of unidentified humanoids had invaded the city and had spread out in the streets. Mark Baker was sitting in his brand-new office and massaging his temples. Why did this have to happen right after he got the responsibility for this kind of situation? From the reports, it seemed like they were looking for something. Sometimes they would stop moving and stare at their equipment. They would also randomly grab a person and turn them into a desated corpse. Observational skills did not work on them and if they noticed the skill, they would kill the user. Judging from their physical performance they were equal to a level 45 swordsman without equipment. Their arcane skills could not be judged at this point. A crowd of them was encircling the system church for some reason but did not dare to get closer than 10meters to the building. Aside from the church were 4 more ces they were gathering at. A residential area, an old library, the red-light district, and the hunter''s association. They did not know what was going on, but they had to do something to stop it. They already mobilized the hunters, the adventurer''s guild, and the big guilds to deal with the gathering spots. But there were still close to a hundred humanoids running through the streets wreaking havoc. Mark had no choice but to release their secret forces prematurely.. It was the only way to save their citizens. Chapter 198 - 198. Return To Sender He was on his way home from work at the convenience store when he heard the shrill sound of the rm sirens. He looked around and followed the signs to the next shelter. Soon he was in a crowd of people flowing towards the shelter. He saw nothing but suddenly heard screams from the front. At the entrance to the shelter stood a celestial beauty. His gaze as pulled to her. tinum blond long hair, eyebrows, and prominent eyshes. Her pale skin was as fair as jade. The crowd was spellbound. The vivid red stters of blood on her soft skin and the cold gaze in her clear blue eyes broke his fascination. Only in a second nce did he take in the full scope of this morbid scene. His eyes followed the tight ck leather armor drenched in blood down to two vicious-looking daggers in her hands. She was surrounded by a pool of blood and severed body parts in the middle of the dense crowd, right before the entrance to the shelter. In one moment, there were people and in the next, there was a crop circle of harvested lives. He had to run! It was his only thought but his body wouldn''t move. He was only a lv. 9 Merchant, and his attribute points were concentrated on willpower and intelligence. There was no way he could fight that. Only a few people around him seemed to have escaped the charm effect, but they were still bound and could only look around, not move. They were done for. The woman mumbled something in a harmoniousnguage and stabbed her dagger into the ground. The blood on the ground turned into a magic circle and then into a ck abyss. A swarm of giant rats started jumping out of the portal onto the street. The appearance of the beasts betrayed the sound of her chant. Disgusting mutants the size of a dog with tumorous growths, crimson glowing eyes, and rows of terrifying teeth started attacking the helpless citizens. Jumping with incredible speed they easily ripped at the throats of their unmoving victims and gorged themself on the soft flesh. Only when they were ripped apart by their bestial fangs, did many peoplee to their senses. They screamed in pain and panic, but it was already toote for them. He could only stand there, watch and wait for his turn as the swarm grew and massacred its way towards him. He had already given up on life when a bright light blinded him, and he felt the invisible restraints that had held him vanish. Released from the magic he fell on his butt and started crawling backward. He heard the sounds of fighting and then he saw dark figures ughtering the rats and fighting the summoner. They all wore the same surcoats with a big silver zero embroidered on the back. While he tried to gain distance to the battle, others in the crowd equipped their gear and drew their weapons. Not everyone was as helpless as the merchant. Without the binding spell, they could at least take care of the rat swarm that kept pouring out of the portal. They had not survived the apocalypse and war without reason. Several hundred yers of various upations and levels swarmed against the vermin tide, overpowering the demonic creatures in an instant. Justified rage was burning in their eyes as they ughtered them like animals. Relieved from the burden of dealing with the rat infestation, the party of five could concentrate on raiding the mysterious beauty. Her magic was powerful and foreign to the yers, but they had learned to deal with powerful and foreign skills in the past months. They were fast and efficient. Cornering the female magician was not a problem with their full party. A troubled expression could be seen on the cold beauty''s face as the yers kept dodging her spells and attacking her openings. After much back and forth and a lot of property damage they finally held the severed head of the attacker. With the caster''s death, the portal finally closed, and the crowd took care of the remaining beasts. A lot had happened, and it felt like hours to him but only minutes had passed since the beauty appeared. The figures stored away the head and body and hurried away leaving the dumbfounded but relieved crowd behind. -------------------------------- n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "The first reports are in, Sir." a subordinate hurriedly entered themand center. Mark Baker stood at a table bend over a digital map of Y-City. His hair was tousled, and dark pit stains could be seen on his white button-up shirt. "How is it?" he asked tiredly. "The Zero Squads have encountered their first targets and eliminated them. It is reported that they are tough opponents that need at least a full party to subdue without losses. The civilian casualties are still on the lower side. Not all the targets seem intent on indiscriminate ughter, Sir." Baker fell silent for a moment and looked at the map. Locations where they gathered and points of moving targets that were being tracked filled the screen. Most of them had scattered, giving the Zero squads a chance to take them down one by one. They would most likely not stand a chance if these things were intent on fighting them. "They are looking for something. But what...or who? Do we have visuals on their point of entrance?" "Yes, sir. Here. Currently, it seems like only their leader stayed in ce." someone answered. A window opened on the table screen and showed a weathered but still handsome man in dark armor. He suddenly looked straight into the camera and smile. His lips moved slightly, and the camera picture shut down. "We lost connection, Sir." Baker nodded and pondered. " How is the situation at the gathering points?" "Stable, Sir," he said and took a new report given by a messenger. "And the scattered ones?" The subordinate looked at the paper he had just received. "21 confirmed kills, minor losses. The Zero''s report that the targets seem to possess the magic to tremendously weaken the opponent. The ones afflicted have pulled back from the fights. Some parties had to regroup. There are roughly 40 still scattered in the city, the rest have flocked to the gathering points." "Good. I will go and meet the leader. Maybe he will tell me what they want. Get ready." Baker said determinedly and the people in themand center nodded grimly. 30 minutester their preparations were finished. Baker had driven a modified ATV to the entrance point of the invaders where their leader stood with a straight back and a cold gaze. Mark Baker''s figure, now wearing a fresh suit and styled hair, walked toward the assumed to be the enemy leader. "Hello, my name is Mark Baker. Are you the leader of the people currently killing our citizens?" "We are simply returning a "present" we received from one of your own. And yes, I am their leader." "It was not a very happy present I fathom. But can''t you tell your men to leave the innocent citizens alone?" "No. I will not hinder them to vent their feelings on you vermin until we have found the perpetrator," he said coldly. "So you are not willing to negotiate, I understand," he said with a knowing smile. "Let me tell you a funny story. Just now thest of your men "venting his feeling on us vermin" lost his life. You arepletely alone. I may not know what "present" you received. But if this is the way you deal with it, then I''m sure you deserved it." "You!" in anger the leader shed out. Faster than the eyes could see, or anyone could react he had drawn the sword and shed across the Baker''s neck, cleanly severing off his head. Or was it? Baker''s body twitched like going through a static, but nothing else happened. It was just an illusion. This was Baker''s skill as a Great Illusionist, a rare ss. He could make life-like illusions that could even deceive high-leveled bosses. "You are a feisty one. Let me return your gift back to the sender." the illusion said and lifted its hand. At that moment the leader felt several auras of killing intent in the surrounding buildings. Did they have archers? He saw the hand fall and wanted to evade it, but it was already toote. The sound of tens of shots echoed between the buildings and the leader was instantly turned into a sieve. The sniper barrels were still fuming with smoke when the dead body hit the floor. Illusion-Baker looked down on the corpse for a moment, then he pped his hands. "Okay, since this is over, get the clean-up teams. And get the magicians to find out how they invaded without rming the early warning systems. I don''t want this to happen again." He hoped they could find a countermeasure soon.. Baker sighed at the thought, that he would have to exin this to the public. Chapter 199 - 199. Back “home” On the second day of their journey through the safety zone, they saw a huge number of new damages across the city. It seemed like something had happened. Suddenly Seth hurriedly stopped the wagon. The reason was a familiar shine in the ruins of a copsed building. What a great find! Was there a recent monster attack? What kind of creatures had attacked while they were away to leave so much damages? The soul obediently floated towards him and entered his inventory. He would have to use it in an item, to find out what abilities it would grant if any. But just a big soul was a big gain, too. On their journey to the center of Y-City, this became amon urrence as Seth picked up another four of these souls along the way. As they arrived at the church building, he found another three souls close to the entrance. Had the church been sieged by monsters? The church had a system buff that could keep most monsters under the system''s influence away. But the church still stood, so Seth did not worry much. "Daddy!" when they entered the church they heard a high-pitched voice and a tiny creature stormed at them. Tekar''s daughter charged into the father''s arms and almost toppled him over. Some distance behind her followed Mary and Jane with wry smiles. The little girl had constantly looked outside the window, waiting for her father toe back. When she finally saw him arriving in front of the building, they could not stop her from rushing down to greet him. As Seth and Evee entered the lobby he finally heard a long-awaited ding. Finally, the quest requirements were fulfilled! Who would have thought they were so strict? When Seth asked Samuel because of the questter, the old man conjectured that "making sure of her wellbeing" meant not just to get her to safety alive. It also meant to get her into a situation where she had the possibility to lead a life in safety if she chose to. Technically, Evee could join the church and live a peaceful life under its protection. The point was that it was her decision from here onwards. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om An Epic soul! This was his first epic soul; he would have to deliberate what he would make from it. But not right now. They had just returned and there was a lot to do and catch up about. The first would be a talk with Evee. He wanted her to join his group as a healer/magician. An immortal healer, how good was that? Then they would have two healers that could dabble as damage dealers and tanks. He also waited for the answer from N?del. As good as the two gauntlets he had made were, he wanted more. There were also the obsidian shards. The others would also need some time to grind their skills with all the new ingredients they had acquired. As he was thinking of all the stuff that waited to be done, he was interrupted by a jovial voice. "Seth! I''m d you guys made it back safe and sound!" Samuel came to greet them with wide-open arms. He was sure the old man was only happy that he came in time before the next auction. Seth had kept the box with the auction items in his inventory. He thought at first but then he noticed the dark bags under the old man''s eyes. "You look tired, Samuel. Did something happen? We saw a lot of new damages in the city." Everyone''s gaze was now directed at the old priest. Even Tekar who had been in his own world with his daughter looked up. "Yes... Do you remember the glowing people you told me when you returned after going missing for a week?" Their faces became serious, and Seth nodded. "A small army of them attacked Y-City. My guess would be that they came looking for you." The old man described what had happened recently and the current emergency state of the city. Their eyes widened when they heard where the Tuatha de had flocked to. "I don''t think the authorities suspect anything, yet. You should be careful for the next few days and stay away from the ces you usually go." "I think the timing is quite opportune. We have a lot of things to do. I suggest all of you stay at the church for the time being and grind your skills." The journey had brought them a great increase in power, but levels were not everything. Training their skills took priority now, especially Evee and Seth who gained ess to a whole bunch of new ones needed to get ustomed to them. They had more than enough material for Link, Evee, and Alison to train their crafting skills and there was no need to mention how much Seth had on his te. "And you, Tekar. You can spend your time with your daughter and maybe train with the people of the church." Hearing that he could just stay here for free and spend time with his daughter cast a smile on the big man''s face. He really loved his daughter. Samuel''s smile was a littleplicated when he heard that they would simply hole up in the church. But it was Seth''s floor and he paid for it. He could do with the rooms whatever he wanted. His smile became genuine when Seth convinced Tekar, Link, and Evee to also join the church asy members. They had a smalling home party in the canteen before everyone went to Seth''s floor and chose a room. Back alone in his room, Seth sighed. The silence after being with people for so long felt good and weird at the same time. He sat down at his table and wrote down all the things he had to do and wanted to do in the near future. And then he took out the token. He felt like a man who had just written hisst will. But it was not that bad, right? ~ I have waited long enough! We are back, now keep your promise! ~ The moment he summoned the spicy sorceress she pushed him down on his bed. While the others were peacefully sleeping after a long journey and party, Seth had to do steamy stuff.. Poor Seth. Chapter 200 - 200.Present Beyond Imagination It has been two weeks since Seth and the party returned. The second auction had been postponed because of the recent invasion. There had been many casualties despite the fast reaction by guilds and authorities. Without the sudden appearance of a mysterious group of high-level yers, there would have been even more victims. Although the situation was dealt with, the popce was still high-strung and careful about leaving the house. Many invited VIPs had canceled their positive answers. So many in fact that it was necessary to postpone the auction until the situation calmed down. The story about the head of the hunter''s alliance facing the enemy leader had already a kind of urban legend. It included the fact that someone had allegedly provoked the invaders first. It was fortunate that no one could connect them with the invasion of the Tuatha de. Seth didn''t feel guilty or anything, but he was clear of the fact that people might me them if they knew. And that would be really annoying. He was d that his party members were of a simr opinion. None of them saw anything wrong with what they had done. It spared Seth from long talks to alleviate someone''s bad conscience. In the past two weeks since they returned Seth found the Chance to officially invite Evee to stay as a permanent part of their party. After he had exined everything that happened in the fog realm and their connection to the recent invasion, she was even more enthusiastic about joining them. Alison had finally gained the alchemy skill. She and Evee spent most of their time in theboratory grinding their skills with the ingredients they had brought back with them. The result was a huge amount of low-level and failed potions of various kinds umting. Alison was actually studying chemistry major before the apocalypse and had gotten a good idea of alchemy after studying the church''s library. She was able to stand by Evee''s side and help her with her own attempts. But her help could only go so far. The skills of Alchemists could be said to be more founded in the realms of science, even with magic. Potion brewing and metallurgy followed a more or less set system. A witched brewing on the other hand was much more ult being a kind of mixed discipline. Witches and alchemists shared a small pool of basic potions, but a witches brewing included many potions that integrated all kinds of magic formations, wards, and unpredictable ult items and practices. The effects of such potions varied immensely and were much more varied than those of alchemists. This brought with it a very high failure chance and unpredictable options even on failed potions. Link the gourmet hunter on the other hand made himself useful and took over the management of the canteen, cooking most meals all by himself. If he could level his skill up to adept, he might be able to make umon meals as long as the main ingredient was umon. God knew he had more than enough umon meats and materials from their journey that would help him level up fast. Seth started off his little breaks by recuperating from Al''s nightly attack. He found the time to check his mail. The church had delivered one big box for him. Inside he found two smaller packages and letters. The smaller package was something soft wrapped in paper and corded with string. It came with a letter from N?del. "Dear Seth, I''m d you didn''t forget this old unskilled tailor after returning home. I actually consulted with Master Tored about these gloves, and we hit it off. He also told me about the issue you had with that leather, but I''m sure he will tell you more in his letter. We worked together on these and it was a great opportunity to work together with a master cksmith and it gave me many insights. This is another favor I have to thank you for. Without you, I would have never made a connection with such a skilled dwarven master. In the package, you will find a new pair of gloves. Your master and I incorporated some of our personal reserves into these and I hope you will like them. The effects and materials aside from the bronze were Tored''s suggestions and I hope you will like them. You can view them as a goodbye present from me and your Master Tored. Sincerely, N?del F?dli " Seth''s heart raced reading this. An item made by the cooperation of a master cksmith and a craftsman tailor? He carefully lifted the paper package out of the box and ceremoniously untied the strings. Just wearing the gloves unlocked a full list of fire magic?! The gloves were identical except for the other glove granting +50 Dexterity. Tored had seen through him, long before he himself had made the decision to focus on his fire abilities. These gloves were the best he could have wished for. The inside lining was a soft red leather, covered in thin golden fabric made from the . On top of the fabric were tes made from soft-looking but very tough scales. The description was true. Despite looking quite brutal and heavy, they felt wearyfortable to wear and did not hinder any range of movements. He felt the knowledge of the skillse to his mind. It was his first time learning magic aside from . He also understood why some of the spells were locked. It simplycked the required level and intelligence to use these. was also a very interesting skill. Unfortunately, this did not work with the fire he made with his own skills. It might have been too easy otherwise... If this was N?del''s part of the package, what was Tored''s then? In the box was a big wooden chest with another letter. This was Tored''s letter. "Hi, Seth, I''m sorry for only answering sote, but I wanted to investigate things and give you a satisfying answer, before writing back to you. Despite being clearlybeled as not cursed, the leather being cursed is a serious matter, and I''m sorry to have endangered you like this. Although you shouldn''t have taken it in the first ce, I''m d you are okay. Your friend N?del approached me some time after you left and asked for your glove size. He''s a great craftsman and we worked together to make a new pair of gloves for you. They are also a small apology for what happened, and I hope you like them. He also helped me to find the culprit. It was actually quite funny.... Chapter 201 - 201. The Tailor And The Blacksmith Once upon a time, there was a dwarven cksmith called Tored. He was a famous and popr master of his craft among the people of Ora and his race. As you would expect of such a figure, he was also a man of character. He said what was on his mind, stood up for what he believed, and did not avoid offending people. Now it came to be, that he offended one among his fellow dwarfs. It was a powerful merchant, neither a warrior nor a craftsman. He was known as a social butterfly and his habit to brag and show off with the most expensive and exclusive stuff he could get his hands on. Only to discard it and get something new in time for the next party. You need to know, that merchants are not much appreciated among the race of craftsmen, even if they are very rich. This was valid for this one especially. One day this merchant visited the great cksmith and spoke. "Great cksmith! Make me the best weapon there is and the best armor, too. I can pay you any price you want! Just make it so no one takes their eyes off of me!" But the master denied thismission. "But why? I can pay you any price you want!" the merchants asked agitated. At this question, the cksmith, with his rough, sooty finger poked the merchant''s big bby belly covered in the finest fabrics. And left a ck mark on the clean clothes. The cksmith knew the merchants and his habits. "Weapons are made to reap life. Armor is created to save life. They lose their meaning in the hands of someone who would never risk his life or raise his hand to take another. My works are not for you to decorate yourself and proudly strut about like a peacock." The merchant''s face became red from anger and embarrassment. How dare he reject his money? He was just a service provider, a mere craftsman! So what if he was a master! He should just take the money andplete the order! Enraged the merchant stormed out of the workshop. At the next party, he had nothing new or exclusive to show off. He felt the scorn of his peers. He knew they were looking down on him. It was all the cksmith''s fault. The hatred grew in his heart, and he hatched a plot most foul. Using his money and connection he sold the cksmith a fantastical but cursed material. The moment the cksmith tried to use it the curse would break out and reap the man''s life under much pain and horror. N?v(el)B\\jnn And as the merchant had nned, the cksmith did not suspect a thing, happily taking the material. It was an act of pure coincidence which broke the evil merchant''s meticulous scheme. The dwarf''s apprentice had just be a journeyman and prepared to go on his travels. On ident, he packed the master''s precious material and was on his way with the cursed thing. Now, the apprentice was quite different from the master. He was versed in curses and demonic arts. When he used the cursed material he was able to turn the curse around, so it would strike his enemies in battle. Agitated he wrote his master about the cursed material. The Master was dismayed to hear from his apprenticeter. He was d to hear that he was alright, but it gnawed on his heart, that he had endangered his disciple in such a way. He was still thinking about what to do when a crafty tailor visited his shop. As well-known as the dwarf was among the dwarfs, the tailor was among the humans of Ora. He was an acquaintance of his disciple and asked for help with gloves for the other. Being able to do something for his disciple the cksmith readily agreed. The more they talked the friendlier they became with each other. After a night of talks and drinks, the man and dwarf had bonded like brothers. The crafty tailor dered that he would help the dwarf to find the culprit. With the tailor''s help, it was not hard to find the traces of the evil merchant. But how were they supposed to prove his guilt? It was the tailor who offered his help and came up with a scheme. As a famous craftsman who was rather picky with his clients himself, he would advertise his newest creation and that he would personally choose the buyer. It was not just a chance to meet a famous figure, but also to get an exclusive item. There was no way the merchant could withstand this temptation. And as expected, the merchant came. Of course, the tailor chose the evil merchant, and they came to talk for a long time where the tailor easily befriended the vain man with all kinds of empty lip service and ttery. They started drinking and once the merchant was drunk, the tailor led the conversation. Not in control of himself, he spilled his whole scheme to the tailor. With every little detail and a smug smile. When the merchant woke up the next day and his head hammered from a terrible hangover, he found himself in a dungeon cell. What he had no expected was that his whole conversation with the tailor was heard and recorded by an acquainted guard that had hidden in the room. With two witnesses and a recording, there was no way out for him. Imprisoned for forgery, fraud, and attempted murder he would see the light of day never again. Having fought injustice together, the two became brothers and worked together to make a legendary pair of gloves for their friend and apprentice, who had uncovered this plot with his life on the line. Seeing that the great silk, his apprentice had given his brother tailor, was running out the dwarven master added another gift of his own on top of the gloves. ---------------------- PS. I hope you can send some more of the Celestial bronze for N?del." In the chest, Tored had sent were 15 bars of , 15 bars of and 15 bars of . Everything needed to make a whole lot of for N?del. Puffles did not spend so much time making threats recently and was more upied with destroying meals, growing and growing stronger. He would follow Tored''s will and give all of this to the ivicer. Kyurr~ ~ This great me shall take care of this! ~ It was unexpectedly easy to convince the ivicer to turn back into a silkworm... something felt off. Seth decided to keep an eye on his divine pet. Now he had time to take care of his ns. Chapter 202 - 202. Stocking Up On Blingbling Seth had a lot to do at least the gloves were no cause of worries. It would probably take months before he could even make somethingparable. Not to mention something better. The only thing he could do was to further improve them by infusing a soul armament. However, he held back on that for now. Only one of those geniuses as worth for these gloves, but the wanderer''s souls were unfitting. He really needed to find a reliable way to gain better souls. He had a good harvest during the time in the ruins, but they were mostly small ormon souls. This would not only add more effects and improve the performance but also make the enchantments permanent, as long as the soul was big enough. He felt a little bad to exchange his gloves so soon, but he could keep these for Tekar to useter. Seth had not just the orb and the obsidian he had gotten from the stronghold, he also had a bunch of new skills and recipes to explore. Especially and that could turn rather normal metals into something high-grade. Hecked an active volcano to make the silver and could only ask Samuel for the donkey and jackal blood. They had note across anything that could be called a monster donkey or jackal on their journey. The blueprints and enchantments were locked because hecked skill. All except for , but he needed the bones for that one. Putting those on ice Seth focused on what he could do. The first and most prominent idea in his head was making a staff for Alison using the . His thought process was simple. Alison already fulfilled the skill requirement and the wind affinity. Like him she was already close to lv. 40. All shecked was lightning affinity and Seth nned to cover this with the staff. For this he needed either a very special metal or wood. There was the wood from trees that were baptized by lightning and survived the strike. This incorporated a high affinity to the lightning element into these woods. In the case of metals, it was quite simr. The problem was that these things were very scarce and hard to find. Again, Seth asked Samuel to look for those, but he had no high hopes to get them any time soon. Seth had many ns, but hecked the details which stopped him from executing them immediately. The only things he could work with now were the obsidian shards. And he nned to take a step he had avoid for the longest time: Piercing his ears. The helped him make the decision to finally make earrings. At least piercing the ears was much simpler thanks to the system. The healing process took almost no time making it aughably easy procedure of mere minutes. The earrings gave Seth a new appreciation for his and . He did not want big earring but that made enchanting them harder. For a regr cksmith. Seth could simply enchant the soul armament and circumvent this problem. He was not much of a gem cutter himself. He simplycked the eyes to see what part of the stone would be the best. Another point on his list: Find a good gem cutter. As he knew he would not do a great job he opted to not do it at all. He took a rtively small shard of . The shard was about the length of a pinky and the thickness of a pencil. All he did was split it in half and slightly match the two pieces to each other. Using Seth made a gem setting with a chain that led to the hook at the earlobe. It was not a veryplex design, but it didn''t look bad and did its job. He didn''t use a smithing bad as he was missing a fitting one. He could remake themter if he learned something appropriate. Since earrings counted as a pair, just like boots, there was only one slot. Just like with boots, there was little sense in giving them different effects. So, he made them like he would make a set with one of the big souls split between the two. He forged two earrings from the big soul simr to the ones he had just finished and enchanted them with willpower and intelligence. The systems remarks were as biting as ever... In a simr fashion, he created two rings using obsidian. But this time he used the bad to add a random curse to attacks. These effects were chosen after thoroughly testing his skills and abilities with the fire gloves. Thanks to all the improvements to cost and power he was now able to use and control his spirit me just as well and much as he could use normal fire without equipment. With his on level three he was able to effectively control a fire up to a range of 15 meters. It became exponentially harder past this range. The magic unlocked by the gloves on the other hand had a huge much greater range. But magic costed mana instead of mental energy. That''s why he decided to focus on effects for casters for the rest of his equipment. It was not just about the added range. Most of his items lowered the cost and increased the power of fire skills. Having another way to attack with fire, based on a second resource increased his overall firepower and survivability. Now Seth was fully loaded with jewelry and every essory slot was filled. And they were not just practical. When he looked in the mirror Seth could not deny that he looked quite fabulous, dazzling even. Especially when he only wore the golden cloth armors and new gloves. ~ If you keep staring you will fall in love with yourself. ~ "Yeah yeah..." Seth sighed. Al broke the mood. Why couldn''t he enjoy nice things for once? After finishing these essories his came close to 50% proficiency. only gained a little, while was just before leveling up to lv. 2. Now Seth could only wait for the church to find the materials he needed to make something substantial. This didn''t mean he would just idle around in the meantime Chapter 203 - 203. Second Auction In the mornings he would have sparring sessions with Tekar to train his new movement skill. It was a very steady skill that focused on the foundations. It was notplicated to train but took a lot of energy. In exchange, it improved his overall movability and evasion, especially inbat. The rest of the day he spent leisurely with enchanting the little nick-nacks he had bought from street vendors and the jewelry he had looted. Jewelry he could not enchant because it was too small or finicky found its way into the furnace and was recycled. He also smelted the steel he had collected in the ruins on their way back. It did not help much to level his skills, but he had fun doing it. The calm work helped him to concentrate and think things through. Seth felt that his time in Y-City wasing to an end. During the next auction, he would look for a damage dealer and then... there was almost nothing left to do. Seth was quite clear about the fact that he didn''t want to stay in Y-City. It was not a ce that could help him grow stronger and it was definitely not a ce he wanted to open a shop. He thought long about this, but his next destination was obvious. He wanted to travel to Delta the previous capital of the world. Delta was not as big as the other districts because its intended function was the seat of the council that governed the city districts. Now it was a hotchpotch of ori huma, people of the Crona Empire, and demons. At least, that was what Samuel told him. Why did he want to go there? There were a few reasons. The only branch of the systems auction house was in Delta. It was situated close to an active volcano, which he needed to refine . And he had the slight hope to find a demon cksmith to learn more demonic smithing bads. Opening a shop branch in that ce also seemed less problematic than in a city that was thirsting for equipment. Delta seemed like the most suitable ce for him to settle down. Of course, he could make a lot of money here, but he was not greedy enough to lose sight of his goal. He could still sit back and rake in money after he mastered his craft. On the other side, he was not driven enough to let go of this opportunity without any regrets. But his time was really too precious to spend it on making umon stuff just to sell it. Before he left for Delta, he would either have to leave a stock of items for the future auctions or keep making and sending them over from Delta. If only he could get a smithing ve... he looked at Cerberus. If only he could make it more intelligent. At least good enough that it could finish simple weapons. The golem had the skills and power of the master who previously created this ss, but the skills were nerfed to Seths''s level. Still, even with Seth''s level, it would be easy for it to make an umon sword. His eyes fell on his skill point, he had not touched in a long time. Seth had leveled up quite a lot recently and umted 8 Free SP. He just needed five of those to level up the . Maybe Cerberus would also get an upgrade if he leveled the skill...? He shrugged. It would not hurt to try. N?v(el)B\\jnn But when he checked it cost actually 6 SP to level to level 6, had the costs increased? Begrudgingly he still decided to level up the skill. After he heard the level-up notification, he took a look at the perk list and sighed. Cerberus had not gotten an upgrade. Instead, the production speed of all crafting stations had increased by 25%. He had not gotten what he wanted, but it was not a total loss either. He looked at the 2 pitiful SP he had left. This was the only way he knew to level up the but the costs were immense. What would level 7 cost? 7 SP or maybe it would be 8 by then... Who knew how many levels he needed to max it out? And it wasn''t like he could spend all of his SP on just the . He was convinced there would be other skills he would need SP for. When he checked the crafting station to see whether there were some hidden improvements that were not part of the perk, his face lit up. Cerberus had improved. It was not as far as to automatically make finished weapons, but the golem could now prepare weapon nks for Seth like a real cksmith assistant or apprentice. This was notpletely what he had wanted, but it gave Seth hope for the future. Now he could leave the golem with part of his freshly stocked-up , about 100 bars. He also left some of the snake bones with Cerberus, since it shared his skills, it could use to turn those into nks, too. Golems could work day and night without pause. From time to time Seth woulde and finish the nks. All he needed to do was refining them and finishing the weapons. He did not be very creative with the enchantments and made mostly simple weapons with a range of different elemental damages. This was he effectively used the downtime to prepare a stockpile of weapons for future auctions after he left. Seth fathomed that there were enough tost until umon weapons lost in worth Y-City. At that point, he could send a batch of rare items for the auctions. Although his skills barely increased from each individual item, altogether gave him 5-8% across the board. He discussed his n with Tekar during their sparring sessions. Link and Alison had no rtives left in Y-City and easily agreed to the move. Mary and Jane were already his - already agreed to follow him anywhere. Only Tekar had his little daughter. Leaving with Seth for a different city was a decision that did not just concern him. It also meant that they would have to bring his daughter along and protect her on the travel. Tekar talked to his daughter and agreed, in the end, toe along. However, Seth could see that he was still not convinced. The big father calmed down a lot, when Seth told him, that he nned to recruit a proper vanguard during the next auction. It was the only role Seth was still missing in his party. Until now it was him filling this role more or less, but it did not fit him. He was coping by using his fire and gear, but he much rather left this job to a true melee ss. After two weeks of waiting finally came the date for the second auction.. Beside the Armor, Seth had prepared some additional highlights for the auction. Chapter 204 - 204. Second Auction (2) It was the day of the second auction held by Y-Cities Church. They changed the venue to amodate the increase of participants. In exchange, the church flexed by ensuring security with their own troops d in uniforms suits of high-quality armors. They needed to show a strong presence to calm their rich guests. The soldiers of the church were blessed by the system church. As such they could rival any high-ranking native for the duration of the blessing. The venue was filled with high society from all over the Y-City district. This included the richest people as well as the strongest figures. There were also those who were simply curious and had the necessary mary foundation to take part. Once again Seth was mingling among the people using Al as a talent detector. He was currently in the lobby where snacks and drinks were provided for the guests before the auction began. He had already narrowed down a list of vanguards for the party beforehand. But he used this chance to listen to the gossip and look for hidden gems. "The church really pulled all the stops this time. Did you see the guard?" "Yeah. Do you think they are stronger than the Zero Squad?" "I don''t know, but they are probably not weaker. Did you hear that the church was also sieged? They had no problem dealing with those things." Seth took a ss of wine and a te of appetizers and left. "Is that?" "Yeah, it is!" "Who would have thought the Crimson de would also show interest in this auction?" "The Bloody Cleaver is hmph!?" "Not so loud. Do you want to offend him, or why are you shouting like that? Everyone knows he doesn''t like that moniker." "I''m sorry." The crimson de? That sounded interesting. Seth needed a damage dealer. The name sounded like a swordsman ss. It was a shame they didn''t sell any weapons today. His thoughts were interrupted by the signal that the auction would soon start. The crowd started moving in the direction of the auditorium. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I wee you to the second auction of the system church. I''m d all of you came today, despite the current situation. I won''t steal any of your time with useless talk and get straight to the point. Our first items are suits of armor...." The curtain lifted and there were 9 armors on the stands. All of them were umon, but five were merely made from high-quality steel, while the other five were enchanted by Seth. The fifth enchanted armor was worn once again by a well-known tank who would demonstrate its effects. Seth didn''t bother to gives these armors any shy effects. He had simply used the demonic bad of reflection, which gave all the pieces the effect to reflect 15% of the damage and engraves the option of automatic sizing. They should look for an enchanter if they wanted more effects. Although umon items were slowly bing more on the market, none of those could bepared to the items a journeyman-level cksmith casually made. The difference in skill and the difference of additional performance that came with it was almost like an enchantment in and of itself. Seth did not really pay attention to the performance on the stage. He was upied with checking the crowd and listening to Al''s analysis of people. "Seth Smith." a person said and sat down on the seat beside him. Seth recognized the person but had a hard time remembering the name until Al told him. -------------- "Mark Baker." said the young man after Mark sat down beside him. He wore an elegant outfit that was more in the style of an otherworlder than what was usually seen in Y-city. Mark was surprised that the handsome youth still knew his name, although they had only met once. The auction was only his secondary objective ofing here today. He actually wanted to meet Seth, who had kept hidden inside the church for the past two weeks. Some kind of mana-tracking artifacts were found among the belongings of the invaders. They found out their use but could not activate them without the corresponding spell. But this did not mean they could not investigate who those people were looking for. Baker already had his suspicions before, but after checking the incident with those fair folk closer, he felt vindicated. All locations could be traced back to Seth and members of his party. Even that small gathering at the Hunters HQ, as Squad 1 interacted with him shortly before the attack. One or two locations might have been coincidences, but for all of them being ces his party members had visited recently or had stayed for a long time was too much of a coincidence. Seth was a great mystery. He appeared with a way to get high-performance items and vanished into the church. Shortly after the church started auctioning items far above the standard avable in Y-City. Their investigators were able to confirm, that his whole party was decked in above umon gear and had raided a high-level dungeon. And now it seemed that this incident was connected to this man, too. "Please tell me the truth. Did you really buy your items at the auction house, or did you make them yourself?" "Yep." the other answered with an easy-going smile. "Wait, is that a yes to making them yourself?" Baker asked a little confused. Seth''s smile grew wider. "Who knows?" Mark took a deep breath. "Okay. Let me ask like this: Did you make those armor and the weapons from thest auction? Are you... Journeyman Smith?" The young man looked surprised for a moment and answered with an amused smile. "No. I''m Seth Smith. Pff, journeyman, what a stupid name." he looked to the stage and chuckled. On the stage was currently a monster called a "ded Madness". It had had a dark humanoid body bod the two sickle arms of a mantis. It got its name the furious speed of its shed and the overall fighting style. On the other side stood a tall tank wearing one of the armors. He defended against the vicious shed with the armor and his skills only. But while the armor barely got a scratch, the ded madness kept spewing blood from cuts that came out of nowhere. Although they were feared for their reckless fighting style, these monsters were also known for being ss canons. Soon the monster fell under the repercussion of its own attacks. The timing of his chuckle could have been either because of his pun or because of the creature tragically dying on stage. Mark was unsure whether Seth was serious or joking with him. He had found out that he had identified himself as a cksmith upon entering the Y-City district. But Mark had a hard time believing that there was a native from Urth already at this skill level. Even the cksmiths of their crafting branch, that were supported with all the materials their teams farmed and shops bought, had yet to reach the point where they could use rare materials or even make rare items. Other branches with sses closer to existing technologies showed better results. Their biggest deficit was knowledge corresponding to enchanting and magical materials. There was no basis they could start off to develop these skills. This made it very hard for cksmiths or crafters, in general, to make items with a rating above the level of the material. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth didn''t know the hardships of these people. He could make epic items, even with rare materials. But it was not just the fact that he could enchant them. He had managed to keep his close to and and never had the chance to see the alternative. Just having did not just strengthen enchantments, but also the effects the materials themself had. If he used for something the material could give up to 10% resistance to darkness and mana regeneration in the dark. For a cksmith without the skill, it might only reach up to 4 or 5%. "Please be serious. Tell me the truth, are you the maker of these items?" The young man looked him in the eyes for a moment. They were deep eyes Mark could lose himself in. "Yeah, I made them.. Why do you ask?" he said in a rxed manner with a smug smile on his face. Chapter 205 - 205.Second Auction (3) Seth felt rxed. He did not think Mark was someone stupid with bad intentions. Even if he was, at this point in time it did not really matter anymore. Seth did not really feel threatened. He had finished most of his equipment; some were even better than he could have wished for. The church backed him, and he did not n to stay in Y-City for much longer. If Baker decided to make trouble for him Seth was sure he could deal with it. "So it was true! Then this auction ess was just a diversion..." he mumbled. "Would you be willing to work for the association? If we had someone on your level to provide weapons for us, we could provide materials and -" Working with the association was a good chance. They had hoarded a lot of materials and Seth might have been able to grind out a few levels at their ce, but he interrupted Baker''s speech. "Not really." He rejected the offer. To really profit from this deal he would not be able to hold back. Seth saw quite a few problems with mindlessly mass-producing rare and epic rated items for others. First and foremost was protecting his advantage. Right now his knowledge of enchantments was his biggest advantage. He would have no control over what would happen to these weapons if he worked with the association. cksmiths or other sses could analyze the weapons and copy the enchantments. And the other was that he did not want to break the power bnce in this ce. Who knew what a militaristic force with an overwhelming advantage in weaponry would decide to do in the future? It was better the way it was now. The people of Y-City could slowly struggle and grow together. Seth was not a starry-eyed idealist, but he preferred not taking part in the establishment of a dystopian society. Baker sighed. "I did not want to bring this up, but we know that you and your party are involved with the recent invasion. We could overlook it if you worked together with the government," he said seriously. Now Seth was convinced that not taking the bait was the correct decision. "How? We were not even in town when it happened." Baker exined their process of how they found the connection to his party. "So... you are trying to coerce me based on a bunch of conjectures. Do you really think that''s a smart move?" "What do you mean?" Mark asked a little confused. "I guess you haven''t really processed the recent influx of information yet. I made those items on the auction stage, no?" he pointed at the stage, where the auction was in full y. "And since my arrival here I stayed at the church. What does that mean, Sherlock? Take a wild guess." he even tried using to get his point across. A look of realization dawned on Mark''s face before he wiped it with his hand. He had understood that he was currently vying for an associate with the system church. The system church would take apart this case in an instant if he dared to press charges based on their investigation. Mark took a deep breath and sighed with a smile. "It''s a shame. I would have really liked to work closely with you." "No hard feelings. I just prefer to work on my own terms. Oh look, the surprise items of the auction are revealed. They came out really good." After the armors were auctioned off, the finisher was the collection of mechanical watches with powerful enchantments. They were not just stylish and told the time, they could also easily substitute any bracelet currently on the market. Seth had not held back much with the enchantments, as the materials weremon at best. The watched gave attribute bonuses of up to +20. He had also made sure the engravings looked really stylish. "You made those, too?" "Yep. Well, not the watches themself. I just enchanted them." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Mark sighed again and fell silent again. Maybe it was worth offending the system church. But maybe the bigger question was, whether he wanted to offend Seth at this point. He had stayed lowkey all the time, there was literally nothing to gain to go against him at this time. It might be better to stay on his good side. Seth noticed that Baker had be quiet and thoughtful. He patted his shoulder to get his attention. "The auction has ended. You should go home now." Seth left Baker behind and went to the reception. He gave them a list of people to invite. Some he had chosen beforehand; others were rmended by Al today. They were invited to one of the meeting rooms in the venue. Some came, some didn''t. When he entered, he found 5 people sitting in the room. He already knew one of them from seeing him. It was Inigo Monte who had helped to demonstrate the power of the swords during the auction several weeks prior. He was a man in his early forties and his age showed with the slight belly. He had been a fencing teacher before the apocalypse. Although fencer was not a special ss, his prior experience was a big advantage, especially in the beginning. As such he was still among the upper range of yers, despite being unaffiliated. The other four he only knew from files, rumors, or Al''s descriptions. From left to right there were a tall skinny man, a wide muscr guy, an explosive woman, and a silent man wearing a cloak and hat. The first was Damien Sedue and his moniker was "The Stalking Mantis". He had a rare assassin ss that allowed him to dual-wield chain sickles. Unlike most assassins, he was known as a capable vanguard. It was just that his choice of weapon was very umon, so it was hard to find a good one. He was a typical ss cannon. The wide muscleman was Cliff H. Anger also called "The Damned" he had a unique ss that wielded a heavy broadsword, and his skills were based on feints. These three were more or less those rmended by the church. The other two were among those he and Al had found on the auction. The explosive woman was Monique Lest. She had no moniker Seth knew of, but her rare ss seemed quite interesting. It was called "Turtle Warrior" and the skills focused on counters instead of direct attacks. It seemed like a great ss for a solo yer as her level was already close to 50 without her having made a name for herself. Thest one, d in a cloak and hiding his features was "The Crimson de" Seth had heard about during the auction. His name was Jonah Miller and Seth understood the moniker after he saw his ss. "Vampiric Swordsman" was an epic ss that could manipte and buff itself with its opponent''s blood. Through the ss, he inherited several powers of high-ranking vampires. Judging by the skills Al told him about he could even let his weapon fight on his own while he went into meleebat with ws. Seth sat down at the top of the table and started off with the same speech he had given his party during their first meeting. This time he used to better get his point across. He also told them of his ns to leave Y-City in the near future. The vanguards were very different from his band of misfits. All of them stayed silent at first. Without saying a word, the Mantis and the Damned stood up and left. Inigo was still deliberating before he opened his mouth. "I''m honored by the offer, but I have to declines. I grew up here in Y-City and here are my roots. I do not wish to leave my home for over 40 years behind." After giving an honest and polite refusal he stood up and left. Now he was only left with the explosive beauty and the silent batman. It was a velvety deep voice that suddenly asked. "Before I make a decision, could you let me have a look at an example of the items you would provide us? Chapter 206 - 206. New Companions The crimson de suddenly took the initiative to speak. The explosive beauty had a surprised look on her face. She was just as surprised as Seth. The voice did not match the owner''s outward appearance at all. ~Ke Ke ke, just wait, there is more. ~ Alughed to herself. Seth didn''t know what the sorceress was ying at. Once the beauty understood what Jonah had said, she nodded vigorously. Monique also wanted to test the weapon before making a decision. "Sure. But if you want to test them, we should probably change locations." The two were the only two that stayed. Now was the time to hook them. He saw no problem in letting them test drive his weapons. Once they did, they were his. They left the meeting room and went to the reception. An employee brought them to a wide empty room. There was a stage on one side and a few rows of stacked chairs on the other. "What kind of weapons do you usually use?" he asked since he had a big range of different weapons in the box. Seth had not made any awesome weapons for practice since he arrived in Urth, but there was arge assortment of rare blood drinker weapons. Jonah''s weapon of choice was a slender longsword. His face lit up when his hand wrapped around the handle of a blooddrinker bastard sword. As one would expect, he felt a resonance between his ss and the options of the weapon. The joy was visible in the few practice swings he did to test its weight and bnce. He only moved through a few basic swords moves but the proficiency and precision in the moves were obvious to the beholder. Monique looked at the crimson de''s reaction in fascination and listened to the de sing along with his moves. She also carried a sword but began to deliberate for a while before suddenly asking. "Do you... a-also have a spear? O-or can you make one?" she asked shyly in a high-pitched rough voice. It seemed that she had not talked for a long time. Although she was not used to speaking, even Seth could read her expression. This question was important to her. "Hmm, I don''t have a normal spear on hand, but I can make one. Though it''s not a spear, I have a halberd if you want to test it for now. And don''t forget, if you like these weapons, I can custom make even better ones for you, as long as you join me." he could not hold back with the advertisement now. Seth liked Monique a lot since she was easy to read even for him. The moment he said that he did not have a spear her face had fallen, and it lit up the next moment when he said he could make one and she could test a halberd for now. He felt that she would be afortable person to be around if she joined his party. The moment she grasped the halberd he handed to her, something happened. It was almost as if she had turned into a different person. Her aura became sharper and more serious. Her body moved with utmost precision as she went through various stances and spear moves with the halberd. An aura of power filled the room as her moves became faster and moreplex without losing even a tiny bit of precision. These were movements based on years of training and an aura honed by life-threatening scenarios. Watching her move with such obvious passion Seth knew that he had her in the bag. He could only guess why she had been carrying a sword and not a spear. As a warrior ss, she had several different proficiency skills for weapons. The possibility was high, that she just could not find a spear better than the sword at her hip. If this was a world without magic Seth would have thought it was stupid to rather fight with a weapon you have no experience in, than to use one you are very proficient at. However, in this world with the system it was different. The damage output was mainly determined by the weapon and your skills. Even skills that multiplied your damage by 5 were worthless if your weapon only dealt 100 or 200 damage. That is why it made more sense to use the better weapon, even if you had little proficiency with it. It was preferable over being able to it the enemy a lot, but not breaking through the defense at all. He didn''t worry about Monique anymore and focused on Jonah. His sword had stopped moving as he watched the goddess of war furiously fighting invisible enemies. Seth could easily sneak up beside him. "Quite the sight, eh? I think she is quite satisfied with the promo item. How about you?" Although Seth had originally nned to get only one vanguard, he didn''t say no to two. The more people in the front row they had, the safer everyone would be. The cksmith''s question had broken the spell on the crimson de. "I-I... I normally am not interested in joining others." he looked away. The velvety smooth voice raised the hairs in Seth''s nape. He could spot a bit of cheek with a slight blush between the hat and the cloak. "I can hear a "but" in there. Come on, say it. Join me~" Seth was inadvertently using . Two were not nned, but now he was eager to take them both. Just what kind of creatures could they kill if those two joined. The materials and experience they could earn after they joined. "N-no. I can''t join you. I wouldn''t mind apanying you to Delta, but I know that if far from enough to deserve such a weapon. I can only-" the vampiric swordsman was struggling to ovee his desires. A good weapon would make everything so much easier. But his secret might be exposed if he spent time with others, not mentioning joining a group permanently. Seth saw the inner struggle. The swordman was quivering and he held back his voice with balled fists. No, he couldn''t let him make a conscious decision. He had to overwhelm his desires! He had no choice but to bring forth his ultimate move. The shine of a long de lit up in the room. Even Monique stopped moving when Seth suddenly pulled out a long single-edge de. As seasoned warriors, they could feel the strong presence of the weapon. "Here, try holding it." he said and passed Jonah the "Wyvern de". Seth was not afraid of theft, nobody but him could use this weapon. But holding it was enough. Instinctively the crimson de grabbed the handle of the kriegsmesser. He stood there as if petrified. The de had the same enchantment as the blood drinker sword he had held earlier, but they were much stronger, and he could barely resist the resonance it had with his ss. N?v(el)B\\jnn Now to close in for the kill. "I can make you your very own weapon, just like this. Maybe even better. You just have to join me." he whispered from behind, close to the other''s ear. His mana was rapidly depleting as he used his divine tongue. Silence. Jonah just kept staring at the de while his thoughts were in chaos. But when the final decision fell and the tension left the swordman''s body, Seth knew he had won his second vanguard. "I think both of your answers are positive after this little test, yes?" Both nodded. Monique enthusiastically, Jonah rather unwilling. Both their face fell into despair when Seth collected his weapons back. Some ces liked to gift away promotion material. Seth didn''t. "Let''s make a visit to the church.. I can introduce you to the rest of the party and we can finalize our deal!" Seth said with a joyful smile and took the lead on their way to the church. Chapter 207 - 207. Party Assembled! Seth brought the explosive beauty and the sanguine de wielder to the church where he handed them over to Samuel who took care of the paperwork. In the meantime, Seth went to collect his party members for a wee party. It was easy to find Tekar. He was sitting with his daughter together in their room and yed Tea party with her. An over 2-meter-tall muscle man holding a tiny teacup was a surreal scene to behold. "Hello Ruby, Tekar, I brought new friends. Would you join me in a wee party in the cafeteria?" The big tank stopped pretending to drink tea in surprise when the little girl jumped up a cheered. "A real party? Yay!" And she was gone from the room, on her way to the kitchen. "I guess, that is a yes." with that Seth also left the room. The next stop was the witch''s kitchen. Originally it was an alchemy room of the church. Everything changed when the two females started locking themself into the room and spending all day long making mysterious experiments. Sometimes weirdly colored fogs and fumes would escape through the gaps of the door. The door stayed closed even when the sounds of explosions could be heard. It only opened when they left or entered the room. Now Seth knocked on this immovable door. It opened a tiny gap and Alison with a pair of safety sses over her regr sses came into view. "What?" "I recruited the rest of our party. Come join us in the cafeteria." "What is it?" Evee could be heard from the room. "Seth wants us to join the wee party for the new party members." "Oh, cool. We are finishing up soon!" Evee had decided for them, and Alison could only agree grumpily. Thest of the members was already in position as the gourmet hunter barely left the kitchen since their return. Now he just had to grab the two new members and assemble the party! Once her vocal cords were lubricated Monique easily fit in with the party. It took some more alcoholter in the evening, but Jonah also soon warmed up to the party. Link brought out rows and rows of food and drinks and it became a great feast. Over food and drinks and the corresponding hangover, the party bonded. Now, the basic constetion of his party was finished. Following the terrible hangover of that night was the time of waiting. His materials had still not arrived, and the party still stayed in the church to grind their skills. As Seth had little to do, he spent a lot of time sparring with the new vanguards. Learning the footwork of the was actually a lot harder than Seth expected. He knew that he kept growing, but the muscles all over his whole body would hurt from ache afterward. It was not as fun as it seemed in those novels he read where the protagonist would just train it and be able to teleport around and create after images. He soon reached level 2 and even on this low level he understood the benefits of systematic movements. Seth looked forward to walking several miles in a step, like characters in those novels. But he did not just train his own footwork and , he also learned a lot about his new vanguards and their fighting style. He had lent them the blooddrinker weapons for sparring. Monique had originally learned a traditional martial art using the spear. She started with amon warrior ss that allowed the usage of several different weapons. Originally, she started with a spear but was forced to change to a sword when it broke. It was hard to get her hands on a good spearter on. She kept using her martial art even with other weapons which led her ss to evolve into one that resembled her fighting style the closest. It was "Turtle Warrior" and not "Turtle Swordsman" because she wanted to keep the option to some when return to the spear. Her way of fighting was different from most warriors who focused on dealing continuous damage while trading blows. She focused on defense like a turtle shell, but her counters and attacks bite like an alligator turtle. In between defending she would counter with a terrifying speed precisely aiming for the vitals. In game-terms, she would be specialized in defense and critical damage instead of continuous normal damage. It made Seth think of the ck turtle from some of the novels he had read. It was a turtle or tortoise, but it was the one that governed life and death. Jonah''s fighting style as Vampiric Swordman depended on speed and versatility. Although, his skills were severely limited in a sparring match, as many of his abilities power up the more blood flowed. Still, his abilities were quite fascinating. He was not only a good swordsman, but he could also let the de fight on its own for a limited time. In this time, he could either fight melee with his ws or cast vampire abilities. And during the whole time, his body and face were covered with a hat and dark cloak. They were a lot better sparring partners than Tekar and Seth could feel the improvements when fighting with them. They were currently not going on missions, so he used sparring to get to know their skill and styles. Monique fought steady and tactical which fit a lighter te armor or scale armor. And her weapon of choice was a spear. Jonah on the other hand was agile and rapid so an armor that didn''t impede movement was the best. Something like leather or chainmail, or maybe a mix of both would be fitting. He wished for a long, narrow de. Those were noplicated wishes. Seth was not stingy and made Monique a light set of and armor, enchanted with the reflection effect of the demonic bad and overall boosts to her strength, endurance, and agility. It was slightly better than the Dark Knight set butcked the unique effect. He put more effort into the spear he made for her. For the spear tip, he used one of the wyvern fangs he had left. Seth used the bad of decay while forging the fang. With all his skills working together the tooth turned into a pearly white spear tip. The shaft was forged from by roughly pattern-welding and giving it a vicious ck-grey spiral pattern. He infused the spear with a strong medium-sized soul. For the enchantments, he engraved theplex circuit for piercing and sharpness to enhance the fang''s natural properties. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Damage to vitals is tripled 5.Damage +150 6. +25% Resistance to negative status effects (Mind) 7. 35% chance to cause mental disruption on hit (Effects: Stun/Confusion) A killing weapon from the hands of Journeyman Seth. Materials and special treatment make this one of thest weapons you wish to be pierced by.> Another epic item giving him another few percent on his crafting levels. Chapter 208 - 208. Delivery Arrives Seth had a good idea for Jonah''s armor butcked the materials. That was the problem with his material catalog being filled with stuff from another world. He knew a lot of things that would work really well but had a hard time acquiring them. He had tried pattern welding for the first time in a while with Monique''s spear and was considering it for Jonah''s sword. He had learned it a little under Tored, but it was mostly a technique for visuals in the eyes of a dwarf. In dwarven mentality, it is always best to use the material best suited for the job, even if it is more costly or takes longer. Doing this with magical or mystical metals also had its own risks. The same enchantments had. Two different metals could weaken or even cancel each other out. Worst case they could worsen as a whole. The result could be too brittle, or soft. There were many reasons not to try it even if it was possible. Most metals tended not to bond at all. So why did Seth consider doing it now? He took a liking to the aesthetic, and he could spare some materials like this whilebining two strengths. He would have liked to use and to increase the magic conductivity and strength of the sword, but those two didn''t bond. When he did it with it lowered the resulting effects in the darkness slightly, but it increased the conductivity overall. Using two materials based on the same metal worked fairly well. The decrease of the effects in darkness was okay because he had a different reason. Seth included to increase the affinity with the demonic bads he used. In general techniques like pattern welding or coating one metal with another were methods to save materials at the cost of overall effects. They were techniquesmon among human cksmiths but frowned upon by dwarfs who took pride in making the best possible products. Of course, he could have ordered more through the church when his reserves ran low. But it was so expensive! He rather avoided it for now. Seth was sure he could find those materials and more on Urth once he left Y-City. He got mining skills from Hades after all. He first forged a bunch of tes from and . These were stacked and welded together on the sides using his to imitate a welder with his finger. After affixing the tes to each other he forge-welded them into a solid billet. Once this was done, he was ready to forge the de of the sword. The targeted length came close to that of a rapier but slightly broader and stiffer. It became a very long slender sword. The ck and gray patterns flowed like mes along the de. Seth made a small crossguard made of and carved a handle from bones covered with somemon leather. It was the first time he tried to enchant a weapon with twoplex enchantments. One was life steal and the other was strong bleeding, the higher version of bleeding. Seth heard the synergy notification. All that was left was infusing another medium-sized soul. He dunked it into the waters of Styx and pulled out the strongest blooddrinker weapon to date. Seth was just upied with thest finishing touched on the sword when a clerk knocked on his door. "Sir, your orders have arrived. Can you check the delivery?" Seth agreed and the next moment his workshop was being filled with boxes over boxes. Had he really ordered that much? He checked the boxes one by one which helped him remember some things he had already forgotten. First and foremost were his recent orders like wood for Alison''s staff, swamp newt leather for Jonah''s Armor. There were also the things like the leather he had originally ordered for Links armor or the original materials for Alison''s staff. He went for a meal after unpacking and storing the new materials. Well-fed and fully recovered he came back and started on Alison''s new staff. He measured the storm sphere, making sure not to touch it before he brought out the wood. It was a big, charred slice of a thunderstruck mulberry tree. In a simr style to how he created his bow, Seth started forging the wood using all his options. He chanted the aggressive balled that would give the staff the power to imbue random curses to an attack. Unlike with the bow, he started folding it like metal to make it a homogeneous mass of wood. In the process, the wooden grain and charred parts formed all kinds of chaotic patterns. He kept working the material and the demonic runes kept fusing into it until it had no resemnce to wood, except the dark brown, almost ck, color. The big piece of wood was turned into two long strands he melded together in the middle. The four legs of this cross were then twisted together in a long spiral staff with a dark evil sheen. It ended in four ws. Carefully Seth set the in the center of these ws and molded them to grab the orb with a strong grip. With a deep breath, he sat down and waited for his mana to recover. This had taken longer than expected. Handling the orb was very thrilling. Now that the sphere was at the end of the staff it was no danger to the carrier of the item. On the opposite, Alison would be able to also use it in meleebat and shock any enemy below level 40. It was already a finished item, but to really fuse it all together Seth took out one of the few big magic souls he had and used to turn it into a rough copy of the finished staff. He enchanted it with mana efficiency and mana drain before meticulously infusing it into the staff. As always it was much easier to infuse a soul into an organic material. The waters of Styx sealed the soul into the item and Seth finished his first magician''s staff. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The staff had canceled the requirement for affinity, but the curse still held true for touching the sphere itself. If Alison hit someone with the staff it would unleash 1000 lightning, 500 wind, and 230 physical damage onto anyone who didn''t meet the requirements of the sphere. It would still take a while before Alison would reach lv. 40, but Seth nned to only leave Y-City after all of them had reached it anyways. Seth decided it was good for the day and went to hand around with the rest of the party. Chapter 209 - 209. Testing Equipment During lunch the next day everyone was assembled in the cafeteria. "Hey guys, how about we go visit a dungeon? It''s been a while and we should test our new partyposition." Seth suggested a dungeon dive after everyone had finished their meal. They had stayed indoors for almost 3 weeks and there were no signs of Baker making any moves. "Good Idea, I''m running out of ingredients." the gourmet hunter suddenly mentioned. Alison and Evee nodded. In the past weeks, they had spent most of their time grinding their skills. Alison and Link had improved their crafting skills by leaps and bounds. Alison attained and could reliably make a range of lesser potions. Evee had worked hard on her and trained her magical skills she was not able to use without her hands. First and foremost was . This magic had spells that could either support her allies or impede her enemies. The difference to the spells of a regr supporter was the variations and she needed to prepare a specific medium to cast most of them. It limited the times she could use a spell to the number of prepared consumables. On top of it, she had and that came from a priest''s skill set. She was not just a healer, but a well-rounded addition to the team. Together with her joined the second non-human member of the party. Her familiar, she named Felix, had benefitted a lot during their journey back and from Link''s crafted meals. Her familiar shared her experience and grew from feasting on the flesh of its enemies. Monique and Jonah were new additions, but they were not just a good help in Seth''s training. They also helped Tekar develop his fighting style with two shields against humanoid opponents. Evee could also train her against them. The punches of her steel fists were quite powerful, but she always ended up injuring herself. Shecked other skills of a fist-fighter that would protect their knuckles. In exchange, she had which increased her regeneration to an almost visible level. Sometimes Seth watched her fight and almost had the urge to add extendable mithril ws to her fists. She definitely needed a pair of sturdy gauntlets. Her time as an undead had made herpletely oblivious to pain and the fear of death. Jonah had to beat her up several times until she realized that pain was a thing. All in all, the party had gotten to know each other in thest week and Seth thought they were ready. "Boss, I still didn''t get an armor, is that okay?" Jonah asked in his seductive voice that sent a shiver down his back. "Ah, yes. I''m still working on it. It''s definitely not that I dislike leatherwork and use the dungeon dive as an excuse to make itter." exined himself, or not. "Oh, ok, Boss. I just wanted to ask," he said a little baffled. After this slightly awkward moment passed, they decided to prepare today and visit a dungeon tomorrow. Seth had waited with distributing his attribute point until now. Which was a nice way of saying he had forgotten about it while he thought of crafting. He had 52 AP to allocate. Until now he had distributed his point rather widespread, but this time he focused on Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower. He put 16 points into strength reaching one hundred. Seth was baffled when he heard this. The title improved the multiplier for the attribute. All stats had these multipliers pertaining a value, just like intelligence on mana or willpower on the hidden value mental force. He knew that these were normally based on your ss and race. They dictated what multipliers would improve with every 10 levels and by how much. Seth was a cksmith so the multipliers for dexterity and strength improved slightly with every tenth level. Seeing this he proceeded to add 19 points to dexterity getting a simr message. He moaned when he realized that he had not enough left to bring his willpower to 100. He added the 17 points to bring it to 98. To be honest, he really wanted to dodge making the leather armor for the time being. The reason was the arrival of materials. He wasn''t cking! There was a piece of equipment he had wanted to rece for a while, his ne! The pendant of the Nightcrawler and served him well, but now he wanted to retire it and make something even better. For this, he had gotten a special something, the crystal eyes of a hundred-eyed giant. He had long learned the enchantment for night vision, and he wanted to improve on that. Seth made a socket from for the light blue crystal eye. He forged a copy from a big soul and engraved it with theplex circuits of Night vision and irvoyance. irvoyance acted like a zoom. With it, he could see ces much further away than normally possible and it improved his visions itself. It would be a big advantage when shooting the bow. He would not just have a scope, but he could also see clear as day, even in the deepest night. Several notices came up as he lowered the new pendant into the water of Styx. It had actually worked! This was not just to improve on his previous ne, but also as a test. He had specifically tried to make an item pertaining to a figure from Olympian mythology. Seth had been reading up on Olympian myths in the church''s library. There were a lot more than he had remembered or ever known. Argos was known as the all-seeing giant. With his over 100 eyes he could see everything around him, and the eyes took turns in sleeping and blinking. In the myth he was tasked by Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, to guard her husband''s cow lover. This was one of the mistresses of Zeus he had turned into a cow to hide her from his wife. Argos watched her day and night making it hard for Zeus to have his fun. He probably wasn''t into being watched or something. Zeus had Hermes y the poor Argos. Now he was able to have his fun. He turned into a bull and had his little private time with his cow-turned lover. Killing some poor giant dude to fuck a cow... Seth found this rather off-putting. Why didn''t he just turn her back into a woman? Nobody was watching anymore, right? Seth didn''t want to judge Zeus, but he failed. He was rather d not to have that guy''s blessing. But this myth had nothing to do with Hephaistos or Hades. This meant that he could also make items connected to other Olympian gods, as long as the item he made was close enough in performance to trigger a synergy. The eye of Argos gave a row of passive skills. Night Vision and irvoyance were his enchantments, He understood Clear Sight as a skill to lift the veil on the world and see through illusions. As for the Expanded field of Vision, Seth had no idea until he wore the amulet. He almost puked and had to deactivate the passive skill. His head throbbed and his breathing was heavy. Expanded Field of Vision meant that he had literally a 360 field of view. He was not prepared, and his mind was instantly overloaded. That Option would need some getting used to. A much smaller change came from Clear Sight and Seth only noticed it after calming down. It showed the world how it truly was, seeing through illusions was a result of this effect, but not the end goal. He could see a very transparent current of something flowing through the air. Was this mana? Chapter 210 - 210. Grinding Levels Their first dungeon run was over within the wink of an eye. They had chosen a portal dungeon with monsters ranging from lv.35 to 40. The dungeon was a kind of dark forest with mutated woond creatures. Despite everyone trying to hold back, most mobs died in one strike. They zed through the dungeon without much trouble. Especially with the two overpowered vanguard, the party had almost no chance for any kind of party y. Monique and Jonah could easily carry the party on their own. After the dungeon boss keeled over without Alison even getting the chance to finish her spell, it was clear this didn''t work. This dungeon''s level was simply too low for their party. The materials were okay but not overwhelming. The item drops were mediocre at best. The only umon drop was a cursed dagger. The only use for this was maybe in the hands of a berserker or something? Seth couldn''t find the dungeon core to press something better out of it. Although they had sessfully finished the dungeon, this trip could only be counted as a failure. "Let''s go to another one." The day was still young, and they decided to try another tower-like dungeon. Simr to the Third Hospital, this was a dungeon with several floors of increasing difficulty. It was a buildingplex with a mix of shops and bureaus before it turned into a dungeon. It was one of the first dungeons that had formed in Y-City and it had not been fully cleared until now. The level of the monster started at 30-40 and kept rising every ten floors. Of the 50 floors that made up the building, only the first thirty were barely explored. Since it was neverpletely cleaned out the levels in the dungeon also kept constantly rising. When it first appeared, the lower floors started at lv. 10. Many people died overestimating their own skills and going too far, facilitating the further growth of the dungeon. As long as they did not repeat their mistakes, it should be able to give them a challenge and they would still have the chance to turn back if things became dangerous. There was also hope that there would be better loot since the dungeon had never beenpletely cleared. As long as they reached the unexplored floors, there might be real goodies. It wasn''t that Seth thought dungeons could make better items than himself, but there were some effects and enchantments on dungeon items, he was not able to replicate with his current skills. One trait many of these urban dungeons shared was that their inhabitants were humanoid most of the time. Seth understood that it was more practical since all the buildings in the city were built for humans. But he didn''t really get why dungeons did not just change the inner structure. They could do that, it was proven. Instead, these dungeons tended to just add on top of the original structure. The enemies on the first 10 floors were a kind of bird-warriors. It was a stretch to call them humanoids, but they looked like downsized Terror birds with arms. The greatest obstruction on these floors were the numerous traps, more than the bird monsters that attacked with primitive spears. Their bodies were strong and their damage high, but theycked any visible cleverness. Link and Evee scouted the surrounding, while the monsters could be left to the two vanguards. Tekar, Seth and Alison simply followed and enjoyed the show. N?v(el)B\\jnn On the tenth floor came the first boss room. There was one every 10 floors. This was the only ce where the structure of the previous building had been changed to make a big arena-like space. Inside was a giant terror bird up to 6m in height. Although just lv. 40, with its giant body, speed, and magic power it was fit to be a mid-boss that made any ordinary party struggle. Its beak was massive and easily smashed the stone floors and was hard to dodge. For an ordinary party that is. For their party, it was like a giant target. The stone-smashing beak held no power against Tekars defense. And while the tank blocked the attacks, the rest of the party let loose. Evee, Seth, and Link were upied withyering various debuffs and status effects on the beast with their attacks from afar. Monique and Jonah shaved away chunks of its health up close. It was only thanks to the beast''s enormous vitality, that Alison got a chance to finish a spell and cut open the bird throat with a wind scythe. "Alison, I know you want to train the stronger spells inbat, but it would be better if you saved your mana here and used those with a lower cast time. I know that we have some leeway here, but it could be a bad habit and detrimental in serious situations." Alison pondered for a moment before she nodded seriously to show that she understood. It was good that she was a levelheaded person and understood his advice instead of taking it as an offense. Seth knew that they had a lot of self-made mana potion, but it didn''t mean they could y around. There could be situations where the time spend on the casting, mana used for the spell or spell itself would be important. If it was on cooldown, she had too little mana or was interrupted during a long cast because she chose the wrong spell on a whim or out of bad habit... They could get into trouble during a really dangerous situation. The best part of the bird in Seth''s opinion was the beak. had a metallic sheen to it. Going up the dungeon floors felt like watching a study on evolution. On the 10-20th floor appeared monsters with levels up to 45. These creatures had a more defined humanoid figure and a glint of intelligence in their eyes. Some even randomly used magic and skills in the fights. The second boss resembled a really ugly kind of harpy or chimera. It had the upper body of a giant eagle, the lower body of a man, and the feet of a raptor. Whichever God had created this...why did he have the urge to include human legs? While Tekar and the vanguards blocked the dive attacks of the flying opponent, the ranged attackers dealt damage. It was a shame that many of the debuffs were weakened or did not work at all because of the huge level difference. In the end, Alison and Seth worked together to take the bird down. Seth used his gloves options to cast while Alison cast . Although Seth''s spell had a much lower rank, it waspensated by his abnormally high affinity with fire and the effects of his items. Casting these spells together created a powerful firestorm that charred the opponents feathers and made flying almost impossible. The harpy lost much of its flight capability and was forced tond. On the ground below waited Monique and Jonah eager to carve the fat bird. The materials from this boss were not too interesting to Seth, but he still stored away the umon ones. The bosses were a good training, but so far, their party had not met any real resistance. Only when they came closer to the 30th floor and the regr monsters got close to level 50 was their party able to train their teamwork effectively. Out of all of them, only Monique was close to lv.50 herself. The next was Jonah with lv.45. Among the others, Tekar had the highest level with 40. The rest of them fought against enemies with 10 levels or more difference. This was only possible thanks to the superior equipment they had been provided. With it came an increased speed when leveling up. Link, Seth, and Alison had each gained a level, while Evee was slowly catching up closing in on lv. 30. It was not just the power of the monsters, but also their blossoming intelligence that allowed them to train their teamwork at this stage. The birdmen were moving in groups simr to a party and were able to use rough strategies with their formations and skills. Still, their party had afortable advantage over their enemy, despite the level difference. Although the corridors and rooms of the building had changed on the surface into some kind of bird nest-like material, the underlying structure was still the same. Narrow hallways and manageable rooms. Whenever they encountered a party of featherheads, they lured them into the narrow hallways. Seth, Link, Evee, and Alison stood in the rear, protected by the now giant and tanky Puffles and the small and agile Felix as rearguards. With their ranged skills, they supported Monique and Jonah fighting in the frontline. Especially the explosive beauty had a great time after finally getting a chance to let loose with her spear. One might think that a spear was a bad choice in a narrow hallway, but that was wrong. A narrow hallway meant that the enemy could not circle around her or dodge to the sides. With precise swipes and vicious thrusts, she easily kept her opponents at distance or directly reaped their lives. The w-wielding bloodwarrior with his flying sword did not much worse in keeping himself safe while taking others'' lives. He benefitted not only from the blood he spilled but also from that of his teammates giving him a huge buff in these kinds of battles. In between them towered Tekar wearing the imposing dark knight armor. His mere presence weakened the opponents. He made sure that nothing from the front could get to the rear. In these narrow corridors, he could effortlessly block magic and projectiles with the shield''s barrier and stop any kind of runaways that got past the two vanguards. In this manner they soon reached the third boss room. Chapter 211 - 211. Grinding Levels (2) This was as far as other parties like Squad 1 from the hunter''s association or elites from the bigger guilds hade before. This was thest boss room they had to share with those that came before them. Inside the boss room stood a massive humanoid eagle. Like the bird version of a minotaur. He had a fierce eagle head, a muscr man''s upper body with feathers on his arm, and human legs that ended in eagle ws with some kind of double joint. In his hand, he held a 2m long broadsword that did not look too bigpared to his almost 4m tall body. It looked rough, but it was apletely new metal to Seth. A greater magic affinity than ? Seth''s eyes twinkled. He had no idea what to do with it yet, but he wanted it. The two vanguards got to work to get it for him. The levitating sword attacked the eagle and was blocked by the broadsword. At this moment a spear attack like a vicious snake from its blind spot and aimed for the heart. Against all odds, the creature blocked the spear with the row of shiny metallic feathers on its arm. The moment it had shifted its posture to block the spear it suffered a hit in the kidneys. Jonah''s vampire ws had dug into the eagle''s human abdomen. It was the most human boss, yet. Which made it the easiest so far. Even with the level difference, it could not fly nor was it super-fast. Its weapon was not exactly the best suited for it. The material was lighter than steel, giving it an unexpected speed, but in exchange, the attackscked the weight to trouble a tank like Tekar. The eagle tried to fight with technique and skills but was worse in doing so than the party. In a simr fashion to the first strike, the wounds kept piling up. Burn wounds, cuts,ser shots, arrows, and blunt force kept shaving away its health until it finally kneeled down and died. "This was easier than expected." Link let out a sigh as h started to harvest the boss. Seth dly put away the umon broadsword. He was very satisfied. Another surprise was the feathers the hunter carved from the boss. He didn''t know how much mana it cost, but these feathers had blocked Monique''s epic spear with increased piercing power. They would definitelye in handy. They had a dark almost ck color with a bronze sheen to them. "From here on out it''s almost untrod territory!" Evee said excitedly. She was right. Apparently, the next floors would be a lot harder with greater groups of enemies showing a great amount of coordination. That was what the information other parties had given the guild. And it was true. The parties of mobs they encountered were high-level humanoids with great coordination. During these fights, Seth kept transitioning between the front and back row corresponding to the enemy''s formations. The fights were hard and took a long time, but the experience gain was worth it, even for Monique. Just two floorster Seth leveled up again, bing lv. 36. But soon things started to change. A smell of decay wafted towards them when the doors to the 34th floor opened. The Staircase before them was only dimly lit and everything seemed darkened. They climbed the stairs in a tight formation. The drastic change in environment made them hypersensitive to their surroundings. Fast footsteps echoed in the hallway as something approached from the front. A feathered human came stumbling from the darkness in front. He was covered in wounds and drenched in blood. Panic was written all over it face and they could see a glimmer of hope when it saw the group of adventurers. Just what had happened for a dungeon monster to feel hope when seeing its enemy? The answer appeared faster than they would have liked. A giant figure appeared behind the mob and its face fell when it saw the party''s expression. The next moment a giant stinger prated the humanoid body from behind and exited its chest. The top was glinting with a viscous dark venom and its victim''s body went through a process of necrosis. It was the stinger of a scorpion that led back to a massive being that had the upper body of a man and the lower body of a scorpion. They had not long to look at the sudden new enemy. Before they could react, a giant body d in porcin-like white armor and carried by hundreds of sharp legs rushed along the wall past them. Puffles charged at the scorpion man while its stinger was still stuck in its victim. The scorpion warrior could only lift his spear to fend off the ferocious Puffles. It was no help, the two pairs of scythes hacked away the spear and limbs holding it. The Ivicer''s sharp legs easily prated the scorpion body''s exoskeleton securing it in ce. Without its arms, the monster was helpless as the divine beast opened its mandibles dripping with golden saliva and bit of the human head with a loud crunching sound. The party looked in horror as Puffles gnawed away at the scorpion mob. The golden liquid it excreted easily dissolved the monster''s body into puddles of meat on the ground. Nobody moved; afraid of disturbing the pet during its meal and getting its attention. The ivicer greedily shoved the food into its maw until there was nothing left but a shallow puddle of liquified meat. A satisfied burp signaled the end of its meal. "Errm, Puffles? You, okay?" ~ Of course, I am great! Better than great. It''s the greater me, we are talking about. I just had a superb supplement. ~ The Ivicer yed it off and returned to his position at the rear of the party. "Say, Puffles. Would you like to take the lead on this one?" ~Hmm, hmm, Alright, I shall. But only because you insist. ~ With a happy, an undeniably happy aura, a slightly more terrifying than before caterpir took the lead as they traveled deeper into the dungeon. As they followed their guide of destruction they discussed what could have facilitated this change. After some brainstorming, Al''Zalsa confirmed Seth''s guess. Normally when a dungeon like this is not cleared for a longer time, the monsters from the upper floors will slowly start appearing on the lower floors since their numbers are not being reduced. It was like an internal dungeon break as a mob normally could not leave their designated floor. These scorpion men must be originating from an upper floor and are conquering the lower floors, as their numbers have outgrown their given space. They had stumbled into the fight for supremacy between the native mobs and those from the upper floors. The more interesting topic though was the sudden change in behavior of Seth''s pet. Even the all-knowing lich had no exnation for this, and they could only look at Seth for an answer. After all, he was the only one who knew the concrete origins of their insectoid friend. Seth tried sifting through everything he remembered about the Ivicers. Divine beast of the sun god originating from a highly developed ancient kingdom. Source for silk of divine garments and protectors of thend. Ivice was now a desert ruin, the desert had scorpions... trying toe up with some theory he felt like the protagonist of Dependence Day. In the end, he shrugged and gave his best guess. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Maybe they are divine enemies? You know, like "The centipede of light versus the scorpion man of darkness"?" His guess was a good as any, but the others only rolled their eyes at him. His second-best guess was that Puffles was getting into puberty. His ferocious appetitetely might have been the sign of an impending metamorphosis. Also, when did Puffles grow that second pair of scythes? They could only look at the sturdy porcin-white carapace from behind, as Puffles led the way. Chapter 212 - 212. MVP Out They followed Puffles for another two floors during which the pet stomped any mob they came across and gorged itself on their bodies. ~Alright! I''m full. I will return to the pet space now. ~ "What?! Wait! Puffles!?" Seth couldn''t stop the ivicer form suddenly vanishing as it returned to the pet space. The party was left alone in the middle of the floor. They looked around for a moment. The area was still quiet. "I think this is enough for today," Seth suggested a return. Everyone nodded in somber agreement, only Monique hesitated a little. She was close to a level-up. But she understood that those scorpions were nothing to be trifled with. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Each of the scorpions was at least the rank of a mid-boss and it could get dangerous if they appeared in groups after their healer/tank/mobexterminator had decided to take a break. In this manner, they made the decisive decision to return and walked back to thest boss room. In these kinds of dungeons, the boss rooms would have teleportation circles to get back to the entrance. Although they did not get any materials during Puffles advance, the experience was nothing to scoff at. Each of them, except Monique, got another level up. Seth was now lv. 36 with 24 AP. He couldn''t wait and distributed them on their way back, the reason was- 100 points in willpower! Now he had 22 points left. Should he try to get 100 points in all his attributes? There had to be an achievement for that, right? Seth mused about it but decided against it. He used two points to bring endurance to 70, another two for intelligence to 50, and another six to get agility to 70. This left him with another twelve points he split between strength, dexterity, and willpower bringing each to 104. At this point, Seth imagined his to be a secret weapon. As they left the dungeon Seth''s face fell. He remembered that he would have to make Jonah''s leather armor once they returned. They decided to take a few days of break to get used to their new levels. Seth decided to just bite the bullet and pull through with Jonah''s armor. He chose to see it as a chance to test stuff. Swamp newts were not known for their strength or their defense. What they were known for was their regeneration ability which even overpowered that of a troll. Unlike a troll, they could even regrow a body from their severed head. This made their leather valuable and cheap at the same time. A skill full hunter or adventurer could harvest the leather without killing the specimen. They could literally severe its head and run off with the body. It was a shame they could not be bred, as their organs were also very useful for things like health potions. An armor made from this leather would give a massive increase in health regeneration which was perfect for Jonah who primarily cast his skills using his health as a resource. He could also use it as an experiment. Ever since he got the gloves from Tored and N?del he had wanted to try something. Seth fathomed that Tored would have taught him this next. Because he had to leave in such a hurry, he was unable to finish his apprenticeship. The application of leather on the fire gloves gave him an idea of how to use . It was a skill that was unlocked from and could strengthen a metal by injecting mana. One would channel their mana into a material or item and circte it back and forth. With each cirction, some of the mana would be deposited within the material. Metals like and originated from a simr but more fundamental process in nature. This procedure would not just improve the strength of the material, but also slightly increase its conductivity to mana. When Seth tried it on leather, he found out that that leather would be stiffer and harden under the influence of the deposited mana. This could not just circumvent all the steps to harden the leather but also made it possible to "forge" thepletely hardened leather with the hammer''s special ability and . Seth could not really control the degree of hardness. It was either soft or hard. He didn''t know whether this was just a trait of the skill or caused by the skills low level. Maybe he would be able to use smithing bads on leather when the skill level rose? If he could influence the degree of hardness the reinforcement caused, he would never have to sew again in his life! No matter what it was, it meant he could not dodge sewing the soft leather for now. Reinforcing all the leather would discard one of the advantages of leather which was its flexibility and resulting movability of the wearer. The new technique didn''t change much pertaining to the structure of the armor, but at least it made hardening and attaching the hardened leather a lot easier. Now he could simply "fuse" is to the other leather. Seth had donned his full equipment. He needed the boosts to keep up with the immense mana consumption all the skills required while crafting. At least his finally leveled up while he finished the leather cuirass. A pair of bracers, pauldrons, greaves, leg guards, and boots. Before he knew it, it had be dark outside. Seth was surprised by the time and decided that it was enough for today. He would take care of the soul infusion tomorrow. No! The armor could wait. Tomorrow he would use the day for himself! Why did he have to waste his free time on making stuff for the others? Wasn''t he the boss? "Oh well, it''s not like I''m suffering," he mumbled and looked at the experience bar of his smithing skill that was inching oh so slowly towards level three after finishing 10 epic armor parts. He wanted to improve his skills, now more than ever. He really wanted to unlock those new recipes and blueprints. No one could stop him if he could make a whole set of divine armor or something like that. No monster could avoid bing his materials or stop him from mining rare materials! Wait...it felt like his goals had slightly shiftedtely. Going around scavenging for materials sounded really dangerous. No, no. He definitely would not go out of his way to look for death. Seth would open a shop and have others scavenge that stuff for him. He would bring Mina, Fin, and the others over. He could asionally craft something for money andze around all day. Yes, that was his goal. To convince himself and harden his resolve he got a massive meal in the kitchen and went to sleep. But a tiny me, a minuscule urge in his chest softly whispered "But wouldn''t it be awesome to travel the world unrestrained and see all the changes and wonders?" Chapter 213 - 213. Visiting The City In Disguise Today he would take a break for his soul. Some time to really rx and have fun. Like a king that wanted to take a look at the life of a peasant, he disguised himself. Among the loot from the dungeon was a "Cloak of disguise". This was a fairlymon item even in Y-City. It could be found in most dungeons as the effects could be generated even in weaker dungeons for very little energy. At least that was what he heard in Ora. Most peddlers running street stalls would wear such a cloak or simr item, especially when they sold shady items. In this new modern society, he would not attract attention by wearing a cloak, as many people did. Solo or independent Adventurers would use cloaks to hide their equipment from prying eyes. Today Seth would y the mysterious merchant and change some young people''s lives! He had gotten this idea thest time he had walked the streets of Y-City. Normally in fantasy stories wouldn''t there be stalls with products that looked like garbage, but hidden among them would be that one special mythical item that helped the protagonist grow? Or some mystical store with wondrous items that would suddenly vanish before the protagonist returned to look for it again? He had seen nothing like this in the city. He could see through all the items he came across with his , as long they were something that theoretically fit his ss. There was nothing interesting or surprising among the things those random peddlers and adventurers sold. That spawned the idea in him. Be the change you want to see in the world, isn''t that what they always say? Seth would be this mysterious peddler. He had bought all kinds of trinkets and acquired that jewelry for this day. After enchanting them, he would open a stall with junk and just a few genuine pieces and see who got lucky or could recognize the genuine articles. He came to a big za where it was allowed to spontaneously set up a small stall after paying a small fee. Seth had found this ce thest time he was strolling around. Even so, these were all more or less improvised stalls, everyone had aplete set-up. Propper tables, tents, and chairs. The inventory really made life easy. His own table was soon filled with and a handful of nick-nacks. Among these unassuming items, he hid a few genuine essories. There was nothing breathtaking from Seth''s perspective. They were rings or pendants with a single simple enchantment. Most of them had effects of increasing attributes by 10-15 points for a specific time. The reason for this was the limitation of the material itself. Regr precious metals could not take too much magic input. If the enchantment was too strong the items would heat up and hurt the user, or break in the worst case. Still, these items were quite goodpared to the general item situation in the city. And there were also some items that Seth had put some effort into. He had used them to practice using the precious stones as the magic nucleus. They were items that had no immediate cost but needed to be charged to show a "permanent" effect. Among them were also those that could gather mana from the surroundings and increase the wielder''s mana regeneration. This was aplex enchantment and only a few pieces of the jewelry he had found were able to support it. These were the true gems in his little mysterious shop, as items like this for casters were much scarcer in general and highly sought after. Just imagining selling an item like this to an unsuspecting customer felt quite thrilling. This was not about making money. Seth just wanted to make this city a little more interesting. Wouldn''t it be nice if there were not just catastrophes for the regr people, while only the special ones got the wonders? He wanted to bring some wonder to the lives of those currently at the bottom. And who knows? Maybe some among them would be able to use the chance and grow to be someone special. Some of the novels he used to read would have called this "sowing karma". All these items bore his name in the description, so it was also an advertisement. He would leave Y-City soon after and Baker knew of him anyway. Now was the time to cause some chaos! His prices were a random mix. Some good things were cheap and some mediocre stuff was expensive. Most of the stuff was average. He had observed the stalls around and deliberately chose this. All he needed to do now was to wait. Seth did not doubt that customers woulde. He was selling essories after all. It was hard to get essories, especially good ones, from random dungeon drops. While waiting he took out another ordinary ring and started engraving it as if he was whittling some piece of wood. At this point, he didn''t need any crafting station for a basic enchantment like the one he was working on. Some people came and some left. Some stay and watched him whittling an enchantment as if it was a kind of attraction. Suddenly someone spoke to him. "Sir, did you enchant all of these items?" an interested youth asked. He looked about 16. His armor was worn down and his ck hair was encrusted with dirt. He really looked down on his luck. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Me? No. I''m but a humble merchant. These are the works of Master Smith. I merely dabble a little in engraving while selling his wares." "M-master?!" the boy suddenly looked intimidated. "Calm down boy. How can I help you?" "N-No. I think I''m good. I-I''m actually looking for something from a dungeon." Seth lifted an eyebrow as the boy hurriedly walked away. Seth shrugged it off. One can''t force fortune onto people. "Oh wow, look at all this jewelry!" a girl called out looking toward herpanion. She wore a white priestess robe, probably a dungeon drop. The man beside her wore are simple dark leather set and two daggers behind his waist. He only nodded silently and looked at Seth''s table. "Are all of these magical?" the blonde woman asked excitedly. "Yes, all of them have at least one effect. Most of them increase a specific attribute." Seth exined. "Wow! Where did you farm all of these?" "They are not farmed. They were enchanted by Master Smith." "Crafted?" The girl suddenly made aplicated face and looked toward herpanion. Again? Why did people react so weirdly to items being crafted? Maybe he simply shouldn''t tell them. But anyone with an appraisal skill could tell them that these were crafted, so why would he lie? "You are the second person that reacted weirdly when I mentioned they were crafted. Why?" "You don''t know?" It was the silentpanion of the girl that stepped forward and spoke in a serious tone. His posture seemed tense as if he was holding back. "I''m a traveling merchant from Delta. I just arrived in Y-City yesterday. How would I know?" Seth answered rxed. The man calmed down a little before exining in an emotionless voice. "There have been cases of forged itemstely. People would buy a seemingly great weapon or item from a merchant and sometimeter it would simply vanish. From their inventory, when they were not looking or even in the middle of battle it would vanish from as they were still gripping it. No appraiser can differentiate them, the onlymon is that they are crafted by someone nameless." "Hmm, well I can assure you that these items were not crafted by someone nameless. The maker''s name is written in the vor text." This urrence did not cross him outright, since his items had his name, but it still left a bitter aftertaste in Seth''s mouth. Somebody was ruining the crafter''s business. And not only that, a weapon suddenly disappearing in a fight could mean death. Although adventurers would not permanently die, the loss of items, experience, and the pain could have severe aftereffects.. It was not nice dying, even if you could resurrect. Chapter 214 - 214. Are You Serious? "Then would you allow us to get an appraiser and check the item before we buy it?" Besides people buying and selling wares, there were also service providers like independent appraisers or craftsmen that made their money by appraising items for others. Seth agreed but put away the better items. These two were well-off if they could opt to hire an appraiser before buying something. The mediocre stuff was more than enough for people like that. Help the poor and soak the rich. This was mysterious, humble, Merchant Seth''s code of honor. This was not how he had imagined his day, but if fate forced money onto him, he would not say no. The pair soon returned with a tall, skinny man. He wore a badge that apparently identified him as an appraiser that could appraise up to umon items. He started sweating when he looked at the table filled with items. They were allmon, but the enchantments were better than the few umon items he had ever seen. "Before you speak," he said to the appraiser and looked at the girl. "Choose 5 items to appraise. What you get to buy will be among those items. "Eh? But-" "My items, my rules. You wanted to get an appraiser. So you only get to look at 5 items." She was a little bummed out but still chose the 5 she liked the most based on looks. They had all kinds of temporary buffs. Though they were nothing special in Seth''s opinion the appraiser stuttered as he read out the effects of the 5 items. Even the stoicpanion looked slightly surprised, while the girl could only stand there ck-jawed. To them, it was more about the fact that amon item had these kinds of effects when they knew simr ones only from umon items. How skilled would the maker have to be to aplish this? "Where did you say did youe from?" she asked breathlessly. "Delta," Seth said with a smile. "And you got these there?" "Yep, they were made by the cksmith Smith. If youugh at the name, I won''t sell anything to you." "How much?" she asked with a crazed look. "50k, take it or leave it," Seth answered. "I take all of them!" she said and her eyes were almost spirals. She had instantly decided without talking with herrade in the back. "You only get those 5. That makes 250k," he said with a smug smile. She grumbled for a moment but took out a stack of cash. "Nice to do business with you," he said with a big smile. He waved at their backs as the two left. Once the two were gone and he managed to shoo away the appraiser who kept gawking at his wares, Seth broke up tents. He didn''te to make money, but someone actually ruined his business. A skill that could make counterfeit items? Seth had not heard about something like this when he was abroad, but it did not mean it was impossible. The system was constantly changing and adapting with new worlds being added to the patchworks. He was ready to believe its existence, but he was sure the reason why people couldn''t recognize the fakes was the low appraisal levels. Seth was able to appraise any weapon, armor, and essory below legendary. " I will find those people who ruined my fun! No, I mean those scumbags who are scamming people and risk their lives. Yes." ~Pff, sure. Seth, the hero of justice. Go forth oh glorious hero. ~ the lich snickered in his mind. "Are you doubting my intention?" Seth asked indignantly. ~ No. I would never doubt your intentions. I''m pretty sure you will make them suffer and regret their actions and maybe their existence. What I''m doubting is your motivation, dear ally of justice. " Seth grumbled a little but didn''t really answer her provocation. His eyes wandered over the various stalls and their wares looking for anomalies. He doubted anyone on Urth had enough skill to fool his It did not take nearly as long as he expected. He soon found a stall with shy-looking weapons. They looked very weird and more like the stuff you would find in excessively over-adorned fantasy games. Did people buy this stuff for real? One of them looked simply like a giant hunk of steel with a handle. It looked like a real weapon, except for the fact that it seemed kind of weak for its size and rating. The important information was probably that it was called a construct. All the items on the table were a construct. The owner of the stall was a well-dressed plump merchant with an amicable smile. Now, how should he go about this? "Hey, what''s a construct?" he asked the merchant interestedly with a nice smile. The merchant''s face fell, it was a grimace of shock. It took a moment for him to recover hisposure, but his face was still covered with sweat. "D-Dear customer, I have no idea what you are talking about?" he fumbled with a tissue and wiped his forehead. "Oh, really? But you are selling a whole lot of them here. No, actually all of these items are whatever a construct is." Seth leaned over the table and got really close to the merchant''s face. "No, I really don''t-" "Come one, you can tell me. Nothing bad will happen. We are friends, right?" Seth had activated and his words crept into the other''s ears. His eyes became slightly dted. Seth kept talking to him using the skill as his mana rapidly depleted. "Oh well, I don''t think there is any harm. Constructs are the product of our racial illusion magic. They have a physical form for the time the manasts and vanish when the power runs out." "Racial Illusion magic?" "Yes, us weasel people are very good with illusion. Some might argue that foxes are better. But let me tell you, nobody can beat us." Seth felt that his skill worked a little too well. Maybe this weasel?-person was just weak to mind tricks. That had to be the case. He kept talking with the merchant and he soon revealed the whole scope of the situation. Weasel people had recentlye to Urth through the pathworks and had spread in the underdeveloped Y-City. They could easily sell their constructs to the item-hungry barbarians in this ce. The more intimate Seth became with the merchant the more of its nasty personality came through. It talked about one of the adventurers dying after the construct vanished in his hand with a dirtyugh. How hrious it was to have hispanionse andin tears and tell this hrious story. Off the record, it even told him how it and itspany had ambushed that party and made it disappear. There were few people that could see through their fabulous illusion in this city. It was so much fun that they could do whatever they want. Once it got into the groove it kept talking and talking. Now Seth was not really a hero or a Samaritan. And he had already nned to make people suffer for ruining his fun. But this was simply aggravating. He kept listening to the beasts monologuing about their exploits in the city since they came here. The merchant had apletely different air now. His act hadpletely crumbled, and it talked to him like he was some sadistic friend of his that wouldugh along with it. "How about we grab a drink and keep talking? I can introduce you to the boys." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "That would be awesome," Seth said with a calm smile.. The weasel did not notice how waxen his face was and the cold glint in his dark eyes. Chapter 215 - 215. Entering The Weasel’s Den It becamete and the merchant led him towards one of the high risers a little outside of the center. The merchant showed a token at the entrance and took him along. The inside had been remodeled to be a big nightclub. Here the weasels did not bother keeping up their human form. He could see all kinds of hairy weasel-like humanoids. Some were big and slim, others small and fat like the merchant turned out to be. Some were straight-up monsters while others had human features. There were also humans among them, men and women taking part in... unsavory acts with the beasts. Their eyes were zed as if they were not aware of the present. "keke, do you see those girls? They believe they are having the best night of their life with their boyfriend right now. Isn''t it funny how easy these bottom feeders fall for even the simplest illusion?" "Say, my good friend. Are these all the weasels in Y-city?" the young asked friendly as they got a drink at the bar. His smooth voice sunk into the weasel''s ears and it wanted to brag. "What? Pff, no. We are way more. This is merely the business I belong to. Our immigration is even government-subsidized. There are a lot more here and waiting toe over to enjoy this ce. Our council sees this ce as a great business opportunity." "I see..." Seth said quietly with a slow nod. The next things happened very fast. mes climbed the walls. mes blocked the doors. An armored hand was pressing down on the weasel''s face. It heard his new friend''s calm and amicable voice talking in a slow almost lighthearted manner. "Did you know that in the past ages the people believed that fire could purify the soul? I can guarantee you that''s not what will happen today." When the weasel looked through the gaps in the fingers it saw a figure d in precious armor. Its face was calm, almost emotionless. As the words ended the color of the mes changed to a pale, almost white, blue. The bouncers jumped away as the whole building was encased in a wall of fire, making escape impossible. "Let me test this, I will start with you," Seth said and stabbed the weasel with a blooddrinker dagger. With a sh, its guts spilled from its huge belly, but its muffled screams could not escape its throat as the hand pressed down on its face with an iron grip. "Don''t worry, you won''t die. But I bet you will wish for it soon enough. I need you close to death, to try something out." The club around them was inplete panic. Nobody had the time to care about the scenes between the two. All the weasels that just had a great time were running around in hysteria trying to find a way to escape. Their ythings on the other hand just stood there like dolls, trapped in the illusion of a happy time. The weasel could only stare at that armored figure as it felt its life slowly leaving, enduring the pain of the wound. And just when it thought it was finally over it felt a great suction from the hand on his head. It felt its life waning but death was retreating... -------------------------------- Seth had used his 5 Free SP on . He would not give these beasts the chance to enter the afterlife. With the level up he was now able to sever the connection between a body and the soul, as long as it was weak. This included the living close to death and lesser undead. He had encased the building in spirit me to make sure nobody could escape, but he was not nning to burn them. They were not worth it. The bandits were strong, so they needed a strategy. These beasts were weakpared to those ruffians. His hammer was enough. Charon''s Obol was going to collect some wages. Seth was not a thunder god but the roaring of mes followed him and the swings of his hammer. He was a reaper among the hysteric crowd and the weasels fell to his hammer like wheat to a scythe. Heads were crushed, spines smashed, bones broken, and vitals exploded. Under the impact of his hammer swings, nobody could flee. Without empathy or mercy, the souls were either harvested by the hammer or by Seth''s hand. Seth could almost feel the hammer''s joy as it filled with the power of souls. He collected some souls, but most were eaten by the hammer. It had sampled and gorged on many good materials since the time he made it. It must have been close to evolving again. At some point, the weasels finally started resisting. They were not stupid and grouped together to take down the guy that kept ughtering them. But the resistance was short-lived. In a rolling barrage of mes, their fur and skin burned away any ability to resist. Some weasels were still running around or hiding in the building, but the group before him had turned into half-dead crispy corpses on the ground. They were like vegetables, he just needed to pick them up. It was a shame they didn''t give much experience, but he probably would not have had such an easy time if they did. They were mostly merchants and illusionists and the only remarkable thing about them was their racial skills and cunning. Not their level or strength. These souls he harvested directly were at least medium size and some were even big. It was the difference between collecting a residue and harvesting the whole thing. Seth had hoped he could harvest souls with their egos if he increased the level. In that case, he could have kept torturing them and turn them into something hrious. What effect would a huge number of memories have? He would have to text. Seth had no need to hurry. Nobody would be able to leave, and nobody would be able to help from outside. Slowly and thoroughly, he took his time to check every nook and cranny of the building, so nobody would escape his little shopping spree. , the ability granted by Argo''s Eye was a great help as he could easily see through the makeshift illusion of the witty creatures. It also helped find quite many hidden safes and rooms the weasels had used to store their dirty money. Although he was a... hero of justice, he was no ascetic who said no to the loot of his enemies. He deliberately picked up every little item box the beasts dropped. Only when he was sure that no weasel had survived, he canceled the fire barrier outside. Even with all his buffs, keeping that going for several hours had cost him a lot more than fighting the weasel people. The humans stood around in a daze, still trapped in illusions. After seeing what had happened here, Seth thought this was for the best. If he could bring them out and they would never remember or even know what happened here, everyone would be better off. -------------------------------- Once the curtain of fire had fallen masked troops entered the building, finding the scene of horror and disgust. In the second row was Mark Baker who entered after the shock troops. His eyes wandered over the scene of crushed furry beasts and the men and women barely wearing a speck of cloth. Anger distorted his face when he saw the dazed look in the people''s eyes. As an illusionist himself he could guess what state they were in. Among them stood a man in armor holding a malevolent hammer. He was covered in blood and breathing roughly. The officers were pointing the modernized muskets at the suspect who didn''t seem to care about it at all. He wiped the blood from his face and Baker recognized Seth. In the same moment, the other called out. "Mark! You are finally here! Really, look at what I had to do because you suck in your job." Baker signaled the officers to lower their weapons and take care of the people. The dazed victims were enveloped in a thick nket and were carefully led out of the building. Baker approached the blood-covered cksmith. "What is going on here?" he asked Seth, forcing his voice to stay calm. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Oh, you know..." Seth recounted what had happened and what the weasel had told him and what he did in exchange. Baker was shocked hearing his suspicions confirmed. He looked outside where the officers took care of the victims. It would take a long time to release all of them from their illusions. "it''s a shame you didn''t leave one of them alive for tort- interrogation. If we knew more about their structure it would be easier to stop them..." "Oh, you can have this," Seth said and held up an empty hand. "What? Are you mocking me now?" Maker asked staring at the empty hand. "Oh, you can''t see it? My fault, sorry. I will put it in this box. God find a Necromancer or something like that. This is the soul of their leader or a high-ranking member. At least it was giving orders." "How did you-?" "Not telling. I''m leaving now. I did more than enough of your work today." With that he left, leaving Mark standing with a box in his hands. Chapter 216 - 216. Reaching Lv.40 It had been a long time since Seth felt act up. He left the building behind and changed from his armor into the cloak. If there was any lesson in what happened today, it was that the world was stillplicated. It had shown Seth that even if the world looked calm, it wasn''t. There were a lot of things he didn''t know about and even more things the people of this world had no idea about. How many other creatures and races had invaded without people knowing? What else was hiding in this giant city? Y-City was not safe. Seth had had his suspicion here and there, but this was a waking call. This was just one of many things Seth had no idea about and the district itself had a hard time dealing with. He had no interest in ying the babysitter for a xenophobic government. It was okay to take care of things that tantly spit in his face, but he really didn''t feel like bing the hero of this ce. It was time to hurry and get to Delta. There he could be a simple citizen like he had been in Ora. These were the expectations he had from a district that was co-managed by natives, demons, and the Chrona Empire. At least stuff like these weasel things would have a much harder time doing something like this over there. He didn''t tell the others when he returned to the church. There was no need for unnecessary worry. They would soon be gone anyway. ~ Did you calm down, yet? ~ Al''Zalsa had kept silent the whole time. She was the only one in their group that knew what had happened. Although hasty, she agreed with his actions. It was also good that he came in contact with this side of the world on a smaller scale. The lich had seen a lot of terrible things in her life, and she was convinced that Urth would not get around experiencing those things. The world itself already seemed very unique, but there was an uncountable number of unpredictable races with unpredictable magics and skills waiting to enter his ce. The Next day Seth finally set a date of departure. He wanted to reach lv. 40 in the next week and depart from Y-City in the week after. In preparation, he locked himself up in the smithy. Originally, he wanted to go at things slowly which would have allowed him to save some of the more expensive items forter. Instead, he did these things now. First was a new staff for Alison. Although he had made the "Storm Caller", she could only use it after reaching lv. 40. He was forced to use the materials he had ordered to make a staff, to make a staff. At least Evee would be able to use this item after Alison changed to the "Storm Caller". For Alison''s staff, he had originally ordered a and piece of . Both were rare materials and not cheap. Both materials had a high affinity for magic, but no strong elemental properties. Following his experience with the "Storm Caller" Seth made the new staff with a simr style. The only difference was the way the wood grasped the . It looked much more organic, and the staff ended in a unified tip. Unlike the staff, Seth went ahead and used the method of making a soul armament first before infusing it into the item to enchant it. He could not do this before because the already had an enchantment and he did not want the enchantments to interfere with each other. Using a big soul from the Tuatha de he forged a mirror image of the staff he just made and infused it into the item. The result was quite satisfactory. Except for the effects, it was only slightly inferior to the "Strom Caller" < Arcane Wand Epic Mag. Damage: 1100 Durability: 1500 1.+100% Magic Damage N?v(el)B\\jnn 2.-70% Skill Cost 3. 50% Chant reduction 4.+50% Mana Regeneration 5. Generates Active Skill: Mana drain 6.+15% Chance to add a random curse to an attack 7. +400 mana A wand created by Journeyman Smith heavily focusing on its arcane properties. Any caster would be happy to wield this mysterious product of special techniques.> Why did the system call it a wand? It took Seth a moment of thought before he got an idea why. Although it had the length of a staff, it had no properties to smash someone''s head with it. It was purely a medium for casting magic. A staff on the other hand could even be something that could not be used for casting magic at all. This was the exnation Seth came up with. Whether it was true or not was a different question. Next on his list were some special items. Since he had gotten his hands on a huge chunk of he wanted to make something with it. The material had a higher conductivity to magic than even , so it was perfect for magic essories. But first, he had to refine it into . He had found the refining method in the church''s library. Unlike other items like where he had to add something to refine the metal, he only needed to burn away the impurities within. Seth started by cutting the huge sword into manageable pieces and put them into the furnace. He soon noticed that this was harder than expected. He had to be very careful in manipting the temperature in the furnace. The point at which the impurities would burn away was very close to the temperature when the metal would start evaporating. The heat was not as high as that of but the delicate process was just as difficult. In his surprise, Seth almost burned a batch of metal. It had been such a long time since these skills leveled during his crafting process. With the increase in level, the task became slightly more manageable, and he soon finished turning the giant sword into twelve bars of . The bars each were big enough to make a long dagger or short sword from it, so one bar was more than enough for all kinds of essories for one person. For himself, Seth made a bracelet and a circlet. He kept the bracelet that gave him immunity tomon and umon diseases. He really didn''t like to get sick in a medical way. The bracelet he made was simr to the earrings as he also used a piece of dragon ss, but he fused it with a medium-sized umon soul and used the enchantments for mana regeneration and willpower on it. As for the design it was just a wide unadorned metal band with a piece of dragon ss that did not get in the way of the rest of his armor. He chose thispared to a more intricate work since he might have to recycle it in the future. For the circlet, he used a band of and two bands of and braided them into a circlet holding a dragon ss shard at the forehead. He imbued the material with the bad to reflect damage. When it was finished he infused the armament of the he had worn until now. Why did he even bother infusing a soul, especially the special souls into items instead of wearing them as soul armament? This was like asking why a magician used a staff to cast spells. With a physical medium, a fitting body, the soul became much more effective than as just a soul armament. The resulting headgear showed that he was right. It was much stronger thanks to the different affinities and enchantments mixing with each other. < Protective Crown Epic Mag. Defence: 610 1. +30% Magic Damage 2. Item is immune to Fire 3. +40% to the effect of all Fire-based damage 4. +20% to the effect of all Earth-based damage 5. +10% Earth Affinity 6. Creates passive Skill: Auto shield A majestic crown with a vivid green dragon ss embedded in it was created by the deft hand of Journeyman Smith. A mysterious will to protect the owner fills the object. Requirement: Seth Smith> The improvementy in the 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 10 shields. 20% of the received Damage is reflected onto the attacker with an additional chance to cause burn damage > He made simr bracelets and circlets for the caster girls before they set off to level up. The following week was dominated by dungeon dives into high-level dungeons. The fought monsters of rising strength often 10 or more levels above them. Supported was this endeavor not just by Seth''s equipment. Link was finally able to shine with his cooking skills. Not just the temporary buffs of his food had risen, but even the amount of food with permanent buffs increased. Seth''s disease resistance grew to 15%, his intelligence gained 3 points, and became 51. His Personality reached 35 and Luck became 34. The reason why his main stats did not grow was that''s they were already too high for the gourmet hunter''s food. Alison and Evee on the other hand were able to benefit greatly from the food. The first had a terribly imbnced build while Evee still had a lower level, as such her stats were not yet over the top. If they wanted to make food that could benefit their main attributes, they needed ingredients from special monsters or wait for the hunter''s skill to grow further. He could reliably make umon meals with permanent effect from umon ingredients, but he could not yet process rare ingredients or make a rare meal with umon ingredients. The potions Evee and Alison brewed were also no small part of the reason they could pull through. They had made so many potions that permanently doped during the fights. Stamina potion, mana potion, and health potion kept them going as if they were tireless undead. Speed potion, strength potion, magic potion... all their attributes and stats were through the roof. Even without Puffles who had not left the pet space or spoken to him since theirst dungeon dive, they plowed through hordes of enemies. Evee grew into the role of healer, potion station, and debuff specialist. Her hexes often reached the monsters before a bolt or arrow could hit them. They spent a lot of time in the dungeon and Seth had little chance to work on his skills during this time. It was a nice change at the start, but he soon started to miss the time in the smithy. His ss had thoroughly taken root in his heart. When Alison reached lv. 40 her power went through the roof with her new staff. And the "Arcane Wand" went over into Evee''s hands. With the new power, their leveling speed became even faster. The next day Seth also reached lv. 40. There were no great changes, except for the new system rights which were more inventory space and ... Home call? It was literally the option to fast travel home, like in old MMOs. Now they had a failsafe for their journey. His walking technique and weapon mastery had also leveled up in thest few days. By the end of the Week, Seth reached lv. 42 when Evee also finally reached lv. 40. The title that granted her 15% bonus experience yed a big role in the speed she caught up to the others. Now everyone was at least lv. 40 and Monique was even getting close to lv. 50. Considering that people around lv. 20 could attempt the journey to Beta or Delta, the party was strong enough to attempt it and bring a little girl along. Of course, there had to be preparations made for Tekar''s little daughter. Chapter 217 - 217.Sparring For this, he had spent quite some time drawing a formation with donkey and jackal blood that had arrived together with the other materials. In the middle, he had piled 50 ingots of . At 11 o''clock in the morning of the 8th day, he kneeled at the formation and supplied it with power using a special technique written in the recipe. This was the third time he did this, and it was still as fascinating as ever. ~ The domain of gods is really something else. No wonder even dragons bow their heads before the gods. ~ Once in a while, the pocket lich wouldment on things, but she was rather quiettely. It didn''t stop her from demanding his nightly service when the summon went off cool down. Maybe it was his imagination, buttely, she had be gentler. Or he had just be stronger. Yeah, that had to be it. He had put most of the attribute point he had gained from leveling up into endurance and gained the title "Sturdy" when he reached 100p. It increased his multiplier for physical defense by 0,5 per point. He got pulled out of his thoughts when the formation went into action. The formation lit up in a pale red light that seeped into the steel bars. Mixing with the original gray of the steel it tainted the bars in a dark red. The coloration was not homogenous which gave the a blurry pattern of a lighter dark red and an almost ck dark red. With the umon steel and themon blood, the end result was a pile of rare rated . One could say this was the cheapest way to get big amounts of rare materials. Seth''s reason to make so much of it was Tekar''s daughter. In thest few days before their departure, Seth nned to make somest-minute preparation. One of them was topletely armor a carriage with this material. The girl had no ss yet and could not fight on her own. That''s why the party decided to put her into a tank, or the closest equivalent to a tank they coulde up with. It took him a day to cover a whole carriage in the metal. The church''s workers had exchanged the carriage wheels for modern tires, so they could handle the additional weight. The carriage made by expert craftsmen had a rating of umon beforehand and was upgraded to rare with the modern tires and new armor. It was important it didn''t break down on their journey across the mountains. In the remaining two days everyone could go out to take care of their personal preparations. The big preparations were done, so now Seth had time to experiment a little with the things at his disposal. He still had a bunch of left and he wanted to test out what exactly the weasel souls could do. What was the effect of a soul that retained a lot of memory? But first, he started off with the . Of course, the blueprint gave him a rough estimate of what to expect, but the margin was simply huge. The item itself ranged from Common to Divine which Seth guessed was a rank even above myth. Maybe it was a special rank like Unique, where it was not necessarily part of the hierarchy. But one thing Seth knew for sure. Divine armaments were a lot rarer than mythic rated items. Simply by the fact that he never heard of the rank, not even from Tored. He was really curious what rank he would be able to attain with the he had made from umon steel andmon bloods. The crafting process was not overlyplicated. He forged a was scepter from the special iron while chanting a cryptic verse that resembled a smithing bad. Like before when the iron was originally blessed, a red aura descended onto the metal as he forged it. It also came with its own specific enchantment that stretched all over the staff, when he finished the enchanting process, the engraving lit up in the pale red aura before darkening again. Overall, it was a Was Scepter with a metallic ck patina of iron oxide. Although it was just a rare version of the scepter, it had some terrifying effects. The most surprising was the incredibly high durability the material had. After finishing the staff, he went for sparring with the rest of the party. Monique and Jonah were diligent and hardworking and spend most of their time in the training room. Seth guessed he would learn the most about wielding a staff by sparring with a master of the spear. Monique was in the middle of going through different spear stances and fighting imaginary opponents. Her breathing was heavy and sweat was flying with every fast movement. It did not lessen her beauty I the slightest, it even increased it. Seth watched her with a nk expression until she was done and called out to him. "Boss, you came for sparring?" she asked looking at the long hard staff in his hand. "Oh..." he said with a slight regret before he came back to his senses. "Oh yeah. I wanted to test this new weapon a little. " "Can I try it for a moment?" she asked interested. "Hmm, okay. Try it. Let''s see if you can. Be careful." he answered. He wanted to see her reaction when he lent her the staff. The moment she grasped the scepter it slipped out of her hands with a flustered face. With a bright ng, it fell on the ground. She blushed slightly and tried to pick it up but could not lift it even a little bit off the ground. Seth watched her for a moment before she exined the situation with a mischievous smile. "Meanie!" she punched his shoulder light and turned away pouting. Sometimes she acted surprisingly innocent. He picked up the staff and got into position. N?v(el)B\\jnn But Monique said rigorously "No. I''m not sparring with you until you apologized." Seth had to spend a few minutes to coax the pouty powerhouse to spar with him. They started off with slow sets of movements and slowly became faster. The option of increasing the blunt damage had a great effect. Even during sparring, Monique had a hard time blocking the staff with her spear. They were currently sparring without any other equipment, and he could theoretically pressure someone almost 10 levels higher with the staff. Of course, this was only because of sparring. If this was a serious fight, she could easily overwhelm him without his items. They sparred until it was time for dinner. They had almost forgotten time. They went for a shower and joined the rest of the party in the canteen. Even Evee and Alison were here today, instead of locking themself up in theboratory. It was nice seeing that everyone actually rxed a little in thesest two days. Tomorrow was theirst day in Y-City.. Seth was d they could leave behind this powder keg. Chapter 218 - 218. Somewhere Else (3) Someone else was also working hard this week. Mark Baker''s blood was boiling. He was not offended by the cksmith''s harsh reaction. He himself was seething that something like this could happen right under their noses. He knew about the incidents with the weapons, but they had no idea about the scale of the situation. Right now, they were hard-pressed to follow the leads Seth had given them and they found them at the crime scene. Mark believed Seth and they spend a small fortune to invite the strongest necromancer-type yer in Y-City. He was the Vice-Leader of the second strongest independent guild and was called the "Corpse ver" by the general popce. His true name was Nathan Stale. This was a name only mentioned behind closed doors. Few people like the monikers they were given, and he was no exception. Considering his position, it took quite a bit of negotiation to invite him. He only agreed when they let him in on the reason why they needed him. It was not because he was touched by the terrible fate of those"moners". But having his name mentioned in a good light, once this case was solved would be a great boost for his image and that of their guild. Necromancers in general were the ss closest to handling souls. Themon necromancer would summon small souls or parts of souls from the afterlife and seal them into the bodies of the dead to create undead. Nathan''s ss was called the Soul Puppeteer. On top of the main skills of a generic necromancer, he could see souls and had skills for enving the souls of his freshly deceased victims. He could seal the souls of monsters he killed back into their bodies. The resulting undead were a lot stronger thanks to their intelligence and ability to use their skills. Enving souls also came with reading their memories. Sometimes he would even be able to learn skills through this. With his help, the Hunter''s Association should have been able to determine the existence of the souls Seth had given then and read out the memories of the souls. He arrived at the HQ in his full battle gear. A dark robe leaving shadow-like fog trails wherever he went and dark purple ents. His staff looked like pitch-ck marble with a rose-colored crystal at the top. It fit his looks of a 45-year-old regal man with a trimmed and proper full beard. His looks exined why people called him the "corpse ver". Maybe it was also the fact that his undead beasts and humanoids were semi-sentient and were known to moan and cry in pain and anguish. He met Baker in a meeting room where a small chest was sitting on the table. After a short greeting, Mark opened the chest and the necromancer''s eyes widened. "Where did you get this? This is the mostplete soul I have ever seen outside of a body..." "The origin is a secret. Can you read the memories?" "Pff, of course, I can." Although he was very interested in the origins, he knew that Baker would not tell him anything. It was already really hard to get some information about the case before he agreed to help. He cast the envement magic to take control of the soul, but there was way too much information when he wanted to mind read it. There was a whole life rushing past his eyes. Apletely different world, society, experiences, magic. He almost threw up when he finally managed to break away from the connection. "We have to do this differently. There is too much information to sift through." He told Baker what he managed to learn, but they needed a different approach if they wanted targeted information. "Bring me a recently deceased corpse. I should be able to make a mindless servant with this that an answer your questions." Mark had aplicated expression but agreed. They brought the corpse of s criminal who had died in a gang war outside the safe zone. Nathan was not fussy about it and shove the soul into the mouth of the corpse. He then continued to cast his skills and spells. He put quite some effort into preserving the sentience of the soul, so the undead could speak, understand and answer. When he finished the cloudy eyes of the zombie flipped open with a dazed gaze. On Nathan''smands, the corpse stood up. "It''s ready. Ask it anything you want." In the following hours, the hunters association found out a lot about the weasel society, their infrastructure, and overall makeup. Under the questions of interrogation specialists, they found out everything there could be. Based on this the whole staff got into action to create contingency ns and measures to find these beasts. It was time for a purge. -------------------------------- Delta A diverse group of foreign adventurers left the local church building. With big sparkling eyes and the fascination of a little child, they looked at the massive buildings reaching for the skies. Two people, a big figure, a small figure, and a tiny figure were walking along the street gawking into the skies. They took in all the new sights and sounds. The delectable smells of street food made their mouths water. "Are you sure he wille here?" "Yes, I heard it from Simon that he nned toe here." "That''s great! Do you think he will be surprised?" "Definitely!" "Should we try a dungeon to see, if we can deal with this world?" The five people were pumped to explore this new world. -------------------------------- No Man''s Land A figure smashed into andscape dominated by old ruins. Ruins much older than the apocalypse. The remnants of the cities that were abandoned after the foundation of the districts. "Who are you? What are you?" she groaned. She had roamed the No man''snd between the districts and hunted monsters to increase her strength. Her level was just a smidgen away from level 50. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om She had not dared to get close to humans after she got rid of her uncle. Above her in the air stood a human levitating. He wore floating foreign robes and wore a smug smile. This person had suddenly attacked her. Her survival of this strike could only be attributed to the heavily increased physical state of the Rakshasa ss. Still, her health had dropped straight down to 123/1000. One hit had brought her close to death. Her mind was calm, and she could logically process what happened, but she had no idea what was going on. "And here I thought these powers seemed quite interesting. Yet you could not even take one hit." he shook his head in disappointment. "I will end your sorry existence and- space maniption!?" The girls had vanished right before his eyes. After reaching lv. 40 she had visited Y-City and set it as her home. Avoiding humans was preferable, but she used Home Call to flee from this overwhelming enemy in this situation. "Hmm. Interesting. But why is the continent so empty...?" he mumbled before he flew away into a random direction. -------------------------------- Alpha "How are the preparations?" "We are able to inhibit the growth of the normal vegetation. But the spread of corruption is still a problem." "Just tell me how much longer." "We should be able to breakthrough in about four weeks." "What about that runner?" "We could not find his whereabouts yet.. We suspect he is hiding somewhere." Chapter 219 - 219. Departure? On the day before their departure, Seth sorted his inventory and made sure he had everything he wanted to take along. With the help of Cerberus, he had made a good number of weapons fit for the auctions. Samuel had already made a deal with the church in Delta, so Seth would get his money from them. Unfortunately, Puffles had holed up in the pet space with those 45 bars of metal Tore had sent. The Ivicer had not yet spit out any new . Seth wrote a letter to N?del and the dwarven master about their journey and the fact that Puffles was unresponsive. Before he left Y-City once and for all he wanted to test out those weasel souls and see what their effect was. As he thought about what to do his eyes fell on the rest of the newt leather from Jonah''s armor. It was enough left to make himself a nice belt. Like this, he could substitute the loss in additional health regeneration from changing his ne. Seth used some of the for the buckle and cut a strap of leather for the belt. Seth did not bother making something fancy, because in the end, it was mostly a way to test the weasel soul. The belt without anything was a rare item simply because of the materials used. He made an identical belt from a weasel soul and enchanted it with strength and agility. The result came as a great surprise to Seth. < Charismatic Newttail Epic Mag. Defence: 150 Phys.Defense: 150 Durability: 340 1. +30% HP-regen 2. +10% Mana-regen 3. grants the passive skill Illusion Magic (Apprentice) lv.4 4. +20% effectiveness to all illusion-based skills 5. +20 Personality 6. +35 Strength 7.+35 Agility 8. Grants the Spells: Charm, Light A belt made from the leather of the swamp newt created by the deft hands of Journeyman Smith. It is imbued with a mysterious effect that will increase your favorability. It will keep you healthy like a grandma''s chicken soup and every grandma willing to make you one.> Before he believed this, he needed to test it again. He made a simple ring from and infused it with another weasel soul. < Ring of Disguise Umon Durability: 130 1. Grants the passive skill Illusion Magic (Apprentice) lv.1 2. Grants the Spell: Disguise 3. +50% sess chance for the spell "Disguise" A mysterious Ring made by Journeyman Smith. It has some peculiar abilities.> It was true! These souls could actually grant the skills of their owners. Until no wan items would only grant a skill under very special conditions and often only in conjuncture with the enchantments. With this he could... no he shouldn''t think about it in this way. He would not be a homicidal maniac to collect skills. But it didn''t mean he could keep an eye out. What skills would monster souls give after he harvested them this way? Could he also strengthen souls and like this and gain various effects this way? He could collect skills hecked in his ss and maybe puzzle them together in one soul? This was really interesting the only downside was that he needed to get the mob very close to death to harvest the soul. It was not sure that souls harvested from undead had the same effect. Undead were normally quite dumb and had few skills or memories. Seth shook his head. It was not the time to daydream. He still wanted to sort out his inventory and then visit the market again. As she sifted through the things in his inventory, he found the box with item boxes from the weasel beasts. Back then he had simply thrown these into a chest and put them away in his inventory. There were about 50-60 item boxes. Most of them had some system currency and credits besides money there were some books and weapons. Thest items were just constructs that would vanish after some time. He would give these books to Alison, maybe she could use them for something. Although there were no valuable items, the currency added up to 200 gold and about 3 million credits. These things had really made the people bleed. They should really give back a little. Seth had another 17 weasel souls. He used 7 to strengthen the one in his belt. The level of the illusion magic rose to 7, additional Personality became 40, and effectiveness of illusion-based skills became 25%. The spells Appease Humanoids, appease beasts and provoke were also added. He made another 10 rings with the rest of the souls. They all were simr in the way that they granted illusion magic and a spell. Instead of directly infusing them he turned them into soul armament and enchanted them with intelligence +35. Was it a waste of souls? Maybe. But Seth actually had little will to really use the souls of these things for himself or his party. It felt grimy. It was better if he got rid of these souls and helped the people of Y-City with it. It was like a farewell gift. He used the for these rings and most came out umon. Some were even rare. It depended on the skills they granted. Spells like disguise and appease were most often. In Seth''s opinion it was not so much about the spells granted, but about the skill . This enabled the wearer to learn the spells themself. Maybe they could even get the magic spell if they used it often enough. Being able to deceive your opponent or cast a mirage was always a good card in one''s arsenal. It did not take long to make these simple rings. It was still early noon. Seth had lunch and left the church. Besides the cloak, he also used one of the disguise rings. Coupled with the skill level of his belt he could easily hide his features. This time Seth visited a different market. He paid the fee and spread out a nket on the ground. He put down 15 rings before him and put down a ck fabric in them so nobody could cheat with appraisal skills. Next, he up a few signs. "Ring Gacha! 30% Chance for Umon, ~5% Chance for Rare!" "Sale!" "5 Silver or 5000 credits per try " "1 try per person." "No money-back guarantee!" Now he was more of a shady than a mysterious merchant. But that was good, too. People soon started to gather around his little stall. And like he had expected many of them were appraise that saw their chance. Even though they could not cheat, they could sell their skill to the customers to appraise their purchase. But people were skeptical, and nobody wanted to be the first. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Very first customer gets to try for 2 silvers," Seth said annoyed at the hesitance. "Me!" "Me!" "Me!" Seth pointed at someone in dirty clothes and some bandaged wounds. He had not jumped forward when he mentioned the discount, but his face had slightly lit up with hope. Al alsomented that he had an ordinary ss, but the skills were all a very good levelpared to the average adventurer. That''s why he chose him. "Come here. There are 15 rings under this fabric. Point at the one you want, and I let you take it after you paid." With a shaky hand, he gave Seth two smudgy silver coins and pointed at one at the corner of the field. Seth lifted the corner and the young man picked up the ring he had pointed at. "My friend! I am an umon appraiser! Would you let me have a look at your purchase?" The appraiser''s face froze in surprise for a moment before he told the man the effects of the ring and immediately got in line at the stall. This was more than enough of a message to tell people that the stuff was genuine. Seth was upied by shuffling the rings. He had put a box on the ring so no appraiser could get a look at them. And even if they did before, now the rings were shuffled. Chapter 220 - 220. Departure! Ring by ring Seth''s stall slowly emptied. Some people were surprised, others started to cheer when they found out what they had gotten. Nobody was dissatisfied with their purchase. Soon the stall was empty and Seth spent almost half an hour dispersing the crowd asking for more and for information of where the items came from. When he finally dispersed the people, he could pack away the nket. "E-Errm, are you already done?" he heard a shy voice from behind. He turned around. There stood the young man he had met the other day. The first one who had approached his stall but was deterred by the fact they were crafted. All his items weremon and close to breaking. Seth took off the one he had been wearing and threw it to him. "Take this one, it''s the only one left. No need to pay." The young man who had almost lost hope smiled thankfully. "Th-thank you very much!" he said and bowed deeply. "Goodbye," Seth said and went away after putting away the nket. With this, his business in Y-City was finished. Fitting for hisst evening in the city, it started to rain. Walking along wet streets as the rain cleansed the dirty air, Seth fell in though. He looked forward to Delta. Hopefully, it was a little like Ora and he could open his own workshop. There were a few things he wanted to set up but held back from at the moment. And there were demons. It would be great if he could meet a demon cksmith. Rain ran down his cloak and slowly soaked into his clothes starting from the shoulders. Seth hurried back to the church. The wet cloak was taken off the moment he entered the lobby. He could have dried his clothes with but he rather went to his apartment to get a shower. Seth passed the door and started undressing, generously distributing his clothes all over the ce. Naked as he was born, he entered his bathroom and was weed by a high-pitched scream. In his shower stood a slender man hiding in the shower curtain. His face was so androgynous that he would have had a hard time telling whether it was a man or a woman. The question was answered quite clearly by the massive device that was silhouetted against the curtain. Seth took a deep breath. "The fuck you doing in my bathroom? And who are you?" "B-Boss, it''s me. Jonah. I-I lent your shower because the one in our apartment isn''t working and Monique is upying the one in the training room." "Jonah?" Seth asked surprised and inspected the face closer. "D-don''t look! It''s all the fault of this dumb ss!" Jonah looked close to crying, which was just unfair with that kind of face. "Okay, okay! Finish up and we talk outside." Seth left the bath after grabbing a towel and waited for Jonah to finish. He said it was the fault of his ss, so he didn''t look always like this? It was true, the crimson de had always made sure to hide his face. His thoughts were interrupted by a dressed Jonah leaving the bathroom. His face had a deep red color and he sat down opposite of Seth. "I..." Quite embarrassed the vampire swordsman poured out his heart. A year ago, he was a burly and rough-looking man. He prided himself in his masculine beard. It all changed when he got his ss through the random ss wheel. Although his race didn''t change his body was restructured into this rather feminine body build. His face became fair and ambiguous, and his voice had be smooth and melodious. From then on, he had hidden his face from the world. Others may love to be a sexy lean yboy. For Jonah, it was a big burden. Not just the fact that his face andplete body had changed, except his device, he also turned into something he could not handle. The handsome feminine face was not to his taste, but worse were the kind of women that were attracted to it if they found out about his appearance. As much as he liked the powers he had gained, why did he have to look like a pretty boy? He wanted to strike fear into his enemies! Who would be afraid of him, with a face like this?! Seth listened to the rough man rant about his fair face. He didn''t really understand his problem, but he also didn''t judge. "If you had told me sooner, I could have made you a helmet or a mask before our departure. Now, it''s a littlete. You will have to wait until we are in Delta. Then I will make you a mean-looking mask to strike fear in your enemies, or whatever. Can you leave now? I really want to take a shower..." Btedly the handsome man realized that he had ranted to his boss and kept him waiting. He apologized and left in a hurry, finally leaving Seth alone. Seth took a long shower, went for a midnight snack, and finally entered his bed to sleep. ~ Hey, the cooldown is off. Maybe you wanna...~ The horny lich tried to seduce the tired cksmith. "I have a headache and we have to leave early tomorrow." With that, he put the token in his inventory and turned around to sleep. It was better to keep Al''Zalsa as a trump card during the journey. And he wanted to be able to stand on his own two legs tomorrow. The departure in the morning of the next day went smooth. Tekar''s daughter entered the reinforced carriage and they set off. Once again, they were apanied by people of the church all the way to the border of Y-City. Their destination was Delta which lied in the opposite direction of the ruins. A big part of their journey would lead through the cityscape before they left Y-City district. Delta District was situated in the center of the mountain ridge northwest of Ypsilon. It was the smallest district and was originally built as the seat of the world council that led the city districts. As such a location in the center of the continent had been chosen. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Originally, it could be reached from any district on the continent via various means. The mostmonly used were the high-speed bullet trains. The whole mountain range had many roads and tunnels. The tunnels and many of the highways had be quite dangerous. Dungeons had spread in most of them, and the mountains were a gathering and breeding spot for all kinds of strong monsters. Only some of the very old ways to travel across the mountains were rtively safe. They were too small or cramped for the stronger beasts to inhabit. They were the routes that messengers even below lv. 20 could use to get to Delta. Alison and Link would be their guides this time, as they had traveled the way once or twice before with other parties. The journey was supposed to take two weeks. Three days to leave the district and another 11 across mountain paths to reach Delta District. Their small caravan of three carriages set off early in the morning. Their party and the people from the church were split between the carriage in the front and the one in the back. In the middle was the reinforced carriage with Tekar''s daughter. Apanying her were Mary and Jane. The two were not just her babysitters. During the time they had spent in the church, they had trained a lot and the party had also taken them on some dungeon runs. Their level was in the mid-twenties, but their skills had grown a lot. They were thest line of defense to protect her. The first days led through a monotone cityscape. Most of the territory between the cities of a district was living space and itcked any kinds of specialties or attractions. The further they came, the bigger grew the mountains in the distance. Thend also steadily rose on their journey. They spend the night in the satellite city Batikagwa before they finally left the district behind on the next day. They left the church''s people behind at the border and proceeded to enter the no man''snd. The horizon was dominated by the mountains and they were surrounded by a mix of hilly forests and meadows Chapter 221 - 221. An Unexpected Encounter The horizon was dominated by the mountains, and the path was surrounded by a mix of hilly forests and meadows. Before the world went haywire these stretches ofnd were abandoned and left for nature to recapture. When the districts were founded most old cities andndscaped were abandoned and left behind. It was all in an attempt to have nature recover and stop the climate change. Most of these forests had all grown after the districts had been founded and they could see the one or other ruin of buildings here and there. The road here was old but still usable even with the carriages. An unpleasant memory of his time in Alpha resurfaced at these sights. But it was just a minor problem. Leaving the city also meant entering the danger zone. There were no guards or patrols that could help them here. And the dungeons were only irregrly checked. The only thing currently keeping away the monsters in this forest were the wards Evee had casted onto their vehicles. These woods seethed with monsters and other things. They were not necessarily strong, but nobody knew what came through the pathworks or escaped from the dungeons. Vignce was a necessity even if the world looked calm on the surface. Even with the wards, they were no guarantee. Just like how humans were not too affected by their power. There could also be monsters with a high intellect or willpower. Bandits or races that came through the pathworks were also a possible threat. ~ And you are saying the people simply followed your governments regtions and abandoned their homes to move into a giant city? ~ "Well, of course not everyone wanted to. There might still be a lot of people out there living in the ruins. Nobody was forced. The government back then used incentives to have people move to the city. Oh yeah, and many people changed their minds really fast when the infrastructure was not maintained anymore." ~ I see. Do you think those people are still alive? ~ When Seth wanted to answer their small talk was interrupted by an unexpected visitor. At the roadside in front was a camping site with tents and camping fires. Some of the campers were standing on the crumbling road. Cat people? Tijaahk! Unlike beastmen like Mina that were closer to humans, these were more on the animal side. Their stature was less humanoid and more like a big cat walking on its hind legs. They wore wide robes and fabrics like desert nomads. Only a few of them wore custom armor, probably the guardians of their group. Seth was sitting on the coachman''s seat of the armored carriage. He saw Monique pull out her weapons while Alison got ready to cast a spell. "Put down your weapons!" Seth hurriedly called and walked to the front. He passed the first carriage and the armor beasts that were pulling it. The reason he came forward to meet them was that he had heard about these people during journey to Ora. He had even met some of them there. They were traveling merchants. A long time ago they were banished from their homeworld and became dimensional nomads. They traveled the pathworks and would trade wherever they came ended up. Often their inventory was loaded with all kinds of rarities from the different dimensions they had visited. As one would expect from those that often travel to random ces, their warriors were no joke. Unless provoked they would be very amicable. Although very cunning, one could make great deals with them if they were smart and didn''t offend them. Seth stepped forward and used the formal greeting of the Chrona Empire. "May your travels span dimensions." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om And elderly Tijaahk stepped forward. His silver and ck fur''s color was fading from age, but his eyes were sharp with a bright light. He also did the formal greeting just like Seth and answered. "And may you always find a warm hearth to rest. It is good to meet someone civilized in such a chaotic world." "Have you people just arrived here?" "We have arrived a few days ago. But our scout only met with hostile people when we tried to enter the settlement. It looks quite imposing, but the people are not very... weing." the Elder said downheartedly. "Don''t take it to heart. The people in this ce have a hard time coping with the changes in our world. My name is Seth Smith. What may I call you?" "You can call me Drosi, I am the caravan leader of this pack. Did you eat already? We are currently cooking. How about a tea and we talk until dinner is ready?" The old cat spoke Seth''snguage. He signaled for the carriage to pull up and join the area of the camping site. While the rest of the party was taking care of the carriages and the beast, Seth followed Drosi to his tent. Calling it a tent didn''t really do it justice. It was a big yurt with carpets and pillows on the ground and its own little campfire in the middle. Drosi and Seth sat down at the campfire and a pair of females started brewing them tea. "I''m d to have met someone ready to speak with us. The previous travelers were..." the old cat said with a rough sigh. Seth could hear that they had gone through some hardships since arriving on Urth. "I''m sorry to hear that. I''m sorry for my world''s people acting like this, but I hope you can understand them. This is still new to them, and they don''t know much about the other world." "New to them?" the old man asked in surprise. But Seth only smiled slyly. He roughly knew why the Tijaahk stayed here for several days. Cat people had a lot of experience in gaining a foothold in a foreign world. They would stay in a ce they judged rtively safe and get as much information as possible from travelers before deciding where to go. "Yes, new. This world has only recently been connected to the pathworks. About a year ago." he said with a smile. The elder''s eyes jumped wide open. He knew very well what it meant for a world to have just connected to the pathworks. Chaos on an apocalyptic scale. From natural disasters to war and civil wars. Anything could change the face of the world during this time period. Seth took the cup of tea from the female server and calmly swirled it before taking a sip. A bitter but intriguing taste of a citrus fruit filled his mouth. He could feel his mana being roused a little. The tea had slightly raised his mana regeneration. "I see. I''m d they are not outright antagonistic to our people. So it''s still their phase of limation." the elder answered calmly. Seth just nodded. They drank the tea in rtive silence. "May I ask where you are heading?" the other finally asked. Seth sighed. This old cat was very patient. Seth had waited for a chance to talk about business, but Drosi tried to slowly gain information through conversation. The cat was patient, Seth wasn''t. "You are a very experienced trader. Let''s skip the small talk, okay? I know you want information about this world. I can tell you anything you want, but not for free." Seth had tried to be smart about it and thrown out some bait that increased the prize. The fact that Urth was freshly added to the pathworks was very valuable information and showed that Seth was a good source of information. But the Tijaahk had kept his calm and patiently tried to get more free info. After Seth spoke up the cat lowered his cup while slowly nodding. Seth was right, he was a trader for over 120 years. He was not offended by Seth''s directness. Although free information was great, time was also money. His gaze sharpened as the old cat went into business mode. "You are more knowledgeable than I thought. Let''s talk business then. What is your price?" "Now we are talking. How about showing me your inventory? I think we will be able to negotiate a lot better once we both know what the other wants. Drosi nodded in agreement and used a skill unique to traders and merchants. It was the shop interface. Here the trader could choose to disy a part of their inventory space. A big bonus of this skill was that the customer would be able to see abel with the name of the items, if the trader himself knew them. To Seth''s surprise, he found a lot of fabrics in the trader''s inventory. Thest ce they had stocked up in must have been known for their tailors. There were many weird fabrics like , or . His eyes stopped in three specific fabrics. Thebel only gave the names and he had to ask the caravan leader about them. Feathersilk was a rare fabric and known for its immense strength inparison to its extremely lightweight. Ghost Fleece was an epic fabric weaved from the essence of specters and had immaterial properties that could turn it invisible or make it float. Oracleweave was a unique fabric weaved by an augur to see or influence the future and fate. It could strengthen a diviner''s skill or bring luck. These were definitely of interest to Seth who had a craftsman tailor up his sleeve. But they were much too valuablepared to the information he had.. So he kept browsing the trader''s inventory. Chapter 222 - 222. Sticks And Stones~ There were quite a few good materials in the elder''s inventory and Seth soon found something he deemed appropriate to barter for his information. It was a small rough stone fit to be used in some kind of essory. Materials that influenced luck were hard to find, but not as sought after as other materials. The price would not be too over the top. Drosi nodded when Seth told him his choice. "If your information is sufficient, we have a deal." Seth and Drosi spend quite a while in the yurt exchanging information about Urth until someone notified them that the meal was ready. "Let''s pause here and eat something. We can keep talking after a meal. I think you still have other business you wish to talk about." "I appreciate someone that can interrupt business talks for a good meal," Seth said thankfully and they left the tent. At the campfire sat Seth''s party. They already had bowls with a thick glistening soup in their hand. The smell and sight made Seth''s mouth water. After the initial awkwardness, the party members had started getting along with the Tijaahk quite well. Tekar''s daughter Ruby was even ying with the younglings of the group. Drosi and Seth sat down at the fire and were immediately handed bowls of soup and a soft tbread as a spoon and for dipping. The thick soup had a strong unknown vor that captured Seth''s full attention. He heard the sound of notification that ended with: It was actually buff food and had a permanent effect! It was a shame that he was not in a position to just hog all the soup for himself... But it was a great sign of hospitality and skill. They had amicable chit-chat during the meal and the cat-people started singing and dancing afterward. Seth entrusted diplomatic interaction to his party, Ruby especially. She was great at making friends with the foreign race. He and Drosi returned to the yurts and continued their conversation. When Seth finished talking about Urth the elder gave him the and this finished their deal. "Now then, I saw that you were interested in other products." "Yes, there are few things I would like to buy." "Tijaahk has wares if you have coins. Can you pay?" "Comes down to your prices. I could also barter. I have quite a bit rare gear I could offer, too." "Hmm, Tijaahk prefers cash." "Don''t speak too fast. You have a lot of materials, but the crafting professions are not that far in this ce. Good gear is much more sought after than good items." Drosi nodded. After everything Seth had told him, it was understandable. It didn''t mean he fully trusted Seth''s information. But there was no harm in a good deal. Even if they could not sell the gear, good gear could be worn by their warriors. The old cat and the cksmith bonded over bartering for several hours. Seth not only acquired the fabrics but also a few interesting materials. Among other and . Thetter was a rare leather. The marble was a big block of stone but didn''t count as a cksmith material. Drosi''s description had caught his attention. It was a marble that collected and focused the power of the sun. Maybe it could be useful to Puffle''s. If not, he would find a way to profit from it. It was not too expensive. The most interesting were a few bars of metal called . He already had a great idea for what he would do with this metal. Seth nned to send the fabrics to N?del, to have him make a cloak. The result could be really cool. The other things he had mostly bought out of interest. The best thing was that h did not spend a single piece of his gold instead he managed to barter the materials for some weapons and the rest of the rings he had brought from Ora. Both parties were satisfied with their deal and enjoyed another cup of tea to celebrate. "So, where do you n to travel with your caravan?" Seth finally asked. He had told the elder about the districts and their current situations. "Hmm, is there a reason you are asking?" "Well, I would not rmend you to go to Y-City. They have a hard time dealing with foreigners. We are on the way to Delta where the Chrona Empire has a foothold. Maybe you would like to join us?" Seth would have loved for them to join. The caravan of cat people would give great security on their journey. He didn''t worry about himself or the Party member, but more people meant more people that could protect Ruby. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Everyone else could fight, run or just teleport to Y-city in the worst case. Evee was immortal. But Ruby had no way to fight or run. More people meant more defenders. Although she wasn''t his daughter, he didn''t know what to tell Tekar if his daughter died. This journey was his idea after all. Drosi thought for a moment. "We have just met. Can you tell me your reason?" Seth shared his worries and thoughts about Ruby and Tekar. Drosi''s eyebrows jumped up in surprise. "You are a more responsible person than the first impression made me believe. Alright, let''s travel together from here on." They shook hands and sealed the deal. Seth returned to his team after they talked about the details for some more time. The party had parked their carriages to the side of the Tijaahk camp and were setting up tents. It was getting dark already. "Listen up, Guys. I have good news. We will travel together with the caravan from now on. They will help us on the journey and we will lead the way. The caravan is getting for set off tomorrow morning and we should be able to depart before noon." Before they went to sleep Seth exined the n from now on. The Gourmet Hunter would join up with the scouts of the cat people to scope out the path in front. Alison would stay with the rest of the party in the middle of the caravan. In case something happened to the scouts, she would be the backup to find their right path. "Evee. Tomorrow morning you will also ce your wards on the carriages of the cat people. They have their own measures to keep monsters away, but we decided that it would do no harm to double up on security." Evee nodded motivated. The others also nodded in agreement. Especially Tekar seemed to noticeably rx. It was a quiet night, and they could leave guard duty to the Tijaahk. The next day, after preparing all morning a freeloading another meal, Seth sat beside Drosi on the driver''s seat of the caravan leader''s carriage. The carriage was not asfortable as the ones added with modern luxuries like seat cushions. In exchange, they were very sturdy and easily dealt with the crumbling street. The cat carriages were pulled by big, feathered monitor lizards. Seth asked Drosi who exined that they were one of the best mounts for traveling. The lizards could deal with most climates and had extremely high staminapared to a low feeding cost. They were not very imposing, but the best if one traveled a lot. Link and some cat hunters were scouting the way upfront, and they made a lot of ground during the day. They were still in the foothills of the great mountain range and had not yet encountered anything that could go against Evee''s wards. It didn''t mean there were no monsters. Link and the hunters reported a variety of beasts in the vicinity in case the wards or other countermeasures didn''t work. Against expectation, they made it through the day without having to fight even once.. In the evening they found a ce set up a temporary camp. Chapter 223 - 223. Let’s Break Some Bones! ~ For the temporary camp, they parked the carriages to build a wagon fort. They could maximize the effect of Evee''s wards in this way. This time Set''s party shared their rations with the cat people. It was Link''s time to shine as a chef and cook for the caravan. Or share some of the prepared food. One person cooking for more than 30 people was a little much to ask. He distributed the food he had cooked at the church and stored in his inventory. The cat people had a surprised look on their faces when they tasted the food. They ate the food with simr valor, as the party members had gorged on their soup. Link grinned from one ear to the other when he saw people appreciate his cooking. It was a joyful evening if one ignored that they were camping in a monster-infested wilderness. Since it was their food Seth did not have to hold back and ate several portions before falling asleep satisfied. ~ Hey, Rxo! Wake up, the caravan is ready to keep going. ~ "W-wha?" He woke up abashedly. The caravan had already packed up and saddled up. Everyone had finished preparations while he was sound asleep. He hurriedly got up and stored away his stuff. While chowing down on some rations he walked to his ce on the carriage. "I guess you slept well?" the old cat teased. Drosi was already up on his seat with the reigns in his hands. "Never been good with waking up early..." he grumbled and answered and sat down beside the caravan leader. Pictures of his broken rm clock shed through his mind. It felt like such a long time since his journey started, even though it was barely a year since then. The surroundings finally started to change on their fourth day traveling through the foothills. Trees and other nts became smaller and scarcer. It could not be called a forest at this point as rocky terrain started to dominate thendscape. The wind became stronger and colder in this ce and the weather would change from clear to rainy in the blink of an eye. Less vegetation was no guaranteed for a better field of view. The paths were surrounded by boulders and crevasses where things could hide even from vignt eyes. His eyes and sharp ears had long registered the arrival of the caravan. Normally, those messengers below lv.20 would do their best to avoid any fights and hide from attackers. That was how those people survived the journey. Seth''spany did not have that option. The wards had kept away the weaker beasts in the forests but here where the real mountains began were the big guys. Seth and his party could have somehow tried to cheat their way through, but he did not trust his luck. That''s why he had allied with the cat people. In this mountainous region, the first monsters that did not care about the ward appeared. In pass stood an iconic figure. A dreaded existence that had ended the journey of many yers, in a popr game he had yed. It was an ice troll! Stand on the crumbling road in the soft windswept drizzle it blocked their way. It was over three meters tall with snow-white fur and grey skin. The four pairs of menacing crimson eyes stared at them as the wind yed with its fur. Trolls were known for their extremely high regeneration and endurance. On top of that, they were abnormally strong and resilient. Ice trolls were like normal trolls but doped. Still, one Troll would easily fall to their forces. Why did it stand in the open like this? It was in the moment when Seth imagined noticing a contemptuous smile on the rough monster''s face. "Ambush!" the scout eximed. It was the call from a young cat scout, he was the first to notice something amiss. "Get in positions!" Drosi''s voice filled the still emptyndscape. The carriage hurried to form a circle around the armored carriage. One troll was not enough. Even trolls knew that much. From nooks and cranny, from behind boulders and ledges above appeared a pack of ice trolls. A quick nce told them that these beasts were all around lv. 50. Considering these were three-meter-tall ice trolls they were a much greater pain in the butt than the same number of humanoids on this level. An adult troll on lv.1 was already equivalent to a lv.40 yer. The 50 levels came on top of that. Ice trolls were another notch above that. These monsters were likely much more dangerous than the wyverns he had faced on his way to Tora. They were outnumbered by roughly 2:1. The pack of almost 40 ice trolls had loosely surrounded the caravan. Against them stood Seth''s party of 7 and the 3 scouts, 10 guardians, and 2 mages of the caravan. Unlike Drosi and the mages, who looked like giant housecats, the guardians and scouts resembled big predators like tigers, lions, pumas, panthers, and leopards. In the meantime, children and nonbative women had squeezed into the armored carriage. Alison, Evee, Link, Drosi, and the mages took station on top of the armored carriage to support the vanguards who surrounded the wagon fort in a circle. Seth wielded his wyvern set. Considering the strength and endurance of the trolls, their party might have been able to gain some stats through their weapons. Was it appropriate to hold back his fire in such a dire situation, to gain attributes? Could the Tijaahk handle the numerical disadvantage? Seth''s worries vaporized when he saw the guardians of the cat people. These warriors were serious from the start. They put away their weapons and got pumped. Literally. Cat Warrior was not their final form. Bloodcurdling roars echoed through the mountains as their fur stood up and their bodies grew and bulked up to rival or even surpass those of the ice trolls. ws like daggers grew from their paws and they rushed the pack of trolls. One guardian could easily handle one or two trolls. Jonah could also handle two at once while Monique could fight three holding the upper hand. Tekar managed to block 3 trolls from advancing. Felix, Evee''s familiar, was also busy distracting a troll. Link and Evee were upied with spreading debuffs to ease the vanguard''s burden, while the mages started opening fire at the trolls, minding friendly fire. Even if Seth didn''t pull all his registers they were able to manage just fine. "Dragonmight!" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The level and attribute difference with the trolls was huge, but it still had some effect on them as their movements slightly slowed. With this Seth also took on two of the icy monsters and focused on giving them death through a thousand cuts. However, one could not underestimate the ice trolls. Their skins were this and most injuries inflicted on them healed within moments. Only cut-off limbs and broken bones took slightly longer to recover. Even injuries to the vitals were not fatal unless it was their head. It was great for Seth''s party since the trolls would not die no matter how often they cut them. The effects were not as good as he had anticipated after their crazy grinding in the fog dimension. Seth felt a slight increase with every hit, but it took about 10 swings before his endurance went up by one. He was a little confused, but it was not exactly the time to think. It just meant he had to cut more often. ytime was soon over. Unlike the trolls, the caravan member did not automatically heal. Evee could not handle the role of healer alone, but even after Drosi revealed himself as a shaman, they had a hard time keeping everyone alive. Everything was in a fragile bnce, but this bnce had a deadline. He had gained 7 points in endurance and 3 in strength when he decided that it was time. Seth equipped his big stick, and the iron rod went to work. It may not have been an epic item, but it did not mean it was weak, especially against this kind of opponent. He had no vanguard ss, but his items easily made up the difference. A swing with the staff was blocked by a thick forearm but was apanied by an audible crack from broken bones. Just endurance was not enough to mitigate the blunt force of Seth''s strike. He backstepped to evade the swipe of the second troll. Seth''s staff was enveloped in ayer of bright mes as he stabbed towards the abdomen of the attacker using the other end of the staff. The me was like a spearhead as it prated fur and flesh, sending a wave of fire into the abdominal cavity. Before he could finish off the burned opponent who had sunk to its knees, itspatriot attacked him with its healthy arm. He ducked below the attack and smashed the creature''s left knee. He turned, brought the fiery end of the staff around to crush the ice troll''s head. With the right arm limply hanging down and tilting to the right, it could not evade or block. It could only watch the iing attack that ended its life. He finished off the second troll who had a hard time doing anything with its innards cooked. He joined the casters in getting rid of the trolls that were not bound by the vanguard and the bnced quickly tilted to their favor. With Link''s and Evee''s debuffs and Seth binding them in meleebat they had a hard time evading the magic as they did before. Monique and Jonah also finished their battles and went to help the pressed cat guardians.. The battle soon ended with over 40 dead trolls surrounding the caravan. Chapter 224 - 224. And Continue Our Journey~ The battle ended without losses on their side. There were some injuries and one or two serious one''s among the guardians, but the two healers and some HP-potions They stayed for a while to thoroughly harvest the ice troll corpses. Their blood and some of their organs were rare alchemy ingredients. Evee could also use some parts like the bones and fur. The troll leather was a rare rated item with a high affinity to ice- The bones had the same affinity but were only umon. Evee''s had more use for thetter than Seth. The biggest benefit for Seth was actually the roughly 20 souls dropped by them. The soul of the boss troll was even a big one. Seth didn''t know whether this counted as a "genius" soul but they were definitely powerful. Even the monster souls with their powerful effect did not have a denominator. A more pressing question was, if there were ice souls then were there also fire souls? A big, rare fire soul or something simr might befit his gloves and armor made of . He would just have to find out what creatures had such souls. Fire trolls? No, he never heard of something like that. Fire Dragons? Too strong! Was there anything else with fire attributes? Magma Golems or something could be cool. Maybe he could find a fitting creature around Delta. It was a volcano after all. The caravan started moving again after the field of corpses was cleared. They burned the leftover that could not be harvested, otherwise, they might have lured more monsters to the path. As Seth sat on the carriage and looked into the distance, he had a thought. This was a rocky, deste and coldndscape and it was currently raining. Shouldn''t ice trolls be at a cooler ce? Somewhere with snow and stuff like that? He asked Drosi to the left. The experienced caravan leaser agreed with him. They had not faced ice trolls in the past, but he confirmed that Seth was right. The general consensus was that ice trolls would normally live in colder regions with permanent snow or frost. Keeping that in mind they kept traveling along the road. Soon it started climbing higher and higher in wide serpentines. The higher they came the lower fell the temperature and snow soon started covering the surroundings. There were a few weak monsters that ran away from the wards, nothing else. If these were the regr inhabitants it made sense that people around lv. 20 were able to walk this way normally. So why had the ice trolls moved? ~ Something must have disced them! ~ "Well, thanks Cpt. Obvious. I was about toe to that conclusion." ~ Yeah, I''m su~ure you were ~ the lich said sarcastically. "Seth, is everything alright?" Drosi asked him worriedly. "Oh yeah, I''m sorry. I was talking to someone with telepathy." He exined and told Droi his thought. The old cat nodded and hmmed. "That''s a good exnation. But this means somewhere out there is something that made this kind of pack flee...." "Yeah...Let''s stop talking about it. We might set some gs otherwise." "gs? Why would we set those up? To find the way back?" "No. It metaphorical. It means to name a possible danger or cmity and technically summoning by mentioning it." "Oh, like if I said "At least it doesn''t r-" hmmphu!" Seth had reacted quickly and covered Drosi''s mouth. "Why are you immediately trying to set one right after I told you?" he took away his hand. "Haha,e on, young friend. Something like that is just superstition." "Oh really. Okay. Go ahead then. Try guessing what the ice trolls ran away from and follow up with "but I''m sure we won''te across it" or something along those lines. Let''s see if you are right." "hmm, something that could disce a pack of ice trolls... Maybe an ice snake? A really big one. But I don''t think something like that even exists so no worries." "Well, done. Let''s keep and wait for the snake..." An hour went by. Another one. Nothing happened. "See, I told you it''s just supersti-" A giant worm made up of boulders and rocks broke out of the mountain nk before them. It broke out from the face of the earth and dived back in on the other side of the road. It took a full 30 seconds for the whole body to pass by. Seth looked over to Drosi with an "I told you so!" look. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "T-technically that is not an ice snake. That''s a Stone Biter. It''s much more like a worm than a snake." "Nitpicking. That''s close enough to what you gged to prove my point. Don''t set gs." Soon the head that head, or better the front end, resurfaced. It was simply a giant circr mouth like a maelstrom made of rock to drill rocks and grind meat. After the bickering, all fighting personal got in formation. Seth joined the vanguard from the beginning. Fire attacks were not very effective in this kind of climate and with that kind of opponent. The "Wyvern de" was also not a good choice. The opponent had no blood and was especially resistant to ded weapons as it was wholly made of rock. With this kind of level difference, the dragonmight was also not going to work. Who would have thought that big stick energy with the "Staff of Seth" would be his best option at one point? Interestingly enough, like Seth, the Tijaahk also possessed a wide array of weapons for every situation. The guardian had pulled out all kinds of maces and war hammers. Tekar wielded one shield and the crow''s beak Seth had given him. The terrifying mouth ws the most dangerous part, the second dangerous situation was to be brushed by the body moving at high speeds as it tunneled in and out of the ground. The only strategy the cat elder knew was brute force coupled with magic. The vanguard would smash the bigger rock and the caster would use water and ice magic to blow away and bind the smaller gravel. Bit by bit the giant stone worm shrunk. It would have been a lot easier if the beast could not heal by replenishing the stones by feeding on the surroundings. On the other hand, the fight was a lot less intense than the battle with the trolls. Supported by the huge ration of potions they managed to grind the giant stone worm to dust. It slowly became dark as they fought the beast for hours. When the rocks finally stopped moving and the kill notification rang in their ears, they heaved a sigh of relief. All tension fell off them and they fell down on their butts. Unfortunately, it did not drop a soul or any really useful materials except a high-rank beast core. It was toote to keep going and decided to camp there. As they were eating at the campfire Drosi approached Seth. "I''m really sorry. You were right. Setting gs is a stupid thing and shouldn''t be done on purpose just to y with fate. There are still things to learn, even at my age. Hehe." The mountains were bitter cold with biting winds for the caravan, but no monsters attacked. Surrounded by the circle of carriages the wind couldn''t harm. The big fire and thick nkets did the rest to make the nightfortable. Drosi had learned his lesson and the night stayed quiet. Chapter 225 - 225. For We Are Jolly Travelers~ Seth woke up early and sat on the roof of the armored carriage. It was the first time he could really take in the view. Below he could the serpentines they had traveled within the fields of snow and boulders. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Past the snow, and deste rock were the lush forests that covered almost everything up to the horizon. And at the horizon, he could make out the silhouettes of Y-City as the sun slowly started rising. Like warm honey, the light of the sunrise washed over the world and brought a slight warmth with it. The camp slowly awoke with a low grumbling of voices. Nobody had slept too well, except for Seth had warmed himself with his own fire. The mood was on the rise after everyone had breakfast and got ready for departure. ording to Alison and Link, it would be even colder before they came into the vicinity. And it came as they had foretold. It became so cold that people had to drink the prepared cold resistance potions. Everything went smoothly until they came into a strong snowstorm. Alison and Seth cast fire shields and fire rain to resist the weather. Otherwise, they would have had to stop and wait until the storm was over. The spells of and from his glove''s effects had been unlocked when his level increased. But the next problem did not wait long to appear. Seth''s shield got a hit but withstood, Alison''s shield got a hit and broke. They heard a scream from the carriages in the back. Looking back, they saw one of the cat scouts heavily bleeding from the side. Something had attacked from the middle of the storm and vanished before they could react. Alison recast her shield and added several of the other elements, the other casters did the same and added shield of their respective expertise. Several more impacts could be heard, but the shields held up. They didn''t know what was attacking them and it was too dangerous to enter the snowstorm with zero vision. Seth lowered the power of the shield in his area and fully activated "Eye of Argos". He had trained to get used to the 360 field of view and could endure it for several minutes. He saw far, he saw sharp, and he was not impeded bycking light. Clear Sight saw through the illusion, and a short timeter he finally spotted something. The shields were constantly hit as if they were looking for a weak spot and he had made one for them. A disturbance in the storm warned him and he saw an illusory figure shooting towards him. Like the specter of a skeletal wolf, it dashed into the shield and broke through. Aiming for Seth''s nape it opened its maws only to swallow a firence suddenlyunched from its target. Seth closed the "door" he had made and caught the specter. Thence exploded in the ribcage and dealt massive damage to the immaterial fiend. Its posture in the air was broken and Seth could simply catch the remnants. The moment he grabbed what was left of the beast, he felt that he could use on it. The moment he harvested the soul, the rest of the body disintegrated into nothingness. The description was simr to those of the ice trolls but the affinity to ice seemed stronger. Only after calmly checking the item info did he notice the shocked expressions of the people around. He restricted his vision again and smiled at them apologetically. "It seems like those things are a kind of snow specter. Maybe they dwell in the snowstorm itself?" "Hm hm, yes I heard of that kind of undead. The lingering souls of creatures are assimted by the snow and gain a physical form when the snow is roused by a strong wind. We should be careful and get out of the storm as fast as possible." Drosimented. Seth agreed. The souls were interesting but too hard to harvest. He could not risk the caravan and his journey just to harvest souls. The line of carriage hurried along the barely visible road. Under the protection of the magic shield, they managed to escape the snowstorm. While they were driving out of the snowstorm Seth thought of what the old cat hat mentioned. If a simple storm could rouse harvestable undead maybe he could- ~Forget about it. You can''t harvest these souls manually~ ~ Why not? ~ this time Seth made sure to only answer in his mind. ~ This only happens in mountains heavily charged with magic. And even in this environment, this is rare at best. Trying to replicate this phenomenon has no hope. Believe me, I tried. ~ ~Mountain heavily charged with magic? ~ Seth became suspicious. That sounded dangerous. ~ I see your thoughts, it''s not like that. It only means the mountain is a very strong reservoir of magic. ~ ~ How can there be a reservoir of magic? I thought magic came from the portals? So, how? ~ ~ You know about the dragon veins, right? The mana cirction works simr to that of water. Magic will run along the dragon veins like rivers and pool at ces of power, like this mountain range. From here the magic will start overflowing and saturate the air. The integration into the pathworks only reignited a spark that had lost all light. Mana is the life force of a. But simr to any other energy, it is not infinite. It differs from world to world, but yours was simply "dead" before. ~ Seth more or less understood the exnation, as it was simr to the theory of enchantments. ~Stil... this mountain is abnormally saturated. ~ "Please don''t say something like that..." Seth had learned that abnormalities foretold nothing good. What if the mountain really exploded or something like that? They had just entered the snow region and would travel through it for several days... Several hourster they met with Link, and he scouts waiting for them on the road. There was no problem healing the injured scout and the troop had scouted the way forward. "Up ahead we found the camping site I told you about. " Link reported to Seth and the caravan leader. Those were good news as daylight started bing sparse. "It''s just that there are already people there. They look like a merchant caravan. Maybe they are going in the opposite direction." Drosi and Seth made eye contact. "Let''s be careful." They continued and reached the campsite before nightfall. It was a small teau that was open toward the road but protected from the wind by the rocky cliffs around it. Seth and Drosi stepped forward to greet the caravan leader of the other camp who came forward as they arrived. "Greetings! I''m Kesaz, a merchant from Delta. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" Now they were close enough that Seth could recognize the man''s face. His skin color was slightly off with a blue tint. He had long gray hair and a white goatee. A pair of really small, cute horns grew on his forehead. Was he a... demon? "Greeting, my name is Drosi, the caravan leader of the Tijaahk. This is Seth, a travelpanion. Nice to meet you. I hope you don''t mind sharing this camping site with us." "Of course not. Please feel free! I would be happy to amodate you. The more the merrier." the demons pearly white teeth shone in the twilight just after dusk. Seth''s caravan parked on the campsite beside Kesaz''s people and got ready for the night. Chapter 226 - 226. With Blades Of Iron~ Seth woke up from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. He came out of his tent and saw the rest of the caravan already on their feet. A loud echoing chanting that was resounding through the mountains had woken up everyone in the camping site. High above in the air floated and figure in flowing, windswept robes. The dark blue fabric obscured the figure''s face, but the chanting was clearlying from it. Seth knew thenguage it was chanting. It sounded exactly like his smithing bads. The chant stopped for a moment and a glowing red magic formation appeared on the ground below them. The formation followed a heavy pressure that made it hard for anyone to move. Seth felt a weakness and tardiness take over his body. He was hard to think as if he had honey in his head. His movements were impaired as if he was moving underwater. < Ding! You have been affected by the negative status effect "mdy". -50%: Movement Speed, Strength. Increased Resource Consumption depending on level. (15%)> 15%? Seth was lv. 42 and still had a 15% increase. How high was it with the lower level? "hahaha, there is nothing you can do anymore! Tonight, I shall sacrifice you as the energy source of my spell and open the gates to immeasurable treasure! Rejoice! Your death will be for a greater cause." The chant ended and a terrifying rumble filled the world. The ground vibrated and they soon saw the cause. A white wall of torrential snow was rushing at them from the mountains above. A massive avnche wasing down to crush everyone at the campsite. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Shields! Set up the shields!" Drosi screamed and broke the silence. Casters and caravan people hurried to set up their shields and the barriers of the carriages. Tekar even stalked to the edge of their circle and activated the barrier on his shield. When the masses of snow came upon them the night became even darker. Like a tsunami, the avnched threatened to smash the shields. ~Hurry and activate your fire shield! And add your on top of it, if you want to survive! ~ It was a possibility Seth had felt but avoided since the magic would use several times the mental energy and mana. It was not the time to think of the cost. Seth cast the fire shield but used to infuse it with soul fire. The hemisphere of fire shone bright like a sh and covered the campsite just before the avnche hit the barriers. The snow instantly vaporized when touching the barrier hot enough to melt steel resulting in a steam explosion that stunted the inertia of the avnche. In a matter of seconds, he was sucked dry, and the barrier vanished. Seth''s shield did not hold long but it was enough to stop a lot of the force the snow masses initially had. All the barriers now had to do was withstand the weight. A massive headache assailed him, and he had to sit down, as he watched the snow pile up on top of the dome. It reminded him of the waters that had swallowed Starta. The casters did their best to supply the barriers with mana, but the sound cracks could be heard all over the ce. The formation that was still weighing down on them did its best to hamper their efforts. But the barriers held on, for now. "hahaha, you think you can survive? Nobody will survive! All of you need to die here." the voice prated even through the thick snow and barriers. The next moment they heard the impact of projectiles and the coughs of the casters that maintained the shields. Seth just wanted to summon his trusty lich when the impacts suddenly stopped, and a voice was transmitted to them. ~ E-Ermm, can you hear me? This is Man of the Mount Agra People. Please stay calm and persist. We will start measured to remove the snow masses now. ~ "What was going on?" was written on the face of everyone present. The situation did not worsen, so they decided to wait. Nobody had a better idea anyway. The magicians kept drinking mana potions while the others could only wait and resist the magic formation. "What do you think?" Drosi had shuffled beside Seth. Both were not in the best condition. One had sted everything he had and was now down with a headache while the other needed to maintain a huge shield, or else they would be crushed. "We can only hope they really are friendly. In the meantime, we could try to do something about this formation." "Unfortunately, I am not very educated in this kind of magic," Drosi admitted apologetically. "Don''t worry, I have an expert." ~ Al? ~ ~ Yeah, yeah... try scouting the camping site for me so I can get a better view of the set-up. ~ Fighting against nausea and his pulsating had he started stumbling around the site following the directions of the sorceress. Most people he came across were close to a mental breakdown, especially those from the other caravan. His party and the Tijaahk fared just fine. Most of them had a level that would allow them to survive even if the snow came barreling down. ~ Okay, I got it. Assemble the party, we have to destroy some focus point to deactivate this thing ~ The party and guardians of the cat people came together, and Seth exined her instructions to them. Bluntly speaking this magic formation was a spell that needed a lot of preparation. As long as they destroyed the precious materials that acted as a focus for the formation, they would be able to deactivate it. Destroying them was easy, but knowing their location was the hard part. The lich hat already solved this riddle and sent the minions out to do the dirty work. In a matter of minutes, the formations below their feet dimmed and everyone could move and breathefortably again. Maintaining the shields also became easier without the formations debuff. All that was left was waiting and hoping their helpers were not actually their executioners. The light of morning was breaking through the thinning snowyer, and they could see water running down along the barriers. Seth had napped for a while and was woken by a ray of light when the top of the dome was free of snow. "Hello? This is Man. Please persevere. We have reached the barrier and should be able to excavate it soon." The snow pressing on the shields slowly melted away under the magic of the helpers. They could finally see the faces of the people who helped them after the caravan was freed from their cold grave. The Mount Agra people were d in thick padded leather armor, that protected against weather and attacks. Man who had spoken to them was a stocky middle-aged woman with a kind face. Some among the group were resting a little distance away. Blood hat stained their armor. Drosi, Seth, and Nen, the representative of the other caravan sat together with her at their fire and listened to what had happened above ground. The other people were unable to find the demon from yesterday, that was why Nen was chosen to speak for them. Man told them that they were on patrol when they heard the weird chanting in the mountains. Mount Agra was one of the few ces that had refused to relocate to the districts. She didn''t go too much into detail, but she mentioned a sacred duty. They had lived in the mountains ever since. After the apocalypse, they made a deal with the Chrona Empire, just like Delta, and maintained security on these few viable routes that still connected the districts. In exchange, they were supplied with food, training, and gear. They even showed a certificate from the empire which Drosi confirmed to be real. When they saw someone attacking the camping site, they immediately tried to apprehend the Attacker. It was a vicious find and ended with the injured mage being able to escape. Giving chase was only the second priority at that point as they hurried to free the caravans from the snow. She invited them to follow her and stay at Mount Agra until they recovered from this incident. The other caravan declined the offer as they wanted to get back to Delta as fast as possible.. Seth and Drosi on the other hand wee the opportunity of a small break and trade. Chapter 227 - 227. And Hearts Of Gold. The mountain people led the way riding on wholly rhinos. The way was not long. They followed a fork in the road and arrived at a town around noon. It was a settlement at the side of the mountain with a giant statue carved into the nk rocky cliff. The statue depicted an anthropomorphic version of rhinoceroses they rode. Was it their local belief that had kept them here, instead of moving to the districts? The town was slightly damaged and antiquated whenpared to modern towns. But one could see life thriving in this ce. The caravan was brought to a hotel. The rooms were rtively clean and free to stay a night. The food was good, the beds werefy. In short, Seth liked the ce. The rest of the party also weed a rxing stay after traveling through the wilderness for more than a week. After a long sleep and a good meal, he felt a lot better and hit the road. Seth went to explore the town. It was rather hard going on a sightseeing trip in the current world. The giant statue looked quite interesting. He knew that across the continent a lot of old ruins could be found, but how often would he be able to find one of those. Man was in charge of their group, so he asked her about the statue and his thoughts from the day before. "Ah, yes. That is so. Our people stayed because of the monument of Nas''Korn. You can go ahead and visit it whenever you like. I rmend going in the evening. The statue will give off a gentle humming sound that helps most people rx and calm down." He had asked the party and Ruby was excited toe along, which meant Tekar, Mary, and Jane had toe too. The statue was huge. At least 30 meters high and hewn directly out of the mountain. Ruby was running around it excitedly while Tekar could only smile wryly. There were some people around, kneeling on the step towards the statue but nobody seemed disturbed by the little girl having fun. On the contrary, some bore a benevolent smile on their faces. When the sun touched the horizon, a low hum filled the ce around and before the statue. Like the deep sound of a huge loudspeaker. Everyone had an expression of rxation. Even Ruby quieted down. Everyone, except Seth. He heard the hum at first and then it started changing. , a skill he had almost forgotten, had kicked in a changed the hum into understandablenguage. It was a big sigh followed by "How am I supposed to help you, when you forgot the ability to understand me?" It keptmenting about the abnormality of the situation and tried to ask why the dead world had suddenly recovered. But nobody answered it. Nobody could answer it. At least not until Seth went behind its back where he could not be seen. "Hey, can you stop whining? Your weirdnguage is really ringing in my ears," he said annoyed. "You can understand me? That''s great! I need to ask a favor of you." Seth sighed. Maybe he should not have spoken up? "Okay, let''s hear it." It exined a suspicion Al already had. The reason for the abnormal amount of magic in the mountain. Several thousand years ago, when the world''s magic was declining, a powerful Archmage had created a formation within the mountain to collect sparse mana in the world and send it to his tower. He wanted this power to elongate his life as much as possible. The problem was that nobody expected the magic toe back. The formation was way too powerful right now and was going haywire. There was too much mana for the pipeline. If it was not deactivated it mighte to a meltdown and create a magic storm that will destroy this mountain city. The statue somehow read Seth''s expression who was anything but happy about a sudden adventure. "I''m not telling you to do it for free! You are a cksmith, right? All your items carry your aura. If you go down there, I am sure you can harvest a lot of precious materials from the formation and the pipeline! You might even be able to find a way to his magic tower. He was very rich and should be quite dead by now. He won''t mind you taking his stuff." Seth thought about it for a moment. It wasn''t like they were in a hurry to get to Delta and he could Drosi whether he wanted to join him. They could leave the nonbatants in the town with some people. The totem exined to him the position of the entrance to the hidden formation and a quest marker appeared on Seth''s map. "Remember, when you find the door, you have to chant the magic phrase to open it." Seth nodded and left to tell Drosi and the party about the quest. He was sure everyone would feel safer if they had some of the Tijaahk guardians with them. He returned with the girls, Tekar and his daughter, and assembled the party to tell them about the quest. Everyone agreed to ask Drosi for cooperation. This was not about dungeons, so the danger of actual death existed. It was better to be too careful than to rush in and be wiped by an unknown variable. He spent the rest of the day talking and nning with his party and Drosi. The old cat was a true merchant. He immediately joined when he heard that there was no acute danger but probably a high reward. He also got Man to join them. Whether she believed him or not was of no importance. She knew the surroundings and was a great help in nning their travel. They would leave Ruby, Mary, and Jane together with some guardian and the rest of the caravan in town. It would only be the party, Drosi, and a few cat guardians. Drosi would be able to fill the gap that Puffles left as a healer. The entrance to the formation was not too far away, but there were no paths leading to it. It would take several hours on foot to walk there in the snow. This path might very well be the most dangerous part of the quest. Seth had no doubts that he would be able to stop the formation. He had his cheat lich with him. And in the worst case, they could try to break it with brute force. Theirpany set off on the morning of the next day. They had not time to lose.. The longer they waited the more dangerous the formation would be. Chapter 228 - 228. Tower Of Tom Kesaz had several wounds, but the worst was the stab wound in his abdomen. He was bleeding profusely and teetering at the edge of death. What was that bright shield of fire? It had totally ruined his ns! He had spent months preparing this to break into the magic formation. It was the only safe way into the magic tower of Tom Willis, thest great archmage of this world. The demon''s journey began when he came upon a man in Delta. It was a native squandering a huge amount of riches on drinking and women. It was obvious that he had gotten his hands onto wealth only recently and was throwing it away with both hands. Kesaz had investigated him and found that he actually sold a bunch of arcane gold, a very scarce and expensive metal that could be used for all kinds of high-grade applications. He used alcohol and charm information from the drunk man. the other more than willingly bragged about how he had found the hidden entrance to an ancient passage below Delta. He talked about his great thief skills, with which he had strenuously managed to get past the traps at the entrance and found a few workshops where he found a good amount of the treasures he sold. But it was just the entrance area. He just didn''t dare to keep going as his thief senses told him that the traps were too much for him. The man described a huge ancient tower inside a giant cavern at the end of a long bridge filled with traps. The demon followed the man''s lead and found the passage, the plundered rooms, and the giant cavern. The ancient magic tower was covered in tiles of a strong saturated blue with golden ents and statues. It was surrounded by a vortex of magic that incessantly surged into the tower. A massive bridge led over a bottomless crevasse and even the demon mage without thief skills could tell, that this was suspicious. He tried using a clone to walk the nk and it was instantly crushed by a gravitation trap on the bridge. Here was no way to get past the bridge without the correct procedure. Instead, he returned to the abyss, the demon world. The demons had already visited this world before it lost all magic. The reason the demons lost interest after the magic waned was that they could end up stuck over there if theycked the mana to open a portal. He actually found the history of the tower. The reason was that the owner did a lot of deals with the demons of that time. His name was Tom Willis, and he was thest great archmagi of the continent. The reason was that he worked actively on getting rid of all other magicians to slow down the decline of mana in the world. Tom Willis had found a way to gain eternal youth as long as he had mana, he would be immortal. It was just his bad luck that he was born close to the end of the''s lifespan. To elongate his life, he killed all his peers and plundered their riches. He had realized that the end of the magic era was near and used all the riches and knowledge he had plundered to build a mighty spire, that was fueled by 5 potent formations, in the center of the biggest mountain range. Like this, he could monopolize all the magic that was still left in the world and elongate his life for a long time past the dusk of magic. From these records, Kesaz got the idea to approach the Tower through its connection with the power sources. It was not hard to find the entrance. The problem was that he did not know the code to enter. The only option was to open the way with force. But to do so he needed a lot more power than he could do by himself. To augment hiscking strength, he nned to sacrifice some useless bums he hired in Delta. That was when everything went wrong. If only these meddling kids with their stupid cats had not interfered. There was no way those cannon fodder could have resisted his strategy long enough for the mountain people to interfere. Now that the guards here were actively searching for him, all he could do was return to Delta for now. Maybe he could find a different formation to enter or a way to get past the bridge. Maybe he should find that guy again. ------------------------------ Seth and his fellowship had finally reached the ce of the quest marker. It was a wide smooth stone wall that had no indication of a door. He stepped forward to say the magic word. "Please!" nothing happened. "Open! Say me!" again, nothing happened. The party members looked away, feeling embarrassed for the leader ying around like that. Drosi was just confused as he did not know Seth''s bad okes. "Boss, you didn''t forget the phrase, right?" Monique was brave enough to voice their thoughts. Their leader sighed. "Yeah, yeah. As you wish. Tom Willis the immortal Archmagi was and will always be the greatest under and above the skies of thisnd! There, you happy?" Spirals carvings appeared on the stone and formed the outlines of a giant double door. With a chink and a break, it opened inwards giving way into a pitch-ck hallway. They all stared at the tunnel as a wave of thick magic energy wafted into their faces. ~ Stop standing around and hurry in. Judging by the amount of mana that just came out it will only be harder to stop the formation. ~ The reminder of the sorceress brought them all back to the present. The tunnel walls were barren stone and gave no clue about what they were about to see. After a short walk in the dark, they entered a huge hemispherical room. It was at least 20 meters in diameter. The dome''s roof was in golden sheet metal, while the smooth ck floor was covered in silver iys. At the center of the room, set into the floor, were seven interconnected golden rings that kept rotating on different axes and formed aplicated sphere. The air in the room was so charged with mana that they could see a mix of blue and green steaks rotating in the room and being sucked into the sphere in the middle of the room. A thick golden pipe led from the sphere''s frame to a huge door on the other side of the room. This was probably the tunned that directly connected to the magic tower that Nas''korn had spoken of. "Al, do you have any idea how to stop this thing, errm, carefully?" Seth asked his trusty pocket lexicon for all questions arcane. It would have been better if they found a way to slowly shut down the formation or put it on standby. Just destroying it could lead to unwanted results. Yes, Seth was concerned for safety reasons, not because it would be a lot easier to disassemble and harvest all the materials in the room if it wasn''t torn apart by a magic explosion. The sheet metal and golden rings of the sphere were a material that was newly added to his material catalog. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Seth was enchanted by this effect. One could say that the gold natural ability was, what Seth could grant by infusing souls into items. If the item itself already had this kind of option the effects would definitely stack. And the best part was that there was a lot of it. Most of the gold he saw in the room was rare rated. But the smaller ring rotating in the sphere was actually made of epic material. He couldn''t wait to shut down the formation and start ripping it all from the walls. ~ Hmm, it looks like we were just in time. A day or twoter and would not have been able to shut it down peacefully. ~ Simr to how they had stopped the formation at the campsite, the lich instructed them on what nodes to damage and which nucleus to destroy. Slowly but surely the magic within the room became less and the rings slowed down. When they finished the instructions of the sorceress there was no more magic left in the chamber and the ringsy down, flush with the floor. The quest ended just like that. Peaceful and anticlimactic. What was left was to collect their spoils andpletely take apart the formation. Seth took half the sheet gold and the seven rings, while the cat people imed the other half of the dome and the formation materials. Only after they divvied up the spoils, did they pay attention to the big door in the wall. They pulled on the rings of the doors and they opened silently. They stepped into an extremely straight hallway with the golden pipe set into its floor. What the left behind was apletely plundered and barren sone chamber. Not even the floor tiles were spared. Chapter 229 - 229. I Think I Know "I think I know where this tunnel is leading." Seth suddenly said after they follow the wide tunnel for 15 minutes. He had kept an eye on his map as they kept going forward. The path they walked pointed in a straight line towards the vicinity of Delta. If Seth was not wrong, they would be able to walk straight to a point in Delta through this tunnel. It was a shortcut! If the tunnel really led straight to Delta, they could reach the district in a day''s worth of walking. "But we can''t be sure what is at the end of the tunnel. Are you sure there is a way to the surface there?" Drosimented. "At the end of the way should be an ancient magic tower full of riches. That''s what I was told." "Maybe we should send someone to scout the situation, before going there with the whole caravan?" Tekar suggested. "I will go!" Evee volunteered happily. She wanted to contribute to the party as she sometimes felt slightly redundant within the group. "I can leave Flix with you and notify you through him about the situation at the other end. And even if there are traps, I can just revive. I''m the perfect scout for this, please let me go!" she argued before anyone could even deny her request. Seth nodded. "Alright, it''s time for the Immortal Witch to shine. Half of us should stay here and protect this entrance, the other half should return to notify the rest, that everything went smoothly." Drosi agreed to this, and their group split up. Drosi, Alison, Link, and some of the 3 of the guardians would return to the mountain town, Seth and the rest would stay to guard the entrance and wait for Evee''s message. As Seth watched Evee vanish in the darkness of the tunnel and Drosi walk down the snowy path, he got busy himself. "What are you doing, boss?" Monique asked curiously when she saw Seth pull out an item from his inventory. "Mining," he answered with a smirk. In his hand, he held a mithril pickaxe enchanted with piercing and additional strength. Together with the he could dig into the hard rock as if it was cheesecake. The reason for his sudden enthusiasm for mining was that he detected several deposits in the vicinity of the chamber. There were some he had not heard of before like or . There was also some . As the name suggested was an umon variant of copper with a strong affinity to water and frost, while was an umon metal with constantly changing properties. N?v(el)B\\jnn ----------------------------- Evee The tunnel was dark and without light, but it did not affect Evee. Seth had given then pendants with Nightvision before, so she could see clear as day. It looked like a huge maintenance tunnel just very empty. Evee walked for several hours without reaching an end. She kept using to look for traps but there were none. There were also no forks on the road. It was simply a very straight hallway. She started getting very bored after walking so long in the empty tunnel when she finally saw a gate at the end. It was made of forged bars and had a golden hue. It was not locked but stood ajar as if pushed open by the wind. Or left open due to negligence. She passed the gate, walked up a staircase, and entered avishly decorated room. A heavy aura of mana and magic permeated the air in the room and made it hard to breathe. The golden pipe she had followed met 4 others in the middle of this room. Cables left this joint and vanished into the ground, making it look like a cyber star. She found no danger or security measures that were activated. Shecked the skill to know where exactly she was, but she was certain, that there was no immediate danger here. ----------------------------- Seth The hemispherical chamber looked like the center of an anthill with several entrances to tunnels and passageways Seth had dug in thest eight hours. He only took a break when he was hungry. The other could only watch in awe as the cksmith dug through hard rock like a mole. Mining was surprisingly fun with adequate skills. And harvesting ores for cksmithing put the cherry on top. He still had little idea about what he would do with this stuff, but there was nothing wrong with collecting it first. It felt great picking up riches even if he didn''t know what to use them for, yet. Seth had been digging for 12 hours straight without pause when Felix suddenly jumped up and notified the group that it was safe. Seth looked at his map. He had harvested most of the deposits he could find in the range of the chamber. He chugged a stamina potion to get awake and wiped off some of the dirt. "Okay, I will go over. Then we know where exactly the tunnel leads to." "Are you sure?" Jonah asked. "Yeah, yeah, don''t worry about it." Seth took a little... longer for the way as he kept digging up stuff here and there. The metals and stuff surrounding the tunnel had probably been charged by the mana of the formation. ----------------------- While Seth was on his way to the tower someone else was also doing their best to be the first there. Kesaz had managed to more or less heal himself and hurried back to Delta. It took him a full day to stumble back into the district. He needed a way to get past that bridge and his only clue at this point was the guy who had originally found the entrance the first time. The demon had been suspicious of the amount of gold that had supposedly been stored in the "unprotected" workshops. "You-" the demon rushed into a bar. He had searched through several bars to find the drunkard. He grabbed him by the cor and cast and quick illusion spell. There was no time to waste this time. The demon also found out that not just the formations, but the tower itself might also overload soon. "How did you manage to enter the entrance? " He found the answer around the man''s neck. It was a ne he had stolen somewhere in Delta. It acted as a key, opened the door, and deactivated the traps at the main entrance. The little bastard had hidden it before. With this, he could enter the tower without any problem! He should have taken control of the guy from the beginning. The demon bought some high-grade healing potion and recovered from his injuries before leaving for the main entrance to the magic tower. Just as expected the ne reacted to the formations at the entrance. It was like a backstage pass, but the true challenge was the bridge. Sweat covered his forehead. He had no time toe up with a better method. The demon closed his eyes and stepped on the bridge. A huge load fell off his heart when nothing happened even after several moments. It seemed safe. He could finally get to the tower! Just thinking of monopolizing all the riches of the ancient magician made his heart palpitate. He fell into a joyful sprint and attempted to cross the bridge when he suddenly heard an rm. "Oh no..." The stone b below his feet suddenly vanished and a magic circle lit up around him. He felt a tremendous gravitational force pulling him down, elerating his fall.. Like a bullet, he was shot into the abyss below the bridge. Chapter 230 - 230. Tower Defense Seth arrived at the gate after about 10 hours after he set off. he had kept an eye on his and to his happy surprise, he had gotten closer to Delta in a straight line. When he arrived, he was almost directly below Delta. Evee waited for him at the top of the stairs. She had not moved from the junction room and instead opted to get some sleep there. Her wards had notified her of his arrival. ~ oh ho! This is quite the construction! A true artist built this thing. ~ the Lich admired the construction. She could already see more than the two noobs, even though they had only entered the "basement". "I looked at the rooms ahead with but it does not seem like there are any active traps." ~ Maybe the tower system was deactivated when the power ran out and did not boot correctly when the formations supplied energy again. I''m sure there should be measures, especially at the tower''s power source. ~ "That makes sense." Seth nodded. "Then we should be able to move freely?" Seth had hoped, but Al''Zalsa popped his bubble immediately. ~ Keep your guard up and be careful. There is a chance that the most important systems are still functioning even after an incorrect reboot. ~ Evee and Seth carefully continued to explore the ce. Which meant that the immortal witch scouted for traps while Seth followed behind her. The interior design of the hallways and rooms was regal with avish design. It was impossible to say how old everything here was. Thickyers of dust covered the furnishing and polished floors, but they could not diminish the elegance of the ce. Seth was slightly disappointed as the golden ents and ornaments were at most regr gold. His taste had evolved and looting normal gold was not worth his time, for now. The tower had all kinds of rooms and facilities. Even the great sorceress was impressed by some of them. ~ Look for the control room. It doesn''t seem like there is a tower master right now. We could take control of this ce. ~ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth wanted to settle in Delta, to begin with. Simply taking over a ready-made nest sounded like a good idea. The magic tower seemed quite really useful. "Do you really think we could take this thing over?" ~ Find the control room and I''m sure I can do something. ~ Seth shrugged his shoulders and they kept exploring. They needed to find an exit anyway if they wanted to use this route to get the whole caravan to Delta. If he could get a free high-grade property in Delta, he would not say no. Free real estate was the best after all. He could hear the quiet whisper in his ear and grew more and more fond of the idea. He caught himself thinking of the dust-covered building as if it was his already. Seth was even d he had not ripped off the decorations. It would have been annoying to reinstall those. The tower even had a vintage elevator in the center with intricately decorated doors and a caged shaft... The marble staircase wound up around the elevator shaft. It was a very ssy design. They ascended the stairs several times before the witch suddenly called out from the front. "Is this the control room?" Evee suddenly asked from the front. The room seemed close to the top and upied the whole floor. It looked empty except for a big crystal ball on a stand in the center. In the dim light that lit the tower, they could see the contours of the giant cavern. The whole tower was hidden below the earth. ~ Yes. This should be it. Seth, go and touch the orb! ~ He felt a little suspicious but did what the sorceress asked him to do. The moment he touched the orb a powerful shock shot through his body. ~ Great, the tower was ownerless. Put some drops of your blood on the orb toplete the connection! ~ Seth didn''t really understand what exactly was going on, but if he had to guess he would have likened it to a crashedputer. The tower system had broken down and needed aplete reboot to the factory setting. This gave him the chance to be the new owner. He slightly cut his arm and let the blood flow on the orb. "New Tower Master has been registered. Tower System will now reboot." a pleasant female voice said. The next moment all the indirect light in the tower went out and left them in absolute darkness. Some momentster the lights came back on a lot brighter. Even the cavern outside was now discernable. The voice spoke up again. "This is the Tower System. Please enter the Name of the new master" "Seth Smith" "Seth Smith has been registered as the new Tower Master. Would you like to rename the Tower System?" "Minas Mar," Seth said after wrecking his novel knowledge. It meant something like Tower of Earth or Tower of Home. He liked both trantions. The tower was below the earth and might be his home in Delta. "Minas Mar has been registered as the Tower''s name. Setupplete. Booting system." Like a projector, the orb started shining light in all directions and holographic control panels and stations appeared in the room. System management, Energy Management, Security System, Maintenance System. Everything appeared for him and Evee to see and get familiar with. Al helped a lot in understanding the functions. Although the design itself was different from the one usually used in her world, an expert would be able to understand a simr system much faster than total noobs. With her instructions, Seth powered down the formations to stop those from going berserk. With the current mana saturation in the world, the formation only needed to run at 15% performance to fully power all the systems of the tower. Next was configuring the Security System. The only partially functioning security system was now fully reactivated with the maintenance system working on repairing any damages. He cleared Evee, so traps and other measures would not activate to her. The security measures along with their caravan''s tunnel also stayed dormant. The maintenance system also got to work and cleaned the interior, aside from repairing damages. To Seth, this felt less and less like magic and more like science fiction at this point. It was a lot like aputer system and might have been a lot harder to operate without his that allowed him to understand the ancientnguage. "Attention. A visitor with an outdated identification token has entered the premises. Please confirm the visitor''s status." A video screen popped up in front of him and showed a pale blue demon sneaking towards a giant bridge. It was the caravan leader that had vanished during the attack. Seth was not the most intelligent, but he also wasn''t dumb. It was probably this demon who had tried to sacrifice them and now he tried to sneak into his new home. "Ermm, visitor rights are revoked? Get rid of him." Seth tried to give amand. He didn''t know whether he needed to use specificmands, but the tower seemed to understand. Still, what happened surprised Seth a lot. The floor below the man vanished and he was catapulted into the abyss between the tower and the entrance. Seth knew the entrance was in that direction because of the mini-map of the tower floating beside him. With that, he could even micromanage the whole building''s functions. "Good, since we have full control of the system now, we should notify the rest of the guys to follow. This way is by far easier than traveling through the mountains above." "I will notify Felix." Evee said motivated to help. If everything went smoothly and the guard at the formation notified the rest of the party, it would take about a day for them all to arrive at the tower. This gave Seth enough time to have some sleep and explore the functions of the tower in depth. He yawned. No matter how many potions one drank, they could not substitute real sleep. "The master seems tired. Would you like to teleport to your private quarters?" Chapter 231 - 231. Squatting The Spire "Teleport to the private quarters?" "As you wish, Master." Seth vanished from the control room, leaving a confused Evee behind. He appeared in a spacious bedroom. The air was slightly scented with the smell of herbs. Just a touch to test the softness of the bed weakened his knees. As if all his bones liquified he slid onto the bed and fell asleep. There was no fighting the fatigue. When he woke up, it was as if no time had gone by. But there was no fatigue, and he was wide awake. Had he really slept? He didn''t feel like he slept... ~ Hey, you finally awake? You slept like a log. ~ the lich teased him. So he had slept... He stood up and started exploring his private quarters. There was a cupboard full of robes fit for a tall magician. At one point they might have been powerful items but over a long time of negligence, they had lost all their effects. Now it was just fancy fabric. When he stepped out of the room, he came face to face with a giant vault door. A very interesting-looking, very big vault door. It also looked very safe. "Errm, tower?" "Yes, master?" "Say, what is behind this door?" "That is your treasury, Master. Would you like to survey your vault?" Seth''s eyes lit up. The tower came with a treasure. Great! "Yes, let''s take a look inside." The vault door opened and the treasury inside was- almost empty. What did he expect? His disappointment was short-lived. The golden bars and statues within the almost empty vault were epic arcane gold. It was his first epic material! If he melted down everything in the vault, he would definitely get about 30 bars worth of arcane gold. This was worth to be stored in such a vault. And he didn''t have to share it with anyone. This was when he remembered that Evee was still alone somewhere in the tower. "Tower, can you port me to mypanion?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Affirmative." In the blink of an eye, he stood before Evee who let out a shrill shriek when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She had been worried and anxious and was tired after waiting for several hours. "Ah, sorry for letting you wait." he apologized "I-it is okay. At least I can rest now," she said with her eyes almost falling shut. "Tower, do we have guest rooms? Could you port us there?" "Affirmative" with that the young girl and cksmith disappeared from the control room and appeared in afy bedroom. The witch looked around in surprise and slightly blushed when she realized that they stood in a bedroom. "Oh! Errm... have a good night. Tower get me back to the control room!" he said in a hurry when he realized her misunderstanding. "Affirmative." Teleportation was very handy; it was a shame that teleportation would not work outside of the tower. It was his first question after Evee was gone. He could not use the tower''s function to simply teleport the rest of the caravan from the formation to the tower. At least the long maintenance tunnels made sense now. He had slept for maybe six hours. It was not long and also not short. It would still take a while for the rest of the caravan to arrive. Enough time to explore the tower on his own. Using the tower''s mini-map, he could teleport wherever he wanted. "Wait, if I can teleport wherever I want to go why does the tower have an elevator?" It could have been a substitute for teleportation in case there was not enough mana for that function. But it was enough for Seth to check the elevator. And he was right. The elevator had one floor more than what was shown in the mini-map. It wasbeled with 1 in a different number system. Seth pressed it and could see his own position moving up in the tower''s map. The highest floor of the tower was the private quarters and then came a lot of stone and earth after he left the mini-map. After ten minutes of watching rough stone walls fly by, he became bored. It took another twenty minutes before the elevator came to halt in a small chamber with ssy wood paneling. The bars of the elevator opened, and the wood paneling swung open like a door. What came into view looked like the lobby of a high-ss hotel or a luxurious apartment building. He stepped away from the elevator and the door closed behind him. Seth was impressed by the modern design of the lobby, and he saw a busy city outside the wide ss doors. "Hey, did you juste out of that elevator?" he was suddenly asked as he was still looking around the room. His eyes widened. On the great stairs up stood something he had not seen in a long time. Not since the world had fallen. The woman that spoke to him was a typical cybergoth with pale skin, ck makeup, and dark green hair. She wore revealing ck clothes and wide ck pants with neon ents. Seth could only stare at her since all her clothes were umon and rare rated, despite their modern design. The woman took this as affirmation. "Hahaha! Oh my god! Serves them right! Now they will never have the tower!" she said,ughing with schadenfreude. "Excuse me, what is going on?" Seth asked confused. He was sure that this was Delta. His told him so. But everything seemed so normal, there was even a cybergoth here. It felt like he had just taken an elevator from a fantasy novel to reality. "Don''t worry about it. Follow me, I will get someone to exin everything." Seth shrugged his shoulders and followed her. It would take some time for Evee to wake up and for the others to arrive. He could use some distraction until the others came. He followed the cybergoth happily dancing along the stairs and corridors. "Wait here. I assemble some people and then we can exin it all!" The room had a floor of polished white marble and antique wood paneling. In the middle of the room stood a great piano. He took a closer look while waiting to meet whoever these people were. He had never learned to y piano, but who could withstand the urge to y around a little? The was a brass quette on the piano that reads "To my dear friend Tom Willis. ~Mac." and a date. Judging by the quette this piano was over 200 years old. Someone had taken great care of it as it looked brand new. "I see you are appreciating one of our oh so precious collector''s pieces. A remnant of our ancestors. Come, some people have already arrived. The rest will trickle in as we wait." The woman brought him into a great meeting room, with an old circr table. Some people were seated around it. "This is your seat." There was a high seat at the head of the table, and she pointed at it before standing to the side and leaning on the wall. Seth pursed his lips but followed her directions. He sat at the high seat and looked around the table. ~Be careful. All these people are above lv. 60. Even that weird girl. ~ There were 10 other seats, with six being filled already. All of them wore more or less formal or business apparel and looked more than just unhappy. Their outfits were all rare rated and fit for magicians. It seemed that Delta did notck a good tailor Seth in his armor seemed a little out of ce, but he rather stayed fully geared up. Another two people came in the next ten minutes and after about half an hour appeared the person everyone in the room had been waiting for. A tall, pale man with long blond hair and handsome feature walked in through the door. ~ Stay vignt. That guy is a vampire over level 70! ~ "I''m sorry for beingte. Is this him? The new heir?" he said and pointed at Seth. The next moment he felt as if being observed by appraisal, but the handsome man made a stupid face. "All right, then. Keep your secrets," he said with a smile. ~I blocked his appraisal for you. ~ The vampire took his seat opposite Seth. "Lyddie, would you join us at the table? This concerns you, too." "No, I''m good over here." the cybergoth girl said and stayed leaning against the wall. "Do as you wish. Since everyone is here and our new friend is probably quite confused by everything right now.. Let''s begin the acknowledgment of the new heir. " Chapter 232 - 232.Mine! Mine! Mine! Seth kept watching as if they were enacting a y for him. He didn''t want to disturb their performance. The Vampire had acknowledged his existence, but he stayed silent. He wanted to see where this was going. "I know this might seem very confusing to you now. You probably found the tower on ident and touched the orb. That is okay. We just-" "I don''t ept it! Uncle! He''s not a family member, he has no right to inherit the legacy of the Willis family." a young intelligent-looking man with jet ck hair spoke up. He looked calm and collected with his sses and the ck cool coat. His temperament on the other hand seemed rather explosive. Others at the table were nodding silently in agreement. His uncle answered him with a lenient smile. "The fact that he has the Mark of the Tower master means that he was already epted. There is no changing that. All we can do is try and deal with this. I''m sorry my young friend. This might be a lot now, so let me exin from the beginning." "But Uncle!" "Oh, shut up, Harold. It''s not like YOU ever had a chance." the girlmented sarcastically. "The only one who never stood a chance was you, Ly-di-a!" he over-pronounced every syble of her name. "I never even wanted to," she argued. "Haha, there is a difference between not being able to and not wanting to. We all know you never-!" "Enough. Harold. Sit down." What followed was the exnation of the history of the tower. Their ancestor was a powerful magician who had built the tower to prolong his life. He built the tower in a solidified magma chamber right above a knot in the dragon veins. With the stored mana in the tower, he had lived for a long time even after all magic had vanished and the world was plunged into the dark ages. He had actually managed to persevere until 20 years ago. He had just barely missed the resurgence of magic by two decades. In the hundreds of years of his life he had kept teaching his children about magic in the hope to prepare them for a possible return of the mana. The family also managed to mass quite the fortune over the time of its existence. They were already in Delta before it was Delta. Before the districts were founded. The vampire was the grandson of this magician. He wanted to apany his grandfather in his longevity, but the only possibility was bing a Vampire. Using the little bit of mana in a living being blood to sustain his life was his only option. But as a vampire, he was not eligible to be a magician and inherit the tower. "When he felt his powers finally waning my grandfather decided to seal the tower and prepare it for a possible heir. A talented magician would have been able to open the door to the elevator and inherit the magic tower and its powers. It seems you have found a backdoor. But I am sure we can find a solution." ~ So that''s why all of them have a caster ss. Haha, they must be really pissed. They tried hard only to have the price stolen by an outsider. ~ Lyddie was rolling her eyes while even the grumpy-looking fes seemed annoyed by the vampire monologue. "By the way, what is your name young friend?" "Oh, are you done? This was a nice history lesson, but could you get to the point? I didn''t really get what you want from me. And you should introduce yourself first, before asking for my name." Seth answered seriously. The vampire looked surprised for a moment but went back to smiling amicably. It seemed he had realized that it was best to speak directly with the new Tower master. "Sorry, that was my fault. My name is Valen Willis. And what we want is joint ownership of the tower or at least ess to it." "You can call me Seth. Why should I grant you ess to my Tower?" "YOUR tower?!" a middle-aged man with an aged face and long oily ck hair jumped up. Explosive temperament was a family trait. "Calm down," Valen said calm and quiet, but an invisible force pushed the man back in his seat and he was unable to resist. His face was twisted in anger, but he could do nothing but sit there silently. He turned to Seth. "It is our inheritance after all. Isn''t it normal to wish to get regain ess? I''m sure we can find a solution." "Is it the massive source of magic it can collect, the facilities or the vault''s contents? What are you really after? Or is there a secret I didn''t find yet?" "You are really direct." "And not nearly as clueless as you might think. You won''t be able to make even one step into the tower if I don''t know what you want there." "ke ke" the cybergothughed at the side. She had a thief ss and probably not the best rtionship with her family. The vampire''s eyes glowed up red in anger, but he immediately reigned in his emotions. "We are mostly interested in the facilities and the power supply. Grandfather had spent most of his riches at the time of his death anyway," he said with a sigh. All facades had fallen, and the vampire wanted to make a deal. The fact that he had not tried violence convinced Seth that there was a problem if the tower master died. At no second did he believe this guy tried to do this peacefully out of his own volition. ~ Al what do you think. Could there be something more? ~ ~ Hmm. if they have the knowledge then the power supply and facilities could be more than enough to make a fortune. The revenue could beparable to the kind of big corporations in your world. ~ ~Are you serious? ~ N?v(el)B\\jnn ~ It''s pretty hard to collect mana on this kind of scale. ~ "Hmm, do you have the technology tomercialize the mana?" Valen was surprised while the rest of the clowns sitting around the table looked as if a bug had flown down their windpipe. The eloquent vampire was speechless for the first time which made Seth grin a little. ~What''s with that smug face?" another one exploded. This time it was an old guy with almost no hair left. He looked like he would die of a heart attack any moment. The women beside him looked not much happier but tried to calm him down. "So, you know. Good. Then this will be a lot easier. We can provide the infrastructure if you agree to supply the energy." all cordiality had fallen, and he spoke like an ice-cold businessman. ~Looks like he is serious now. What''s reasonable, Al? How much is the infrastructure worth? ~ ~30% 35% maybe. But I bet you could push them to 20%. It''s not like you need the money. They on the other hand seem to be almost desperate. ~ "15/85. 15% for you, 85% for me." he threw out there and the room exploded. "You little shit!" "Tower master or not, I will end you right now!" All kinds of spells and magic lights started gathering in the room. Every person in the room was 20 levels higher than him and their pressure was nothing tough at. But Seth was rtively sure they couldn''t touch him and if they really tried, he had an Endboss up his sleeve. Considering this, Seth simply watched them putting on airs. When they finally realized their bluff wasn''t working and the situation became awkward, the Vampire stepped in with a sigh. "Enough already. I''m sorry about them. You can''t me them, it was worth a try, right? Who would have thought you were this hard to crack." "No offense taken; can we talk seriously now?" "Not today. It would be better to do this at ater time. I will have to convene with the elders first. Would you like to stay here as our guest?" Seth looked at the faces at the table. "No, I''m good. I will just return to the tower. I will return tomorrow." he said with a smile. He used the little gavel in front of the high seat. "Conference closed," he said with a cheeky smile and let the room. He had learned a lot today and most of it was rather useless stuff. Only one thing made him happy from deep down within him. The tower of officially his and nobody could take it from him. He had an awesome, super-safe secret base.. Once he settled in, he could probably call Fin and the others to follow. Chapter 233 - 233. Party Arrived "Hey! Wait a moment. You did really great in there. I have never seen Valen speechless." the cybergoth followed behind him with a radiant smile on her face. "Don''t you mean Uncle Valen?" Seth said with augh. "Bah. That vampire is over 200 years old. I don''t know what kind of fetish he has, to make everyone call him Uncle. I''m not doing that, it feels weird." "Hmm, noted." "You are returning into the Batcave?" "That''s the n." "You sure you don''t want to have some fun on the surface before returning to the crypt?" "Are you very bored? " "Actually, yes. And you seem really interesting. Don''t you want to have a look at Delta, or is there something important waiting for you downstairs?" Seth had to admit that Lydia was right. Evee was sleeping and the caravan would take at least a day to arrive through the maintenance tunnel. He took a deep breath before answering. "Alright then. Show me around your city," he said with a smile. The woman''s expression lit up and she led him back to the lobby and out of the doors. To Seth''s surprise, Delta seemedpletely normal at first nce. People wore normal casual clothes; the streets were clean and pristine. Nothing made it seem like there was a problem with random portals or dungeon breaks. At a second nce, all these casual-looking clothes were low-grade equipment. Umon, rated t-shirts, jeans, and jackets. Just like the clothes of the cybergoth and the rest of the Willis family, everything looked normal but was a system gear. Another difference was the races that mingled with the crowd. They were hard to notice, as they easily blended in by wearing the same modern clothes as everyone else. Some animal ears here, some horns there, demons with pale blue or red skin. Some non-humanoid demons were more noticeable, but aside from some side-nces, nobody seemed to care. Unlike Y-City or B-City, as far as he heard, here many races lived together. It must have been the influence of the Chrona Empire that had made a deal with the Leadership of Delta and the Demons. Who would have thought that there would be such a huge differencepared to Y-City? But even in Delta, some changes were straightforward and not to overlook. The magical shops and street stalls dominated the shopping district. All the new and magical professions had taken over the economy. Seth was especially interested in the material shops and other cksmiths. It was a huge difference to Y-City where the public skill level was barely able to make umon gear. Here umon was good quality and some shops even disyed fancy rare weapons to attract customers. The weapons looked better than they performed, in Seth''s opinion. But it seemed to work. The shops were filled with customers. Overall, the situation was simr to the human district of Ora, where most shops were run by aspiring cksmith hoping to gain ess to the dwarven city. "Are you interested in equipment? You don''t seem to need any new stuff, though." "Oh, I''m just scouting out thepetition." "So you have a good crafter?" "You could say that," he said with a smirk. She probably thought he was a magician. The smile was reced by a look of surprise. There was a shop full of pots, pans, and other kitchenware. It was the first time he even saw Kitchenware with a rating. "Why is that cksmith shop selling kitchenware?" he asked in surprise. Now Lydia followed him in looking surprised. "Why wouldn''t he? Chefs also need their equipment, don''t they? There are a lot of these shops in further away from the center." Lydia was not an expert, but she shared what she had heard. Apparently, making kitchenware was a good practice for beginner cksmiths to train their skills. It was a lot harder to make a weapon, so they were the financially stable alternative to start off with. Not every cksmith had their own smelter, failing to make an item meant wasting material they had to sell as scrap. Seth started off learning making equipment using , a skill,mon cksmiths did not have from the start. The knowledge was somon, that nobody ever told him, who already knew how to make weapons. It never really came to his mind since all the kitchenware he saw wasmon and sold in general stores. He simply thought there was a different job like tinker who made those. Seth was not to me, not even Link had asked him for cooking stuff. "Interesting." Under the confused eyes of Lydia, he started to buy several different versions of pots, cauldron, pans, and knives. The price was several thousand credits. It was negligible. Although it didn''t hurt Seth''s finances at all, the shopkeeper was over the moon to have sold so much in one go. With all the stuff he bought, he could scan it and add the kitchenware to his and start designing better versions. Although he had never seen any enchantment for cooking, just with different materials he could probably optimize the function. Thinking about the possibilities they kept walking around the shopping street until his eyes fell on a set of leather clothes. It was umonly rated and made of snake leather. He had seen it before. To be precise, he had made it. It was Mina''s leather outfit he had made for her in Ora. What was it doing here? "Can I help you?" a quick clerk suddenly materialized and asked him from the side. He didn''t see him materialize but he also didn''t notice him until he spoke. "Ah! Hello. Can I ask where you got this leather armor?" N?v(el)B\\jnn "Oh, this one? It''s a very good, umon-rated leather set from Namia. A very sweet catdy that came to the city a few weeks ago sold it here. She was very sexy, at least 9/10" Thest part he whispered into Seth''s ears. Hearing his items and on-off lover praised felt good, but it did not distract him from the fact that this meant Mina hade to Delta. If Mina was here, then the rest of the party was probably not far. His heart started racing. They hade several weeks ago. Their level was practically halved in this world. Who knew what could have happened to them? He had read and seen too much to stay calm. "Are you okay?" Lydia asked beside him. "Hmm, no. Do you have a way to find people in Delta?" "Errm, official way or shady ways?" "Doesn''t matter." "Shady ones then. Yes, I know some people. But it''s a little early. I can introduce them to youter." "Good." They kept strolling around town, but Seth could not stop worrying until it was finally time to meet Lydia''s contact. It was evening and she led him to a fancy-looking nightclub. It was really as if the apocalypse never happened. People dancing, drinking,ughing in an atmosphere of loud music and neon lights. Seth hated it. He would rather enter a damp dark dungeon than a damp dark disco. The only good part about this experience was that he could finally wear a set of casual clothes. Lydia had forced him to shop around among the fashion shops. The tailoring business was booming in Delta. It was the easiest field to fuse modern knowledge and the new arcane knowledge brought by the Chrona Empire. Now he wore umon-rated jeans, a T-Shirt and a jacket on top of N?del''s Set. He was still like a sore thumb in this environment,pared to the happy cyber goth that was dancing her way through the crowd. "Wait here for a moment. I will go and talk to them." with those words she left him at the bar. He stood at the bar and ordered a drink while waiting. He sipped on his ss when it suddenly fell to the ground. "You gotta be kidding me..." Entering through the door was a giant guy with broad shoulders and a sleek-looking young man in stylish ck suits, a short woman in a fancy dress, a sexy woman in a small ck one, and a tiny figure on the big guy''s shoulder sparkling like a diamond. Bulko, Mike, Lixiss, Mina, and Fin looking posh like celebrities had just entered the nightclub. They were led straight to the VIP-Rooms. "Okay, we can go meet them now in the VIP Lounge. " Chapter 234 - 234. Caravan Arrives "Seth! " SETH!?" "Seth!" "Me?!" "What is going on?" He had already somewhat expected it, but the shady people Lydia wanted to introduce him to look for someone were the someone he was looking for. They were all leisurely sitting on the sofas in the VIP lounge as if it was their living room and had an assortment of alcohol on the table before them. "Seth!" the fairy brute tackled his face throwing him off his feet. On the ground, Fin realized that she had not held back and ruined the emotional reunion she had imagined. "I-Fin is sorry! Seth are you okay?" she asked in a panic and squishing his face with teary eyes. "Ihmm ok-hey, ples stup squishy ma face" "Oh, oh sorry," she said embarrassed and let off of him while Mike helped him up. "It''s good to see you again." Mike greeted him as he pulled him up from the ground. "Yeah, I''m d you guys are okay, too. Since when are you in Delta?" "2 or 3 weeks." said a Mina that had sneaked up on his side. She pulled him into an embrace and kissed his cheek. Bulko greeted him wordlessly with a wave. He was not a man of many words. Lixiss also waved with aplicated expression. They were not that close, so she didn''t know how exactly to greet him in a situation, where he was already surrounded by people. The fairy sparkling like a diamond in a dress set with rhinestones had promptly changed her seat from Bulko''s shoulder to his, while the others motion him to sit among them. Lydia was unable to interject at all in this atmosphere. She could only watch with a confused look. "Lydia why are you standing there. Come on, sit down too!" Mike finally saved her from the awkwardness, and he also sat down with them. Seth tried to ask them what they were doing in Delta, but Fin promptly changed the Topic to him. The others joined in and thus he was forced to recount how he was forced to return prematurely and his adventured since returning to Urth. Even with Lydia sitting among them, he didn''t hold back. The fact that this party trusted her was proof that he did not have to be vignt of her. In a sense, this fact made her more trustworthy as a partner in the cooperation with the Willis family, than the day they had spent in town together. It was deep in the night and quite a few drinkster when he finally finished recounting his own experiences- Now, he got the chance to ask them what had happened to them. They were all quite drunk and kept intercepting each other, even Bulko became a little wordier. The biggest surprise was Lixiss. The elf had a strong reaction to earth alcohol. Especially the cocktails with tiny pink umbres. She turned into a total extrovert and lead the conversation. From what Seth could garner and rememberter the party had put a lot of effort into leveling up after he had left. It was Fin''s idea to be super strong and surprise him. In that matter, the war with the demon worshippers in Namia was a blessing in disguise. Nothing gave such ample chance to level up like a war with strong enemies. All of them had reached lv. 70 and became A-Rank adventurers. This would not have been enough to stay on Urth where their Level was practically halved. It was thanks to Simon and their contribution in the war that they were able to join a diplomatic dispatch and got a blessing that boosted all their stats while on Urth. With this blessing their lv. 70 wasparable to lv.65 on Urth. It made them into one of the powerhouses in Delta. The average level of Delta was 35-40, almost double that of Y-City. As such, they had a good time in Delta. They could enter almost untouched high-level dungeons and make a lot of money by selling materials and information directly to the continent''s main branch of the adventurer guild. It was obvious from their outfit, but they kept raving about how they enjoyed this modern lifestyle of Urth. Technology was working just fine in Delta, and they told him about all the awesome technology he grew up with like they were religious fanatics. In the end, it became a really fun party and they kept talking and drinking until deep into the morning. When Lixiss was the first one to puke, which prompted Mike and Lydia to follow suit, they took it as a sign. All of them were getting tired at this point and finally decided to meet on the next day after all of them had a good day of sleep. Seth had to support Lydia on the way back. He used his to find the Way. "Wow, she really overdid it again, huh?" someone said sarcastically. When they came back to the Willis Building there was already someone waiting for them It was Harold, the young intelligent-looking fellow with a nasty temperament. H stood between to elevator door and them. "That''s also good. I wanted to talk to you. Give up on the tower." "Pff, no. Good conversation. Now step aside." "I think you didn''t understand me. You may not be afraid but what about your friends? Did you really think you would be able to party this much without us finding out?" "Are you really threatening me with the lives of my friends?" "Erm, yes?" "You are seriously threatening people that are part of a diplomatic delegation of the Chrona Empire?" "I-If you say it like that..." "Yeah, thought so. No balls." he simply walked past Harold and the elevator door opened automatically. He put Lydia in the elevator and turned back to the stumped Harold. "But for the attempt..." In a sh, he waspletely geared up and swung Seth''s scepter at Harold''s waist. The magician hurriedly erected a magic shield to block the attack. The staff crashed into the shield which immediately caved in under the blunt force and gave way for the attack. Harold had a high level but was obviously not very experienced in fighting melee battles. He could only shut his eyes tightly and wait for what was about to happen. Seth''s attack stopped only millimeters before crushing the caster''s waist. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Take that as a lesson. You can''t touch me, but don''t think I won''t get rid of you if you be a hindrance." With that, he entered the elevator and closed the doors. ~Hey, don''t put me away every time you go out to have fun! I also wanted to see the city. ~ the lichined. He had put away the token with most of his other stuff when he apanied Lydia. ~ But how am I supposed to have fun, if you are around? ~ he poked. ~Ouch. Very funny. Summon me and I will show you some fun. ~ the sorceress answered provocatively. ~ Ah, ermm. No, I know, I might need you as a trump card any time soon. Right? Yeah. ~ ~ Wimp. ~ ~Nympho. ~ They kept bickering until they reached the tower. "Tower, can you put her in a guest room?" he asked when they reached the floor with his personal quarters. "Affirmative. Also, yourpanion woke up, Master." Lydia vanished and the tower informed him that Evee had woken up. "A group of intruders is nearing through one of the maintenance tunnels." "Oh, that should be the caravan, can you show me footage?" A screen opened before him and showed his party and the Tijaahk traveling along the tunnel. "Those are not intruders. Register them as guests and let them enter. Send me and Evee to the control room." "Seth?!" Evee called out when they both appeared in the control room. She was still wearing her cute pajamas and looked a little sleepy. She was awake but enjoyed the softness of the bed a little longer. "Hi, Evee. I returned. I found a way to Delta above and the caravan will arrive soon. I also brought in a guest. Can you stay here and keep an eye on the situation? I really need to catch a wink of sleep right now." "Oh, sure. Recover soon." Seth conferred her temporary operator rights and went to the private quarters to take a nap. He felt like shit when the Tower notified him of the caravan''s arrival a few hourster. He chugged a stamina potion to wake up and ported to the lobby to receive the people. "Send the guys over once they are in range for teleportation." Chapter 235 - 235. Receiving Guests Seth and Evee waited in the entrance hall on the ground floor of the tower. "I browsed the footage a little, while you took a break. The tower is really awesome. It even has all kinds of advanced facilities like alchemybs and enchantment rooms. There are also several floors of storage rooms." Evee mentioned excitedly. With her temporary Operator rights, she could check through the tower''s systems, but not change anything or givemands. "How about our guest?" "She was still sound asleep when I checked before you called me down." "The guests are now in range. Proceeding to move them to the entrance hall." The party and caravan of Tijaahk suddenly appeared in the spacious hall. The carriage would not have fit into the maintenance tunnel and was stored in their inventories. Some of the drat animals that were not registered as mount had been led by a leash but were now stored in the Tower''s stables. "Wee to Minas Mar!" he said pompously "What happened?" some among the Tijaahk were confused by the sudden transportation and the animals vanishing. He guards too a fighting stance, but Drosi and the Party quickly recognized who had greeted them "Seth?" "Boss!" "Hey, you are finally here. Don''t worry, it''s a long story, but this ce belongs to me now." When everyone recognized that there was no danger, but that they had arrived at their destination, their eyes filled with wonder. Especially the younger ones like Ruby and the kittens were looking around with big eyes. The entrance hall was richly decorated with exotic wood, marble, and gold ornamentation. After decades of destitution, everything had been polished to its prime when Seth reactivated the maintenance system. Everything looked new and impressive. Even the adults could not hide their admiration. Seth greeted Drosi and the party. All of them looked a little tired and his party members made no attempt to hide their relief to have finally arrived. "You guys must be tired, how about you go rest and I will exin everything afterward. There are many quite a few rooms in this ce and they don''tck behind the entrance hall in luxury." Rubies eyes sparkled when she heard about exploring more of the ce. All of them dly agreed and Evee went with them to choose rooms. She had made herself familiar with the tower''syout. Now, only Seth and the caravan were left behind. "You own this? You made quite a big haul here." Drosi joked looking around. "Yeah, I was also really surprised. But you are probably also tired from the journey. There are a lot of guest rooms if you want to rest." Drosi looked at the people of the caravan. After several hours of walking on foot, they were all tired. Even the children were fighting against their fatigue to ogle and explore the entrance hall. "I will have to burden you then," he said with an apologetic smile. Seth understood the old cat''s hesitance. It took quite a bit of trust, before staying in the underground bunker of their new friend with their whole family. Even if they got quite friendly on the journey, he had a lot of responsibility as the caravan leader. "It''s okay, my house, is yours, too." he friendly patted Drosi''s shoulder. Maybe they would stay for longer once they got a taste of the tower''s luxury. It was his subtle hope to recruit the Tijaahk. Not because of their forces, even so, their guardians were undeniably strong. They were great merchants; Seth was sure they could help him build a distributionwork. Not just for the items he was going to make to grind. Seth thought on a bigger scale. Link, Alison, and Evee were still at the starting point of their crafting skills. They would grind a lot in the future, more than their own party would ever be able to use. If he didn''t want to just pump money into their skill growth Seth needed a way to sell all the stuff. The most important reason he would have liked to work with Drosi and his people was that he had developed some trust in them on the journey. Seth would rather work with them, than with a stranger. But he couldn''t rush this. Otherwise, he might ruin their rtionship if he was too forceful. "I appreciate it. They really need some rest." Seth personally apanied them to the floors with rooms and helped them settle in. Once every member of the caravan had a room, Drosi and some of the guardians approached Seth. "We would like to scout Delta; can you show me the way?" Even if others rested, he had to do his duty as the leader. All they knew about this world until now, were things Seth had told them. Letting his people stay in his ce was already a big loan of trust. It made sense that they wanted to see it for themself and double-check the situation and the location. It was their duty, and it would calm their hearts, once they knew that Seth had told the truth. Seth dly brought them to the elevator and apanied them on the way up. Once they saw that he was honest with them, it would only help their rtionship. "Is this the only way to the city?" Drosi asked. He was a little disconcerted standing in a cage that was slowly moving up through a tunnel. "Oh, no. Don''t worry, this is just the fastest. There is also the main entrance, which leads outside, but I have no idea where exactly it leads in rtion to the city." Drosi calmed down a little. He preferred to travel with his people using carriages. Tijaahk had bad experiences with cages. It made the fact that he let his people stay at Seth''s ce even more significant. The ride took about 30 minutes. The cat people were visibly relieved when they reached the lobby of the Willis building and could leave the elevator. "This is going too far! You are even bringing in pets through the secret entrance!?" This time it was the middle-aged man with the long oily hair he encountered. Seth waved at the man as if shooing away a pesky fly and led the cat people outside of the building. "That direction is the shopping district and... that''s all I know. This is my first time here, too. You guys can manage on your own, right? I have some people to meet." Seth and Drosi saw each other off and went their separate ways. Seth pulled out a smartphone from his inventory. It was Lydias. He didn''t steal it. She gave it to him so he could contact Fin and the others. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Now that he could fiddle with one, he found that only the basic functions of a phone still worked. There was no inte connection or GPS function. Only calling, messaging and the native apps on the phone worked. He called Mina''s number and let it ring for a few minutes. "Who is it?! Why are you calling so early in the evening!?" a grumpy cat girl grunted on the phone. "Good morning, Sunshine. I notice you have a great mood today. Wanna go and get breakfast together?" "S-Seth!?" she asked embarrassedly. Seth could almost hear the blood shooting in her face. "Ah, erm. Yes, breakfast! Of course. You shoulde to the embassy, and we can have a meal here. I will send you the map!" she spoke in a sweet, hurried voice. "Alright, untilter then," Seth said with a grin. Within a minute she sent him a message with the address of the embassy and a picture of a map. Mina had somehow remembered that he entered Delta through the Willis Building. She sent him a cutout of a map that showed the way to the embassy. His updated and showed the cutout in his map view. It made it easy to find the way. It was some way from the Willis building. It was a rich neighborhood of big luxurious mansions and high risers. The embassy was surrounded by a high wall with powerful magic and barriers. The gates were guarded by knights in shining armor. He greeted the guards and send Mina a message that he was waiting at the gate. "I''m there in a minute" A slightly disheveled and much less posh-looking Mina came rushing to the gates. She looked just like the typical cue neighbor girl in her casual modern clothes. It really dampened her feline vibe of danger and sexiness. She looked almost innocent. "I-I''m here," she said, trying to hide how out of breath she was. They hugged and were on their way. "Do you know a good ce to eat? You were a lot longer here than me." Mina''s ears fluttered cutely as she thought hard about a ce to go. "Oh, I know, let''s go!" They talked a bit more about their experiences since they split up. A lot of yesterday''s talks were lost to the alcohol, and they had a lot to catch up on. The restaurant they went to was small, but Seth had to admit that the food was superb. The chef was extremely skilled and there was a long queue in front of the ce. They only got into the restaurant, because Mina knew the people and they got a private booth. The conversation kept going without pause. They talked and talked. They talked all the way into the evening before leaving the restaurant and getting a room... It had been a long time since hest woke up in this room. Well, not this exact room, but a room like this. Clothes were lying all over the ce and a soft warm cat girl was snuggling up against him. He really needed to keep leveling, if he wanted to keep up with his lover. Still, he felt great after finally being able to get some much-needed sleep. As he looked at the rising sun outside it felt like he forgot something... The Tijaahk! Chapter 236 - 236. Settling In Seth just got up to get dressed when Mina''s phone started ringing. Sleepy Mina picked up. "Hmm, what is it? Where I am? I''m with Seth, why do you ask?" "WHAT!? Did you meet him without us? That''s unfair! You were away a whole day having fun, while we had to take over your duties!" Seth could hear Fin''s agitated voice ring from the phone. It seemed like Mina also forgot a few things for their date. "Looks like we will have to separate for now," hemented after Fin had a real go at her. She looked up at him with hanging ears. "Yeah, I guess," she said sadly. After getting dressed Seth left the hotel and returned to the Willis Building where he found a... scene. "What is going on here?!" What he came to was a standoff between Drosi and the 4 guardians he had brought and some members of the Willis Family led by Fattyhair. Everyone had several kinds of wounds and looked very tired. They were obviously too tired to keep fighting and hade to a standstill. It took a while for them to even register that Seth was standing in the lobby, despite him having spoken up. Fattyhair who had a few long w cuts on his clothes finally reacted to him. "You? This is your fault! Who told you, you could bring in your little fur friends, huh? They came in here like beasts. Get them out of here!" "Tijaahk were just waiting in front of the building. How dare you lie and belittle us?" a guardian spat out. Seth ignored the two and stepped to Drosi who seemed to suffer from severe mana depletion. It was simr to when he depleted his mental energy, if one used up their mana, they would feel weak, out of breath, and very tired. There were also side effects from drinking too many potions if one was not careful. The cat was already quite old and had a hard time recovering from the effects. "Drosi, how are you?" "Oh, Seth, there you are. We''ve been waiting." the elder pressed out. "I''m sorry that I''mte. Come, I help you up. I''m sure you will feel a lot better after getting some sleep in a good bed." he supported the cat elder and the guardians followed him unwillingly tower''s the elevator- "Where do you think you are going!? Don''t use our ancestor''s heritage like some boarding house for aliens!" "Shut up. I will deal with youter." The elevator doors shut before anyone could speak up again and they returned to Minas Mar. Seth really started to dislike the Willis Family. Maybe he should not make business deals with them. He didn''t like it, but the weird Vampire Valen seemed like the only professional person up there. "Boss! What happened? Where have you been?" Evee and Jonah were in the control room when Seth arrived. "Evee, can I leave them to you?" "Oh, sure! I actually saw medical facilities on the lower floor. Maybe you could send us there?" In the blink of an eye, the cat people and Evee were gone from the control room. "Boss, what''s going on?" Jonah asked once they were gone. "Is everyone awake? Let''s go and have a meeting. I will brief you on what happened in Delta and we can talk about what to do in the future." The party assembled they talked about what happened. He briefed them of the Willis Family and that he found his old party members already present in Delta. He also shared his thoughts about the Tower and its future operations. He originally wanted to settle in Delta, get a building, open a store, and found a workshop. A ce where Alison, Link, Evee, and he could improve their crafting skills in peace. The Tower was a great find, that already came with everything but a store. He wanted to stay here and make it his base. Starting there they could keep expanding. He still had to talk more to Fin and the others, but he had no doubts that they would join him, too. A deal with the Willis Family and cooperation with the Tijaahk was also a possibility. "I don''t know. The Willis Family does not seem trustworthy." Alisonmented. ~ True. It might be better to look directly for contact with the Chrona Empire for an energy deal. ~ "She''s right. The only problem is that the elevator leads straight into their home." Link mentioned." "We should find a different way to Delta" ~ I should be able to improve the teleportation system of the tower. It should be able to teleport directly to Delta. ~ Right, she was an expert for almost anything magical. Al''Zalsa should be able to improve the systems. "Errm, Am I interrupting something?" Lydia stood in the door. She had woken up some time ago and had been looking around the ce. She had identallye across the meeting. "Oh, hey Lydia. We''ve been talking about how to get around making a deal with your Family." Everyone grimaced when they heard Seth being so open but were surprised at the answer. "Nice, let me help. Those stuck up, entitled bitches don''t deserve anything!" she grabbed a chair excitedly and sat down among them. "Don''t worry. She''s okay." Seth guaranteed for the cybergoth. He could already see Link''s eyes ze over. That guy was really a terrible womanizer. Or at least he thought of himself like that. Lydia was probably okay without his help. "By the way, I couldn''t help but hear a little about your ns. What''s the name of your organization?" Lydia asked innocently. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Everyone looked surprised. They had just seen themself as a party until now, but everyone realized that Lydia was right. Seth had always avoided joining something like a guild, but at this point, was there a difference? "Don''t tell me you haven''t thought of a name? Doesn''t even your party have a name?" er questioning eyes bore holes into Seth''s soul. No, he had never thought of a name for the party, or a guild. "Ermm... Ah! We should wait for all members to talk about a name. I would not want to decide on it with just us." Seth found a convenient way to dodge naming them. "Great. Back to the topic, maybe your friends can help get a connection with empire? Didn''t you say they were part of a diplomatic delegation or dispatch or something?" Monique interjected. They kept talking about it a bit longer. The result was that they first needed to teleport to work for travel to the city. They could not use the daily home call just to travel to Delta. With a way to circumvent the Willis family everything else would be a lot easier. Next, they would have to talk with Drosi once he recovered. And Seth needed to contact Fin and the other to see if they could get them connected with someone from the empire. "let''s start with getting a shortcut to the city. Al, are you up for it?" ~ Sure, but don''t you dare ignore our deal. ~ Seth summoned the spicy sorceress. Like always when she made an appearance, nobody could take their eyes off her. Especially Lydia was bbergasted by her. "Okay, let''s hurry. Give me administrative rights and I will take a look at the systems." Seth gave her the rights and she fell silent for the full hours of her time limit before she returned into the token. ~ This tower was definitely built by an expert. Originally the power was able to transport you anywhere in a radius of 5km. The problem was something in the city blocking its system''s ess. It is probably a measure of the Chrona Empire. ~ Everyone nodded. It made sense that they didn''t want for people to willy-nilly teleport in and out of the city. Seth only experienced teleportation through the church. This was also the mostmon space travel in the pathworks. But there were many other ways in the world. Just like how one did not necessarily need a priest of the church to open a portal. Powerful magicians could learn the spell and even create teleportation formations like in Minas Mar. The Fog travel of the Tuatha De was another one. Who would want people like that to randomly visit? ~ I tweaked the tower''s systems a little bit and scanned for an ess point. It''smon practice to implement one since teleportation is too convenient to not use. There is a reception hall at the System Church that allows for teleport inside the city. You just need to get approval to connect. ~ This meant Seth was going to be busy today. Chapter 237 - 237.Settling In (2) After the fun came the work. Seth knew what he had to do and would return to the surface. His first destination was the church. At least it would not be too hard to talk to the church, since he was already a member. Lydia apanied him on the way up. She also had a life, or so she said. She would also take a look at the situation within the family. Seth had told her about what happened between them and Drosi. She hade to know some of the caravan during her stay in the tower and liked the cat people. She readily offered herself as a double agent. Nobody was waiting in the Lobby when they left the elevator. They separated in the Lobby and Lydia went up into the building. N?v(el)B\\jnn Seth didn''t need her for what he needed to do. He already came past Delta''s church building on his way to the embassy. On the way there he texted Mina for a meeting with the others. He also needed to share his ns with them. The reply came quickly. The party had duty today and could only meet himte in the evening. They had told him about their job during the party, but Seth could hardly remember much. They needed to protect some important person was all he could remember. When he entered the church an old acquaintance was already expecting him. "Seth!" a rotund old man with a Santa use-beard pulled him into a bear hug. "Simon?" Seth knew Simon was in Delta, but how did he know when Seth would show up in the church? It couldn''t be that he stalked him. Or was the old man lurking in the entrance hall of the church like some creep, waiting for Seth to arrive...? "Seth!" a shrieking bullet hit him in the cheek and threw him off his feet. "Meanie! You met Mina without Fin!" "I think you broke my cheekbone. We should be even with that...What are you even doing here?" Seth asked in yed pain. He got up and the Fairy sat on his shoulder. "Fin is doing her job." "Tackling people is your job?" "N-No, Fin''s job is securing the peri- perimeter," she said with dangling feet. "Hey, don''t just dive into your own little world. I''m still here. Don''t ignore me just because I''m an old man!" "I''m sorry. I''m d to see you two. Still, how did you know I wasing, Simon? You didn''t wait here ever since I wrote you, I would go to Delta, right?" "N-No! Did you think of me like that?" "I would think you are capable of anything at this point. I keep all possibilities ope-" "Mina told me, ok? I am a proper priest of the system church and not some creep." Seth looked at him askant, but Fin was here, so Mina probably came by, too. It was possible that Simon''s story was true. "Does that mean the person you are protecting is here, too?" Seth asked the tiny figure on his shoulder, but it was Simon answering. "Yes, the 4th princess came to the church for business with the bishop." "Cool, anyway. Since you are here, this might go faster than expected. I need a permit for your teleportation ess point" "Why would you need that? Don''t tell me you became a wizard and learned teleport." "No, that would be stupid. I found an ancient magic tower, took it over, and made it my base. Now I need an ess permit so I can travel between the city and the tower below." "Hahahaha! For a moment you had me! I really thought you were serious there, for a second." "Well, it doesn''t matter whether you believe me or not. How can I get the permit?" Simon calmed down slowly. He noticed that Fin did not seem surprised at all. She looked rather proud of her friend owning a powerful magic tower. "I can''t help you with that. It''s located in the church, but we don''t give the permits. You are lucky, the person that could give you a permit is currently talking to the bishop. If you kiss her feet and beg, she might give you a permit. Haha, don''t make that face, I''m joking. Just ask her normally. She''s a very humble person." Seth calmed down a little. He really didn''t have a thing for sucking up to someone. Maybe if she was cute, but he doubted a royal would let him go that far. "You can just wait. Her majesty and the other will meet up with me down here." "In the meantime, how about a tea and a small meal?" Simon suggested. He also wanted to hear about Seth''s journey and that mysterious magic tower. If it was Samuel, he might not have told him, but Simon had proven often enough that he was a trustworthy friend. They sat down at a table in the lobby and talked over a light breakfast. Fin was gorging on a basket of cookies as big as herself. He asked what had happened to "securing the perimeter" and she answered. "Isn''t Fin currently guarding the two most dangerous people on this floor? How much safer is Fin supposed to make it?" She grinned upon her own cleverness before sinking her face into a piece of cake. Sometimes wondered whether Fin was maybe eating like a duck and just swallowing. In these moments he was d that he could not see the small fairy eat up close. If a normal-sized person ate like that it would be terrifying. After a while, they finally heard peopleing down the stair and the rest of "Yulecat''s Fur" appeared with the princes in their middle. She looked like you would imagine a typical fairy tale princess. Not. The 4th Princess of the Chrona empire was a victim of modern fashion. A typical fashionista. As someone whose wardrobe was filled with ck t-shirts and sloppy sweatpants; Seth felt a cringe rending his heart. Another innocent soul had fallen into the grasps of a heartless industry. But Seth was not a hero. Although it hurt his soul, this was not his battle. It was not his duty to save her from her own mistakes. He just hoped he could get the permit quickly and leave. "Fin? Where are you? Report!" Mike was looking for Fin who had just eaten her way into another piece of cake, like an insect that wanted toy its eggs into the juicy, sugary treat. "Seth? What are you doing here? I thought we wanted to meet in the evening?" Mike eximed when he noticed Seth. He came over and saw the cake moving as if it was alive. He had smiled until now. He asked with an expressionless face. "Is Fin in that piece of cake?" "Fin is!" the fairy broke out of the creamy top of the cake. "You were supposed to secure the perimeter!" "I did! Look. The most dangerous individuals are contained on this table. I cleverly used a breakfast to keep them in check." she jested half-jokingly, half-serious. "And why did you join them?" Mike asked lifting one of his eyebrows. "I HAD to join them! It was my cover to listen in on their dark schemes." Mike chuckled. "And what dark schemes did theye up with?" "The old man told Seth to suck the princess'' toes!" "Not true! I said to lick her feet!" Simon interrupted indignantly. "YOU DID WHAT!" the princess joined the fray. Fin burst into aughing fit when she heard the priest standing up for himself. Even Seth couldn''t stay serious when he heard Simon and saw the princess''s reaction. It took a moment before everyone calmed down enough to have a serious conversation. Chapter 238 - 238. Settling In (3) "So to recount. You are a cksmith from Urth. You saved Fin''s people, traveled to a different world to learn, met these guys there, came back here, found a magic tower, and now n to found an organization with these friends and your current party? And now you want me to grant you permission to ess to the Teleportation Port of Delta?" "That about sums it up." Seth nodded friendly. Everyone was sitting in a meeting room of the church and was supplied with drinks and sweets. Seth and co. had given the royal a rough rundown of their story to exin the situation. The princess thought for a moment before answering. "No," she said with a sulky pout. Everyone looked crestfallen. In theory, there was nothing speaking against granting the permit. "Wh-Why not!? I-if I may ask?" Seth asked "Hng!" she looked around as if to find a serious exnation. She didn''t and said with defiant tears in her eyes. "I''m not giving Fin to you! She is my friend now! She won''t leave me, right Fin?!" The fairy looked up in surprise hearing her name being mentioned. "Fin will ditch the Princess any time, for Seth." "Wha- but I thought we bonded! Aren''t we friends?" "Fin is sorry, ditched Princess. That is that, and this is Seth" "D-Ditched Princess? Have you already forsaken me? You won''t even say my name anymore?" Big tears were flowing down her cheeks when she realized that she was much more invested in this friendship than the fairy. Fin the Fairy Brute could hit feelings just as hard as faces. "Fin is sorry ditch- Leana, but if you make Fin choose, Fin will go with Seth!" Thest blow to the princess''s fragile heart was seeing the fairy wink at Seth after choosing his side. She looked like an influencer who was betrayed by her chihuahua who was her only true friend. "Don''t be sad!" she acted as if thinking hard for a moment. "I know! Fin and Leana can stay friends if you give Seth the permit!" The crying princess looked up at the little maniptor on the table in front of her. The fairy had her in her hands. Seth was almost frightened, but he already had an inkling that Fin was not as cute and innocent as she acted. Everyone, but especially Simon was d they had switched rooms to something more private. What had happened to the serious andpetent princess he knew? Was this all a front, or was it the fairy''s work that had turned her into such a childish woman? "R-really?" "Of course!" "Okay then. You can have the ess," she said towards Seth. Her mood immediately lifted when Fin hugged her cheek and gave it a tiny smooch. Since Fin had the Princess in her hand and the ess was informally granted, Seth brought up the question of power supply. "The Willis Family? I got reports that they approached some officials concerning this matter. What do you have to do with that?" It was time for Seth to see her professional side, which was as if apletely different personality took over once it came down to political themes. Talking to lean also revealed that the Willis Family was not quite honest before. It was not them holding control over the infrastructure needed to distribute power, it was the empire. Technically the Willis family would have sucked up the money of a partner when they were just a mere middleman. The whole conversation Seth had with them was for naught. He was just d he had not signed any contracts yet. It made a lot more sense to talk directly to the princess. She was in the position to directly give him the connection to the responsible officials. "Well, then this is all the time I can make for you. I still have other things to do. You should talk with Sir. Smarno from the Empire and Mr. Meyers from Delta. They are the people in charge of energy policies. I will inform themter. " With that, she stood up to leave. He saw off Mina and the others who still had their duty to protect the princess. Now he was left alone with Simon. "So, will you give me the permit now?" The two went to Reception Hall, where foreign teleport channels could connect to. Simon handed him a badge with an intricate sigil on it. "This is a magic item that will give you, or your teleportation formation a special signature that allows you to connect to this ce. if your magic tower is as advanced as you say it can probably just scan it." ~ It can. ~ Al confirmed the assumption. This meant Seth had taken care of his main objectives of the day in record time. Ant that meant the rest of the day was free time! He didn''t get the chance to visit the auction house the other day. He was quite confused at first since the auction house was almost empty. That was until he realized what had screwed over the leadership and Mark Baker. As the only auction house on Urth, yet, there were only things from people in Delta. If he wanted to get the good stuff, he needed to ess the interdimensional auction house adding a not-so-small fee for the transportation. He would have to thoroughly think about what things to get from the auction house. ~ Oh, that one! Get me that one! ~ "P-Puffles, you are awake?" ~ Yes, it is the great me, who else? I am unmistakable. Now get me that thing! ~ The Ivicer send the confused Seth the picture of the item he had just scrolled past in the auction interface. It was a small box of ck jade stones with bright golden inclusions. Seth''s stomach sunk a little when he saw the price. The small box held about 500g of star jade if he converted the measurements. The current price was 20 Gold. Several times the prize of "Star jade?" ~ Yes, that! And that one ~ the caterpirmunicated excitedly and send another image into his mind. "I see a pattern. Are you going to evolve again, Puff?" ~ Haha, yes. The great me is ready for thest evolution. Praise me more! ~ "Aren''t you growing a little...fast?" ~ Although I would like to take credit for my prodigy level of growth, I have to admit that it is the systems and your achievement. ~ "How so?" ~ The experience and levels helped master my skills, but it''s you who keeps making me digest high-grade materials for my thread... So please take responsibility and get me a lot more! ~ n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Seth could only sigh and look at the second thing his pet wanted. Puffles was like a pregnant woman choosing and pointing at random materials that currently fit his appetite. In the end, Seth had to spend 300 Gold on , , and more . The moment they were delivered the pet space opened and sucked in the materials. Puffles did not even show his face before gobbling up his money... Ust what was the new material going to be? Astral bronze? Seth was really curious about the luminary theme. And his heart somewhat ached, spending so much on materials he could not use. His feelings were transmitted to Puffles who felt a little bad. Not much, just a tiny bit. ~ Errm, here, you wanted this right? This should be a fair exchange! ~ The pet space slightly opened and spit out a bundle of . His slightly closed Seth''s worries, since he had another thing to send N?del now. He could send the bronze the old man expected and the fabric he bought as a surprise. After spending that much money he did not feel like browsing anymore. He just wanted to leave. It was barely afternoon and the other would not get off duty until evening. Seth decided to return to Minas Mar to implement the teleport connection. It would rx his rtionship with Drosi when he could tell him, that he would not have to encounter the people of the Willis family to enter Delta. He could bring his party to the city then. Seth really wanted his friends to get to know each other before they ultimately founded an organization. They could even decide on a name then! Hoping to sort out these things as fast as possible he hurried back to the Willis Building.. The faster he got over this tedious stuff the earlier he could get back to crafting andzing around. Chapter 239 - 239. Willis Or Willisn’t When Seth entered the lobby of the Willis Building, he could not make out what he was even seeing at first. It was a gruesome scene with blood all over the lobby''s floor. The blood was still fresh and had not dried, yet. He saw the corpses of the elderly couple and fattyhair lying on the ground. They had died from deep cuts and stabs. Looking further he saw a figure sitting at the secret door to the elevator. "Lydia?!" Nailed to the wood paneling by her own daggers was Lydia. Her clothes were ripped, and her body was covered in cuts and burns. She was alive but unconscious and her breathing was very shallow. ~ Those burns are from curse magic but those cuts... She was tortured. ~ "Tortured?" Seth used but could not see much more than her health bar and some of the status effects thanks to the level difference. Her HP was slowly decreasing and suffered from several negative status effects like bleeding and anemia. After making her drink a health potion her Hp stopped dropping and some of the debuffs disappeared. He waited for her health to stabilize before removing the dagger from the wall paneling behind her. He moved her aside and the secret door opened. "I see, you have returned. It''s a shame you had to see this little... interfamilial difference." he heard someone say from the stair. It was Valen slowly walking down. His fangs werepletely extended and he was drying his hands and ws with a slightly bloody white towel. "I was just washing up after having a talk with my niece," he said with a sardonic smile. An infernal aura was emitting from the old vampire as his eyes glowed with the desire for blood. ~ Get in the elevator, hurry! You can''t fight him 1 on 1. ~ Seth lifted Lydia and equipped his full gear. Only two steps separated him from the elevator. He had just made his first step when a tremendous force hit his back and flung him and Lydia into the elevator. "AaaargH!" a scream echoed through the lobby but not Seth''s. Groaning Seth from the heavy strike and pushed the air out his lungs he managed to close the elevator gates. As he looked up, he saw the vampire holding his hand with an expression distorted in pain. His ws were bleeding profusely with the nails broken and ripped out. As strong as the vampire was, his nails could not beat an epic-rated armor. The armor durability had fallen slightly and he had taken some blunt damage, but thanks to the reflected damage and overwhelming defense, Valen had hurt himself more than he had hurt Seth. The cksmith almost felt confident to fight the vampire, if he didn''t see the wound healing almost instantly. The bloodsucker had an even more freaky regeneration speed than a troll. After the ws had healed Valen threw himself at the slowly descending elevator but there was nothing he could do to get in or stop it. Only the tower master could enter and bring people with him. Frustrated the monster roared and screamed as it hit and scratched on the barrier. At this point, the beast had lost all semnce with the elegant Valen and looked much more like a mutated monster bat or a really ugly gargoyle. And he had seen gargoyles. This was ugly even for their standards. Lydia and he slowly descended and Seth was happy when the thing left their view and was reced by dark rock walls. "Fuck... didn''t expect that one..." He had hoped to leave the Willis Family in the dark for a little longer. Who would have thought they would find out so soon and react with such savagery. He had some time to think about what just happened and could roughly guess what had happened. But that they would actually fight and torture one of their family members! It simply confirmed that their decision to cut them off was right. He sat on the floor of the elevator and held Lydia in his arm; slowly feeding her another health potion. With the rising health bar, the cuts and bruises that covered her body slowly closed and improved. He just finished when the elevator finally stopped at his private quarters. "Tower? Can you hear me?" "Affirmative, Master." "Close off the Elevator shaft. Nothing his allowed to pass through there unless I say otherwise. Anything that might manage to enter the shaft is to be teleported to a random ce outside the tower." Seth supported the wounded cybergoth and walked out of the elevator. "Port to the medical facilities." "Affirmative." "Boss! What happened!?" he was greeted by Jonah''s surprised voice when he suddenly appeared in the med bay. The voices of Monique, Evee, and Drosi followed. Especially the old cat was surprised to see a Seth in full gear suddenly appear with a half-dead girl on his shoulder. They put Lydia down on one of the beds and left the medical treatment to Evee and Drosi who had offered his help. As an experienced healer, he was a great help to the young witch. In the meantime, he assembled the others in the control room and exined the situation to them. The Willis people had obviously held some suspicions and ended up falling out with Lydia. Since it was highly likely that they tortured her for information, they probably knew about their n to keep them out of the loop. "Then how are we supposed to get to the surface?" Monique asked annoyed. "Oh, don''t worry about that one. Tower, scan this token and incorporate the sequence into the teleport function. Then you should be able to connect to Delta''s ess port." "Affirmative." "Now we can teleport into the city whenever we want to," he exined to them how the ess roughly worked. ~ You should also make something like this token that gives off a signature. That way the tower will know when to transfer people from the port into the tower. You have the sigil of the tower master, but the other here don''t. ~ Another point on his to-do list. Seth sighed. "Since the Willis Family fell out with us, did you get a connection for the energy trade?" Alison asked finally. Seth looked at her in surprise. She was right, how did they even get suspicious in the first ce? After telling them everything that happened, they came to the conclusion that the family probably had the official of Delta in their pocket. The possibility that they had something to bribe an official of the Empire was small. The princess must have informed them about their business and that guy, in turn, told the Willis Family. "I will give contacting the Empires main priority then. Let''s talk about something more delightful. How about all of us go to the city in the evening and meet the rest of the gang. We can also decide on the name of our organization." "Sound great!" Link called out. He had been a little jealous of Seth being able to go out and party without them. Everyone else also nodded and smiled. It would have been a lie to say that the others did not feel simr. Everyone wanted some time to shut off and rx. They could note and go as they wished until Seth managed to make a token to enter the tower, so they appreciated the chance to go and have some fun. But first, he returned to the med bay to find Drosi. The old cat was tending to the still unconscious Lydia. "How is she?" "Out of danger, for now. But these burns might apany her for the rest of her live." the elder said and looked down at her with empathy. Seth finally got a look at Lydia with terrible cuts and covered in blood. N?v(el)B\\jnn He could not see the full scale of the burns but the wounds covered half her neck and crawled up her jawline and her cheeks. Al had already mentioned something like that but Drosi exined to him in detail. Under the system''s influence, there were few wounds that could result in permanent damage. A cut off arm? A high-ranked or high-leveled healer could regrow it. Terrible burns? They would slowly heal automatically as long a one survived. Cursed fire was one of the few ways to cause permanent damage. The malignant power of the curse would embed itself into the flesh and hamper the healing process. Even if it healed, without a thorough purification it would leave ugly scars. It was already cruel to use something like this at all. But using it on their own family member? It hit Drosi, who came from a culture of close familial bonds a lot harder than Seth and the others. They both sat down and talked at her bedside. About what happened. And about their ns from now on. Seth also came clean about hoping for the Tijaahk to join him. "I will have to talk with my people about this.. I will contact you when we came to a decision." Chapter 240 - 240. The Best Journey Seth decided to give Drosi all the time he needed and returned to the party. It was time to test their new teleport. There was still some time until evening, just enough time for predrinking. Not. Ruby would apany them, so getting drunk would have to happen another day. All of them appeared in the reception room of the system church. There were guards simr to those at a city gate who asked them a few questions before letting them pass through. Mary, Jane, Tekar, and Ruby wanted to explore the city a little. Tekar would rejoin themter after the girls had their fun and returned to the tower. They left the Church first and the other waited for some time before also leaving. The Willis Family had no idea who belonged to Seth, unless they saw him with those people. This way, even if they had someone keeping watch, they could avoid Tekar and his daughter being associated with this problem. The Rest of the party, Alison, Link, Jonah, Monique, and Evee followed Seth to the shopping district. Noen of them had a casual outfit for the asion. Sine wearing full armor in the middle of town stood out like a sore thumb in Delta, they went to get some good clothes first. Some ces epted only system currency, other only credits. Few shops epted both. Most of his party members had enough of both to pay for their own stuff. Seth had to lend Evee some money to get what she liked. At this point Seth had epted that he would take care of her instead of her brother. Once everyone was dressed ordingly, Seth led them to the bar he had visited the other day. Under the hands of Monique even Alison had shed her nerdy witch-looks and revealed a good-looking face and figure. As they were still choosing clothes for Evee, Seth had brought Link and Jonah to the section for men''s clothing where Tekar joined them. The father had left the girls and Ruby with Simon at the church. Seth, Tekar and Link had already followed the clerk''s suggestions and each wore a stylish suit. The clothes here were all high-quality and at least umon rated. They had no special effects, but the defensive properties were very good for cloth. Only Jonah stubbornly insisting on sitting to the side in his cloak with a high cor and wide hat. Seth understood that the tough guy felt embarrassed and ufortable to have his seen pretty boy face be seen by others, but this went too far. He couldn''t bring Vampire Hunter C into a club to meet his people. He pulled the cloaked swordsman into a changing booth. "Okay, Jonah, here is the deal. Man up, go with the salesdy and get a nice suit. In exchange I will make a mask to cover your face before leaving for the club, okay?" He could see in the man''s eyes that he was fighting with himself. It wasn''t like he enjoyed wearing this stuffy outfit all the time. Although he disliked that his sweet manly muscles had been exchanged for a leaner body type, the bigger problem was the face. If Seth really made a mask for him...maybe he could finally wearfortable clothes again... "But it has to be cool and menacing." "Yeah, yeah, just go with the nicedy and get something proper to wear." Seth didn''t bother to leave the changing booth. He summoned the worktable inside the cubicle and a bar of . It had been ages since he hadst sculpted something with just his hands. He switched to his full gear and covered his hands in bright me. Like this, he didn''t need the forge. With his he could control the temperature and keep the metal malleable without liquifying it. Using also helped forming the material. As if using simple y, the steel soon turned into a menacing demon mask with horns and huge tusks that gave it an overall disturbing look. It could be worn and fasted with a set of leather belts. He inserted a small monster core at the forehead and inscribed a circuit for it to change the size depending on the wearer. This was its only option which meant it was a purely decorative piece. The power within the core was enough to adjust the size several times before running out. Making the mask hat taken half an hour, enough time for everyone else to finally finish their purchase. When he came out everyone was done, except Jonah who was desperately hiding in a changing cubicle. "Pleasee out! Such a handsome face should not be hidden! It''s such a shame for it not to be seen! Please!" he heard thedy clerk swooning for him outside the cubicle. Now he understood Jonah''s feelings a little better. "Here, it''s the mask I promised. Come out, let''s leave." he reached past the curtain and gave Jonah his makeshift face protection. He could hear a shout of glee from inside and few secondster a sexy demon left the cubicle. His stance was very confident and cool, with his cor unbuttoned halfway down the chest and his hand in his pockets. Jonah now looked like some mobster from a superhero show. Someone who owned nightclubs. N?v(el)B\\jnn Seth texted Mina that they would be waiting at the club that Lydia had showed him before the party left the shop. He got a different location as an answer. The town was already getting dark when they arrived at the meeting point. It was a big high-ss restaurant with expensive decorations. It made one feel as if even breathing the air would cost money. He would totally make the "diplomatic delegation" pay for the food here. They stated their names and the receptionist got a server to bring them to a private room. Inside were Mike, Mina, Lyxxis, Bulko, and Fin waiting on a bountiful table. Many mouthwatering dishes covered the table that made the onlooker fear its legs might buckle under the weight. This time it was not the fairy that glued herself on his cheek, but Mina that plunged in his arms and gave him a kiss. Seth was positively surprised and allowed her to direct him to a seat beside her. Everyoneughed a little at the blushing Seth and found a seat among the people present. They drank and talked. They ate andughed together. "Dad, who is the beautiful catdy with brother?" she asked innocently and pointed at Seth and Mina. "hmm, probably his girlfriend, right?" he answered with a doting smile. The two in question suddenly had a heavy coughing fit. They had listened with half an ear and choked when they heard Tekar''s answer. Looking at each other''s reactions they could only startughing together. Maybe they had really ended up in such a rtionship without even noticing. It didn''t feel weird, so all was good. They gorged on the extensive offerings of the restaurant and only when everyone had filled their stomach to the brim and Ruby had fallen asleep, did they start talking about business. "So, I think everyone is okay with founding an organization?" "A guild?" came from Monique and Link. "A guild...!" Mary and Jane whispered with bright eyes so not to wake up Ruby. "A mercenary Band?" echoed Bulko and Mike. "A knight order!" Fin called out. "A workshop," Seth concluded. "a home...?" Ruby mumbled as she cuddled Mary in her sleep. She had slightly woken up at Fin''s suggestion. The knight order already sounded farfetched, but a workshop? Seeing their expressions when he mentioned to found a workshop Seth mage a 180y and change his mind. "I mean a guild, of course," he said slightly disappointed. A guild could be everything they had mentioned and more. It could even be a home. "What should we call it? All the founding members are here.. Let''s decide on a name!" Seth concluded. Chapter 241 - 241. Takes You Home. "Should we really be here then? We are just - employees, right?" Mary whispered to Jane, but Seth heard it. "I know we didn''t interact too muchtely, but you are still valuable members. I really think you more than deserve to be part of the founding members." Seth really appreciated how the girls had been taking care of Tekar''s daughter. It definitely was not to make up the numbers. "Now then, any good suggestions?" "Battlebeards!" Fin was the first to shout out. "But... nobody here has a beard?" Link said confused which made Jonah''s sadness visibly seep through the mask. He once had a fantabulous beard! "We could grow some!" the fairy kept rending the sanguine swordman''s heart. "Rejected," Seth said decisively to save Jonah from depression. Although he liked the beard theme, there were not enough dwarves among them, to justify the name. "How about Bite-sized Synergy?" Monique said teasingly with a mischievous look at the tiny fairy. Having seen Seth and Fin eating like a pair of vacuum cleaners, she thought the name very fitting. This kicked off a brainstorming session where everyone just threw in names they liked. "Blood of the Shadows" Jonah mentioned after he recovered from Fin''s suggestion. "Mysterious Liquidators!" Link said excitedly. "Magic Hawks" came from Lyxiss "Wreckingfield" Bulko mumbled blushing. "Cunning Might" was surprisingly the innocent Mary''s suggestion. "Shadows of Innocence?" was Janes shy attempt to join the cringefest. "Doomshields!" Tekar exposed his preferences without any shame. "Specters of the Jaguar" cat boy Mike stood in theme with their previous party name. "Nightshifters" Mina suggested a cool name for an assassin''s organization. It kept going for a while and Seth just kept watching. It was like having 10 000 monkeys randomly hitting on typewriters and hoping they managed to write a book essay. He just hoped they found a good name by ident... In the end, Ruby woke up from the heated brainstorming. "Is everyone arguing? I thought we were Minas Mar?" the little girl asked innocently while rubbing her eyes. She had mistaken the name of the Tower for the name of the organization. What Seth didn''t expect was that everyone just looked at her in surprise and fell silent. "Yeah, why not?" Tekar was the first to agree with his daughter. "What did it mean again? Tower of Home? Or Earth?" Link asked pondering. "Tower of Home?" everyone kept mumbling it back and forth. Seth also liked the name otherwise he would not have chosen it for their base. "Minas Mar it is then, any objections?" he asked in the room. Nobody had any objection. It was the first name all of them could appreciate. In the end, it was Ruby, the little girl, who got her will. When everyone epted this name a soft light engulfed them and "Minas Mar" was added to their affiliation. "We will talk with the princess. I bet we can have the empire recognize our guild in no time." They didn''t talk much about their future ns that night. They used the time to bond and have fun. But it was inevitable that the topic would fall onto what had happened earlier. Fin and the others were shocked when Seth told them what the Willis Family had done. In this night there was something else that was decided unanimously besides the name. The Willis Family was their enemy. Sooner orter they would have to get rid of those ruthless people. There was no will to coexist with such scum at this point. But they were strong. Not just level-wise. They had numbers. The family''s core members were all mages or other caster sses, but they each had their own parties and troops to grind the dungeons. On top of that, they had money and political power in Delta. They could not just smash them, as Seth did in the weasel den. They would need more strength to uproot them. In the end, his meant that the Urth-Team needed to grind levels, while Seth would have to prepare better equipment for Mina and the others. A lot of their equipment was still the items he had made for them In Ora. Seth was actually happy to think about the future work. It was not just that he felt safe in Minas Mar, but he also felt peaceful. Right now, he was where he wanted to be. He could concentrate on what he wanted to make and had ess to the auction house to get the materials he needed. On top of that, they were in a mountain range and his base was a subterranean tower. What better ce to start a mine and go treasure hunting? Tunneling like a termite through the bowels of earth had a very own Charme. Maybe he had absorbed too much of the dwarven nature... "How about we all go and have a look at our new home?" Seth suggested when it becamete, and everyone had be a little tipsy. "Aren''t you a bit too cocky?! Calling our families heritage your home?" the young master suddenly blocked their way. It was the intelligent-looking youngster from the Willis Family who had picked a fight with him before. "Oh hey. What was your name again? Gerald?" Seth asked with a smirk. "It''s Harold!" "Harlot?" the tipsy Link suddenly called out and examined the young master. "What a fitting name!" "Enough! Get them!" from behind Harold a bunch of adventurers stepped out of the darkness. She was not polite and used on the neers. They were all somewhere between lv.50 and lv.60.They most likely had a secondary job, and their equipment was a mix of umon and rare items. Fin cast a spell, and everyone was instantly sober and equipped their gear. Seth''s party had the lowest level but d in epic gear they were the best equipped. "Yulecat''s Fur" had the highest level on average and their equipment wasparable to that of the attackers. They had exchanged some of the pieces he had given them for better ones, but many were still those Seth had gifted them. They took Mary, Jane, Ruby, and the casters into their midst and the vanguards hurriedly formed a circle. Jonah, Monique, Tekar, Seth, Fin, and Mike went forward to meet the attackers head-on may have thought they could overpower them as long as they matched their numbers, but they had tremendously overestimated themself. "Dragonmight!" before the two parties could sh, the Willis forces suddenly slowed down when the debuff hit them. Beside Dragonmight they were also hit by the effect of the Dark Knight Armor. It was true that people with secondary sses had an advantage, and it was trickier to fight human enemies. But they could not bepared to beasts like ice trolls. They were showered in negative status effects that easily got rid of the advantage they originally had. While they stopped the vanguard, Mina zipped past them and got rid of casters. None of them were prepared for a high-level assassin that ported through shadows. Mina offed everyone except the young master. Those of the vanguard still standing hurried to give up. With how easy the fight ended Seth and the other couldn''t help but think that it was Harold acting on his own and not the Vampires schemes. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ~ Going further, Valen could have sacrificed this guy to collect more information on us. ~ Everyone nodded. Thinking of what they did to Lydia, it was quite possible for that old vampire to sacrifice this failure to get some info on them. "Let''s get back to the church." "What about him?" Mina asked and pointed at the tied-up Harold. "Let''s ask Simon to imprison him at the church. I don''t want that in our base." After all, he had attacked members of the church. Lay members, but still members.. They walked to the church, left Harold with Simon, and they finally teleported to Minas Mar. Chapter 242 - 242.Exploring Home. The party arrived in the impressive entrance hall of the tower provoking many Ohs and Ahs from the first-timers. Fin acted just like the caravan children by flying around and looking at everything. Mina''s and Lyxiss''s eyes glittered seeing the exquisite decorations and materials. "Wee to Minas Mar!" Seth said happily. Seeing everyoneing together lifted his mood after what had just happened. They would have to deal with the Willises sooner orter, but now was not the time for that. Everyone walked around the tower together and explored the rooms and facilities. Even those his party that had stayed in the tower until now were surprised about the expanse and extent of the tower. Even Seth entered some of these rooms for the first time. The lower floors had a separate guardhouse, many storage rooms, alchemy and enchantment facilities, gardens, a giant library, the magic junction room, a huge kitchen, and a cafeteria. There were a lot more rooms for the daily functions of the tower. A smithy was missing, but Seth didn''t need one other than his own. The upper floors were servant rooms, guest rooms, dining rooms, anything needed for a life in luxury. Enough space to cater to hundreds of people. Also, higher quality versions of some of the facilities are on the lower levels. And in the highest floors were the control room and the private quarters of the tower master. In the end, the tower was not just meant to be a means to prolong the life of Tom Willis. After everyone took a thorough look at everything, this was a ce to train magicians. Like a school of magic. No wonder especially Valen was this pissed about them circumventing their family. Had they gotten their hands on this ce, they could have trained a private force of casters and crafters. Now it all belonged to them. The only question was whether they wanted to build their own force. "Seth! This ce is really great!" Fin finally managed to pull away from everything else and talk to him under heavy breaths. She was really pumped about the new ce. He also exined the defensive systems of the tower when they came to the control room. Everyone was registered as a residence with basic control rights allowing them to circumvent the defense systems and teleport around the tower. Now, they only needed a kind of token for the tower to recognize them when they wanted to return from the city. Seth already had an idea for that. "Can we choose rooms?" Lyxiss asked excitedly. "of course!" Evee went along with "Yulecat''s Fur" and helped them choose rooms while everyone else returned to theirs. Everyone was tired and wanted to sleep. Only Mina sneakily stayed behind. "Can''t you show me your room?" she flirted with him, and they vanished into his private quarters. The diplomatic delegation had their day off tomorrow, so they all stayed in the tower. They shared a breakfast cooked by Link and Seth saw with joy, that everyone got along well, even without alcohol. Jonah had changed and now constantly wore the mask Seth had made for him, instead of the stuffy outfit he had used before. Today Seth would make the items for everyone that would allow them to leave and enter the tower from the city. The others were left to their own devices. Some started wandering around and exploring the tower, while those like Mike, Jonah, and Monique upied one of the training rooms topare notes. Alison and Evee had fallen into old habits and started conquering the alchemy wing. Seth was in his private quarters. He had established his workshop in one of the bigger rooms. The n was simple: Sigil Rings. 13 rings for the founding members of Minas Mar. Seth did not think long about the crest. A simplified tower below a stylized arch to symbolize the earth, but also the protection of a home. For the rings, he decided to use some of the . The big advantage of this material was that it automatically absorbed and stored mana from the surrounding. This meant there was no need to implement a core and enchantments to collect the mana. It also means he would not need to infuse a soul. Why was this important? Normally it was hard to wear more than two rings on each hand because the magic and enchantments of the items could interfere with each other. But the natural ability did not. Another reason why it was so valuable. As long as Seth only enchanted it with a circuit to emit a signature for the tower and size adjustment, the ring could be worn as a third ring without a problem, no matter what other rings they had. These rings were not just a tool, but would also signal their affiliation with Minas Mar. People could recognize the crest and if they were capable of even recognize the material... Using something like on a sigil ring was extravagant and imposing. The first step was the most important. Seth forged the rings with the demonic bad for soul binding. This way nobody could use them to gain ess even if they managed to steal one from the party. Despite them being rtively simple and Seth using the weaker rare , the rings turned out epic. His and rose by a few percent. He didn''t stop there. He went a step further. Using the that had been lying in his inventory for weeks he made another batch of rings. Using 5 bars of copper he made 40 copper rings with the crest of Minas Mar. He infused each of the rings with a small soul armament he gave a signature function to make them unforgeable. He had some help from Al toe up with this function. What it did was rtively simple. When two of these rings came close to each other or one of the sigil rings they would glow for a moment to recognize their authenticity. Seth made these rings with the future in mind. If they really became big, they needed a way to recognize allies. The world was big, but at least it would be very hard to fake the recognition function, that was based on the invisible infused soul. Some of these rings were meant for the Tijaahk. Even if they were not going to join him, he wanted to give them something to show their friendship. He also made some more for future allies. They were not just a way to recognize allies, but also a promise. Minas Mar would help the wearer of these rings if they ever got into trouble. So even if Drosi and his people left, if at some point, they needed help they could use the rings to identify themself. Thest things he made using another 5 bars of were visitor tokens. These could be given to people they worked with. He didn''t do anything special to the tokens, as they worked by being recognized by the tower, once they got into range. All they did was grant passage past the traps at the entrance up to the bridge. And further ess would only be given after an inspection. He made 25 of these tokens. He guessed that would be a good stock to have for the time being. When Seth started looking for the others, he found that Fin, Bulko, Tekar, and the girls were busy furnishing an assembly room. It was a big round table with 14 seats. 1 for the Tower master and 13 for the founding members. He could only smile. Even if he missed some details, his friends had thought of them. He asked the tower to notify the members to assemble in their new meeting room. One by one they appeared around the table after agreeing to be ported here. Some still wore armor from sparring or had stains from alchemy on their clothes. The most unique was probably Lyxiss, wearing a bathrobe and a towel tied around her head. The half-elf saw their gazes and huffed. "What? I found a big bath area and treated myself to one. It''s a burden to only wash up using ." Everyone nodded understandingly. Some also nned to visit the bathter that day. They all sat down and looked at Seth who had called them here. "I called you to distribute something. It will also make the founding of Minas Mar official. At least among us." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He took the jewelry box with the 13 rings and opened it for them to see. "Take one each and pass on the box." Once everyone had their ring, he exined the function of the rings. When the empty box returned to his hands, he looked at the round of smiles. Even Bulko smiled at the precious golden ring he wore on his pinky. "As the Tower Master and in attendance with the 13 founding members, I dere the official establishment of Minas Mar?" He left a question mark at the end to see if anyone wanted to jump off at thest minute but was only greeted by cheers. Who didn''t dream of being a high-ranking member of their own organization? Only Fin the little fairy joined in half-heartedly. She seemed a little grumpy, "Fin, is there something wrong?" Seth asked her. "hngg! No, and yes. Being a founding member is good and all, but it doesn''t sound imposing at all! Fin wants a better title! Seth is Tower Master, that one''s cool! Fin also wants something cooler than "Founder"!" Everyone was stumped for a moment and started pondering. She was right. A founder was something high and mighty in a corporation... but in the empire? Seth could only sigh. "Then what is your suggestion what we should be called?" he asked Fin. He was sure she already had an idea. "The Tower Master and the 13 Lords of Minas Mar!" the immediately eximed. A lord was definitely more imposing than a founder. Everyone nodded. Some other suggestions were made by the others, but the 13 Lords stuck with them. From this point forth they would go by the Tower Master and the 13 Lords of Minas Mar. Chapter 243 - 243.Energy Of Friendship They had a name, a crest, titles, and sigil rings. They took a moment to talk about the other ring Seth made, but most people wanted to get to what they had been doing. Seth didn''t stop them and soon the 13 Lords had dispersed again. Aside from Mina and Fin, Mary and Jane stayed back instead of leaving with Tekar. At some point their unofficial job had be babysitting Ruby and they hung around the father and daughter a lot. "We would like to talk with you about something." jane stepped forward and spoke for them. They looked determined. Seth had wanted to visit the church with Fin and Mina but asked them to wait. "What can I help you with?" Seth asked curiously. He felt a little bad that he had not really taken much time to interact with the two after they arrived in Y-City. "We want to make ourselves useful, too!" the shy Mary broke out. "We know that we can''t really help with the fight, so we would like to be nonbat personnel," Jane exined. "So, what''s your n?" "We want to change our ss. I wish to be a Merchant and Mary can be a Scribe. I could take care of the Shop and Mary could be like your assistant?" she fumbled a little, but their n seemed solid. Seth thought about their suggestion. The more he thought about it, the more he understood her point. He was a cksmith and rally didn''t want to take care of managing a shop or the guild. people to take care of the administrative staff were needed. The girls were right, they had no talent for fighting. But did they have one for the administrative work? Even if they had no great talent, grooming someone you already trust was easier than finding a stranger to trust. In the best case, Drosi and his people could help them at the start. Seth kept nodding as he thought about it. "Yes, I think that is a good idea. Do you think you are up for this task?" "A-actually before everything went to shit, I was studying economy. I think I can handle managing a shop." Jane said more or less confidently. "I was a secretary before," Marymented in a small voice. Her outbreak before had probably used up all her courage. This exined how they got the idea to rather take up administrative roles. "Couldn''t you do that without changing your ss?" Seth asked concerned. Completely changing one''s ss was possible, but it had a price. It was different from evolving one''s ss. One would lose half their levels and proficiency in their current ss skills. ss skills would also be degraded to secondary skills orpletely lost. The price was not worth mentioning early on, but the girls were already close to level 30. "I think the skills of a merchant will be needed for future business. It will make a lot of things easier." Jane asserted. Mary nodded behind her. "Hmm, alright then. We just wanted to leave for the church. You cane along." The five people left in the room teleported to the reception hall of the church. While Mina, Seth, and Fin would go together to meet the empire''s official in charge of energy. After leaving the reception the girls split off and asked a clerk how to change their ss. Seth''s group found Simon and left the church from the backdoor. They brought out the cloaks to hide their appearance. Now that the Willis Family was onto them, they needed to be a little more careful. Their destination was the administration office of Delta. It was a giant office building that Delta now shared with the Empire. Before the apocalypse, it was the coalition-building where representatives of all districts would work. Of course, now that contact was lost to most districts on the continents, it had lost its original function. There were still representatives of Beta and Y-City, but the cooperation was long since lost as their opinions in working with the empire differed too much. All officials of Delta had their office in this building. Mike had told them that the Princess had already arranged an appointment with the two officials. The maze-like structure of the office building cost them almost thirty minutes to find the Empires Official. Fortunately, they had set off early enough. They came before a strict-looking secretary who sent them through after taking their names. "Ah, you must be Mr. Smith, right? The princess already informed me about the rough situation. I''m Archbold, the energy minister of Delta Province." they were greeted by a well-dressed middle-aged man. He was white kempt back hair and a groomed white mustache. A golden monocle sparkled in his eye. He put down the paper he was reading and shook their hands one by one before asking them to sit. In the corner stood another person. He was a young man with tanned skin and dark brown hair. His hazel eyes gave him a warm and friendly aura. He wore a beige overall and a t cap. "This is Louis. I invited him since the princess told me that you might need help with the energy conversion. He''s one of our best hex-engineers and should be able to help and install a converter for energy harvesting. I think he can exin it better than me." It followed a lengthy talk where they exined the situation to Louis who seemed fascinated by the ancient technology. They also exined how the energy infrastructure with magic worked. Unlike electricity, magic could not simply be transferred through awork of cables. Powerlines like that would need extremely rare and precious materials. Instead, it worked using an energy formation in each individual building. Other formations and devices could be connected to it and pull the needed energy through this connection. Mana Crystals were needed to supply these energy formations with power. Mana crystals were literally crystalized mana. These crystals could be found and mined in ces of power. But those deposits were rare, and the method was outdated. Although natural crystals were stronger, they could deal permanent damage to the mana cycle if they were mined excessively. The modern method was the mentioned converters. They could be installed in areas with rich mana and artificially condense a mana crystal. It was like creating a mana battery. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Louis would only need to install a converter in the tower and Minas Mar could start selling artificial mana crystals to the Ministry of Energy. At Seth''s answer, Archbold exined that the private trade of mana crystals was illegal. On one hand, it was to discourage the illegal mining of mana crystals. On the other hand, these crystals were energy sources. Unregted distribution could lead to idents. The worst that could happen was that they were used for nefarious means or to power horrible spells or formations. The converters would count the number of produced mana crystals and a hex-engineer would need to check these numbers in regr intervals. Byparing the crystals delivered and those produced they could make sure that none were unounted for. Seth didn''t mind. He had no ns to be an illegal crystal dealer. But they understood that that might have been the n of the Willis Family. They could have kept the Tower a secret, build up an army and pay for resources with illegal mana crystal trade. Since they probably had Urth''s official in their pocket and their ancestors'' knowledge they would have been able to pull it off. Even with Seth in charge of the tower, they probably thought of slowly but surely gaining a foot in the tower by paying him off. Seth shared what happened and his suspicion with Archbold. Why didn''t he suspect the Empires man? This was the first and strongest foothold of the Chrona Empire. They would not send the kind of ipetent personnel that would be bribed by the natives. And the princess obviously trusted him with his job. "If you feel better this way, I will deal with Shakes on my side. You don''t have to go a meet him. I will also get the papers and license ready. In the meantime, you could go with Louis and take a look at the converters. There was another reason why he went along with Archbold and Louis'' suggestions. He had the handy pocket lich. The hex-engineer would not be able to install anything harmful with Al''Zalsa watching. Louis took the lead and he led them into the belly of the beast. Every department had ample storage space in the concrete basement of the coalition building. There was also the hex-engineer workshop and the storage room that stored ready-built converters. The man brought one of them out and showed the party the different functions of the device and how it worked. Mina and Fin were bored, Seth was slightly interested. It was mostly the great sorceress that listened attentively to the exnations. Louis was the kind of man who ignored the audience''s reaction when he exined something. He just kept talking and talking and lost himself in exining everything. When he finally stopped even the lich was happy that he stopped. They set a date for the instation and left in a hurry. Chapter 244 - 244.Growing Family After Louis'' exnation, they felt more tired than after a dungeon dive. Even the energetic fairy brute only set on his shoulders with empty eyes. "Let''s return to Minas Mar, I had enough for today." Said and done. They returned to the church and found that Mary and Jane had already returned to the tower. Back inside Seth''s private quarters they fell into his bed and had a little nap. The nap was followed by a meal at the cafeteria. They found all the other members having their dinner and used the chance to brief them on the energy business. Especially Mary and Jane as they wanted to be the administrative body of Minas Mar. ~ Master. The guest in the medical wing has awoken. ~ During the meal the tower suddenly informed him that Lydia had woken up. He quickened his pace and soon finished up before leaving for the med bay. He appeared at Lydia''s bedside but only got a tired reaction from her. Even with the facilities of the tower, her scars had taken a dark purple color and looked painful just to look at. This kind of curse was a lot easier to cast than to purify. Lydias eyes looked up to him, but it took a while for her to recognize him. "Seth?" she asked with a weak raspy voice. "Hey, how are you feeling?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "As if someone threw me in a blender..." "A surprisingly urate description of the state I found you in. what exactly happened between you and your... family?" It took a while for her to narrate what had happened in between resting and hushed parts of sentences. In the end, it was roughly as they had expected. Her family had shadowed them and saw that she got along quite well. They wanted her to use this and gain ess to the tower. They had all the ns of the tower, as long as they got someone in with administrative rights, there was a chance to remove the tower master''s authority. She denied them. Unlike Seth and the others, the family had never gifted her anything. She was the disliked, talentless child everyone was ashamed of. Unlike the stupid little kids in stories, that did dumb stuff in an attempt to gain the recognition of her horrible family. She saw no reason to lift a finger to help them. On the contrary. She didn''t mention it like that, but it turned into a fight when Valen tried to take her to the room. She didn''t wish to speak of this room, but there was an existential horror in her eyes when she mentioned the room. Lydia only mentioned that there were many unspeakable things in the Willis Building, but the room was the worst. She struck before they could apprehend her, and it escted into a chaotic fight. It all ended with her being tortured. Seth had arrived when Valen went to wash up before bringing her to the room. Listening to her, not ending up in that room, was worth having half her body covered in cursed scars. Seth sat at her bed silently and waited for her to speak. "I have nowhere to go anymore..." her voice broke and tears flowed from her eyes. Seth grasped her hand. "What are you saying? You can stay here. Don''t think you only lost something that day. You are one of us now." he patted her head and held her hand until she calmed down. Her eyes became heavy and Seth saw that she was falling asleep. He leaned forward and some of his mana decreased when he whispered in her ear. "Don''t worry. We will be a better family for you." She had fallen asleep. Seth didn''t know whether she heard hisst words and hurriedly left since he now felt embarrassed for saying such a cheesy line. When Lydia woke up the next time, she found a small copper ring with a tower below a stylized arch at her bedside. Seth found Drosi in his quarters. He could see the Tijaahk packing their things. "Are you leaving?" "Oh, Seth, it''s you. Yes, we are getting ready to leave. We wanted to leave tomorrow morning. I would have visited youter to inform you." "And what we talked about?" "I''m sorry, but we are a merchant caravan after all. This is apletely new world, and we wish to explore it before deciding whether we stay or leave again." the old cat answered apologetically but determinedly. Seth nodded understandingly. "I understand and I hope you find great fortune on these travels. Take these before you leave." Seth brought out a small chest with 24 copper rings, one for each member of the caravan. "Take these as a symbol of friendship. With these, you will always be a guest in this tower. I hope to expand Minas Mar in the future. If any of you ever needs help just look for us. Even if that person may not know you, the ring will be proof of identity." The rings were only umon, so Drosi easily saw the use of this kind of token. He appreciated the gesture and epted the present with a smile. "I will offer the same to you. If you or your people ever need help, we will do what we can to help. Thank you." Seth nodded and turned around to leave. It was a shame that he could not recruit them, but it didn''t mean that they would not join him in the future. Or be his business partners. He didn''t mind either. "Ah, there is one more thing. Drosi, are you interested in getting back at the Willis Family?" The elder ears stood up in attention. Seth could not help but smile. In the end, cats were prideful creatures. Would they just ept having someone step on their pride? "I''m listening." "Follow me, we will talk through the n with the rest of the team. If you like it, you can join." He assembled the Lords and told them what had happened to Lydia and what she told him. Everyone was appalled, especially Drosi had his fur stand in the air from agitation. "They attacked usst night, probably to gouge our strength. I don''t like the idea of waiting for the evil mastermind toplete his preparations and only react to what is about toe. Let''s strike first." He exined his n to the Lords and Drosi. Thetter pondered for a moment before answering. "I''m in." With Drosi and the guardians of the caravan joining their n, they had a lot more leeway in case the enemy turned out stronger than expected. The enemy leader could rival Al''Zalsa in age after all. There was nothing wrong with being careful. When the night fell in the city of Delta they moved out. Drosi, 5 of the guardians, and a mage joined the Lord in their assault. Only Mary and Jane stayed back to take care of Ruby. The assault party left Minas Mar through the teleport to the church. Seth on the other hand took the elevator. At his side was Felix, Evee''s familiar.. When he reached the secret entrance, he stopped the door from opening and waited for his chance. Chapter 245 - 245.Willisn’t Valen sat in the penthouse apartment of the Wilis Building. He was having a great night so far. On his bedid some stupid girl who hade to the city to make it big as an adventurer. How easy it was to harvest such young blood with just some money. First, he could satisfy his carnal desires and then his hunger. Valen loved this day and age. It had be a lot easier to get his hands on fresh blood. Back then there would have been a lot of people asking questions even when just some homeless vanished off the streets. It would take a lot of resources to make records vanish. Now? Nobody cared about one or two adventurers disappearing. Surveince had be almost zero and the police forces and guards already reached their limit taking care of the obvious crimes. An ancient vampire like him had an easy time making a living. The only break in his heart was that someone else had gotten his hand on his grandfather''s creation. If only the family was not so ipetent. Grandfather Tom had left so much behind for them in this building, that only needed the tower to be activated. What Empire? What Demons? They could have taken control of Delta in the blink of an eye if one of their descendants had proven worthy. They had even gotten one of the entrance tokens into cirction to see whether somebody managed to get in the tower. It would not have been hard to get control back, once they were in. But what happened? Some upstart had gotten lucky and stolen their key to glory. The vampire was still stumped about how that could have happened. The worst part was that this Seth was too smart for his own good. Although he had turned out stronger than expected, there was no way for some random guy topete with them. Even if they could not get their hand on the tower, they could not allow someone else to. It was better to just get rid of him. A warm feeling filled his stomach when he thought of what he was going to do with this Seth and his friends. There were quite a few cute girls among his entourage. The thought of defiling and breaking them in front of that smug guy''s eyes satisfied his sadistic heart. And afterward, he would bring them into the room. He could not wait to see his face once he saw those girls follow him willingly. Swirling the fresh blood in his wine ss he stepped onto the balcony and took a sip. The bathrobe that covered his chiseled body blew in the soft breeze of the city. The schemer''s self-satisfied smile vanished when he heard an explosion from the lower floors. Fire and wind magic struck the front of the building. The magic protections were able to block most of the damages but the ss fa?ade was still smashed to pieces. The guards stationed in the lobby rushed out to meet the attackers but were met by overwhelming force. The Willis forces could barely hold on against the attacker while the enemy casters were already firing the second volley. The protections had a hard time withstanding the elemental attacks but held on. It was a concentrated beam of light that finally broke through. Part of the protectiveyers on the lower floors dissipated giving way for the magic attacks. But this chance was gone. The guards and protection had bought enough time for the Willis'' private parties to join the fray. They were the Family Members apanies by their personal high-level parties. They easily outnumbered the attackers 3:1 but still had to exert themselves to bind their attacks. Valen had not cared originally. The family had not only friends. Being attacked by others was nothing unusual. But seeing that their private forces were needed to deal with the threat he came over to the railing and watched. He looked at the fight down on the street. It would have been hard for a regr human, but his vampire eyes were like those of an eagle. He immediately recognized the people that had original apanied that upstart. They were even apanied by a force of feral cat warriors. But where was that annoyance? He could not find their leader among them. If he was not among them, had he entered alone through the elevator? It couldn''t be that he nned to fight him alone. The vampire couldn''t help but snicker. Admittedly the man''s armor was sturdy and his gear high-grade, but that was far from enough to stand up to him. What else could be that man''s goal with this little charade? Valen observed the enemy being pushed back and returned to his apartment to get dressed. If Seth was in the building, he would find him and kill him. The vampire saw it as a great chance. The leader had left the circle of his guard and entered the battlefield alone. The bloodsucker took his private elevator to the ground floor. His prey woulde from the lobby, it would be easier to start from there and work his way up. On the way down Valen fell a little stuffy. Was it getting warmer? The moment Valen left the elevator and entered the lobby, Seth left the regr elevator on the floor right below the penthouse. Throwing balls of soul fire left and right he kept looking for the stairwell to the penthouse. When he finally found his way up, he only found a dead girl on a bed, but no one else. "Valen?!" he called out for the vampire but it seemed like a bloodsucker was out. Originally, Seth had wanted to taunt him a little before using "home call" to return to the church. Today was not the day for the vampire to die, Al''Zalsa was still on cool down. Otherwise, he would have thrown the lich at the vampire and let the two old timers duke it out. Since nobody was home to receive guests Seth started setting fire to the ce. He had already done so to the first ten floors of the building. There was little that could stop the soul fire from devouring everything. Especially since he was still present to kept it going. He used the stairwell down and meticulously threw several fireballs and firences into each floor. The building may have had a shield on the outside, but the inside burned like tinder. At this point, the fire he had lit on the lower floor would have spread to the mid of the high riser. He got not kill notification at all, was the whole building empty? Or were all residents above lv. 40 and simply ported out? Seth had just lit the 20th floor from the top when he heard a wrathful roar shaking the building. As he was listening the volume of the roar became louder and the shaking stronger. It seemed like a very angry bat was closing in on him. He heard a crash followed by the sound of ripping metal and shattering concrete. Apanied by the elevator door that wasunched into the hallway, a still burning Valen entered the stage. The ugly giant bat that would even make a gargoyle look away in disgust was covered in burns and still burning patches of soul fire. The eyes of the creature looked wild and crazy from rage and pain. Swinging its giant ws and thick muscr arms it charged at Seth like a bull. The cksmith used the "Disruptor Boots" to disrupt the charge and to evade the brainless charge. "Hey, did you lose your sanity? Taunting a brainless beast won''t be fun at all..." The only answer was an ear-shattering roar and a fastbo of w swipes. Although the speed and power were impressive, there was no technique or skill used in these swings. Just rage. This old beast couldn''t have fallen in a fit of rage, just because he set fire to his ce, right? This had to be a feint to draw him into a fight! But what if it wasn''t? Seth decided to throw ance of soul fire at the vampire. He could see the beast hesitate for just a moment before almost evading and taking the hit. Thence prated its shoulder and exploded. The explosion copsed the whole section of the corridor and filled it with a thick dust cloud. A huge dust cloud with a potentially dead and scheming monster inside. What to do? Seth ran away from the cloud, as far as he could, and reach the other end of the hallway where it ended in a huge window. He equipped "Mind Decay" and took aim at the dust cloud. If this guy wanted to take some hits to bait him into a fight, he would make sure they were hits that hurt. At this point, he needed to use his resources economically. He still needed his mana and mental energy. "Goddammit. What is this fire!" finally the hulking figure of Valen came into view. It seemed like he had given up his act when he saw that Seth was not falling for it. The shoulder waspletely missing and the arm was only hanging on by a strip of meat. The wound was still burning and the healing factor of the vampire had a hard time offsetting the fire. This time Seth was not up for a conversation. An arrow shot from "Mind Decay" was lodged into the vampire''s chest before he even finished his question. He screamed in pain for the first time. "Wha-!?" another almost prated the left eyes but Valen was able to evade in thest moment. It only brushed his ear before vanishing into dust behind him. "I see you-!" the third was barely blocked by an opaque blood shield. The vicious arrow had been aiming straight for the vampire''s crotch. "Bastard!" he evaded another arrow, but at this time the effects of the first arrow became obvious. Spreading from where the shaft stuck out from the chest a dark patch of necrotic flesh was expanding. "You know, I didn''t actually n to kill you today.-Thunk- but maybe I actually have a chance." Seth kept shooting at the giant bat while talking. "Grr!" he evaded the arrows and kept closing in on Seth. Yes, think you can take me down. I just need you to stay and not run away Valen thought to himself. Once he was in range, he could kill Seth with his blood magic in one hit. Another arrow came flying, Valen came another step closer. Just a little more! Just a little- A giant hand suddenly broke through the wall to the right of Valen and grasped the bat''s ugly head. Instinctively the vampire shed at the arm with his ws but they could only slide across the surface of the iron hard muscles. Next, an upper body and a terrifying three-faced doghead came into view as Cerberus leaned forward and the rest of him broke through the wall. Its red eyes were focused on the vampire as it lifted the creature off its feet. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the three-headed hellhound behind it. Seth had wanted to get closer to capture the vampire''s soul but Al warned him. ~ I told you not to get close to it. It can still cast the blood magic even in this situation. ~ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth grimaced. What could he do? He really wanted the vampire''s soul and there was no guarantee it would drop its soul voluntarily. But then it struck him. Cerberus could use the same skills as him. He had only thought of the crafting skill until now. "Cerberus, keep beating it until you can use ! I want that soul." Valen''s eyes widened in horror as the second fist started mincing his body. Chapter 246 - 246. Morning Mood What was left of Valen after Cerberus was done with him had hardly any resemnce with a living being. This was how far they had to go to bring it close enough to death. Vampire really had a scary vitality. The fire from below had now reached where he had fought Valen. Seth had no idea what other useful thing there could be on these minced remains and decided to use the system option to harvest them. He got one vampire fang and a w. And a grey powder he could not identify. Not much. In exchange, the vampire gave an extraordinary amount of experience despite Seth harvesting the soul. His level was already close to leveling up to lv. 44 but was now already 35% of the way to lv. 45. He got 9 AP and used them to bring his INT to 60. On the way down his leveled up and became lv. 5. He used the ability to put out the fires on every floor he came past. This was why he saved his mental energy in his fight with Valen. If he left the fire alone it would probably spread and devour part of the city. He wanted to make this ce his home. It was not very nice to burn down a ce when you just moved in. This was also enough. The building waspletely burned out, making it unusable. He didn''t need topletely burn it down. There was only one room that was almost untouched by the wild mes. The door had damages but looked almost pristinepared to the surroundings. ~ This thing had strong magic defenses. Someone put a lot of time and thought into this. ~ Almented on the strange room. Seth pushed the door expecting it not to budge, but it slowly swung open. ~ The defenses were probably exhau- Eww.~ The door had swung open and revealed a dark room with a chair in the middle. A smell wafted out of the room, and it reeked simr to ozone, but it made Seth feel perturbed. The ck walls of the room were covered in all kinds of runes and formations. N?v(el)B\\jnn The Lich''s reaction the moment this came into view didn''t help alleviate Seth''s worries. Was this "the room"? The sorceress seemed to have read his thoughts and answered. ~ From what I can garner, this is a ce to break down and resemble someone''s mind. It''s the step above brainwashing. The user can literally mold the victim''s memories, thoughts, and even personality. It''s just disgusting. ~ "Eww." Seth summoned the furnace. Normal soul fire seemed to not be enough, so he would bring the heat. There was no way he would leave this thing here. The jet me of the furnace shot into the room. The ordinary stool was vaporized in an instant, but the room itself resisted. A thinyer of magic covered the formations and stubbornly resisted. Seth could not help but crank up the heat. The protective membrane only slowly started showing signs of damage. Despite the various power-ups, he felt his mental energy decreasing at a terrifying speed as he ramped the power to the highest degree. But he fully concentrated on the slowly melting defenses. His eyes were focused on the bright me and his mind on controlling this terrifying power. At some point, only the fire was on his mind. All there was, was fire, and the goal he wanted to reach. And suddenly the me broke through the defensive membrane. With increasing momentum, it destroyed the defenses and started devouring the formations below. Once there was a crack it was over. In just a moment the soul fire had spread and destroyed this architectural abomination. Seth was happy about the improvement, but the exhaustion dampened his joy. There were still a few floors he needed to extinguish before he could leave. When he finally reached the lobby, he used and returned to the church, and then directly to his bed in the tower. He should have checked up on hisrades. That was what a really good leader would do, even when he was tired. Seth never imed to be a really good leader, so he was fast asleep. He was woken by the tower''s notification. ~Master. The members wish for your presence. ~ "Tell them to wait." ~ They insist. ~ "Meeeh..." he rolled off his bed and sluggishly propped himself up. He wore some casualfortable clothes. The aftereffects of overusing mental energy led to a seriousck of motivation. Or maybe it was just Seth''s morning mood. "Okay, I''m ready." ~ You aren''t wearing any pants. ~ He was ported just after Al''s remark. The seats around the round table were all filled and only he was missing. Nobody was missing and there was an additional chair for Drosi. There were some weird looks, but Seth yed it off as nothing and simply sat down on his seat. If he didn''t acknowledge that he hade in underwear, the others could not say anything. It might have worked if not for one person in the room. "Wow! Did Seth manage to make invisible trousers?! Can Fin have some, too?" She didn''t mean to do any harm, but everyone on the table was holding back a chuckle. Seth sighed. "Just a second." He returned to his quarters and got some pants before he returned again. "Let''s start. How did it go on your side yesterday? You are all here, so I guess nobody died." "Actually..." Mike said a little embarrassedly. He was the leader as he had experience with it. "I died! It was awesome. I had spent most of my mana and became a super-strong death w!" Evee eximed ecstatically. Who would have thought he would ever see someone so pumped about dying... "She made a real massacre..." Moniquemented and gave Evee a weird side nce. The girl had turned into a really terrifying undead if one wanted to call it that. It was more of a demon, the ugly monstrous kind. Her ws had split the enemies and the corpses fouled away in a matter of minutes. They fled after killing about half the enemies when they saw the fire light up the building. They were supposed to be a diversion, not an executionmando. "How was it on your side?" finally came the inevitable question and Seth narrated what happened on his side. "You did what?!" Mina jumped up in worry when he came to the fight with Valen. But Seth looked fine, so she reigned in her feelings and sat back down again. But it didn''t take long. "You killed their leader?!" this time it was Mike reacting. As the deputy leader of the party, they hade up with the n together. Originally, they just wanted to burn the Willis Building to take away their main base of operations. The party would get their attention and Seth would set the building ame before everyone would run off. Once Al''Zalsa''s cooldown was off they could have sent her to end him in silence. "Hey, don''t me me, okay? I was there, already at the store. The milk was on sale. So, I picked up some on the way back." "What?" Mike was slightly confused. "He wanted to fight, and I entertained him. I saw a chance and took care of him. Not every 200-year-old is a beast is like Al. Some end up as pickings on the way." ~ Don''tpare me to that thing. It''s not a question of age. I could have gotten rid of that guy in my teens. ~ Everyone looked at him weirdly. Even if Valen was not as strong as they had expected. He was still an old vampire. Most of them had at least some experience with vampires. Especially Jonah with his ss. Vampires were strong, especially for humanoids. And they had a simr mind to a human. And Valen had to be at least an Ori Vampire. It was nothing the Seth they knew could really fight one on one. They realized that Seth had some trump cards even they could not predict. When he exined what exactly happened everyone gained a new respect for the creepy Golem that was normally silently working in the back when Seth was smithing something. The most surprised was Drosi who had just listened silently and had gotten a glimpse of Seth''s power for the first time. "let''s get to the most important question! Did it drop something good?" Fin couldn''t hold back. Chapter 247 - 247. Farewell Seth did not have the chance yet, to check his loot. He brought out the sharp tooth and very long thick fingernail. The fang was okay, but the w provoked visible disgust from the others, It was not pretty to look at. "Not bad, the fang is epic rated." he took a look at Drosi before mentioning thest drop of Valen. "I also have his soul." Seth guessed that the vampiric soul would grant or strengthen skills like or . He was tempted to use it for himself, but it would probably have the greatest synergy with Jonah. The loot was not quite overwhelming for the others, and they deliberated their future actions after the enemy leader was exterminated. The party had made sure to wear disguises when they attacked the building and everyone who saw Seth was dead. The probability of repercussion from the government was small. They could proceed with the energy deal with the empire and then start looking for a shop location in the city. The first step was a victory break. To celebrate they would rx and recover. "Yuelcat''s Fur" would keep an eye on the remnants of the Willis Family during their work, but they would probably not have to fear any attack in the next few days. Everyone could go and explore the city at their own leisure. Everyone deserved some time for themself. It was not much different from how things went usually, except that Seth didn''t intend to craft anything at this time. He hoped the others would also take a breather from the grind. Seeing them start crafting technically the moment they arrived made him think that he might have been a bad example. He had grinded his skills like a maniac in order to survive. Now they were safe, there was no need to rush. Seth nned to map out Delta''s city center and check out all the shops. And sightseeing. It might seem a little weird to sightsee in the apocalypse, but this was his first time in Delta. He should take a look at the prominentndmarks. He also wanted to see where the demons lived. As the only ce where Urth, the Empire, and the demons mixed it was the only ce with institutions unique to thetter two. Lydia had mentioned stuff like the magic tower and the adventurer academy. He had heard about them in Namia but never had enough time to visit one. Ora had no such thing, as it was the town of cksmiths. After the talk, Seth returned to his quarters. He was already awake, so he used the time to ready some materials. The fabrics he had bought from Drosi and the bundle of he got from Puffles found their way into a chest he would send to N?del the next day. He wrote a letter to the Tailor and Tored. He wrote about the things that happened since his departure from Y-City. And he also described what he would have liked to be made from the materials. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The shirt and pants he wore were still made from and he would have like a set made of the new material. And he wanted a cloak. He couldn''t always use the trashy one from the dungeon. He wanted a good one he could wear with his full set. Seth started to sort his other stuff into the Tower''s vault to free up some inventory space. Umon materials, leathers, and boxes with metal bars. Just the moremon materials. He prepared them for Cerberus. Just because Seth took a break didn''t mean Cerberus couldn''t work. A shop needed a range of merchandise. The golem could prepare the nks for umon items like he did before. It also could produce bars and wires for jewelry. Seeing the boxes of weapons and rings and thinking of a shop reminded him of his shop in Ora. The merchandise there might be running out right now or did it already. He would send some letters to close the shop. For now, it made little sense to keep a shop in another world. He would also visit the system bank to take a look at his finances. It could be done on the way, so it was not much of a hassle. When he asked the tower, he found out that it was early morning outside. It was best to get things over with quickly and enjoy the new day. Before he went to Delta, he visited Lydia at the med bay. When he entered, he found Drosi tending to her wounds. A smile whizzed across his face when he saw both wearing the sigil ring. "Hello, Drosi. Good morning, Lydia. How is it?" "I feel like shit." "She is doing well," Drosimented with a smirk. "Did you already tell her?" "No, I don''t think it''s my ce to tell her." with this the old cat left the two alone in the med bay. When the elder left Seth talked to Lydia about what had happened. Although she never liked her family, she listened with a slightly sad butposed expression. Tears started flowing when she heard that he had ended up killing Valen and that he had destroyed the room. It was as if a door had opened. Feelings she had held back in ingrained fear broke out and she cried tears of joy. Seth had aid what he had to say. He didn''t want to make it more awkward and left. "So, you told her." Outside the med bay stood Drosi who had listened in on them. "Oh. Yes, it''s her family after all. " Drosi nodded slowly. Family was still family. "Our caravan is ready. We will be leaving soon. I came to say my farewells." "You really won''t stay?" The elder only lightly chuckled and shook his head. He had made his decision. "Well, the doors of Minas Mar stay open for you if you ever need a ce to stay on Urth." Seth stayed to see the caravan off. They did not leave through the teleportation. While the people of Minas Mar were upied with dealing with their problems, Drosi took care of the caravan''s business in the city. They had all the information they needed and did the business they could in Delta. As such, they left Minas Mar through the main entrance that led over the bridge and through what Seth called the guardhouse. It was the outer building with a bunch of old rooms and workshops where the materials for the tower were originally made. They left Minas Mar on the carts and carriages. It was the start of a new journey for the and the end of one for Seth. The kittens and some of the cat people waved back to Seth and the other who saw them off.. They watched until the caravan vanished into the tunnel at the end of the bridge. Chapter 248 - 248. Victory Break The next few days went without a hitch. Everyone did as they liked. Seth sent his letters and checked his finances. On their days off he would explore the city with Fin and Mina, otherwise, he would stroll around alone. Delta was different from Y-City or Alpha, his hometown. Other districts were a vast megalopolis. As a district built as the seat of government, Delta had a smaller poption and a much better structure. It was split into residential districts, governmental districts, business and shopping districts on severalyers that were built into the valley at the nk of one of the central mountains. Simr to Ora there was a lot of living and working space onyers below the earth. Before Lydia had only shown him the surface, now he had the time to explore the underground. In this era, money was made with merchandise from system sses and the shopping district mirrored this. Seth felt nostalgic thinking of Ora. Just that everything was super modern with electric lights and esctors. Above earth or below didn''t matter here. If anything, the stores below were even more exuberant than those above. Of course, there was not everything great. Severalyers below were the cheaper and more shady stores. The Level of merchandise was slightly lower than Ora but had a greater variety. There were just not as many rare items as there were in Ora. In Ora, the shops of cksmiths were prominent. As such weapons and armor were amon sight. Here in Delta, it was a healthy mix of armor, normal-looking clothes, and fantastical-looking clothes ranging frommon to rare. There was also a type of clothes he had seen in Y-City and was d there were not more. Superhero suits. And to his dismay, they seemed to be the hype in Delta. Modern textile knowledge and magical materials had created skintight super suits. How had this happened? A dream started crumbling. His beliefs were shaken. There were very few of these in Y-city, but many shops here offered only these. They even seemed popr. What would happen to those great battles and wars between knights and mages, or the epic raids on boss monsters if people in colorful spandex onesies appeared among them? How was it appropriate to conquer a dungeon looking like Super Brute and the League of Righteousness? Seth knew that these were just his personal preferences but... BUT who was responsible for this? Seth casually started asking in shops how this unusual trend started. "Oh, these? They were poprized by Neco Boos, the best Tailor in Delta. It is said he has a unique ss. Only the best adventurers in Delta can afford his work. Who wouldn''t want to be a superhero after seeing them fight the invaders?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The answer was shocking but usible. A tailor with a unique ss was living in Delta. And he was a superhero nerd. How dare he taint his fantasy setting?! Of course, Seth was not that upset. He would not do something petty like not selling anything to people in superhero suits. Nothing spoke against wearing the colorful underwear below a splendid armor. With those thoughts, he soon left the shopping district behind. Today he wanted to take a look at the demon district. He had heard that this ce had been a rtively unpopr residential area before. The reason it was unpopr was the same reason why the Demons chose it. It was rtively close to the volcano. While the rest of the district had a mild climate, here It was warm and humid. It was the ce that supplied Delta with geothermal energy before the apocalypse. People did not like to speak about that time but with the awakening of the volcano, most of those facilities lost function. The area was also gued by the stench of sulfur and other fumes. The ce was already abandoned when the Demons arrived. That was all Seth could glean from the short conversations with people. This ce was handed over to the demons, in exchange, they made a peace pact and acknowledged the supervision of the Chrona Empire. Within Delta, they had to act ording to the Empire''s and Delta''sws. Seth had an obvious reason foring here. He was looking for a demon cksmith to try and learn more bads. It was interesting since Seth had never been to a demon settlement. Seth was from Urth, and he had seen a province of the Empire, but the demons were something new to him. With wonder, he stepped into the demon district. The differences were so obvious that he felt like stepping through a boundary to a different world. The demons had not held back with modifications to the existing structures. One could still roughly see what the buildings once were, but now they were like a gothic version of themself. Opulent ornaments, statues, carvings, and gargoyles decorated the facades. Spires and arches were added andpletely changed the overall atmosphere of the city. A light dry mist smelling of sulfur and smoke filled the street he entered. Before, this might have been an obstruction to him, but with "Argus'' Eye" he could see everything clearly. The ce was not split into different areas for living and working. Shop windows were randomly strewn along and across some of the buildings. Even several floors above ground. It reminded him of a quirky version of a historical city. Looking up he could also easily make out the reason for the quirkiness. Many demon races had wings or an inherent ability to fly. Demons were not bound to the earth, so shop windows on higher floors were not weird at all. It felt as if any demon could simply open a storefront and sell stuff from their living room. The streets were not just the ground between the buildings, but the whole gap. In demon territory, one had to think of streets as 3dimensional. They perfectly used the canyons of the modern cityscape for traffic. Seth was stumped as he had not expected this. Although they called themself demons, their culture was the kind of magical and fantastical he had expected before visiting Ora. ~Surprised? ~ "Yeah. I didn''t expect this when I thought of a demon district." ~ Did you expect them to be wild and cruel creatures living in Lava caves? ~ "Maybe a little?" Seth didn''t deny it. ~ Good, because some of them are. There is a lot greater variety in appearance and behavior among demons. Don''t swing from one extreme to the other. Don''t think just because they look or act cultured, that they actually are. One does not need to be or look brutal to be cruel. A cave-dwelling demon that looks like he eats children might be one of the nicest demons you will ever meet while a humanoid one will scam away your souls with a business smile. ~ "So, don''t judge on appearance and don''t trust them too easily?" ~ Just treat them like humans, but with even more caution. Like with humans there are good and really terrible demons. Demons just know how to hide it even better. ~ Seth nodded to show that he understood. It was too soon to be thinking that his image of demons was wrong. A good example was that amicable seeming caravan leader who turned out to be a human sacrificing maniac. Still, not all demons nned the destruction of humanity. That made them okay in Seth''s book and he decided that they deserved a chance. Here it was ''s time to shine. Everything was written in intricate demon characters, and everyone spoke a demonnguage. Only with the skill, he was able to read the store name and understand the gossip around him. Most of the things he picked up were talks about merchandise and business across different worlds. Names of ces and people he had never heard of. Politics of ces he would probably never visit. What really became clear was that demons truly were an interdimensional race. It could be gleaned from their everyday talks, that they had been traveling across dimensions since ancient times and it was something extremely normal to them. Not just the traveling, but also keeping track of political and general news from those worlds. Thinking of this reminded him of the weasel folk and he realized why these were the main topics. What reason was there to travel across worlds if the goal was not to conquer? Trade! ~ Don''t jump to conclusions now. Yes, most of those here are looking for a business. It doesn''t mean there are no demons intent to conquer. Don''t forget what happened in Ora before we left.~ Al interrupted him before he could dere them as a race of merchants. Once again, the sorceress was right. He had seen with his own eyes what it looked like when demons wanted to conquer a ce. It was really too easy to forget when having this kind of magical and mysterious city before him. Chapter 249 - 249. Ballads And Epics Await Seth decided to stay open-minded for now. He had a goal ining here. To sightsee and maybe find a demon cksmith to learn new bads. At this point, cksmithing had be his hobby just as much as his ss. There was a lot of satisfaction in creating things and watching his skills grow. he had developed a zeal to make even more and greater stuff. It didn''t mean he gave up on his dream ofzing around with Fin and ying games! It just had to wait until he found a way to get electricity in the tower. He already bought a newputer and everything needed to rebuild his man cave. It was just that his urge to get to this dream had be slightly...weaker. Seth kept exploring these weird and interesting stores. The most interesting were those with all kinds of weird old artifacts from various different dimensions. For him, it was like visiting an odditorium. Mummified body parts, exotic vases, and stuff he had no idea what they were supposed to be. He started some talks, bought some small things, and covertly asked around about cksmiths. But nobody even knew what he was talking about. It seemed like cksmith was not correctly tranted by the skill. "Al, do you have an idea what is going on?" ~ I had only little interaction with demons, I am not expert of their culture. ~ Seth soon gave up this strategy and simply walked around. Maybe if he found a weapon or armor store, he could find out more. As he walked around, he found that there were different zones in the demon district. The misty zone he had entered was one. Another one was enveloped in darkness, and he didn''t want to enter. A thir one had fresh, cool and moist air and the building around were overgrown with moss and brightly blooming nts. The demons he saw in these kinds of ces also differed vastly. It seemed that demons did not divide their living area by utility, but by the races that lived there. Some liked nts, others darkness, or sulfuric mist. Where would he find a cksmith then? He came back to the mist and followed the sulfuric smell. A demon cksmith might be one closer to fire, so he would stay in a more volcanic region, right? The rising heat around him affirmed Seth''s decision to follow the scent. When he left the mist, he entered an area of volcanic activity. This ce was probably hit by the initial activities when the mountain awakened. There was nothing left of the modern structures. Instead, there were houses that looked as if they were formed from molten and cooled stone. They had gardens with sttering hot mud pools, boiling hot springs, geysers and sulfur wells. This was an environment worthy to be a demon''s home. And it was like a cksmith''s district. Every house was actually a workshop with a big sign that showed a sword or a shield. They had no shops to enter and were more like stalls with their wares being presented in front of their doors. There was no fear of theft as powerful spells protected the products from being taken away. Simr to the spell he had used in his own store in Ora. There were not many items on disy. It might be that one needed to specially order a weapon based on the disy and not directly buy a ready-made weapon. Although not high in number, they had a 50/50 ratio between umon and rare. A lot better than what one found in the human district. In exchange theycked variation. Although every weapon had an effect, the weapons of each shop had at most two or three different effects overall. One shop had weapon dealt additional fire and wind damage, another''s items had bleed and protection. Some made only armor, other only weapons. Only a few did both. Although the variety wascking, the effects rivaled those Seth could enchant using the smithing bads. Another peculiarity was that none of these weapons had additional enchantments. There was nothing inscribed on their surface and the rating were mostly based on the used material, not the refinement of the weapon. Seth felt slightly discouraged seeing this, but he kept going. There was no way this was the peak of demonic smithing. He did well in continuing. As he passed the hellish region it became cooled again and the surrounding turned into a kind of medieval setting. There were quite a few luxurious but also archaic-looking buildings. They were not overly decorated, but one could feel the quality by looking at them. In the distance he saw a castle built into the nk of a smaller mountain. The signs here differed somewhat from the ones earlier. They either showed a sword or a shield coupled with a musical note or runes. He kept looked around and finally found a za with several big stores. "Wee! How may I help you?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om He was greeted like this in Urth''smonnguage. Seth entered the only store he had seen with a sword, a shield and a music rune. The handsome demon behind the counter had a small horn in the middle of his forehead. His skin was a slightly reddish orange. Seth was slightly stumped being greeted in his mothernguage and answered in kind. "Hello! Is this your store? Do you sell weapons?" he asked innocently. Currently, he only wore his boots and items made by N?del. Everything was covered by the cloak he wore. To the demon, he probably looked like someone who hade here on ident while exploring. The demon looked at him with a sly and knowing gaze. "Did youe for a powerful weapon, or did you actuallye to learn?" he asked with a kind smirk. Seth was speechless. "I see, probably thetter?" the demon asked in afortable voice. "Don''t worry and speak freely. I know people say that demons are very sly and long-winded. But to be honest we prefer to be direct." "How did you know?" "Your rings. Did you think a demon bard would be unable to appraise your items? You crossed the hellscape of apprentices, so you can''t be weak. But you didn''t jump on the opportunity to ask for an awesome weapon, so you didn''te searching for that. The bad used on the ringcks formal education, you probably used system skills to seed, right? " Seth stared nkly for a moment while he let everything sink in. Was this man a cksmith? He could appraise epic equipment and even judge the quality of enchantment with just a look. "I tried hard learning them, but yeah, I probably seed mostly thanks to the skills I gained from the system. You mentioned a Demon Bard. What is that?" It was the demons turn to look stunned at his customer. "You came all the way here without knowing...? Come, let''s talk somewhere more appropriate." He waved at Seth to follow and left through the door behind the counter. Seth was a little unsure and equipped his full gear before following, just in case. Simr to Tored''s shop in Ora, there was a hallway with a storage room and a smithy behind the counter. He followed the demon down the hallways and out another door. They stood in the nice open kitchen. The demon looked back, and his eyes narrowed a little. "Good, you are careful. That''s always the best action when interacting with a demon." he smiled understanding. He put some dried herbs in two cups and poured boiling water on top. "Here, have a cup of tea, and let''s talk." with that the demon sat down and offered Seth the seat across from him. Al confirmed that it was just tea and Seth took a sip. It tasted quite refreshing. The Demon, Trith, exined to him that a demon bard was their version of a cksmith. He exined it using themonnguage because there was no equivalent word for a cksmith in demonnguage. A Demon bard''s specialization was less focused on the skill, it was only a secondary skill to them. Their ss focused a lot more on the musical and philosophical parts of their ss. As a bard, they not only learned bads and poems to enchant items. They also wrote these epics and bads themself. This led to most bads being unique to their writer making them a selling point if one decided to pursue this career. This made them simr to enchanters who had to often research or develop enchantments themself. "Does this mean that there is no unified collection of bads I could learn?" Seth was not confident in his talent to write songs or poems. "I was just getting there. It would be hard to make a master teach you all their own bads, but that isn''t the only option. You can learn the skill of a demon bard and the ssic bads at the Bard College. As chance would have it, there is a newly founded Bard College here in Delta." Chapter 250 - 250. Bard College Seth''s eye twitched. "You are telling me to go back to school?" "No, college. As long as you join you can use the facilities and visit the lessons in any manner you like." "And what do I need to join?" Seth sighed. "Only the rmendation of a certified master." the demon said with a big smile. "Like you?" "Like me! I will give a rmendation letter." "Why would you do that?" Seth asked warily. "Oh, don''t worry. I''m not doing this to be nice. I want to get back at someone." Trith was a graduate of a more or less well-known Bard College and came to Urth to make a name for himself. He was one of the few bards who made weapons and armor instead of specializing in one of them. His protective and offensive bads were well praised by his professor, but a rival from the same college hade here earlier than him and discredited his work before Trith even had a chance to show off. What could someone who split his attention even aplish? Don''t bother with that guy and his mediocre stuff! "That bastard will send his disciple to the new Bard College, and I want you to crush him! You are already an aplished cksmith. And I will do my best to help your studies. All you have to do is show those ignorant people that crafting both, weapons and armors, is not a joke. You don''t have to specifically go against that dude, just be better than him." Ah, there it was. Looking at the raving demon and seeing the burning hatred in the man''s eyes. THIS was a trustworthy demon, alright! Nothing was more trustworthy than someone''s burning hatred for an enemy. Was it finally time for his school arc? Seth had never visited a college before. After the death of his parents, he managed the apartment building aside from finishing school. He did not have the chance to be subjected to his parent''s aspirations for him. There was no one who forced him to study for a good job. Since he had a regr ie as andlord, he had no reason to pursue higher education or a career. Was this his chance to experience a school life? Hell nah. He totally enjoyed his time at home. But things were different now. He wanted to pursue this knowledge. Although he could probably do without the weird social interactions in school. Trith even threw him at some kind of rival. "Alright, I will take a look at your bard college. But I have a lot of other stuff to manage so don''t expect too much. When does the next semester start?" The demon stopped his raving when he heard Seth''s answer. "There are no such things as semesters. You can matricte whenever you like. That bastard''s disciple matricted 3 weeks ago..." at this point the Demon seemed to get some doubts. "I saw your rings but...Are you sure you can do it? All the bards at the college have learned cksmithing before joining. If the gap is not big enough-" The demon could only stare gobsmacked when Seth took off the cloak, and he saw the full gear. Almost everything he wore was epic rated. Although they were on the lower end of Epic, being able to reliably make epic equipment was a sign of great capability. As long as Seth''s abilities grew there was even the possibility for his epic items to rival legendary gear. "Alright, I believe in you," Trith said after getting back to his senses. With a smirk, Seth put the cloak back on. "Good. Should we do it right now? I have time on hand." "A man of action! I''m really starting to like you!" Trith took the lead and they walked toward the bard college. It was the castle Seth had seen in the distance. It''s had a really dark school of magic and wizardry vibe. The castle was built from dark volcanic stone. High vaulted ceilings, dark gray stone walls, polished ck floors. Not what one would expect from a bard college. Maybe it was more usible when the demon was added. Still, it looked more like the castle of a demon king, or something like that. "This way is the administration office. You can matricte here. You only have to fill out a form or show your adventurer card. The two stepped through a big door made of almost ckcquered wood. An old demondy with a thick pair of sses and gray hair sat behind a counter. She had fallen asleep, and her head had sunk on her chest while snoring. "You are the one with a grudge. You wake her up." Seth said mischievous and took a step back. Trith looked at him helplessly and poked the olddy on the shoulder. "Hello? Are you alive? I mean, awake?" "Huh? What? What the hell do you want?" "He wanted to matricte." the demon pointed at Seth. "Adventurer card and Rmendation," she said pissed. Seth brought out his card and Trith a letter. "Your Bard license?" she asked the demon who showed her a scroll. "Okay, now you just have to pay the semester fee and I can hand you your study ID" The olddy red and Seth. Seth looked at Trith. Trith grimaced and brought out a few silver coins to pay the fee. "Here''s your ID. Wee to the Bard College. Now go away." And just like that, he had be a student at the Bard College. "With that ID you can use the school''s facilities, the library and join the lessons. You can find the n for lessons in the main hall, I think. Well then, I have to return to my shop now. I leave embarrassing these people to you!" With that, the demon ran off. Did he just want to make sure Seth would really join the college? Well, he didn''t mind. From what the administration looked like; the ce was really asx as Trith had said. He walked around a little through long hallways with many rooms and soon ended up in the atrium where he found a n for lessons. Poesy, Singing, Song Writing, Ancient Demon Runes, Theory of Etching, Practical Forging, Dancing, History of Bardism... there were practical and theoretical lessons. A lesson that would soon be held was Ancient Demon Runes. Seth was interested in what that subject was supposed to be and decided to look for the room. He arrived with some time to spare. The room was almost empty with 10 minutes to go until the lesson started. Seth sat down and started whittling a bone ring using a small mithril knife. It was a hobby he had picked up during the hours he spent on the wagon''s driver seat beside Drosi. He still had a lot of snake bones and no matter what he did with them, he did not gain much proficiency. Whittling them into small rings and pendants was no help for his crafting skills, but it helped with the fine control of and . Although he did it mostly to kill time, the results were still umon items. He would still put them up for sale once he had a shop. As the bone dust kept piling up on the table before him the other students started trickling in. "Hey, you should clean that up before the teacheres. The professor can get really angry." a cheery-looking demon girl spoke to him and sat down at the table beside him. Her skin was a dark orange with wine red to brown markings and ck her. She had very big eyes that were almostpletely filled by her pupils. Seth simply stored the bone dust in his inventory. He could give it to Alison and Evee for their alchemy. "Well, thanks. Wouldn''t want to be yelled at on my first day." he joked. "Your first day?" she asked surprised. "Yeah, I just enrolled. Maybe an hour ago." "Hoho, very brave. Not just staying on your first day but even visiting the ss." "Why?" he asked perplexed. "I guess you don''t know. The first day is the day of baptism in a Bard College. People wille to challenge you." "Like... fighting? "No, flyting." "And that means?" "A poetic duel of taunt and mockery." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "hmm, I guess I have to run." Seth had just stood up when a burly teacher kicked open the door. "I know, I''m a littlete. Everyone sit down, we will start right away." Chapter 251 - 251. Flyte Or Flight Reaction His chance to run was gone. He could only sit back down and pull the cloak deeper into his face. Did Trith run because of this tradition? The noobs had to take ridicule from their seniors? Maybe not, but Seth had no idea about flyting. He would probably be ripped to shreds. "Don''t worry, if you are lucky you might be able to hide after the lesson." "You aren''t nning to y nice now and call me outter, are you?" She only answered with a mischievous smile. The lesson started and the burly teacher at the front started talking about demonic runes while drawing them on the board. Since Seth had joined in the middle of the semester there was not a lot he understood. One curious thing was, that did not work on these characters. He could neither read nor write them by just leaving it to the system skill. His heart sank. Would he really have to learn apletely new alphabet? He didn''t even know why these runes were so important to begin with... ~ they are runes of power and more than justnguage. That is probably why your skill isn''t working. I think I have seen some simr runes on a demonic sword, but I never found out how Demons crafted their weapons. ~ Demons did not share their knowledge randomly. Al''Zalsa was lucky to get her hand on some bads after much searching. He really should have started in the library instead of randomly joining a lesson... "So, why are you here? I mean what courses do you intend to visit." the girl spoke to him again after some time. Seth leaned back to sit morefortably. "Actually, I just wanted to learn some more demonic forging bads for enchantment. Some demon talked me into joining this ce to learn and ran off after the registration." Seth smiled at her confused look. She couldn''t really follow the string of events without any context. Seen his impish smile, she seemed to realize and also smiled. "I think you will do well here, even without experience in flyting." This was looked like her first genuine smile during their conversation, and it was instantly wiped off her face when a piece of chalk hit her at the temple. "Are you two having a nice conversation in my lesson!? You, young people, have more than enough time to flirt outside of my lessons. And you! Take off that cloak. No headdresses in ss. " the teacher hollered. The room shook under his mighty voice. Seth shrugged and took off the hood of his cloak. "A human?" the teacher asked baffled and the room full of young demons turned their heads in his direction. "What?" he asked back at their stares. "Is it that weird?" The teacher was speechless, but a young demon spoke up arrogantly. "Of course, it is, dumbass. How would a human get into a bard college? There is nothing here for you. You should run back fast and huddle together with your little human friends before you get hurt." some of the studentsughed. Seth didn''t really get the Joke, maybe it was lost in trantion. "I appreciate your concern, but you don''t have to worry about me. I doubt there is anyone in this institute that would hurt me, or even be able to." Seth said sincerely, his voiceced with magical charm. "Are you implying we are weak?!" the arrogant demon jumped off his chair. "Your words, not mine. But seeing you so upset you must really be feeling that your power is in fact insufficient?" Seth kept mocking with a calm voice. "Enough. You can do this stuff outside my lesson. Keegan, sit down." the teacher scolded. Although their argument was interrupted everyone could see who had the upper hand. One stood in the middle of the room, his body tense and face grimaced. The other was leaning back in his seat, leisurely and rxed. The teacher red at the student and continued the lesson. "Psst, Hey. Are you from Delta or from Chrona?" his curious table neighbor whispered. "I''m originally from Alpha." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Alpha? I never heard of it." "It doesn''t really exist anymore, so it''s not weird." "Oh, I''m sorry." "Don''t worry about it." They kept whispering back and forth making sure the teacher didn''t catch them. Seth couldn''t understand anything anyway and he didn''t mind being a bad influence. Her name was Ember, and she was invested in the lyrical skills of a demon bard. After gaining Ember''s favor she also gave him some tips to survive college. She also told him that the was a teleportation formation in the school that students could use to travel to the center of Delta. He now knew his next destination. He really had no interest in verbal duels with demons. If he could connect this ce directly with Minas Mar it would be very convenient toe and go. While strolling around he had not seen this teleportation formation, but the college waspletely mapped out with and he could mark it after listening to Ember. They left the room together but didn''t get far before Keegan and a bunch of others blocked their way. "You probably think you are something special! Let''s see if you are more than just empty talk. I demand a duel in modern flyting!" Before Seth could answer an announcement echoed through the school. "The duel between Seth Smith and Keegan Duge in has been approved. Please enter Arena within the next 10 minutes. Absence is punishable by expulsion." "Haha, Lucky me! So today is your first day! You can''t even refuse the challenge!" Keegan said smugly. Seth could only roll his eyes. How bothersome. He just wanted to learn more bads, what was with these school kids? "What is modern flyting?" he asked Ember beside him. "I exined flyting, right? It was more of a fun sport for ancient bards. Modern flyting incorporates fighting, aside frompeting in mocking the opponent. Officially it is to amodate those that mayck talent in lyrics but shine in other areas. It''s just a brawl with dumb trash talk if you ask me." she said "Oh, and here I was about to be worried. I have no confidence ining up with good lyrics. Especially during a fight. By the way, who is this Keegan? He''s quite aggressive. " "The grandson of the chairman. He''s more or less talented in fighting and forging. When his skills are not enough, he can fall back to his grandfather''s backing to evade punishment. " she said annoyed. "The chairman''s talented son? You better wish me luck." Seth said sarcastically as the crowd walked towards the arena. "You don''t need it. I saw you casually carving an umon ring to kill time. If somebody needs luck, then it''s Keegan." The arena was located in one of the castle''s inner courtyards, close to the teleportation formation. Seth nced at Ember who could only give an apologetic smile. He put her into the frenemy drawer for now. The arena was a wide elevated square tiled with thick stone ps. Before the duel started the judge exined the rules. Aside from fighting they had to take turns taunting the opponent in lyrical verses. Keegan entered the stage from the opposite side. It was almost cute seeing him be arrogant. He was barely above lv. 20 and his equipment was mostly umon. Aside from his umon leather armor set, he wore a rare ne and a rare mace. Although the ratings were nothing special, the effects were on another levelpared to those avable in Delta. Most adventurers would be over the moon having these items, but it could not bepared to Seth''s loadout. At this point, Keegan''s arrogance and conceited expression were just cute. Like a haughty puppy. "Are you ready?" The judge looked between the two opponents. "Begin!" Chapter 252 - 252. Flyte Or Flight Reaction (2) "Puny human, hear me preach! Don''t grasp for stars you can not reach!" Keegan shouted as he charged toward Seth swinging his mace. He didn''t bother letting Keegan get close and struck down with his mighty rod. The Demon barely evaded the half-heartedly swung staff. "Errm, my stick is long, yours is short, seeing you wave it makes me snort." He rushed forward and stabbed Keegan''s abdomen, hurling him across the ground. Keegan tried to prop himself up and speak but a wake of vomit came out instead. "Ew, I''m disgusted and appalled, return back into the hole from whence you crawled." With that, Seth kicked the hunched-over Keegan off the stage. "Judge, take the lead, please announce this puppy''s defeat." The judge nodded. "Winner: Seth Smith!" "Good, I will leave now." "I challenge you to a duel!" one of Keegan''sckeys stepped up to the stage and the duel was automatically announced. Seth facepalmed. He defeated theckey even easier than Keegan. Before he could leave another came to the stage. Were they trying to tire him out with some kind of human wave tactic? There was only one thing he could do. "You are strong, I give you that. But against me you will fall t!" the thirdckey charged at him. "I am tired of this fight, let''s see you measure up to Dragonmight!" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The force spread across the whole card and further beyond. Even the judge buckled under the force and kneeled. "I don''t care what you guys nned, don''t challenge me if you can''t stand." He deactivated the effect and left the stage in the direction of the teleportation formation and returned to Minas Mar. This day was interesting, but it ended a little annoying. --30 Secondster in the Yard------ "What happened here?!" a regal-looking demon wizard entered the yard where the students were still recovering from the dragonmight. A great part of the college had been affected by Seth''s item effect. "A human attacked the college!" Keegan lied without blushing and promptly got a bitch p from the judge who continued to exin. "A new student established the new pecking order, that''s all." ----------- "Hey, what''s up boss? " Link asked as Seth sat down in the cafeteria. He needed some food to lighten his mood. "Oh, nothing much. I enrolled at a Bard College, heard a lesson, had some duels. The usual." "A Bard College? There was something like that?" he asked with an amused smile before setting down several tes filled with all kinds of food. Lately, Link had upgraded his skill and it became easier to get permanent effects. The only problem was that there were not many ingredients that could really improve their attributes. The best the food did was raise some of the resistances. Seth didn''t really mind theck of permanent buffs. Much more important was the taste. Since the gourmet hunter was able to focus on cooking, the taste had gone through the roof. He had spent almost as much time in the cafeteria as he had at restaurants and food stalls during thest few days. After the meal, Seth went to check on the mana converter. They had wanted to keep some leeway, so the device sucked roughly 15% of the overall possible energy production of the tower. The output of one of the four formations left. With this power, the machine could crystalize 5 big mana crystals a day. The crystals were about the size of a thermos bottle and of a light blue and green color. One of these crystals could be sold to the empire for 50 gold. Almost 250 gold a day! With roughly 20% needed for the usual operation, there was about 65% untapped potential energy left in case they needed it for something. Seth had actually asked whether they wanted to buy more, but Louis had told him in secret that 5 crystals were enough already to power the cities normal operation for half a day. They already had sources for the rest and no budget to buy more than needed. Thinking of the city his thoughts wandered back to the bard college. He had left a little too fast. He had not gained anything. He had not even gotten the chance to look at the library. He would return the next day. But what should he do in the meantime? The day was far from over. "Yuelcat''s Fur" was doing its bodyguard job today so he couldn''t call Mina and the others to hand around. "Hey Lydia?" he peaked into the cybergoth''s room. She had mostly recovered from her injuries and left the med bay a couple of days ago. All that the visible sign that remained were the curse scars. They were patches of mottled skin with colors ranging between dark red and purple. One would not see much if she wore conventional clothes. But for Lydia who liked to wear kind of revealing clothes it was hard to hide them. The choice was to either change her clothing style or deal with the consequences of showing them off. No matter which she chose, it would take some time to get used to it. "Wanna go to Delta and have some fun?" Seth was bored and he thought that it was probably not the best to let the young woman brood over this alone in her room. "...Sure, let''s go." Lydia had lost some of the bright light he had seen when they first met. It was not just what had happened. But it was her own family that did it. They appeared in the church and entered the city. Seth had an idea what to do and maneuvered the unmotivated cybergoth in a specific direction. Before she could register where they were going, they had already entered the amusement district. Book cafs, Inte cafs, Arcades, gaming stores, movie theatres. Although the inte did not work, power did. What better way to distract oneself from reality than to y some games and watch a movie? The two spent the rest of the day ying games and watching movies. Seth had also spent some time with Mina and Fin here, but it was all much too new to them to be a challenge for him. Lydia on the other hand was a capable opponent in most games. Maybe it was no permanent solution but for this one evening, Lydia had started to smile again, as if she had forgotten what had happened. They returned to the tower when it was dark. Using the momentum Seth got everyone to have a big dinner together. Lydia had eaten alone thest few days and Seth hoped spending time with everyone would change it and help her to keep getting better in the future. Seth wasn''t the best in feelings, but maybe one of the others could do a better job in sharing Lydia''s burden. In the end, he didn''t stay to see whether his hopes came true. He excused himself early and vanished to his quarters with Mina. Nobody wondered about it since their rtionship had be more or less official in thest week. The only one unhappy about this was the spicy sorceress. Her resentment did notst long after Seth summoned her in the red-light district and gave her 50 gold to do whatever she wanted. He felt sorry to have released this cmity onto the innocent people of this business, but not sorry enough to not have done it. Their hips were a sacrifice, he was willing to make. Chapter 253 - 253. Working! Seth''s break ended that day and he started to seriously work on the development of Minas Mar and his own skills. The first step was leaving everything concerning the store to Mary and Jane! The two wanted to be the administrative personal? Then they should take care of finding a good location, registering a business and everything else needed. Seth took care of connecting the tower to the college. It was easier than expected. The demon district had its own interference field and with his student ID, he already had the permit to ess the teleport formation. Now he could enter the college from Minas Mar whenever he wanted. Before anything, he went to visit Trith after breakfast. They had some things to work out. The store was still closed but Seth simply banged at the door until a drowsy Trith opened the door. A shove, a step, and a turned keyter Seth stood inside the locked store with the demon. His sleepy head slowly started heating the engines and got the idea, that maybe he was in danger. "Seth! You are pretty early. Good work yesterday during the flyting. I heard about it, very impressive." Seeth took a step closer to Trith. "You know, you should have told me about it. You left before exining anything. What about helping me in every way possible, hmm?" "I- I just thought it would be a fun surprise. My promise is valid, I will help you in every way I can." "Good, very good." The next two hours proceeded like an interrogation. While Seth sat on the store''s counter and asked questions, Trith sat before him on the ground in a seiza position and answered. "Let''s start with demonic runes. I sat in a lesson about them yesterday but didn''t really get what they are used for." "We use them to etch bads and epics onto weapons and armor to have the great demons bestow them with power." This was even news for Al''Zalsa. "Wait, aren''t you using bads for that?" "It''s different. It''s like how you are using a bad and engraving to enchant something." It was a difference in the manifestation of power. Bads were used to directly ask a request from a demon and the effects often came at a price. Their effects depended not just on the bad but also on the quality of the recitation. Etching runes was slightly moreplicated. A demon bard would use a special acidic ink to etch a poem, an ode, or even the text of a whole bad onto an item. The ink would contain a catalyst like dissolved beast cores. There was a lot bigger margin for variation when using etching instead of carving circuits. While circuits had effects that depended on the route of magic power, etchings would store the bestowed power of a demon as an activated or permanent effect. There were many ancient and standard texts for etching that called upon some of the oldest and strongest demon lords in hell. Simr to elemental lords, they had almost lost their entire ego by fusing with the world. These texts were guaranteed to work, and their strength was only limited by the execution of the etching and the materials used. But one could also write their own works, and these were a free for all. One could write something original or praise a specific lord to maybe gain their attention. One could even spite a demon to gain their opponent''s blessings. The results varied drastically. And etching could have no effect at all, or a very weak one. But when a strong demon lord liked your work, it might end up stronger than the used materials justified. Bads were also like this. Some standard bads were guaranteed to work, but original ones could also exert a tremendous effect. For these reasons, the Bard College was founded. Here, one would not only learn the basic skills, but also the characteristics of the different demon overlords. How something had to be written or sung to increase the chance of a specific effect. Also, how to use these skills in battle. In the end, they were also Bards. The power of demons could be borrowed in battles to attack or support. Demon Bards could pursue many paths, not just the one of a pseudo-cksmith. It was thisplexity that led to people specializing in specific kinds of bads. Some only wrote to one or two demons besides using the standard texts. This also led to the cksmith-kind splitting in defensive and offensive gears. Seth didn''t really care about the use in battle, he was especially interested in etching. He had already thought about learning how to etch, to embellish his products. It sounded interesting, even though he had no high hopes for original texts. Now that he had a rough understanding of what he needed he returned to the Bard College. He wanted to see how etching worked with his own eyes and checked the lesson n. There was an etching practice twice a day, every day of the week. The next one was two hourster. Using this time productively he entered the library. The big door opened automatically after stepping before them and gave way into a gigantic room. It seemed much bigger inside than from the outside. Bookshelves several tens of meters in height with galleries and reading alcoves. Seth was a little lost, but the bored librarian was happy to exin things to him. The most convenient feature was the inventory search. He could write down the themes he was looking for and get an assortment of fitting books to choose from. It didn''t take long to get the books on the ancient runes. Originally, he did not have much motivation to learn a new alphabet, but this kind of enchantment could open unknown possibilities. On top of that, the ancient demon runes were not that hard to learn. There were about 100 characters and they more or less corresponded to the current demonnguage he could trante with his skill. He also found some books on the ancient poems and odes Trith had mentioned. When it was time for the etching practice, he lent the best books he could find and left the library. The ssroom for etching practice was long with many rows of tables. The students already present had not sat down yet and were collected at the entrance. There were three kinds of reactions. Some shrunk back, most didn''t care, and one person approached him. It was a familiar face. Ember his new frenemy greeted him with a smile. "Wow, I didn''t think you would be back so fast after causing such amotion yesterday. Don''t challenge me if you can''t stand and making the whole audience kneel. So overbearing!" she teased him with his own line. It wasn''t his fault. The whole flyting thing was a cheesy duel, to begin with! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Why is everyone just standing here?" he changed the topic. "We are waiting for the teacher. Students are only allowed to work with the ink with a teacher''s supervision. The ink we use for practice may bemon rated, it''s still vtile and dangerous." They couldn''t talk for long as soon and a burly female teacher arrived. She looked like the female version of the burly teacher for the ancient runes. She ushered the student to take a seat. On every table were ink and a steel te prepared like a piece of paper. There was also a brush "Okay, here is today''s task," she said, and sheets of paper flew to every table. They depicted the runes they were supposed to copy today. Seth was still looking at the paper when she approached him. "You are Seth, right? The new student. Let me exin how it works." And she really took her time to exin to Seth how the ink and brush were to be used and the most important safety rules when handling the acidic ink. She also helped him with the first few strokes. This etching was different from the one Seth knew. For decorative etching, one would normally need something like wax to seal the parts of metal the acid was not supposed to attack. Then the area would be submerged in acid for as long as need. This kind of inscribing runes was very different. The characters were directly drawn on the metal with the acid that ate away at the steel at a visible speed. It was not just an act of dissolving as normal acid would work, but it was almost like soldering. After eating into the metal the acid would harden into a kind of dark enamel that was fused to the workpiece. It was a very interesting process to work with and watch. Seth could also feel a very weak but peculiar aura from the ink and enamel. It reminded him of the Ivicer energy he had found in the and the . The energy was simr to the soul energy of infused souls. Was it because the ink used materials like monster cores as ingredients? The reason was not important. It nted a persistent idea in his mind which only became more prominent after being shared with and confirmed by Al''Zalsar. If he could create an ink that worked on the soul armament, it might be possible toyer the etchings on the soul with the circuits on the physical armor. He might have found a way to circumvent the "bleeding through" effect he hade across before. His motivation to learn this craft had made another leap. Chapter 254 - 254. Music Mantis Etching the runes became quite fun once he got into the rhythm. His high dexterity and experience in engraving were a big help in guiding the brush. If he kept going like this, he would be able to gain the corresponding skill in a matter of hours. He could have gone on until then, but the exercise ended after two hours. Seth had the books on runes and bads and a rough idea about how etching worked. It was time to leave for the day. He wanted to get some ink from Trith and keep practicing until he got the skill. On his way to leave the college, he heard someone call from behind. "Hey wait! Where are you going?" Ember came running from behind. "I''m leaving. Isn''t that obvious?" "But you only visited one lesson and you are already leaving again? Singing practice is next. How about joining?" Singing...the ck mark in his life as a cksmith. He still vividly remembered the weird effects when he tried to use smithing bads. "No, I.." he was about to decline when he realized something. He had a talent for demon bads. Trith had mentioned that the execution of his bads wascking. He was too reliant on . This was the demon bard college, the songs they taught would be demon songs, right? Maybe it was worth giving it a ry. "Okay, where is the practice?" Seth still didn''t know what exactly to think of Ember, but no matter what she nned he now had his own interest in the singing exercise. The demon girl led the way and they arrived at the music hall. Instruments for practice were stacked to one side and a small group of students were already present. "You arete." a strict-looking teacher with a taut bun said. With her sharp sses and thin face, she resembled a mantis. Maybe an insect demon? "Get your lyrics and get in position. We start with choir and change to single practiceter." "Ah, Miss Tang. This is the new guy." Ember said and pointed at Seth. "The human who caused amotion yesterday?" the mantisdy asked interested. "Then let''s start with you. Show me your skills." "I''m sorry, but I only know some forging bads and I never sang outside the smithy..." "Hmm, follow me." The teacher brought him to a side door behind which was actually a small smithy. "Take some of the steel here and start forging." The rest of the students were huddling at the door to see the show. Seth simply shrugged. With a snap of his finger, the coal forge was ignited. He didn''t intend to show off, but under the influence of his skill, the metal was ready for forging within record time. The teacher had told him to forge, so he forged and started singing the blood bad. The teacher''s expression didn''t change, but the students looked very confused. As he sang dak notes and runes exited his mouth and fused into the steel he kept folding on itself. The smithy shuddered under the deep vibrations of his voice and the students looked even more confused seeing the dark runes. What they heard and saw was a weird dissonance between the song. the impression it gave and its effect. The overall song seemed impressive and beautiful. But they could hear the weird skips and mistakes in the vocals. Despite those the effect was exemry. On the anvily an almost ck de of a dagger when thest verse of the bad ended. The students were whispering among themself, but the teacher nodded understandingly. "You have a skill that helps with singing, right? Can you do another one but turn off that skill?" Seth had an inkling where this was going but did as he was asked. He toggled off and started again with a new piece of steel. The difference between the two attempts was most prominent to Seth as he felt that the effects were much weaker, and it was harder to hit the right notes. Still, he had used the bad so often, at this point, he knew it by heart and still seeded in it. "Do you think, you could turn off your trantion skill, too?" the teacher asked after the second attempt. Seth was unsure. Without the skill, he could only try to imitate the song. Seeing him hesitate Miss Tang closed the door to the smithy so other students could no longer watch. "I am not doing this to disgrace you. You are a student, and I am here to help. I need to know your baseline to help you. Please try without the skill." Seth nodded. He really had nothing to lose here. On the contrary, if he could not just gain more bads but improve his overall skill, it would be a huge gain. Once again, he took a piece of steel and started the bad. He knew the meaning of the word and imitated the sound. The result was... not good. There were many mistakes and the string of notes was disrupted and sparse. The effect on the de was a weak increase of the wearer''s toenail growth. He had failed miserably. There was no need to feel disheartened though. Seth already knew this would be the oue. Without the skill, there was no chance he could seed in singing a forging bad in a foreignnguage. He reactivated before the teacher gave her verdict. Contrary to his expectation, the teacher confirmed what Al had said to him back then. "You have a great talent. The fact that you even managed to contact an ancestor, just by imitating the sound and rhythm, is outstanding. What you need to do now, is seriously learning the demonnguage. The trantion skill is a disruptive element that gets in the way of the music''s effects." Seth remembered that Al''Zalsar had mentioned something simr at one point. was great for normal conversation, but when it came to magic where thenguage used was very important, it could be a problem. "Did you hear me? Have you reactivated the trantion skill?" "Yes, sorry, teacher. I was just lost in thought. When I manage to learn the demonnguage, will it increase the effect of the bads?" "Not necessarily. The effect of a bad is based on the text and the quality of recitation. With your skills, you are already able to make the most of a bad like this. What will increase is the efficiency. Leaving it to your skills to mend your mistakes puts a huge strain on the bad''s operation leading to increased consumption of mana and even mental energy. When ites to longer and moreplicated bads, this will be a huge disadvantage. It may even lead to a catastrophic failure." "Thank you for your advice." Seth had a lot to think about. The workload kept increasing more and more. Looking for the texts of new bads had led him to learn ancient runes and etching, and now he was even contemting learning a whole newnguage. The thing was, that he felt confident that he could actually do it. Although INT was one of his lower attributes, he still had three times more than the normal human limit. Intelligence increased the memory and speed at which information could be processed. Learning a newnguage posed no great hurdle at this point. Especially if he could increase his INT with some items to boost the learning speed. It was the same for the ancient runes and bads. As long as it was simply memorizing information, he felt confident. Miss Tang allowed him to leave through the back door after organizing his thoughts. It didn''t make much sense to stay in the lessons when the first thing he needed to improve was learning thenguage. To his surprise, Ember followed him a few minutester. "I saw that you didn''t return, so I ditched the lesson and came. Was Miss Tang hard on you? I can help you exercise if you want to. I''m pretty good at singing." "Singing will have to wait a little longer until I mastered the demonnguage. But do you know a shop where I can get more of the ink for etching?" Her face fell a little when he switched the topic from music to crafting. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Ah, sure. There are a few alchemist shops that sellmon ink in the city. The is one that people keep talking about." "Wait, alchemist shops?" "Yeah? Who do you think makes the ink? It''s not like this stuff is just bubbling out of wells." she said sarcastically. She didn''t know that Seth''s thoughts were already back at Minas Mar. He had an aspiring alchemist and a witch. Wouldn''t they be able to make ink for him, if he got some recipes? The two, the cksmith and the demon girl, got on their way into the city. Chapter 255 - 255. Grinding The Etch Ember brought him to a big alchemy store. The showroom was vast and open with isles of potions and shelves of ingredients. It gave him the impression of a mix between pharmacy and a witch''s kitchen. The strong smell of herbs, dried stuff and potions filled the air. Beside the clerk at the counter, there were 2 or 3 employees helping customers find and choose what they needed. Seth felt satisfied when he could not only buy a bulk ofmon ink but even got it for free on top of purchasing a demonic encyclopedia of alchemy recipes including several kinds of inks for etching. The book was big, thick, and pricy. 23 gold was enough for a farmer to live for almost 2 years. But it was worth it. Alison liked her books big. Imagining the quiet girl''s reaction when Seth visited her with this girthy surprise made him smile. They got on their way back to the college. Seth wanted to return to Minas Mar and start practicing. "You are well off, aren''t you? Spending so much money in a heartbeat and still smiling like a child that got a present." Embermented on his expression. She looked a little sulky. ~ I bet she''s jealous.~ "Hmm, yeah. I guess one could say I''m am well off. Others might even call me filthy rich." he teased the young demon beside him. "How? Aren''t you just a human? How can you have so much money to spend in a world like this?" "I''m simply a very good cksmith. It''s no big secret." "You are a cksmith?" "Yep. Oh, that reminds me, I have to go in here for a second." They had just walked past Trith''s store when Seth remembered that he wanted to talk to the demon "Seth?" Trith was reading a book at the counter when suddenly the door opened and surprised him. "Hey. I came because you said you would help me with learning." Seth pinned him on his promise. The demon could only sigh. It wasn''t like he could use any customers as an excuse. "Sure, what do you need." "A brush and goggles for etching and I want you to get me materials to learn demonnguage." "Why do you ask me fornguage learning material?" the demon cocked his head "Well, you are the only demon who owes me. Who else am I going to ask for something elementary like that?" "I see... but can''t you just buy the skill?" "No. I already have a trantion skill. The teacher said that''s the problem. I need to truly master thenguage to take advantage of the bads." "Yeah... and I am telling you there is a skill for that." Trith looked at him like he was being stupid. "There is a difference between a trantion skill and anguage mastery skill. High-rank scribes sellnguage skills all the time. It''s not even that expensive." the demon exined. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Great, then get me one of those scrolls instead," Seth said with a smile. "W-Wait, I said they are not that expensive, but they still-" "You said you would help me in any way possible to further my studies." "Fine," Trith said with a fed-up face. He vanished for a moment into the room behind the counter and came back with a few brushes and goggles. "Here, take these. I will go and look for thenguage skill in the next few days." "Thank you very much!" "Just go away, please." Seth left with a big smile and joined Ember on their way back to the college. "Do you know the shop owner or something?" "Sure, why do you ask?" "Oh, good. It''s just that I worried you bought something in there." "And what would be the problem with that?" Ember looked a little embarrassed when she realized that she had badmouthed someone Seth knew. "S-Sorry. It''s like this: people say the man is a scammer who only sells mediocre stuff for full price." "Is it because he is making both, armor and weapons?" "How did you know?" "Oh, I actually made a deal with him for joining the Bard College. He was quite famous where he graduated, but some old rival came earlier and spread those rumors. Now, nobody is even giving him the chance to prove them wrong." "Sounds like the very generic revenge plot." "Yep, but it''s not like I care. He just asked me to do well and show people that someone could do both and still make superior equipment. There was also something about the apprentice of his rival, but he didn''t even tell me the name..." "It can''t be important then." "My thoughts, exactly." They soon entered the college and came before the teleport formation. They told their farewells and parted ways. Ember had sses while Seth couldn''t wait to make his alchemist produce ink! - Give Alison a nice present. He returned to Minas Mar and looked for the wizard. She had locked herself in the alchemyboratory. Only after several knocks did the door open slightly and a moody Alison looked at him. "What is it, Boss? I''m doing an experiment right now." Seth brought out the thick tome and waved it before her eyes. Her eyes followed the book without letting it go. "Look what I got for you. It''s an encyclopedia of demonic alchemy recipes. Did you want it?" "Give it." she snapped and tried to steal it from his hands. Seth hurriedly pulled it away. "Ah ah ah, not so fast. Ites with a task." Alison looked a little surprised. It was the first time Seth hade with a specific task. He took out a bottle of ink and gave it to her. "There are recipes in the book for ink like this. I want you to make several charges ofmon and umon inks. Just ask Jane for the money if you need ingredients." The wizard/alchemist looked at the bottle with interest. She had only been grinding consumable potions to increase her proficiency until now. "Alright, give me the tome and I will get to work." "Ah, wait a moment, there is one more thing." Seth suddenly had an idea and showed her the books he had gotten at the bard college. Books about demon poetry, bads, and ancient runes. "Where did you get these?" Alison asked in surprise. "I got them at the bard college, why?" "Bard college? Is there... like a library?" her eyes shone. She really deserved her title "Bookworm". She had managed to read all the books in the church''s library in Y-City. "Is there something special about the books?" "Exactly. They are judged as useful knowledge by my skill. I could gain a lot if there were more like these." Seth suddenly had an idea. "Hmm, there is a pretty big library. Say, Alison, are you interested in poetry and songwriting?" "Where did thate from?" she asked back in surprise but answered anyway. "I''m no good with music, but I liked poetry. It was my hobby... before all this happened." "Great! I have a good idea. How about you learn demon poetry and write the texts in my stead?" He painted a great future. Alison could read all the cumbersome knowledge, gain strength and write poems for him! And he would only have to do the etching. "No thanks, boss. I''m really not interested in demon poetry. Please don''t try to push your work on me." She t out denied their glorious future and left Seth in the darkness of having to learn everything himself. "Oh well, I will let you read the books anyways when I am done with them." Leaving the tome in Alison''s he and returned to his quarters. There was stuff to train. Contrary to the exercise at the college, Seth didn''t intend to waste the ink. He had a book with a collection of ssics he could copy on items. Only when he had started reading through this book did he realize just how many demons there were. On the 200 pages of the book were over 250 longer and shorter poems dedicated to almost as many different demons. The effects of these inscriptions were based on the demon and almost every demon gave a different effect. They could be roughly categorized like enchantments and they were noted down with the expected effect and the expected strength if executed correctly. The book offered a variety of simpler texts and gave an overview of the kinds of possible effects. Chapter 256 - 256. Grinding The Etch (2) Seth already had a n on what to use for practice. Cerberus had been pumping out more than enough nks that could be used as practice pieces. After refining them, he could etch them. If he seeded, he could assemble them into a finished weapon. It was also a way to build up a stock of general merchandise for the store. Compared to the simple exercise at the college, this was a step up in difficulty. It was not just copying the runes, but he also needed to adjust their size and fit them to the weapon. His only help was the 101 of Etching. A textbook onmon practices for demon bards. dly it was very simr to the principles of engraving inscriptions. When the item was finished these ancient runes would look like intricate ornamental iys. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He started with a short verse not much longer than two sentences. The effects of these demon enchantments resembled those of the bads. Unlike the circuits from the empire who often came with specific numerical values, these effects were vaguer. The verse he chose was supposed to slightly increase strength and speed during a fight. The verse called on a minor demon noble of war. Without the help and guidance of the skill, it was a lot of work. Applying too much ink could eat through the material. Mistakes when etching a rune led to failure. Getting the spacing between runes wrong led to failure. Spelling mistakes obviously led to failure. Practicing the individual runes first before going over to trying and write sentences now made sense. It took some time to enter the zone. He was hyper-focused on the task. After a few hours and ruining more than 20 sword nks, Seth finally seeded inpleting the verse. < Ding! You have acquired the Skill Etching (Beginner) lv.1 > < Ding! has been added to your Catalogue.> Finally! Seth opened the enchantment window. Besides engraving, forging bads, and enchanting it now disyed etching. The rules were simr to the forging bads. The etching needed to be learned before they were added as an entry. only gave little help in actually learning and executing the various texts. The bigger improvement came with the fact that the skills could now interact. Simr to engraving he could now use as a guide to help to ce the inscription on different weapons. Like with Bads he would need to learn Inscriptions one by one on his own. Maybe he could also scan weapons to get the inscriptions. That was something he needed to test in the future. For now, he finished off the sword that had helped him gain the skill. Seeing thepleted item roused new questions. There was a big difference in base statspared to the swords he made when he first started owing to his growth in skill. The enchantment itself was a little vague, but that was not the weird thing. The peculiarity was that the inscription granted 2 effects. Seth suddenly wondered whether there were different levels among bads and poems, just like there were among enchantments. Enchantments were ranked ording to theirplexity and the higher one''s skill the easier and more enchantments one could add to an item. The technical aspect of etching the phrases was not that difficult. Not with his dexterity and previous experience in engraving. So it couldn''t be that they were ranked byplexity like circuits were. After the things Trith had told him and what he had read- instead of wrecking his brain alone he asked his handy pocket lichicon. ~ Are you serious? Of course, songs and forging bads, too, are ranked ording to the ranks of the system. Writing an epic bad is a bard''s greatest aspiration. ~ "How would I know? It''s not written in the book!" Seth had simply chosen bads based on their length since he judged them easier. ~ Of course, it isn''t. Why would they write down something any bard profession can see at a nce?~ Seth was stumped. It made sense that he could not see the ranks of things outside his profession, like materials. It was just that he never really thought about it when it came to stuff like texts. It reminded him of the time when N?del exined to him that the same material can also have a different value depending on the profession. It also led his thought to a different profession. "Then, is it the same for Enchanters?" ~ Yes, it''s the same for us. A high-rank enchanter could create a rare or epic enchantment, just like you create gear, and raise an item''s rating by enchanting it. ~ Seth sat down. The new insight led to a few realizations. How mean was it that he needed to do so much to make an epic item and an enchanter could simply wave a staff and power up a crappy item? ~ What nonsense are you thinking? Enchanters also need materials to execute their skills, just like you. Actually, being an Enchanter is a lot more costly, since all the materials are lost if the enchantment fails. You can just recycle your failed products. An enchanter can''t. Imagine having to collect over twenty kinds of rare and epic ingredients for one try and fail... I needed over a hundred years to be a master! And I never managed to make a legendary enchantment... ~ Frustration was seeping from Al''s voice. A lot of her time as a lich was spent collecting materials for enchantments. A little embarrassed for his childish thoughts, Seth apologized. The sorceress told him it was okay, but stayed silent from then on. Seth got some food and returned to master another inscription. After hours of practice, the execution of the second was a little easier. The second inscription was one that had a simr effect to burning mana. Seth had felt confident when he started practicing it, but his expression soon turned grim. Although the text only had two sentences, he could feel something gnawing on his mind. This was most likely a higher-ranked verse than the first one. It was not a problem for Set who had a vast pool of mental energy at this point. He just needed to get ustomed to it, so it would not disturb him while writing the inscription. The text seemed much simpler, but Seth still needed seven tried before he seeded the first time. Not all his item effects that helped during a fight when using worked on reducing the costs of etching. As such he had spent almost a quarter of mental energy on these seven attempts. The resulting dagger was interesting. The material he used for the Dagger was the usual umon but the dagger got a rare rating with just the inscription added to it. There was no soul, no enchantment, no bad. Just the text had been enough. It could only be guessed that the verse was at least rare-rated and had high requirements to be used. Seth doubted there would be an epic poem in a book called 101 of Etching. The effect was also nothing to scoff at. Sealing active skills and magic for 5 seconds while burning an unknown amount of mana was quite terrifying in a battle. He might even be able to give it to Mina as is. Looking dagger, he found the metal of the de under a big strain. This might have been the reason the durability was lowered. It also gave him an idea of why it had put such a strain on him to write the text. If this was a rare poem and he was usingmon ink, maybe the lowered durability a heightened consumption were the effect of this disparity. The ink was not powerful enough on its own to contain the demon''s blessing, so he had to pay a price. It was gettingte and Seth decided to stop for the day. He went for dinner to the cafeteria where he met most of the others. "Yulecat''s Fur" had just returned and were decimating a table of food. Fin and Mina waved at him while the rest of the party greeted him. He joined them at the table. "What''s up guys?" he asked as he sat down. "The princess keeps us busy," Mike answered exhausted. "Sucks to be you. Oh yeah, Mina. Take this. I know it doesn''t look like much, but the effect is pretty handy." He slid the ordinary-looking dagger to her and exined the perks and effect. He also promised to make a better one in time. But thest part was not heard anymore, as not just Mina, but also the rest of the party was looking at the dagger with round eyes. Since everyone was distracted, Seth started hoarding the food. "It can really seal skills and magic for a short time? " "That''s what the description says. Cool, right?" he said between two bites. "Cool? This is a mage killer! Fin wants gloves with that effect!" the tiny fairy screamed with eyes shining likesers. Her gaze almost burned a hole into the munching Seth''s skull. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Seth could hear her silently chanting like a small child trying to manipte its parent. "Burp- Ah, much better. Sure, I will try to make you one," he said satisfied after sucking up the biggest part of the food on the table. While everyone was focused on debating about the dagger, he had stolen their food while waiting for Link to bring his. They could only sigh and ask Link to get some more. "Oh yeah, any news about the Willis Family?" Seth asked since they had the chance to talk. "No signs of them. Nowhere." Mike answered. "Weird..." Chapter 257 - 257. Grinding The Etch (3) -------Somewhere in Delta------------- "I still can''t believe they managed to kill Uncle Valen." "Stop calling that monster uncle already. What are we supposed to do now?" "I might have an idea. I met a bunch of people during myst journey. They might be able to help us." "That sounds like a n." ---------------------------------Bard College----- The next day after gaining the etching skill Seth visited Trith''s shop. A very disheveled demon opened the door. "What happened to you? You look like you fought a rabid imp..." "And who''s fault is that?!" the moody demon asked aggravated. "Did your neighbor let loose a rabid Imp or something?" "No! I had to get that stupid skill scroll for you! I searched through most scribe shops in this city to find one. Here! Go away! I will close shop for today." Seth didn''t expect the demon to be this dedicated. He dly took the scroll and left him alone. It was not a good idea to absorb the skill right now. Seth returned to Minas Mar to use the scroll. He sat down on his bed in his private quarters and calmed down to absorb the skill. The feeling of having foreign knowledge crammed into one''s skull didn''t hurt but was not pleasant either. The user would not want to be at an insecure ce when experiencing it. Strings of foreign vocabry and characters filled his mind and overwhelmed his brain until they found a neat niche to settle in. Adept lv.4 was the level of a native speaker, and the skill was much neater than learning it himself. When he learned old Alphis, the ancientnguage of Alpha, in school he often had problems remembering the vocabry. With the skill, he could smoothly switch betweenmon and demonnguage. He could now easily understand demonnguage as what it was and speak it. The problem was that he now understood demonnguage and exactly what it meant. Even when one learned anothernguage, it would often still have a mist of ignorance which made especially songs in thatnguage sound better than ones in the nativenguage. Many of the poems now sounded slightly silly when he read them with his new understanding. The next step would be texting the forging bads after shutting off . For the test, Seth took a piece of steel and started working it into a simple bracer. A jolt went through his body when he heard the bad for the first time without the trantion skill as an intermediary. At first nce, the demonnguage was jarring and dissonant to human ears, but it plugged a string in Seth''s heart. Al had once said he had a talent and the teacher had confirmed it. Now Seth found that the demon music also fit his taste. It was a powerful and hardnguage that granted energy and might to a song. It could move his heart and tickle a very special spot for him. His motivation grew and his song became more and more empowered. The dark runes and notes that came with the bad carried a dark red aura that illuminated the room and fought the bright soul fire for supremacy. Although he was not the greatest Singer, he brought the power while added the technique. And like the teacher had said, the resource consumption had drastically reduced. Although he had never had a problem with only the bads, if he for example added infusing a soul on top of it, he would have a hard time splitting his concentration. Although the teacher had mentioned that his skill was already helping to get the optimum out of his bads, the result showed a slight increase in performance. Maybe this was the effect of ? Seth was never good at singing and always felt embarrassed when he had to sing. It was different now. Singing with the demonguage invigorated him. Knowing this and realizing that bads and poetry also had their own ratings Seth decided to put some effort and into it and try to learn singing and songwriting at the bard college. If his assumption was correct then, the better he sang the bads the greater could be the effect of . He could bring out effects greater than what the forging bads were supposed to achieve. And if he, maybe, added on top? The bads were something that convinced some higher demonic beings to grant their unholy blessings. If he could persuade them with the linguistic power of a trickster god... Wouldn''t he be able to buff a bads effect through the roof? He couldn''t help but release a burst of maliciousughter. "Erm, Boss?..." his diabolicalughter was rudely interrupted by Mary who stood in the door and hid behind her clipboard. She had flourished in the role of a secretary during thest few days. Seth straightened his clothes and yed over the fact that he wasughing like a viin seconds ago. "Ah, sorry. Mary, how can I help you?" "I didn''t want to interrupt. It''s an update on the shop location. Jane has scouted a few potential ces and asked you to visit them with her once you have time. " "Is jane here? I cane along right away." Originally, he was going to go to the college now, but the day was still young. He could goter. Jane was waiting at themon space. "Hey Jane, I heard you had some ces to show me?" "Yep. I''m d you had time right away." They left Minas Mar and the girl started guiding him to different locations for their shop. Two were in buildings above ground while another 3 were on the subterranean levels below the shopping district. Seth''s first shop had been underground, and he really didn''t feel like returning there. Even when Urth''s sub-levels were partly even better than those above ground. He even yed with the thought of buying a whole building. Or at least a few floors at once. He had more than ten million credits and was intent on using a good chunk of it. Jane brought him to the two locations above ground. The looked okay but Seth wanted to give the subterraneanyer a chance. The shops below ground were in some of the best locations of the district. The wholeyer was filled with shops and stores selling equipment and stuff for adventurers. Gear, potions, food, and misceneous items. Everything one needed to travel and enter the dungeons could be found here. He was forced to admit that this ce really looked awesome. But what really influenced his decision was the third andst store location. It was also the most expensive one. If he really wanted to buy, he would only be able to buy a single floor of the ce. The reason this was the one, was the surroundings. Opposite the empty storefront glowed his name in bright characters: Neco Boos. The little sh- The man responsible for the shameful superhero trend. The show window was filled with mannequins wearing hero suits in bodybuilder poses. This was the ce for Seth''s store. This was the battlefield he chose. It was not just to show those blinded sheep the true glory of armor. It was also because they didn''t share any merchandise. Seth sold weapons, armor, essories, and potions. Nico Boos was a purist tailor and only sold hero suits capes and cloaks. If Nico Boos was really as popr as it seemed, then this was a good ce to open shop. Superhero suits were cloth armors that could be worn as is. But if someone had the money to look at designer cloth armor, they probably wouldn''t skimp on their other gear either. Armor could be worn on top. essories were a no-brainer. And who didn''t need a weapon? Since he could not buy all three stories at once, he told Jane to rent them for now. The first floor would be the umon and rare items as well as the potions. The second floor would be reserved for the true gems among the items he was willing to sell. Only those with a rmendation or the necessary money would be allowed on this floor. The third floor would be a restaurant for rmended guests. Here they could serve the meals Link cooked at the Tower''s kitchen. Thanks to the inventory it did not really matter where food was cooked. The meals could be brought here and served. This way they could also make money with the food link grinded to improve his cooking level. The gourmet hunter was putting in a lot of energy ever since he found the kitchen. The man couldn''t stop gushing about the appliances like a middle-aged man talking about his sportscar. At least this relieved Seth of his duty to make kitchenware for the man. "I will talk to the owner right away to finish the deal," Jane answered when he told her that this was the ce. And when all the paperwork was done it would take some more time to furnish the ce. Shelved and rack for the products, table, and chairs, and decoration for the restaurant. Employees, too. Not just clerks for the shops, but also servers for the restaurant. There was a lot to do, and Seth was d he could leave it all to his administrative lords. N?v(el)B\\jnn Yes, his Lords of Administration. He couldn''t stop grinning at thisbel. Maybe he should give the two adjacent bureaus in Minas Mar and put a sign with it above them. Yeah, they should all have monikers like that. It fit the whole game setting of the system and might even bring good luck to their organization. Who knew? Chapter 258 - 258. Voice Of Smith The decision was made, and Jane left to speak with the owner. Set on the other hand got on his way to visit the bard college. If he remembered correctly there would be a singing practice in the afternoon and they nned to join it. He wanted to try and gain the singing skill himself before he ended up buying it at the auction house. If it didn''t work, he could still spend the money. The singing skill was verymon, and few people looked for it. It still cost a few gold coins, so nobody could call it cheap. He was a littlete. When Seth entered the hall, all faces turned to him. he was always a little surprised by the huge variety there was among demons. But what really surprised him was that Ember was also here. Did that demon girl join every singing exercise? Or was it just a coincidence? Probably the first. She struck him as someone very serious about the musical part of the upation. "Sorry for beingte." "Mr. Smith. You are back faster than expected. I can hear that you have learned the demonnguage already, very good. Take the lyrics and try to sing along in the choir." Seth took a page of lyrics and remembered to his dismay that music also entailed notes. Demon notes. He hoped with his heart of hearts that the system would give him a skill for this. Until then he would just follow the lead of the rest of the people. Everyone singing the demonic tune at the same time did not just jolt his heart, but the whole room was shuddering as if they were summoning a great demon. But the theme of the song was actually a tragic love story. At first, he only sang along silently but soon he got in the flow of things and his voice grew stronger and blended with the rest of the choir. This was his voice, no skill. He had turned off before he entered the room. He believed it would be easier to get the singing skill if he actually sang alone. Without trantion or skill amplification Seth sang and matched the bards of the choir in power. But he didn''t dare to be too loud. There were still mistakes he made that he was well aware of and probably many he was not aware of. But the most important aspect was fulfilled. Seth felt joy singing this foreign music. He felt motivated to learn it not just to further his crafting skills. The mantis kept giving each one tips on what and how to improve as if she could differentiate the voice of every student individually. She often spoke to Seth, but he was thankful for her advice. The lesson took two hours, and he could feel his singing audibly improve. After the lesson ember approached him in the hallway. "Hey, you were pretty good." "Thanks, but you could say I just started. I''m still a noob. I don'' even have the singing skill, yet." Ember looked at him in surprise. Then some understanding lit in her eyes. "You said you were a cksmith, right? Then it makes sense. Depending on the specialization such sses can have a rather high threshold to gain more creative skills like or . " "Really?" Seth knew that sses could increase and decrease the difficulty of gaining skills other than the ss skills. He just didn''t expect that a rtivelymon skill like singing could be hard to learn. "Yeah. No need to worry. If it takes too long, you can probably find the skill scroll in a bookstore. They are not very expensive." "A bookstore? I would have looked in the auction house..." "The auction house? I don''t think you would find it there. Common skills like this have no high demand or price. Just ask around town, you should be able to find one." the demon advised. She was suspiciously friendly today. Or had he just misunderstood her? "You are very dedicated to music, aren''t you?" "No! No...." She looked up in surprise and hurriedly looked away. He was right. She was more earnest when it came to a subject dear to her. "Are you joining every singing exercise?" "Y-yes..." she said with a blush. "Then we will see each other regrly from now on," Seth said with a smile and left. He already had an idea where to get the scroll. A few minutester. "You again?" a moody Trith opened the door for the second time today. "Yep, I have another skill scroll I need you to find for me," he said with a grin. With that, he gave the underemployed demon bard the epic quest of looking for another skill scroll. "By the way... maybe you should tell me the name of that apprentice you told me about? It would be helpful in humiliating him or something like that." "Oh! Oh...that." Trith stuttered a little in surprise. "Don''t worry about it. Just show them that you can create tremendous items without specializing in weapons or armor. That will be enough. I don''t expect any fast results, so there is no worry to rush it." "Suspicious. But okay, I will leave now." With that, Seth returned to Minas Mar. Since a location was found and things with the bard college were more or less settled. The real business would soon get started. It was time to arrange the tower''s operations. At the moment everyone did whatever they wanted, that would end soon. N?v(el)B\\jnn It waste afternoon, so Seth decided to invite the 13 Lords for a meeting after dinner. "Alright, I called everyone here to talk about the future operations of Minas Mar. I think we should distribute some duties and tasks." Seth started when everyone had arrived. There was already a rough division in the people currently part of Minas Mar. Mary and Jane were the administrative support. Link, Evee, Alison, and Seth were crafters and fighters, while Jonah, Monique, Tekar, and the members of "Yulecat''s Fur" were pure fighters. The recovered Lydia could also be counted among the fighters, though she did not take in the current meeting. She was not a member of the Lords. Seth wanted to split them into 3 Divisions. Administration, Production, and Field service. Field service would be in charge of gathering materials. Production would refine the materials and supply Field service and Administration with products. Administration would oversee the store, finances, and logistics. "Any more questions or suggestions?" after sharing his n. Nobody had any great ideas for the moment so they just sat there in silence. Until Bulko surprisingly lifted his hand. "I have a suggestion." the otherwise silent giant spoke. Seth gestured for him to continue. "We should also have a medical division. Some people should keep the medical wing staffed and get familiar with the facilities. I suggest a healer and a pharmacist as permanent staff." the gentle half-ogre suggested. "This sounds reasonable. " Seth answered nodding. It was not a big division but could be important. With a pharmacist, they could also grow herbs and produce potent special medicine. Since it had a different emphasis, a pharmacist would not get in Evee''s or Alison''s way but cover possible gaps. One thing was clear: They were not enough people toplete such a separation, yet. There was no staff for a medical division, yet. The pure fighters could not form a bnced party without the crafters, so everyone would keep joining them on missions. They could also not fall too far behind in level. And the store could not function with just Mary and Jane. Today they decided on leaders for these divisions. The leader would be responsible to implement the changes to facilitate a clean separation. Like recruiting members. Mary and Jane became the leaders of Administration, while Mike and Monique became the leaders of the field service. As the one who suggested it, Bulko got the responsibility for the medical division. Mike was the leader of "Yulecat''s Fur" and Monique would be responsible for filling the numbers, so her Party could function without the crafters. The explosive beauty had a good charisma and fortitude. Seth didn''t know whether she would be a good leader, but she had a great wealth of experience. Seth took charge of the production, which literally meant that he did not have to do a lot for now. They did not need more crafters for the moment and everyone else had high-grade facilities. There was only one thing he had to do. Chapter 259 - 259. Building A Workshop As his duty in charge of the Production Seth had to make sure everyone had the fitting crafting stations for their work. The only one currently without such a thing was himself. Since it was soon time to open their store, he needed a fitting ce for grinding. There were quite a lot of ideas that had built up over the past few weeks that he wanted to implement in his workshop. The first step was choosing the fitting spot. Seth stood in themand room with a 3d hologram of Minas Mar before him. The tower was built at the back of a big empty magma chamber reach from the bottom to the top. The lower floors formed a wide star-shaped base. What Seth wanted for his workshop was ess to the magma within the mountain below Delta. He needed to build a smelter powered by an active volcano. Otherwise, he would be unable to refine . "Minas Mar, can you show me magma deposits close to our location?"tely he had started calling the tower ego by the name he had given the tower. ~Yes, Master. ~ The hologram was refreshed and showed several veins and smaller chambers closer to the tower. They all branched out from a giant magma chamber at the edge of the tower''s perception radius. They seemed close, but the closest was actually several hundred meters away. Even with his mining skill, how was he supposed to dig that far? ~ Are you seriously thinking of digging out the rooms yourself?! ~ the lich interjected bbergasted. ~ The tower''s drones are much more qualified to expand the tower than you are. ~ " You mean the maintenance drones?" Seth remembered seeing them when the tower was restored after they reactivated it. These creatures looked like biomechanical trilobites. Their shell had a copper sheen, and they were quite fast. There were several floors andboratories below the ground floor that housed the machinations responsible for their creation and maintenance. ~ Try going into the build modus. It should make everything much easier. ~ "Open the build modus?" ~Affirmative. ~ A menu window opened with tools that could be used to add things to the tower''s hologram. It reminded Seth of some programs he knew from virtual reality. Though this was much more like augmented reality. Besides manually creating a room, he could also describe to the tower ego what he wanted, and the tower would automatically show different possible variations. He made one big room as a center. Here he would summon the . All other rooms were adjacent to the center. One would have a channel directly leading to the nearest active magma chamber. Here he could build the special furnace for . Another room was dedicated to the creation of . It was possible for the tower to directly engrave the blood formation into the room''s ground. This way he would only need to fill the prepared channels on the ground with the necessary blood instead of drawing it anew every time. Close to this room was an experimental room Seth came up with. The Bloodbaths. The room would house big vats and tanks of blood from many different beasts. These tanks were meant to nurture feasting nks. This was an idea he had wanted to develop but never had the time before. Now that he was building his own workshop, he could add it from the start. His idea was notplicated. After forging something using the feasting bad, it would add the adverb of "feasting" like the feasting de. With Tored''s help, he had found a great synergy between Bleeding and Life Steal enchantments and the effect. This was the reason he had always turned them into blooddrinker weapons immediately. It created the misconception that the feasting only worked in battle because the Life steal effect had changed it that way. At one point he had realized that a pure feasting weapon could grow stronger by just absorbing blood. There was no need to spill it in battle with a weapon. This realization spawned the idea of soaking a feasting weapon in blood, before processing it further into a blood drinker weapon or something else. Like this, he could further strengthen any kind of material he was able to forge with the bad. All he needed was strong blood. For this purpose, Seth had kept back the blood they had collected during their adventures in the dungeons. The others had looked at him weirdly when he asked Link to also harvest the blood. The blood of most creatures was worthless on the market. But an item would not care. He also nned a separate room for Cerberus and the spirit furnace. Only the crafting stations for smithing and enchantment would be present in the central room. After designing a few more storage rooms and nk rooms for future additions he confirmed the blueprint. ~Instructions received. Estimated time untilpletion: 3 Days. ~ "Just 3 days?" Seth blurted out in surprise. ~ The estimated time can be reduced if power production is increased. ~ "How long would it take with more power?" ~ 1-2 days. ~ "No... 3 days is okay. Proceed with the original n." Seth was not that pressed for time. He was also a little afraid of what could happen if he messed with this. He saw a flood of trilobites filling the hallways of the tower. No need to provoke something like that. -------Somewhere in Delta----- Willis Family wees esteemed guests in their base of operations. "I wee you to the Willis Family." "We are happy to ept your invitation" A group of strange men in wide cloaks was greeted by the remains of the Willis Family. Their faces were hidden and so were their bodies. Only one among the Willis family had met them before and guaranteed for them. The leader of the strangers and the upper members of the Willis family sat together in a meeting room and recounted what had happened until now. Their hatred for Seth seeped into their every word and speech. "You have done well, calling for us." the mysterious leader said. "Our god dly lends power to everyone, especially those in need." Suddenly the room was stormed by the followers of the mysterious man and the remaining leader of the Willis family were all mortally wounded. Only the man that had guaranteed for these traitorous guests was unscathed. "Why...?" one among of them asked as his life was seeping out of him. The leader crouched down to him. "Didn''t you want power? You asked for this. This is the way to ultimate power and eternal life. Trust me." his voice was oozing with sarcasm. "You did very well," he said to thest remaining survivor of the Willis family. "All hail, Zarkon." was the only answer. Nobody cared for the corpses on the ground. Nobody cleaned up. Hy would they? A few hourster the corpses woke up, back to newfound unlife. Now, with their souls bound to a foreign god, there were two kinds of reactions. Some regretted their behavior and hesitation. Others found joy in their newfound power. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The Willis Family was gone. A new branch of Zarkon assimted them and took their ce. Chapter 260 - 260. Days Of Development After three days the construction work was finished. Seth had moved his smithy from the private quarters to the new workshop. In the meantime, Seth started preparations for the grand opening of their shop. He split his time between visiting the Bard college and making umon and rare items for the store''s first floor. Some of these items were practice pieces used to learn new bads and poems. The effects of these items were the ones he was most interested in, but sometimes hard to understand. Most turned out less useful than he had expected. The best one so far was a poem that could multiply the damage of an ax. After a few tries, Seth judged that randomly trying these poems and bads made little sense before he knew more. That''s why he decided to join more lessons at the college to learn about these demons. Proficiency wise he made almost no progress with these weapons. The only skill that saw some growth was . Trith had managed to find a scroll and Seth learned . Singing in the college with the teacher''s guidance helped boost the experience and he had reach lv. 2 within a day. Monique and the others started exploring the dungeons of Delta and farming materials. Seth would also join them in the future so as to not fall too far behind in level. The first thing he did when the workshop was finished was getting rid of all the blood in his inventory and fill it into the different vats for the bloodbaths. He also added a badge of umon feasting weapon made from steel. He put them into the blood of beasts from different levels and ratings. When he was done with that, he entered a room with a smallva pool. The heat was terrible and might have killed a normal human if they stayed too long. To Seth, it just felt slightly warm. Very cozy, actually. Here he followed the instruction from the recipe and built a special furnace that used the power of theva as fuel. Power did not only mean heat. The whole mountain was a basin for magic, as such the magma inside absorbed a huge amount of it. The molten stone was charged to the brim with a pure fire energy. In conjunction with the furnace and the energy maniption method of Hephaistos, this energy could be used to refine and empower a material. In this case one needed at least silver. Although it was not the most noble metal, it was known for its purity and conductivity amongmon metals. To take on the properties of a meal with high conductivity and magic purity was needed. This meant that it could not have any strong affinities with elements for example. Judging by these criteria the next higher step after silver would be either or . It was different from where the main criterium was that the base material was iron and the result increased the more special the iron was. After everything was ready Seth tested the furnace. Compared to his spirit furnace it was harder to use and needed stronger concentration to evade mistakes. Whereas using his own furnace felt like swimming in the water, this one was like swimming in mud or tar. Still, Seth had a lot of experience at this point and even had . The increased difficulty was only a small problem. He managed refined 10 bars of ordinary silver into 5 bars of rare to test the function of the furnace. There were some problems at the start before he got used to the furnaces functions and calibrated them ordingly. However, despite making only small mistakes here and there it still consumes silver at a ratio of 2:1 to refine the new material. Even considering this, it was still a great deal to be able to turnmon metal into a rare rated material. Silver was not hard to get, and the price was also affordable. He also pondered about replenishing his dwindling steel supplies. In the end, he decided against it. He had outgrown the . There was almost no experience to be gained with umon or even rare items anymore. The futureid in epic items. He had roughly 150 bars of and an array of rare metals and beats materials to grind his skills further. He left thest bars of steel in Cerberus'' smithy and added what was left of the snake materials. He had stopped putting umon beats materials in his inventory. He had kept the materials of the Titano Boa juvenile more out of nostalgia than out of necessity. He left it all in the adjacent storage room so the golem could turn them into nks. They should be enough to keep the golem busy for a few days. The only materials below rare left in his inventory were the he had left from Ora and the metals he refined from the ores he found on the journey. Seth still had little idea what effects and could have on an item but used with the souls from the journey he had some hopes for the first. In the central room, he did not just ce his but also added several shelves for the inks Alison and Evee had made in the meantime. A few worktables for general stuff and s wall for draft and ideas. He had but it was often helpful to have everythingid out to get new ideas. Now that the workshop was ready it was time to make equipment befitting the "Lords of Minas mar". Seth sat down at the design table and thought about what he wanted to do first. Next moment he jumped up and left for the Bard College. Thecking gear the most at the moment was Evee. The immortal witch was a caster and support but could turn into an undead in case she died. This also made the girl quite reckless in battles. What Seth wanted to make was a self-repairing armor. I self-repairing armor for a self-reviving Witch. It would assure that no matter how she died, she would be covered by the armor. Al''Zalsa was unable to help him with that. Of course, he could summon her and leave enchanting the item to her, but that was not the point of the exercise. It would also be harder to gather all the necessary ingredients. He had yed with the idea for some time now, but it was the new bads and etching that made it seem feasible. There were so many demons and possible effects a bad or inscription could have. All he needed to do was find just the right thing. He confidently entered the library, and his motivation was dampened. Was the library always this big? Not all of these books were about bads or inscriptions, right? He used the search function and was greeted by and almost endless list of book titles. Maybe Trith the etching teacher knew how to reduce the workload! Step by step he came up with attempts to lessen the burden. He really didn''t want to read through all those books. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Unfortunately, he could not find the professor for etching. There was no exercise today and he was not at the campus. This left only one final straw. Tirth''s face fell when he saw Seth enter his store again after several days of silence. Seth exined to him his idea of a self-repairing armor. "Hmm, I know a few bads that have a simr effect. What''s your level in ?" "Journeyman lv. 2" "J-Journeyman lv. 2?! You are better than I thought, but it''s not enough for the ones I know. I know of some epic bads and poems but you would need to be at least craftsman rank." "Damn, it could take a while until then. Is there no other way?" Trith sat there for a while, thinking. "How about an undead armor?" he suddenly asked. "An undead armor? You mean like those living suits of armor-undead?" Trith made aplicated expression as he tried toe up with a way to exin it. "it''s different. What you mean are armors possessed by strong specters. What I mean is to literally turn a piece of armor into a brainless undead. Some undead have HP-regeneration after all." Trith stood up and took paper and a pen from the shelve behind him. "There are many great demons with necromantic abilities. I know 4 that show a preference for blessing armors. Maybe you can find something fitting in the library if you look for these names." he wrote down the a and gave Seth the note. This was Seth''s best clue. With the small list of possible arcane sugar daddies, he returned to the library to look for already written texts. The result was still a long list of books, but it had be manageable. Seth sat in the library for the rest of the day. When it got dark outside, he had skimmed through most of the books. There were a few promising bads, but one gave him a huge inspiration. This was technically not a forging bad but it fell into a simr category. It asked to borrow the power of the Sovereign of Unlife to grant false life to a corpse puppet. This puppet would inherit the abilities of the beasts it was made of. In exchange, it was brainless and sustained its unholy existence by feeding off other''s lifeforce. This stuff went deep into the practices of necromancers and Seth needed the lich''s help to understand some of it. The point was, it granted a semnce of life to dead tissue which then needed power to sustain operations. The inspiration was that he could use this bad on a leather armor, for example one made of Ice Troll Leather. The n was for the leather to gain life and inherit a troll''s healing factor. It would only need power when regenerating damage. Seth hoped it would be simr to other enchantments and was able to use an infused soul as a power source. The biggest uncertainty was a special requirement. Not anyone could just call upon a great demon and ask them for a blessing. These chants were far from forging bads and did not fall under the skill. The skill was needed to cast them. It was a staple for a Demon bard who used his musical talents in battle, but not for Seth. But Seth had an idea what he could use as a substitute. Chapter 261 - 261. Days Of Development (2) The night outside was dark when Seth returned to his Batcave with a new n in mind. With some of Al''Zalsa''s advice, he was sure that he would seed. The first step was making the actual armor. Seth had 40 pieces of ice troll leather but only need 2 for the part of the armor. For the torso, he made a long brigantine using the untreated troll leather as a base and fixing hardened reinforced tes on top of it. A pair of streamlined pauldrons made of reinforced leather for the shoulders. The leg guards were also a mix of soft and hardened troll leather, just like the boots. Evee had a circlet simr to Seth''s as headgear and he wanted to make her a pair of gauntlets separately. Aside from these, he finished aplete armor set from only leather. This came not without benefits as his level up to lv. 8 halfway through. As it was the armor gave resistance to cold and an increased HP regeneration. But this was only the beginning. In the next step, Seth brought out the big soul that was dropped by the ice troll leader. This would be the centerpiece in this project. He followed the advice of the sorceress by creating the whole armor as a set simr to his Wyvern Set. This meant that he now stretched away sections of the soul to get a piece for every part of the armor. He proceeded to use to recreate a partial soul armament for the brigantine, the two pauldrons, two leg guards, and the pair of boots. He enchanted these soul armaments only with size adjustment to leave enough mana for the effects of the armor once it turned undead. After infusing these armaments and dipping them in the waters of Styx to affix the souls, he took a break and went to the cafeteria for a meal. There was a notification, but Seth was too tired to listen to it. The fatigue had caught up and hunger gued him. The cafeteria was empty. This was not new. Since people started going to the dungeons, he met them less often. The kitchen was empty. This was weird. "Minas Mar, what time is it?" "5 am, Master." Seth had totally lost his perception of time as he was crafting away on Evee''s armor. Of course, everything was empty. Everyone was asleep in their beds. Seth returned to his workshop and gobbled up a bunch of rations from his inventory. Seth liked good food, but he was not a picky eater. He also drank a stamina potion to shoo the fatigue away. He wanted to finish the armor in one go. Looking at the armor he found that the notification was about the synergy of the troll leather and the troll soul. This mix of a rare soul with its own rare material led to additional effects that were nothing to scoff at. But he was not done yet. Kept pumping 20 small and another 2 medium-sized troll souls into the set until the effects stopped increasing. The full troll set increased HP regen by 250% and lessened frost damage by 40%. These were already tremendous effects and would also fit as an Armor for Jonah. But the one Seth had made for him was actually slightly better when it came to overall stats. Seth had created this armor as a set because of Al''s advice. Although she had no experience with this kind of necromancy, having one soul connecting all parts would be more advantageous for turning into an undead than when it was 9pletely separate parts. Seeing the result as it was calmed his heart. Even if the attempt with the bad failed, this was still a great armor set he could give Evee. But he could not give up to at least try. It was time to finally chant the bad. Seth had a hard time deciphering the notes, but Al had helped him, and he was able to practice the song a little in the library and while making the armor. There was no effect without the chanting skill, so there was no problem with rehearsing it. How was he supposed to use it if he didn''t have the chanting skill? Who needed of the had the voice of a god of chaos? was a divine skill! And coupled with Seth was sure it would work out. Confidently Seth started the deep and fast chant of the Song of Unlife. His voice was drenched in a demonic charm and seduction thanks to . n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om -------Somewhere in a different dimension------- A half-rotten skeleton sitting on a throne of the cold dark stone in the center of a necropolis lifted its head. It had been a long time since someone sang for it. There were not many demons left with an interest in corpse puppets and the skill to move it. This song was different. He knew the text but the performance was different from anything he had heard before. The singing was one of the best it had ever heard but that was not the end. There was a special note in this voice. It conveyed intentions and feelings. It felt honest and pure and moved his heart. It didn''t matter what these intentions were, they were backed by strong desire and skill. The demon felt almostpelled to help. The skeleton lifted its hand covered in dry key skin and a stream of power followed the sound of the song to fulfill the musicians'' desires. ------------Workshop------------- Shortly after Seth started singing a ray of dark green unholy power bathed the armor set in front of him. The grey troll leather was drenched in energy. Slowly its color and aura changed. It turned into a shiny almost wet-looking ck with a sick green sheen. Just the look and aura could make the onlooker feel ufortable. Seth looked at the changes blinking. It had worked and became even better than expected. Durability had turned into health and regenerated at an rming rate if damage was taken. It was a shame that the weakness had increased, but the additional skill made it worth it. Now dying and bing an Undead came with a 15% boost in defense, attack, and health. Maybe Evee could take a necromancer ss as a secondary ss? It was closing in at 6 am. Seth put the finished armor on a stand and went back to his private quarters to sleep.. He found Mina sleeping in his bed and snuggled up to her, immediately falling asleep. Chapter 262 - 262. Days Of Development (3) Seth had prepared enough merchandise for the store and decided to concentrate his efforts on his studies. The sess in making the "Necrotic Troll Skin"-Set showed him that he did not have to concentrate on just the crafting aspects taught at the Bard College. If he got a better idea of the demons and their history, he would not need the advice of others like Trith to know where else he could look for good effects. He also visited other courses like Song Writing, Poetry and tried to learn how to read notes. In the following weeks, he left the store in the care of the Administration. With the ns they made it would take some time until the grand opening. Marry and Jane were busy finding employees and taking care of furnishing the shop. The Tower Master''s only job in this was giving his approval on the budget and ns. Other than that, he spent his time either with Mina on her days off or at the College. In his pursuit for knowledge, he also got closer to Ember. She was mischievous and liked pranks but was trustworthy otherwise. She was also a total music nerd and a big help along the way in learning the more creative things. His singing skill had soon almost caught up to his sewing skill, bing . And not just the ordinary singing skill grew, but also reached lv. 4. Another skill he managed to gain in his studies was which also reached lv.4 thanks to thebination of his and which had be Adept lv. 7 by now. Another Tower Master thing was meeting the new members the Lords brought in. Bulko had called an old friend of his. Otto was a Journeyman Pharmacist. Although hecked the attribute boost of the blessing, his skills were genuine. He also came across a promising healer from Delta. His name was Orion, or at least he called himself that. They got a contract from Mary and Seth handed them a sigil ring each. With this, the medical wing was staffed. Monique simrly found a healing mage specialized in water magic and a shaman that could heal and attack. They were brothers called Ray and Shay with levels in the mid-40s. They had been working as a duo until now and had proven their worth in the dungeon. After a few dives with them, Monique decided to get them onboard. With the addition of these two the crafters could finally concentrate on production. Alison and Evee were grinding Potions while Link was cooking like there was no tomorrow. Seth didn''t give Evee the new armor immediately. He wanted to make it an event and give every member their new gear when the time was right. It was notplete without a pair of gauntlets anyway. The new members were allowed to choose a few pieces from the items prepared for the store. His care did not stretch as far as to make personalized armor for the new guys, yet. But Seth did not just study andze around. He also joined the two parties on a few trips to the dungeons. The 5 trips he joined were barely enough to help him level up to 44. Because the abilities of a bard needed a lot of memory, he used a part of his ability points to increase his INT to 70 and distributed the rest on the other attributes. 3 Weeks after choosing the location the grand opening was finally announced. The store looked just like Seth had imagined. The lowest floor featured an assortment of umon armors and weapons. There were also some of the weaker rare items among them. Beside the armory was a separate counter that soldmon and umon potions and simr products that Evee and Alison had crafted. They had made a breakthrough and ranked up their skill some time ago. They were currently grinding umon potions, but most of those were held back for the Field Service of Minas Mar. The store mostly sold the stocked-upmon merchandise. On the second floor were any kind of umon and rare essories and the rare armaments like the blooddrinker weapons Seth had brought from Ora. Seth had decided to sell them since he could make much better ones now if needed. And they could be a great advertisement. The third floor was a restaurant that served Link''s cuisine. The gourmet hunter''s cooking had already reached the taste of fine dining. The prices charged seemed astronomical at first but considering that many of his dishes were able to increase the stats of people below a certain threshold they were appropriate. Only a few restaurants had started selling such foods in Delta, yet. This kind of food not only needed a high cooking skill, but also a vast knowledge of ingredients and their powers. And who could have better knowledge in that, than a gourmet hunter? But the hunter had not just improved in the kitchen. It became apparent during the few times Seth and Link had entered the dungeon together recently. Since Link was able to concentrate on cooking and eating, his own stats had tremendously increased, and he had also inherited some peculiar skills from the ingredients. Skills like and . The hunter had a hard time using poison w in a fight, but tough skin was a good skill to increase defense for a short time. The only thing Seth was not quite sure about was the name. Above the entrance was a big sign disying the name "The Turquoise Anvil". He had not chosen the name, but he understood where they wereing from. Jane seemed very proud of the name, so Seth simply epted it. There had been quite a bit of promotion going on for thest 3 weeks and a crowd of adventurers had assembled in front of the entrance. The VIP of the opening was Leana. Fin had passive aggressively pressured her into it and now a princess of the Chrona Empire was opening their store. This lured in not just people of Delta but also Demons and people of the Empire. "Then without further ado, I shall open this-" "I won''t ept it!" a whiny scream came from among the crowd. "You! Time and time again I told you that I won''t ept this kind of store here!" a man with a slim figure and long curly hair closed in on Jane swinging an using pointer. His brown mane swung around wildly as he gesticted like a conductor "I don''t want to have a shop with those ugly armors and weapons in the vicinity of my outlet!" One had to mention here, that Seth''s products followed the dwarven principles. His products followed a traditional design that put effectivity above anything else. The cksmiths of Delta had an inclination to make fantasy armors and weapons. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om As such Seth''s weapons were very conservative inparison. The raging maniac was the designer Neeco Boos, the crazy cook who started the superhero suit trend. Seth had stepped over his shadow and opened is sore beside this man''s crazy store and it totally freaked the other out. Perfect. He felt a lot better with his choice of location. He couldn''t help but grin from ear to ear. "I will open this shop!" the princess ignored the raving lunatic and officially opened their store. The crowd flowed into the store. "NOOOO!" Neeco kneeled as if a searing arrow hit his very soul. Seth couldn''t help but burst out inughter. "Why are youughing, you cretin!?" "Couldn''t help myself. This is hrious." "Do you know who I am?" "I do. It makes this even better. But do you know who I am?" "Some nobody taking joy in a celebrity''s anguish." "Some nobody responsible for the celebrities anguish," he saidughing and entered his shop. "Wait, what?" the man eximed and followed suit. Chapter 263 - 263. Neeco Boos "What did you mean?" thenky man rushed into the store following Seth. With a roguish smile, he indicated for Neeco to follow him to the second floor. The second story was only for people who had the needed cash to buy things from this ce. There were only a few people present right now. Neeco only saw the silhouette of Seth vanishing on the stairs and followed him to the third floor. Seth sat at one of the tabled and talked to the waiter, ordering food. "What did you mean just now?" the effeminate man repeated his question. "Calm down. Have a seat." Seth said with an amicable smile. The driven and confused look a Neeco''s face lifted his mood a little. The other was even more appalled by traditional armor than Seth was with superhero suits. "How many people do you think are allowed up here right after opening?" Seth continued after Boos sat own. The tailor only shook his head confused. "Only me and my friends. So, take a guess. Who do you suppose am I?" Neeco''s eyes widened, and the shock turned into fury. "So you are the philistine who dared to put this blemish in front of this one''s eyes!" "I think you used that word wrong, but yeah. Great to finally meet you. I''m Seth Smith. I made most of the merchandise in this ce and am somewhat of the owner." Seth said with glee and grabbed one of Neeco''s wildly gesticting hands to shake it. "D-don''t touch me!" he screamed and pulled away his hand. "Now, now. No need to be impolite. I''m also not very enthusiastic about someone propagating something like superhero suits. I still decided to tolerate your business and open my shop here." "In god''s name, why? Just to spite my art?!" "Why? Of course, to greater my profit. You can''t expect adventurers to go and fight monsters in pajamas. One can always equip a suit of armor on top of such a skintight suit of embarrassment. Spiting you was just a happy little ident." "Em-embarrassment? How dare you call my creations embarrassing?! I have never heard anyonein about my merchandise!" "I mean, it really takes a special kind of people to enjoy having their junk presented as a prime target to any dungeon mob... " Neeco quietened down and his face turned burning red at Seth''s filthyment. "All I am trying to say is that we are not enemies, despite our differences in aesthetics. On the contrary. We could be allies." "Allies?" the tailor asked suspiciously. "Of course, Allies. It isn''t like we offer fundamentallypeting products." Seth said with a tinge of bewitching charm swinging in his voice. "What do you mean?" the tailor asked confidently but his eyes shifted away, he had realized it himself. Neeco Boos was a Spell Weaver, a unique ss which mixed the skill of a tailor with those of a magician and an enchanter. Usually, one would associate a Spell Weaver with a great magician who can weave many different spells to gain a greater effect. Contrary to this Neeco Boos could learn magic and turn spells into threads to weave fabrics. Depending on the tailor''s skill level and thepatibility of the magic he could make items with up to three effects that could be activated by supplying mana into the item. This was a tremendous achievement for a cloth armor. But it came with drawbacks. Magic thread had a dismal durability and offered hardly as much protection as amon cloth armor. As such he had to incorporate other materials like leathers and threads into his suits to increase these two aspects at the cost of the magic effects. But it was simply not enough. In the beginning, his suits were just fine, but now that the level of people rose the trend was slowly dying. Adventurers had already started wearing armor on top of his creations. A half-assed armor could simply not cut it on the higher levels in a dungeon. Being directly confronted like this, the tailor had to admit that his business had slowed downtely. As the founder, he was the first to feel his empire crumbling even though the trend was still doing somewhat okay. "We can work together. We can prosper together. What do you say?" the charming voice was lingering in the Tailor''s ears, telling him to grab this hand. Assuring him this was the right thing to do. If he didn''t want to be a side note in history, he needed to take this hand. Seth''s magicden voice did its best to crumble the tailor''s aesthetic beliefs and make him susceptible to the idea of making part of an armor set and let off the idea of superhero suits. Finally, hands were shaken. But the Tailor was not beaten. "Just wait. Once my skills have grown, I will show the world the greatness of skintight spandex suits once again!" "You cheeky little- Just wait. I will show you the true power of armor." Their hands were bound in a strong handshake where they tried to crush each other''s hands. Seth had an incredible advantage as a cksmith, but he showed respect and held back from breaking the other man''s hands. They hade to an agreement. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om While the store below them was filled with all kinds of adventurers who were just looking, window shopping, or stocking up for the next dungeon dive, there sat two men with a unique ss on the highest floor and had a meal together. A good meal helped smoothen their differences and they soon were entangled in an enthusiastic conversation about armor and their future cooperation. After Neeco came to terms with the thought that his products would be part of a bigger setup, he actively spoke about possible ways to link their two businesses. Seth had felt a little bad to have used but it seemed that he had not brainwashed the man, but just helped him to see reality for what it was. One thing they came up with was that the tailor would start offering traditional cloth armor and clothing that could be worn below a regr te armor or chain mail. This came with the benefit, that Neeco did not have to worry about the durability or defense of these items. They could be worn for the effects, while the armor could take care of defense. And Neeco could then send these people to "The turquoise Anvil". If they had enough money to buy items from Neeco Boos, they could directly enter the second floor. Seth too was interested in these items of Neeco Boos. Although he could not rival N?del''s skill as a tailor yet, his abilities as a unique ss were quite tempting. Especially with Seth infused a soul into these clothes making their effects permanent. They would make for a great addition to the gear of his people and maybe even his own. After a good meal, Seth had a new business partner. He would leave theter interactions to Jane since he had other things to do. He had soaked up quite a lot of knowledge. It was time to make the Lord Armors and maybe even more. He had always been worried about just grinding out heaps of epic-rated items. He couldn''t just sell them to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Together with Al, he might have found a solution for hiscking trust in humanity. However, there was still a lot to do before that day came. Chapter 264 - 264. The Future Is Now ------------Delta----------- "Hey James, did you see these flyers?" his good friend Jess showed him a piece of paper. He had seen simr ones everywhere in the city but didn''t bother to read. Wasn''t it just some stupid advertisement again? "Isn''t it just another scam?" Last time it was a scam about health potions with an 18% higher effectivity and before that was jewelry that imed to heal all diseases. These trashy scams would surface asionally. Since Delta had calmed down, all kinds of snake oilers and scammers had found their way into the city. The Empires supervision had taken a dive after the princess ad a lot of the forces had left for new frontiers. From whatmon people like them heard the Empire was increasing their territory westward. James could think of a few reasons. East of Delta''s Mountain range was only barrennd and desert. There was also the Lambda district. They were still unable to contact Lambda, people that traveled to the east simply vanished. Who would want to conquer a desert? But James had his own conjectures. Lately, there had been many cases of people going missing in the city and there were rumors about Zarkists having infiltrated Delta. If someone, like him, added one and one together, then the Empire was going on an offensive against the followers of Zarkon who had their territory somewhere in the west near Gamma. "This one is different. It''s from Minas Mar!" Jess interrupted his thoughts. "So what?" "Didn''t you hear about them? It''s a guild that has been recently gaining traction. Their two dungeon parties are around lv. 60 and rumor says they are decked out in epic gear." "Full sets of epic gear? Who''s supposed to believe that?" "One of their parties worked as the bodyguards of the princess. You think they will lie?" "Okay, okay. Let''s say it''s true. What about this flyer?" "They are looking for people of their Minas Mar''s "Oathguard". The examinations start next week. If you manage to get in, you are lent a full epic set for the duration of your service! We should join." "Why-" "You only have to be between lv. 25 and lv. 40 to register for the exams. It''s worth a try! They offer board and lodge. Also, a monthly wage of 5 gold + bonuses on materials harvested. If we get in, we wouldn''t have to worry about our finances anymore." James looked at her sparkling eyes with doubt. She was always so easily sold on things. She had always been like this. And he couldn''t talk her out of it. All he could do was join her and make sure she was not scammed too hard. James was a warrior and off-tank. He took the hits for Jess who was a Lightning Mage. They were among the people who managed better after the apocalypse than during the "civilized age". They were not doing great, but they managed to survive as adventurers without a stable party. He was lv. 34 and Jess lv. 36. They had been almost living in the dungeons ever since the adventurer guild made it possible to make a stable ie with it. He warmed up to Jess''s idea when he thought back to the hard times. Especially in the beginning, when they could only use something like starter equipment the fights were terribly hard, and they would often get hurt. They had no healer and potions were expensive. What little money they made from the materials they managed to loot from monsters was often sucked up by the expenses to replenish potions and rations. It had taken a long time until they could even afford to get bettermon equipment. Maybe they could really... But there was no guarantee they would take them. James was sure that they had a good amount of actual experience in the dungeon, but who didn''t? "Okay, I think it''s worth a try." he finally agreed with his childhood friend. It was still a week until the exams. This means that today was still daily routine of visiting the dungeons to buy a meal. --------Minas Mar-------- Seth was working on thest set of oath armor. He had worked a lot in thest three months toplete the concept of the oath armor and had been grinding them a lot. But he had not only spent his time in the smithy. He had recently reached lv. 50 and unlocked the privilege to choose a second ss. Today he would visit the church and choose a second ss. Seth was not the only one who had grown. He was actually thest one to reach lv. 50. Tekar, Monique, and Jonah had even crossed lv.60 after spending day and night in the dungeons. Mina and the others were able to fully join Minas Mar after the Princess left Delta. The farewell was apanied by a lot of royal tears when she had to separate from Fin. They kept the buff and were all equivalent to lv. 65. It had been clear to him for some time, but now that he reached lv. 50, he nned to take Demon bard as a second ss. Currently, the skills he had gained at the Bard College were all secondary skills and as such weakened. Because of this, he had concentrated on making the Oath Armors instead ofpletely upgrading the Lords of Minas Mar. The Oath Armor was the name for thebination of bad and inscription Seth and Al''Zalsa came up with. Studying the diverse text in the college''s library he had found a way to even manipte souls. Seth should have known that dealing with demons also meant dealing with souls. They had found a way for two souls to make a contract, an Oath. Together with a bad, and the skill they were able to create a unique effect. Simr to the bad that bound an item to the user once it was worn, these armors could be bound through an oath. A soul oath could be anything between two sentient souls, but the capacity was a lot lower when it came to these iplete souls Seth had. The soul oath was sworn onto the armor with an infused soul and a pact was made that allowed the wearer to use the armor as long as they were affiliated with Minas Mar and not do anything to harm the organization. The effect of , which had leveled up from his constant grinding, enable Seth to imbue the soul he infused with an enchantment that made it impossible to use the items against a member of Minas Mar. It was a two-way security that would hinder people from using these items against him or abuse them in their name. This could be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. On that note, he started using the skill''s effect on all epic and rare weapons they started selling in the shop. The deeper he delved into the skills of a demon bard the more he had wanted to wait until he gained the ss to upgrade the gear of his people. Tekar, Jonah, and the others were already wearing epic-rated armors when he arrived in Delta. "Yulecat''s Fur" was currently wearing the prototypes of the Oath armors until Seth could make them their personalized Armors. He had caved in and gave Evee the "necrotic Troll Skin" when it became clear that he would take some time to make them the best armor possible. After three months of grinding all of Seth''s skills had shown tremendous growth. and had both reached lv 7 while had reached lv. 6. When reached lv. 4 recently, it gained the perk that the soul armaments would have part of the effects the soul would bestow onto an item. Another change was that gained an etching table when he reached lv. 45. It was a normal etching table that was meant for decorative etching and not the inscriptions, but he could still use it in this way. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om In general, most of his skills had gained one or two levels. His increased character and skill level had unlocked a few of the Olympian enchantments. They were 5 engravings that resembled sigils. Their effects were strong but rathermon, so they were probably some of the easiest to make. One unique thing about these enchantments was that they were strong but literally unique. He could not enchant 2 items with the same enchantment. If he wanted to enchant another item with these sigils, he needed to destroy the current one. When he finally finished thest piece of thest oath armor, he got himself a good meal to get ready for his visit to the church. Chapter 265 - 265. New Class -------Delta------ "Are you sure he''s here?" "Yeah, I had someone observe the church in case he leave it alone, slurp." "Uhig! He hasn''t left the church alone in three months... what''s different?" "Now we have an army guhirgh hihi! Imagine what we can do with them after capturing! That catgirl and the spear girl! Hohoho- Oh god, just what is happening to me?" "Get a grip! You can''t sumb at such an important moment!" "Yeah, yeah, you are right. Today is the day!" ---------------------------- "Seth is finally getting a second ss?" Fin asked excitedly like a proud mother watching her child graduate. This was Seth''s first time that he entered the church''s ss room. It was the ce where people came to change their ss or get their second one. "No need to be nervous. The room will show you your options. You just have to choose what you want." Simon calmed him down. Seth nodded and stepped into the room ofplete darkness. Names of sses appeared in the darkness. White glowing letters were floating in the air. Seth had expected a lot of options because of his diverse set of skills, but there were only 4. He didn''t even get a job wheel. Unlike what Seth had heard from the others these jobs each had a short description. The first job floating to the left of Seth was called . An epic ss that would give him simr skills to and allows him to bend the four natural elements. This sounded really cool and extremely powerful. This could really give him a great boost inbat. Although this job was very tempting, it was not what he was looking for. He decided to give the other options a chance. To the right of it was a job called . A unique job thatbined Seth''s current abilities with necromancy to create something like undead automatons. It reminded Seth of how Jiang shi were constructed and enhanced undead in some games and novels. Did he see such a job because of what he did with Evee and her armor...? This was a big no. Except for the fact that Seth had absolutely no intention to y with corpses, he could do that already if he really wanted to. Second, tost was a job called . An epic ss that would strengthen all cksmith-rted skills and adds skills for the production of golems and automatons. Seth didn''t like this one. It was technically just an upgrade to his current ss but brought nothing new to the table. It could just save him some time from grinding, but in the end, everything had a limit. The ss would be technically useless once he reached the peak in his cksmith skills. The others at least gave a greater variety of skills that could help him surpass what a cksmith could do. Thest option was called . A unique variation of the bard ss that did not just epass the ss of Demon Bard and its different variations, but also came with a demon''s skills to use souls in different ways. This one was along the line of jobs he had expected. It could strengthen his current abilities and add some more offensive skills than he currently had. Compared to the other, this was actually the tastiest for Seth. The more options he had, the more interesting stuff he could make. It wouldn''t get boring any time soon. It would also help a lot once he started making the Armors for the lords and his own. Seth was sold. as a second ss!> He got several notifications on new skills and skills that had changed. For example, his which had reached Adept lv. 2 as a secondary skill was recalibrated to Apprentice lv. 1 as the skill became a primary one. Surprisingly enough, some of his original ss skills also gained a level. and each gained a level. Other skills like were integrated with He also gained new skills like , and . With the passive skill his could open a better connection to beings on other nes; increasing the effect of songs that drew on their power. The most interesting skill he got was . From a quick nce, it seemed that he could use souls to bargain with demons to increase the effectiveness of the songs and bads. The changes were not just limited to the skills. He also got a boost in attributes. His personality and luck and gained a big buff. Some of his modifiers also changed with the most significant being mana. Instead of 10 mana per 1 point in intelligence, he now got 30 simr to a caster ss. Seth now understood the kind of boost a second ss could give. It was no wonder that there was a special exam to be a B-Rank adventurer. He had held himself back from testing the skills since he wanted to save resources. Except making the oath armors he had kept piling up good materials from the auction house. Now he felt that it was the time to use them. -------------In front of the church------------ "He''s leaving the building!" "Tell everyone to get ready" When the catgirl, the tower thief, the fairy, and the old priest stepped out onto the street they moved. In a second a group of almost 200 humanoids in various states of transformation appeared. They filled the streets "Hahaha! Today we will have our revenge!" "Nobody can offend the Willis family and get away with it!" The crowd cackled as if they had heard a hrious joke. Spittle and sob ran from their mouths as theyughed and growled like beasts. Unbound desires running rampant in their gaze. Today they could kill. They held back for so long. Spreading their belief in the darkness. Making people join and see the greatness of their God Zarkon. Immortality! Power! Today they would make an example and wipe out the leader of Minas Mar to establish themself in the city. They would get their revenge for burning their home. They would get their revenge for stealing their heritage. They would get... would get! In ultimate excitement, the brains of the Zarkists stopped working and like beasts, they roared. The Willis Family? Their church? They just wanted blood. They wanted to finally rampage! Yes! The fear in the priest''s eyes! The hesitation on the cat girl''s face! Even the disgust of the little fairy! This was what they thrived for! It was the height of their existence only second to unleashing their darkest desires on these victims. But why did the prey smile? What was with the glint in the thief''s eyes? Hmmmmm~ A deep tone vibrated through the vicinity and a rhythmic chant joined into the deep humming. "Dusa Vibraci''Ja!" a shout sted past the beasts, and it felt as if they were hit by a wall of air. Their breath stocked as the air was pressed out of their lungs and they were unable to breathe. The sound, the hum- "Dusa Ugras''Ti" Like a soothing voice, the void was calling them. An overpowering tiredness made them unable to move as their whole body felt weighed down. Gone were the desires, the excitement. There was only the sweet call of the void inviting them for a long sleep. When was thest time they slept? Yes, sleep... Almost all Zarkists in the surrounding fell to the ground like puppets that had their strings cut. Only a few that were the farthest away from the center were able to escape the call of the void and flee for their life. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om -------------------------------- "What a great harvest." "W-What was that? Seth what did you do?!" Simon looked at the young man in shock. He had recognized them as Zarkists and couldn''t believe they just fell like flies. "What do you mean? I tried my new skills..." he said with his eyes glued to the growing number in his soul space. "Okay, but what did you do to them? I thought Zarkists are immortal?" Mina also asked. She had also recognized the threat. Fin was umonly silent. She was just staring at Seth with sparkling eyes like an idol. To her it was like she hadmanded them to die, and they just fell over. Seth only came back to the moment after the number of umon medium-sized harvested souls stopped at 210. "Oh, what? The Zarkists? Short story: I''m their weakness. I came across a poem that could be roughly tranted to "Soul Shock". I had to think of these guys when I found it, so I learned it. " Simona and Mina looked at him in shock. It prompted Seth to further exin. A normal person would only be stunned for a short time. But after using together with the poem and increasing its power with this was what happened. The Soul Shock was strong enough to break the chains of Zarkon that bound the souls to the mortal ne. The rest was done by which promptly collected all the freed souls leading to the deaths of very Zarkist in the vicinity. Seeing how effective it was on the followers of Zarkon, Seth felt like going to an undead dungeon to harvest souls. His had just upgraded due to the job change, but after collecting 200 umon souls it felt like he was close to the next level-up. Seth looked around, seeing the corpses dissolving into a dark necrotic slime. "Who''s going to mop up this mess? -Not me!" Fin "Not me!" Mina "Not me!" Simon "Not-" he sighed, "Okay. Yeah. Make the old priest mop up the goopy ck residue of religious fanatics. Sure..." -Since I didn''t feel it like it fit in the chapter, I''m putting it at the end.- Name: Seth Smith Mark of Ivicer Olympian Myths Blessing: Hades, Hephaistos, Seth Title: "Faster than the Thought" Level: 50 Exp: 35% Race: Ori Huma Sex: Male Age:24 ss: Spirit cksmith (Unique)/ Infernal Scald (Unique) Affiliation: System Church, Minas Mar Health: 1000/1000 Mana: 2600 Strength:140 Dexterity:130 Agility: 89 Intelligence:85 Willpower:120 Endurance:122 Personality: 73(43+30) Luck:50 (35+15) Free AP (Attribute points): 7 Free SP (Skill points): 0 Defense: Physical: 450 (366+50+44) (ENDx3) Magical: 283(240+25+18) (WILx2) Fire Immunity Earth Resistance (54%) Wind Resistance (11%) Water Resistance (9%) Poison Resistance (20%) Frost Resistance (7%) Resistance to mind attacks (6%) 22 % Resistance to Diseases Skill Window: cksmith (Journeyman) lv.7 (33%) Enchantment (Journeyman) lv7 (27.7%) Goldsmith (Journeyman) lv.6 (97,9%) cksmith''s Eyes lv.5 Blueprint (Journeyman) lv.4 Reinforce (Journeyman) lv.4 Energy Cirction (2) lv.4 Crafty Failsafe lv.6 Superior Mining lv.5 Mineral Detection lv.5 Sewing (Beginner)lv.9 (35%) Soul Trade lv.1 Soul Infusion lv.4 Spirit Smithy lv.5 Spirit Capture lv.6 Spirit Forging (Journeyman) lv.5 Orpheus Voice (Passive) lv.5 Channeling (Passive) lv.1 Voice of Seth lv.2 Rune Mastery lv.5 Singing (Apprentice) Lv. 1 Song Writng(Beginner) lv.1 Poetry (Beginner) lv.1 Instrument Mastery (Beginner) lv. 1 Weapon Mastery (Expert) lv.7 (25%) Lame One''s Walk lv.5 Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7 Fear Resistance (Passive) lv.8 Poison Resistance (Passive)lv.4 Earth Affinity lv.5 Fire Affection (Passive) lv.8 Pyrokinesis (Ability)lv.6 Map lv.4 Observation lv.6 Concealment lv.4 Universal Trantion lv.max Demon Language (Adept)lv8 Compulsive Precognition(ability) Lifestyle magic lv.max Chapter 266 - 266. Cheater "This was your doing, Seth!" the bearded god said angrily. Hephaistos was cranky because Seth had not chosen the ss he had offered. The three gods were currently sitting in the little cinema dimension and watched the highlights of Seth''s life. "I have no idea what you are even talking about." the god of chaos said with an ambiguous smile. "oh, yeah. Sure "Trith". You totally didn''t get involved." the cksmith god snapped sarcastically. "No, I''m telling you I really didn''t do anything..." Seth said slightly annoyed. "Sure~ I will belie~ve you. When That fairy turns into a flying pig." "She definitely eats and behaves like one." Hades gave a meanment. Both looked at Hades who kept his expressionless face and munched popcorn. Maybe they were being yed... The door was blown open and an angry magician shadow walked in. "I warned youst time! I revoke your viewing privileges for the next 4 months. SETH!" Hephaistos looked at the god of chaos with a betrayed look. He had almost been yed and turned on his own uncle, but it WAS this donkey face who did it in the end. "oh, c''mon! Don''t look at me like that. You two can still choose a private champion! I had to do something." Hades didn''t seem to give a flying flip about what they were doing and kept munching popcorn as Seth sucked in almost 200 souls. Let others y, he was winning anyway. Seth, the god of chaos and destruction, was pulled out of the room by the system god ripping at his ear. Hephaistos had a thoughtful look on his face. "He''s not wrong uncle. Both of us can choose one additional champion. When are you going to do it?" "No need to hurry. There are still a lot of gods that wait for the right time. Once that world has developed some more it will probablye a time of Champions." Hephaistos nodded. He had not partaken in many of these system games, but he too had experienced that many Gods choose the same opportune time to choose their champion, which always led to a great struggle andpetition. It made it all the more interesting to see how already established champions will react to the invasion of fresh blood. He was secretly d to have chosen Seth and ended up sharing him. He had two seats in the first row for that stage and could watch people in both positions. -------------- Originally, they were going to visit a restaurant and celebrate Seth''s new ss, but they lost their appetite after the altercation at the entrance of the church. Watching two hundred corpses dissolve into smelly ck goo was not very helpful before having a meal. Instead, they immediately returned to Minas Mar, leaving the dirty job of cleaning up the mess to the old priest. "Are we going to get new Armor now?" "Seth promised! Seth promised!" The two immediately started bugging him right after they returned to the tower. They kept up their image in the city, but all facades fell when they were alone. "I will start soon, but not today! Let''s forget what just happened and go celebrate." He couldn''t really me them as he had indeed kept promising to make them personalized stuff for a long time now. Seth kept putting it off until he had the fitting skills and materials. Now he also had an ample resource of souls. He hade to realize something important. The legendary rating was still far off into the distance. Even when he used epic materials to the best of his skills, he had been unable to get above epic. He didn''t know what the reason was, but he had teaued. He had written to Tored about it, and it was in this way that he found out about his misconception. The legendary and mythical ration above epic were very special ranks one could not make easily even with legendary or mythical materials. The rank above Epic was called Relic and was like a kind of prototype for a legendary or mythical rating. These items were judged to have the needed requirement to grow to a legendary or mythical rating. In Tored''s assessment, it was required to be at least craftsman level or fulfill very special conditions to make relic gear. Especially since one needed to be a craftsman to work with legendary materials. As for the how a relic grew into a legendary item, nobody really knew the specifics. The dwarf had not told him much about the higher ranks because he had been a far cry off of being able to reach these back then. He actually still was. It became exponentially harder to grind his crafting skills the higher the level went. Seth knew that he was actually leveling really fastpared to traditional cksmiths who needed decades to reach the master or even the craftsman level. But he was just a human. Even with the system the theoretically increased lifespan, he didn''t feel like he had the leeway to go at things slowly. And he didn''t want to make the word more dangerous for him and his people by singlehandedly raising the average standard of equipment. That''s why he hoped that his new ss and the upgrades it came with would be enough to enable him to create relic gear with his current level. Seth had experimented quite a bit in thest 3 months to make sure that the inscription and the enchantments did not get into each other ways if he used one on an item and the other on a soul. With Al''s help, Alison was even able toe with a recipe for an ink that could allow Seth to etch and inscription onto a soul armament. The main ingredients were a soul and the crushed nucleus of a high-ranking undead. Thanks to this he also found out, that the power behind inscriptions had a higher affinity with the soul armaments as they came from demons. With this, his chosen modus operandi became to always make soul armaments and put inscriptions onto them, while he put engravings onto the items, he would infuse them to. But even then, he could not st past the epic rating. If even the new ss didn''t change this then he could only make the best possible epic items for the Lords of Minas Mar. This was an issue for another day, not now. The three entered the cafeteria where the grinding crazed gourmet hunter was having the time of his life turning ingredients into food. Link had gotten a lot better in thest three months and could now use rare ingredients to cook. Almost all his dishes were able to give permanent increases to stats and attributes sometimes even to several. It was just that food made of rare ingredients was not enough to increase their main attributes anymore. But Seth had already gotten various resistances and attribute increases from Link''s superfoods. At some point, Link would be able to use epic ingredients and then they would get another huge boost in permanent improvements. It was another reason for the formation of the Oathguard. The beasts that the parties of the Field Service currently needed to hunt to keep leveling all produced rare and epic materials. Since the parties currentlycked a hunter, they would often get only the best materials of a prey and not everything. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om This meant that they brought back mostly epic materials. Currently Seth and Otto the Pharmacist were the only ones with levels high enough to utilize epic materials. The Oathguard would take over the job of farming mostly rare ingredients to allow Link, Alison, and Evee to grind their skills and hopefully catch up with the Field Service''s prowess. Besides the Oathguard they also nned to take in one or two more alchemists or healers to deal with the increased influx of materials. "The Turquoise Anvil" was slowly turning into a high-end establishment for adventurers of a higher level and their stocks of potions kept being emptied out. Alison and Evee needed some help to meet the customer demand in the future. Seth had no problems producing umon or rare weapons and even armor, thanks to Cerberus who could keep making nks and standard pieces all night long. All he needed to do was finishing and refining the products which he normally used to train his etching and master poems. His prowess did not go unnoticed by the demonic side of Delta. People of the bard academy and other demon bard had soon found out he was happily selling wares with demon inscription. Their reaction was rather cold. Even though he used inscriptions on weapons and armor, in their eyes this was just copying other''s works as he used traditional works and nothing original. Seth had tried toe up with his own works but he was simplycking. Now that he was an Infernal Scalde with he hoped he could shine. If it still didn''t work, he wouldn''t care. The traditional texts were more than enough for his own purposes. Seth, Mina, and Fin were soon joined by the rest of the members of Minas Mar who slowly returned from their own duties to enjoy a meal.. They all congratted Seth, and everything escted into a party deep into the morning of the next day. Chapter 267 - 267 Jonah’s Bling After recovering from his hangover Seth returned to his cksmith Lair where he brooded over his dark machinations. Also known as: he was nning out the gear for the Lords of Minas Mar. The first was Jonah. he talked with the vampiric swordman for quite some time. The result was that he would make Jonah a new set of essories. Jonah didn''t want a new armor. Seth agreed as he had already chosen the best possible material for it and there was not much improvement to be expected. Seth really wanted just wanted to try out the vampire soul. His first thought was to make a weapon with Valen''s soul, but simr to the armor, Adess did not need a recement. The sword kept growing at a tremendous rate under Jonah''s careful nurturing. In the end, he agreed with Jonah''s request. Seth fathomed that the biggest advantage of harvested souls was the skill bonus they gave. The vampire''s powers would definitely shine in a weapon, but an elegant set of jewelry would not fall behind that. He also had to take Jonah''s second ss into ount, the "Blood Monk". It was a variation of the Blood Priest that increased Jonah''s skills in blood magic and weaponlessbat. Remembering the ss''s specifics, the choice became clear. It also helped him decide on the possible enchantments. During his studies, Seth had found a whole book with demonic songs he could use to imbue an effect that could help Jonah with his resource management. There were two in particr that could work in tandem. The first was a forging bad that granted an effect called "Essence Devourer". The second was a chant called "Anima Well". These texts that could be used for crafting things were often weird and hard to understand in the beginning. Thanks to some help from Al and Ember he managed to understand these topics and mastered them. Essence Devourer was simr to Life Steal, but it could not just absorb life force but also mana from a target. The original use was rather unsavory as it included using living organisms as a battery. It worked on weakened targets and did not need damage to be dealt beforehand. The cost was that some of the harvested energy was sent to the demon that granted this blessing. The Anima Well originated from the same setting. The chant could turn a fitting core into a container for life force. A lot of these spells worked with rather ufortable topics because dealing with greater demons and demonic magic usually involved the use of life force or souls as a baseline. The vampire fang lent itself as such a core. Seth decided to make a ne. For this, it needed to be brought into shape. At the moment it was a big pearly fang, like that of a dog. Seth used and and forged the tooth into a pearly bead with a light sheen and the texture of ss. He slightly ttened the bead into a coin and punches a hole into it for a string. The coin was ced into a magic formation while chanting the Anima Well. In the process of chanting the bad, tears of blood started flowing from his eyes. They fell onto the pendant and the formation where they soaked into the formation and the pendant. The pearly white coin turned into a crimson blood bead. Using the w Seth nned to make two rings. The Essence Devourer needed to be as close to the enemy as possible. Rings were the best option, especially since Jonah also fought with his ws. Aside from the w, Seth used . It was the result of Seth''s experiments with the blood baths. After feasting on rare and epic blood for several months this was the end state of . It was the upper limit the material could reach and stopped strengthening. At this point, the original effect of the feasting bad became dormant, no matter what blood he used on it. barely reached an epic rating. Although it was another method to refine a metal into a higher ranked version, it fell far short of the divine methods for creating or . But the affinities were more or less worth it. The metal had a high affinity for darkness and could enhance the performance of a new forging bad and even inscriptions. He started singing the forging bad when he shaped the big ugly brown-gray fingernail using and just how he did with the fang. The ugly thing turned into two cream-colored oval beads; he would set onto the rings. Knowing the dimensions of the stone, he forged the rings from a piece of before setting the beige vampire jewels into the crimson-ck metal ring. He tightened the fixtures parallel with the end of the song. Seth could already feel a slight suction from the rings, but it was not done yet. Now came the most important step, the vampire soul. The n was to use the soul to connect these two items into a set. With lv. 5 in he was now able to forge split souls into armaments that showed their potential before infusion. Onto these two soul armaments he forged from Valen''s soul he engraved the formations for life-steal and HP-recovery. He hade up with the idea, but it was with Al''Zalsa''s help that he was able to work out the details for the set and the estimated effects. is slightly strengthened.> The messages rang together with a notification of synergy when he pulled the three pieces of jewelry out of the waters of Styx. are increased by 1 rank Ranks of Skills pertaining and gain 3 levels. Skill cost of Vampire-type Skill is reduced by 30% Skill: Vampiric Rush "Limited Power!" Use stored life force to increase your damage, speed, and health regeneration for as long as the stored powersts. +500% Damage, +300% Speed, Recover 10% health every second. > With this set, Jonah would gain an overall power up on top of the option to store surplus life force from any life steal effect into the ne. It was like having a second health and mana bar, but it could be greater than his original one. Once Seth gave them to the vampiric swordsman he would have an epic armor, epic weapon, and more than epic essories. But there was one thing Seth still owed to the swordsman. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om A proper mask. As the material of the mask, he brought out the rare . They too could have an affinity with the macabre demon magic, but they also had a chaotic element that made them unfit for the rings. This chaotic attribute caused items made from the bones to have random effects that could be either detrimental or positive. Some had two effects that bnced each other out. Seth ended up making several masks as he didn''t like the effects that often came with the randomness of the material. Stuff like causing blindness to the wearer but increasing speed or making the wearer resistant to most diseases but especially weak against themon cold. One mask even had a voice-changing function. This would have been perfect if it didn''t make the wearer sound like a little girl. Finally, there was an eptable option after several attempts. The wearer would be unable to speak and in exchange, their hearing would be improved. Jonah didn''t like to speak anyway. It was not perfect, but eptable. For all the masks he had used the same forging bad. It was a bad that could destabilize someone''s mental state when they looked at the item. This was no direct negative effect, but it made fear effects more effective. The cost was that the wearer himself would also be hit with half the effect. To counter this Seth nned to infuse a soul from the monsters of the fog dimension. He didn''t infuse it during the forging but forged a soul armament of the mask from one of the umon medium souls. The mask was also a good example of mixing enchantments and inscriptions. He carved theplex conduits for fear and demotivate onto the soul armament and a poem that could cause difort the longer one looked onto the mask. The poem was called "Tomb of Mind" and summoned the powers of a demon called the "Mind Eater". Simr to the bad it caused mental derangement, but "Tomb of Mind" would peak in causing a mental shock or a stunned state. When he dunked it into the barrel, he got the notification that the item was finished! Seth stared at the mask which seemed to have awoken to wicked life of its own. Of course, it was just his imagination but just looking at the mask made him feel ufortable. He even doubted slightly that he had created this mask. Maybe the devil has directed my hands? He jokingly thought. No matter what, Jonah would definitely be happy about the mask. It also fit his second ss. Most of the effects had merged into the active skill while the soul''s effect had managed topletely counter the negative side effect of the bad. The mask had the same durability as the Staff of Seth. Another weird aspect of this divine material. No matter the thickness of the material it had no say about the durability. Seth put everything in a chest and left the shop for today. Chapter 268 - 268.Preparations For The Exam While Seth was busy making equipment, the other members of Minas Mar were also busy with their tasks. The leaders of Field Service were working on the preparations for the exam and the management of the Oathguard. Monique had spent thest few days tracking down an old acquaintance. He was perfect for training and operating the Oathguard. The sounds of her high heels hitting the ground announced her arrival in the narrow run-down hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door with a ss window. The writing on the door said "Jack Felton-Private Investigator". She gently knocked against the door, making the window rattle. After waiting for a few minutes, she knocked again. Before she could do it a third time the door finally opened. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Opening the door was an older man in histe 50s with a thick mustache and pronounced stubble. His skin had a sickly color, and his eyes were sunken in. His balding hair was hidden under a hat. The hat''s shadow made the man''s sunken eyes look like hollow eye sockets. "Monique? What are you doing here?" he asked grumpily. He left the door ajar for her and returned to his desk where he leaned back and put his feet on the table. "Aww, you knew I was in town? I wanted to surprise you," she said daintily. "I am a private detective. I knew you were in town for almost three months. But what surprised me was that you actually joined a n. The solitary tigress found a pack? That one really surprised me." Monique sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk with a sigh. "Oh, please. You know I wasn''t alone by choice. You could say I found a mountain to call home." Jack grumbled in agreement. He knew the girl even before the world went to shit. Even knew her father. "Then what brings you here? Are you looking for someone?" "Yes, I was looking for you. Mr. Instructor." "Don''t call me that. I''m a private detective. You know that, girl." "Come on, old man. You did a great Job when everything went downhill. Why are you so eager to return to your poor existence as a detective? Are there even customers for your work these days?" "Sorry, I can''t do that anymore. You know what happened. Watching all those youths die... I can''t go through that again." he said with a petrified face. Monique also grimaced when he mentioned the incident. "I wouldn''t be here if I thought it was possible for something like that to happen again. It was a catastrophe, and we were all unprepared. Things are different now. At least there are at Minas Mar. I would like you to meet our Tower Master and observe the Examination for the Oathguard." "Oathguard? Was that what you call your little private army?" Monique looked a little embarrassed when Jack called the nned forces a private army. "I''m sure other people would misunderstand it as such..." "What else are they?" the old man asked sarcastically. "Well, if you asked our Tower Master they are a farming force and final depot for equipment we judged too good to be sold." "Too good to be... don''t tell me the nonsense about a full set of epic gear is true?" Monique only smiled mysteriously. "If you want to know you shoulde and talk to the Tower Master. I suggested you for the administrator position of the Oathguard. I thought it would be the best position considering your ss." That''s right, Monique had not called him Instructor for no reason. Jack Felton had the rare ss "Instructor". People judged to be in his care will gain skill proficiency faster. It also let him mirror the skills of his trainee in sparring but at a higher level. Sparring with him would be like fighting a better version of oneself. There were other skills, like intuitively knowing the ws in another''s techniques and being able to give constructive criticism. His own skills grew with the progress of his trainees. He was a great teacher back then and he would do a great job in charge of the Oathguard. Monique was sure of it. Her tenacity made the old man sigh. "Fine. I will have a conversation with your Tower Master." -------------------Minas Mar---------------- Said tower master was sitting in his workshop and was brooding over the pieces of a leather armor. The material used for the parts was the epic-rated leather of a "Shadow Imugi". He saw the fine dark leather in the auction house and immediately bought it. The properties were more than ideal for Mina who was a mix of Shadow Assassin and Shadow Mage. The leather had the inherent power to strengthen all skills rted to the shadow attribute. The problem was that his sucked. With his beginner lv.9 skill, he could not even handle umon fabrics or threads. Using amon thread on this epic armor was uneptable. He couldn''tpromise on this. Especially not since it was the gear for his girlfriend. He stood before the question whether to grind his sewing skill, the skill he disliked the most, or let Neeco Boos finish the armor and split the proficiency. The Spell Weaver had not reached the level necessary to process epic material, yet. But could definitely sew together prepared leather parts. He could even use a thread made of shadow magic to do so. Grinding and unliked skill or splitting a little proficiency... With a heavy heart, Seth decided to leave the sewing to the professionals. He would contact Neeco Booster that day. For now, he put the armor pieces aside and brought out something else. It was the first piece of epic Seth had managed to refine from . There were only 5 bars of it for now and Seth decided to use 2 for one of Mina''s weapons. For her second weapon, he wanted to use a bar of . Back when he started learning the bads Seth had made a practice dagger Mina was still using. At that time, he had promised her to make an even better one. That was what the was for. Now that he actually had a fitting ss he could alsoprehend the ratings of the bads and texts he read. Although only two sentences long, the short verse praising Elufsiv the Esurient was rare to epic rated. It was thanks to various factors like his high level in working together that he was able to somehow finish that inscription. Now, after three months of studying and grinding, and with the fitting epic-rated ink he was confident in seeding it with less effort. He started off with the and forged a slender de simr in form to a Xiphos. A dagger that would excel in both cutting and stabbing. He integrated a small filigree crossguard in the shape of two snakes biting the de. The two snakes were a hint at the two main effects he nned for the dagger. The pommel was featureless for now, but Seth intended to carve it into a knot of snakester. During the process, he sang a new forging bad he took a liking to. It was a rare bad calling upon the powers of Deber. It imbued the weapon with a chance to inflict the status effect of Mdy. This would slow the opponent and make healing less effective. It even had a chance to cloud the target''s mind like a high fever. The fatal thing about mdy was that it would not heal on its own. One needed either a priest to cast cure or a potion that healed umon or rare diseases. In exchange, mdy had no big effect on targets with high endurance, health, or the undead. There were a few other exceptions, but those were the biggest ones. Besides the effect, it had a catchy rhythm too, which made it easier to sing while also infusing the umon soul of a creature from the fog dimension. There were not many left, but Seth was sure this was the right call. He infused the biggest part in the de, a smaller part in the pommel, and another small part into the wood for the handle. He fitted the finished de with a wooden handle made of a small piece of arcane oak. A rare wood that was usually used in wizard staffs. It had no own affinity or effects, but the high magic conductivity could have a positive influence on the effects of other materials or spells cast. To carve the pommel he used his . The biggest reason the skill had managed to level up in thest three months, was this. Seth had no power tools for intricate carving, so he tried to use his mes instead. He was immune to the damage, so he didn''t mind the molten metal that was flowing down his hand had he used the heat to form and carve the pommel into and knot of snake bodies. Before he assembled the dagger, he brought the de to the etching table. Now came the most important step. With a fine brush, he took up the precious ink from the small vial. With a steady hand, he redrew the runes projected onto the de by . With a calm mind, he inscribed the de with the verses praising Elufsiv the Esurient. The ink bit into the crimson metal and formed a receded lettering of darker enamel. Seth assembled the dagger and finished it by dunking it into the waters of Styx to affix the soul to its new body. Chapter 269 - 269. Mina’s Gear Solid With a surprised look on his face, he pulled the finished dagger back out of the water. He HAD taken some symbolism from Greek mythology, but he definitely had not nned for this. After an arduous journey, the Chosen of Maahes offers materials blessed by his god to be made into Holy Armaments. Maahes himself wishes for you to do the job. Requirements: Create the ughterer''s Set from 0/1 Create the ughter des from 0/1 Hand the ughterer''s Items to his Champion 0/1 Rewards: Enchantment: Minor Sigil of Maahes Enchantment: Minor Sigil of ughter Blueprint: ughterer''s Set Blueprint: ughter des Title: cksmith of Maahes > Seth was startled for a moment. It wasn''t just that he had actually gotten a quest from the god, unlike when he did a hammer for Tyr''s Chosen, but the rewards were actually really good. Not only was he getting the blueprints that had the approval of a god, he was also getting a title and learning two sigils. Seth was not deterred by the little word minor in front of their names. Sigils were rare and mysterious enchantments that didn''t follow the normal rules of engraved enchantments. They were not direct circuits but represented something or someone. It meant they gained their powers from outside, in this case from Maahes. The unique Olympian enchantments could also be called Sigils. Seth didn''t hesitate to take on the quest, especially since having a blueprint would make his work a lot easier, than trying toe up with a fitting set for the . The cksmith immediately got the notification of new blueprints and enchantments needed for the blueprints when he epted the quest. An Armor Set designed by Ptah, god of creation and Craftsmen, for Maahes, God of War, Weather, and Protection, and his chosen.> Despite being made by a god of craftsmen, the ughterer''s Set consisted of the not very creatively named ughter''s: Crown, Usekh, Belt, Scale Armor, Bracers and Shin Guards. The names were basic, but the items had very unique designs that differed a lot from the blueprints Seth had inherited from Forgebrand. The pieces were more in tune with what Seth would expect from the Heliopolian Pantheon. Instead of a helmet, the crown was closer to a broad circlet with the depiction of a snake that came from the back of the head and wrapped over the crown of the head. The ostentatious Usekh was a kind of cor and reminded Seth of a wide gorget. But instead of allowing for pauldrons to be attached, it took over their task, too. Protecting the torso was the scale armor made of fine ovepping scales, like those of a fish to allow a wide area of movement. The center was covered by a wide belt that integrated a skirt made of scale, mail, and ornaments that went down to the knees. Unlike the scale armor, the skirt''s scales were closer to armor tes, that acted together with the chain and ornaments. Lastly, the shinguards and bracers were quite ordinary. Ostentatious like the rest, yes, but very traditional pieces of armor otherwise. I will get to work after settling this stuff I got from Y-City, Seth finally said, when he finished checking the blueprint. Mike on the other hand had been watching in waiting in silence, ever since he gave Seth the bag of ore. I''m d to hear that., the beastman said relieved. Don''t worry, you can enjoy a few more days of vacation here. Personally, I will probably move to Little Gamma to make your armor. I could also use some vacation again, Seth joked slightly serious. It had been over two weeks since he saw his girlfriends and he started feeling the withdrawal symptoms. He needed his dose of Mina and Fin... Yes, you should do that! Ah, before you leave. Are you interested in the remaining ? Mike asked, referring to the low-quality stuff that was not blessed. I guess, I may be able to make room for it? Seth said and dropped his rope. With that, Mike left and Seth was free to look for Baker, to dump a load of items on him. This was just the first delivery, as the cksmith had only taken Epic and Rare items, which the golems weren''t currently using, also holding back the Polyarkanate Armors they would wear once the mission in Y-City was over. A quick trip to Minas Pnter and Seth had returned to Tree Station 12. Seth? Where are youing from? Weren''t you at Y-City? Baker asked perplexed after one of his subordinates informed him of the cksmith''s arrival from the teleport hub. I''m more or less done there, they will manage the rest without my supervision, Seth answered rxed. Actually, I''m here to dump some stuff you may need. We actually found more than expected in Y-City and I think this should be used to improve the state of TS9- TS12, to make sure you can also protect yourselves if need be, he exined and told Mark about the happening in Y-City and the items he brought along. Although they were just the items the Golems currently didn''t need, they were mostly rare items with some epic ones in the mix. They were very valuable, but Seth trusted Baker, that he would distribute them fairly...after paying the expense allowance. Of course, it wouldn''t be free... Bakermented with a cramped-up face. it would be unfair to just gift this stuff to you when even our own guild members have to purchase their private gear,.don''t you think so? So, how much..? You can negotiate the price with Jer, I will leave the items with you for now so you can start nning. Don''t worry, I will tell her to go easy on you, When Mike returned to their room, carrying a tablet filled with breakfast items, Lydia was already dressed, and about to leave the room. I brought you- Did Seth already leave? Lydia interrupted him with furrowed brows. Err, yeah? Why do you ask for him? Mike asked back, a little confused. Lydia clicked with her tongue. I remembered that I still have that reactor from the hashing bird in my inventory. I have been trying to give it to him for ages, but I keep missing him, she exined. I see... Why don''t you calm down and we have breakfast for now? Seth wille back once he finished my equipment. Let''s just wait for him leisurely. Lydia stayed silent for a moment. Well, fine. What did you get us? she asked, easily letting go of the matter, immersing herself in the breakfast. Chapter 1027. The Frowning Crane After unloading most of the stuff on Baker, Seth felt much lighter. But maybe he was just looking forward to seeing Fin and Mina. He arrived at Little Gamma without Problems. Just before he left, he remembered the list of quests he had gotten at Donnchadh''s basement. Send Augur''s Set and Wedding Ring to his Wife, Return Wilkin''s Sigil Ring and inform Duke Vras of the ck Lion''s Fate and your deeds, and sacrifice the Nem Movo''s head to Ares. He was able to fulfill the first two from home. The cksmith wrote two letters and then, like any other customer, he approached one of the counters to manage the shipping. Seth was lucky, that both of the off-world locations were part of the System Church''swork. He bought two boxes for the items and left the rest to the church. Now, he would just have to wait for the packages to reach their destinations and the quests would be finished. Satisfied, he left. Wearing the premium version of a recognition-inhibiting robe, Seth was able to join the crowd on the street without a problem. Since he did the media-intensive Announcement, that was still running everywhere, he was recognized more often in public. In hindsight, this was something he could have gone without. Little Gamma had changed quite a bit since thest time he was here. The final announcement of the Pythian Games had drawn in a lot of people from all over Minas Mar and Delta. Otherworlders were also quite numerous, despite needing an organization like the System church, or the Adventurer guild to vouch for them. This was a simple safety measure to make sure hostile people in general had a harder time smuggling into any of the Tree Stations. And in case a hostile did get in, they would be able to hold the guarantor ountable for any kind of damage incurred. While the controls to enter were rtively strict, it was quite easy to leave the Tree Station. Except for the crowd, nobody held him up when he passed the connection point where the main barrier and the barrier for the Pythian Vige connected. As far as he knew, Mina and the others were at the venue for the games, guarding and testing them, to make sure they were not too easy. There was still a checkpoint guarded by the Oathguard at the connection of the vige and the venue. He didnt hide his identity when he arrived here, as it easily allowed him to enter. However. What brings you here, if Im allowed to ask, Tower Master? one of the guards asked him friendly as he was about to pass by. I wanted to surprise Mina and Fin, Seth told him secretively. Oh, then you are wrong here. The members of Yulecats fur have already finished for today. You can find them at the Frowning Crane Tavern in the vige. It was built by some of the travelers from the Cloud Continent. The food is exotic and the liquor is good, the other guard intervened. Seth looked at him, slightly surprised. He was toote! Well, thanks for the info, guys. Then I will have to take a look at that tavern, he said with a chuckle and turned back, to find the local. A man in a dark robe entered the Frowning Crane and found a seat on the ground floor. He didn''t stick out in the crowd of travelers. ording to the customs of the tavern''s origin, he ordered a light meal and liquor. The liquor was served in a bottle with a small, ceramic shot ss. This way he could enjoy the alcohol, keeping to himself. While his actions seemed focused on the table and food in front of him, his eyes kept darting up to the second floor, where a shy group of people were having a feast. Wearing boisterous equipment, their group was made up of two beautiful girls, a mountain of a man, a sickly-looking guy, and a speck of light that kept diving into the food. He was not the only one who had his eyes on the funny group of friends, openly showing the prosperity of Minas Mar. As he was watching, there was a young man approaching the group. He was handsome, d in expensive, high-quality robes, and surrounded a group of sycophants. His eyes were glued to the beautiful woman. But his gaze made it clear that his intentions were far from pure. After he whispered something to one of his entourage, the crony stepped forward.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Isn''t yourpany a little unfitting two fairies like yourselves? The young master Zhu Ling, of the ancient Zhu Family would like to invite you to his private room on the third floor., he invited her in the name of his master. One of thedies gave him a side nce, her cat ears twitched. cing down her drink, a raunchy smile grew on her lips, as her big eyes focused on the young master in expensive robes. Oh my! Lyxiss, what do you think of an invitation by a handsome man? she asked thedy with slightly pointy ears beside her. All the while, throwing the man in question flirtatious looks. Lyxiss chuckled, while the men on the table had an awkward expression. With sensual steps, thedy with cat ears approached the young master. Zhu Ling weed her with open arms as she slowly let her hands wander across the robes and to his shoulder. The fire of lust was visible in his eyes when- It was instantly snuffed out. Thedy grabbed his shoulders with unnatural strength before pulling him down, ramming his handsome face into her rising knee. Staggering back, stunned despite being a cultivator of the golden core soul realm, he couldn''t react to what came next, as Mina chained abo move. Starbreaking Kick! All men in the restaurant twitched, upon the audible squelch when the kick broke young master Zhu''s stars. While young master Zhu was curling up in a fetal position and his cronies rushed forward to protect him, the rest of Yulecat''s Fur and Ray jumped up from their table. How dare you do this to the young master! Do you have any idea who this is? Youmitted a terrible mistake today! You will pay for this! The Zhu Family won''t let you get away with this! the sycophants mored. Don''t think we don''t know who you are, Zhu Ling. We have reports that you already lured more than ten women to your private rooms, where you and your cronies drugged and raped them. As lords of Minas Mar, we will capture and punish you for your crimes, she announced to the criminal and guests in the tavern. So it finally hit old Zhu. Serves that little brick right. That''s what he gets. Yeah, this isn''t his hometown, he should have held back.... Whispers could be heard in the tavern, suggesting that this wasn''t the first time this happened. On the second floor, Zhu Ling had swallowed a pill during Mina''s announcement and was quickly recovering. Whether his broken stars recovered was inconclusive. After the initial shock, a fight broke out as the henchmen and hidden guards pulled out their weapons. Kill that wench! Zhu Ling cried out The group of cultivators shed with the group from Minas Mar and darkness descended on the whole restaurant. Seth, the man in the robe, leisurely kept drinking his booze. Mina and the others were strong, they didnt need his help. If he stepped in now, it would look like he didnt trust them with this, whyever they were doing police work right now. It quickly became evident that the Zhu forces were not part of the cultivators Seth was worried about. Even with superior numbers, trapped in the darkness they couldn''t keep up with Mina, Ray, Fin, and the others and worked as a party, using Mina''s cover to their advantage. Small-scale Magic and skills rained down on the cultivators who could barely react to the hidden attacks. They held back with their attacks, so as to notpletely demolish the tavern. These guys were barely on the level of the people he fought at their base. The cksmith felt like he had a feeling to roughly estimate their cultivation base by now. Most of the people from the Voracious Cloud Continent he had met so far were in what they called the Golden Core Realm and the Nascent Soul Realm. By his estimates, the former corresponded to yers between lv.70 and lv.90, with the average being lv.80. Thetter started around lv.85 and he couldn''t quite tell, where their peak was. Judging by Lydia''s experience, there were Cultivators that could keep up lv.100+ yers in full relic and legendary gear. Though it could be that they were already on a higher stage, like Master Mountains, or the man Al''Zalsar had defeated back then. Seth watched as most of the cronies and guards were badly battered, unable to resist. However, in the end, Zhu Ling managed to escape with some of his friends, while the rest were detained. When the fight was over, Seth leisurely left the tavern. He wanted to get groceries, before surprising his friends. Chapter 1028. Dont you “tehe” me, you little- Chapter 1028. Don''t you tehe me, you little- Zhu Ling fled through the streets of the Pythian Vige. His stars were still hurting and the battering he experienced had also left him hurting all over. But hotter than the burning of his wounds was his indignation and anger. "How dare these wenches set me up like this!" he eximed, to let off steam. He had lost a lot of face today. "Brother, you should call the people from the Zhu family! What is Minas Mar? Once they face off against true experts, they will see how great the world is!" Zhu Lan, his younger cousin from a subsidiary family branch, advised him. He was right, although he hade alone to have some fun before the event, there were many of his uncles and their men around Little Gamma, waiting for the tournament. "If we could rally themit wouldn''t be enough to face Minas Mar, but we probably could take our revenge!" dark desires had returned to his eyes, as he imagined what he would do to that cat girl and the elf, once he got his hands on them. "Don''t forget about me, Brother," his cousin called out, seeing Zhu Ling already pondering about his perverted hobbies. "Kukuku. Don''t worry, I leave them intact enough, so you guys can also have your fun with them!" heughed happily as if everything was already solved. Suddenly, a shadow fell over the group of men surrounding Zhu Ling, the shadow of a cksmith. Sure, the bard had decided to treat life a little more preciously, but he didn''t see any reason to show mercy in this case. Master Mountain had already warned them about the culture of the Voracious Cloud Continent. Cultivators were usually two-faced. Whether they lost fair and square, fled, or begged for mercy, they would plot their revenge afterward nine times out of ten. This was why Seth decided to follow them and give him a chance to prove this wrong. Well, they were not the tenth case, so the cksmith decided to have them vanish for good. Surprisingly, "Young Master" Zhu didn''t have the kind of near-death warning system that Elder Ho of the Silk River Sect had. Maybe his own n had hoped for him to fall on Urth. Or they didn''t expect for someone to directly rip his soul out of his body. Now, Seth had six new, big souls in his pocket. Five of which had an ego, albeit a nasty one. After getting his groceries, Seth decided it was time to surprise his girlfriends. ... After paying for the trashed tavern, using the money from the cronies they caught, and locking the guys away, Mina and the others left the ce to return to their amodations in Minas Mar''s branch building at the foot of Little Gamma''s Guardian Tree. Suddenly a man in dark robes stepped in their way. An ominous presence surrounded the strangers as he silently blocked the path. "What do you want? Are you another one of those wimps looking for a fight?!" Fin eximed, hungry for another fight. Thest one was seemingly not enough. "Oh! Whoops, forgot to take off the robe. Sorry guys!" Seth eximed btedly and removed the hood, allowing them to see his face and legendary armor below the robe. "Seth?" they eximed surprised. "Seth!" Fin eximed happily and charged at him like a bullet, taking him off his feet.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Seth! What brings you here?" Bulko asked happily surprised. "I''m done with my stuff and came to visit my girlfriends," Seth said,ughing as Mina helped him up. "What else would it be?" she asked with a chuckle and gave him a deep kiss. "Ah! I wanted to do that..." Fin whined, having her thunder stolen. "How was Y-City? Let''s talk inside." Mina asked attentively, taking his right arm. Fin hurriedly sized up and took his left as they led him inside. Awkward, Lyxiss, Bulko, and Ray followed the lovebirds. They spent all night until deep into the early morning eating, drinking, and talking. Seth spoke about the time in Y-City and the weird creatures he came across. He didn''t mention was he did with Zhu Ling. Mina and the others talked about their day in little Gamma and how their task had slowly shifted from testing and guarding the venue to catching guys like the young master. It was a fun night after a long time of being apart. Fin and Mina took the next two days off since there was a lot to catch up on between the three of them. Mina was especially starved. By the end of it, Seth felt more tired than when he arrived, but also very satisfied. When he woke up on the third day after he came to Little Gamma, he found that the girls were already busy getting dressed. "Are you leaving me already?" the bard asked flirtatiously, as hey naked in the bed, the nkets barely covering the important bits. Mina gulped hard, seeing his exposed chest as he lolled around in bed, seductively. "You evildoer! P-Pack away those perfectly shaped packs! Y-You will not seduce Mina once again! We really have to get back to work. Bulko and the others can''t do it without us for too long. Don''t you have to do something to do, too?" Fin suddenly acted as the voice of reason. "At least swallow before reprimanding me!" Mina scoffed at the fairy, who was hypnotized by the cksmith''s muscles. Resisting the bard''s charm, the two finally left their t, leaving Seth behind. With a sigh, he also got dressed. In one thing Fin was right, the cksmith did have something to do. Mike''s Armor was waiting to be brought into this world through his hands. The ughterer''s Set, a blueprint given to him by a god, was no easy piece of work. However, it was the difficulty that made Seth happy, since it came from the need of various skills to make it, which were the perfect prerequisites for his skill to take full effect. 14:45 The ughterer''s Set, a blueprint given to him by a god, was no easy piece of work. However, it was the difficulty that made Seth happy, since it came from the need of various skills to make it, which were the perfect prerequisites for his skill to take full effect. For example, the Usekh, the color that would cover the shoulders, had a simr structure to chain armor, but it asked for a lot of ostentatious embellishments with necessitated the work of a goldsmith. It was the same for the wide belt with a skirt and the bracers. He would be able to bring in all of his master-tier skills for most of the set pieces. Of course, this also necessitated the fitting materials for the embellishments. It was a good thing he had looted Y-City. He had left most of the equipment to Baker, but he still had the materials of Donnchadh with him and didn''t have to return to Minas Mar to get some. His first stop after getting up was the in-house restaurant for breakfast and then he found the local manager for an empty room where he could set up the workshop. After getting everything ready, he started summoning his forge, anvil, furnace, and so on and so forth, andstly Sivri. He didn''t summon Cerberus because the cksmith golem was busy making items for Minas Mar. "Urgh," Sivri eximed when she appeared. "What''s up?" the cksmith asked at her sudden reaction. "I can smell what you did for the past three days. Maybe you should wash up before we continue?" the golden dwarf suggested. "oh...Sure," Seth answered embarrassed and quickly used magic to wash up. "Better?" "Slightly," Sivri said with a nod. "...Wait a minute! You can''t even smell!" the bard eximed indignantly. "Tehe!" sheughed, sticking out her tongue. "Don''t you "tehe" me, you little-" "Okay, okay, enough joking. Should we start? You want to make the ughterer''s set, right?" the dwarf hurriedly changed the topic. Still a little peeved, Seth took a deep breath. He would make her pay for this. "... Fine, here," he said and unloaded a pile of uncut gems from Donnchadh''s hoard on the floor. "You do have the gem cutter skill, right? Here is a stuff of stones and the shapes I need. Can I leave the processing to you?" Although the cksmith was able to copy the process of gem cutting by using his ability to forge anything with Charon''s Obol and , it was not the same. After all, there was a whole ss specialized in gem cutting alone. There were benefits in the correct cut, that Seth couldn''t achieve by just shaping some stone. Sivri was not a gem cutter, but she had a skill for it, which was a lot better than not having it when talking about the performance of the gem. The right cut could raise a stone by a whole tier or two. "Alright," she said obediently, facing the huge pile of gems Seth left for her. Chapter 1029. Blood of Maahes Chapter 1029. Blood of Maahes While Sivri started refining the rough gems, Seth started up the furnace to refine the and from Donnchadh''s hoard. While the Nuggets of these two materials generally urred in pure form in nature and not as some kind of ore, they would still have inclusions of host rock. Seth used the furnace to burn those out. It didn''t take long and helped him get in the groove of using the furnace. Because the next step was the . As the name said, it was an ore, like previously the . It needed refinement before it could be worked on further. Since it was not closer defined what metal ore it originally was, Seth had to test around to find the best way to refine it. Usually, when talking about or , these magical versions of normal metals follow simr rules when refining and working with them. Although they differed in hardness and durability, their melting point and treatment methods usually stayed simr. Since he had no clue about the metal, he started with a small test sample and simply raised the heat. Despite his worries, the cksmith was lucky. Although he didn''t quite know what metal it was, it seemed to be enough to heat up the ore to about 2000 Celsius. While much of the impurities burned away and some g swam on top, it became a homogeneous liquid. He released it through the opening on the bottom of the furnaces and filled it into a mold. When it cooled down, it turned out to be a reddish-golden metal, simr to copper, but with a colder, more crimson red. The description of the material had changed quite a bit, giving a clearer image of what powers it supported. It was very much in tune with the effects of the ughterer''s Set, as one would expect from the design of a god of craftsmen. The set supported and channeled these powers while beingpletely focused on ease of movement and enabling the transformation into a massive anthropomorphic lion. Despite the fact that the assumed effects would be lower when he used a different main material, Seth deliberated to make one for Ortegater on. As a chosen of Montu, he turned into a massive bull, which was not too different from the requirement for this armor. As a god of war, Montu also shared some divinities with Maahes, Seth just needed to find a fitting recement for the . With the ore refined to roughly 15 bars the size of bricks, Seth started with the bracers and the shin guards, as he needed Sivri''s work for the other parts. The cksmith had not much creative freedom when it came to the design and enchantments of the armor pieces of the ughterer''s Set. Like the Olympian Enchantments, he had a hard time figuring out how the individual parts of the circuits on the various armor actually worked. He knew from the blueprints what the end result would be, but otherwise, they were a ck box to him. Seth could only concentrate on implementing the shape and ornamental-seeming decorations on the armor the best he could. Like a Sigil, he knew it was an enchantment, but there was no mortal logic to how exactly it worked. On the other hand, the was easier to work with than for example the , or other legendary materials. The red-golden material needed a lot of heat, but Seth had no need to concentrate on a demonic bad, or infusing his magic power into the material to soften it. The bard had decided against a bad, because he didn''t wish to mess up the enchantments the pieces came with. Since he had no idea how exactly they worked, he was not confident in weaving more magic into it, lest he may have weakened it inadvertently. Thanks to this it took little effort to shape the bracers and shinguards. He first finished the forging, before he started the engraving process. The challenge was simr to the Olympian enchantments, but the designs werepletely different. This notification rang four times before it became evening. The final items had fewer effects than the ones Seth usually created on his own, however, their power was astounding. Apart from basic improvements which were influenced by his , they each had a skill and a unique effect. The right bracer held the special effect "Lord of ughter" which increased physical damage and attack speed by 5% for every continuously killed or defeated enemy. It also came with the active Skill "Storm sh" which fired wind from the de of the weapon. The left bracer came with the effect "Wielder of the Knife" which gave stacking damage over time, causing 25% of the attack damage as bleeding damage over the course of 1 minute. Its skill was Withering Strike, which caused damage to stamina, causing fatigue and dehydration. With both bracers finished, their set-effect also appeared, which increased the defense when blocking with the bracers and gave the Skill "Storm Shield", which created a magic shield in front of the were, when they crossed their arms in front of their chest. Simrly, the shinguards also only differed from each other in the skill and effect they offered the user. The left one had the effect of Desert Lion, which improved charges and damage by 50% when stepping on Sand. Fittingly, the skill was , which allowed the wearer to create a field of sand with a radius of 3 meters around them. The right one offered the effect of Wind Caller, improving the wearer''s power over wind and the power of Wind-element attacks by 50%. Its skill was a little out there, as it was called , which allowed the user to create a Lotus under their feet to walk in the air or on water. It was early evening when he finished checking the items. There was still time. With Sivri still busily carving stones, the cksmith began working on the scale shirt. Apart from the image of two wings crossing over the chest, Seth needed to fashion hundreds of small scales from the . Each scale had its own patterns, which would ultimately form one ornamental enchantment. Seth was not new to this concept, as he was also currently working on a simr project. However, his own attempt was not as advanced as the current item. It took hours to make the individual scales, but in the end, Seth managed to finish in the evening. "How are you faring, Sivri?" Seth asked the golden dwarf after putting down thest scale. Sivri was sitting at the Jeweler''s Table, meticulously carving and drilling stones. There was already a small pile growing on the tray beside her. "I should be done with the things you need for the Usekh and the belt by tonight," she answered joyfully. It seemed that work was actually quite fun to her. As a golem, she wouldn''t get tired of it, anyway. "Great to hear. I will quit for today, I will see you tomorrow," the cksmith said with a nod and left the workshop to the golden golem. Seth didn''t want to work toote since he finally got to spend his evening with Mina and Fin again. For simr reasons, Seth was quite sure Mike would appreciate it if he took a few days longer for the armor. However, the mood wasn''t good when he came to their room. Mina seemed focused and even Fin was too gloomy to jump at him, as she would usually do as a greeting. "What''s with the long faces, you two? Did something happen at the vige?" "Buhh, we lost today," the pouting Fin said depressed. "You lost?" Seth asked shocked. How difficult would the opponent have to be for them and the others to lose?! "You didn''t get hurt, right?" "Calm down, we didn''t lose in a fight, but in an argument," Mina exined, grinding her teeth. "An argument? Who did you argue with?" the bard asked perplexed. After thinking back and forth for a moment, Mina finally exined the whole thing. A group of cultivators had banded together toin about Minas Mar''s management of the Pythian Vige. Mina couldn''t quite remember the whole conversation, but it was about them not having the authority to judge them and they should stay out of the business of the "Jianghu". "They call their leader the Stalking Cicada, don''t ask me why... he appeared something over a week ago and started assembling people from big and reputable families. At least they are acting like their families are big and powerful, like spoiled brats. My dad is this and that, or their grandfather owns this and that..." Mina started ranting. "So why did you start arguing with them?" the cksmith finally asked, when she calmed a little. "They upied one of the restaurants but didn''t use force, so we tried solving it with words..." and that was how it all spun into a humiliating debate on principles and justification. 14:46 "Mina, Fin, I wille along with you two tomorrow. I will teach you how to deal with people like this." the cksmith promised. Item Descriptions: Chapter 1030. Stalking Cicada This morning, Seth left Sivri alone in the workshop, to finish up the pieces they would need for the belt and crown. The bard followed Yulecats Fur and Ray to the Pythian Vige to face the man who bullied his girlfriends. The party guided him to another ce built in the style of the Voracious Cloud Continent. It looked very fancy with a lot of gold, and redcquer, alcohol, and Errm, is this a brothel? Seth asked amused, seeing thedies dancing in revealing clothes and transparent veils. Someone had actually built their version of a strip club in the Pythian vige. The wide ground floor offered a lot of space for a variety of people to sit and enjoy the show. There were not only cultivators, but Seth could also see Urthans and demi-humans like dwarfs or beastmen among the clientele. If he wasntpletely wrong, not all of the dancers were foreigners, either. Despite there not being any great visible difference between people from Urth and people from the voracious cloud continent, he felt like there was a difference in their gait and the way people of Urth carried themselves,pared to them. Or maybe it was the vastly different style of dancing. What Seth noticed was that there were quite a few sharp gazes, focused on them as they sat down. Some even held hostility. Of course, they couldnt be liked by everyone, but these gazes were quite disrespectful.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om So, what exactly happened yesterday? Seth asked the group since Mina had a hard time exining it to him the other day. Yesterday, some cloud people started openly battling in the streets, endangering the building and bystanders. Something about a blood feud and that they cant ept living under the same sky Bulko started exining. As they detained the men and their allies, they started pouring out their sob stories, trying to sway them to join either side. It was all a hot mess of assassinated brothers-inw, poisoned Grandfathers, sprinkled with various fights for damaged honor and face. When we were about to get them to the prison, where they would stay until kicked out, a man suddenly appeared. He called himself Lang Zung, the stalking Cicada He started to argue with them, that Minas Mar had no rights to interfere in the business of these people. They were cultivators, part of the Jianghu, and it was an age-old rule that the Jianghu took care of their matter, separate from mortalws. Ray found outter, why the man was called the Stalking Cicada. It seemed that he was a prominent shit stirrer that waited in the background for a chance before he spoke up and push himself to the front. Despite all of his gibberish being absolute bullshit, he managed to rally the foreigners against them. Their police work had offended not just one or two, and they felt entitled not to be subjected to thews of Urth. With the mob against them, they had a hard time arguing and could only leave with their prisoners, dissatisfied Seth understood their mood. Bulko, Mina, Fin, Ray, and even Lyxiss were good people, who wanted to help others. Although Lyxiss was quite spunky, she had no experience in debating principles like individual freedom or cultural differences. It also was not something he would be able to teach them, so he nned to teach them a different way to deal with these glib-tongued fiends. One that was easy to understand. At least the story exined the hostile gazes. They probably came from some of the evildoers the Party had caught in the past or were part of the mob. The reason they had brought him to the brothel/ strip club was that the stalking Cicada was supposed to have a room there. After ordering some alcohol and snacks, they didnt have to wait long for a shifty-looking fe to approach them. He was neither tall nor short. Wearing dark blue robes with golden embroidery and a ck hat he looked like a magician. His shady little pencil mustache didnt help lessen the image of a con artist. You returned. What innocent people are you trying to detain today? Have you not realized that nobody wants you here? he asked loudly, so everyone on the floor could hear him. Some of the people with hostile gazes even slightly rose from their chairs. Was my lecture not enough? Minas Mar should stop acting like a bully. You have no right to push your values onto us. Many nods followed his words, but the party stayed silent. Lang Zung approached their table. I see there is a new face among you, he noticed Seth sitting among the group in casual clothes. He bend forward, looking Seth in the eyes. The cksmith frowned when he smelled his breath. Your mouth smells like the shit you talk, Seth muttered grossed out. Oh ho, what a sharp tongue. Did you bring him, because you thought he could engage in a discussion with me? Lang Zung asked arrogantly, hiding his ugly sneer behind his fan. Oh, I''m not here to discuss anything with you. I''m here to make something clear and teach them how to deal with people like you, the cksmith said leisurely, as he took a sip of liquor. Deal with-ME!? he screeched thest word when a massive hand caught his throat. The gauntlets of the armor dug into the soft flesh of his neck, as mes licked across the armor, threatening to burn him. The heat easily singed his shady mustache and clothes. He tried to struggle, but he only burned his hands, trying to grasp the arm that was holding him. There is no room for discussions or opinions. This is Minas Mar, everything here belongs to us. The houses, the streets, the barriers, and facilities. We built it, we protect it and people pay rent for a safe space. The moment you mess with our property or our business, you will be beaten up and thrown out. T-The rule of the bigger fist- Urgh! There will be someone with a bigger fist! the choking Cicada tried to argue. You still don''t get it. It''s Householder''s Rights, the bard whispered into his ear, before tightening his grip. When the cicada fell silent, he threw the unconscious cultivator covered in severe burns, into the middle of the room, for all the defiant watchers to see. This is a lesson for all of you, you are tolerated here as guests. If you fight in the streets and disrupt public life, you get banned. Keep your little feuds off our streets. I don''t think I have to explicitly say that they are also banned from participating in the Pythian Games. After saying his bit, Seth turned away from the croaking cicada and sat back down at their table. Bulko and Ray were thoughtful, while Fin''s and Lyxiss'' eyes were beaming. Always remember, there is no use in arguing with this scum. When they enter our ce, they agree to our rules. Their reasons, their beliefs, and their excuses mean nothing when they break them. If they try to argue, beat them harder. Yes!! The elf and fairy eximed excitedly. Is this really the right way? Bulko asked thoughtfully. They will say we are cruel, Raymented. So what? Mina asked before he could. Why should we care about their opinion? They clearly disrespect ours and harm people with their childish behavior. A greater person maye up with a better solution... but I don''t see why we should put so much effort in. If they resist to learn, they have to stay outside, Seth supported Mina. But what if we are at a disadvantage? Bulko asked worried. Although he and Lyxiss had legendary items, they were not chosen or blessed like many of the others. Did you forget where you are? Seth asked, with an obvious nod in the direction of the Guardian Tree. The whole city stood on its roots and was covered by its crown. Despite the pompous new name, it was a Hangingtree, one of the most terrifying horrors post-apocalyptic Urth gave birth to. Bulko''s eyes widened. When walking the lively streets, it was easy to forget that they were living in the shadow of a cmity, one that was on their side. Chapter 1031. Slaughters Scale Armor After reminding the group that they didn''t have to treat the hooligans like citizens, Seth stayed for lunch, before returning to Sivri''s side. After all, the cksmith was not here on vacation, although he wished he was. Even when he joked about vacation, he actually looked forward to making the ughterer''s Set, as it was somethingpletely new to him, and making something new was always fun. 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 and she was working on. The disy 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 cksmith 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 temtes 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 which was simr to . The juvenile''s leather already raised all physical attributes by 10 and Poison Resistance by 25%. The cksmith 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 , 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 shorings. Once all the pieces were cut to shape, the cksmith used Puffle''s 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 to fuse the scales onto the the tunic, but this way he increased the the effect of the as well as his skill, as became a bigger part of the work. Two hourster, 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 thest scale. This was the third finished item of the set. ughter''s Scale Armor followed the trend of the others, offering few, but massive improvements. His skill had also taken full effect this time. 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 . As for the effect, it was simply called Protector and raised the defense by 75% when defending allies. Not very shy or spectacr, but very practical. The effect worked in synergy with the skill it offered, . 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, 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. Nheless, it was a cool skill to have. Satisfied, Seth nodded and put the shirt aside. Now, only the cor, the belt, and the crown were left to make. Looking at the clock, the cksmith decided to continue for now. Since Sivri was also finished, they could start working on the cor, or Usekh, together. In its nature, it was simr to chain, but instead of being made up of interwoven metal rings, it was made up of a connection of metal tes, metal beads, gem beads, and gem ornaments that all connected in a special way. With all the high-quality gems and , the Usekh was the source of power, that fed into the rest of the set. The better the materials for the cor, 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 bads 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 tes of , the golden dwarf had started threading the finished beads and ornaments on . The two craftsmen kept talking about the cor''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 cksmith 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 cksmith 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 quitete. Wedan hade just in time for dinner. Sivri, do you want toe along? Let''s take a break and go meet the others for eating out, Seth invited the golem toe 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! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Meeting the others in the city, the cksmith, 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. Chapter 1032. Midnight Deals ---Outside Little Gamma--- Under the cover of the night, a group of masked figures met on a peak, with a view of the massive tree in the distance. Some wore clothing of the Voracious Cloud Continent, others hadpletely hidden themselves with dark cloaks. How many people did we manage to smuggle into the actual city? one of the cultivators asked. The half-faced silver mask did little to really hide his face, instead, it entuated his charm in the starlit night. We have our people inside. Do not worry, they won''t be the problem. What about your side? one of thepletely cloaked people asked instead. With the recent incidents, especially Stalking Cicada and the death of Elder Gack, we were able to rope in several families in addition to the Silk River sect who is getting ready for a full-on war. Until the final, we will probably gain even more allies, a different cultivator, wearing a golden monkey mask exined. And what about your side? the cloaked figure asked another cloaked figure. Our preparations in Gamma and Delta wille to fruition soon. We will be ready, the other said stoically. Do you really think you can do it in time? another cloak asked with a growling voice. This cloak was massive and bulky. The fabric couldn''t hide the inhuman proportions. Don''t worry. As long as your information is correct, there won''t be any problems. The group of cloaks fell silent, looking at each other. Although formed a shaky alliance to shatter Minas Mar, there was no trust among them. Although they worked together now, they would probably be enemies right after theirmon goal was achieved. I will take my leave then, Silver mask finally said, vanishing into thin air. Monkey-mask just nodded, following the example. Quickly, the group scattered one by one until only the regr cloak that spoke first and the bulky group were left. How are the preparations going? Did you get everything for the formation? Cloak asked Bulky Cloak. That you aren''t satisfied after swallowing the merchandise of several soul traders... he said with a shaking head. It was hard since we used a lot on the one in Y-City, but yeah. We have enough for a smaller one. It should be able to just fit. Good, Cloak said satisfied. Don''t forget the price. Bulky threatened. Don''t worry, I will capture Tano''Mol for you. the regr cloak promised confidently. He probably won''t leave Emerald City. If it wasn''t currently on lockdown, my men would have already apprehended him. Can''t you just- Break in, get him, and run off? No, they actually believed that bullshit from Minas Mar. They are giving the barrier all their power and attention. Even if they forced their way in, my men would not get out anymore... Cloak interrupted Bulky.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Tsk, fine. I will take my leave then, Bulky finally said and vanished in a cloud of ck smoke. That I would have to work with such animals... Cloak sighed and left, too. The peak finally fell silent again. ---The Unimed Mountains--- But not all news was bad that night. Deep in the frozen, wind-beaten depths of the Unimed Mountains waited a scene of destruction. Swept-away valleys and washed-out mountains bore witness to a terrifying battle. Sitting on the peak of a rock needle, that was once a massive mountain, was a dim Ceres, looking down into the valley. Trapped to the hips in floods of water, frozen to cial iceid a terrifying foe, finally still. A giant made of metal and bone, the battered shell covered in burned flesh and and a ck sludge. Frozen by the icy weather, he looked like he had been preserved here for thousands of years. Yet, it had been fighting for days with the storm elemental until Ceres managed to trap it in massive floods and the lightning strikes finally burned through the istingyer the creature was covered in. Blotches slowly approached the solitary eagle. Even the Questing Beast was forced to seek safety in the distances, when they fight came to its peak. With the fatigue, the lightning body had grown dimmer, but inside Ceres was overjoyed. It had not just gotten a chance to test the power gained after ascension but also defeated a powerful and very annoying opponent. Blotches, you take the flying saucer, I grab this thing. I bet Master will want to take a look at this. it finally spoke after remaining silent for a day and a night. The giant had not moved and the Parrot of Doom had recovered his gleam. The questing beast nodded and trudged away, looking for the flying machine the giant had used toe here. It was swept away by the torrential rain, several days ago. Meanwhile, the eagle''s mighty ws tore into the dead machine, ripping it from its cold trap. He had been gone for a long time, unable to contact Seth, but he would at least bring a present when he finally returned. It spouted a lot of nonsense about Mike having brought its apostles to Emerald City. Let''s return there first, Ceres instructed when Blotches returned, pulling something like a hovercraft behind it. With this, the Parrot of Doom finally started returning home. ---Little Gamma, the Next Day--- Early in the morning, Seth and Sivri were back at the workshop and finally finished the Usekh. Although just following the blueprints was a little different from the excitement of making something himself, since he had less impact on the final effect, he had fun sharing this kind of work with Sivri. Looking at the armor pieces they were a good example for the direction Seth was trying to pursue, focusing on a limited number of effects, but enhancing those to the max. Excluding his soul armaments, Mike would probably have even higher specs than Seth, one he donned this set. Checking its final stats, the Usekh was truly the core part of the set, that supplied it with power and had the greatest impact on the skills of Maahes and magic in general. is enhanced by 25% if the crown is equipped. An Usekh made of special materials and created by the hands of Master Smith, the first Master cksmith, Master Enchanter, and Master Goldsmith on Urth. A holy armament of Maahes and Part of the ughterer''s Set, designed by Ptah, the Heliopolian God of Craftsmen. Requirements: Chosen of Maahes > Like the other items, the Usekh had a skill and a special effect, apart from basic improvements and the power of the materials Seth added. Just like the scale armor, it was influenced by the and gained the full improvements from Seth''s . The special effect Lion''s Mane added an additional 25% Light Attribute damage when attacking with magic, so it was simr to the Wielder of the Knife, which did something simr with bleeding damage over time. The active skill was , which allowed the user or one of his allies to quickly recover their Mana. Although it caused a 1h cooldown on all skills of the set, it was a powerful skill, that coulde in handy in various situations. Congratz! Sivri eximed and they shook hands upon finish such a great work. Seeing how only the belt and the crown were now missing, Sivri and Seth decided to ride the wave of sess and continue with big steps. They were ready for a final push. Today, they would finish the ughterer''s Set! Since Sivri was not a cksmith, she went ahead and started preparing the various parts of the belt, who was simr in nature to the Usekh. Meanwhile, Seth started by forging the crown. A rounded band of the red golden metal iid with stripes of ck gems making it look like a twisted torc of red-gold and ck. Wrapping around the head, the two ends of the band joined together in the back, turning into the body of a cobra that thrones on the wearer''s head. The first step was forging the band, after which came setting the ck pieces of gem and engraving it with ornamental enchantments. The band itself was no problem, but the snake proved to be a challenge to Sethscking talent in artistry. He was good with practical designs, but when it came to creative motives and sculpting, he had neither much experience nor talent. It always took him extra effort to make something satisfactory. The struggle was real. Although the basic band was not hard and he saw no trouble with the other steps either, the snake was killing him. Seth could already see that he would spend hours on refining the snake head to get it just right when he had an idea. Exchange projects! Chapter 1033. Slaughters Crown Sivri, how far are you with the belt prep? he asked friendly. Almost done, why? the golden dwarf asked, looking up. Could you finish the snake head? Then I would start on the belt, he offered. Sivri looked over at the crown. The snake was almost done, but Seth realized that he was getting lost in details. The best way to deal with work like this was to give it to someone else. His time was better spent working on the belt. Sivri, as Goldsmith and Enchanter, had already proven her aesthetic talents. Apart from the snake head, the crown was only missing the iys and engravings. Both were tasks Sivri could finish instead of him. After all, it was her who had cut the for the crown. The blueprint simply defined a ck mineral or gem of epic rating, so Seth had gotten it from the Auction house because of its benign effects. Alright!, she answered happily, seemingly satisfied with the more artistic task, over stringing together beads and ornaments. The two craftsmen switched their tasks and Seth began working on the belt. It was a wide belt, covering the whole belly and transitioning into an armor skirt. Simr to the Usekh, it was a mix of scale, chain, and ornaments. Scales and chain were the cksmiths calling, while the golden dwarf had already prepared the ornaments and strings of beads that would be interwoven with the armor. Although he called them scales, they were closer to armor tes and simr in size to the Wyvern Scales Seth had used on the Wyvern Armor back in the day. As the scales took shape, Sivri was busy in the background filing and shaping away at the crown. The few nces Seth threw in her direction calmed him. He had definitely made the right decision, as the rough head of the cobra now started looking fierce and dangerous as if it would bite any moment. After the cksmith forged and engraved the Scales, Sivri was also done with the snake and moved to the ck iys on the crown. Seth now moved on to the tedious task of making mail from . The chain skirt would be the foundation to which primarily the ornaments would be attached. Although the scales would also be fastened to the mail, they were mostly supported by the wide belt. Like the Usekh, the mix of armor and ornaments would create aplicated formation that would increase the protection and speed of the wearer. Im done, should I help? Sivri asked three hourster, shortly after Seth heard the notification. Oh? Let me see! the cksmith said excitedly. He took the crown from the golden dwarf, who brought it over. Simr to the Usekh, the crown leaned more towards magical skills, though its effects were closer to the concept of royal dignity. Or at least it seemed like it until he read the effects of the Scarlet Lord. The effect raised overall stats by 50% when the wearer was covered in blood. The Active Skill: Royal Decree, was more in line to what the name suggested. The skill was simr to or Seth''s , as it could suppress opponents in arge area of effect. The crown also inherited the effects of and increased health Regeneration. It also unlocked a new set effect. In synergy with the Usekh, the effect of was increased and it unlocked the skill , which would improve the wearer''s power in singlebat. Now, all that is left is the belt... I would be d if you helped me finish it. The cksmith was working on the chain for the skirt and dly epted her help in weaving and riveting the rings. Together, they managed to finish the chain skirt an hourter and began adding the ornaments ording to the blueprint. As for the wide belt everything would attach to, there was no specification for the type of leather to be used in the blueprint. This was why Seth had sent a message to Wedan before they had even begun working and the reason for the dwarf''s visit. The bard had remembered that they had some quite special leather at home. He was lucky, as the young dwarf had not yet started working with the leather of the Guivre, that the leader of Gamma Resistance had offered to them. The hide of a quasi-dragon seemed fitting for the holy armaments of a god. In addition, it was incredibly tough and durable, with the effects of improved defense, strength, and speed. It was not the dragon scales that offered damage negation, but the Guivre also wasnt a legendary dragon. If Seth had toe up with aparison, then a Guivre was probably closer to an Imugi like Tatzel, or maybe his mother before she became a golem deity. It didnt take too much effort for the cksmith with on the craftsman level to stitch and reinforce the leather to the blueprint''s specifications. They added the various embellishments before finally adding the scales and chain skirt. +30 points to all Stats.> The second notification of the day sounded, as they finished the final piece of the ughterers Set. And it came together with an improvement of the title, too. Yet, Seth felt a little underwhelmed. He expected more from a special set, however, he epted it since he didn''t really put any of himself in it. He just produced someone else''s blueprint. On the other hand, his rose, making him quite happy. is enhanced by 25% if the crown is equipped. Crown & Usekh: 2/8 Active Skill: Royal Duell - In the face of Royal Dignity, a single opponent is weakened based on the difference in strength, +25% to the suppression effect of Royal Decree Usekh& Scale & Armor, Belt:3/8 +50% Overall Defense Passive Skill: Force Shield Set-effect 8/8 +75% to the Power of Maahes'' Divine Skills All Skills using a ded Weapon are raised by 5 levels. Active Skill: Protection of Maahes Active Skill: Joy of Blood A belt made of special materials and created by the hands of Master Smith, the first Master cksmith, Master Enchanter, and Master Goldsmith on Urth. A holy armament of Maahes and Part of the ughterer''s Set, designed by Ptah, the Heliopolian God of Craftsmen. Requirements: Chosen of Maahes> Seth checked the final piece with interest., especially because he wanted to see what exactly the leather would do. The Guivre Hide, actually raise Defense by 15%, Movement Speed by 10, and Strength by 30 points. Not bad at all. Battle Dance, the special effect of the belt raised the wearer''s agility the longer they were inbat. The skill was a charge skill that ended in a body check. The wearer would elementalize based on the current weather, and deal 200% magic damage of that element to the target. As for the final set effect, it added another two active skills. was one of the few defensive skills Mike would possess and it allowed him to lower his own defense, to raise the defense of a target by double of what he lowered. As for the one could call it a survival skill, as it added Life Steal to the user''s attacks for one minute, giving the wearer the chance to replenish their vigor during battle. After checking the belt and seeing that everything was in order, he finally sank down on his chair. Phew, finally. Did we skip lunch? Seth asked tired, looking at the time. Its early afternoon. You could go look for Mina and the others to have ate lunch or early dinner, Sivri suggested. You dont want toe along? the bard asked, curious why she was excluding herself. Yesterday was fun, but also tiresome, Sivri said apologetically. Seth nodded, he understood what she meant. Being with others could be fun, but it was also stressful, especially when one didnt know the others too well. As a shut-in for much of his life, Seth got that. Its alright. Just take a rest. I guess, even golems can have mental fatigue if they have a soul and an ego. Leaving Sivri to guard the shop, Seth went looking for Mina and the others. Chapter 1034. Slaughter Blade Things became a lot calmer in the vige, Mina told him over dinner. Really? Seth asked surprised. Although he did make an example of the croaking Cricket, or whatever his name was, he didn''t expect the cultivators to tone it down. Master Mountain had told him that they were usually very stubborn. With the many different factions now mingling on Urth, it was hard to believe they were able to hold back. I exchange, the mountain range outside of our influence seems to have be pretty rowdy, Bulko added, sipping on his cocktail. Seth raised an eyebrow, it was always a spectacle seeing the massive man with a liking for special drinks, sipping from colorful cocktail sses. Although it''s not perfect, isn''t it better when they take care of their business outside? If they want to kill each other, who are we to stop them? the cksmith asked, also taking a sip. If it was only that. We are having more and more reports about merchant caravans being attacked, Mina sighed. Not just that, they are tantly ming it on people of the dark faction or the fiend path or whatever. Like, do they think we are stupid? They are clearly the criminals, but they act like there is some ominous evil force that is to me for everything... Lyxiss ranted, clearly intoxicated. Are you sure? Seth asked a little confused as to why someone would act like that. Yeah! They me people who have clear witnesses for being somewhere else and don''t even bother hiding the blood on their swords, so to speak. They even try to sell the stolen goods! the elf eximed, mming her fist on the table. Pff, yeah, they call us Savages, but they don''t even have an idea that all the stuff traded on Urth has meticulous records and serial numbers that identify it, Ray added, shaking his head. How are the people with rmendations faring? Seth asked for the natives from the worlds of the Pathworks. After all, they would have to face a simr culture shock, yet he heard little about problems with them. Quite well actually. Although the adventurers are a little rowdy sometimes, Bryce is keeping a tight grip on who he actually gives the pass to. Same with the System Church. They know it''s them losing trust if they let troublemakers in, Mina answered. That''s good to hear. And the others? Are the cultivators also attacking them? Minas Mar advertised the tournament everywhere, but that didn''t mean they would let just anyone into the city. In general, people from other worlds would arrive through the the System Church, as its branches were usually located in the middle of a Tree Station, they had to make sure to somehow regte the people that were allowed to enter the city from there. That was the rmendation system. There were different rules for the Pythian Vige. Since they also expected a lot of spectators and participants, almost everyone was allowed to take residence in the Pythian Vige. However, they would have to get there through thend route, mostly traveling from Delta to Little Gamma. Ray clicked his tongue. Not that we would know. They leave the group under the banner of Minas Mar alone, but we have no idea about the others since there are little to no records. Even if we find out that a group of visitors vanished, there is no telling whether it''s monsters or people that got them, he said depressed. How far are baker and his people? Maybe we could make an extra station for the Tree Express, to make sure people from Delta can reach the Pythian Vige? Although this would require some more nning, maybe this was the safer option. It wasn''t like they could start patrolling the mountains. That would just spread out their people, making them prone to be picked off. I don''t know, but it''s a good thought. You should call Mary or Leana for stuff like that, Ray answered. Grabbing hismunication orb, as Ray mentioned it, Seth found that he actually had a missed call from Hoen. Excusing himself, he called the dwarf back. Hoen was currently making preparations using the Seth had created before setting off for Y-City. He just hoped that the dwarf had not met any problems. Seth? You called back quickly! Hoen answered the call surprised. Hey Hoen. Why did you call? Did you meet a problem somewhere? Seth asked worried. No, on the contrary. I called you to let you know that I finished all the stuff you asked for. Everything is ready for the next step, The dwarf told him with augh. What, you really...? Yep, the warehouse is full of crates now. The guys are alreadyining to me, so it would be good if you returned soon and took care of it. I see, alright. I think I can return in a few days. I only have Mike''s swords left to make. When the quest is finished, I will return. With a smile, Seth returned to the restaurant. As exciting as it was to follow an exotic blueprint and learn something new, it couldn''tpare to seeing one''s own creationse into reality. With his new experiences from the ughterer''s Set, he also had a few ideas to refine his previous design. You are beaming, was it a good call? Fin asked, emerging from a cake. Yep, it has to do with my ns when I return to Minas Mar, he said with a smile. Are you going to return soon? You can''t go already, you just came! Fin eximed crestfallen. Don''t worry. I will be here for a few more days and I will be back once I''m done with the project, he assured her. Apart from the ongoing two, Seth currently had no other pressing projects. The golems in Y-City could also do without him. Nothing spoke against taking a vacation afterward. Mina''s and Fin''s moods rose, hearing that Seth was going to spend the time up to the Pythian Games with them. When Seth returned the next day, it was finally time to forge the ughterer''s des. From the 12 bars Seth originally cast, only two remained. The amount of materials Mike had gotten perfectly fit the required amount, as long as the cksmith didn''t fail the production. Before he could get to the forge, hismunication orb started vibrating. Someone called him this early in the- Looking at the clock, it wasn''t early anymore by any means. Unable to be reasonably upset about the call, Seth took it. Seth. Leana? What can I do for you? I just called to ask when you will return, the princess answered calmly. Errm, it will be a few more days, why did you ask? he estimated roughly. Don''t worry, it''s nothing pressing. I just wanted to inform you toe to the embassy before vanishing in the workshop again. There is someone who wants to surprise you, she exined. Surprise me, who? the cksmith asked curiously. If I told you, it wouldn''t be a surprise. Just remember toe to the embassy first. Alright? Good, don''t forget, she said and ended the call. A little puzzled, Seth put the orb back in his pocket. A surprise, huh? He was curious but didn''t think too deeply, since the tasks at hand needed his full attention. Heating the bars in the forge, Seth grasped Charon''s Obol. The ughter des were pretty straightforward. Once the metal was up to heat, the cksmith started driving the first bar into length and width. Under his practiced hands, a single-edged shortsword took shape. It only had a slight curve, but a very wide-bellied de. One could stab with it, but it was obvious that this de was made for hacking and shing. After the de, came the handle. No scales, no binding, no crossbar, the ughter des were one continuous piece of . After the first de was shaped, he created the second as its mirror image. Then he ground them. The design had no bevels, the whole de was all edge. When the shaping was done, he started engraving. Unlike the other items, the des were not embellished at all, they were spartan in their decoration, and brutal in their design. The engraving for the des was very fine,plimenting each other. They concentrated on the handles, with only one small strand of illegible characters flowing across the wide de, from the handle to the tip. Seth was forced to use magnifying sses to properly engrave the fine yet dense symbols. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Shocked, he heard thest two notifications. It had been so long, he had stopped paying attention to their progress! More shocking was that both rose at the same time. When had caught up? Curiously he checked , which had also made a big jump, reaching 80% of lv.1. He was intrigued to hear about new enchantments, but he decided to have a look at the ughter des first. Chapter 1035. Group of Thieves Seth had no idea what exactly influenced it, but the right de was specialized inbat and only made physical damage, while the left one was specialized in magic and only caused magic damage. The des had only five effects with three unique effects each. However, each effect was very special. The right one lent the user de Master, Crimson Flood, and the passive skill . The first raise all sword-rted skills by a full tier, when using the ughter de. This meant something like would rise to . Crimson Flood caused all wounds in a radius of 3m around the user to bleed. The effect depended on the area, not a specific time, and dealt 1% of his physical attack damage every 20 seconds. Lastly, increased intimidation, with each consecutive kill, which could cause status ailments like fear or panic. The unique skills of the left de were Weather Master, Riptide, and the passive skill . Like de Master, Weather Masted improved the skill corresponding to Maahes'' Divinity of Weather. Riptide increased the power and range of water-type weather magic like , increasing their chance to stagger and weaken the enemy. Lastly, increased the power of all skills, when in a desert. As for the effects both des had, they were the increase of divine skills, as well as ughter de. Thetter allowed the de to repair itself with the blood of enemies. Wounds also had a low chance to temporarily weaken the target and buff the user. The ughter des as a pair were a powerful fit to the ughterers set, however, the left de was not universally applicable to every warrior. Although it dealt magic-type damage, the effects only applied to people that dealt with weather-type skills. The right de was not bad, yet Seth was confident he would be able to make a better weapon, depending on material and specialization on the users needs. Of course, there was always the choice to enchant them further using , but this was a different issue altogether. Although the options may change slightly if he didnt use the , the ughterers Set had potential as long as he used a fitting material. The des, however, were only good for Mike who wielded the gods divine skills. It would be hard to find someone else with a good fit to such a pair of des. Congrattions on leveling up! Sivri congratted him on the rise of his skills. Thanks, Sivri, he said with a smile. The quest had also updated, now showing ughterer''s Set and the ughter des werepleted and all that was left was handing over the items. Seth was looking forward to the quest rewards, but maybe the biggest gain of this quest was the rise in skill levels. It had been so long, that the rise camepletely unexpected. With level 2 of master tier he had unlocked another badge of basic Olympian Enchantments. The ones he had gotten after bing a master were different and fewer than before, but they came with a big advantage. While the others came as a blessing through the power of a deity or a god and were unique, these ones seemed to be enchantments created by Hephaestus himself. As long he used or souls, there was no restriction to the number of items he could enchant with them. On level one he had gotten basic stuff like Olympian Sharpness or Durability. The next row of enchantments was minor Olympian attribute improvements like Minor Olympian Strength. This list included all attributes and apparently raised the attribute by 100 points. They were the master-level enchantments he had been looking for all this time. Although they came with the restrictions of Olympian enchantments. Will you set off right away? Sivri asked, seeing him release his focus from the system windows. Hmm, no. I promised Fin and the others to stay for another day. I will bring Mike his stuff the day after tomorrow, he said. Ponderingly he looked at Sivri. The golden dwarf didnt show a change in expression, but that itself was a sign. Would you like to stay at the workshop and do something in the meantime? the cksmith asked her. She had shared her sentiment, that spending time with many people was hard on her, but she seemed always very content doing her craft. As expected, the goldsmith nodded, barely suppressing a smile. Then how about this: I will smelt down the low-quality that wasnt blessed by Maahes and you see if you can make some interesting jewelry with it and the remaining materials? That sounds interesting! the dwarf agreed. It didnt take long for him to refine the remaining back of he had gotten from Mike. There was a reason, this was called the low-quality ore. With the furnace being able to change size, he was able to refine the remaining sacks in one go. After refining the material, barely a fifth of the original weight turned into a material called . The remaining stuff was g. From the twenty bags of low-grade ore, he got about as much refined metal as from the one bag of high-grade ore. Here, you can use them however you like I will go look for the others then, he said, presenting the bars of to her. Thank you! Have fun! he waved after him as he left the room. After stepping out, Seth remembered that he probably should call Mike about the finished item. So he did. You already finished? the other''s voice came from the orb. Yes, I will bring it to you the day after tomorrow. Let''s meet at the System Church. I will be there. --- a dayter--- So the guys we are looking for aren''t cultivators this time? Seth asked again. Since he wanted to spend time with them, he followed the others on their patrolling. Yeah, apparently they are a group of Thieves that were stealing from Cultivators, Ray reiterated. Unlike yers with their inventory, most cultivators were easy targets for the thieves and their almost magical skills in stealing. How are you sure it was them?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om We aren''t. We are just going to talk with them. Whether it was the otherworlders or the cultivators, both were a source of trouble. While the people from the Pathworks were quite well-behaved inside of Little Gamma, it seemed that there were a slightly bigger problem in the Pythian Vige. Probably because only people with rmendations were allowed to enter the main city, while anyone was able to Enter the Pythian Vige if they came through thend route. After all, Delta did not police who was able to enter or leave from there, so these more problematic people willing to join the games or trying to gain something here came from there. Apart from criminals and adventurers, there were also visitors and audience for the games. Begrudgingly, Seth also had to ept that there were various religious organization trying to gain a footing in the less organized Pythian Vige. They were the only people whose money didn''t interest Seth, though they had to tolerate them because of their advertisements. Anyone was wee, a motto he came to regret a little. But it was not all bad, the Pythian Vige was thriving, with many exotic merchants and traders setting up shops and stalls to sell their wares to the prospective participants and audience. Just like there were bars and restaurants in the style of the Voraciosu Cloud Continent, there were also simple bars, pubs, and inns Seth knew from the territories under the Chrona Empire. Now, the group was entering one of those inns. Apparently, the suspects were supposed to live here- You thieving little cockroaches! they heard from inside as a body came flying through the door and slid across the street. I guess we are in the right ce? the bardmented. Chapter 1036. Where are those reactors? Inside the pub was a single cultivator surrounded by five people with daggers, wearing ck thief attire. The man in the center had several cuts in his clothes, bleeding from various shallow wounds. He had long, ck hair and sharp eyebrows. His sleeveless robes revealed the arms, thick like trunks. No wonder he was able to punch someone straight through a door. Another was still held up by the throat. Despite being surrounded, he was not at a disadvantage. When the five surrounding him, charged at him using assassin skills, they made a painful acquaintance with his feet. But they were not kicked. The man jumped in the air, balled his toes into fists, and unleashed a shower of strikes at the quick and partially transparent foes. Facing the absurd scene, the group from Minas Mar could only watch incredulously. At least one thing was clear, the thieves they were looking for were not innocent, so their conversation with them became obsolete. What do we do? Help them? Bulko asked baffled. Were they supposed to save the viins they were about to beat up? Seth looked around, but it didn''t seem like there were any civilians in the bar, most people present were cheering for the fight. Nah, neither of the parties pay taxes and they aren''t endangering anyone. Let them tire each other out, the bard said and simply shrugged his shoulders. The foot fister seemed to be in control of the situation, so they waited until all the thieved were knocked out on the ground. Mister Fister was also sensible enough not to kill them. After the thieves were beaten ck and blue, the man turned towards them. He joined his hand in front of his chest and greeted them with a light bow. You must be the benefactors from Minas Mar. My name is Hannibal Cho. I''m sorry for themotion. These people tried to take my alreadycking purse, so I was forced to defend myself. He even apologized. It was clear that this man was of a different caliber than the usual hooligans that made trouble in the city. At this point it might be worth mentioning, that there were probably more people like him, who were at least civil on the surface, than genuine troublemakers who unapologeticallymitted crimes. It was just that the ones who started fights in public were more often the cultivators than not, it didnt mean all of them were annoying hooligans. Hannibal Chos apology even seemed genuine. Very unusual. Do not worry, we are not here for you, Ray said and stepped toward the thieves on the ground. As the Saint of SolFiam, he was able to sense evil and lies with great uracy. This was why he knew that Hannibal was not lying. To go even further, at no point had he gone for the kill, while the thieves had constantly tried to silence him forever. Are you the five thieves? Funny how there are seven in your group. Is that how you got rid of witnesses? Mina asked, bending over the moaning assants. We will take care of them if you dont mind, Bulko approached the cultivator and picked up the bruised brigands. Please do, Hannibal answered with another bow. Bulko piled them up, after which Rays miasma rose from the ground, grabbing and binding them. The seven of them would be photographed and put on the cklist. Once they were thrown out, they wouldnt be able to enter the barrier of the Pythian Vige again. Do you intend to join the Pythian Gamess tournament? Seth asked Hannibal curiously. The cultivator nodded with a benign smile. What weapon would you ask for if you won? Gauntlets? Or Boots? the cksmith couldnt help but ask. Although it was a little unorthodox to call boots a weapon, depending on the design they could very well be. For example, Seths previous Disruptor Boots which could create a shock wave when kicking someone, were definitely a weapon. To be honest, I have not thought of it yet. There are many strong people and I dare only dream of winning. Im joining tournaments to spread the name of our School, as the disciple of the Fist Emperor. I might not be first, but any youth with a talent for the Fist I can set on the right way, is a win for me, he said righteously. The weird thing was, that his passion seemed real. Okay, you should give it a thought anyway. Goodbye. While Seth had been talking, the others had already finished cleaning up, so he hurried after them. Apart from the wondrous sight of a man, beating people with his curled-up feet, the day was peaceful. The group just walked around town, ate interesting street foods, and gawked at the ever-changing wares of traders on the streets. --- The Next Day After spending the morning with Mina and Fin, Seth finally set off for Tree Station 7, Spring City, where Mike and thepletion of his quest were waiting for him. On the way out he swung by the temporary workshop, to get Sivri and their stuff. Good Morning, Sivri! he called out to her when entering. The golden dwarf was still bent over the jewelers table when he called out. She slowly raised her head when she heard him. Oh, Seth. Im almost done with this one, she said with a smile, showing off a bangle. She had woven the reddish-golden and set it in three dark emeralds. A big one in the center and a small one on each side of it. These are . They were left over from preparations, so they fit this metal quite well, she exined with a smile, showing him the first bangle she finished. They were not just exquisite works of art, but their effects were quite good for a wind mage. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The had a simr effect to the , obviously. Instead of the divine skills, it improved storm magic and came with the special effect of Tempest Born, halving the cost of Wind Magic and raising Wind Affinity by 20%. After checking the bangle, Seth agreed to wait for her to finish the second one. Only after it was done, did he unsummon the workshop, including Sivri, and left the branch office. On the way out, he used themunication orb. Mike? Yeah, Im leaving Little Gamma now. Yeah, meet me at the System Church, the cksmith called the Chosen of Maahes. They met at the church because Seth didnt have any interest in running around Spring City right now. After finishing the quest, he intended to travel back to Minas Mar, where Hoen was waiting for him. There was barely a month left until the Pythian Games and Seth wanted to finish this mega project before the start signal for the games fell. Although he had only a superficial understanding of the enchantment on the ughterers Set, they had given him some inspiration to improve on his own designs, especially for this project. From the system church in Little Gamma, the cksmith ported to the Teleport Formation in Minas Pn. Lately, the crowd in Minas Pn had shrunk. Since the teleport hub of the Adventurer guild was finished, many traveled directly there. Minas Pn was now mostly a ry station for Ori Humas, to evade the System Gods random teleport. He wasnt there for long, after the coordinates were calibrated, the bard appeared at the branch of the system church in Spring City. Tower Master? one of the staff approached. Sir Mike is waiting for you in private room Nr.9. Here is the key card, he said and handed him a stic card. One had to acknowledge the fact, that the system church had quickly adapted to local technology. Although there was aparable product created with magic engineering, they were quite expensive, to Seths understanding. Mass-produced technology on the other hand was much cheaper, leading to the money-minded churchs open-mindedness to change. With the branch taking up a whole crown scraper tree and using key cards, the church was almost like a hotel. It actually did offer rooms for longer stays to visitors from other worlds, too. Mike, you here? Seth asked, after opening the door to room Nr.9 with the card. Seth! Mike greeted him with a very high voice. That was because it wasnt Mike, but Lydia who greeted him first. They were watching something on the crystal ball when he entered. Lydia? What are you doing here? he asked surprised, as he had not expected her. You have something for Mike, and I have something for you, she answered and brought out a weird circr device with various cracks. The Hashing Bird we met at Morranto dropped this reactor when we looted it, she exined. I wanted to give it to you, but we kind of missed each other all the time. You could have just left it for me at Minas Mar..? I forgot, she answered, sticking her tongue out. After handing over the memory storage I kept it to give it to you personally, but I was busy and forgot after a while. I see. Thanks? he said questioning, as he took the thing she handed to him. A relic, despite being damaged and iplete? Seth wondered. After a moment he turned to Mike. Didnt you say you slew several of them, where are those reactors? Mike looked back like a deer in the headlight. I-I- err... I usually aimed for them to kill them? Seth wrinkled his nose, giving him a mean look. Well, fine. Lets get this over with. Chapter 1037. Flowing Damage Carry Seth was just joking. He didnt have the time or will to scold Mike. In life-and-death battles, he couldnt me him for going for the vitals. Currently, he just wanted to get back home, since he didnt know how long the next project would take. Here, put it on, lets see how it looks, he said and brought out the crate, that held the ughterers set. One by one, he took out the various armor parts and exined their effects to Mike as the chosen put them on. As the armor found itspletion upon being united with the owner, a bright aura surrounded Mike as he abruptly turned into his massive lion form. Seth opened his eyes wide, as the ughterers Set changed before his eyes. In the aura, the turned a deeper red, while the various jewels integrated into the armor became brighter. An additional set effect appeared on the armor. < Set-Effect: 8/8 can be kept up indefinitely. All magical stats are raised by an additional 45% during All physical stats are raised by an additional 10% in humanoid form. > Quick, take the des, too, he said and gave Mike the ughter des to see if that would also do something. Look and behold, the cksmith was right. When Mike took hold of the two des, they also gained a set effect. < Set-Effect:2/2 Flowing Damage Carry > Seth marveled at the effect. During Mikes Lion Transformation, he would be able to lower one des damage to raise the damage to the other. This meant, in theory, either de could burst out up to 4444 points of damage. This also opened another path for usage that came in favor of the swordsman. Not only would Mike be able to adjust his damages depending on his opponent or the skills he intended to use, but he could also switch to mainly using a single sword, as he was used to. If he transferred all the damage to one of the swords, he could use that one as a main weapon, and the other in the manner of a parry dagger. While Seth as checking the options, Mike started waving around his new weapons and posing in his new armor. Having handed over the des and armor, Seth had fulfilled all the quest conditions. Notifications of new enchantments followed the quest one. Seth had received a new title and the sigil enchantments mentioned in its effect. Checking the enchantment he found that the Minor Sigil of Maahes effect could randomly strengthen stats depending on the weather. The description was not conclusive and he would have to look into it. The Minor Sigil of ughter on the other hand was pretty clear on what it did. It raised physical damage by 25%. The effect would improve in increments of 5% with every kill, stopping at doubling the physical damage. Haha, this is awesome! Mike eximed as the power flooded through his body. The massive humanoid lion so tall his head almost hit the ceiling, was happily jumping around. What''s with the frown, Lydia? Seth asked, noticing her expression. Are you jealous? he teased her. How couldn''t I be?! Look at that! she pointed at the lion in his ostentatious heliopolian armor, happy skipping around. Mike''s Lion transformation already looked very imposing beforehand, but with the addition of the powered-up ughterer''s Set, he was quite the sight. You know, the ughterer''s Set is a blueprint. I still have to look into it to see how to substitute the material, but I n to make one for Ortega. Maybe I could see if I could make one for you, too? Seth offered to her. After all, Lydia was also the chosen of a Heliopolian deity with the power to transform. Lydia seemed tempted for a moment but ultimately shook her head after thinking it over. No, I prefer my current leather armor. Although I envy Mike, our specializations are different. If that is how you think. Anyway, he should calm down around now, no? Seth asked a little unsure. They had been watching Mike geeking out on his own for several minutes. The reason he was still here and not on the way out was Mike''s armor. Mike, it would be nice if you could calm down for a moment and return the substitute gear to me, so I can leave, Seth finally spoke out, curbing Mike''s enthusiasm a little. Oh! Yeah, sorry. I almost forgot, Mike finally realized what he was doing and calmed down a little. Of course, he had to return the relic-rated oathguard set, now that he had his holy armament. One by one, Mike gave him the parts of the Oathguard Armor and Seth put them into the crate where the ughterer''s Set was previously. The beastman halted when it came to the Whitehilt. Errm, it doesn''t want to...? he said baffled. It doesn''t want to? Give it to me, let me talk to it. Seth didn''t expect it, but it was nothing unusual for an ego to ...well have an ego and grow a liking to a specific owner or wielder. ~I want to stay with Mike! I won''t ept a new owner!~ the sword cried out when Mike handed it to Seth. Who would have thought that the result of the automaton core could be so willful? ~Are you sure? Mike has two new special des now. You will only be a secondary weapon in the future and spend a lot of time in his inventory. You could help someone else a lot more.~ ~B-But I like Mike... The journey was really fun and I feel really powerful in his hand..~ Whitehilt tried to argue back. ~But spending time in the inventory won''t be fun. Wouldn''t it be cooler to find more friends and grow even stronger together with them? I promise you don''t have to stay with a guy you don''t like.~ he tried to persuade the sword.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ~Really?~ ~I promise.~ ~...Okay.~ After cating the Whitehilt, Seth put it and the crate of armor back in his inventory. Okay, I will be leaving now... And thanks for the reactor thingy, he said his goodbyes and thanked Lydia once again, although he had no idea what to do with it, yet. Of course, don''t worry. Have a good trip, I will contact you about our next steps. Since Mike''s quest was finally over, they could get back to doing stuff at Minas Mar, or vacation a little longer. There was still a month until the Pythian Games and Seth was happy as long as they showed up at that time. With Mike in his new Armor, he had be even more reliable. The cksmith doubted Mike would lose that set, too. Despite turning over Y-City, Mike''s lost armor and the Helmet of Krios especially, stayed lost. Seth left the two and returned to the ground floor to use the teleport of the church and return to Delta. When he materialized at Delta''s System Church he was greeted by a familiar face. Simon was waiting for him and he seemed a little tired. Seth! Simon? What are you doing here? he asked the priest. Simon was actually quite high in the hierarchy of the church, he wasn''t at the rank that would greet travelers at the teleport formation. They asked me to wait for you, in case you forget to visit the Embassy before returning to Minas Mar, he exined his presence. Seth stared at him for a moment. Indeed, he had forgotten the call from Leana... it was something about someone waiting for him and that they had prepared something for him. Right, right. I will go, and visit the embassy then. Was that all? Simon only answered with a nod and guided Seth to the exit. Since he was going to the embassy, the cksmith didn''t bother returning to Minas Mar first. Taking the elevator up actually took longer than simply walking there. Delta had changed once again. With only one month left until the Pythian Games, the city had filled with visitors and cultivators. Delta had once again turned into a lively hotchpotch, although these were mostly tourists. Since Delta didn''t have a strict entrance policy, Seth guessed that there would be a lot more chaos on the streets, however, during his Walk, he only saw the nice effect of the influx of people. Ten minutester he had already reached the embassy. Who would Leana have been talking about? Chapter 1038. Hubert? Tower Master! Your guest is at the meeting room on the 24th floor, thedy in the lobby greeted him friendly. Thanks. He didn''t press her to find out who was waiting for him and simply thanked her before he turned to the elevator. He has some thoughts about who it would be, but the person sitting in the meeting room was- Hubert? Seated at the table was Hubert McCarthy, the dimensional merchant Seth came to know during the evaluation in Chrona. Seth had a short-livedmercial rtionship with him before he simply vanished. Recently, Lydia and Ray had saved him from Emerald City, revealing the terrible darkness that hid behind the metropolis in the Unimed Mountains. Hello, Seth, the man greeted him with a slight smile. He was very skinny,pared to thest time they met. The time in captivity had left its scars on him. Visible ones and implied ones. You have a present for me? Seth asked surprised, as he still remembered the man as quite stingy. A present, yes. And a request, Hubert added with a wry smile. Seth stared at him for a moment, before he sat down at the table, opposite him. Then let''s see the present you have first. We can talk about the request afterward. he finally said, not outright denying any quests the merchant may make. He decided to listen first. With a nod Hubert waved his hand and a crate appeared beside the table. When he opened the lid... Epic Silver! It was a whole crate filled with ores of epic . It had been quite some time since he came across a material he could refine into . This was a massive gift, indeed. I came across it during my... stay at Emerald City and thought I might be able get your help with it. In the end, I was saved by your people, he said with a wry smile. So, now you are simply gifting it to me? the bard asked. He wasn''t going to refuse such a great gift. Especially since he was very interested in the effects of this new silver. What woulde out of this? Well, yes. And I hope it will influence your answer to my request positively, Hubert added. The cksmith was in a very good mood, it was probably time to hear Hubert out. I see, then tell me what your request is. I wish to join Minas Mar. The guild, not the district or a subsidiary, he came out with it. The Dimensional Merchant asked to join Minas Mar. The months of imprisonment, facing his own weakness had made him realize that this world was too dangerous for him to be alone. He was not strong enough to walk alone with his head held high when he was not even a chosen one. When choosing who to join, who was better than Minas Mar. Not only were they trustworthy and powerful. There was also a role he could y as a supplier of exotic resources, or resources in general. Seth could guess some if his intentions. Do you know what it entails if you want to join us? Seth asked him. Surprisingly, McCarthy nodded. Leana and Mary already informed me. I will have to sign a magic contract with my soul on the line, right? I''m ready, he said resolutely. His expression was determined, it seemed that he had taken his time to make the decision. With Hubert joining Minas Mar, Seth would have almost the whole team that went to the evaluation under him. Aside from McCarthy, the mist demon Misto Pheles was part of the field teams. Yvette, Elza, Marcel, Brock, and indirectly Cade who had joined Minas Mar as Allies in the Tree Stations. The only ones outside his grasp now were the Hero and the vemancer. The former he didn''t want and thetter... well, Seth didn''t have any interest in the vemancer''s baggage. Even if he found the skills interesting, he didn''t feel the urge to recruit him, who was currently working in Delta. Alright then, Seth nodded. Since Hubert was prepared, he had no reason to refuse him. With a wave, a scroll appeared in his hand. This is the soul contract. You can read it and sign it if you agree with the terms. Mary will then take care of the magic contract, he exined and handed it to him. It was the simple version everyone signed, that woulde into y if they betrayed Minas Mar. Mary''s contract would make sure that they couldn''t sessfully do it, even if they tried. McCarthy read through the scroll meticulously. When he was done he nodded and signed it without hesitation. They didn''t talk for much longer, the merchant knew that Seth had something else on his mind.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om It wasn''t just that he was eager to jump at the next project while his memory and inspiration of the Slughterer''s Set was still fresh. It also had a practical reason: The storage rooms under Minas Mar were full of the things Hoen had made for him and hindered the work of others. Good, Wee to Minas Mar. Mary and Leana will take care of the rest, Seth said, shaking the merchant''s hand. You know what I want from you for now. Speak with Leana and the others about the stuff they need. If you will excuse me, I''ve been wanting to get back to the workshop for a while. Saying his goodbyes, Seth left and returned to the workshops. He first went to his own, summoning all the crafting stations back in ce. Once the forge and anvil were back in ce, Cerberus, who had been tirelessly forging items for Minas Mar switched back from the substitutes to the real thing. After calling Sivri out, too, and leaving her to her own devices, he went to the door across the corridor. This workshop looked quite a bit different from Seth''s or that of a normal cksmith. The workshop was about the same size as Seth''s, which meant it was closer to a factory floor than a workshop Seth had made that space in his workshop so he or Cerberus could work on big golems, that didn''t fit in the Golem Forge back then. Hoen''s Workshop was filled with a great number of furnaces of various sizes and shapes. The constantly roaring furnaces kept the temperature in the massive hall at a cozy 45C. While it didn''t bother Seth or the dwarf, the helpers they recruited were sweating profusely. On the other hand, he had walls over walls with casting supplies for metal casting. As the dwarf from a world that veered off from the traditional image of dwarfs, he was specialized in casting magic items in great numbers. He was also the main supplier of their Copper Anvil Stores. Hoen, I''m back! the cksmith called out. Seth? Oh, finally! the dwarf eximed relieved. The guys from storage were about to lynch me in the next few days, he joked. Then let''s go quickly and relieve them from their worries, Sethughed as he shook Hoen''s hand and pulled him in a short embrace. As they bantered a little and talked about what Seth was up to in the past few days, the dwarf guided him down to the storage area. It was part of the newer parts of Minas Mar, Seth had excavated, using the tower''s drone workers. The hangars holding the golems for sale were also in this area. Hoen led him to a hall filled with crates and boxes. Which of them -? All of them. And another two warehouses in that direction, he said, pointing his thumb down the hallway. Then let''s see them, Seth said, rubbing his palms. Hoen broke open one of the crates, revealing the fruit of hisbor. Rows upon rows of enchanted bronze tes. They glittered in the light of the magterns that illuminated the room. the size of a hand and enchanted with a simple magic gathering circuit.> This was it, the cornerstone for one of Seth''s biggest projects, yet. I will need your assistance for the next few days, and we might recast a few of them, are you ready? Seth asked, staring at the te in his hand and then looking down the corridor, lined with crates like the one before him. I''m ready. Good, then let''s get to work. Chapter 1039. The Colossus of Rhodes What Seth aimed to build in the advent of theing Pythian Games was: The Colossus of Rhodes. In Urthan legend, the colossus once stood on the ind of Rhodes, close to the Penins of Theta that reached into Urth''s great ocean. A massive bronze statue towering over a straight that led to the bay and harbor of Rhodes. When the bard deepened his knowledge of Olympian Mythology in the library of Chrona, he found that the massive statue of Helios was a recurring structure, more often than not described as something that protected the ce it was built in. Seth found it was not too great of a leap in logic to think that it could have also been an automaton, or an incarnation of Helios himself in some ces. Either way, there was a high chance of Hephaestus being involved. The cksmith hoped for his trait Olympian Myths to take effect, but even if it didn''t, the colossus would rise in Minas Mar. Over the next few days, Seth included Hoen, Sivri, and Tored in the nning for the mega project. After his experiences with the ughterer''s Set, the cksmith wanted to rework his previous design. The blueprint of Ptah showed him that various parts with different magical effects did not have to disrupt each other, but could be used to create new overarching effects by arranging them in a greater pattern. Considering the size of the colossus, there was more than enough space for special arrangements. As for the colossal body that would be their canvas for this project, it would be a slight patchwork. Because of the size of the colossi, the teams had not been able to bring a lot ofplete bodies, with most of them being looted for parts. The cksmith found the undead they had collected from the lower floors not fitting for this kind of project. The teams that went up, on the other hand, brought the bisected body of the Colossal King as well as some of the knights back with them. Obviously, the body of the royal dungeon boss of the upper levels was the best fit, but he would probably need the golem Forge to use some of the bones from the knights, to repair the ces Alison had cut with her spatial magic. With the size of the colossus, the bronze tes would be like skin cells on the massive being. With the help of the three others, they started to map out how the scales would need to be set, as well as what other scales they would need toplete greater formations. I have to admit, I never expected that I would be part of something this insane when I came to join you, Tored said admiringly during one of the long evenings they spent in the workshop. I''m d you like it., Seth countered with a tried grind. Apart from some banter and conversation about the work, the workshop stayed silent, as they all worked on designing different parts of the colossus. Apart from Sivri, Hoen, and Seth, tored had another task apart from the enchantment. The experienced dwarven master was upied analyzing the Damaged Core Reactor of the Hashing Bird. If they could reverse engineer it, they would be able to put it, or several of it, into the colossus. Although the magic collecting scales and the bronze''s soul power were theoretically enough to power the golem, it was never bad to give it a power-up or have something to fall back on. If there was something Seth learned about giant golems, then that they needed a huge energy supply. On the fifth day, their silent working atmosphere was interrupted by the vibrating of amunication orb. Someone was calling Seth. In a daze, the cksmith answered the call. Vegga? Why do you call? it was Vegga Gorz, one of the orc generals he had turned into one of his elite golems, who were still stationed in Y-City. Vegga was a case that had quickly regained aplex ego based on the one when he was alive. As a serious and capable general, Seth left him inmand of most of the others. Master, I just wanted to inform you, that we have managed to clean the north and northern outskirts of Y-City. During the subjugation, we met a weird little humanoid who kept attacking our teams and impeding our progress. They have a weird power. Whenever we tried to catch it, it managed to flee by impossible seeming coincidences. the orc golem paused for a moment. How did you catch it? Seth asked. A being that wasn''t just intelligent, but also relied on guerri tactics was a hard opponent for the golems, especially when it had the power to damage them. Since Vegga was talking about the north, Seth had some inkling on who it could be.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om We lured it into a trap several times until we finally managed to confine it. It seems like its luck ran out. We also caught several intelligent beings that seem to be allies of the perpetrator. Strik Forebone had talked about a viin in the north, one very simr to him. His name was Dumblood or something like that. Now, the cksmith also remembered that Strik had mentioned something about a court of cronies, but he didn''t exin what that meant. Okay, but why are you calling me? Seth asked a little slow. He had been away for some time now. Master seemed interested in...harvesting this creature when you talked to the little man in red. I thought Master may also be interested in the others? Right, at the time, Seth had held an interest in Forebone''s soul, but he didn''t have a grudge against him. Dumblood on the other hand was a viin, and he attacked his golems. The soul of a cobbler, or well a leather worker, could be a good material to make a leather working station. The Alchemy Station had already proven its worth. While Seth was gone, someone had continued refilling the ingredients and taking away the potions. Without him even doing anything, his level in had risen to craftsman tier level 3. if he had a leather working station, it could farm proficiency for his or , depending on what he made. But to get the soul, he would have to go to Y-City personally. He sighed. Fine, I wille over... Keep them locked up. he finally said and ended the call after Vegga confirmed the order. Guys, I will have to leave for a day. I will be back as fast as I can, he told the other three, before heboriously stood up from his chair, stretching his tired limbs. The cksmith quickly used to wash up and called someone before he used the tower to appear at the tailor''s workshop. ~ Puffles, wanna make a quick trip to Y-City? I got an errand there.~ he asked the Ivicer who had beenzing around at the tailor''s ce. The miniature version of the nightmare centipede looked upzily. ~The great me, finds a simple errand not worth my time.~ Puffles refused. ~I''m in a hurry and only Puffles, the Great could possibly help me get there and back in time. We are going to look at new exotic beings that appeared with the awakening of the slumbering realm. We can also get some snacks on the way.~ he tried to cate the Ivicer. Some fawning, some motivation, and a reward did the trick. ~Fine, but only because the new things sound interesting~ the Ivicer said grumpily and entered Seth''s pet space. 15 minutester, the cksmith appeared at the System Church in TS12 at the edge of Ypselon. Before Mark Baker or anyone else could hurry there to talk to him, Seth brought out puffles and flew off, in the direction of Y-City. He was able to sense the rough position of his golems, so they didn''t have a hard time with the directions As they flew over the deste cityscape, Seth couldn''t help but notice that it seemed a lot cleaner now. After he and the troop of golems had swept through the city, they had gotten rid of all the monsters and corpses, now only the slowly growing moss and nts indicated that the city waspletely abandoned. There they are. Let''snd, he called out, when they finally saw the golems, after flying for about 30 minutes. It was the right decision to take Puffles. With the Golem Griffin, the flight would have taken more than two hours. Chapter 1040. Changes ---Delta--- The wave of cultivators Master Mountain had prophesied finally came. Over the past weeks, Delta had be a hotchpotch of people. Apart from the natives, travelers from foreign worlds, demons, and cultivators were now mingling in the streets. At least in some ces.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Not in this ce. This ce was a restaurant, built in the style of the Voracious Cloud Continent, these had been popping up everywhere ever since they arrived in greater numbers. Delta, with its many empty real estate and plot of destroyed ruins, offered a lot of space for business-minded travelers. With these ces popping up, some regions of Delta had be a mix of Urths modern architecture and that of the Voracious Cloud Continent, which was much more decorative. He didnt know whether he liked this change, as he entered the establishment. Have you heard about Riverside City? he heard someone whisper to a friend at a table. He knew what happened there. Riverside City was one of the towns that fell victim to the sudden change on the continent. It was a big city, filled with civilians, but not many cultivators. When the gates to the Pathworks opened, it was wiped out within a single night. It was one of the many tragic sacrifices he heard about, after his release from captivity. Did you get the message from the External Hall Elder? another whispered to his martial brother. Yu also had a hunch about what that was about. It was time the changes reached this ce. A few months ago, all great sects of the XiGuang Province sent out their people and disciples to explore Urth and look for the reason for Qi depletion through the connection to this world. This objective has now changed. With the continent striking a deal with the System God, the problem of depletion no longer existed. As a direct consequence, the objective for those already in Urth changed. Without a problem, things reverted to status Quo and Urth was treated like any other new expansion to the Voracious Cloud Continent. Instead of searching for clues for survival, they now searched for business opportunities, resources,nd to conquer, and people to recruit. Everyone was looking to gain something from Terra Nova, the newnd. However I heard there was an abandoned city in the southeast toward the coast of the continent. Its called Wei-City, or something. We want to check it out, do you want toe along? a young man in expensive robes asked his friend. When you talk like that it bes clear you havent been here for long. Yeah, that ce exists, but if you miss it and go too far to the east, you are toast. And the city itself is filled with monsters and bandits. Its not worth it, his friend told him, taking a sip of liquor. Toast? I get the monster, but what is east of Wei-City? the young man asked curiously. A forest. A terrifying one. Groups that announced that they would explore it never returned. I heard their soulmps were snuffed out just days after entering it, the other exined, shaking his head. I see, then how about going north? I heard past the mountain range-The man in expensive robes stopped talking when his friend lifted his hand. My friend, tell me. Who told you all that? Who is trying to get rid of you? he asked gravely, after interrupting him. Master Mountain nodded; someone was really after the young mans life. Everyone who spent a while in Delta knew about the north and what was happening at the northern wall of Delta. The north was filled with monsters spreading a terrifying disease even cultivators had a hard time resisting. Yes, they came to seek riches in this world, but Urth proved step by step that its dangers easilypared to or overshadowed those they were used to in XiGuang Province. Even someone in the Spirit Severing stage, above the Nascent Soul, could not guarantee their own safety in this world. The immortal originally came here to meet back up with Seth and Talk with Minas Mar. He was still conflicted about the current situation overall, but the change also allowed him to connect his Sect and Minas Mar. It would have been a lie to say that it was simply a favor to help a friend. Yu knew full well about the power of Minas Mar and he came to know Seth as someone trustworthy. While others were still too narrowminded to realize, he would secure one of the greatest opportunities of Urth. A powerful and trustworthy ally for his people. Yet, he didnt immediately head to Minas Mars embassy, or Minas Mar itself. He came to Delta because a friend contacted him and asked for help. After showing his token at the counter, a waiter led him to a private room on the upper floors. Yu, you came. Someone greeted him. A man looking almost older than Master Mountain was sitting alone at the table in the center. Judging by the empty bottles of booze in the room, the man had been sitting there for a while, drinking away solitude and depression. He had known the man for centuries. One could call him a rival, but he was also his oldest friend. They had both been the number one disciples of the Sect masters of their respective sects, unlike Yu, his friend had already seeded his master and became the Leader of the Snow Falcon Sect, while Yu was still an elder at the Luminous Mountain Sect. You said it was urgent, of course, I came. Also, I was in the vicinity when your message got to me, he said as he sat down, opposite his friend. Always one to joke. Im d you are here, I really need your help., he said and poured him some liquor. Stop holding back and tell me why you called me, Yu urged, seeing his friend in such a condition. My granddaughter vanished, Yu. I know she is still alive, but the light of her soulmp is flickering. You have been roaming this world for a while, so I hoped you could help look for her. The other old man, looks at him with sorrowful eyes, desperately clinging to hisst hope, the help of an old friend. Yu nodded, taking a sip of the alcohol. Did you already start investigating? What did she do on Urth? Master Mountain asked focused. He did not hesitate for a moment, to offer his help to him. She was with a group of inner disciples from our sect. You know why we originally sent them here, afterward they started exploring. Looking for treasures, nothing different from what we used to do but- Urth is dangerous, a little more dangerous than the backyard we used to explore, Yu ended his sentence solemnly. The other nodded. Apparently, they went to the east, intending to explore the mountain range north of the nes. At least they were not stupid, the east and northeast as the safest options to explore. If her soulmp is still lit, chances are they met some powerful enemy or creature in the wild. We would need to search her Yu reasoned. I know- Most of my disciples are already out there, but the area is just too great. They have not been able to find anything for days. I thought maybe you knew where to search Sorry, Im not that well-versed in thesends, but I may have another idea. I might be able to organize some help to look for them, but they wont do it for free. It will cost you something. Are you really asking me to put a price on the life of my granddaughter? the sect master asked sarcastically. Good, then you cane along with me. I will introduce you to my friends. His friend had experienced firsthand, what dangers lurked in the wilderness. Even the seemingly harmless ces could cost one their loved ones. Now he would show him what opportunitiesy with the people of thisnd. This was a favor to a friend. Two friends, to be precise. Chapter 1041. Dig Dimblood Seth remembered the name, the moment he saw the tied-up creature. It was the cobbler Strik had talked about. Like Forebone, he was a tiny man, his height barely reaching Seth''s upper thigh, however, it took two bulky His moss green suit, ming red hair, and a scraggly beard were all messed up with dirt and blood. It seemed like catching him was quite the struggle. Behind him were three others of simr level. A pale, haggard person with big golden frog eyes and slimy green hair. He wore a coat decorated with shells. The next one was a bipedal creature covered in fur. It wore a pair of dirty leather pants, but it would have been a reach to call it humanoid. Thest one was a man who looked like he was carved from wood. Simr to Dig, they were tied up and held down by teams of golems. Was this the court that the drunk shoemaker was talking about before falling asleep?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om After many difficulties, we caught them in a Satellite City North of Y-City. With its distance to the central city, there have been many more people who survived the Scene''s purge. Ultimately this did not help them. Coldly and objectively the orc general described the state they found at the ce. Vegga spoke of venues for blood games, where people were forced to fight and kill each other. Scenes of torture so graphic even Seth felt shocked. People who died from throb vines prating and growing through their bodies, turning into bizarre works of art. Heaps of gnawed-off bones. Flooded underground facilities turned into submerged caverns and filled with drowned zombies. When they attacked us in the same ways, it became overwhelmingly clear that these creatures and their underlings were the perpetrators, Vegga Gorz finished his horrid tale. The orc golem behind him had been nodding here and there, when he judged these deeds harshly during his exnation. Even these orc-turned-golem felt aversion to such practices. Aww, what with the shocked face? Are you our judge? Are you going to spout some nonsense about justice now, before executing us? Save it! The only thing I regret is that there weren''t more pets to y with! Dimblood mocked him with crazyughter. The others didn''t seem as enthusiastic about the cause, but they all looked at him in defiance. And fear. But mostly defiance. Some people would have condemned killing captives, but not Seth. Not after everything he heard. As the leader of Minas Mar, he was also technically justified in punishing people in some circumstances. But this was not about justice. This was greed with a smidgen of revenge. Don''t worry, this will only hurt for a moment, Seth said without engaging in a battle of words or ideals.Let''s see what the soul of a twisted little shit like you looks like. The maximum level of came with two perks. The first was that Seth was able to widen the area of effect for capturing the souls of undead and those close to death. The other perk was Soul Robbery, a single-target attack that allowed him to even harvest the souls of the living and healthy. However, it had a chance to fail if the target was too strong. Dig''s eyes ripped open wide when the cksmith struck his chest. His hand wearing the Wraithguard, formed like the bloody w of a bird of prey that descended to grasp his meal. There was no blood or wound in the cobbler''s chest, but he felt like the w had caught his heart. His defiance, his confidence, his animalistic joy for the suffering of others, he felt his very self being pulled into a void. His limbs went limp. Sound vanished. His eyes were blind. His world became dark, cold, and silent. Dig Dimblood wasn''t the only one in a whirl of emotions. Seth''s heart also raced, when he pulled out the soul and appraised it. peculiar connection to money and fortune. Fortune! In other words luck! It became cleared when Seth searched through the skill list and quickly realized that he finally had the fitting soul for his Lucky Trinket Ring. The skill list revealed three peculiarities about the Lepresean. The first was the trait Lepresean''s Fortune which raised the luck attribute by 25. The second was the ability to temporarily raise his luck by sacrificing something of worth, such as currency or a treasure. Lastly, there was something called a Geass. The Lepresean had to serve whoever caught them until they managed to flee, in exchange they gained the power to be invisible when not observed and , as skill that allowed them to sense precious objects. This was the first time Seth heard about this. The geass was listed separately and was neither skill, ability, nor trait. The bard looked at the rest of Dimblood''s group. Was this what made the creatures that appeared after the awakening so weird. The was only one way to find out. One by one, three more corpses were added to Dimblood on the pavement. Unlike Dig''s, they fell just short of being massive, meaning he earned three big ego souls. All of them were epic rated and when he checked the skills, he found all of them had a geass. The hairy beast was called a Troll, which confused Seth a little, but he epted that it was probably Urth''s version of one. The soul''s description called it a crude and violent beast, fitting most trolls he knew. The troll''s geass was a 90% immunity to physical damage, but in exchange, it would turn into brittle stone under the direct sunlight. The haggard beast with the froggy eyes was called a Shellcoat, a creature that indulges in drowning its victims. Its skill was all water-based and in geass was that it would lose no stamina in water, in exchange for only living off the flesh of sentient beings. Lastly, the wooden man. The soul description called the creature a Forestscratt. Judging by it''s skill, one could call it a wood sorcerer born from a forest. It had a high affinity with earth and water, with magic for growing trees and nts. Its geass was that it would not lose mana inside a forest in exchange for being severely weakened outside of woods. These four examples were enough for Seth to make a guess about the geass. The closest he knew in the context of the system were Traits. But unlike traits which usually had a specific effect without a price, a geass came as a trade-off. One got an ability or power that was strong to the point that it might even circumvent the established rules of the system, but in exchange, it came with a great disadvantage. Something like a 90% reduction of physical damage, or resources like mana and stamina not running out were already in the realm of legendary effects, despite their holders not even passing lv.110. This exined the rule-defying witness reports he heard about. Some effects of geass worked like a bug or glitch in the system. A creature that could keep casting spells without depleting mana? Anyone would find that weird. After dealing with the captives, Seth had Vegga Gorz and his colleague, the two bosses, give him an update on their progress. The golems had been working faster than he expected, already widening their circles to the north, west, and south. Especially the south with the ruins and slums that had already been abandoned before the fall would take a long time to clean up. They avoided the East because of Baker''s warnings. The Golems were here to grow, not to be repeatedly beaten. There was no need for risks. We have also collected more loot, Vaggi Knurz, the second golem general with a massive soul, mentioned as the guided him to a mountain of treasures. The golems had no crates or other things to store the items and jewelry, so they had piled it up to an almost 10-meter-high mountain. Despite holding a lot of trash, too, Seth felt a little overwhelmed at the sight. He gulped. I guess, I will have to sort this out before returning... Chapter 1042. Soul Refinery goes -brrrrr Seth quickly sifted through the pile of items. The system money quickly found its way into his inventory. Among the things the golems had collected were also credit cards, however, at this point in time these cards were useless. They were useless because most of the banks and institutes supporting them were now gone. The destruction of Y-City had also wiped out most of the big conglomerate families still left in the Districts, many of which had been part of the Scene. With the greatest backer behind the credits gone, the Urthan Credits had weakened a lot. They were still an epted currency, even in Minas Mar, but the focus had shifted to the convenient and now easier-to-use System Currency, which was supported by a literal god. Much of the heap was alsomon items. The golems had no appraisal, so they collected everything that seemed of worth. The only things worth keeping among themon items were gold, silver, or tinum items like jewelry. Even with the existence of magical ores, these materials still had their worth. It took hours to go through the whole heap and sort the loot into different trucks. Seth only had so many inventory slots and without crates or chests, he wasn''t able to store huge amounts of individual items. He also wasn''t in the mood to fashion hundreds of quests at the moment. So he just sorted the stuff, with some help from Puffles, and put it on the various vehicles the golems had acquired to transport the stuff. You should deliver these things to TS12 before entering the abandoned ruins, Seth finally ordered Vegga and Vaggi, once everything was in order. You can everything except this one and the ones with resources to Mark Baker, he added, pping the truck that was filled with looted Polyarkanate Armor and some other epic items. The two golem orc generals nodded. Apart from items reserved for the use by Minas Mar, the loads of resources were themon items like jewelry that could still serve as practice items for their enchanters. Alright, let''s get back, Puffles, Getting on the back of the nightmare centipede, Seth returned to TS12 and from there to Minas Mar as quickly as possible. He finally had a soul for his Lucky Trinket and he intended to finish it as quickly as possible. However, by the time he finally returned, it was alreadyte. Tored and Hoen had already finished for the day, only Sivri and Cerberus were still in the workshop, working. Since everyone else had left, Sivri was back to making things from the . Seth, you are back? It''s quitete. She said surprised. At this point, it was alreadyte and he didn''t expect him toe to the workshop, instead of going to his room to sleep. Yeah, but I have to do something, or it will keep me awake for the night, Seth exined and took off the Lucky Trinket. It was a ring he made, quite some time ago at this point. It was made with one of the few minerals with a connection to luck, . Al herself had enchanted it for him, to aid him, especially during crafting. He had been looking for a fitting soul for a long time. Everything else was prepared and only waiting for one. Now he finally had one. What blessing he would put on his ring of fortune? Was that even a question? Of course, it was going to be the Blessing of Hades. Of course, one could argue that Hades was not the God of fortuitous oues or luck, but he was literally the God of Fortune, as in riches. Taking into ount that he did not have ess to the Blessing of Tyche, this blessing had the best chance for a great oue. Especially since the specifics of the Soul he finally got, fit Hades much better. But before he could start, he had to prepare the soul. After all, it had an ego. Dig Dimblood was not the kind of personality he wanted to wear on his hand. The cksmith also had no intention to make a deal with the creature. Unfortunately, he also couldn''t use the method of suppressing the original ego with the automaton core circuit. From experience he knew, that he would need the space for the Blessing of Hades. This only left doing it by and or Soul Refinery goes -brrrrr What Seth really needed out of the Lepresean''s soul was his affinity to luck and the ability to buff luck with precious things. However, considering the creature''s vast array of other skills, Seth kept a few more that fit the ring and would be helpful to him in the future. What he definitely filtered out was the geass. Seth already possessed a superior way to be invisible. The cksmith was d he had the Soul Refinery and he thought he finally understood its true worth. Forgebrand would have had a high-level from the beginning and easily reached Seth''s current point. He had faced the drawbacks of well-preserved souls early, especially in the shape of willful egos. For the soul to retain a lot of its knowledge, memory or skill was good if he intended to create a golem, but there was too much if it was about imbuing it into an item. Manually refining such a full soul would take a long time, so his dwarven predecessor came up with a method to automate it. While Refining Dig Dimblood''s Soul, he found another peculiarity of the geass. It was woven into the soul, almost like the power of gods stained the souls of their priests and strong believers. Refining away the geasspletely was next to impossible, this was why Seth decided on something else. Instead of refining out the geass and the Lepresean''s ego, he split it off. This cost him some of the size of the soul, turning it into a big soul at the threshold of massive. On the other hand, he had a medium-sized soul with an ego and the geass. Why did he sacrifice some of the power to do this? Curiosity. Seth wanted to see what would happen if he set this soul into a golem. Would the golem inherit the geass? If he used the automaton core and a soul contract to bind him, would he count as permanently caught?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om If he was caught and started to serve an enemy, would the soul contract allow him to simply retrieve the soul? He could send him to spy and if he got caught and betrayed him because of the geass, he would die and Seth could retrieve the soul. The thought was funny. It was like a consumable spy. All he would lose was the golem''s body. There was already a lot he could do with just this soul''s geass, what about the others? A geass had a big drawback for the being it originally belonged to, but not to Seth. The cksmith could freely choose what body to insert the soul. For example, the unlimited stamina when in water. What if Seth used the soul and Forgebrand''s original golem formation to create a Water Golem? Would it have unlimited stamina no matter where, since it was made of water? Like this, he could choose items or materials that negated the drawback. This new power had great potential if it worked as he hoped for. But for now, he had more important work. With Dig''s soul refined, he could start forging it into a mirror image of his Lucky Trinket. That was not had, since it was a simple ring with only a small stone set at the top. What he had to mentally prepare for was the enchanting. It had been a while since he engraved a blessing and he had to get prepared for the presence of a god to look over his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he stretched himself and then got to it. The sigil of Hades, was the symbol of his helmet, the Helm of Darkness, with a stylized me to the left and right of it. The familiar pressure weighed on his shoulders the moment he put down the engraving tool. It was a presence he had already felt twice before. One when he created his Helm of Hades, a copy of the god''s armament, and when he visited his temple in Chrona. Like the previous two times, he could not feel any malice in the presence of the ruler of the underworld. Calm and serious, maybe a little cold, but also unexinably reliable. Despite having no bad intention, the presence alone made the cksmith sweat as he slowly and deliberately carved the fine sigil onto the soul ring. It was not a big pattern, or aplicated one, but each stroke cost him immense concentration. However,pared to before, he also felt a lot calmer. Not because of , but because of his increased skill, experience, and support items. Soon, Sethpleted thest stroke of the sigil and finished the carving. Like before, a pattern started spreading, starting from the sigil. It was a pattern of angr swirls, like stylized floods of fire and smoke, at the same seemingly time cold and controlled. He felt something almost like a pat on the shoulder before the presence vanished. The blessing was finished. He took a moment to calm down before continuing with the next step, infusing the soul ring into the Lucky Trinket and baptizing it in the Waters of Styx. Chapter 1043. Final Trinket The first surprise was that he got 100 points of Power of Existence for a unique item. Seth knew that Unique was not bound by the usual rating. A unique item could be worse than something umon, or better than something epic... did that mean the Lucky Trinket was now considered to be on the same level as a legendary item? Inadvertently, his eyes jumped to the ring, that was still floating in the bubble of water and appraised it. Seth almost dropped his hammer, upon seeing the ring. He forgot all about the effect at the sight of the vor text. Al''Zalsar, the legendary Sorceress and Dragon yer Al''Zalsar had reached the legendary rank! Not just that, she had actually seeded in fulfilling her dream of killing a dragon. That was the only way to attain the title of Dragon yer. Of course, Seth had never doubted her for even a moment! But he still couldn''t help but gawk at the description, as it seemed almost surreal. The sorceress was still the strongest person Seth could imagine and she was not even a legend during that time. How much stronger would she have be by bing a Dragon yer? Seth had a hard time imagining someone as unfathomable as Al, to be even stronger. He probably stared at the floating ring for almost half an hour, his thoughts constantly circling and trying to grasp what it meant. He only calmed down aftering to the conclusion, that he would probably never find out. At least not, until Al returned someday. Calmer now, he focused on the finally finished ring. The first change was that the additional luck and jumped from 50 to 80. The second was that the wording had changed from slightly, to a bit favored by fortunes. The third was pretty ring, as the Blessing of Hades gave an additional five levels to , meaning that the skill was at max lv. when he wore this ring. Another addition of the blessing was the increased chance to drop souls from normal kills, which was very wee. The fifth effect of the ring was the effect of the things he left on the soul after refining. Dimblood''s vestiges were the remains of the part Seth found useful. The effect improved the performance of leather wares he produced by 15%, which was wee since he probably made more of them in the future, now that he was working on his . It also lowered the cost of his enchantments by 5%. This didn''t sound like a lot and its use was ambiguous since he usually inserted a soul into items that would bear the cost of these enchantments, making them virtually permanent or free. However, they still had to be paid, which was why free skills usually had at least a cool down. So apart from lowering the cost of items he made for ordinary people, it would also lower the cooldown on the skill of items, or improve the performance of effects. At least he was sure there was nothing negative about it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Lastly, Dimblood''s vestiges increased the power of curses by 20%. Seth was not a shaman or Dark Magician, but he used a lot of demonic skills through his armor and song. As long as the effects counted as curses, they would be improved, which seemed like a good deal to him. Finally, on thest spot, was the skill that really mattered, . Seth frowned a little since there was no way to know what the value was, without trying it first. Why couldn''t things be convenient for once ande with the power to see this value of items beforehand? Hmm, oh, well... mumbling he pulled out a single copper coin and threw it in the air. Spinning in the air, it started glowing and vanished. Making a quick calction, he pulled out ten silver coins and threw them in the air. Okay, so at least things scaled linearly. This meant a gold coin would- Or not. Instead of raising his luck by 10 for 5 minutes when he sacrificed a gold coin, it was 5 luck but doubled the duration. Fine, be like that then! Seth huffed and puffed. At least it didn''t randomly halve. He had enough gold to y this game, or he could try sacrificing some of his products... However, he was pissed for now. He didn''t intend to waste any more stuff. He didn''t n to do anything more today. He had achieved his objective, he could test around at another time. Have a good night, Sivri. I will. You also have a good night; she answered, turning back to her jewelry. Seth vanished from the workshop and speared directly on his bed., He had an eventful day and gratefully fell asleep. . Tong tong tong, Tong tong tong Wild knocking on the door awoke him from his peaceful slumber. How dare they disturb his well-deserved sleep? He would show them what happened to those who- Sleepy thoughts filled his head as he crawled off the bed. Before he could borate on his divine rage on those messing with his beauty sleep, he had to release his Kraken. Which meant, he skedaddled to the toilet, ignoring the intense knocking on the door. It was a little annoying during the release, but the Kraken was in a hurry. After he unleashed the mythical creature he flushed it into freedom and went to the door, after washing his hands. He was awake enough to remember basic decency, now. The thoughts of divine punishment had also subsided, if they were this persistent, it was probably important. What is it? the cksmith asked sleepily. The messenger stared in silence, surprised at the door that suddenly opened. What is it? Did you knock? The door would open at some point, or why did you keep knocking? Seth asked in annoyance. Ah, sorry, Tower Master. I just didn''t expect it anymore. Ladies Mary, Leana, and Luf ask for your immediate presence. Important guests have arrived unexpectedly Unexpected guests? the bard asked slowly. Master Mountain and a friend havee with a request, he exined with a bow. Seth scratched his head, as the info sank in. You should have said so from the start. I will wash up and be there in a hot minute... ---Cinema Dimension--- He finally used your blessing, aren''t you happy, Uncle? Hephaestus asked Hades jovially. Although the god of craftsmen was of the opinion that there could have been better souls out there, for what the little cksmith had, it was a very good piece. I don''t know what you are talking about, Hades countered with his same stoic expression. Right, this was the serious Hades they knew. However, while the others couldn''t read the dark god''s face, there was someone who could. Persephone had a mischievous smile on her face, seeing the truth. Her husband was struggling not to smile. She could see it at the corner of his mouth. His gentle hands suddenly moved and she hugged his arm. He looked over at her and stopped resisting the smile. She had given him an excuse to smile, saving his reputation and earning one of his few bright smiles. He didn''t say anything, but his eyes conveyed his feeling stronger than a thousand words. Ugh. The gods around could not take the brightness of the moment and turned away. Their attention was drawn away from the couple, when a figure that had been missing for a while, finally returned. The System God was back. Chapter 1044. Master Mountain and a Friend Seth didnt dawdle and got himself presentable before he hurried to the elevator to the embassy. A staff member already waited for the cksmith and guided him to one of the guest rooms on the upper floors. He was looking forward to meeting Master Mountain, not just because they had be quite friendly with each other, but also because he was their best source for information on this breed of people called cultivators.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Most important was the news, because of theirst meeting with him. Seth had decided to tell him everything about the System God, after which Yu had set off in a hurry, to prevent the worst. They could only hope he returned with good news. Seated in a warmly decorated living room, Seth found Leana, Mary, and Luf, sitting with Master Mountain and another man dressed in the typical robes of the Voracious Cloud Continent. This had to be the friend, the messenger mentioned earlier. Seth, my friend, the old man rose from the ground to wee him. Yu! Its great to see you. Its been a while, Seth greeted him with a short hug and thedies with a nod, before looking at Yus friend expectantly. This is my old friend Xiong Peng, the Soaring Eagle and sect master of the Snow Falcon Sect I met him on the way here and I brought him along because he needs your help, he exined, seeing Seths look. Our help? Seth asked curiously. Although the cksmith had not the best opinion of cultivators, Yu was a good example of the circumstance, that not all of them were bad. Someone introduced by him was probably worth knowing. It was always good to have some trustworthy rtionships, disregarding their origin. After Seth and Master Mountains sat back down, Xiong Peng started reiterating, what he had already told thedies while they were waiting for Seth. It was a story about his Granddaughter and a group of Inner Disciples vanishing in the Northeastern Mountains. The northeastern mountains? Close to the Sigmas sea? Seth asked with a frown. Leana had a simr face. Although that direction was objectively safer than the rest, there were things one had to be careful of. Past the Mountains were the remains of Sigma, which still held a connection to the Abyss and its Ethnarchs. The mountains themselves were infested with flying beasts, especially surrounding the sea. It was also in that direction, that they had met creatures like the Nuckvee, a terrifying and virtually immortal creature. On another note, further east was also the ce where Seth met Chrysopras, the mountain giant. It was also the general direction where he killed the Zarkist Saint. There was a possibility that there were still remaining Zarkists, mindlessly roaming the mountains. But hey, it was still better than that ursed forest, or the damned undead and their gue. Seth didnt voice out all the dangers he suddenly remembered one by one and simply listened to the story. I already asked my other disciples to look for them, but they couldnt find a trace of them. They are just too few to cover such a vast area. Yu said that you might be able to help. If you have a possibility to find them, I am ready to pay the price, he ended with a plea. hmm, any price? Seth asked calmly, but his voice cut the atmosphere like a cold gust. Xiong Peng clenched his fists in determination as he looked the Tower Master in the eyes. As a Sect leader, I was often forced to neglect my role as a grandfather. But right now, I will not hold back or any chance to repair my rtionship with Qiao Ya will be gone forever. Im ready to pay any price. Seth had asked because he had a very specific idea as he was reminiscing his past. I want as much as possible. At least15 bars this size, Seth said, and a bar of the size of a brick appeared in his hand. Xiong Peng looked shocked when he heard the amount and saw the size. What would you need so much earth-grade material for? he asked short of breath. Seth understood that he asked out of shock, not because he tried to lower the price. Well, once I refined it, the first thing would be a new suit of armor for one of my subordinates... Seth answered the question leisurely. That was right, it was his first thought when he heard that the sect master was willing to pay. He wanted to secure more because it was already proven that it could be refined to special . The cksmith could not think of a better material to substitute the in the ughterer''s set. As long as he could secure enough base material, Ortega would soon be fitted with a worthy set of armor. In Seth''s imagination, the dark gray of the would perfectly fit with the venomous pair of Khopesh. Using the would also increase the chance for the items to develop an ego. If Ortega''s ughterer''s Set had an ego, it might be even better than the original. Especially, if he was lucky with the random effects of the bones. With an excited smile, he stroked the finished Lucky Trinket. A, a suit of armor? Made from high earth grade materials... Xiong Peng repeated speechless. Despite theirvish robes and ostentatious get-up, it seemed like a proper suit of armor sounded likevish excess to these cultivators. Yu, what does he mean with earth grade this and earth grade that? Seth asked, ignoring the floundering eagle. Ah... I never mentioned it, since you wouldn''t have had any use for our way to rank artifacts and materials, Yu answered friendly. While Xiong Peng was still trying to find his calm, Master Mountains exined to Seth how the cultivators categorized their stuff. In general, it was only slightly softer and moreplicated than the one the system used. The grades they used in general were Mortal, Spirit, Earth, and Heaven Grade. Each of these grades were again split into Low, Medium, High, and Peak Ranks, making the differences at the border of the grades flowing. They roughly corresponded to the system''s rating whereas Mortal Grade wasmon to umon items, Spirit Grade was umon to rare items, Earth Grade was rare to epic and Heaven Grade was epic/relic to legendary rated. Since cultivators had other priorities their grading would sometimes differ from the system. The people of the Voracious Cloud Continent saw more worth in powerful and useful traits, so their grading mirrored much better the final use of the thing or material,pared to the system which judged by requirements needed to create or work with it. I see, so this would also be an earth-grade material? Seth asked, waving the around. Yes, this is why I didn''t see the need to mention it to use. Everything I saw in Minas Mar was high to peak earth grade or even heaven grade. There was no need to mention it... Yu said a little embarrassed. Are you being serious? Xiong Peng asked after calming down enough to listen in on the conversation. Yeah. How much does your sect have right now? Yu asked. He knew his friend''s conflicts in belief. Their world was very vast, but with many people attaining various degrees of longevity and even immortality, most resources of theirnd were already scarce. Getting their hand on high-earth-grade materials was a fortunate encounter or a mary burden. Yu, for example, had found the himself, while he had bought the other items he gave to Seth from an auction. Xiong Peng swallowed hard. Maybe enough for ten bars of that size? he answered quietly. Dont worry, I will pitch in for the rest, Yu assured his friend. Seeing their reaction, Seth felt a little confused. This was just the start of his demands, but the old men already seemed quite troubled. He had hoped for truckloads of materials. Did he have the wrong impression of the Voracious Cloud Continent? Seth thought about it for a moment. He had seen this as his chance to get more exotic materials from the Voracious Cloud Continent, but just 10 bars of epic metal seemed like a steep price to them. Could I talk with my advisers for a moment? he asked for the two old men to go to the adjacent rooms, while he asked Mary, Leana, and Luf about their next steps. Are you sure you want to go that far? Mary asked a little worried after he shared his n. Hmm, I think it is a wise choice, Luf appraised Seths idea. I really hope, their help is worth it, or this will be a great loss, Leana said after a moment. After they talked about the specifics, they called Yu and Xiong Peng back in. I see that the Voracious Cloud Continent is not as prosperous as I was led to believe. So, we came up with something else. The stays unchanged. In addition, I want another of those Demonic Slime cores, or simr materials to craft spatial equipment. Apart from these, we hope for your continued support in the future, especially during the Pythian Games. The faltering eagle shook a little when Seth added the spatial material, but he seemed relieved when it ended with the request for an alliance. In the end, the people Yu rmended really didnt abuse the situation to strip an old man off hisst pair of trousers. And you will find my daughter in exchange? he asked hopefully. I cant guarantee that. By all we know she could have fallen through a portal and into another world. However, I can guarantee you that you will find that our efforts will fit the price, the bard assured him with a sweet voice. Xiong Peng looked over at Yu again and saw his old friend nod. Alright, I agree! Please find my granddaughter! Chapter 1045. Jumping to my Bones Of course, since we will be allies, I will show you your moneys worth, Seth answered with a mysterious smile. Others may have been worried about the distance to the mountain range and the dangers lurking in its shadow. However, Seth already had a n. A great one at that, which would be quick, effective, and cost him almost no time. On this matter, I would also like to talk about the continued support of my Luminous Mountain Sect to Minas Mar, Yu linked himself into the conversation, and it was finally time for him to tell his story and exin the reason for his continued absence. This exins a lot, Seth muttered after Master Mountains shared with them the changes on the Voracious Cloud Continent. How so? Xiong Peng asked a little clueless. Despite being the sect master, he had not been informed about the fact that his very home world had made a deal with some ancient evil from beyond space. Lately, the system has started to disy the stats of cultivators and items, using some of your vocabry, too. Since we can use appraisal on you and your items, its an obvious sign that the system has scanned and categorized you, the cksmith exined, but only Leana really understood what he was talking about. It was like with the weapons he created from the angel of the Theocracy of Chains. It was a material that did not belong to the system, created by a god opposing the System god. This was why the options had to be painstakingly explored before they could be registered, quantified, and acknowledged within the system. It was no different for foreign creatures like the abominations Seth and the others had met in the fog world beyond Y-City. Or the Tuatha de from beyond that fog world. The system probably would not have been able to collect the data this quickly without the cooperation of their governing entity. Be it as it may, this is why there is no more unified threat to be feared from the cultivators. At this point, you just have to worry about individual factions and their hunger for power, Master Mountain concluded. Is that why you quickly brought your friend here and suggested an alliance with your sect, too? Seth asked with a chuckle. Yes, I wont lie. Apart from considering you a friend, I have a great impression of Minas Mar. While others are blinded by greed and adventure, I would like to secure the best this world has to offer first, a lucrative rtionship with Minas Mar, the old man admitted. This was what Seth liked about Yu. He was neither pretentious nor did he hide his intentions. All the while he didnt y with open cards to deceive them either. To the bard, this was a sign, that Yu trusted them not to misunderstand him, as much and they trusted him not to try and take advantage of them. However, Seth sighed. We will have a lot to talk about then, I guess, he said. Another day when he wouldnt be able to return to the Workshop and finish the blueprints for the colossus. At least there was one thing the cksmith was able to look forward to, as they started working out the alliance contracts. ---Cinema Dimension--- There was a slightmotion going through the audience Is that true? You made a deal? some of the gods around asked. What is so weird about making a deal? All of you made a deal with me. the starry robe asked back with a disinterested voice. But not about adding a world to the Pathworks. You never let anyone influence you on what worlds to pick, another muttered. And what makes you think I would let anyone question my decisions? the robe countered, the raised eyebrow was audible. However, seeing that themotion wasn''t subsiding, the System god decided to give a short exnation. I connected the Voracious Cloud Continent to the Pathworks, in exchange for adding their info to the System, however, they aren''t members. Neither yers nor monsters. They have no system support or privileges. Nothing changed for them. What happens next is not influenced by me. While the System God was dropping what sounded like a serious foreshadowing, not all gods had their attention on him. Seth, sitting beside Hephaestus was gloating.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Kuku, look at him immediately jumping to my bones. Even the ring with Hades'' Blessing is only meant to improve the material I bestowed on him, he teased the god of craftsmen, who looked rtively grumpy in return. Instead of using the epic silver Hubert had given him to refine legendary , the little cksmith was all over the ce to get his hands on some epic iron and make special Don''t be so happy about it. it''s not because it''s better, but because it fits the blueprints someone forwarded to him, theme one huffed, giving Maahes the stink eye. I-I invested a lot in Mike. I had to make sure he would have the best fitting armor, the lion god tried to justify himself. There is no need to exin to him. If he is so mad that the little cksmith is using the materials and blueprints of another god, he should have forwarded some of his own to him. You can''t me him that he is using the best, a neermented a little smugly. You shut up, you untalented cur! Just you wait.. he barked at the man from the third row. Right, Ptah, you shut up! Noments from the cheap seats! Seth joined the bashing. The heliopolian creator god fell silent when he was suddenly shot from his own camp. After dealing with the uninvited third party, the god of chaos and the god of craftsmen kept bickering on their own. What in the world are these? Xiong Peng and Master Mountains eximed in unison. After using teleportation together with Seth, another fascinating technology to the two, they were now standing outside Little Sigma, the first Tree Station. Staring at the sky, they looked at Seths search party. During the time they spent talking through the treaties together with the girls, Seth had sent a messenger to collect the ones stationed across the district of Minas Mar. 700 giant dragonflies were blotting out the sky and blocking the sun. They were the Aerial Strikers Seth had created from the dragonflies of the Hive. The insect dungeon they had fought during their first trip to the Holy Land. All of them were besouled corpse puppets of enormous strength and speed. With their incredible eyesight, they would have an easy time, looking for someone from the sky, even in the hard-to-traverse and chaotic mountain range. Apart from the Aerial Striker, there was also a group of Golem Knights. They were the knights who worked under Wolfram and had managed to develop an ego and wisdom. They would takemand of the Strikers, during the search. I believe it would be best if you two apany them to the north. We wouldnt want your disciples to attack them on ident, right? Seth asked friendly. Although the dragonflies would be able to heal with time, the region was already dangerous enough without their allies attacking them. You are right, I will go along with- Go along? Do you really think you can keep up with them? Just ride them. The cksmith interrupted him. R-Ride them? Xiong Peng asked unsure. Mounts existed on the Voracious Cloud Continent, but usually, they didnte in the shape of giant insects. It was a sign of bad taste for someone to choose a massive dung beetle, or a huge dragonfly with the sickles of a mantis Nobody will see you, just hop on, Yu teased him, already seated on one of the creatures. Hesitating, Xiong Peng approached the Aerial Striker standing beside him. I guess, I dont have a - CHOICE! he eximed as the golem under him erupted into the air. He had barely taken a seat when the creature rose with incredible speed. Now that that''s dealt with... The cksmith turned around and returned to the city. With all urgent matters settled, he could finally turn his attention to his projects. Chapter 1046. Temple of Persephone ---rion -- Two knights entered the exotic city under the burning rays of the sun. One had a slender build, wearing a pristine ck armor with a bright glossy shine, like crystal. The other was taller and more buff. He wore a bright armor showing signs of wear, of an arduous journey. The city was built from beautiful why marble and sand stones and the people on the streets wore colorful, clean robes, as they led their everyday lives. Faced with the two intrusive elements, the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Hey, aren''t they-? Psht! Not so loud. They may hear you. But what are they doing in the city of the maiden? Whispers could be heard in the crowd of idle citizens. Gazes on the street recognized the the two travelers, as their appearance was already well-known in the kingdom of Addica.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om In a cafe at the side of the road, a young man observed the effect of the knights on the crowd with interest. After the two neers passed by, the youngster leaned over to his uncle who he visited today. The man was slowly sipping his tee, unperturbed by the slightmotion. Uncle, what is it with those two knights, that everyone is reacting like that? the country bumpkin asked. His uncle sighed. How can you be such a hick? Are you actively avoiding news at the backwater ce your father took my sister to? heined a little before he started exining. They are a pair of S-ss adventurers that appeared from nowhere and have been making quite the name for themselves as they traveled around. The knight wearing the ck, glossy armor is actually a woman, though nobody ever saw her face. She was given the frightening adventurer name Mother of Monsters because she summoned hordes of dark creatures to hermand. The taller knight is a guy and acts as her bodyguard in the city and during battle. He is called The Rooting Fire because he wields a me sword that can stop enemies from moving while they are burning. They have single-handedly stopped a monster wave that was about to swallow the south of Addica. They were the ones who stopped that?! he asked shocked. I''m shocked you even know about the monster wave. Yeah, they were the ones to stop it and they did a lot more... the uncle said and kept telling his nephew the story of the two knights. In the meantime, Evee and Edward, the people in question, were finally about to reach their destination. The City of the Maiden was a big city, housing the Temple of Persephone in this world. Their original n was toe here first. However, the System God''s randomization had thoroughly disrupted their ns. They didn''t have the resources to directly teleport to another world like the team for the evaluation did to get to Chrona. They just hoped the interference would not royally fuck them over. It was all they could do at the time. Well, their hopes were dashed and the randomization did its worst. When they arrived in rion, the teleport dropped them into the Forest of Darkness on the southern coast of this continent. A horrible ce and definitely something Evee wouldn''t call a forest. It was like the weird and twisted ink-version of a forest, filled with monsters that looked like nightmares of the deep sea. It was clear that the whole southern tip was corrupted by an eerie power. Only after escaping from that disturbing ce and entering a vige in the Kingdom of Addica, did they find out that this Forest of Darkness was allegedly imed by the sea gods during a great cmity. A retribution against the former natives of thatnd. Here, they also found out where exactly they were and how hard the teleport had screwed them Their starting point could not have been any further away from their destination unless they had been dropped to a different continent altogether. Starting from the south, where they had encountered the nightmarish monster stampede, they endured a string of mishaps all along their journey. Inadvertently their reputation and adventurer ranks rose. Considering that they wished to gain the blessing of Styx first, before getting their names out, their experience was frustrating at the start. However, they had epted that this was how things were after about two weeks of traveling and started truly experiencing the adventure, instead of hurrying to the City of the Maiden. Only when news of the Pythian Games reached them, did they start to hurry. After all, they all had agreed to return in time for the Pythian games. The whole reason for their quest was to be stronger and return. They had to meet Styx before they returned, thus they hurried here. Despite the hurry, the journey had taken a month since they heard the announcement. This was the time it took them to reach the city after getting the news. Let''s visit the local guild first and see how things are in the city, Evee asserted. They had learned to ascertain the situation in a city first, before doing anything else. The guild was also a good ce to get a rmendation for a ce to stay at. Their greeting in the adventurer guild was not much different from their arrival in the city. Over the past months, Evee and Edward had gained quite a bit of Power of Existence, raising their levels to 125 and 118 respectively. The rise in level of existence had made their presence more prominent. Being recognized and talked about had be a more or less regr urrence they became used to. How may I help you? the receptionist greeted the two as they stepped to the counter. We just arrived in the city to visit the Temple of Persephone. We wanted to ask for recent news and a good ce to stay. Edward exined. The receptionist''s face fell a little. I''m sorry to inform you, that you probably won''t be able to visit the Temple any time soon. They have closed their doors to the public for yet-to-be-announced reasons, he informed them. ording to him, it had been two months ago, when the high priest suddenly announced their decision. Nobody knew what exactly made them decide so, even canceling the uing spring festival in honor of Persephone. Oh, it''s good we aren''t members of the public, eh? Evee chuckled, elbowing Edward, but she didn''t say anything more. Edward and the man kept talking a little more about the city''s current state, but it didn''t seem like there was anything of importance. During their journey, they had learned to pick up on red gs during the conversation with people. Thank you for the information. We will be leaving now, Edward finally ended the conversation. Goodbye. Please inform us of the ce you will stay once you decide. With your reputation, the guild master might want to meet youter on. Edward simply nodded and they left. Thest part was a standard phrase, every adventurer Rank A and above would be told on the first time in a new city. It wasn''t rare for special quests to exist in towns, that were not published in the guild, because they needed at least a party of A-Ranks to be solved. In those cases, the guild would approach the candidates personally. Of course, it wasn''t mandatory, but informing them of their ce of residence was like saying that they were interested in such quests, if they came up. The two didn''t immediately look for the inns the receptionist had mentioned. Instead, they had to make sure whether what he said about the Temple was true. As to whether their identity could get them past those restrictions. The temple was a great building at the top of a hill, in the middle of the city. The centralplex was especially imposing. Its mighty roof was carried by many decorated pirs and as far as they knew, there was supposed to be a humongous sculpture of Persephone at its core. As the guild staff said, they were stopped by temple guards in from of the massive gates to theplex. We are sorry, but we can''t let you enter. Even if you are the Mother of Monsters. the Temple Guard said sternly. Not even after I showed you this? she asked lightheartedly, showing him a ck guild card. There were two prominent silver letters on its front. D-Double S-Rank? he whispered under his breath. He swallowed hard. If they were SS-Rank adventurers then they would have a hard time sending them away. Maybe it was best to inform a priest and let them decide. Would you give us a moment? I will have to consult a priest in this matter. The two guards stayed at the gate, sending a messenger in to ask one of the responsible priests. Meanwhile, the four stood at the gate in awkward silence. Finally, the side gate swung open and a man in dark robes stepped out. He was about to speak when he stopped and stared at Evee for half a minute. I''m sorry for wasting your time, my Lady. Please follow me to the main temple, he suddenly said and bowed. Chapter 1047. Ripped from this World --- Amaver--- Sitting on a foreign throne, wearing a foreign crown, sat a former bandit with a royal frown. To her left stood a slender mage dressed in wide robes, her face hidden. To her right stood a wide priest in white robes. Her finger yed around the handle of her saber, as her eyes swept across the throne room. Gentle sunlight fell in through the broken roof and splintered walls. The tiled floor, covered in old leaves and encroaching vines, was littered with corpses and painted red in blood. Faenys sighed, taking in the fallen glory of ruin, that had been upied by ogres and even led by an Ogre King, using the ancient crown, found in the crypt of the former king. Slowly, she took the unique item off. Did you y enough? We should return and report to the guild that the Ogre Kingdom is no longer a threat, Ferdinand said relieved, seeing her finally drop the act. For a moment he thought the crown had otherplicated powers. As far as they knew, the crown was a unique artifact that allowed the wearer with the title of king to use incredible powers. But the healer would not have been surprised if there was another effect like megalomania or something like that. Don''t worry, I''m still here. Let''s get back to the city and finish the quest, Faenys stopped ying around with a wry smile as she took off the crown. During her time as a brigand, she had dreamed of the riches of kings and nobles. Sitting here, in the ruins of a fallen kingdom, she had remembered this longing. But with a wry smile, like remembering a childish dream of a younger self. Since then she had experienced greater luxury andfort than a vain feudalistic system could ever offer her. I think we should return after this quest, Azul suddenly suggested. Well will be a little early, but we did agree that this would be thest quest, anyway, Faenys acknowledged. As much as they grew in this world, they looked forward to returning home. .... ---Golden ins--- The rebels looked at the scene before them in horror and tion. The steps of the parliament were drenched in blood, the juice of life trickling down the steps like waterfalls. They were littered with the severed bodies of the members of the merchant counsel. Sitting on the highest step, sat their leader. her foot was resting on the severed head of the counsel''s champion. The SS-Rank adventurer who had kept stood behind the high chamber and supported their tyrannical reign with an iron fist. Her armor was dyed red and ck with blood, but her spear shone in a pristine silver light. She was also an SS-Rank adventurer, the Wise Spear. Months ago, they had hired her for protection and advice, but they had quickly made her the leader of the rebellion, as her decisions and ideas and always proven to be correct. her leadership on the field was impable and their ns proceeded smoothly. However, things had changed three weeks ago and the Wise Spear had quickened their ns as if there was a deadline she had to keep. Looking at her status, Monique thought about how to continue. There were five weeks until the Pythian games. She had to round up these people and set everything in ce for them to govern themselves from now on. Her meticulous ns she had crafted with the wisdom of Athena needed thorough adjustments after she quickened the pace. She couldn''t help it, 2 months were not enough to topple a government and instate a perfect recement. She could only use her remaining time to patch things up as best as she could. She was d that she was able to recruit allies in this foreign world, that she could leave things to. Some were genuine people, other surprising allies with a hidden debt to Minas Mar. At least, they would be able to steer this region into a better future. After ncing at the time, her eyes fell on her level: 135. The spear demon had not done what she did to gain levels, as she had been genuinely horrified by the state this country was in when she arrived. Still, she was d she was able to follow her heart and fulfill the assignment of getting stronger at the same time. How much stronger the others may have gotten? Sitting amidst the mayhem she created, a small smile bloomed on Monique''s face, thinking of her return home. .... ---Trance Vales--- A beautiful castle, brightly lit at night. A great ball was going on when the atmosphere suddenly tilted. Armed soldiers and nights stormed the venue. The music stopped, as the crowd of ostentatiously dressed nobles and merchants fled outside. In the meantime, the soldiers surrounded a couple, holding them at spearpoint. Neither the man nor woman moved, nor did they seem intimidated. What is the meaning of this? the man stepped forward, asking indignantly. I believe I can exin this, a man in a tight, expensive baroque suit said, his voice echoing in the empty ballroom. He stepped past the ring of soldiers and stood in front of the couple. You are hereby arrested for harming a noble and under the suspicion of aiding various illegal activities in the capital. The man sighed. See, I told you we should have gotten rid of that prince when he tried to touch you. Now they are framing us for shit because you pped him in the face, Jamesmented as his gear instantly switched from an elegant suit to his suit of armor. Resistance will only raise your sentence and void your standing at the guild. even as S-rank adventurers, the guild will not support criminals that fought nobility! the official imed. Pff, who needs the guild? Jess asked with augh and threw down a golden guild card with a big S in the corner. Her dress had also changed to a reddish suit of armor and a petite wand appeared in her hands. If we hadn''t missed the SS Evaluation, they wouldn''t even dare to pull this stunt, Jamesined. I won''t apologize! We had a wonderful day in bed. You can''t deny that. Jess shot back. James blushed. It can''t be changed now, anyway. Let''s leave these guys with ast legend and return home. James suggested. Just my thought!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om A-Are you really going to do this? The whole dukedom will be after you! You will not be able tp escape! the official tried to convince them, but it was toote. The milk was spilled, the spells were cast. What were the soldiers here for? They were purely symbolic decorations. They held no sway over the two S-ranks and neither did the official''s authority he relied on so much. That night, the party was lit and the castle was zing. The party guests watching from outside would call it the great bonfire of Midsummer. The two S-Rank adventurers were searched for weeks after and announced as criminals across the kingdom, but they could not be found. ... ---Omnithis--- An unwavering darkness had swallowed the vige. The shadows hade from the mines, taking them one by one. a week ago they had taken his mother, and yesterday his cousin. Was today his time? His father had pushed them into the hiding space under their hut, where he was huddling together with his sister. All they could hope for was that they wouldn''t find them... and worry for their Father. Everything had fallen silent, only their heavy breathing and his sister''s silent whimpering filled his ears. He had no idea how long they had stayed down here, but the lids of his eyes started bing heavy and he had a hard time staying awake. Maybe- Maybe nothing would happen today? His thoughts were also bing slower and harder to grasp as he slowly slipped away into sleep. Only for his eyes to jump open, wide away, when a heavy step shook the floor above them. Dust fell onto them. Was it their father? Had hee back to get them? But the step was so loud and happy. It wasn''t like that when their father left... He flinched when suddenly a terrifying rumbling and breaking sound echoed from above. Things were thrown around, shaking the nks above their heads. The boy only hoped who... or whatever it was would not find the trap door. After the outburst, things went silent again. It stayed quiet for a while. Boy, you cane out. It''s morning. The danger is over~ he heard their father''s reassuring voice. Relieved he was about to open the trapdoor when he halted. His lower lip began quivering uncontrobly, as he held in his tears and crying. Their father knew where they hid, he didn''t need to call for them. In horror, he realized, that they had already fallen victim to the shadows... But it was not the end. My child, won''t you greet me? this wasn''t the voice of their father. This was the voice of their Mother! A move beside him brought him back to the moment. what are you doing? Mother is back! Let''s hurry and get out! his little sister whined, as he reacted instinctively and pushed her down, stopping her from moving. Hngh, Mother is gone, Luisa. And father...too. We have to stay silent if we want to survive the night. he insisted. Scratching on the floor above had them fall silent. It came closer and closer. Oh no, I reached the trap door and- With a subdued screeching the trapdoor was lifted and they looked into a terrifying face, twisted in a demonic smile. You should have been a little quieter if you wanted to survive, the creature said maliciously. With a cry, the boy pulled his sister along and he charged into the crawlspace under the hut. Behind them, they heard the breaking of the floorboards apanied by the shadow''s amusedughter. Squeezing through the gap, they left from under the house. Holding his crying sister, he ran into the night. Help! Help, the Shadow is- the boy screamed, running into the vige. He halted, when he found the vige silent, except for the eerily familiar eyes, glowing in the dark. A hunt can be fun, but it is all futile, the show told them, enjoying the moment as their hope flowed away. It was over, there was no way to run for the two, and the vige was full of shadows. Yet they had no eyes for the shadow before them. A massive pair of golden eyes had appeared in the darkness behind the shadow, threateningly floating above its head. Frightened, his gaze was fixed on the eyes, and they seemed to look back at him. What are you looking at? the shadow was not amused that his prey had gone silent. When he turned, his superior night vision answered him by giving him thest sight of his life. A giant maw, filled with impressive, pearly white fangs descended on him, ripping him from this world. The next moment a series of dull but loud knocking sounds could be heard, as the shadows were pinned to the huts and ground, by a shower of mighty arrows. In the meantime, the massive tiger reverted back to the humanoid Tijaahk. Good, you go the children, Archer greeted Duhu as he stepped out of the shadows of the forest. Its a shame we werete for ourst quest, but at least not fully toote the Tigermanmented. He told Archer and tried to give the children an encouraging smile, but it was more wry than cheery. Thank you, big kitty, the girl hugged his shin without hesitation. Lets clean up here and bring these children to safety, Archer said unimpressed. Sure. Chapter 1048. Testing his Luck ---Northeastern Mountain Range--- Xiong Peng was impressed. Although riding an insect scratched at his dignity, he had to admit that they were superior to mostmon mounts he knew. These dragonflies had easily carried him and the others for three days straight, never slowing down, except for passenger breaks. With their incredible speed and stamina, it had only taken four days to reach the ce his granddaughter was headed to. They had crossed Arget Nore directly and reached here quicker than expected. Theynded at a camp that was set up by a troop of his inner disciples of the Snow Falcon Sect. I didnt expect these creatures to dare fly over thend filled with the Qi of death, Xiong Penmented when they were finally on the ground and talking normally. We are not afraid of such things, as they are not truly alive ourselves. Also, Minas Mar has a deal with the inhabitants of thatnd, so there is no need to worry, the Golem Knight exined borately. Although his speech was slightly hacked off, there was no hindrance to understanding it. Master, what are thesethings? one of the disciples staying at camp asked unsure what he was seeing. Our new allies that will hopefully help us find your senior sister. We shouldnt waste any time, show us where you and the others have already searched, and then we can concentrate on the ce you have not yet checked, Xiong Peng spoke exited. During the flight, the golem had done several impressive things, to show him that these Aerial Strikers were not just demons of the battlefield, but possessed incredible eyesight and dynamic vision. If these beings were unable to locate her, he would really have to ept, that his granddaughter was probably no longer in this ce. But he acknowledged that this array of helpers was well worth the box of he sent to the embassy. Dont worry Qiao Ya, your granddad will find you. ... ---Minas Mar, 3 Weeks before the Pythian Games----- In the meantime, Seth was able to have a quiet week, during which nobody came to disturb his work. With the cooperation of Tored, Sivri, and Hoen, the team of experts finished and validated the new prints. With the blueprints finished, the cksmith only needed Hoen to re-smelt some of the boxes to create new scales for their formations. Once everyone except Sivri had left the Workshop, Seth brought out a new box. It was meticulously crafted and covered in exotic carvings ofndscapes and scenes with animals and flowers. One of the disciples of the Snow Falcon Sect had brought it to the doorsteps of the embassy two days ago. The inside was filled with , about enough for 12 brick-sized bars of metal. Since he had to wait for Hoen to finish, Seth could go ahead and refine the precious metal into something even more valuable. Finally, his preparation woulde to fruition. Seth had always been stocking up on supplies for the ritual for the , the only thing he had beencking was the fitting iron to refine. At the bards order, the members had collected gallons of jackal and donkey-type blood from monsters in the dungeon. All of it was at least epic-rated in the eyes of an alchemist. With this and the formation he had carved all the way back when he set up the workshop, the only thing he needed to do was wait for the right time of the day, to perform the ritual and bless the meteoric iron with the power of Seth, the god of storms and chaos. All he had to do now was wait for the right time of day. He decided to refine the until then. Unlike , who needed a special ritual at a special time, Seth was able to refine at any time thanks to the magma forge he had created especially for its production. Hubert had brought an ore different fromst time. While the former had the Blessing of Wind, raising Attack Speed by 75% and Movement Speed by 15%, This one was said to have a calming effect and could give resistance to certain status ailments. The cksmith was looking forward to how this would trante once it was refined. Seth was especially intrigued by it, because the calming effect might be of use to counteract the negative side-effects of the Lunacy and Madness effects, that Urths brought with it. In that case, Seth was deliberating on making a jewelry set made of this new material mandatory for anyone with a set of lunacy. Though, these projects would probably have to wait since Seth had more pressing matters that drew his attention. With idle thoughts of what was toe, the cksmith finished the first bars of the new material.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om found in the Resting nes of Ishital. The refinement has further condensed the calming effect on the mind to a great degree> This didn''t sound bad at all. Seeing how the calming effect was said to have been strengthened, Seth had high hopes for the effect it would have on the itemster. Looking at the clock, he realized that it was time. He set refining the rest of the silver aside and hurried to the adjacent room, where the magic circle for the ritual of Seth was waiting for him. Before he started, he brought out the Amulet of the Nightcrawler. Although luck was a lot more important during the crafting process of an actual item when using , it wouldnt hurt during the ritual, and this was something he had wanted to test but had not had a chance to before. He had already tested around with the ring''s new power and precious things, as he needed all the luck he could get. He went from System Currency to credits, tomon jewelry and items, to better stuff he and Sivri had made. The general trend was that he got his moneys worth. Sacrificing something that could be sold for 1 gold, also had the effect of one gold. Mary worth worked reliably, but Seth also found out a little more. Value was not only based on the hard currency. However, there was also another definition for precious. Would something precious to him, something he cared for, have more effect? He had not dared to test it before, but this was a good chance. This was why he brought one of his older items, the Amulet of the Nightcrawler. It was one of his first items. He had gotten it when his journey had just begun, and it was the reason why he had always made sure to have a Nightvision effect on his equipment. It was not incredibly precious, it was actually quite cheap, but it had sentimental value. Seth activated , the power of the ring, and the ne vanished in a rain of glowing specks. He was notified that his Luck was raised by 15 points, for 15 minutes. A lot more than a simple gold coin, despite selling for maybe a few silver coins. It worked, but it was also a tug at his heart since he had just lost something, he was slightly attached to. This was a method to use the ring, Seth was probably going to avoid since there were not that many things he had left, that had a high sentimental value to him. Losing one to experimentation already hurt enough. He sacrificed another seven gold coins, raising his luck by 35. With a clean bonus of 50, he started the ritual. Chanting the invocations, the cksmith poured the epic blood of a Dune Jackal and the epic blood of a Dragon Donkey into the grooves that were carved into the floor. The iron was ced at the center of the circle. When the sixth hour of the new day began, the blood in the grooves started to glow brightly as it evaporated and filled the pile of in the middle with power. This went on for maybe 15 minutes before the formation finally quieted down again. Surprised, Seth found that the improved Lucky Trinket was already at work Previously, the attributes were ranging between Destruction, Desert, and Storm. But the Storm was now substituted by Seth''s Battle Strength. Quite Satisfied with the oue of his day, Seth finally returned to his bed sometime in the early morning. After staying up all night, refining legendary materials, nothing held him back from quickly falling into sleep. It waste noon when he regained consciousness, what woke him was not the gentle shaking of themunication orb, but the ring of his phones ringtone. H-Hoen? Why are you calling me on the phone? You wouldnt pick up the orb, I tried every hour since afternoon. Im done with the scales. Everything is ready. This seemed very important to you, so I thought I would inform you, as quickly as I could, the dwarf added warmly. Everything is ready? he asked, still fighting the drowsiness. Yes! Everything is ready! Ill be at the workshop in a moment, wait for me! Entangled in the nket, the cksmith tried to hurriedly stand up and get off the bed. Kicking and struggling, he finally got the persistence thing off his body. With a mighty step, he got out of bed, only to lose bnce and keel over. Mid fall the Tower teleported him to the workshop, where he barely caught his step. Tored, Sivri, and Hoen were already standing in position, ready to witness the fruits of theirbor as Seth would bring everything together. Are you ready? Everything is Ready! the dwarfs said in an amused choir. Hearing their answer, Seth gave them a nod and led them to the golem forge, to witness greatness. Chapter 1049. Colossus of Rhodes? The group of craftsmen rode Puffles away from Minas Mar, to Seth''s practice valley. Despite having a massive hangar for making big golems, they still had to get outside for this project. The valley where Seth had tested the Devil''s Wheel Fiddle and helped Luf had been thoroughly ttened in the past and perfect for the first step. To summon the Golem Forge on a colossal scale. With the size it needed to work on a colossal body, it even overshadows the peaks of the mountains, just outside the range of the bard''s practice. All materials were prepared. All of their inventories were bursting with crates of bronze scales. Seth also had the king''s colossal. He had also deliberated on using foreign bones to substitute the ones cut during the battle, however, he had found a way to have the Golem Forge mend these bones. The cute of the space magic was so clean, that the chance of a structural weakness in the mended area was very small. After summoning the massive forge, Seth loaded the blueprint for the Colossus of Rhodes into the crafting station, which was adapted from his idea of scaled golems. Seth and the three dwarfs had poured a lot of nning into the blueprint to create various greater formations, using the enchantments of the already finished scales, as well as new ones and some made of other materials. cing the materials in the station''s inventory posed a small problem, as the body itself barely fit after emptying it from the materials and bodies still stored inside. In the end, they were only able to fit the body and a handful of crates into the station. Seth imagined how they would have to feed it crates with materials as the Golem Forge worked. Like stokers who had to shovel coal into a steam engine, but they would have to shovel materials into the crafting station. Of course, it was just an intrusive thought. Once the forge started working, the body would be on the crafting station, not in its inventory. At that time they would be able to load up the space with the remaining stuff. Apart from the scales and the body, there was also a more recent addition to the n. Five of them to be exact. Tored and Grant, their enchanter, had spent some time studying the core reactor, Lydia had given him. The five cores Seth brought out were the result of their research, Compared to the damaged original, they were not asplicated or intricate, but they were much easier to integrate and use as power sources. Even Minas Mar had only five of these giant monster cores needed to make them in storage, as they had next to nobody who had a use for them. They were usually a material sought after by enchanters to power their formations and enchantment. One could also carve it into the nucleus of a staff or wand, but there were better materials for that. It was a good thing, that the colossus would not rely on these. They were simply an additional power-up. The golem itself would be powered by the arrays of formations that covered its body. They only added the cores as an extra boost or backup. Okay, everything is ready. Shall we start? Seth asked the others in excitement. The three craftsmen nodded. Especially Tored, who was fascinated by the process since his first time seeing the forge in action ~Will the interesting thing finallye?~ Puffles asked sarcastically. The nightmare centipede was not impressed by the massive Golem Forge. Yes, I''m starting the crafting now! The massive machine turned on right after he said it. Magical lights came to life as the Golem Forge adjusted to the shape and size of the colossal King. Held by massive mechanical arms and mps, the naked body of the colossus appeared inside the Golem Forge. Syringes and ws began their work on the corpse, as the first step was mending the damage and turning it into a corpse puppet. The sight was... underwhelming. ~Why is it so slow?~ Puffles innocently voiced the thoughts nobody dared to utter. While the scale went up, the speed it was working at didn''t! What they perceived as incredibly fast on humanoid size, now seemed to be excruciatingly slow... At this pace, it could take over a week just to mend the damage and reinforce the body, Sethmented. It was unsure whether the Golem Forge would be able to finish the work before the Pythian Games began. Not only that, this meant the Golem Forge was out ofmission until the colossus was finished. And Seth couldn''t move it in the meantime. I also can''t just leave it here. I would need someone to guard it... he muttered. ~Not me!~ the Ivicer reacted quickly. Another three Not me! could be heard from the three dwarfs, motivated by Puffle''s exmation. Don''t worry, I wasn''t going to ask either of you anyway, he said and took out themunication orb. Heads? Come to my current Position. Seth called Secret Weapon I. The supermassive golem Cerberus had crafted for weeks. Well,pared to the Colossus it was still just half the size, so calling it supermassive might have been too much. They waited for about 30 minutes before the valley floor started shaking and the golem could be seen on the horizon. In the meantime, Seth had ced all the materials in the forge. Everything would run automatically from here on out. You stay here and make sure nobody interferes with the Golem Forge. When the forge ever stops, call me, got it? the cksmith instructed. The massive golem nodded eight times. Sorry for the disappointment guys. I didn''t think it would take that long... he apologized to the others embarrassingly. Of course, Seth didn''t expect it to be super quick, but estimating several days just for the mending, not including the crafting process, was far outside his expectations.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Don''t worry about it, Tored patted his shoulder. The dwarven master was happy enough to have witnessed the massive Golem Forge and Minas Mar''s secret weapon Nr.1. ~Can we go back now? I''m bored.~ the Ivicer rent his heart without a care. Sure, let''s go back, Seth agreed with a sigh. Maybe it was just him who was disappointed? He had been looking forward to it and his expectation of a spectacr performance had blinded him to the time aspect of it. Slightly depressed, Seth returned with the rest of them on Puffles. He would definitely get double portions when they went for dinnerter. It was that kind of day. .... ---Northeastern Mountain--- Old man Xiong, the Aerial Strikers have found a clue, the Golem Knight informed the master of the Snow Falcon Sect. After another week without signs, the old man was about to lose his mind. On Urth, people would say that the chance for a missing child being found alive was next to zero after 24 hours, much less a few days. Qiao Ya had been missing for three weeks now. On the other hand, she was a grown adult and cultivator. Not only were cultivators a lot harder to kill, but Xiong Peng had an advantage other parents and grandparents didn''t have, her Soul Lamp. Despite precariously flickering, it was still lit, which meant that there was no doubt about his granddaughter being alive. Where is it? he asked for the clue. The golem signaled him to follow and the two flew off on two Aerial Strikers. When they first arrived, the mountains were swarming with monsters, now most of them were in by the sickle-swinging dragonflies, or fled at the sight of the flying death. The ce they came to was a misty and deep gorge at the side of a mountain. It was hard to see inside, but with the guidance of the golem, the sect leader noticed the signs of battle on the floor and walls of the gorge. He was about to ask something when the golem answered his question. They found some... remains that had the symbol of your sect. They are not in a good condition. Xiong Peng nodded grimly. Show them to me. The knight took the lead and went to the ce the dragonflies indicated to him. The old man''s face became even more serious when he saw the desecrated bodies of his disciples. Despite something seemingly gnawing off their faces and ripping apart their bodies, he could recognize them. Did you ce them like this? he asked, seeing their bodies neatly lined up. Compared to the state they were in, this gesture seemed almost mocking. The golem shook his head. They were like this when they found them. But who...? I may be able to exin, human. there was a voice from the mist. When they looked over, a short figure stepped close enough for them to see it. A dwarf? Chapter 1050. Dashed Hopes A failure! the cksmith thought disappointed. Before he began on another serious project, he thought of doing something rxing, which was experimenting with the three Geass-holding soul pieces, he had refined out of the four souls from Y-City. In the beginning, Seth had held especially high hopes for the soul of the Shellcoat, which held the Geass of not losing stamina in the water, in exchange for only being able to feast on sentient beings. However, it turned out to be a failure. After creating a small water golem from the soul piece, using Forgebrands original Golem Formation, he remembered an important detail. Golems had no stamina! Stamina was something for beings of flesh and blood, just like eating. Golems ran on mana and had no need for food. The geass was absolutely useless on the water golem, even if it was technically active. What else was there? When Seth infused it into a ring, the restriction was applied to the wearer. His reaction was obvious. Who would want a ring of Unlimited Stamina(in Water), if it made the consumption of sentient beings necessary? Cannibals, of course. Or maybe there was a workaround for what sentient beings were? Then he had a sh of genius. The solution was as simple as it was brilliant. One could just take off the ring for eating. With the geass attached to the ring and not the soul, one could avoid the cost, by taking it off. With this realization, the soul fragment holding the geass became slightly more precious, but he would have to think a little more about what to do with the soul. ... When Golems ran on mana then, of course, the geass of not losing mana was pretty enticing, right? Yes, it was. But itcked the charm of tricking the restriction of the power. The Forestscratt did not lose mana in forests. While he could make a golem of water and argue that it was always in water because it was made of it, he could hardly make a walking forest that would still count as a forest. Although he couldnt think of a golem that would count as a forest in a forest, the Tree Stations were undoubtedly forests. Seth thought that if he used the soul of the Forestscratt correctly he could make a golem that was not losing mana inside the Tree Stations. Was what he was hoping for, but after some testing around, Seth found that this had more restrictions than the obvious one. The mana was seemingly unlimited, like a mana bar that would not empty, however, the maximum of the mana bar was also restricted, limiting how much mana could be drawn at once. Seth was unable to erge said mana bar, despite fusing souls into the Forestscratt s soul. The test golem he used the soul on, had a fixed mana source of 1500 mana. It was a limit set by the geass. This meant the Forestscratt was unable to use skills or spells that needed more than 1500 mana at once. Otherwise, how could the golems have caught it alive? Still, the geass had its use. Although the golem''s power output would be limited, it would be able to repeatedly use skills and magic that cost below 1500 mana without any worry. That was no small amount of Mana. There was also magic that could stack up power by channeling mana, but those had long casting times. Despite the limit, it would still be a golem that would never stop moving inside a Tree Station. And what if he added a secondary energy source or storage? After giving it a serious thought, Seth found that the best option was to refine and modify its body in the Golem Forge, once it was free again, and fuse it back in there. Repairing the body also cost a golem mana, the better the material, the more mana it took to repair. Taking the geass into ount, it was better to make the body from a material, that was cheap to repair. With the Forestscratt''s body made of rare-rated wood, the golem would be able to heal quickly, no matter how great the damage, or how often it happened. ... Prompted by the find of the Shellcoat''s soul, Seth revisit the portion of Dimblood''s soul he had refined out. The geass allowed the Lepresean to be invisible, but he had to serve the person that caught him until he managed to escape. The cksmith''s first thought was turning it into some kind of suicide spy golem, using the effect of the geass, to trigger a kill effect of a Soul Contract and retrieve the soul that way, if the golem was caught. But what about a ring of invisibility? There were already enchantments that could make the user invisible, but it was still worth a shot since the invisibility in this case had no restrictions like mana cost or special actions. Expectant, he fused the soul into a test ring. Disappointing! Seth had no idea what the rules were. Why did the stamina geass apply to the user, but the invisibility applied to the ring? How did that trante?! If even there were uses for a ring that could be invisible, what was the point if it would actively try to be lost and eventually find a new owner? Seth decided not to bother with it. Suicide spy golem it is, he thought to himself.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Lastly, there was the soul of the troll. His first thought was that it had the highest promise as a stone golem. The problem was the point of turning into brittle stone in the sunlight. Even if Seth made it from some special mineral, it would turn to brittle stone in direct sunlight. The geass gave a 90% immunity to physical damage, but it would be weak to magic if it was brittle stone. The same was true for items. When infused into a shield or armor, it would turn to brittle stone in the sun. Like with the damage immunity of his dragon scale armor, the effect only applied to the item itself, not the wearer. So he couldn''t just make an item for someone like Mina, who could cloak it in darkness all day around, or only use it in dark ces. Then what if hepletely doubled down on the darkness aspect of it? Something that would only act in the darkness and be shrouded in ... Before he could get to it, he got a call from Master Mountain and his friend. You found her? he asked half surprised. She what? he asked fully surprised. Yeah, she and the survivors of her group were rescued by a group of dwarfs living in this mountain range, Yu revealed to him. It seemed that the granddaughter and herpanions had faced a mysterious creature they were unable to defeat. On their escape, they were chased into a deep gorge. They were ready to ept their destiny and got ready for a final battle when the dwarfs found them and offered shelter. The gorge they had run into turned out to be one of the back entrances to their kingdom. They call themselves Stoneborn and are a little different from the dwarfs I have seen at Minas mar and Delta, but undoubtedly dwarfs, he assured him Dwarfs settling on Urth? This was the first time Seth heard of that. Well, it was not like there was a lot of news about the No Man''s Land away from the remaining settlements. Did they immigrate here? Seth asked. Yu had mentioned they were different from the dwarfs he saw in Delta. If that was true there was a possibility that ... I also asked that. It''s a no. They say they had always been living under these mountains, but they have a huge gap in their memories, the cultivator shared with him. What Yu indicated with that, was that Seth''s suspicions were most likely true. These Stoneborn were dwarfs that originated from Urth itself and appeared because of the awakening of the slumbering realm, just like the weird creatures and monsters that had appeared in Y-City. The difference was, that they seemed to be the first friendly addition to their nightmarish World. Well, that was notpletely true, there was also Strik Forebone the cksmith had met in Y-City. Maybe this was a tiny sliver of hope, that not everything that was awakening was out for their lives. Actually, they are extremely fascinated by your golems and would like to meet you, Yu added. ...Then tell them to send an envoy, Seth said resolutely. He wasn''t going to leave home at this point. Especially not when the destination was that far away. Chapter 1051. The New Representative Seth, we have to talk, Leana personally appeared at the workshop. She seemed upset. Upset enough that she ran down to the workshops, instead of calling him like usual. The cksmith looked up from the ornaments he was currently preparing for Ortega''s new armor. He put down the file he was working with and turned to her, ready to listen. The new representative of Chrona arrived today, she said with a serious face. That was today? Okay, but why did you have toe here so quickly? the bard asked a little confused. Yes, it was today and it''s someone I know. Her grave voice had Seth prick his ears. Sounds like it''s not an acquaintance you enjoy knowing? he asked, his attention fully on the conversation now. Leana shook her head. Yes. Merkraut Sar, also known as the Peddler of Ruin is known to be a hardliner nationalist. He is part of the faction that advocates more...extreme measures for expansion. What''s worse is that he''s a subordinate of my second brother. she summed up the issue. That means? Seth prompted her to continue. Everything she said sounded quite grave, but Seth didn''t really have any idea about the structure of Chrona. So far, he had only experienced the light side. he had a good impression of Leana, Hardwig, and even the Emperor. of course, there had been some issue during the banquet in Chrona, but he couldn''t expect that everyone in an empire that spanned a myriad of worlds was a good person. The second oldest is the leader of the Nationalist faction and the one with the greatest chance to win the right for inheritance, after Hardwig. Now that the Peddler of Ruin is here, I''m sure the previous incident of the Representative working with Spatia was also his doing, the princess exined her assumption. So we are up against the second prince, but why? Didn''t you say they were the faction for aggressive expansion, or whatever? How is helping their enemy achieve that? Because I belong to Hardwigs Faction, my sess here in Urth counted to his achievements. Don''t you get it? The better things went on Urth, the stronger it proved that our approach was the right one. But look at Urth now, only one of the original districts is left and it''s just hanging in there, while Chrona has barely any grasp on it now. The moment it falls to Spatia, it will be seen as a sign that we had to change our approach. Seth gagged. I hate politics. This means we are up against the second prince who is trying to serve us up to Spatia, while also being up against Spatia? Seth asked annoyed. Do you think he also got rid of Hardwig? Leana shook her head. I doubt it. Hardwig probably dipped and hid himself before he could make a move. So, what do you suggest we do about it? The Pythian Games are just around the corner. Do we have to guard against Chrona, too? he asked seriously. No, I don''t think they will act this quickly, but we should prepare for the worst.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om You mean business as usual then, Sethmented sarcastically. He smiled as he said it, but then his expression became serious again. I will promise you one thing, Leana. No matter what happens, I will not allow Spatia to touch anything precious to me. Even if Chrona tries to serve Urth to them on a silver tter, we will be the morsel that gets stuck in their throat and choke them to death. After Seth''s experience in the formation of cultivators and the fight with the Scene, his stance had slightly shifted. It was not just about being more proactive in taking care of dangers. His sentence had included all of Urth, not just Minas Mar. The bard was no hero. He never felt like stepping up to solve the problems of the world, not if it severely inconvenienced him. This didn''t mean he didn''t feel empathy when faced with terrible situations. It was the twang he had already felt back in Ora and the reason he wanted to return. At the end of the day, the people of Urth were his people. He epted that he couldn''t stop all tragedies and didn''t let it bother him. But there were things he could do and he decided to act on them in earnest. Leana stared at him for a moment. She had a hard time deciding whether he was crazy, or serious. the weird part was that she was ready to believe that they could pull it off. She straightened her back and adjusted her designer suit with new determination. Fine, if that is how you think I will do my best to help. On that note, we got messages from almost all teams on outside missions. They will be back in time for the games, she shared another piece of information. Who is missing? Seth asked surprised. Jonah and Misto are yet to contact us. ... ---Kaverna--- Thick mists billowed over the silent field. Pale sunlight barely made it through the cloudy sky only to fall on earth, drenched in blood. The battlefield was a gruesome sight, filled with the bodies of valiant warriors and pitiful draftees. Walking through the mist was a solitary figure. The ck leather armor and a long silver sword in his hand entuated his tall, slender build. The figure wore a dreadfully beautiful but sinfully aloof-looking mask. The androgynous beauty and expression of the mask made the man look like a god, separated from the secr world, emotionlessly witnessing the cruelty of the battlefield. Holding his side, blood was trickling through his fingers, joining the crimson puddles on the ground. There was a gash in the armor and a big wound, that was only slowly closing. This was Jonah, the chosen of Munara, the Goddess of Gruesome Beauty in battle. How many does this make? he asked, breathing in the cold, damp air. The thick white mist billowed as if disturbed by a sudden wind. Swirling, it collected into a single ce beside Jonah, slowly taking a humanoid shape. Misto Pheles, the mist demon appeared beside the chosen. That was the 15th assassin that tried to kill you during a mission. While the other teams chose to be adventurers, Jonah and Misto had be mercenaries in this world ravaged by wars. Jonah''s Path to Legend was the Sword yer. He grew the most through ughter and achievement in battles or fights in duels. They had judged that it was easier to make a name on the Battlefield, instead of hoping for big adventures. However, two weeks after they started rising in fame, people had started aiming for him. They were not normal people or simple assassins. They were specialized to aim for his weaknesses and counter his strengths. Even with the Sword of Chains, he had been unable to make them talk. The moment they were at a disadvantage, they would take their own life. We don''t have much longer, we should find a town with a church and report back home, the demon suggested. Their life on the battlefield had not allowed them to visit flourishing towns very often. This world didn''t have many of them left either. Kaverna was also called the World of Wars because these states were constantly locked in blood wars inherited from their ancestors since time immemorial. The wholendscape was littered with ruins, left from ces that existed and wars that destroyed them, nobody could remember anymore. You are right, we should cash in our money for this mission and leave this world, Jonah mumbled in agreement. I''m afraid that won''t happen. A massive figure stepped out of the mist, blocking their path. Chapter 1052. Joannia Taggart. ---Little Gamma, About 2 Weeks Later--- Seth stood on a mountain, at the edge of Little Sigma''s barrier, just below the crown of the tree. Looking into the distance, using Theia''s Vision and he was able to look over a vastndscape of mountains, past the foothills and even at the edge of the eastern ins. The cksmith came to Little Gamma yesterday since there were only two days left before the Entrance Ceremony of the Pythian Games started. he hade 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 resemnce 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 be moremon 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 inparison 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 somepletely 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 wasunched 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 thest 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 howposed and determined she acted, the responsibility of leading her people, maybe thest people on the, 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 ce 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, tion, nervousness, relief, she suppressed these emotions, as she had to beep a calm and collected mind as themander. If she made the wrong decision, because she was too impatient or overwhelmed by feelings, all the things they had ovee 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 disyed the picture of a humongous centipede-like creature with a white ceramic carapace and golden ents. Sitting right behind the creature''s golden neck shield was a manpletely dressed in dark medieval armor. After a moment of thought, shemanded for the vessel toe to a halt. Activate the loudspeakers. This ismander Joannia Taggart, of Epsilon''s Survivor Fleet speaking. Identify yourself. Why did you block our path? she asked in amanding 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. Nheless, 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 notnd.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om 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, yers, demons, and cultivators. Unexpectedly, the shuttle did not prepare tond. 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 superheronding. All six neers 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 simr 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 be 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 cksmith 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. Chapter 1053. As long as we had Shells Afterplimenting her on her outfit, Seth guided her and the five guards with her to the stadium administrative office, where Leana and Jane who were in direct control of the games'' management, as well as the members of Yulecat''s Fur, in charge of their safety, were waiting for them. While the guards stayed in the huge Power Armors, theirmander returned hers to the inventory to sit down at the table with Jane, Leana, and Seth. As a staff member supplied them with drinks, another brought Seth a bunch of papers. If you wish to take part in the Pythian games, you can fill out this form to register for the various disciplines. For your information, this is an exception because the deadline is technically over, the bard reminded her and gave her the stack of paper. Joannia''s face derailed a little, as she obviously had not thought that there would be a deadline for registration. Thank you, she said a little embarrassed, but quickly hid it. She was definitely a lot younger than Seth would have expected, around the same age as Evee, maybe. The true core of the conversation started with Joannia giving a brief recollection of the things that transpired in Epsilon and her role in many of them. She was the prominent daughter of the second biggest technologypany that was seated in Epsilon. Ah, now I know why your name seemed so familiar! Jane suddenly eximed. You are the genius of Tag Corp, she added with a great smile. Its a good thing someone of your caliber survived. You know of her Jane? the cksmith couldnt help but ask, seeing the womans gushing reaction. Mary also looked at her with a questioning look. Were you guys living under a rock or something? Tag Corp was a juggernaut, most of themunication tech we still use was built from their parts, Jane borated. She was about to sing more praises when Joannia cleared her throat. Jane realized that it probably wasnt the best time to gush about a glorious past that was gloriously crushed by the apocalypse. Im sorry, she apologized meekly and sat back in her chair. I-Its okay. You said nothing wrong. Its just, not a fond memory, themander said amiable. The genius engineer continued her story after the short interruption. Like Gamma, Epsilon was able to cope with the start of the Apocalypse. She herself gained a ss called Tenacious Tinkerer, an epic engineer ss when she turned 16 about half a year after the cataclysm. Although things changed with monsters and dungeons appearing at random, they were able to manage themselves fairly well. At least they thought they were. While many like herself started exploring the new possibilities magic brought with it, an enemy was growing in the darkness. In secret, their society was slowly infiltrated and corrupted. When people finally caught onto what was happening, many important figures had already been sabotaged, assassinated, or assimted. Seth knew the perpetrators behind these actions just too well, Demons. When the veil was lifted, the people of Epsilon were thrust into a brutal war as hell was summoned to their district, and demonic hordes overran those who were left. Bragmomalsckeys knew no mercy and there was no end to hordes we had only one choice left. It didnt help that around that time, cultivators also started appearing, kidnapping people and bringing them back to their world. In ast-ditch effort, Tag Corp revealed their fangs. With Joannia as lead researcher, they had already started building various prototypes of weapons, vehicles, and flying vessels, that were a fusion of science and magic. Evacuating as many Civilians as possible, they sacrificed half their fleet topletely raze Epsilon and all of the summoning formations and demons in the city to the ground. In the short respite after theirst hopeless rise, it seemed that they had dealt a fatal hit to the demons, at a great cost of their own. After much hesitation, the survivors decided to leave Epsilon for good. They scavenged what they got, built what they could, and fled from the ruins of their home. It was a tragic story. Have you been on the move in the No Man''s Land ever since you left Epsilon? Mary asked concerned, but Joannia shook her head. We found shelter at a city in the No Man''s Land called New Hope. We have been staying there for a while. Until we found that ce we were worried to be thest people left, she said with a wry smile. Are the giants still guarding the ce properly ? Seth asked curious. New Hope was no news to the bard and the others. It was the birthce of Pip and some of the other children under Karina. After fleeing from the Theocracy of Chains he had stayed there for a short while. Part of the people that fled with him had stayed there. He had also made a promise to Pip that he would help her if she wanted to return there aftering of age. Unfortunately, Leana''s efforts to ce a Starta Vige in its vicinity had been blocked at the time. You know about the giants? Did you visit New Hope before? she asked back surprised. You could say that I''m the one who arranged those protectors for them, Seth said humbly, earning an incredulous look from Joannia. Interesting. Yes, they have been doing a good job guarding the city, they even tried to stop us when we first arrived. They were an especially great help during a recent undead invasion. Thanks to them we were able to concentrate on rebuilding the city''s facilities. We prepared to stay there until we got your transmission. It was the only reason we truly believed that at least Delta survived and sent out scouts to look for a route here. Wait a moment, one step back. An undead invasion? In New Hope? Leana was the first to speak up, but everyone at the table had the same thoughts. The troops of Arget Nore that went east to hunt people and vanished, they had actually fallen at the hands of Epsilon''s fleets and the giants. They had wiped out the main forces of the undead empire station in Urth. the giants alone were not strong enough for that. It was proof of Epsilon''s formidable strength. When there were any doubts about them razing a whole district, even when Epsilon was on the smaller side, they were now gone. Yes, they suddenly appeared one day, aiming for the city. The giants had some casualties before we entered the fray, themander exined shortly. It''s good to know New Hope is safe, Seth simply said with a smile. And you repaired New Hopes facilities? Seth asked, interested in a different point she mentioned. More or less. With the things we had and some repairs, we barely got them running at 20% of their original performance. she offhandedly described getting machines and facilities that had stood still for decades back to working condition, like it just took some spit and elbow grease. However, when we got confirmation from our scouts that Delta survived and Minas Mar actually existed, we decided that we would like to immigrate here. Joannia finally finished her story, getting to the core of the meeting. The people of Epsilon wished to find safety and shelter in Minas Mar. But why? Leana asked with a questioning gaze. Disregarding everything they just heard; this was a negotiation. This was about inviting a new group of citizens into their domain and the conditions of it. However, unlike the crowds of refugees and citizens that hade to Minas Mar previously, they were a well-organized group with the power to stand their ground in Urths wilderness. Dont you have a powerful fleet? With the power you described, you should be able to stay anywhere you want. Why would you not stay at New Hope, despite going to the trouble of doing repairs? Leana pinpointed the plot hole in their request. They had the power to seek freedom, why did they choose to join someone else? Joannia smiled apologetically. You are right, if we had a powerful fleet we may not have decided to leave New Hope, despite the many problems with the old infrastructure. I wont lie to you; things arent as rosy for us. Themander said openly. Despite the thick power armors, the guards became visibly nervous. This was a delicate topic. I mentioned how we left Epsilon, right? Apart from the few surviving prototypes our fleet is just a bunch of cobbled together tin cans. Although we tried improving them, but we never really got the opportunity. Even then, it was okay as long as we had shells, well...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om We used most of our ammunition against the undead and our energy supply was barely enough to hold them in the air. Not to mention energy weapons most of them dont even have a shield As she talked, the frustration in her voice became very clear. It was obvious that these were problems that bothered her for a long time and that were the topic of many discussions in the past. Staying at New Hope, or anywhere else of that matter, would just lead to further decline until we die off one by one That is why we decided toe here. Chapter 1054 Why are you telling me all of this? Chapter 1054Why are you telling me all of this? Joannia revealed their worries and future prospects with a monotone, slightly depressed voice. "What about the people of New Hope?" Jane asked a question, that also interested Seth. "We brought whoever wished to leave with us. The rest will have to rely on the giants for protection," Joanna answered with a clear conscience. She wasn''t able to do anything about the people that refused to leave. "I see. Before you make the final decision, do you know how the system of Minas Mar works?" Seth finally asked, satisfied with her answers. Her slightly clueless look was answer enough. She may have heard rumors from people on the streets, but those people didn''t know what emigrating to Minas Mar as such a big group really entailed. Feeling prompted, Jane began to exin. "You have to think of Minas Mar more as a gatedmunity than a district. What we do is offer a safe living environment to the people, in exchange we require rent. Minas Amr has no centralized governance; each Tree Station is self-governing in nature. Apart from requiring and supporting the enforcement of Common District Civil Laws, Minas Mar does not intervene in, or take over duties of governance." "Though we maintain the right to kick out anyone we don''t like," Seth interrupted the legal text with a quick "In addition, there are various duties to be upheld by the governing body of a tree station, to ensure the maintenance of a healthymunity..." Jane got back in the monologue when Joannia wildly waved her hand a requested a break. "Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked slightly exasperated. "Because you fit the criteria of governing your own Tree station, of course," Seth answered her with a pixyish smile. There were 12 Tree Stations, not counting Agra and Thres. Of these twelve, there were only a few that could be called fully functioning cities like Little Sigma, or Little Gamma. The reason was necessity. It took an ungodly amount of energy to grow these tree cities and little Sigma was still the biggest, created by Karina as a massive proof of concept in the beginning. The refugees from Sigma and Gamma flooding into Minas Mar from Delta made it necessary for the stations closest to the central district to take on a lot of people. Simrly, TS3 which was left to Yvette, the Saintes of Samhach, TS7 where the White Snake Deity resided and the Tree Stations 10-12, which housed the remaining populous of Ypselon were on the bigger side. Those in between were much smaller in scale, only holding poptions in the hundred-thousands. This meant there was enough space for a Little Epsilon, governed and guardian-ed by their own fleet. Although, it would not be bad to have this fleet facing Y-City., everyone thought a Little Epsilon was the best course of action, except Joannia. "W-Wait, you are offering us a whole city for ourselves?" she asked flustered. The expression on her face was not one of happiness or excitement. Although she had proven herself apetent leader, she was still young. Seth had the inkling, that she had hoped to escape this role, rather than suddenly having to fulfill it in an official setting. "I wouldn''t say it like that, after all, you would still have to integrate with the people already living there. But all the governments are democratic, so you would have no trouble dominating the elections," Jane gave a very realistic view of what would happen. She did her best to hide it, but her disappointment was visible on her face. Was she already envisioning a future where she was forced to do governor duties and take part in political discussions? Seth pondered for a moment and decided to throw out a bait. "Although I''m sure you are already looking forward to leading your people into a bright future in their new home. There is a better use for someone of your talents," Seth spoke to her. Her ear pricked up. "Genius engineers like you and your team could make a so much bigger difference in helping Minas Mar as a whole, instead of restricting yourselves to a single city. I would be ted if you considered joining Minas Mar and helping us improve our defenses," Seth said genuinely.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om He would have been an idiot if he didn''t try to recruit them. The gods knew they needed more firepower as the world kept growing more dangerous around them. They had the money and the resources, but theycked the know-how and the technicians. Baker and his few remaining men already had trouble building a subway cart. Now here he had a genius, with a team of people that built a fleet of flying ships from scrap. He could see it in her eyes. She was wavering. "Don''t worry, I don''t intend to separate you from your people. We have a role we call guardians, which are usually individuals or groups of ...people with overwhelming strength we trust. Their duty in a station is to step up in case a simr danger encroaches on their district. You could work and research with our full support and use your gains as the guardian of your people." "I-I will have to think about that and consult with my advisors, before making a decision," she answered hesitatingly, but Seth was sure she was convinced. When she talked about the technology and the problems with the fleet, the bard recognized her as the same kind of person as Alison. A researcher enamored with her work. It was just that the pesky apocalypse hade between her and the pursuit of knowledge, simply because there was no one else to step up and lead the remains of Epsilon. Apetent leader, but an even morepetent scientist, this was the impression he got from the young woman. Of course, nothing was written in stone. Joannia had many options, that didn''t epass joining Minas Mar. Another option was for her people to disperse among the various tree stations, settling wherever they liked it the most. "You are right. We should talk about this in more detail after the games," Seth agreed with her. Farewells were shared and Joannia left, followed by her five guards. When themander and her guards left, Leana turned to Seth. "Let me guess, you will leave the further negotiations to us?" she asked, seeing more work sailing toward her on the horizon. "Who else? Me? I fully trust you two with this. If she still hesitates, keep sweetening the deal until she agrees that she and her team be a subsidiary guild of Minas Mar." There was no debate about whether, or how to recruit them, Leana was justining about the work contribution. Though he didn''t advocate to change it, it was good to have an important task. If Seth had not spoken up, she would have definitely tried to invite them. An advanced air force with high-powered weapons was incredibly valuable for various reasons. "If you would excuse me, I will go back to spending the remaining two days with Mina," Seth said with a smile and left, too. ... ---Gamma, Arget Nore--- The time was finally here, the Pythian game would happen soon. His withered, cold hand strokes the grimoire in his arms. The first attempt was a failure, but he still had their support. With the materials they gave him, he would be able to finally do it. The 77th spell, carved into the ck stone pages of the book. It needed a lot of preparations and rare, sanctified materials, but he had finally done it. In front of him stood a stone door, formed from gray, dim rock and covered in pictograms. Golden tablets framed the door, and there was an ident, that fit the stone page of his grimoire. He stepped closer to it and started chanting from the book, as he slowly and deliberately walked around the door in well-measured steps. Had his heart not stopped a long time ago, it would be beating in excitement right now. With this ritual he would unleash a force Arget Nore would not be able to cope with, no matter how many golems they bought. This time he would rise and crush those vermin that dared to grasp for hope. He would show them the darkness of the world. The darkness.... Chapter 1055. Greet Python ---Little Gamma--- The first day of the Pythian Games. The massive stadium finally opened its gates. Taken along by the colorful crowd he was flooded into the wonder of architecture. The central za was surrounded by ranks and booths that towered into the sky. Enough seats to fit a whole city or three... He had stayed at Little Gamma for the past few days and had to admit, that the cksmith and his people had outdone themselves. Seth had surpassed his expectations by far. Although they didn''t have a chance to meet yet, the cksmith had sent him tickets for special seats. Back then, he would never have expected that the man he came to know as a bard and cksmith would be the leader of such a massive organization, to the point that they would even organize an event of such scale and offer a legendary item as a prize. The first days were reserved for the contests of artistry, something he knew he had no talent in. Polter was a warrior whose only goal was the tournament, which would be the final of the Pythian games. As such, the dwarf used his stocky build to find his way through the mass of people and find his seat in one of the VIP Booths prepared for special guests. Since he didn''t partake in any of the earlier events, he took his time to enjoy the seats he was given. There was still an hour before the time of the first act, but the stadium was already filled to the brim. With interest, the dwarf looked at the other people he could spot in the seats of honor and adjacent VIP booths. The most eye-catching one had to be the Arch Lich who was peacefully sitting between a handful of other undead and two dark elves. Undead and Dark Elves... Are they a delegation from Arget Nore? the dwarf realized surprised. Apart from the shy undead, his eyes stuck to the old men in exotic, colorful robes. He had stayed long enough in Little Gamma to know that they were martial masters from the Voracious Cloud Continent, a world with a mysterious space bridge to Urth.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Once Polter stepped into the arena, they were a group of people he had to be wary of the most during the tournament. He had heard a lot about their weird and unique fighting techniques and magical powers. he was confident in dealing with people from the system worlds, even if they came from Chrona or Spatia. Hey, Polter, you are here, too? someone asked as they sat down beside him. it was a familiar voice, but it had been ages since he heard it. When he looked over, he saw a muscr, handsome human, sitting beside him leisurely. Caleb? the dwarven warrior asked surprised at the reunion with an oldpanion. Caleb, the Wyvern Knight who led their team during the evaluation. The dwarf doubted that this was a coincidence. Are you also here for the tournament? the dwarf asked him, leaning back in his seat. Of course, you also couldn''t resist trying to get your hands on a legendary item, right? Calebmented jokingly. To be honest, I''m also using this as a way to get out. A small vacation from my old man.. the dwarf said leisurely. Although they had not seen each other for a while, they had gone through life and death with each other. Their trust was unwavering, at least Polter didn''t fear Caleb would rat him out to his father. Haha, I understand. Although it would be great to win, I doubt I can make it. My goal is getting my name out there for thest push, Caleb exined. The Wyvern Knight was now lv.93 and he had done his homework. he needed to collect fame for the time once he reached lv.100. The Pythian games were a massive event, despite being held by a newly added world. there were not just VIPs like them or leading figures of forces that had a stake in Urth, but there were many noble visitors looking for entertainment. Not to mention the transmission across the whole of Chrona. It was THE chance to get one''s name out there. A good performance here could open a bright future. They talked for a while longer, catching up on what they did and experienced after the evaluation until a great fanfare interrupted their conversation. Someone appeared at the center of the arena, standing on a hovering tform. Haiyoo! This is your favorite host, Umi Kaldrobs speaking! In the name of Minas Mar, I was given the honor to present the first Pythian Games of Urth to you, the denizens of the Pathworks! she spoke upbeat into a stick she was holding. Her voice was magically amplified and transmitted across the Patchworks. Leana and Mary had done their best to get most major broadcasting channels of Chrona to broadcast the event. Wow... Caleb eximed breathlessly. Huh, what''s wrong, Caleb? the dwarf asked a little confused about his reaction. Don''t you know who that is? the Wyvern Knight asked, but quickly answered his own question. That''s Umi, THE Umi. One of the most popr and famous broadcast hosts. There are even rumors that im she is close to bing a legendary actress, the man gushed. Polter could only look at him with pity. He was convinced something had short-circuited in the knight''s brain. While the dwarf feared for the man''s sanity, the host kept going. Many of you have already heard about the Pythian Games in Olympian Myth and Religion, but these are a unique version. Why? Well, why don''t I introduce you to the name-giving deity of our event?! A big cheer for the guardian deity of Little Gamma, Python! the attractive host eximed and shifted away from the stadium''s center. The whole ce shook like an earthquake, when the earthen floor of the arena broke open and a massive, armored snake towered into the sky, her imposing and terrifying gaze wandering over the grow. Python was revealed to the world, live and in color on television. Python''s presence silenced the stadium, as everyone could only stare at the golem snake that had just burrowed out from the foundations of the stadium. C-Correct me if I''m wrong but... did that thing grow sincest time? Caleb asked an octave higher than his normal voice. Polter couldn''t speak, he could only nod slowly. The dwarf also felt like she had be even bigger than before. After a moment of silence, it was broken by the uproarious cheers of the crowd. At first, it was only people from Little Gamma cheering. Many of them had witnessed situations when Pythong saved travelers or defended the city from monsters, or cultivators. Their genuine cheer caught on and before long, the adventurers and yers in the stadium were also cheering. Seeing the reaction, Python lowered her head, giving a polite bow to the audience before vanishing back into the earth, not leaving even a single disced rock. The center of the stadium looked like it had never been disturbed. After Python was gone, Umi returned to the center of attention. Before we begin with the first contest, let me iterate the program for today and the following event. Urth''s Pythian Games are split into two sections. The first will be the traditional contests of artistic skills. We will witness artistspete in theater, poetry, lyrics, and music. They willpete in front of a panel of famous judges invited from all over the Pathworks, who will award them points based on their performance, she paused for a moment. The second segment will consist of physical contests. From timed races to contests of strength and endurance. We will slowly ramp up the action until we finally reach the two main events of the Pythian Games, which I''m sure everyone is looking forward to. A great obstacle race that will make even S-rank adventurers shiver. Especially since there are no rules! And, of course, the great martial tournament, where the winner can earn a legendary weapon! The cheers of the crowd were like the roaring of ocean waves. This was what they came for. The Martial Tournament would be apetition of skill and umtion, but the Obstacle race was a brutal contest of schemes and ruthlessness. Now that the official stuff is out of the way, let''s begin with the first discipline today! At the head of the oval stadium, opposite the entrance to the arena floor, was the private booth of Minas Mar. Below it, a row of banners now fell, revealing the panel of judges. A whisper traveled through the crowd. Most people who came here from the Pathworks knew at least one or two of them. Chapter 1056. The Judges The Traveling Sound, Master Bard Garmin Del''Prado, she introduced a scrawny, wizened man with a long beard held in a thin strand by many brass beads. He wore the typical colorful but travel-worn garb of a minstrel. The crowd rose in cheers, especially the visitors who actually heard of him before, or watched his performances. A Small, friendly smile yed around his lips as he waved at the crowd. The Century Scribe, Master Poet Enton Skice, the tall, thin man was introduced. He had a long face and sses that made him look strict, yet his fingers incessantly kept ying with a golden quill pen. He only gave the crowd a small smile and a nod. The one and only, the Witch of the Violin, Violet Vi, she introduced an old hag. She was unruly sitting on her chair,pletely ignoring the crowd, as she inspected the splotches on her dirty garb, as if she was deliberating whether to taste them or not. Yet, the apuse for her was the biggest. She finally acknowledged the stadium''s existence and her whole, wrinkly face deformed ad she looked like a leather boxing glove. Next we have a famous musician and songwriter of Urth, Keith RiJards, whose music has been enchanting Urth''s people for decades! the man at the center was called out. A man, looking old as time, but still filled with great vigor, waved at them with a confident smile. The dean of Urth''s Demon Bard College, Dean Remington, the demon, secondst to the right was introduced. The cheers and apuse were polite, as Ember''s grandfather stood up and gave a bow. He was not a very widely known face, but people respected his prestigious role. Demonic Bards were not unheard of across the worlds of the Pathworks. Last but not least, we have a guest from the mysterious Voracious Cloud Continent, Zither Saintess Lin Xiaoli, ady on the far right was introduced. She had a quiet and aristocratic air about her and received the crowd''s cheers with a quiet smile. The apuse was not as uproarious as the others, but this time many of the cultivators present joined in. Minas Mar had spared no expenses in hiring a well-known and illustrious panel of judges that could be acknowledged by all of the audience, no matter their origin. it was a shame Seth wasn''t among the judges, Polter and Caleb knew that he acted as a bard during the Evaluation, but he probably didn''t have the reputation to make an impact as a judge. Since you all now know our judges, it''s time to begin with our first content. As you all should know from the program, the first contest is for the solo musicians! Umi Kaldrobs announced to the waiting crowd. The entrance made the solo acts, differentiated into singers and musicians. Apuse for Hao Ying, known as the Fleeting Flute~ the presenter announced the first act. Especially the cultivators among the cloud cheered. It was a tall, slender man, his robes clearly identified him as a resident of the Cloud Continent. In his hands was a long silver flute, almost the length of his height. When he set it on his lips, a clear mncholic sound directly entered their ears and went to their heart. Polter instantly thought of home, of his childhood, of the lost time of innocence. These were not amateurs. Of course, this was not an open audition, but the finale. The musicians had already been curated beforehand and every performer was a well-known figure of their respective origin. Announced were about twenty acts in each category of the arts segment All musician had their very own style, often influenced by the ce they came from. No matter what instrument they used, the Cultivators usually yed very calm music. The people of the Pathworks were simr in a way, although they were slightly quicker on average. However, everything seemed slowpared to the demonic bard and members from Urth. While their music almost seemed chaotic, the beat and rhythm were hard to resist, having the whole audience sway to the music. It touched them in a different way from the often calm songs of other artists. Polter found it crazy how much the music affected him. He had never thought himself very musical, but he constantly felt his emotions sway, or his feet bob up and down. The dwarf had never expected that he would enjoy the prelude to the tournament this much. If he was honest, he had to admit that he was not overly excited about the artistic segment, but like many others, he was proven wrong. It wasn''t just the musical talent that convinced the audience, but also the effects they had. Polter had never expected the extent of a bard''s ability. The first day consisted of 40 solo acts, singers, and instrumental musicians, giving their performances and being judged by the panel. Each act not just enraptured the audience, but also granted them a slew of buffs with their performance. After all of them had their go and were judged the top 5 of each category contended against each other once again. But first, they had a break. While the people on the cheap seats had to do with food vendors, Polter, Caleb, and other people in the VIP lounges had ess to a selection of full-course meals, cooked by the chefs of Minas Mar. While eating a great meal, Polter had no idea when he was ever so excited about music. None of the people he knew at home couldpare to the level of the contestants here. Would he ever be able to enjoy music again? Was this the level of music the people of Chrona usually enjoyed, or would they be as overwhelmed as him? ... How in the world did they manage to get the Violent Witch to be part of this? Majdi Barr thought incredulously, looking at the scene before him. The manager of the Auction House in Delta was also given a VIP seat and now he was questioning hismon sense. It wasn''t just the makeup of the panel, but also the assembly of contestants. The manager knew that there were powerful bards out there, spread across the many worlds of the Pathworks, however, the bard was not the most popr ss. To think they would be able to collect forty of such caliber, some of them even natives of Urth, was incredible. Especially, when these were just the solo acts. The tapping along of his foot slowed down when he realized the scope of the whole operation. It was only the first day and the games were already on this level... and all of this was in honor of a single deity. Majdi Barr had no idea what Python''s level was like, but judging from what he saw earlier, was this all an borate ruse to push it over the final threshold to godhood? Didn''t the people of Minas Mar know what would happen once a being of legendary orparable rank appeared in a world? He had to warn them. If the system gods blockade for legendary existences fell, there was no telling what could happen. Especially when it happened so publicly.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Although the great empires had a treaty against the use of Legends in new worlds, not everyone had signed it. Independent legends or creatures from the Pathworks could see it as a chance for conquest... He invested quite a bit into Minas AM r and had made a good profit on the Tower Masters purchases and sales. It would have been a shame to lose them. During the break, Majdi Barr tried to find his way to the booth of Minas Mar, but he was unable to make his way through the crowd. He was not the only one, trying to talk with the Tower Master. There were many nobles and ambassadors from Kingdoms and Empires on other worlds that tried to tie a connection or recruit the master cksmith. Yet, no matter their status or their request, none got past the prettydy, wearing an intricate ckce dress. Majdi Barr had never seen her before, and he was quite sure he knew most of the guild''s members. At least the core yer. Despite his confusion, he couldn''t help but notice her absolute eloquence in dealing with the high-ranking figures who approached. With confidence and wisdom, she took only a few words to cate and send them away. When it was finally his turn- Mr.Majdi Barr, nice to meet you. - he didn''t even have a chance to introduce himself. it seems I''m at a disadvantage. You already know who I am, but I don''t know yours, Majdi Barr said a little flustered, but didn''t forget his business smile. After all, he was the manager of the Auction House. He wouldn''t falter that easily. I''m Luf, and I act as Lady Mary''s bodyguard and assistant, she said with a light bow. Nice to meet you, Majdi Barr answered her light bow with one of his own. Would it be possible for me to meet the Tower Master? I have something important to warn him about. The games may be more dangerous than you imagine, he whispered so only Luf could hear him. The young woman''s eyes glinted with a wisdom unfitting for her age before a knowing smile appeared. Minas Mar appreciates your worries. Currently, If you can''t meet the Tower Master, but I will inform him of your intentionster. I can assure you, that Minas Mar is aware of the dangers. Lady Leana made ample preparations in that regard. It was herst sentence that convinced Majdi Barr, as he realized that the princess was involved in all of this. Any dangers he could warn them of, she would have known long before, if their decision was really to help Python ascend. Although his worries were for nothing, he was convinced that his intentions were noticed. What the girl said, did not sound like an empty Mr. Majdi Barr, you should return to your seat now. The break is almost over and you might miss the first finale if you linger any longer, she reminded him. Seeing that his warning was unnecessary, he didn''t want to miss the show. With a nod, he said his farewells and went back to his seat. With Lady Leana taking care of it, he doubted they would get to see Python ascend if it really happened. Chapter 1057. Olympian Leg of Song Seth learned a lot, by listening to the music of the contestants. It was simr to watching a more skilled cksmith work on a great piece. The proficiency of Seth''s and rose by a sizable amount, thetter even rising to Journeyman lv.7. The cksmith experiences good gains, despite multitasking during the performance. In the private booth of Minas Mar, the bard had his workshop summoned and was meticulously engraving a set of silver bones. As for the reason he was suddenly trapped with work when he was supposed to enjoy a great event like this lies in what happened a few days prior... ---3 Days before the Pythian Games--- Jonah and Misto arrived at the lobby of Minas Mar shocking everyone present. What shocked them was not the sudden and unannounced return of the two Field Team members, but the state they were in, when they copsed on the floor at the entrance to the magic tower. The mist demon was covered in ck cuts, oozing dark puss that drenched his robes. But he was still looking fine,pared to Jonah, the swordsman he was holding in his arms. The sanguine swordsman with the beautiful mask gave the onlooker a dreadfully beautiful and tragic scene. Jonah, clinging to Misto for support was not just covered in simr wounds, was missing his lower right leg! What was bewildering to the people of Minas Mar was, that Jonah''s wounds did not heal. The chosen of Munara was easily the person with the greatest health regeneration, backed by his ss, skills, and items. Regenerating a limb was a matter of hours at worst. I have no idea what this is, I only managed to purify part of it, Lynri, the Priestess of the Fount said after trying her best using advanced healing magic and purification. She abstained from stating the obvious. It was some kind of poison or curse that was invading the wounds of the two returnees and hindered the healing process. Despite purifying the ck puss, the wounds could not be healed by means of system magic or system-assisted regeneration. During the next two days, they found that the wounds healed naturally and reacted positively to simple medicines. The problem was Jonah''s leg, as limbs usually didn''t simply grow back for normal people. Hmm, I see... the cksmith said after having a look at Jonah''s slowly healing stump. He knew what he had to do and he was slightly morefortable with it now than the first time he faced this problem. Had this been the first time they faced such a weird phenomenon of the system not affecting a wound, they may have been helpless, but they had Evee as a precedent. The girl that lost her arms, just before she was registered with the system. Seth had no idea how it was done, whether it was a special skill or secret poison or curse, but somehow, Jonah was not suffering the same phenomenon. His soul was not damaged but his leg became unregistered from the system and was no longer affected by its powers and rules. The solution for this back then was creating new bones for Evee''s arms and infusing part of her living soul into them. Looking back now, it was the start of how he made Faer, though their souls were ones that died before. However, knowing a solution and going through with it were two different things. Originally, Seth would not dare mess with a living soul, as he did with Evee''s. her soul as an Immortal Witch was special. Even when his skills had improved tremendously since then, he had to exin it all to Jonah first, before he could make a decision. After all, this was a procedure that involved messing with a man''s living soul. If he did anything wrong... After all, there was always the option of a normal prosthetic. With Urth''s technology and the system''s magic there were ways to create an advanced prosthetic that- Thanks for warning me, but I want you to do it, Seth. Just how long would I be out for, if we waited for a prosthetic to be made and then it would still just be ame excuse for my leg? Seth, if there is a way to get my actual leg back, I want to try it. Even if it is risky, I trust you, the man covered in wounds said intensely. There was a fire in his eyes, one that Seth had never expected to burn in Jonah''s eyes, especially. This man wanted more than just to be able to walk again and even more than to get back in shape. He had a goal, and he needed the best substitute for his actual leg he could get. You still won''t tell me what happened? the cksmith asked, facing the gaze that clearly sought revenge. Jonah shook his head. His fists clenched and he seemed stressed, remembering something. Not yet. I''m not ready. Maybeter, he pressed out. Seth looked at the man, sitting in his sickbed calmly. What- or whoever did this to him had left a severe trauma that stopped the sanguine swordsman from sharing what happened. However, Misto also kept silent about the enemy they encountered, maybe it was more than a trauma that had them stay silent. Alright, I will make you that leg and you make sure to get whoever did that before they do it to someone else, the bard finally assured him with a smile. ... And so, Seth ended up working on Jonah''s new leg and foot bones during the start of the Pythian games. Although the cksmith had his doubts about the procedure, because he knew exactly what could go wrong, he also had an interest in getting Jonah back in shape as soon as possible. From the people that returned from the other worlds, Jonah and Misto had actually reached the highest level. The swordsman had reached lv. 162, while the demon was level 157. Level-wise, they were now in the same league as Wolfram. With their relic and legendary load out, they would even beparable to the dull gray knight. That was why Seth also had some motivation apart from helping a friend, to get Jonah back into fighting condition. Seth was sure the Pythian Games would not blow over calmly and it was better to have everyone they could on their side. This was not just about their lives and their survival, but also their business. if something happened during the Pythian games, a lot of people would affected, not just Urthans. They had high-ranking guests from nobility all across the Pathworks in the audience, in addition to the contestants in the artist categories who were all widely known and influential. Even if something happened, they had to deal with any disturbances in a capable and calm fashion and this was only possible if they had the confidence backed by an overwhelming advantage. Since they didn''t know who would try to make trouble, it was best to be present in full force. If that wasn''t enough...then they were simply out of luck.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Since he decided to do it, Seth didn''t hold back on the materials or craftsmanship. The material was the new . Seth also finally knew was effect the legendary material refined from did in addition to the improvement of skills and magic. Apart from doubling the power of skills, Jonah would cast through the leg, the came with the effect Mind Soothing. This effect increased Mental Power by 25%, raised Resistance to Mind-rted status ailments by 25%, and lowered the Resistance to Sleep by 10%. Mind Soothing came with a slight drawback, but the effects were really good, for a passive improvement. The cksmith didn''t intend to treat the bones like items and overload them with enchantments, so he simply added one of the enchantments he had unlocked by reaching master lv.2 in . It was called Minor Olympian Endurance and he hoped it would help Jonah not being such a ss cannon. The Description of the enchantment was said that it would raise basic defense, as well as the endurance attribute. By the time the finale of the solo singers ended, Seth had finished assembling an enchanting skeletal foot, fib, and tibia made of pure silver and covered in intricate engravings. What Seth had not expected was that his trait would appear at this juncture. What had happened? The answer came when he appraised the lower leg. Seth hadpletely forgotten, that Hephaestus also counted as the god of prosthetics with the legend of Pelops'' Shoulder as the main example of his works in that direction. The power the leg bones absorbed were of the songs that the musicians and finalists had sung to the audience, granting it the Aura of Music. Aura of Music: Where there is dance, music will follow Whenever the prosthetic is used in a kind of dance, it will rey some of the music it absorbed during its creation at random with 25-75% of the original song''s power, granting the corresponding buff. Seth didn''t know whether he shouldugh or cry. Wouldn''t Jonah hate this? he already epting the legendary mask with gritting teeth. What would he say if his leg broke out in song, whenever he danced? Seth couldn''t help the malicious grin on his face, when he thought of that scene. Whether Jonah liked it or not, he didn''t have a choice in this. From now on, he would y his own boss theme. Chapter 1058. Juice and sticky stuff Now that the nice part was finished, came the dirty one Seth could do without, He was not a surgeon, and ying with the bloody part of another person, with all the juice and sticky stuff was his nemesis. Since Jonah was absolutely silent as the cksmith cut open his stump and removed what remained from his original tibia and fib, Seth was convinced that HE was the one suffering the most in this process. With a gag-inducing pop, the silver bone found its new ce in Jonah''s leg. Once the bones were set, Seth spent half an hour washing his hand, before returning to the others in the booth. The only thing missing now was infusing the part of Jonah''s soul that was supposed to be the lower leg into the bones. This was usually not as important because souls are quite adaptable, but Seth tried to do his best, to make the recovery as quick and easy as possible. Thoroughly inspecting Jonah''s soul at the ce of the cut, Seth was able to identify step by step the piece that had formed back after the leg was cut off but still held some of the information and traits of the cut leg. On that note, Seth was convinced that apart from cut nerves, it was these kinds of remnants of a partially formed back soul, that would sometimes cause phantom pains for many people. Now he just had to carefully unfold those pieces and reshape them to the leg they once were. it was a weird sight for the people in Minas Mar''s booth, to watch the Spirit cksmith hammer an intangible material none of them could see. Only Jonah could have felt the hammering on his soul.N?v(el)B\\jnn Once he was satisfied with the progress, he began attaching the soul to the bones they belonged to. Starting from the knee, boned by bone, the part of the soul was infused into the foreign item. This was the easier part for the craftsman and soon, Jonah was ready for a foot bath in the Water of Styx. Agh! Gha! Jonah''s stoic expression finally broke, as he started whining and twitching. It''s cold and it feels like ants are biting my bone marrow! This had to be the worst pain of a sleeping foot waking up I ever had! the swordsman cried at the question of what was wrong. When the silver leg bones finally left the Waters of Styx, Jonah''s eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness, as his flesh started quickly growing from his knee down, along the new bones. Seth couldn''t imagine what this must feel like, but he kinda thought Jonah was exaggerating. It wasn''t the first time the man lost a limb and regrew it. Even when this was a little different, it couldn''t be that bad. Right? W-What happened? the man in question asked, waking up shortly after a new, pristine leg had shaped around the new bones. What do you mean? I didn''t lose consciousness, I heard a system notification just before everything went dark and one when I woke up, he denied losing to the pain. Oh, what did it say? Leana asked him curiously. System Restart initiated and System Restart sessful, Jonah answered seriously. Now you are just joking with us, Lynri asserted. I-I''m serious! It''s what I heard, he insisted. Well, whatever it was that made you faint, your leg is fixed now. How about you try walking around a little? Seth interrupted them. Jonah nodded and pushed himself off the chair he was sitting in. The fresh, pale feet touch the cold tile floor and- Nothing. Apart from the leg being still a little rosy, it seemed to work perfectly fine. Jonah walked around, testing and jumping, but he didn''t stumble, or fall, or miss a step. It totally didn''t seem like he was just given a fresh set of metal bones. It still feels a little numb in some ces, but it''s getting better as I speak. I think after some training, I won''t be able to feel any difference, Jonah judged the leg with a tint of joy in his voice. Soon he started jumping around when suddenly-! Ameno! Ameno dore! Ameno dori me~Ameno dori me~ a song started bursting out from below his knee. Everyone listening got the same notification. Incidentally, this was the song of one of the finalists. It had not been that long since they heard this song. What have you done to me?! Jonah eximed in terror. I told you there would be consequences, didn''t I? the cksmith countered with an amused grin. B-but! But this! Jonah stuttered, having a hard timeing up with what to say. It''s a positive effect, whenever you burst out in dance, the leg will sponsor some music to apany you, Seth exined with a shrug. Could you pipe down, I want to see the award ceremony in peace, Elly, the Slime Rancher called out from the front row. While Seth had been working on the leg, the two finales below hade to a conclusion and it was time to give them their prizes. Although the artist and sportspetitions could notpare to the tournament with the final prize being a legendary item, the Top 3 got a trophy, and prize money, while the number one ce was also able to choose an epic or relic-rated instrument from the few sesses of Seth''s grinding. Even when the contestants were already illustrious and powerful enough, that an epic item was no news to them, all the instruments were made with wood from the guardian tree, which came with the rare double attribute of protection and life steal. Especially life drain on music was somethingparatively rare. Even if they didn''t need it, like the Solo Singers, selling it would bring in another heap of cash. The winner of the solo musician''s category was actually the young man with the overly long flute who was the opening act of the contest. As for the winner of the solo singers, it was a young female musician from the Pathworks. And I can really choose an earth-grade instrument as my prize? he asked overwhelmed, looking at the collection of instruments in front of him. Although they were not instruments he was very familiar with the quality couldn''t be questioned. I will take this strange pipa, he announced and took a lute from the items on disy. The female singer girl chose a harp and like this, the first day of the Pythian Games came to an end. As the people slowly left and the stadium emptied for the night, the booth of Minas Mar turned quiet and more serious, as they turned to more serious business. Using various holographic consoles, the members went through the report about the situation in Little Gamma and the other Tree Stations. The atmosphere calmed once they went over most of it, finding out that- It seems everything was calm today. There were the usual disturbances but no signs of any organized movements, Mary concluded after everyone gave their summary. Hmm, Dim also has not yet found anything suspicious. Maybe they are waiting for the tournament? Seth guessed. He had created a golem eye from the fragment of Dig Dimblood''s soul. Of course, the Lepresean''s horrible personality was thoroughly bound by the golem ego and a soul contract. Currently, the golem eye with the power to turn invisible was scouting the city, looking for suspicious activities in the dark nooks and crannies. Right. The martial tournament will have the most high-profile guests and estimated viewership. If they n something big, it will probably happen during the finale, Monique gave her judgment. Even if that is true and things will stay calm until then, that is no reason to lower our vignce, Lufmented. Right, there is no guarantee they won''t pull anything before that. Leana agreed gravely. Seth clicked his tongue. Why did these have to do so much foreshadowing? Chapter 1059. Former Gamma ---Former Gamma, Territory of Arget Nore--- A darkness had spread across the dry deste wastnd and the crumbling streets of the former district. Only the center of thend of death, which was covered and protected by the magic charms of their God Emperor was not covered in the shadow. Spreading like ink, the darkness glinted like tar and creatures pulled themselves out of the viscous shadow. Standing freed from the tar that held only them like a shackle, they roared in joy over their new freedom. Forming lines on the ground were tall, jackal-headed warriors, their bodies sinewy and desated, looking like they were mummified and re-hydrated why the vicious ck liquid. Climbing the abandoned ruins and remodeled spires of the undead empire, were simr creatures with tar-ck wings and the skeletonized heads of birds of prey. In a matter of less than an hour, Arget Nore had lost most of their territory and faced a siege at the heart of their feudal capital on Urth. Thousands of creatures of unidentified origin were raised at their doorstep and pushed against their doors. Sparks flew through the air as fights broke out all over the city whose streetsy now in darkness. Almost 100% of the low-ranking undead, mindless creatures in charge of menialbors, were lost in an instant, facing the surprise attack. Skeleton Guard, Zombie Knight, Iron Golems, and servants of simr rank were locked inbat against the almost 3-meter-tall attackers, wielding ck sabers and spears. The enemy had appeared behind their borders, where only a fewbat troops were stationed. Without the highest seat, who was at the Pythian Games, they had a hard time gaining control and organizing what little troops they had in the chaotic onught. Most undead, even the better ones were not much more than puppets to their necromancer. Low-ranking Necromancers fell even before their troops. From what they could tell, only some of the spire master were able to react in time and defend their position. But they were unable to leave their position. With the controllers not present, or having a hard time themselves, only undead with a rudimentary ego were able to adapt to the situation on the streets. At this point, it was the knight-shaped iron golems proving their worth. With the people of Arget Nore unable to give them clearmands, they automatically formed smaller squads among themselves fending off creatures rising from the ground. But they were not in great condition. It was mostly thanks to their superior durability, that they resisted the initial sneak attacks, but it didn''t mean they were undamaged. Even if an iron golem had a slight advantage in a 1v1 fight against a creature, they were vastly outnumbered and limited by their power source. Their demise was just a matter of time. A creature looking like a ck slime, pressed into a humanoid shape and wearing a gray robe, made a sound like it was clicking with its tongue. What is it with this world..? a dried-out zombie beside it said pissed. they had rarely faced such problems on foreign worlds, however, the slime beside it shook its head. For once, this is not a phenomenon of this world. I can clearly feel a sort of divine power in these things. Someone is using the power of a god to mess with us. Judging by the appearance of the army, it might be the work of a Heliopn artifact, it gave an emotionless conclusion. Yeah, okay, whatever. What are we supposed to do? the Zombie elder asked the other Council member. They were currently losing a lot of the foundation they had finally managed to build up on Urth. If this went on, they would have no face left to return to Arget Nore. The empire had even sent them money and reinforcements to secure and widen their territory in this world. Something was jamming theirmunications, so they had no way of knowing the situation of the troops at the border, but they could observe the condition of the district, and it was far from good. Even the golems they had bought for a lot of money were being whittled away in front of their eyes. Unfortunately, all themanders are at the border, a skeleton in a robe said with a hollow voice. Of course, at no point did they consider going outside themselves. They were still high-ranking nobility of Arget Nore. Even if they lost honor and standing for this failure, they still had afortable life to return to. May I suggest, you let us handle this? a hollow, slightly robotic voice mingled among the debating council members. The eyes of a room of undead turned to the guard at the door. It was one of the group of Golem Knights that arrived first during the previous crisis. What are you talking about, tin can? the dry zombie asked, his voice oozing with hostility. Not everyone liked the idea of intelligent golems. As I said, let us handle it. ... Only a few of the expensive Golem Knights and cavalry were stationed in the city, however, when the troops that were supposed to protect the council suddenly made a sortie, the enemy troops werepletely overwhelmed. Like a textbook example of the power of heavy cavalry, the golem knight, riding the heavy, fire-breathing golem horses flooded into the streets and ruins of the mega-city, mowing down whatever dared to stand in their path.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om As a united front, nothing among the attackers could stop them. Not even the birdmen diving down from the surrounding skyscrapers could touch the cavalry of Golem Knights. like this, the golems could have fled, leaving Arget Nore behind. But instead, the cavalry started to disperse in various directions. Even individually, the jackal warriors could not stop the golem horses, despite their ride through the crowd of enemies looking like a boat with bow waves of sparks and fire. The directive of the golem Knights was not self-preservation, or protecting their current owners. Minas Mar needed Arget Nore as a buffer, a small bump in the road, or at least a slight worry for Spatia, in case the enemy empire started invading. The golems'' directive was to keep Arget Nore from falling and preserve their number. The Golem Knights spread to gather and lead their brothers. The golem squads fending for themselves based on their default program instantly followed their more advanced brothers''mands. Having a leader made the squads instantly more effective and they started making their way, to find more brothers. Around this time, the first explosions shook the city. These were not the enemy''s doing, but the golems. Those who ran low on energy or those who had their cores damaged followed onest directive. They ran into the enemy, away from theirrades, and detonated themselves taking along as many of the shadow creatures as possible. Prompted by these tragic sounds, the mounted golems quickened their pace. Followed by the troops of gathered iron golems they waltzed through the streets to collect as many allies as possible. Not just golems were among thebined crowd. The undead with at least some brain or wit, had used the iron golem squads for survival and instinctively followed this wave of steel. Not just those scattered on the street, but also the handful of spire masters that had defended their positions, took the chance to follow the golems back to safety, bolstering their numbers and strength. This way, the few mounted golems managed to assemble many of the scattered bubbles of resistance and led them back to the center where the original cavalry reassembled. Thepany of several hundred iron golems and about three times as many undead of simr or higher strength now joined the defense of the central regions, where the shadows could no reach. ... ---Delta--- An office in the renaissance style of Chrona, situated at the skyscraper known to be Chrona''s Embassy, a long time ago, this had been Leana''s office, he was now the third person to sit here after her. He had to admit, that the view over this exotic city was something hard toe by even in Chrona. It was really a shame... I''m d you were able to meet with me, a man in a dark suit greeted him after entering. Their face was cloaked by an item that inhibited recognition, but the Peddler of Ruin didn''t mind. With a nod, he offered the man a seat opposite himself. So what brings you here? Merkraut Sar asked him with a smile. of course, he knew why the messenger was here. It was just a matter of form. The Durnham Royal Family would like to make a deal with... Merkraut nodded. Everything slowly fell into ce. Chapter 1060. Maybe, but you stoked it News of the happenings in Arget Nore quickly reached the high-ranking personnel who were currently attending the Pythian Games. They had expected for things to happen before the great climax, but Minas Mar was prepared for the Tree Stations to be hit, not for Gamma to be overrun. I would have liked for a longer meeting, but I will have to return early, the regal Arch Lich said his farewells to Seth and the others after Larish and Larosh informed them of the situation in former Gamma. He had to return to lead the locked-out armies in battle to free the locked-in forces and reim Gamma. Comparing the undead before him to the first time, Seth met AlZalsar, it was hard to believe they were the same kind of order of undead. He..cked presencepared to her. Would they really be okay if this was their leader? While the first day was the stage for solo artists, the second day was meant to be the battle of the Bands, disregarding their style or makeup. However, the mood was slightly overshadowed by the news from Arget Nore, at least for the people in Minas Mars VIP booth. Nobody would have expected such arge-scale attack at this time. The news the two dark elves shared with them revealed that almost 80% of the undead empires territory in Gamma was upied by a dark sludge, that incessantly spat out enemy units. The only good news was that most of the golems caught up in the mess managed to survive. It would have been a harsh loss for them Arget Nore if those were gone. Not saying that the empire had not already suffered a harsh loss. Almost all their lower-ranking undead and citizens had been reaped by the surprise attack. They were lucky that an undead army had little to no need for a supply chain. What worried some of them was the nature of the attack. A dark goopy shadow spreading along the ground, would their barrier and the guardian tree be able to stop that kind of attack? Dont worry, Im sure the attack only reached this kind of scale because it is happening at Arget Nore, Evee gave her guess on the matter. What makes you think so? the forever loser of musical chairs asked, still slightly grumpy about the singing leg. Evee was the chosen of Persephone and a powerful necromancer. Seth was also interested in her opinion since she was the only professional on the matter currently present. Because of the Land of Death that Arget Nore spread in Gamma. Didnt they assume that a heliopolian Artefact was used and the creatures look like mummified beast warriors? Its probably an artifact of a god of death or the underworld. Since undead and death magic gains a huge power upon the Land of Death. The power of the troops and the steady replenishment, I bet thats why they chose Arget Nore. After all, why wouldnt they hit us first, if it was that powerful? Why hit undead with undead?N?v(el)B\\jnn Evees argument was sound. If whatever they used was that powerful, they should have attacked Little Gamma directly. Seth doubted they would have gotten the address confused and went to former instead of little Gamma. Still, it was no guarantee that the perpetrator wouldnt appear here or somewhere else in Minas Mar next. If it could get past their usual defenses, even a smaller scale could be threatening, especially to the civilians. The average level of Urthans had risen, but there were still many, that would not be able to fight such a force. Despite their worries inside the booth, the Pythian Games continued. ... Her eyes were fixed on the screen above. As contestants, they hade more than an hour before the start of thepetition, to get everything really and synchronize with the organizers. She had never thought there could be this many preparations for a simple performance. Maybe they had overestimated themselves? Wee to the second day! Today Im presenting you the band battles! the presenter, Umi, announced excitedly. Today we thirty groups of musicians in all kinds of constetions. From Acape groups to rock bands, we have it all! Our thirty bands will be contending in tournament-style brackets with five bands each. You the audience will have a chance to vote on your favorites. Your scores and the score of the judges will then decide their fate!... Whether they get to the next round, of course, the presenter exined the rules jokingly. It seemed that it was finally time for Urth to shine in this one round. Looking around most of the entries were from Urth. She had heard that on the Voracious Cloud Continent, talented people usually their instrument solo and sang solo, ying in an ensemble was not very popr. Shaking her head at that thought, she had more understanding for the people from the system world. There, musicians of lower levels were often wandering minstrels or part of an adventurer party. There existed some bands or orchestras, but most of them were contracted to the nobility. Since the tournament restricted the contestant to be below lv.90, there wouldnt be any powerful figures from System Worlds, apart from the judges. Urth on the other hand had a sprawling music industry before the fall. At least this was what she heard. The legends of their musicians were, well, legendary. Even the apocalypse had a hard time wiping out party-hardened musicians, leading to almost two-thirds of the entries being popr hit bandsing from Urth. She could imagine Seth rubbing his hands as their audience quota among Urthans was guaranteed. But their numerical advantage wouldnt help them, since they were up against a formidable foe. The majority of the rest were demonic bards. Ember saw no need to be humbled in this matter. Unlike yers, Demons were much more attuned to battle music in general. Unlike some cretins, they also knew for the power of abined y. Even if she was not too confident in her own victory, Ember was convinced one of the 7 demonic bands would win this. Even if her band didnt win, they just had to make sure one of the other two from the new Bard College in TS10 got the title. It would be too shameful if they allowed the traitors that had stayed in Urth to score higher than them, or worse, win. Although this was not a battle to the death, all of them were very serious. This was a matter of pride. Would you stop burning holes into the back of my head? the demon youth asked her annoyed. Unwittingly, she had stared dagger at one of the remaining students at Deltas Bard College. Bragmomals underlings had also sent two teams topete. He, whats with that look? Are you trying to intimidate me, because you know that you cant win in a fair match of pure skill? he mocked her,bing his hand through his poisonous green hair, and giving her a toothy grin. or is it that you fell more me? As much as I despise you, I would feel bad topete in a match of pure skill with you. After allyou would be unarmed, she countered unbothered. What you! the demon youth stuttered, trying toe up with a counter, however- And what gave you such self-confidence? With an ox nose like yours, not even a bog toad would look your way. You are lucky your hand cant say no, or you would never get any action at all, she added, exposing her sharp teeth in a big grin. T-Thats not true! I-I- What isnt true? Dont tell me even your hand refuses to touch yourher regions? You are even more pitiful than I thought. Stupid and handicapped, she said with a sudden change in voice. Her words were oozing with pity, as she went as far as to pat his shoulder to cheer him up. Dont worry, I heard that Urth has machines for this special kind of need. Even if your hand does not dare to touch, these machines- Stop it already! the youth screeched, pping her hand away he took flight. Somebody behind her clicked their tongue. Tsk, you know that you just started a war, right? the lead singer of their band asked Ember. I didnt start the fire. It was always burning Maybe, but you stoked it. But I didnt light it. You also didnt try to fight it. They kept bickering for a while as they returned to their band members and got ready. Chapter 1061. Completely Destroyed Ember''s confrontation sparked the rivalry between the teams of the different colleges. A heatedpetition was ignited which shed behind and on the stages. grinding her teeth, Ember had to admit that their rivals were a hard nut to crack. All of them were hyper-focused on beating the others. Forgotten were her thoughts on winning or losing thispetition, and her pride in the power of demonic bards. She didn''t even bother watching other performances. They just wanted to win over the others. The time until their or their rival''s performance was spent practicing and reviewing their ns. Ember''s band was thest entry from TS10''s new Bard College and so far, their scores and their rival''s were infinitely close. It was actually on them, to make the difference of whether they would outrank the participants from Delta, or had to return to TS10 with their tail tugged between their legs. Her heart beat hard, as if it wanted to jump out her chest when it was finally time for them to enter the stage. It wasn''t stage fright, but excitement. Hundreds of thousands of people were present in the stadium alone, and billions were watching the broadcasts. They would show the world the power of demonic bards and the excellence of the new bard College in Ts10. The heat of the stage lights burned on her skin, and the noise of the crowd roared in her ears. Her motivation rose to the sky, as the hairs on her skin stood on end Next, a great apuse for the band Magna Goetia, with their song Calling of the Abyss. They are the third entry from the Demonic Bard College in Tree Station 10, Umi Kaldrobs announced the to the audience. It was finally time for them! The cold metal of her flute on her lips, her muscles taught ready for the performance. The moment the first not echoed through the stadium, enhanced by the ear-shattering speakers, chaos ensued on the stage. Sweat poured down her skin, as she went through the choreographed dance moves, as she yed her part to perfection. She felt like she was in her own world, created in cooperation with her friends on the stage. Like a wave of fire, the music waltzed across the stadium, blowing away the audience. She knew they could do it, this was their peak. The best performance they had ever delivered. During their chaotic, yet synchronized y and dance, dark shadows started swallowing the center of the stadium, defying the bright stage lights. Visions of horror could be seen in the darkness. Apparitions of the unspeakable entuated the depths of their music, burning themselves into the hearts and minds of the audience. A pandemonium of music and darkness held them in a tight grip. Hair and sweat flew through the air, as she submerged herself in the performance until the song finally came to its great climax, sapping away all of her energy. When thest note they yed fell silent, she felt all of her power leave her body. However, she was excited. This had been the best rendition they had ever given, they would easily outperform those cretins from Delta. The darkness and apparitions receded slowly when the song finally ended, allowing the demoness to see the stadium. Looking at the crowd of the stadium, she saw their wide-open eyes. They were frozen in excitement after witnessing the Calling of the Abyss. Ember was convinced they had left asting impact. Her eyes also fell on Umi Kaldrops, at the edge of the stage. The presenter, weak in her knees and covered in sweat, responded to Ember''s excited look, with a strained smile. Judging the song was over, she lifted the microphone to her mouth.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om A, errm, great apuse for Magna Goetia! The calling of the Abyss!, she called out in her usual happy voice. She was a professional after all. She fell silent for a moment, as the crowd gave subdued cheers and apuse. Only the demons in the audience were pping and cheering genuinely. It''s time for the audience to vote now! Please use the following 10-minute break to calm down and give your votes using the prepared devices at your seats. After the break, the results and the scores of the judges will be announced! The band also got this 10-minute break and returned backstage to get some food and drink. All of them were exhausted but satisfied with their performance. As they plundered the buffet, they were approached by theirrades and rivals. I hate to admit it, but you were better than us, even the arrogant little shit Ember had spoken to, acknowledged their skill, mellowing her own stance on their rivals. When they were able to show respect among professionals, despite personal differences...Maybe not everything was lost. Then, they were called back to the stage, to receive their scores. Before the voting of the audience was revealed, it was time for the panel of judges to give their evaluation. Ember watched them lifting their number cards, without many words. Master Bard Garmin Del''Prado:2 Master Poet Enton Skice: 3 Her excitement grew, this was a great start. They were already ahead of the others at this point. Witch of the Violin, Violet Vi:3 Keith RiJards:5 A small cheer escaped her mouth. This was the highest score anyone apart from her grandfather had given one of the teams, yet. Dean Remington: 8 She didn''t know whether it was because she was his granddaughter, or he acknowledged their skills, but the dean also gave his highest score yet. Zither Saintess Lin Xiaoli: 0 This was expected, the Zither Saintess was yet to give anyone any point. All that was left was the audience score. Gesturing to the big screens in the stadium, Umi called out. And the judgment of the overall audience score is... 3! Calction to an overall score of: 3.429!... Ember fist pumped in excitement. She and the band were already celebrating, not hearing the rest of the sentence. 3.429 vastly outperformed the other teams. They did it, they had beaten their rivals triumphantly. In great spirits, they returned to their dressing room ... The excitement was short-lived. Ember couldn''t help her pointy ears drooping when they finally had the chance to watch the other acts. Especially thest sentence of Umi Kaldrop. And the judgment of the overall audience score is... 3! Calction to an overall score of: 3.429!... cing them in 5th tost ce! Her initial pride and confidence in the demonic bards was crushed. Her face was burning in embarrassment. What had they celebrated for? Their understanding of the power of abined y? Attunement to battle music? Bullshit. She had beenpletely delusional. None of the other participants got anything below a five from the judges, not even the ice-cold Zither Saintess went below that for anyone but the demons. Their teams had beenpletely destroyed by the musicians from Urth and the Pathworks, and the worst part was that she had to admit that the scores were right! The dressing room was drenched in a dark mood as they re-watched the performances they had missed in their focus on defeating the other demonic teams. Urth''s music didn''t have the pandemonic impacts, but it had the undeniable power to capture the audience, even them, like no other! Even the bards from the system did it better than them. They had gotten their focuspletely wrong and forgotten what music for an audience was supposed to achieve. Only Dean Remington was nice enough to judge them on demon standards. In the end, Ember could onlyugh. She started chuckling at her own pride and the vanity of their rivalry. Had they taken a moment to watch the realpetition, they might have been able to do better. Let''s go watch the finale, their band leader finally said. The break was over and it was time to watch the final bracket, the finalists, give their performance. Chapter 1062. Great Paneling The winning band was a rock band from Urth and all five people received the right to choose an instrument and 1000 silver as prize money. The second day of the Band Battle went by without trouble. The third day was a short one, housing thepetition of Poets. It was a way to give people a day of break, as the speeches of poets were much calmer and ... verbosepared to the musicalpetitions. People would either spend the day recuperating by listening to high prose, or simply stay at their inn, or look at the city. Poetics was not for everyone the the audience for it was a special one Seth also wasn''t present to listen to the literary effusions of the contestants. While the stadium was half-filled with a great number of poetry enjoyers and those who pretended to be as such, Seth used the chance to visit Python and see whether the Pythian Games already affected her. The great snake golem deity was currently hibernating in a secret chamber right below the guardian tree, among its thickest roots. The cksmith had a slight suspicion that they were moving in the wrong mythology, by putting a giant snake into the roots of a world tree, but he could have been wrong. Mina, Fin, and many of the other core members of Minas Mar who were not needed to guard the venue, apanied him on the descent. To get to Python, they entered a secret tunnel that started in the basement of Minas Mar''s local branch. The staircase and tunnel,pletely hewn from wood and illuminated by bright crystal lights, inhibited the mystical potential this could have had, as a secret passage, covered in dark roots and forgotten to the world, only dimly lit by ancient torches. But what could they do? they were a modern business and people needed to see where they stepped. There were workce regtions and safety measures to abide by. They wouldn''t want one of the maintenance staff to hurt themselves by stumbling over a random root in the twilight. As such, they were walking down a very elegant and pricey-looking wooden staircase that led down to the depth of the earth in a wide spiral. Vathon really did a great job with the wood paneling, Bulkoplimented the detailed and polished wooden panels that covered the walls of the staircase. They showed various fantastic scenes of Trees, beasts, and battles. Mixed in were depictions of many of Minas Mar''s members. When they finally reached their destination at the end of the staircase, the ce of Python fully delivered on its mystic potential, unlike the very modern and clean-looking staircase. The chamber of the giant snake was like a cocoon of interwoven roots. While the floors were barren earth, the root ceiling and room were illuminated by the shine of eery greenish blue magtern, that resembled the souls of the victims, captured by the hangingtree. Only meters after leaving the exit of the staircase they face a massive curved wall, as if there was a maze built into this cavern deep underground. Except, this was, of course, not a wall, but Python''s body. The great deity was rolled together, slumbering in her den down here. There was also emitting a slight glow from her body, but it was barely noticeable in the dim twilight. Is this... divine power? Fin asked incredulously. As somewhat of a priestess herself, she was still able to recognize the special power, even if she didn''t serve any specific god. Yes, it should be. To think it would be so concentrated that it became visible to the naked eye, Bulko agreed, as she stepped closer in wonder. From the looks of it and taking into ount what the priests were saying, it seemed that the Pythian games were working as intended. Seth was not too prone to the process of apotheosis, but he knew it was a little simr to how they were able to be legends. Python and Angelique, the two deities he knew, were no real help, so what Seth knew came from the various gods like Nas''Korn, Samhach, and Senior White. However, their experiences could not bepared 1:1 to how it worked under the system, since they were gods, long before the System god entered their world. From what he could infer, the title of deity could be seen to correspond with stepping on the Path to Legends. While yers, or normal people in general, collected Power of Existence to grow after stepping past the boundary of mortals, deities collected divine power to improve themselves. The difference was the method of acquisition. While yers, or mortals, were dependent on their own deeds and the acknowledgment of these deeds by the masses to gather Power of Existence, deities, and gods needed to collect faith to generate Divine Power. This happened either through prayers, or sacrifices made in their name. It was best if they came from true believers, but it seemed that deities were not picky in that regard. In this sense, the Pythian Game, organized in her honor, was a massive sacrifice and prayer at the same time, getting her name, likeness, and power out there to billions of people. Of course, they also got Seth''s name and standing out there, and the cksmith had already registered a stead incline of Power of Existence, but Python''s conditions were more important to them at this point. Currently, Python was hibernating to properly absorb all of the energy generated through the Pythian games, in preparation for her ascension. Whether this would actually be enough to get Python over the threshold in one go, or not was inconclusive. Having another, bonafide god guard a Tree Station with a massive popce would alleviate much of their worries. If Python managed to ascend, they would have 4 local gods protecting people in Minas Mar.. Python would guard TS2 or Little Gamma, Samhach was guarding TS 3, Nas''Korn guarded Mount Agra and Senior White had taken residence in TS7, which was now called Spring City. There was also Angelique in TS4, but she was still far from ascending to godhood, mostly because she was held back by Seth''s skill. As his revived subordinate she could not outgrow the cksmith''s level. ~How is it, Python?~ the bard asked the snake using telepathy. ~ Shh! I''m concentrating... Fine, if that makes you leave again: At the current rate, it won''t be enough to get me over the edge, but the influx will probably rise once the physicalpetitions and the tournament starts. So it could be just enough, or fall just short of being enough. Happy?~ the deity quickly summed up the situation, to make her visitors leave again. It was safe to say, it didn''t work. The team didn''te here to quickly leave. They stayed for a pick nick under the magical root ceiling. ... ---Cinema Dimension--- Seth felt a sudden minuscule change in the room and turned around. There was a new god in the third row behind them. A certain god with a cold, wet nose and a preference for dark, moody behavior. Ankle-biter, what brought you here? the god of chaos asked without looking directly at the god in question. I''m sure you know why I''m here, Uncle, Anubis said in a deep, emotionless voice. Hades watched the neer with interest. As gods of the underworld, there was a certain rivalry, but no hostility to mention. I have no idea what you are talking about, Seth answered with a mischievous smile. Uncle, you know exactly what this is about. You should have contacted me when there were signs of my holy relic appearing again. You know how long I have been looking for it, the jackal-headed god said strained. It''s not like we have that kind of rtionship, the god of desert storms answered with a shrug. Your holy relic? Hermes asked interested. Now the things we heard about Arget Nore make sense, Hephaestusmented with a nod. He had already put the puzzle pieces together.N?v(el)B\\jnn Yes, a copy of my book that was stolen a century ago, Anubis answered Hermes. Now the messenger god also understood. All of the disruption they had heard about through their people in Minas Mar was caused by the holy relic of Anubis, the Book of Death! Chapter 1063. Little Epsilon? Where the first three days were spent on the finer, more intellectual arts, the fourth day was the prelude to the physicalpetitions. The day was coined by contests around physical attributes. Various races, tests of endurance and strength. Everything was for people to prove the results of their training and skills. The atmosphere in the stadium was heated, even more than on the first and second days. These were thepetitions people had been looking forward to. The animalisticpetition of raw stats. Hey, isn''t that the winner of the philosophy contest? What is he doing among weightlifters? one of the noble visitors wondered out loud. You were here yesterday? his acquaintance asked a little surprised. Who do you mean? he asked curious, nheless. A poet that also entered apetition of might? How intriguing! The muscr dude in the loose toga. Though I personally disagree with some of his views, his speech was really good. I didnt expect that his muscles were not only for show, hispatriot exined, pointing at the bug, bearded man, slightly advanced in age. Wow, who would have thought the winner of an intellectual contest would take part in this, too? hes not the only one, look at that demon over there, that is getting ready for the obstacle races? he asked, pointing at a humanoid demon with slightly stretched proportions. It was very tall, with long legs, torso, arms and head. Only hands and feet seemed normal. Thats a bard who got second ce in Flyting, yesterday in the evening, he added when his friend found the demon in question. However, a different question upied his friend. What is flyting?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Its what you would expect when you hear the word poetry m, but with real victims. The demons really dominated that one, although some of the Urthans were able to defend their honor, at least, the noble gave his expert opinion and the excessive dissing that had happened yesterday in the evening. Tsk, maybe I should havee yesterday instead of visiting the vige, his friendmented. Oh, dont worry about it, you can watch the best offster. I doubt you would have enjoyed most of it, except the flyting of course. I learned quite a few new ways to curse someone. Their conversation soon came to an end, when the firstpetitions of the day finally started. --- While the crowd was cheering on the Athletes at the center of the stadium, Seth was at the Little Gamma branch office tending to a guest. Although Seth was not uninterested in the fantastical feats athletes with the power of the system could achieve, the situation in Arget Nore convinced him, that this could not wait until after the games ended. Leading her into a wide underground hall, Joannia followed his every step. Originally, this business would have had to wait until after the Pythian Games, when Baker and his man finished the subway and were free for other stuff. The arrival of the Commander of Epsilons remaining fleet and genius engineer by title and profession had given them the unique chance to work together quicker than expected on something even grander than expected. Joannias eyes went wide in shock, surprise, and the typical interest of a researcher. At this moment the seriousmander was unable to control her emotions and it was obvious to the bard that she was already hooked, by the sight in the secret chamber. Several weeks ago, when the unfilial parrot finally returned from his charitable solo adventure, it had dragged something back home with it. The air in the hall stank of burned rubber, flesh, and ionized air, still exuding from the apparatus the elemental had brought back. There were many names one could have given it. The people of the system would have called it an Automaton or a golem. For people of Urth, it was a- A mech? A robot? A cyborg? the young woman asked eagerly as she started circling the heap of technological advancement. There was also a silver disc in the corner, but it was ignored by the two, as flying machines were not that unusual. The elementals adventure had led him quite far away from home and it had aplished many great battles and adventures, ording to its own rendition of the story. It would have been hard to believe if Governor Adam hadnt also reported of people arriving at Emerald City. People who allegedly escaped secret testing facilities thanks to the help of a lightning bird. It was just a shame, that neither those people nor Ceres contributed any detailed information on who was behind it and what they were trying to achieve. Very important points, considering that they were a potential threat. This was where Mikes tragic tale came into y. With both of their storiesbined, Ceres was also able to remember what this robot had spouted during their days of battle. With both of their storiesbined, they were able to paint a picture. Like the hair-raising cyber worms, this robot was a creation from a being that came from beyond the border storm. A being of advanced technology, which had also created the Hashing Birds to collect test subjects for these sites that Ceres had raided. Although its ultimate goal was vague, they knew it was a searched rebel in Lambda, which was ruled by the machine god, ording to the things Mike talked with. Anyway, whatever it was, it used a vast technological advantage to aplish it. But this didnt mean they had to despair. On the contrary, it was the chance to steal and assimte technology they couldnt touch before. Like with the Core Reactor. Seth and his group of experts had already seeded in reverse engineering a crude version of it. If this was what they could aplish, what would a genius engineer be able to aplish, given these temtes? Especially one, that was responsible for a fleet of flying ships and a squadron of warriors in mech suits. After three days of the tournament, Joannia and the people following her hade to the decision that they would join Minas Mar and settle at one of the less popted Tree Stations to found a Little Epsilon. The details still had to be discussed, but it was enough for Seth to bring her into the loop. Of course, she had to sign a few waivers and contracts, but only to keep things down here secret. What do you think? his words burst her little bubble and she returned to reality. Clearing her throat, she put up her front of a serious and unimpressed leader. Its heavily damaged, what caused such devastation? she asked, examining the thick, mostly molten, and burned,yer of non-conductive rubber coating that must have once covered the whole robot. Most likely an attempt to counter the Parrot of Dooms favorite way of attacking. However, Seth didnt yet trust Joannia enough to reveal the hidden strength of Minas Mar. That is still inconclusive. My people found it at the far edge of the Unimed Mountains, he exined vaguely. The Unimed Mountains? the woman asked a little confused. Seeing her like this, Seth remembered that she and her people had been separated from the rest of Urth ever since the Apocalypse. With the expansion of Urth, they had grown even further apart than just time could have caused. The sprawling mountains in the southwest. After the rush to reim the No Mansnd, they were given the name because we, as the first ones to venture out from the original districts, didnt im them. Instead, many businesses tried to expand themselves out there, the cksmith exined readily. Ah, I think one of the scouts mentioned this. And this was found at the far edge of it? she asked again. Right before the Borderstorm that separates us from the western desert, she confirmed with a nod. Hmm, I always heard that Lambda was ahead of the other districts, could they have built it, but it got destroyed in thisBorderstorm? she guessed. Possible, but unlikely. The storm is one of ice, snow, and wind. Nothing that would cause this. So, do you think you can reverse engineer it? Seth asked, his voice calm despite the great interest he had in this. After all, this thing had battled the storm elemental for days. If they could reverse engineer even just a part of it and he could integrate it into his golems, like they did with the Core Reactor, he might have been able to make even stronger golems, without needing a stronger soul. Its too burned and dirty to say anything definitive. I will have to take it apart and clean it up, is that okay? she asked seriously. You signed all the contracts, you can do whatever is necessary, Seth gave free reign over the project. Of course, she didnt do it for free. In exchange for her cooperation in this, Minas Mar supplied the fleet with fresh food and rations, for the time of their stay. They also allowed groups of civilians to enter Little Gamma and spend time off their cramped ships. It was just an interim solution for the duration of the Pythian games, afterwards, they would deal with their settling at a Tree Station of their choice. Until then, and hopefully even afterward, he would have an extremely motivated researcher, unraveling the mysteries of this advanced technology for him. Chapter 1064. Somewhere Else(30) A solitary figure was making her way through the windswept mountain range. The cold air ripped at her ragged clothes and snow was piling up on her shoulders. Swaying left to right, she dragged her heavy feet through the deep snow. The cold climbed up her wet legs and she couldnt feel her toes anymore, but this wasnt her biggest problem. Her arm twitched, prompting her to quickly kneel down and bite down on a ripped piece of cloth. Waves of immense pain shook her body uncontrobly, radiating through her whole body from her left arm. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she cramped, and locked it in what seemed like an epileptic seizure. For minutes she rolled in the snow before the waves finally started to calm down and her body rxed in fatigue. These fits of pain came in random intervals, some better some worse. There was no getting used to it, but at least she was prepared now. The first time she almost cut her tongue off when her jaws got locked and cracked her head open when thrashing around. Now, she could at least prevent that when she felt the signs. Breathing heavily, she crawled back on her knees, her legs too weak to stand up. Bruised and battered, she crawled forward, until her legs regained their energy. Checking her , she couldnt be too far from the next settlement. She had just lost her way in the snowstorm a little. You can do it, Meg This isnt your first rodeo, it wont be yourst she whispered to herself, over and over, gritting her teeth to stand up and keep moving forward. The worst she could do was stagnate in this winter nightmarnd. She had lived on after being captured by bandits; she had worked her way up in a ce like Morranto. She overcame the wounds of the hashing bird and survived the torturous experiments in the darkness of theboratory. She had done things she wasnt proud of to survive, but it only drove her on. She had done so much, she couldnt give up now. She would give in to hunger, or fatigue, these mountains would not break her She nced at her left arm. Its metallic sheen greeted her like a reminder. The Damocles sword was hung above her head. For now, it only brought her pain, but would she be able to find a cure? Her only hope was, that her own infection was tremendously slower than the others she had seen. At theboratory, it had started with just her hand, but with every fit of pain, the metal would spread. Slowly but surely, she was turning into a machine. Just like the poor bastards from the cells beside her own. Meg also deluded herself into thinking that her mind was much clearer than that of her fellow prisoners. Maybe because of the speed? It had happened a lot faster for the others. They had spent days in constant pain, as the metal crept up their bodies. Losing their mind and rational thinking in the process was no wonder. But all of these deliberations were just whispers in the back of her mind. It was an animalistic urge to survive and return to her family that kept moving her feet in the direction of civilization. She never had a husband, no man could keep up with her for long, but there was always her brother and his daughter.N?v(el)B\\jnn After the world ended and they lost her sister-inw, they had stayed together all the time, growing closer. Even if she was bound to die, she didnt want to remain in these cold dirty mountains. She wanted to at least see her cute niece onest time. And if this was not going to kill her but turn her into these things in the other cells, then she hoped to find someone, or something, that could end her misery. Wading through the snow, her thoughts focused on the goal, she missed a step on the ravine and lost her footing. Haplessly tumbling down, she tried to find her footing or something to grasp, when her tumble came to a sudden hold. The techno-organic arm had dug itself into the cliffside, holding her in ce with ease. At least there was one advantage to this disaster, as her augmented arm was several times stronger than before. She could also see in her status window, that there was an unnamed buff, raising all of her stats by 10-25%. Being a lv.73 Warrior, she was not weak to begin with, so it was a massive boost. And it would have been great news if the cost werent a sealed fate and fits of terrifying pain every once in a while. Staying there for a moment, she waited to regain her breath, before she pulled herself up again. She spent days stumbling across the mountains and valley, only sustaining herself on melted snow. She had no idea how long it had been since she escaped theboratory during its destruction as the days all became a blur, one long stretch of pain, and cold, and hunger. As thankful as she was to the lightning bird that had attacked theboratory and passively aided her in her escape, she wished she had been saved by someone with a better n. As she climbed over another hill, who knew how muchter, she finally saw a smaller settlement she had once visited with their caravan. However, it was abandoned. Just like the others she came by, the small group of buildings showed some signs of battle, but the interior looked like the residents left hastily. Had the Unimed Mountains be devoid of people? She stopped getting her hopes up with the smaller ones and directly aimed for Emerald City. If there was a ce still running in the Unimed Mountains, it would be the green city. The direction also promised sce for her growing hunger. The former residents were not nice enough to leave her any food before they vacated their homes Warmer temperatures and more lush vegetation awaited her in the direction of Emerald City. And the vegetation brought food. Stuffing her withered stomach with roots and berries she knew from her previous travels; her travel became slightly more bearable. Even when the asional seizure had her throw up whatever morsel she managed to find that day. It had probably been weeks since her escape, but when she made her way through the hesitantly sprouting woods, she finally saw the barrier of Emerald City in the distance. The scene was familiar and not at the same time. The barrier stood strong, but thend surrounding the city waspletely deste of live. The forest had burned down and there were signs of battle all about. Most prominently were the burned-down remnants of what looked like the campsite of several caravans. Burned-out cars, wrecked vehicles. Singed and ripped rags of tents...Just what had happened here in the time she was away? Who did this? How was the situation in the city? Staring at the scene, her mind was paralyzed by the number of feverish questions revolving in her hazy head. The piercing headache that gued her for the past few days didn''t help her sort out the mess of thoughts. A hand suddenly touched her right shoulder. In her frozen stupor, she didn''t even notice a woman approaching her. Looking at her in shock, she found the person in question was a middle-ageddy, her face showing some wrinkles, but not elderly yet. What really made her unique were veins of glinting metal, that shot across her whole face. Despite the metallic look, she gave Meg a tiny but kind smile as she put her finger on her lips signaling her to stay silent. You can''t go down there. You will be killed. Emerald City does not wee new visitors anymore. Especially not those like us, she whispered to her. Meg stared at her. Those like us... It was the first time she became conscious of her left arm. Not in the sense of a threat to her life, a source of pain, or a source of strength, but in the context of society. She looked at her arms, which had be a bio-mechanical mess. Most of it looked like an exposed muscle, except that the muscle seemed like fused together strands of metal wire, mixed with regr flesh and blood. In some ces, she still had pieces of her original skin, in others the surface was covered in flexible metal tes. Her mind had been upied with survival, escape, and seeking for help, or at least a better ce to die. At no point had she pondered what other people would think when seeing her arm. Do you mean the destruction down there was..? she whispered back after a moment but didn''t dare to fully voice out her thought. Thedy nodded. It''s a long story. we have a camp further in the jungle. Come, I will exin everything once put some proper clothes on you and some food in your stomach, she offered her. Meg hesitated, looking back down at the scene at the city entrance. She was too tired to really weigh her options. Some proper food and clothing sounded too enticing. With a nod, she followed thedy. Chapter 1065. Whitehilt Nr.5 While the fourth day of the Pythian Games was filled with more traditional sportingpetitions, where peoplepeted in physical prowess, the fifth and sixth days ramped up the intensity withpetitions focused on moreprehensive strength. They were made to suit the different sses of the system. A basicpetition Tanks would participate in was the Defense Test. Which technically meant they offered to be a punching bag for increasingly stronger attacks by monsters summoned with the help of the Adventurer Guild. Of course, the guild had also once again performed its service of creating temporary dungeon fields where participants would not die. So even if they overestimated themselves. The moreprehensive category for Tanks and Off-Tanks was the escort mission. In thispetition, the participant would have to protect a target for a specific amount of time, while danger grew in strength and numbers. Another one focused on mages was the Blink Race, which was an obstacle race for casters that were able to use and simr skills. Of course, Minas Mar didn''t juste up with all of them. Many of these disciplines were popr across Chrona and even Spatia. they were not just a way for adventurers to gain fame, but also for outsider to gauge their strength and experience in a semi-controlled environment. Doing well and presenting one''s skills in thesepetitions could do wonders for an adventurer''s career. Caleb, you are also participating in this one? Polter asked, surprised at meeting the Dragon Knight in front of the same arena he was waiting at. How could I resist this challenge? Caleb asked with augh. The event they decided to participate in was the peak of the first day and was called Speed Kill Challenge in Chrona. The rules were rtively simple. It was an individual discipline where thepetitor entered the arena alone, to face summoned monsters with rising power. Most monsters in the quickest time won. Wanna make a bet? the knight asked the dwarf with a sneer when he was about to enter the arena. Polter wasn''t one to back down. What''s the stake? he asked in his grumbling voice. Dinner tonight? the knight suggested. Fine with me! the dwarf answered with a heartyugh, looking forward to free dinner. It was a shame the participants were unable to see the spectacle inside, the dwarf would have liked to see how his friend was doing. So far, the participants at this arenaing before them had taken five to seven minutes to exit the arena again. Since most of them were around that time, Polter was convinced that they either disqualified at the same time, or the whole challenge was just that long. However, he was about to be surprised, as Caleb stayed a full ten minutes inside before a now bruised and battered Dragon Knight left from the other side. Well, this made it clear, that the others didn''t leave so early because it was an easy challenge, but because they couldn''t hold on for longer. The man gave him a nce, Polter couldn''t quite interpret. Was this pity, or schadenfreude in his eyes? Since participants who finished their challenge were not allowed to talk to the others, he shuffled away with a bend back. He vanished in the direction of the repair stations, where a cksmith would repair damaged equipment. A free service offered by Minas Mar. Polter Onyxheart, please get ready! the speaker announced. Polter didn''t have much time to ponder over it, since soon his name was called. it was his turn. Readying the poleaxe and the shield his grandfather forged for him, the dwarf stepped up to the challenge. The arenas were several temporary fighting rings set up in the center of the stadium and surrounded by walls so other participants couldn''t see the inside. The fights inside them, were televised to the audience by flying golem eyes. At the entrance and exit of the arena stood a golem knight, though Polter didn''t quite know their purpose. It wasn''t like the monsters would try to run. As expected, the first slew of creatures was nothing before the Shield Saint and Polearm Demon. Polter easily dispatched the first nine beasts in a matter of four minutes, before he ran into a wall. Number ten did not appear from the guild''s summoning circle. It was the golem at the exit of the arena that suddenly raised its longsword from its resting position and entered the center of the arena. Seeing that it was obviously his next opponent, the dwarf wasn''t polite and appraised the golem, like he would a hostile creature. The Shield Saint''s eyes bulged as he hurriedly lifted his shield to block an arm-numbing strike. The golem''s level was just a few behind his own, but all of its physical stats were above 400, its endurance even broke 500. This wouldn''t have been so bad, most monsters had higher stats than yers, but Azotain also had a great number of skills, that probably aided its power in battle. The dwarf didn''t even get the chance to read any, he just saw the list before almost having his arm broken through the shield. However, his surprise onlysted for milliseconds. Grunting, he got his head back in the game and used to deflect the longsword to the side, get some distance, and strike with the poleaxe. As a polearm user, Polter had the upper hand in range. Since the golem had no shield, the dwarf still saw a chance, as long he he managed the distance correctly. It was clear that Caleb had not defeated the golem. As long as Polter managed to, he would win their bet. The ensuing fight was brutal, as the dwarf gave his all to defeat the golem. The skill difference between the Polearm Demon and the golem was obvious, as the golem kept receiving damage, while Polter got the hang of deflecting its strikes.N?v(el)B\\jnn After getting a feel for his opponent, Polter began using the power of the Poleaxe. His grandfather created this relic. Some of its powers were inspired by the Poleaxe of Chains Seth once lent to him. Apart from raising the stats of the user it came with several active effects. Of course, he didn''t reveal all of them, with the tournament in mind. Azotain''s stats were lowered by 5% on every hit and Polter was able to cast before dealing mighty blows. Despite this advantage, he realized the difficulty of this fight. As the fight went on, the Golem Knight would keep mending, while his own stamina wasn''t recovering at all. But mending couldn''t happen without cost. This was a battle of attrition between whose resources would run out sooner. But it was probably his own, which was why he needed to wait for a chance to deal a single, overwhelming blow. As long as he could incapacitate the golem for long enough, he would gain the advantage and clobber it until its mana ran out, or he destroyed its core. Coming to this conclusion, Polter got ready for a final attack, when the golem suddenly entered phase 2. The longsword in its hands lit up in mighty mes. Even three meters away, Polter felt the heat emanating from the sword. Instinctively he appraised the sword in the golem''s hand for the first time. What the fcc! You gave your golem a relic-rated weapon!? the dwarf screamed in his mind, having a hard time keeping his tears back. How was he supposed to win now? Both of them had relic-rated weapons, but the golem was a bad match for his poleaxe because many of the negative effects like confusion or silence didn''t affect it. Polter on the other hand was not inherently fireproof, even when he had a 30% basic resistance as a dwarf, the mes of the Whitehilt were frightening. Ultimately, the addition of fire slinging on top of overwhelming stats led to a dwarf covered in soot and burns leaving the arena after 12 minutes. Haha, you also fell to the Five-Minute-Breaker, a burst of bell-likeughter greeted him when he returned to the VIP booth where Caleb and him were seated. The person in question was a quirky woman in a unique get-up. Meg? What are you doing here? the dwarf wondered. It was the archaeologist from his team during the evaluation. I also have a seat here! Although I came a littlete, I came just in time to see you and Caleb get your butts handed to you, she said happily. I see, but what did you say about a five-minute mark? I''m sure Isted longer... It''s what people started calling the golem stage because pretty much everyone reached it around five minutes in and can''t get past it, she exined, showing him an orb with quickly running by text. It was the chat of the live stream of the event. How is my ranking? Polter asked, assured that he did better than Caleb, seeing the knight flinch at the question. You are fourth on the overall ranking. The three above you managed to defeat the golem. There were people that defeated it? He asked surprised. Yeah, one adventurer and two of these foreigners from the Cloud Continent. They managed to incapacitate their golems with a powerful attack, which counted as defeating it. Tsk, I was about to do the same, when phase 2 started... he clicked his tongue, but then shrugged his shoulders. He let go of it and smiled instead. Anyway, how about eating dinner together? Caleb is paying. Chapter 1066. What happened to -? Jane... was this the security reason you wanted to borrow some of the named Golem Knights? Seth asked suspiciously, watching the 5-Minute-Breakers at work. These golems belonged to the first batches of Golem Knights Seth had made and Wolframmandedter on. Over time and while training in the Abyss Dungeons they had developed their egos and levels. Not too long ago, they even gave themselves names, differentiating themselves from the other Golem Knights that had yet to fully develop a personality. Some advertisement for our business can''t hurt, right? she answered sheepishly. While Mary was the administrative head, Jane was in charge of most of Minas Mar''s regr businesses, like the shops. But she also took care of the golem rental services, as well as managing their sales agreement with Arget Nore. They had originally decided that nobody from Minas Mar would participate in these events, as they didn''t want to risk revealing their power to their opponents too early. On the other hand, the cksmith couldn''t deny that this was a good advertisement. Do you have ns on expanding the golem rental business? he asked after a moment of deliberation. Jane''s eyes started shining when she heard the question as if she only waited for a chance to introduce her business ideas. Actually, yes. We have already been approached by some of the visitors from the system words after they saw them in action during disputes in the city. Some also seemed to have heard about the deal from Arget Nore. She wasn''t just talking about expanding their renting out golems to parties on Urth but expanding their sales to Chrona and other system worlds. Seth felt conflicted about this direction. It was one thing to sell their golems to a local ally, with every possibility to regain control over them, but selling them off to faraway ces? We would have to thoroughly restrict their possible actions like with those in Arget Nore if we really want to do that, he said slowly. The cksmith was okay with selling weapons and armors. In the end, they only were a boost to regr adventurers. Could his weapons cause tremendous damage in the wrong hand? Yeah, but this was the case for all weapons. The golems were different, as he technically sold apetent soldier, who was not afraid of death and could be boosted with items on top of that. The other difference was that he could give them presettings that would prevent their use for evil deeds. For example, the golems in Arget Nore had the official directive that they wouldn''t harm ori humas onmand, so they couldn''t be used against Urthans. We would have to sell them for specific tasks like pure Bodyguard duty, or City Defense against monsters, Seth mumbled out loud. That would limit the business quite a lot, Jane said a little bummed, but she didn''t argue against it. She also had no interest in causing unnecessary tragedies on foreign worlds. Well, it isn''t like we are hurting for money, Seth said with a shrug. Despite letting a lot of people live for free and taking low rents from the rest, Minas Mar as a guild was raking in great amounts of money. Most of it was reinvested in growing their new craftsmen and recruiting more people into auxiliary guilds and local branches of the Oathguard. The original Oathguard of about 2000 people that had proven to be trustworthy was simply not enough to take care of such arge Territory, which was why early on, used Golems and epted auxiliary guilds, as protectors at the Tree Stations. Local branches were actually the idea of Luf, who had been the driving force in growing their number over the past three months. Local Oathguards were not much different from auxiliary guilds. Unlike the core of the original Oathguard, they were not allowed into Minas Mar itself However, they were still selected to the same standard and equipped with older sets of Oath armor, that were cycled out by the core members who were now mostly equipped with the relic-rated versions or personal equipment purchased from the guild storage. Although these branches had their specific tasks to earn their keep, their main purpose was to act as a standing army in case it was needed. Seth''s newly created Golem Force and the branches of Oathguard were simr in a way, as there were two answers to the same question: What if something got past the barrier and the Tree of a Tree Station? The past had shown, that there were ways to destroy, or incapacitate the guardian trees. If the enemy knew of their power beforehand they woulde prepared. A wise proverb once said As long as the greatest detective had enough time to prepare, he could beat anyone. More troops were Minas Mar''s preparation for their preparations, so to speak. And of course, troops were not restricted to defense like the trees. They coulde in handy for a more... active approach. ... ---Xiguang Province, Hehieh--- Hehieh was a sprawling city, prospering thanks to its proximity to Yijing City, where the Immortal Summit had happened not too long ago. The Immortal Tower could still be seen floating above the capital on the horizon. With the center of the capital this close, the people here also did not need to fear the uproarious changes that had befallen many of the more rural ces. With the sect representatives and imperial army in the vicinity, there were many martial heroes who would take care of the exotic beasts that randomly appeared from nowhere. Dependent on the travelers to the capital close by, it was a city filled with restaurants and inns, to act as a buffer for the flood of people that would not stay here before and after going to Yijing City. Sitting at one of the many small street stalls, slurping a bowl of noodles was a young man. The well-made robes and hat that hid his face could hardly hide his foreign mannerisms. It was clear that he was a traveler probably from far away, but nobody cared here. There were many travelers, especially since the Immortal Summit. This way he didn''t even really stand out. After eating his bowl of noodles, he put down the dish and eating utensils and left after paying the tap. His feet agilely guided him through the crowded street, easily evading the skillful pickpockets among them. Not that they would find anything on his body, but still. With his hunger satisfied the young man''s feet led him to the vast slums of Hehieh. The ce of gamblers, prostitutes, junkies, and anyone who failed their business in the capital and was stranded on the way home in general. Without detours, he arrived at a run-down honky-tonk. It was the middle of a hot, dry day, and the ce was almost empty, except for the bunch of drinkers by profession, who seemed to live at the tables they upied. Judging by the smell, they barely even bothered to stand up for the call of the wild. The business was shit, literally. It was a good thing this toilet of a bar was just a front for an organization called the Dark Well. This was one of the infamous information-gathering guilds that could be found on the voracious cloud continent. The youth in white robes ced a small coin on the counter. It was just a worthless copper te with a sign scratched into it. At least on the surface, for the barkeeper, it was a token that he was here to receivemissioned information. He was led into a dark room with a simple table in the center. On the opposite side sat robed figures hiding their face in the shadows of their hood. Did you get what I asked for? the youth asked the dark figure. We did, we did. Here is everything you asked you. A list of all sects that initially allied to venture into the new world, as well as a profile about all of them, the figure said in a slippery, joyful voice. The long-fingered pale handed swiped over the table and several bamboo slips appeared. The youth flipped through the scroll-like bindings. Although he looked and acted like a foreigner, he seemed familiar with the characters of the Xiguang Province, showing no difficulty reading the slips. As for the payment, the figure reminded the youth. Wordlessly, the customer nodded and handed him the other half of themission. Satisfied, the youth left the pub and the slums. Despite expecting some hups along the way, nothing disturbed his path back to the inn. However, when he got closer to the inn, he found the crowd was loud and upset. Many people were hurriedly running in the opposite direction. Worried, he quickened his steps. Only when Marco came to the vicinity of their inn, did he find why they were running. Lizard-like monsters were rampaging in the streets and where the inn had stood previously was a massive gate, that had swallowed the inn and several neighboring buildings. Shocked, he almost reacted toote, when one of the beasts attacked him, but an absent-minded swipe of his rapier ended the foe easily. Marco''s mind was currently upied with a more important question:n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om What happened to Paolo? Chapter 1067. Paolo’s Time Away Standing in a white open, golden gate, with a great formation in the background, was an old priest holding an impassioned speech. And he raised his hands to the sky and called forth a flock of winged creatures, so they would y his enemy! the elderly priest, wearing ostentatious robes cried out in his raspy voice. His wrinkled hands gestured to the sky, as golden rays fell on the crowd of young people before him. Paolo was among the crowd. He had listened to the creation myth of this ce. Not because he was interested, but because he had no other choice. Neither had the people in the crowd. All of them wore heavy handcuffs that suppressed mana and physical power. Originally, he and his friend Marco had infiltrated the Voracious Cloud Continent to gather information independently to find out more about their potential enemies. Although one couldnt call their journey calm or safe, it had not been a big problem to traverse the vast nes past the entrance. Using the rough map and the mapping skill master Mountains had provided Minas Mar, the two had made their way all the way to the vicinity of the provincial capital. They had been able to more or less adapt to the way of the Cloud Continent and collected information from various brokers on the way. However, things had gone awry in the morning when Marco left to get the information from the information broker. Not because they underestimated the people of the continent, but because a very familiar catastrophe had caught them by surprise.N?v(el)B\\jnn On Urth, it had long beenmon knowledge for residential areas to be covered by apparatuses that would block the random opening of gates. This wasnt the case on the Voracious Cloud Continent. Now, it had been several days since Paolo had been sucked into the Pathworks and was spat out in this foreign world. The supporter had also been quite unlucky with his first encounter here. Before he could do anything to heal the spatial tears in his body or rece the ragged robed, he was already bound by cold iron chains, that blocked him from using skills or the inventory. This was just a day ago. Taken for a viger, he was conscripted for this blessing against his will and had no idea what was going on as he was pushed among a group of youths, all waiting for the ritual. From what he was able to gather from the priest''s convoluted speech, this ritual was a preparation for war. A summary of the unending speech was that in this world a great saint built the current empire 1000-something years ago using the power to summon angel-like creatures. In this world, noble families formed blood pacts with various tribes among the divine beings to gain the right of summoning and part of their powers. However, once summoned, these angels would choose their contractors themselves. Apparently, Paolo and the rest of the poor sobs here had the questionable honor of receiving the chance to be a contractor. Technically, they were the people they threw against a wall to see what stuck. Chosen ones would gain a great standing, as for those not chosen they stayed suspiciously quiet about what happened to them. Although Paolo had no interest in this and wanted to find a way to quickly return to Urth, the healer saw no way to get out of this situation, so he just had to y along. The priests speech finally ended, and it became quiet. The ritual began. Paolo used the time to observe the crowd better. Not all of them were chained here, there was a group of people obviously standing out. Not being chained, and wearing fine, clean clothing were a bunch of teens and children. They were whispering and talking trying to keep a noble bearing about them. Whenever they nced at the crowd Paolo was part of, they twisted their faces like they saw shit. As a modern person he had not too much experience, but judging by the people of Chrona he saw, and stories he heard, he guessed that these were the noble descendants of the n actually organizing this ritual. I guess having a blood rtive being chosen is always the better option,pared to gifting power to some ragged stranger..: the priest thought to himself sarcastically. To think they would even risk their own offspring in this... His eyes wandered back to the formation, where the great priest finished his incessant chanting. However, nothing happened. Perturbed, the high priest and his assistant discussed this with the older generation of nobles that stayed in the background. Several minutester, they repeated the ritual to the same extent. Nothing happened. Was he lucky and their gods didn''t answer the prayers today? A man walked over to the group of nobles'' children and told them something, Paolo was able to overhear. This is nothing unusual, it may take a few more tries. You can take a break while priests rest and recover for the next round, he told them. Hoping he was lucky, what was he thinking? Many of the youngsters left, probably for morefortable rooms, same with their parents. Meanwhile the conscripts had to stay in the burning sun. Only a few teens stayed, now talking less constraint with each other Paolo observed them, trying to glean something from their conversations, when he suddenly got a system prompt. Bewildered, he looked at the quest window in front of him. Who or what was )($)( and why would he want to save )($)(, apart from the quest..? Paolo couldn''t use any of his skills or system privileges, so he couldn''t appraise the people to find who )($)(, was. Not that he thought )($)( was their actual name... Coincidentally his eyes fell on the tform behind the ornate gate and fence when it was tinged in a dim light and a group of people appeared without much fanfare. Only the people who happened to look at the tform saw what happened. They were women with tanned, hazelnut brown skin, dark brown hair, and piercing yellow eyes. The eyes were even more striking than the pairs of ck wings on their backs. The crowd of captives had quickly noticed them, but the few remaining noble teens were vigorously talking and joking, not noticing the situation. With a displeased smile, the leader at the front looked at the crowd of youths who had yet to notice her presence. Paolo''s eyes are forced to look at a young girl, who seemingly did not notice the arrival of the winged women, as she was talking with a friend. Was she )($)(? He didnt have the time to think more about it, as he suddenly saw things as if they happened in slow motion. The leader of the angels sneered as a dark shadow spread from below her, extending to right beside the girl. His body moved instinctively, rushing forward and tackling the girl aside as the jaws of a giant ck werewolf emerged from the shadow, mping down where she had just stood. Rolling on the floor, the girl t on the ground, he turned around to see the beast fully stepping out from the ck shadow. Hoho, how stunning and brave~ This dog had quite the guts, but a good dog should know not to get in the way of their potential owner, the leader of the winged beings with short pitch-ck hair said with a crazy chuckle. The towering werewolf took a menacing stance, threatening Paolo. I already have a liege and I''m past living like a dog, he gave a standoffishment as heboriously got back up. Even though his skills and most of his physical attributes were sealed, he was still a lv.91 adventurer and a member of Minas Mar. He still had some pride and a backbone in him. Look like this puppy needs some whipping! the angel said excitedly, as the werewolf bared its teeth. Take these chains off of me and we will see who gets the whipping! he provoked cockily. The angel onlyughed, as the wolf attacked without warning. Chapter 1068. Lyca Chapter 1068. Lyca "Hey, don''t I know you? I feel like we met before," the Winner of the Speed Kill Challenge suddenly asked him as Seth put a golden medal around her neck and stepped away from the winner''s podium. This was the end of the 5th day of the Pythian Games and the official end of the "normal" sportspetitions. With great fanfare, they intended to honor all the winners of the previous round, before the games entered their heated phase. The person who suddenly spoke to Seth was a tall, toned woman with tanned skin. Her tall figure with a swan-like neck, long slender limbs, together with the big almond-shaped eyes were reminiscent of elves. She looked off, but very ethereal and beautiful, at the cusp of the uncanny valley. The Tower Master gave a cheeky smile. "Don''t you think this pick-up line is a little too overused? With this kind of setting, you should havee up with something more original," the cksmith joked, shaking his head in yed disappointment. "Stop the joking, I''m serious. I just can''t quite remember," she said, unperturbed by the bard''s prank. She seemed really bothered by the fact that she couldn''t remember where they met. Seth finally decided to help her, since they had to get on with the award ceremony. "Don''t worry too much about it. Our party wasn''t that memorable back then when we met in the Fog World," the cksmith reminded her. This was the Amazon Lyca, Seth and the others had met all the way back then when they slipped through the cracks and entered the world of fog, where they also met the Tuatha De for the first time. She stared at him for a long moment, as if this snippet of information wasn''t enough, but her face quickly brightened when she finally remembered. "Oh! The party of humans that was stranded at the hub world! So, you managed to get home in the end. You even became quite sessful. Maybe now you be a challenge," she added with a dangerous wink. "Maybe we could meetter? I''m really interested in how you came to organize such an event." "Sure, juste to Minas Mar''s, our VIP room after the ceremony," he answered, signaling that they really had to move on now. With a nod, she left the podium, making a ce for the next batch of winners. As he was giving out awards and award money, Seth was looking forward to it. The amazon was one of the three participants who actually beat a named golem and the only one who did it with ease. Seeing her strike down Esperanza instantly reminded him of her fight against the giant fog monster they had witnessed back then. Despite all of them growing stronger, the Amazon was still a symbol of might to the people who had witnessed her back then. Especially to Monique and Jonah, the two warriors, she was a milestone to reach andpete with. At this point, Monique and Jonah would probably writhe in regret that they had agreed that nobody from Minas Mar was allowed to join the tournament. It would have been the perfect chance topete with her. But Seth was not only looking forward to their meeting out of nostalgia. There was a question burning under his nails. How had she been able to enter their games? The cksmith had a hard time believing the amazon from back then was below lv.100. Having a powerhouse like herpete in the games was borderline smurfing if not outright cheating. In general, she had not seemed overly interested in people back then, what would have moved her to suddenly travel the to Urth? Whatever it was, maybe they could get her on their side during the tournament. Having a powerful thick, sexy thigh to hug was never a detriment. The award ceremony was tedious, but also important, which was why Seth did it personally. It took almost two hours of handshaking, congrattions, and throwing out money before the cksmith could return to their private booth. ... When it knocked at the door of the booth, the booze was already flowing. It became their ritual for the end of every day without an incident. Seth, beer in hand, opened the door, finding the amazon waiting outside. They had not exchanged a word yet when her face lit up at the sight of the beer in his hands. "Would you like one? We are having a little evening drink before leaving," he invited her in, offering a fresh bottle. All of the core members of Minas Mar were currently present in Little Gamma, including their original party from when they entered the fog world. She took the offered bottle without much care. Although her face had brightened at the sight of alcohol, her eyes were trailing through the room in a daze. "is there something wrong?" Monique asked concerned. She was leaning at the bar, not too far away from the amazon that had just entered. As part of the original party who had seen Lyca in action, and a warrior herself, she had been looking forward to meeting the amazon again, when she appeared at the games. "You...you are the Chosen of Athena, right?!" the amazon eximed excitedly. "And she has the aura of Phobos! And you... Hestia?" she urately guessed the godly sugarparents of Monique, Faenys, and Mary. "It couldn''t be..." she trailed off when seeing Evee, sitting beside her brother at the opposite end of the lounge. "Persephone," Evee answered her a nod. She wasn''t familiar with Lyca, but Seth and the others told everyone the story before she arrived. "And this big guy, you have the blessing of herak- no, his son?" she tried to guess Tekar''s affiliation. "Both of his sons, yes," She said with a slight smile, nibbling at his orange juice. The massive man didn''t touch much alcohol. A this point the amazon had stolen their thunder. They had wanted to talk with her about the fog world and her power, instead, she was the one starting to gush about their blessing. The reason was simple. "I would have never thought I would get the chance to meet a champion of my gods! And now I meet so many at once," she eximed happily. "So, you actually worship the Olympians where you areing from?" Link asked her interested. Back then, he had been watching the amazon like a hungry wolf, but the gourmet hunter had calmed down a lot since he spent his time with Sherry Baker, Mark Baker''s Sister. "Of course, where Ie from we mostly pray to her Highness Artemis and his Lordship Ares, but the other gods also hold their ce in our temples," she answered seriously, before taking a swig from her beer. "Oh, on that note. Where Do youe from?" Mary used the key to guide the conversation a little. "My home is called Solene. You have to go through quite a few Fairy gates and Fog Ways to get here," she answered easygoing. "it isn''t part of the Pathworks?" Alison asked curiously. Fairy gates and Fog Ways didn''t sound like part of the system route. "No, it is part of thework. but it''s outside of the system god''s influence. To be honest, this system thing is still quite new to me." She grimaced with an embarrassed smile. "It''s new to you?" Fin eximed surprised. "Yes, I epted the influence when I entered the worlds of the system god, but I''m not quite used to it, yet. Aren''t you bothered by the weird announcements once in a while?" she asked, talking of notifications about status effects, level-ups, and such. Now that she mentioned it... All of them epted it, but it didn''t mean they didn''t think it was a little weird to have the system voice talk to them telepathically once in a while. "And what made you enter the system?" Jonah asked calmly. The system support was a blessing to them, but someone as strong as her barely gained anything from it, so why would she ept the inconvenience? "I''m on mying-of-age journey to gather experience. Every amazon had to leave the homeworld and survive on their own for at least 5 years to gather experience by traveling through other realms. We can only return once that period has ended. So I entered the system world to see how things worked here and then I heard about your event. it really reminded me of home," she exined with a nostalgic smile. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Oh, since you brought it up, how did you manage to join? With your strength, you should be past lv.100, right?" Seth threw in. They had deliberately set a level limit to make thepetitions more or less fair. "What a weird question, of course, I lowered my stats and suppressed my level to lv.90. Can''t you guys manipte your level?" she asked naturally. The room fell silent. Chapter 1069. The Race You can freely change your level? the room eximed in shock. Even Leana seemed surprised. This had much further implications than just smurfing in thepetitions. What if someone used to infiltrate I wouldn''t say freely... Ites with a loss in power and skill proficiency and it''s not like I can get it back in a short amount of time. es with a lot of restrictions. she tried to exin, facing the upset room. Warrior''s Challenge? Leana asked interested. The Lyca said it, it sounded like a skill, but she had never heard of it. It is one of the blessings of Ares. There is nothing to gain when fighting a weaker opponent with overwhelming strength. ... A massive school of giant rays gliding through the clouds, blotting out the sun. While the audience was in awe at the majestic and terrifying sight, the man on the Wyvern was close to shitting his pants. Caleb''s level was not low, actually, it was a little higher than the progenitor''s, but that didn''t mean he couldpete with a giant monster like that. He might have been able to fight a few normal ones together with his Wyvern, but there was a whole school!N?v(el)B\\jnn Hurriedly, and as quietly as possible, he signaled his Wyvern to get back below the clouds. he rather took up the fight with the other runners, than with these guys. ... In the booth, Seth leaned over to Mina and Fin. How did you manage to get those guys here? he whispered with great curiosity. He could have understood it if they had the help of Puffles, Tatzel, or Ceres, but he knew those guys were up to other things. They came on their own when we herded their food, Fin said excitedly with a malicious smile. Their food...? Oh, yeah .... When Caleb breached the clouds on his way back down, he was greeted by the tragedy of airborne participants. A situation the audience had already been watching in great delight for minutes. Dozens if not hundreds of flying beasts had emerged from the surrounding mountains and viciously decimated their numbers. People were ripped from their swords, down with their brooms, not many had the maneuverability to evade born birds of prey. Those flying in vehicles or on mountains were still lucky, as they had some advantages that allowed them to fend off one or two. Aren''t there a bit too many? Caleb mumbled, witnessing the mayhem unfold. Although mountains were the usual ce to find great numbers of beasts capable of flight, their current number and strength had him doubt this was normal. In a race where you wanted to ce as few rules as possible on the participants, one obviously had to think of a way to bnce out the unfairness that was flying mounts or flying in general. Minas Mar had solved this in a very simple manner. If you wanted to fly, you had to earn your speed by facing great dangers. Seeing hispetitors locked in battles with swarms of monster birds, giant bats, flying snakes, and winged lizards, Caleb decisively dove down. He wouldn''t have any of that, he rather join the people on the ground than take part in this aerial battlefield. Not one moment toote. Like a harbinger of destruction, he heralded the esction of the battle. The next scene shown in the stadium was the gray cloud cover above breaking apart like smoke, as the massive skyrays descended, diving for their food. Had the Wyvern rider lured them down? Did he do it on purpose? Or had the noise of battle attracted the attention of the beasts? Whatever it was, the situation in the skies took a drastic turn as the rays joined the fray, not distinguishing between mounted food and normal food. Monsters and participants alike were caught by the rows of long barbles hanging from the bellies of the skyrays. These acted like tentacles, grabbing and squeezing pray from the air, before delivering it to their gaping maw at the underside of the monsters. Minas Mar made the rule that participants were not allowed to kill each other, but at no point was their survival guaranteed. However, none of the participants were weak. Although many lost their mounts and fell from the sky, only a few truly ended up in the belly of monsters or the skyrays. Like Caleb, they decided to flee to the ground, joining the mob of people, busy finding the fastednd way to the checkpoint of today''s stage. They were luckier than the people who suffered a lethal blow or ended up in the bellies of the skyrays, as they found out the second use for the bodycam. Although Minas Mar didn''t guarantee their survival, it didn''t mean there were no countermeasures at all. Unbeknownst to the participant, the bodycams were able to create a barrier and block a deadly blow. but this also went along with the camera stopping to work and immediate disqualification. Having escaped death, loss, and disqualification, Caleb alreadynded and ced his Wyvern in the pet space, before vanishing taking cover in the dense pockets of coniferous trees that could be found in many of the valleys on the track. Cursing, he checked the map. At least he had managed to cover a third of the way and was probably slightly ahead of the people who had been running from the start. He was trying to concentrate on his next steps when he heard a crack behind him. When he turned around with his sword appearing in his hand, a shower of icicles was already upon him. He could barely react to cover his eyes in time before the cold spears struck his armor and arm. The air was pressed out of his lungs and the left arm he used to cover his eyes was pierced by the cutting ice. Fuuu... Standing between the dense, dark trees stood the sleek snow-white figure of a Drake. It was not big, just two to three meters in height, but its back was covered in icy spikes. Unlike normal drakes, the Hailspine Drake was able to use powerful ice magic and even fire the spines on its back. This was what had just hit him. The moment he realized what he faced, he ditched, weaving between trees for cover. These woods would hardly block any of the attacks. Even his epic armor was damaged and pierced by the attack, what could a few trees do? he wasn''t in the state to fight this thing. Running and dodging, he fumbled a potion from his inventory and downed it. His HP was quickly recovering and he felt relieved as the pain in his arm receded. He could face the drake on his own, but his chances didn''t look as good as he would have liked. He had to get out of the dense forest and summon the Wyvern. Waves of magic came flying from behind as the drake took chase, barreling through the wood like they were not even there. At least, with his arm healed, he was able to equip his shield and block the attacks that came from behind. He ran and stumbled, disrupted by the impacts of icicles from the back. But the edge of the woods was so close, he would be able to make it! As long he made it- He stumbled, he fell, he rolled, and- A deafening roar filled his ears as his Wyvern appeared above him and obliterated the small forest with its breath. Caleb survived the encounter- this time. Chapter 1071. Age-old Temple Although Polter and the others were on the edge of their seats, as they watched their friend Caleb barely ovee the sudden challenge in the wild, the stadium''s main screen was currently following someone else. Hao Ying, the Fleeting Flute, known to the audience as the musicianpetition winner, was also participating in the obstacle race. he was one of the more exotic racers. When the race began, he threw out his flute, which erged and allowed him to ride it like a hoverbike close to the ground. Shooting off on the flute, which cried out in a martial sound from the air flowing through its holes. The spine-shattering sound left a trail of blood behind, as the weaker contestants started screaming and bleeding from their eyes and ears. As per the rules not deadly, but incapacitating. The musical cultivator was one of the main culprits for more than half the participants not even being able to leave the mountain teau. Like the swords surfers and broom riders, he was very fast and nimble. However, it seemed like he could not rise very high above ground, traveling more like riding a hoverboard. identally, this saved him from suffering the fate the others faced. By staying close to the ground, he was not impeded by flying beasts. Quickly advancing in the rough terrain, he managed to be among the leading figures, however, his luck finally ended. He was zooming along the frozen mountain crests when a massive Ice Troll jumped out of an ice crevice and smacked him off his path. Hao Ying had been thrust into the darkness of the mountains,nding at the bottom of the rift. he was one of the few who entered the subterranean paths that led below the mountains. As one of those furthest ahead and entering a new location, all attention was on him. ... Pain pulsed through his right shoulder as he crashed onto stone flooring. Gasping he rolled on his belly. Would the creature follow him down here? He had to move. It was the only thought in his hazy mind, right after the impact. Darkness enveloped him. Not being able to see anything, his hands scurried over the ground and he tried concentrating on his qi sense to get an outline of the surroundings. The ground was weirdly dry for the bottom of a rift in a cier. The floor was also very smooth and when he finally got an idea of his surroundings, he found the walls were upright and smooth as well. This was not a natural cave. One hand holding onto the wall of the corridor was in, he looked back up. He could register a hole in the ceiling, but there was no lighting from it. how deep had he fallen? Using his inner vision, he tried checking on the state of his body. His right shoulder was busted. His refined bones were cracked, his ligaments torn, and his flesh badly bruised. As long as he found a quiet ce to sit down and meditate, he would be able to heal given some time. He was lucky to have worn the Star Meadow Garments given to him by his master, or the damage may have been worse. After ascertaining his situation, his attention focused back on the corridor he fell in. This was obviously a man-made structure and he wondered whether his falling down here was an ident or on purpose. Was this part of the race or maybe an ancient ruin even the Urthans didn''t know about? His heart started beating faster at the thought that he may have found an ancient necropolis or the tomb of a primordial noble. This was the instinct of every cultivator from the Voracious Cloud Continent. it was not umon for people to stumble over forgotten or hidden ruins and have fortuitous encounters. asions like these could turn some humblemoner or farmer into a cultivation genius that would shake their province, sometimes even have an impact on the continent. Although the Urthans used strange magic and technology now, he had also heard about a talk of an ancient time when other powers reigned over thesends.N?v(el)B\\jnn Hao Ying was a curious man, and he had listened to many stories about this world and one he thought of now was the fate of the Saintess of Samhach, who was the guardian of one of the tree Stations. From what he heard, she had been exploring an ancient ruin, when the god chose her and granted her his powers. Some factions may look down on such given or borrowed power, but the young flutist didn''t discriminate. If he could be chosen by a god as these yers said he would dly ept the power. Keeping his excitement in check, he started following the long tunnel. There was also a good chance that this was part of the race. Minas Mar had survived these mountains for months, would they really overlook something like this? ... No, no they would not have. While Hao Ying entered through one of the various side entrances, the other runners had also reached a towering mountain ridge, that was hard to climb or circumvent on foot. Lucky for them, there was a way through. The head of the runners reached a massive entrance gate directly carved into the solid mountain wall. nked by massive columns and statues of Asterion, it looked like the entrance to an age-old temple, built into the bedrock of the mountain range. Vathon really outdid himself here, didn''t he? Sethmented, watching the scene on the big hologram in the center of the stadium. This discovery also answered the audience''s question of where Hao Ying had fallen. Vathon Stonechiseler and the group of masons Minas Mar had taken in went absolutely ham on this. The cksmith had been denied the entertainment of owning a dungeon, sanctified by the dungeon god. So Minas Mar simply had Vathon make one from scratch. What was even more interesting than a normal obstacle chase? of course, when part of it led directly through a dungeon, wrought with traps and seeded with treasures. This was a surprise and a distraction for the contestants and the audience. Would they take the risk to explore the dungeon to find treasure and ignore the race, or would they try to choose the quickest way through thebyrinth to stay in the lead? The third batch of young dungeon worms also helped, otherwise they wouldn''t have been able to finish the whole structure in time, Mary gave credit where it was due and Evan nodded to her in thanks. There is already a third batch? the cksmith asked Evan surprised. Yes, they hatched three months ago. They are still a far cry from a fully grown adult, but this made them just the right size to tunnel the base passages that were then refined by the masons and golem miners, Evan gave a short exnation on how they did it. I''m looking forward to how it turned out, Seth said with a smile. The bard had purposely stayed in the dark about the different stages and parts of the obstacle race, so he wouldn''t spoil himself. He only knew some of the things that went into the making of this dungeon, such as a handful of rare and epic-rated items made by Neill, Liam, Orry, and the other craftsmen they had recruited and nurtured. if one''s goal was a valuable item, they actually had a better chance of striking it rich in the dungeon than winning the race. But Seth was sure the other wouldn''t have made it easy for the participants to actually take away these items. We did our best to make a fun-to-watch dungeon, although most of the traps are not lethal, Leana said, as they watched the runners enter the maw of Minas Mar''s very own custom dungeon, not trademarked by the Dungeon God. Chapter 1072. Copyright Infringement --- Cinema Dimension--- This... This is preposterous! sphemous! This is copyright infringement! the Dungeon God huffed in the second row, causing some of the gods in the first to chuckle. The movie screen was currently showing the same scenes broadcast to the audience in the stadium and various others from the eyes of Mike, Monique, and the other chosen. If one wasn''t used to the typical dungeon streams of the dungeon god, one could have mistaken it for the real thing. Except there was one difference, this dungeon was more brutal and cutthroat. Not about how endangered the actual life of attacking parties, or the pure gore of it. There was very little of this here. It was the way it absolutely abused the contestants for content and entertainment. This dungeon portrayed the kind of cold, calcted cruelty that aimed for the maximum number of audience and views while disregarding any human dignity of the participants. At no point did it really risk the lives of the runners, but it was unlikely that they would ever regain their dignity after the humiliations they had suffered in the dark halls, nned by twisted minds, nourished in the depths of television, and the inte. What all this culminated into was a simple and hurtful truth. This dungeon was far more entertaining to the gods than most of those under the Dungeon God. Beasts aiming for blood sport and domination simply couldn''tpete with a civilization that had cultivated entertainment to the peak and knew the dark desires of the sentient mind. Now you regret denying him those dungeon rights, right? Hermes mocked him, reminding the dungeon god of his petty act when he denied Seth, or his creation to be dungeon masters because of his bet with the System God. Apart from the concept, the kind of traps and hurdles Minas Mar''s dungeon architects used were very new to the gods, which made them even more interesting. Using polished and lubricated trunks the challengers had to walk across, randomly falling tforms or badly bnced pirs over pits of viscous goo that kept them like quicksand. Sticky pendulums and pistons equipped with the same glue. All that on traditional traps like rotating des, poison darts, monster houses... Especially the riddle rooms were intriguing as they mixed various riddles and puzzles that all needed to be solved before the participants were able to escape, given they were not strong enough to break through by force. Unlike the usual dungeons, this one was not nearly indestructible. Although very few of the yers and demons had the idea of using brute force because they had internalized that dungeons were indestructible, the cultivators were not as inhibited. Which didn''t mean brute force always worked. Quite often, one could hear the audience in the stadiumugh uproariously, when someone broke through a wall or a locked door, only to suddenly face a flood of viscous goo or a giant ball directly eliminating them from the race. Even the gods oftenughed and chuckled, especially when someone was caught by a sticky piston and repeatedly smashed into the opposite wall. Although quite a few of these methods didn''t threaten their lives, it often led to their disqualification. After all, once their body cam was broken and their personal golem was lost, they were disqualified. This made the timing on time obstacles like pitons, spinning des, or magic traps like lighting and firewalls a very tricky obstacle for many of them. The ingenuity and variety of traps and obstacles had many of the gods giggling in glee and excitement. Had the dungeon god not been so stubborn, this could have been his film set. The amount of divine power he could have gotten by marketing this... Instead, he had to sit in someone else''s show and watch the potential fortune run through his sacred fingers. He could feel the space in the back expanding, as more and more avatars entered the cinema dimension of Hades, Seth, and Hephaestus. Meanwhile, the System God beside him stayed suspiciously quiet. Why wasn''t he the one gloating? Looking closer, was he...shaking? hey... Puha! D-Don''t talk to me, I''m already having a hard time keeping it in! the star-studded robeughed out. Ugh, this is your fault! the dungeon god vented, aggravated by the rampantughter. Haha, it''s not my fault you did something useless, the chuckling god answered, shrugging his shoulders. ... --- Dungeon Route--- Hua Ying heard a dissonant squeal just before a spike of ck ice flitted by his left ear, barely missing the golem eye hovering behind him. He had been walking for a while and his vignce had dropped, almost leading to the loss of his golem. His Qi Sense expanded and caught onto a figure standing far down the corridor. Surprised, he realized that he knew her and realized what the previous noise reminded of. The demon girl with a flute, he vividly remembered his abhorrence and fascination with their terrible music. How could something so abysmal hold such strange powers? it just didn''t make sense to him, driving him crazy at the time. but who would have thought he would face a fellow flutist in this dark underground passage? I''m Ember, and I will y you the song of the Last Smoke! the demon shouted some gibberish, as Hao Ying had already ced his flute on his lips. He was a cultivator, she was a demon, and neither had the benefits of yers like auto-trantion. While the audience understood or got a trantion, the flutist had no idea what she said. A clear, lovely melody filled the corridors as he started to y. A silken calm sound that enveloped the listener like a soft nket. The peace was deceptive as he started to weave his martial techniques into the soundscape. There were many who had underestimated his arts and found eternal peace in his music. However, he could feel it. The heat, the chaos, the systematic deconstruction of his soundscape. The finely woven of martial power was ripped by the fast-paced and erratic y of the demoness. At the edge of his perception, she was dancing in reckless abandon, ying like a maniac as fire and smoke surrounded her like a storm. The darkness of the corridor was broken by red lightning and the glow of dark embers. hao Ying quickened his pace topete with the demon''s cacophony, but the disruption was hard to ovee. Since he could not finish his technique, they were at a standstill. This was until the y at the end of the corridor became even faster. it was like the demon had lost her mind and the music she yed became louder and louder to ear-deafening heights. The tornado of smoke and me broke apart, filling the whole tunnel. Her music hade to an end, but danger just began. Shocked, the cultivator noticed that something moved in the darkness. A beast of fire and smoke without clear shape or form came rushing at him! Had he yed too deep and greedily, disregarding the danger the demon had posed?N?v(el)B\\jnn Tsk, how unrefined... heined, not about the opponent''s attack, but about what he was forced to do, as he stopped ying the flute. At no point had he lost his calm, facing the creature rushing at him, relying on his Qi sense, he wielded the flute like a staff. At this moment, a shard of ck ice hidden in the smoke flew past him and shot down his golem! He did not have the time to react and block it, forcing him to lose one of his two cameras. Aggravated he swung his flute. His Qi and the air flowing through the flute created a terrifying rupturing sound, the same power that had eliminated so many participants early on in the race. The smoke beast had no physical form, so a physical attack would have been meaningless, but the Qi-filled sound attack easily ripped apart the immaterial foe into shreds of ember and wisps of smoke. The easy win couldn''t lessen the grief he felt. Not only had he lost the golem''s eye, but the demoness had already escaped... This encounter was hisplete loss. Chapter 1073. Checking on the Fleet ---Little Gamma--- While more than half the participants were facing hurtful and humiliating traps and riddles, others were fighting their way through the mountain. Not everyone had entered the dungeon, many kept their eyes on the price and trusted their swift mounts and vehicles, rather than taking the dubious shortcut.N?v(el)B\\jnn Others didnt even get the chance to see the dungeon entrance. Caleb and those like him who had deigned to take the easy way in the skies had actuallynded past the great gate and were left to make their way through the mountains, like the other mounted yers. With so many on their mounts, or artifacts, the few people that scaled the mountains on foot stood out. Interestingly enough, there were two among them, Seth and the others knew. One was Lyca, the Amazon, who had thrown herself into this adventure headfirst. Footage of her showed clearly with how much fun and ease she overcame mountain cliffs and gorges. The terrain wasnt her opponent, and neither was the beast that would try to get in her way. Others were running a high-difficulty race with great dangers; she was out on a recreative hike. The other unlikely fellow Seth had already met once was Mr. Fister. The cultivator with the crazy martial art to curl his feet into another pair of fists. The barefooted man jumped agilely from tree to tree, up mountains and across valleys. Kicking- No! Punching the ground beneath him, whenever it got close, he never stood still for a moment. Other cultivators were outright flying, but their speed couldntpare to the mans manic charges. His bodycam footage alone was able to make the audience nauseous and the flying golem eye was barely able to follow his journey. Despite the disyed difficulty of the dungeon, those who had chosen the correct paths managed to cross almost the whole first stage of the race about three hours, arriving at the first days checkpoint in less than 4 hours, ahead of anyone else. Interestingly enough, one of the first people who made it through the dungeon was not a fast demon who passed by the obstacles or any of the two flutists. Arriving first at the finish line of the first stage was Megan, the archaeologist of Calebs group. Using her experience of scavenging ruins of old civilizations, she didnt have a hard time finding the various clues the architects of thebyrinth had left for the runners to decipher. Only a few had noticed the hidden patterns and ornaments and even fewer had managed to follow the correct instructions all the way to the end. As mentioned earlier, the dungeon was the correct way, for those able to choose the correct way. Hao Ying also made it out of one of the dungeons exits, a little past the four-hour mark and quickly reached the checkpoint. There were already many people present, aggravatingly enough the crazy demon flutist had also arrived before him. However, the cultivator was not as upset as he could have been. After his battle with the demoness, he came through various chambers and traps and actually managed to score big time, getting his hand on a pair of rare leather gauntlets and more importantly an epic dagger. Although he came a littleter, the two earth-grade artifacts more than made up for this slight mishap. He wasnt a weapons user, but he would be able to sell, or trade the dagger with his sect for something he needed more. Earth-grade weapons were notmon enough for even big sects to look down on them. On top of that, he could feel, that this was at least a high-tier earth-grade weapon. The gauntlets on the other hand were low or medium earth grade, but he decided to keep them. The leather of the gloves was smooth and didn''t get in the way of his craft while protecting what was most important for the craft. They fit him much better than the dagger. The dungeon fun kept going until deep into the evening, however, the number of people that reached the checkpoint for the day didn''t change much in theter half of the day. When the signal of today''s finish was finally given, there were just 50 of the initial 2000 people left. ... On a wild field just outside Little Gamma, the fleet of Epsilon hadnded to rest. The field was covered by great domes of dimly shining barriers, that kept beasts and intruders outside, while the people inside were working on their ships. While the popce that had been crammed into the great number of partially damaged and badly maintained vessels was allowed to enter and spend time in Little Gamma, the crews of these ships were busy with much-needed maintenance. The cksmith hade here because he was curious about the status of their work, as Joannia was currently busy studying the core reactor and the molten giant. Tower Master, wee! the old man with a grumpy face greeted him friendly. This was Joannia''s second inmand. As an old partner and friend of her father, he was almost like an uncle to her. Hello, Tyrone. How are things going? At first, the man seemed hard to deal with, but his temper turned very quickly when Minas Mar agreed to supply them with the materials andponents needed to fix and upgrade their fleet. From what Seth was told, the fleet had been in the air ever since leaving Epsilon. They had been constantly traveling and fighting, unable to do any proper repair or maintenance in all this time. Even after reaching New Hope, the ship stayed in the air to patrol the surroundings. The longest they hadnded for was when they picked up people in New Hope to travel to Minas Mar. A fear that they would not start back up was also part of the reason for this. This was just 2/3 of what originally started from Epsilon and it was a wonder that these ships made in haste and built from scrap still survived this long. Now that they reached a safe haven, the ambitious crew of architects, engineers, and mechanics that originally built and nned the vessels were more than motivated to overhaul the whole fleet. Especially Minas Mar''s willingness to sponsor this had raised their reputation in their eyes. Of course, the first point is maintenance and indispensable repairs to get the fleet back into working order. Then we will startpleting and upgrading them one by one, Tyrone exined as he showed Seth around what had essentially be a shipyard. There were people everywhere cutting and welding metal with rains of sparks. Seth was just d, that most of these vessels relied on magical engineering, instead of high-grade materials to develop their power. if there was something Minas Mar had more than enough of, then it wasmon and umon ores they had mined across the district using the tower''s drones and the mining golems Seth had made. The fleet''s people were able to take care of the rest themselves, as long as they got the materials. How long do you think the repairs will take? the bard asked curiously. I think we will be done with the gship and destroyers should be back in working order in a few days. After that we will start working on the frigates and transporter, he exined motivated to impress the big sponsor. A few days? That is good to hear. Does that include refilling ammunition? Do you need more materials for that? the cksmith asked thoughtfully. Of course, this was already included. The materials for restocking ammunition were already in the things we asked for. Hmm, I see, very good. When you are done with the gship and the destroyers, can you keep a team ready? Just in case something...unfortunate happens? he asked innocently. Joannia already gave orders to do so. Do you expect the games to be disrupted? Chances are high. that''s why we want to be prepared. Chapter 1074. Feather Hunt Wee back today, for the second part of the great race! Umi Kaldrops announced to the audience. Recording of the first day had already gone viral overnight. So much so that the stadium could not take in the sudden influx of people wanting to see it live. In fact, quite a few people tried to sneak to the location where the first stage ended, to see the start of todays final section in person. It stayed an attempt for most, as few normal viewers had the power to get through the mountains swarming with monsters. In the central hologram of the stadium, the audience was able to see the starting line for the second stage. The view itself was breathtaking. The terrain of the second stage was also slightly different. Where the first stage had led the people through snowy mountains with scattered groups of coniferous trees, they were now entering a region with a deeper, slightly warmer climate and more vegetation. The starting line was right at the edge of a cliff that fell straight down and showed a vast valley, the bottom filled with a dense dark forest. It was understandable why this ce was chosen as the midway point of the two stages. it was a treat for the audience. Standing at the starting line were 49 people waiting for the signal to begin. The audience had alreadye to know them due to their journey on the previous day and all of them had their supporters. Among the cultivators, yers, and demons were familiar faces like Ember, Lyca, Hao Ying, Hannibal Cho, and the unlikely winner of the first stage, Megan, the unassuming archaeologist. Polter may have had the power to go to the sideline at the start, but he stayed at the stadium. Although he would have liked to cheer on Megan in person he would not be able to follow the race from there, since there was nothing to watch or see it at the starting line. He also had someone to console. Caleb didnt make it in the end. The Dragon Knight was back in his seat beside the dwarf, wearing a listless expression. Surviving his meeting with the Hailspine Drake was just the beginning. Since he was already past the dungeon entrance, he had no choice but to take the monster-infested route through the mountains. As a mounted ss, he was not the fastest by foot, which meant he was forced to fight most of the time when he met a creature. Ultimately, he had almost suffered a lethal blow. It was only thanks to the bodycam shield, that he was able to stay alive, although he was disqualified from the race. He was saved by the Oathguards who were staying on standby for these kinds of incidents. Caleb survived but had to leave the race. Still, he was here to cheer for Megan, who had managed to ce first thanks to her performance in the artificial dungeon. In the center of the stadium, Umis projection beckoned their attention. I will now exin the next stage of the race, as we prepared something special for the participants. On this part of the race, they will be able to make up time from the previous stage, by finding these! she eximed and held up an item to the camera. It was a golden feather, borately crafted from fine gold. It had to be the work of an incredibly talented artist, as it looked almost like the real thing, except for the fine line of runes that ran along the spine of the quill. It was also tinged in a dim, blue shine. These feathers are scattered across the next part of the track. There are exactly 75 of them and they are either hidden by Minas Mars experts or can be attained by solving the trials prepared along the way. Either way, each feather a participant hands over at the final finish line, will reduce their overall time by 20 minutes, she exined, swinging around the beautiful feather. The audience was silent for a moment. Some people were still processing while others were in shock about the sudden change. A 20-minute time reduction! With this much, the race was still open for any of the participants, as long as they managed to collect enough feathers. Even Hao Ying who camest of the 50, was only about one hour behind the first ce. Just three feathers could make up for his disadvantage. However, the higher ranks were much closer. Anyone below the 15th ce only needed one to be first. Hmm, this round will be a lot more strategic... Caleb mumbled. At this point this was not just about speed, but also either about luck, or the speed one could find feathers in. After all, what use was it now, to run to the finish line as fast as one could, if someone just behind them, came along with four or five flowers, overtaking them by the virtue of the time bonus? Mindlessly running of at top speed wouldnt serve the participants well. They would have to weigh the time needed to look for feathers against the actual worth of the feathers. With that said, everyone is now up to date, and we can start the race! Ready- The runner looked up in shock, they had just been given a boon to brood about and she was just suddenly starting the race right afterward?! Their expressions were a treat for the audience at home and in the stadium. Set! Everyone on the screen scrambled to get in the starting position. Go! Fireworks signaled the start of the second stage as the runner hurriedly shot off in the distance. Notably, nobody chose to take to the sky this time. Thest 50 used mounts, artifacts, or their own legs to speed into the mountains. Ember confidently sprinted forward, dreading on air with a pair of me boots she had made herself, leaving a trail of molten snow as she directly jumped down the steep cliff, leaving a trail of mes behind. With such open terrain, she was sure to be the quickest, once she activated the fire boost and-However, despite her confidence, various shadows shot past her. First, a person riding what looked like an ancient bronze shield was a figure wearing a beige adventurer''s outfit. Ember only saw the back of Megan, as she shot toward the sea of trees. If not for the sudden whistle in the air, Ember would have smacked out of the air, as the dude on his flute aimed directly at her. With a bloom of fire, she changed position in midair to evade him. Good reflexes, but I got what I wanted! This is for earlier! he shouted back at her, as he gained momentum. As he ran off, she saw her golem eye get crushed in his hand. She had no idea what he bbered but she was sure he mocked her. The petty cultivator had used the chance right at the start to take revenge. With an angry scream, she activated the boost, to at least stay in third ce, only to see another cultivator pass her standing on a sword. Unlike Hao Ying, that petty tone-deaf blowhole, this man actually looked quite elegant and handsome. The demoness found herself staring at his long ck hair fluttering in the wind and his sword-like eyebrows. He seemed to have noticed her looks! Was that a smile? Did he smile at her? Maybe she should catch up with him and try to talk? Her heart was racing. Could it be that she- Yaargh! the hunk suddenly screeched unintelligibly as a beast emerged from the forest below and tried to snatch him from his sword. The next moment the charm was broken as they lost eye contact and he fell from his sword like a detached marite. The feline beats in question dove back into the forest with him.N?v(el)B\\jnn Ember''s heart grew cold in shock. What had she just been thinking about? it couldn''t be-! Had that man actually used charm magic to enchant a demon? She shuddered in terror. Just how far would she have gone for the man, if the beast had not saved the day? Thinking of the creature looking like a giant snow leopard that had snatched the man from the air, Ember decided to take it a little slower and pay more attention to her surroundings. This way she also wouldn''t miss any golden feathers on the way, she told herself. In this way, stage two of the great obstacle race began. Chapter 1075. Its not Luck We have to clip Ember''s face at that moment! Seth couldn''t stopughing at the dazed smile followed by the incredulous shocked expression of the demon girl. It was a good thing there was more than one golem eye, keeping watch over the situation, otherwise, they would have gotten such a good shot of her. The cksmith would let her live this one down. The viewer already made dozens of clips of it. Ember''s Shocked reaction is trending, Fin said with a chuckle, as she was ying around on her tablet. During her stay, Fin and the others had ample time to get used to Urth''s technology and culture, although it stepped into the background during the past years. In the wake of the Pythian Game, Minas Mar had made sure that a traditional stream was avable. Even going as far as to support the expansion of inte ess in the tree stations. It worked out. Although the live stream was only essible on Urth and not across the Pathworks, there were over two hundred thousand people watching it. Who would have thought that so many devices still existed? Despite an apocalypse happening, the people of Urth, and especially those from Delta, had stuck to their habits and customs, not giving up modernforts even in a time of hardships. Although Seth and the others mostly usedmunication orbs instead of smartphones or tablets at this point, since the phonework was not reliable far out, it seemed many Urthans still had some kind of traditional device to ess the inte. With the safety of the tree stations guaranteed, it was no wonder that many picked up their old style of living. or did their best to do so. it''s kinda nice to see people having fun in the chat. It feels almost normal if you disregard the actual content of the stream, Monique mumbled in the back, getting a thoughtful nod from many members in the room. Seth also agreed, seeing people active in the chat, gave a sense of nostalgia and peace, almost as if they were back in the time, before the apocalypse. Just another reason to bring the Pythian Games to a sessful end, Tekar voiced Seth''s thought. You are right. The better we solve problems during the games, the safer people will feel. Only when they feel safe, will they be able to regain a sense of normalcy, Seth added his own opinion. Of course, they couldn''tpletely go back to how things were but they could make the new normal as close to the old normal as possible. And the more normal and peaceful the people were, the more stable Minas Mar''s ie would be. Peace was the best business opportunity for a Landlord. Who do you think will win? Mina asked, sitting beside him and eating a pack of chips that were recently released. Probably Megan. Her hover disc is pretty fast and she already found a feather, Seth said with a shrug, stealing some of her chips, and earning an evil stare.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om These taste really good, he said positively surprised. This brand of chips was founded after the copse and they were producing chips using skills and ingredients introduced through the system, making them also buff food on top of being snacks. If you wanted to know how they tasted you could have just- Mina stopped speaking as she ravenously assaulted him, leaving hers and the taste of the chips in his mouth. The cksmith felt his face be hotter than when staring directly in the smelter. He didn''t expect her to suddenly kiss him while everyone was watching. Hey, no fair! the fairy cried out and Seth was caught up in another match of tongue wrestling as Fin made sure she was even with Mina. hmm, these chips really taste god! Gimme some too! the fairy brute proceeded to demand her share of snacks. Seth leaned back with a satisfied smile. He was a little embarrassed, but life was good. Shit was going down elsewhere and in the future, but he was d he had his little bubble of peace in the present. All the more reason to mess up anyone threatening his peace. Wow, this Hannibal Cho is pretty strong, isn''t he? Link''sments pointed their attention back to the broadcast where the man with fists and feet fists of steel was busy creating a bloodbath with bare feet. It was one of the monster traps prepared to protect a feather. Saying it was prepared may have been too much. It was a cave where a group of lv.80 Man-eating Troglodytes had taken residence. They were creatures with a vague resemnce to primates or great apes. They were not human-level smart but had a higher intelligence than ordinary monsters. Being able to use weapons and tactics, mixed with their great strength and agility made them a great danger for ordinary travelers or adventurers. But all that didn''t help them in the face of the balled feet and fists of the cultivator who was twirling in the air without losing speed from crushing their skulls when passing by. Covered in a blue aura, his fists and feet left gouged-out trails of flesh and blood, leaving clean holes in heads and bodies. Five minutes after entering the cave, he already reached the golden feather Mina had stealthily ced there without the troglodytes even knowing. Behind him, the bare stone floor of the caves was drenched in a sea of blood and covered by the fallen bodies of its former inhabitants. originally, this was supposed to be an opportunity for a thief or assassin ss, since troglodytes were not very perceptive. It was easy to sneak past them, avoiding an open confrontation. However, Hannibal Cho showed quite impressively, that even people below lv.100 could just brute force their way through such obstacles. He is, isn''t he? This race is actually a good opportunity to show how greatly the strength of cultivators can differ despite having a simr level, Seth added, taking into ount the other people currently in the race. For example, the sword rider that had tried to charm Ember, who was miserably taken down by the giant snow leopard, nobody even ced it there. Although the leopard actually had a lower level than the troglodytes, one-on-one they were about the same when it came to their threat level. While the charmer made a miserable figure in an attempt to fight the feline monster, Mr.Fister had easily dispatched a whole group of beasts with simr strength. If one thought about it, it was quite normal for something like the level to only be a rough guideline, even when it came to yers. Although the level was something equally set by the system, it did not necessarily mirror the strength of the being. Things like size, base stats, ss, skills, and items could make creatures on the same level differ very much in actual power. I guess you were right, Mina suddenly said, showing him her screen. It was currently showing Megan, escaping from a copsing stone structure. it was one of the temples Vathon and the others set up using the overburden from the dungeon excavation. The statistics showed that this was already Megan''s third feather. I never doubted her skill in puzzle solving, but how does she already have three? Seth asked. he had not watched her, as his attention was on Hannibal Cho, but thest time he looked, she had only one. Like the first one, she found it. She''s quite lucky in that regard, Mina exined to him. This meant Megan found two feathers just traveling and earned another one from a puzzle site, further securing her first ce with a full 1 hour bonus. Didn''t we kind of create a stage for her to shine at this point? Jonah mumbled. Originally, this stage was meant for some of the slower participants to be able to make up the difference and make things more thrilling. Like how Hannibal Cho easily overcame the martial trial gaining a 20-minute bonus. But it just showed that Megan not only excelled in brains and perception but was also overly lucky. Or some of them are not hidden well enough to escape her strong perception. Didn''t she have some skill to look into the past of a ce? Fin threw in between munching chips from the bowl she had annexed from Mina. A big groan traveled through the room. Of course, this had to be it. If Megan was able to see the past or detect traces of the people who hid the feathers, it wouldn''t be hard for her to sniff out the hiding spots as long as she came close enough. I guess the winner was decided from the start... Leana sighed. Chapter 1076. The most annoying Thing And this ends the great obstacle race! As you all were able to see, the winner is Megan! With a whopping negative two hours!, Umi announced the winner once every participant was disqualified or arrived at the goal and all feathers were tallied. Also a big apuse for our second and third ce, Lady Lyca and Hannibal Cho! the announcer continued, putting an unconventionaldy in front of Lyca''s name. The two heavy-hitting participants had monopolized the martial trials. Also, they managed to lower their race time to almost zero, but neither was able topete with Megan''s cheat-like power to sniff out hidden feathers. Between the end of the race and the winner''s announcement, holograms of the race''s highlights had been ying in the stadium. It was to get through the time it took for a flying vessel to bring the runners that reached the goal back to the stadium to hold the award ceremony. The ceremony itself was not much different from the others beforehand. Megan was allowed to choose an epic item from a prepared hoard, while Lyca and Hannibal Cho were given mary prizes for second and third ce. What was different, was that Umi Kaldrops appeared in the stadium before they ended the day. Before we end today''s event, we have two announcements from our organizers. The first is about tomorrow''s event, the start of the Pythian Martial Tournament. People who wish to take part in the preliminaries and have not yet registered, still have time until 8 o''clock in the morning tomorrow to register at the stadium. The second is a general announcement by Minas Mar. You all have gotten a taste of the peculiarbyrinth henceforth known as Asterion Dungeon during the race, right? After the Pythian Games Minas Mar will prepare the location to be opened to the public. Did you think the riddles were too easy or the traps too obvious? Then you should try it for yourself! For a small fee, you will be able to scour the structure for thrill and riches! Umi revealed the real reason for the dungeon. it was not simply built as a one-off location for the race. Seth''s experience with the dungeons in the Holy Land and being denied to have one for himself gave him the idea to make one himself. Of course, they didn''t build the whole dungeon in the short amount of time since the cksmith returned from the Holy Land. the idea of abyrinth filled with traps as part of the obstacle course was already being built. However, it was Seth''s idea to treat it like an actual dungeon, which meant that they also put more riddles and treasures into the Labyrinth, instead of it just being a trapped passage through the mountains. Using the concept of a dungeon, thebyrinth became a business opportunity, and the Pythian Games advertisement for it. It was different from ordinary dungeons, which was especially attractive to Urthans. Their experience with guided dungeon runs also yed a role in this revtion. As of now, there were no scary monsters in the dungeon, it was purely a non-lethal, slightly embarrassing adventure ride that could end up with people getting their hands on some good items. Of course, Minas Mar had alreadye up with rules that would make sure this business venture would not end up in a loss for them, but it was still a sweet deal. Especially for the yers who were scared of going into dungeons and fighting monsters. There was restrained apuse from the audience in the stadium, mostly because they were not necessarily the target group for the Dungeon Experience. Also, the location would have to prove its worth once it was opened. but having any apuse at all was already a good reaction. The event finally ended with another cheer for the winners of the great race and Umi''s farewells. With all minor events out of the way, the crowd left the stadium excited for tomorrow, when the real meat of the Pythian Games finally began. After everything was said and done, the yers, adventurers, cultivators, and nobility from other worlds had note for the art or sports events, they were here for the blood sport. Although the obstacle race was great, they had still been pulling their punches. The Martial Tournament was different. Thanks to the help of the Adventurer''s Guild actual death was an option. of course, it came with resurrection through the guild, but it meant none of the participants would have to hold back during these fights Even cultivators would be able to participate in fights to the death, as they were able to get a temporary registration bracelet from the guild. of course, there was no doubt that they would have more than enough of them participating, even if resurrection was not an option. A culture that coined the phrase The sword has no eyes and even acknowledged possible death during friendly spars or training, wouldn''t be afraid of this kind of Tournament. Of course, this was only what Seth gleaned from the tales Master Mountain and his friend spun for him. Maybe not all cultivators were as foolhardy as that. Are you okay? Mina whispered to Seth as they left the stadium. the cksmith rolled his shoulders. Maybe I''m a little tensed up. Things went okay so far, but the tournament is the finale. You know what happened during myst tournament, right? They were convinced some faction would cause a disturbance during the Pythian Games. With everything going smoothly so far, the likelihood that it would happen during the tournament, and especially its finale became higher by the minute.N?v(el)B\\jnn on top of that, Seth had a slight trauma with tournament finales, since thest tournament Minas Mar hosted was crashed by the Theocracy of Chain and many of their participants, finalists, and Seth had been kidnapped to a ce deep in the mutated woods that now covered the southeast of the continent. You know that won''t happen again. You did a lot to make it so, she whispered to him, massaging his stiff shoulder. And if something happens, we are also here! me, Mina, and everyone from Minas Mar, Fin added motivated. Seth nodded with a calm smile. The two were right. He had done a lot over the past months to prepare against the various dangers that were encroaching on them and Urth. But he wasn''t the only one who put a lot of effort into it. Monique, Jonah, and the others had left Urth to grow stronger, all of them were now around the mid-way point of bing a legend. the Oathguard, Chimeras, and Faer also weren''tzy at home. Tored, N?del, and the other Crafters had also helped him a lot during his own work. With everything that happened, Seth could be assured that they had done the best they could with the time they were given. If this still wasn''t enough, then they were simply fucked. If there really was anyone who could mess them up after everything he and his friends did, they would have to be some really hardcore end boss they would have never stood a chance against in the first ce. But no matter what their enemy had prepared, even if it was the most over-leveled, min-maxed boss, they would make sure dealing with them would be the most annoying thing they would do in their life. How about we go and have a meal together before returning home? he finally asked with a smile, earning especially the fairy''s cheer. They had to enjoy their time together, as long as things were still peaceful. Chapter 1077. Start of the Martial Tournament It was finally here, the start of the Martial Tournament, the height of the Pythian Games most people had been waiting for in anticipation. Between 8 and 10 o''clock in the morning, the participants assembled at the stadium to prepare for the preliminaries. It''s a shame I can''t enter myself, but I''m sure you will do well. If you can get a piece of legendary equipment from the Tower Master, we may even have a chance to rebuild Gamma in the future, Gallwell said to a young man, grasping his shoulder like a proud father. Thanks, Gallwell. I will do my best, Tiny, Gallwell''s second inmand answered motivated. Gallwell, the chosen of Tyr was unable to enter the preliminaries since his level had surpassed 100 some time ago. he could only leave it to his second inmand to secure the legendary equipment for them. Although Gamma Resistance had agreed to a shaky peace with Arget Nore, it didn''t mean theypletely gave up on the idea of resettling their homnd and rebuilding the Gamma District. Especially since the undead empire was currently facing trouble, with their situation still unknown. If they fell, gamma Resistance would have their chance to reim Gamma. Oh, so Gamma Resistance is also sending their proteges into the race? Brock, the master of the Boulder Guild approached them in the waiting room with a friendly tone. Although Gamma Resistance was not as old, Gallwell and the master of the biggest guild of Little Sigma had already met on some asions. These are Byron, y, and Melony, Brock introduced the three adventurers that followed him. Is the Boulder Guild getting serious? You are sending three of you section chiefs? Gallwell asked surprised. Although he had not met them before, he heard they were all very strong adventurers at the cusp of reaching lv.90. Are you really saying that when you are participating with Tiny, your vice leader? Brock countered with augh. It was clear they were just here topete in good spirits. As a subsidiary guild of Minas Mar, they had no great ambition to win thispetition. Their whole guild was decked out in relics from Minas Mar and if Brock, Marcel, or Elza really wanted to, they could probably make a deal with Seth to get a legendary item, if Minas Mar had some to spare. Before they could continue their conversation a staff member entered the waiting room and called for their attention. Would all people not registered for the tournament leave the room now? As for the participants, please gather over here, a woman instructed in a friendly but firm tone. In her hand, Brock and Gallwell were able to spot a pot with paper slips before they left the room. They got to their seats just time time, when Umi Kaldrops took center stage. The oval of the stadium had changed once again. Instead of the hologram dome, there was now a vast arena with a tiled stone floor. Wee everyone to our precursor of our Great Martial Tournament, the preliminaries. As you can see, because of the number of applications, we have decided on a traditional format for the preliminaries: The popr free-for-all Battle Royale! the announcer eximed, earning massive cheers from the crowd, especially that part that arrived from the Chrona Empire. For those who don''t know the rules already, I will exin them again. Each round will have 200 people fight in the arena until only one contestant is standing. The arena is prepared by the Adventurer Guild, so there is no need for the fighters to hold back. Disqualification is either by death or by being kicked out of the ring. In theing three days, you will see over 4000 people made up of famous adventurers, demons, Urthans, and cultivators, condense into 42 participants who will take part in the Martial Tournament on the final three days of the Pythian Games, she exined the proceedings for the next few days. The stadium shook in the roar of the crowd. This was what they were here for. A massacre, blood, and sand. A high-level disy of martialbat. Without further ado, let''s wee our first batch. ... Polter was lucky. Not only was he able to participate on day one, but he also managed to get into Group 1 when drawing lots. Caleb, who was with Polter in the waiting room, had been not as fortunate and would need to wait until the third group of the day had their turn. At least that meant, they would only meet at the tournament if they both got through.. Together with 99 others, he entered the arena. The dwarf faced apletely different atmosphere than during the monster challenge. The stadium was now filled to the brim and riled up in anticipation. he couldn''t help but feel a slight pressure, having to fight to the death under the burning gazes of hundreds of thousands of people. On the bright sight, he wasn''t the only one facing this pressure. He could see many that had a harder time staying calm. Looking around, he also found that the lottery did its work. His opponents were a vibrant mix of yers, cultivators, and demons, all with their distinct traits. The demons were a chaotic mix of humanoids of various shapes and sizes that made them easily discernible from ordinary people or beastmen. What surprised him was that the only real difference between the yers and the cultivators was their robes and the way they carried themselves. Surprisingly, there were also some variations of beastmen or demi-humans among the cultivators just like among the yers. The easiest way to discern yers from cultivators was their equipment. Polter could not understand why they would insist on wearing flimsy robes or small armor ornaments at best. He tried not to underestimate them, but for a dwarf, it was clear, that proper armor was just as important as proper weaponry. However, he didn''t have the time to ponder at this moment. They had entered the arena and the fighters naturally spaced out in anticipation of the starting signal. Above them was Umi Kaldrops, hovering in the air. She suddenly raised her microphone/ staff and fired a fireball at the crowd assembled below. The sizable spell crashed into an otherwise invisible barrier and dispersed. On another note, the arena is surrounded by the same kind of barrier as the Pythian Vige, which blocks all attacks and energies. None of the attacks from the inside will be able to harm our esteemed audience, at the same time nobody will be able to meddle with thepetition from the outside, she exined her actions excitedly.N?v(el)B\\jnn After the quick demonstration, she finally started the countdown to give the signal. 5...4.. As she counted down the tension in the arena grew. Polter felt the atmosphere change as he tried to keep watch on everyone around him. 3...2... Polter started channeling his mana and prepared his skills. The moment the signal was given the arena would turn into absolute chaos as everyone unleashed their skills and spells. 1- Go! The arena exploded. ... Sitting in a luxurious VIP lounge decorated in the style of the Cloud Continent were a group of cultivators, some hiding their identity, others like the man in the center only wore a mask for aesthetics. How many of our seedlings will be able to get through, what do you think? The man with the silver mask asked the figure beside him. The robe beside him stayed silent as if pondering. Less than a handful, I guess, it finally said. Don''t you think you are underestimating our men a little? he asked, slightly surprised at the pessimistic estimate. With the threshold is simply too high. Many of the participants have already shown to be much stronger than you cannon fodder. Hmm, maybe, but we also prepared quite a bit for this. With our sect''s secret pills, they are bound to win. another cultivator involved himself in the conversation. I doubt it, but we will see who is right in the end, the robe answered unimpressed. Hmm, The mask did not say anything and simply looked at the arena, thoughtfully. Chapter 1078. Old Monk Tamang Polter''s hair stood on end as his instincts and skills warned him of the attack from behind. However, he was prepared and activated his . The Poleaxe moved in a wide circle, mowing down anyone standing close to him, directlynding on the hand of the attacker behind him Simr scenes yed around him, as the fighters started attacking like arrows loosened from their bows. Magic exploded, skills fired, Taoist spells were cast and ownerless swords were flitting through the crowd, cutting apart people. it was as if the whole arena had exploded as it sank into chaos. it was a brutal skirmish. Especially the magicians went all out, firingrge AOE attacks to wipe out as many people as possible. At this rate, it was only a matter of minutes for the weaker participants to be absolutely ughtered. Ahbatima Huddba; an old man''s voice, d in a mustard-colored robe cut through the ear-deafening noise. A golden barrier appeared and shielded him and the group of cultivators behind him. Several spells struck the barrier, but couldn''t put a scratch on it. Behind him was the golden figure of a smiling fatso. The dwarf looked at the weird barrier suspiciously and decided to keep his distance. At least one good effect had the sudden appearance of a barrier, Polter and others had the time to strike down the surprised magicians. Their indiscriminate attacks had left less than half the participants, most of the rest were covered in severe wounds. Bah! Old monk Tamang, what are you doing here? A man wearing a set of grass-green robes stepped forward aggressively. He looked like he was in his 40s but he spoke to the ancient monk as if they had known each other for a long time. Just helping some young benefactors, the old monk answered with a benign smile. Hah? And you think I would let you, you corrupt monk? he asked with a sneer, raising his hand, covered in a green mist. Polter wanted to watch what was happening further, but someone else asked for his attention. it was a rather rude question, as it was asked with a sword flying at his throat. I saw you at the previous event. I had already heard that your midget race is quite strong, but your performance made me really want to fight you. I am d I had the chance to- his monologue was interrupted by the axe head that was suddenly lodged in his skull. Silently, the cultivator sank to his knees. You talk too much, Polter said smugly with shrugged shoulders. This was a Battle Royale without rules, he didn''t care about honor in this kind of fight. Especially when the others thought they could annoy him with their monologue. After finishing the sword cultivator, the dwarf looked back at the scene of the golden barrier. With shock he found that the golden barrier had disintegrated and the old monk was kneeling on the ground, ck rot was quickly covering his skin and robes. What kind of magic did the green robes use to do that, when all the spells from the magicians had been deflected with apparent ease? Did you really think your barrier could withstand my Five Poison Palm? he mocked the man, as he painfully died from the encroaching toxins. Shocked, Polter took a few steps back. Such potent poison skills were notmon in the system. To be on the safe side, he drank a bottle of Poison Resistance Potion. Since he was at it, he also drank a stamina, mana, and strength potion. more doping was always better. The dwarf watched as the green-robed man approached the people the monk had protected. the next moment the group and the poisoner were locked in an intense duel. Polter was pondering to join and kill the poison user at an opportune time when somebody beat him to it. Palms d in greenish mist suddenly crashed into a chest covered in dark gray scales. Polter''s eyebrows shot up, vanishing behind the rim of his helmet. The poison had no effect on the scales of the neer. It was a ck lizardman, not the monsters from the dungeon, but the people acknowledged as demi-humans. They were simr to Tijaahk in nature with pronounced reptilian heads and human bodies covered in durable scales. They also had a well-known racial trait. The lizard sneered maliciously seeing the green mist dissipating on his scales without harming him. The sneer made clear what he was about to do, moments before his fistnded in the stomach of the cultivator. Inexplicably spitting up blood, the poisoner jumped back to mitigate some of the force. Disgusting lizard! Face the wrath of my ancestral technique! 10 poison Rainbow Palm! he screamed domineeringly as he threw his palm forward. it was oozing smoke of myriad colors like those of a rainbow. Poor bystanders, like the men that had hidden behind the monk, immediately withered to a ck sludge, when they were hit by a waft of the terrifyingbination poison. however, a reptilian w met the palm in mid-air, stopping the man''s strike with ease. With crazedughter, the lizardman started striking the cultivator''s face, keeping a firm grasp on his hand, so he couldn''t escape., earning him a prominent spot all across the screens in the arena. the audience went bonkers at the pure disy of cruelty. The scaled brawler made a good disy of one of the traits of cultivators Polter had picked up on. Although the people of the Voracious Cloud Continent had higher attributes on averagepared to yers on the same level, they could also be split into two rough categories. Magicians and Warriors, and despite their higher base attributes they couldn''t escape the typical problems of these specializations. The poison user was obviously a magic type and although he had the build of an off-tank, he couldn''tpete with the dedicated brawler in closebat. Without the fancy poison advantage, he waspletely and utterly fucked. hey midget, where are you looking? a voice reminded Polter that he was still part of this battle. the arena had already emptied, with only a handful of individual battles being fought out. it was another, elegant cultivator. There were really a lot of them, it was like they all shared this weird thing Urthan''s called a skin routine. Also, what was it with their arrogance? This was the second time that someone called him a midget and he was slowly getting pissed. He was actually quite tall and wide for a dwarf, he was a real boulder of a dwarf, and that''s what his fiance also attested to him every night. Ah, I finally have your attention! My name is Deng Peng. I didn''t want you to die without knowing the name of the man who killed you! he shouted. Unlike thest one, he didn''t let down his guard when talking and shouted while charging at the stout foe. Polter wasn''t fazed, but he started to get pissed by their antics. However, he had to admit that this one wasn''t all talk. He began to sweat a little when evading and blocking the sword. Stop running away, it''s ungraceful! Deng Pengined annoyed that his sword couldn''t strike true on the dwarf he thought to be an easy target. The dwarf grinned inwardly. he doubted this was all the cultivator could do. He even suspected that he was one of the so-called Sword Cultivators, one of the rare exceptions from the two categories that transcended the specialization with pure talent in the sword. These guys were strong warriors and able to cast magic-like skills through their expertise in sword skills. This made them roughly the same as a great epic ss. I wanted to save this for the tournament, but you forced my hand, you annoying halfling! Deng Peng eximed annoyed and seemed to cast a skill. Several swords made from energy appeared in the air. This was what Polter had waited for. he was very interested in these exotic skills from the new world. Unlike magic that would simply shoot forward like projectiles, the swords actually started attacking as if they were wielded by sentient opponents, finally putting some pressure on the dwarf. Still, he wanted to see if there was anything more before he.- Suddenly, Polter felt a heavy hit in the back of his helmet that had him tumble for a moment. Slightly dizzy he barely managed to raise his shield to block Deng Pengs real sword, while the energy swords left deep gashed on his epic armor set. looking back he found the Lizardman, sneering at him, his fists still covered in the blood of the poison user. Did hee here thinking he could snatch a kill? Despicable Hybrid, how dare you interfere in a duel? I will kill you once we take down the midget, Deng Peng admonished the lizardman but didn''t tell him to stop interfering.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om What a two-faced little bitch; Polter thought to himself. He was no longer in the mood to y along. When the two attacked him as a team, his poleaxe was covered in dense golden light. With a flick of his wrist, a golden crescent flew at the lizardman who pathetically threw himself on the ground, only losing his tail to the dwarf''s attack. The cultivator attacking from the other side suddenly faced the terror of a shield saint. Once again, the sword shed with Polter''s shield, but this time the shield shone in a bright white light that stuck to the sword as it bounced off. Weapon Break, the dwarf crumbled coldly and the precious sword of the sword cultivators crumbled to shards that fell to the arena floor. he had spent all fight, infusing his shield energy into his opponent''s weapon whenever it shed with his shield. Now he unleashed it. Despite the shock of losing his weapon, the cultivator managed to evade the rim of the shield, that aimed at his face. He was about to sneer at the failure of his foe, when a strong hand grasped his head, firmly lodging onto that long luscious mane of his. His head elerated and thest thing he saw was the rim of a helmet. Thest thing he heard was the ear-shattering guttural roar of an angry dwarf, then everything became dark. There was an audible crack. His skull caved in when faced with the dense forehead of a dwarf. In terror the scaled brawler watched the dwarf turning to him. Blood and bits of brain dripped from the rim of his helmet. Out of his mind, he tried to crawl away, but he had signed his death sentence with a single cheap shot. Polter, the shield saint may have a had benign personality, but Polter, the poleaxe demon came for his ass. Chapter 1079. Champion of Krios Several more lives were ended with the marrow-churning roar, as the dwarf went on a ughter spree. The audience quickly picked up the iconic war cry that rumbled through the stadium and imitated it. In a matter of minutes, the stadium would shake every time Polter slew another opponent, as the watchers jumped from their seats and joined him in his deep growls. Ya! Twist his dick! Yee old dick twist! Nobles and upper society from all around the Chorna Empire, dressed in the finest yarn, jumped from their seats and unleashed their loudest most primal howls as theypeted in cheering on the dwarf. At this point, the audience was more of a scene than the arena. Seeing this, Leana looked defeated. She knew some of them personally and had seen quite a few of them before, but this... she never expected they could act like this. It had to be this world, the lunacy of its people was probably contagious. Just what is wrong with this world, she mumbled quietly. A lot, but this is just the effect of good entertainment... and alcohol. Lots of it in the early morning, Seth answered her sigh with a chuckle. The first round finally ended with Polter as the winner, but the poltern, as the chat dubbed, would continue for the rest of the tournament. The second round of the preliminaries started after a small break, which everyone could use to calm down, clean themselves up, and get dressed again. Some people who went too hard needed a healer... The second round proceeded in a simr fashion to the first, but couldn''t spawn such a viral gesture as the poltern. After an intense first few minutes, it evolved into a small number of high-caliber battles and duels ending in either a single winner or double knock-outs. In the same manner, the preliminaries continued. Some participants shone through their skill in battle, others through their valor. Especially the cultivators became popr among the audience, as their skills were very exotic and diverse in the eyes of the system folks. The demons participating were not as lucky, as their magic was very simr to normal system magic, although they sometimes had cooler visual effects. However, no matter who stood on the stage, none of them was able to overshadow the very first performance of Polter and all the consecutive favorites would be cheered on with loud poltern. Although not all powers were able to get into the tournament, a lot of exotic abilities were disyed during the preliminaries, even ones Leana had never heard about. There were cultivators using weird Taoist magic and others like the monk mumbling Huddbist chant to unfurl fantastic powers. There was even one that used something simr to golems, that managed to get into the tournament. But surprisingly it wasn''t just the the people of the Voracious Cloud Continent shining with weird powers, as there were participants from all parts of the Chrona Empire and some other nations of the Pathworks. Especially People like the Maggot Priest, The Centurion, or Nogad, who also when on into the tournament, stayed in people''s memories. Despite limiting the roster to people below lv.100, the 42 participants who entered the final tournament were extremely powerful. With none of them being below lv.95, they all were on thest stretch and knew the worth of this much publicity. The high-level participants also guaranteed their audience ratings. However, they also observed the high-level participants carefully. The preliminaries had not been without incidents, although they had been kept away from the eyes of the public. ... How do you feel after going viral, Polter? Seth askedughing, patting the shoulder of the embarrassed dwarf. Ever since he won the first preliminaries, he had to live with the consequences of his actions. The poltern, a stone he had kicked off, was unstoppable and had kept going for the full four days of the preliminaries. The cksmith, the people of Minas Mar, and Polter''s group had met for a meal. Seth had also invited some others like Lyca, Ember, and Hannibal Cho to the table. Of course, they didn''t fit all the people on one table, it was more of a dining hall and the meal was more of a party celebrating the end of the preliminaries. As one would expect, this was not just meant to be a friendly meal with everyone to catch up on old times and new gossip. They were all here for one...two simple reasons. They were friends, or Minas Mar was sure none of them belonged to a hostile faction. There was one person who had actually asked for this opportunity. He was the winner of the 38th preliminary match. The reasons for his victory were the same reasons that made his the most shocking participant, to Seth... and to Mike. At the time, Seth was filled with a mix of surprise and anger, when there was a man, proudly stepping into his arena, wearing a ram-horned helmet, ice-glider boots, a ming sword, a familiar brigandine, and a special pair of gloves. A man cheeky enough to step before the cksmith''s eyes, wearing the stolen items he had been more or less searching for in Y-City. However, after defeating all other participants with a starlight aura, he actually kneeled in the arena and announced his identity. The Chosen of Krios greets the great cksmith. My god send me to ask for forgiveness and plead for an audience with you, he said respectfully and lowered his head. It was a gesture of submission. Seth didn''t quite know what to think of it, but it would have been a lie to say that he was not curious about the man and how he managed to get his hand on Mike''s stolen gear. This was why the Champion of Krios, was also part of the guests this evening. ... On the night before the tournament, outside of Little Gamma, the group of robes met once again. The preliminaries had just ended and they met to adjust their ns. Didn''t you say you had a n? the big robe asked with a smirk. The man with the silver mask looked disgruntled. I admit, I may have underestimated thepetition. Even our secret pill couldn''t gift them an easy victory... This world is weirder than I expected, the man admitted. not even one of his henchmen made it past the preliminaries. One of them has suffered a trauma so great, he would probably be a vegetable for the rest of his life... The big robe sighed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om And you, didn''t you say you had people in the preliminaries too? Which of them made it to the tournament? he asked, turning to a normal human figure. We tried our best... but whenever we tried to get rid of one of the favorites, someone from Minas Mar would inexplicably appear, making it necessary to reveal ourselves if we were to go through with the n. Their security is extremely tight, the immortal admitted. Despite his espionage experience as part of the now dismantled Scene, he and his brothers had been unable to do anything noteworthy during the preliminaries. Well, at least I have good news, the man wearing a monkey mask said proudly. The Silk River Sect and its affiliates are already assembled not too far from here. They will attack when we give the signal. What about you, demon? he asked the big robe. The othermanders have already traveled to Delta. We have been ready for a long time, the bulky robe answered confidently. Now, we can only hope for these vermin to do their work, the demon said, making it obvious that he meant the remains of the Scene. Don''t worry, the fleet won''t get in our way. But can the Silk River sect really do it? Unlike you, he is a true immortal, there is no need to worry, Monkey Mask said dismissively. Now, they only needed to wait for the right time. Chapter 1080. (Boss) Bart It was no massive party, just the core members of Minas Mar and a few selected guests. Once again Seth was reminded of one of their greatest sess stories, which was Link. The gourmet hunter had grown a lot, despite staying on Urth. Following his Path to Legend as a Cuisine Explorer, the chef had reached lv.123, but the most notable indicator of his growth was simply the taste and quality of the dishes he prepared for today. He had even managed to make food that gave experience and attributes that even worked on those of the Path to Legend, given the right quality of ingredients. Especially the attribute food that still worked even on those above lv.100 was of great importance to the members of Minas Mar. This was the kind of food currentlyid out in a buffet for them and their guests to enjoy. Of course, this banquet was not simply to celebrate, the few people here had been invited for a very important reason. To make connections. Except for the champion of Krios, he was also here to exin himself. Seth and the champion sat down for a private talk in a small salon separated from the party venue. The man in question attended wearing a slightly crumpled-up suit. His wild beard and hair were also a little awkwardly styled, kept in check by a huge amount of hair gel. Apart from thinking that he could use some styling tips from the dwarfs, the cksmith also felt like the man looked slightly familiar. Now that he didn''t wear the Helmet of Krios and Seth could see his face, he couldn''t help but think that he had seen him before somewhere. It seems like you can''t remember me, the buff, broad man said slightly embarrassed. he had acted quite confidently in the arena, but now that they were sitting face to face, he was acting fidgety and nervous, which totally didn''t fit with his overall appearance. So we did meet before? I kept having this hunch, but I couldn''t make out why, Seth admitted readily. There was no use pretending to know him, it was better to get answers quickly. No wonder, it''s been almost three years. Back then our roles were a little reversed when you and your friends came by our camp in the abandoned ruins of Y-City, he mentioned reminiscing. It was shortly after we weathered an attack from Taurens. Our meeting was short, so I don''t me you. The food you and your friends left us with was what allowed us to survive and thrive, so we never forgot you. When he mentioned it, Seth remembered. it was when they were rescuing Evee. On their way back they hade past a haphazardly put-together ouw stronghold in the middle of the ruins that had been abandoned by Y-City at the time. it was the ce where Seth had gotten the and the orb he used for Alison''s staff. He also remembered the name of the man before him. Bart? he asked hesitatingly, dropping the boss-title he used with the man back then. The buff man nodded with a bright smile. I''m d you remembered. The conversation that followed was much less strained, now that Seth had a rough idea who he was talking to. Even when he didn''t quite know the man, the materials he had gotten from the stronghold back then had helped their party a lot on the way. It was not wrong to say that he felt a little grateful. When Seth asked what happened, Bart gave a short summary of how their people fared during the past years, since Seth and his party left. The food they gave them had helped them get through the worst, afterward, they had managed to grow and thrive. During the descent of Y-City, when the Scene implemented their ss society and policies, the abandoned ruins had not only grown in size but had also be more chaotic with many people fleeing from the changed leadership. It was a terrifying time and we had to weather a good amount of attacks from bandits, but we also managed to grow and pick out trustworthy people from the flood of neers, he mentioned with a sad smile. It seemed that he had also lost many people in that time. Then he started talking about the things Seth was really interested in. The time after Lezzekai surfaced at Y-City. That was the time when Mike was captured and had his equipment taken from him.N?v(el)B\\jnn We really struggled after the field boss appeared. The infrastructure of Y-Citypletely copsed and there were way too many people looking for help. It was at that time that was chosen by Krios, the Titan of Stars and Constetions. Although there was not a lot I was able to gain from this connection, he gave me a revtion about the whereabouts of these items, he finally revealed the reason he was wearing Mike''s old equipment. Following the god''s directions, Bart had led a group of his best yers on an expedition to the Y-City. Y-City at that point was a bloodbath. It was shortly after the Scene had ughtered the civilians and the demons ughtered the immortals of the scene before everyone from the scene was ultimately whisked away by the powers of Mussa''Practish. Although the scene of the sleeping Lezzekai and the city drenched in blood was horrifying, there were only a few dangers still left during that time span. it was the best time to loot the ce, with the streets being covered in items and item boxes. One just needed the fortitude to face the horrible situation. Using the directions of the stars, we found a secret facility and finally the item box with the Helmet of Krios and these other items, he revealed the most important part. This meant that one of the immortals did have all of Mike''s stuff and dropped it when they were destroyed. Seth found it reasonable that Krios was able to locate an item blessed with part of his power. After aplishing Krios'' Quest, we made a few more trips to scavenge for equipment before the central Y-City became too dangerous. With the items left behind, we were able to hold our ground in the chaos that ensued and build a safe haven in the ruins, So this is why some of the depots were empty, Seth mumbled, nodding in understanding. There was no doubt that the rare and epic Polyarkanate sets and whatever else they got from the ruins, would have been a big help to protect and manage amunity in the ruins. Although he had been peeved at the time, that many of the armors he had been looking for had already been taken, he was d they had not been taken by pieces of shit, like those scavengers that worked with Donnchadh. Bart wouldn''t be attending the party, if Ray didn''t vouch for him. Detecting evil and deceit in people was one of the most useful powers Ray had gained from being the chosen of Sol''Fiam. All of the outsiders currently attending the party had been screened by the living lie detector and approved as trustworthy fes. Had Ray not vouched for him, Seth wouldn''t have allowed an outsider to run around with one of his legendary items. Even less so with one that held an Olympian enchantment. There was only one more question Seth had. Why did youe to join the tournament? Bart already had the legendary helmet and relic-rated gear. There was no reason why he woulde and risk having them taken away from him, just to try and win another legendary item. To join Minas Mar. It was one of the conditions to even be the Champion of Krios since these are your items. It''s just that I couldn''t leave the stronghold because of the constant monster waves from central Y-City. When they suddenly stopped, I got a quest from Krios, that I should show my worthiness to join you during the tournament, he exined and paused. Seth looked at him for a moment as his gears started turning. He was the reason Bart was even able to attend today! Because he leveled his golems in Y-City, the situation on Bart''s end stabilized enough to allow him to leave. Who would have thought that despite not finding Mike''s items himself, his actions would still lead to them finding the way back to him on their own? So you want to join Minas Mar to keep your status and the items? Seth asked, but Bart shook his head. There is actually a different reason why I wish to join you. Although I only found it during my journey here, he said, suddenly sliding off his chair and kneeling before Seth. Thank you for everything you did for Y-City. I have heard of all the things that happened on the way here. I know that you probably didn''t do it out of altruism, but I don''t care about that. I want to sincerely thank you. As the leader of South Ypselon, I want to join Minas Mar for the good of my people, not because of an oath I made in desperation, Bart eximed. The awkwardness from earlier was gone. He spoke with the confidence of a leader thinking of his people. Despite Bart''s humorous getup, Seth couldn''t help but admire the man. He seemed to wholeheartedly care for all the people under him like a true leader and was ready to not just fight but also kneel for their sake. Chapter 1081. Fairy Maids? Seth wouldn''t tell someone trustworthy like that, that he couldn''t join Minas Mar. But there were other things they would have to take into ount. What about the tournament? If you join Minas Mar you won''t be able topete. Nobody who was part of Minas Mar was supposed to take part in the tournament. Especially not someone with a legendary item made by him. It was already bad enough that he showed off the helmet during the preliminaries. I don''t really care about the tournament. My quest was finished after the preliminaries, the buff man said without a waver in his voice. It seemed like he really held no interest in the request for a legendary item. Just so you know, even the people in Minas Mar have to earn legendary items, I won''t throw a full equipment set at you, he made it clear. Although he DID that for Ortega, that was only because he was very interested in how the ughterer''s Set woulde out when made with . Ortega''s need for an armor set was more of an excuse to make the armor, than caring for Ortega. I-I didn''t think so either, Bart said in a hurry to clear the misunderstanding. I''m just messing with you... Not about the earning part, but I didn''t believe you thought that way, Seth calmed him down. I would be happy for you and your people to join Minas Mar. Mary and the others will discuss the details with you. Now, sit back on your chair, and let''s have a real conversation, he asked him to sit back since it was indeed a little awkward if he kept kneeling before him. How exactly they would proceed with these survivors of Y-City was a topic forter. What Seth was more interested in was the current situation around Y-City. He had only been there for a short time and left most of the fighting to the golems, but this short time was enough to make him curious about the new kinds of creatures that appeared. Especially the geass was intriguing to him. Although he had not yet managed to circumvent the restrictions of these powers in a satisfying way, there had been some sesses, making him just more interested to see what other powers might be out there. Do you know anything about the new creatures that appeared after the awakening of the slumbering realm? the cksmith asked. Although the abandoned ruins were in the southern part of Ypsilon closer to the coast and not exactly close to Y-City, Bart and his people had been there all this time, maybe they had more experience with them. Seth had gotten a glimpse at the unique power of Geass, but he had little to no information about the creatures themselves. For example, Strik Forebone and Dig Dimblood both mentioned things like courts, which seemed to be alliances of these creatures. Do you mean those from the fog? Or those from the Faide? Bart asked, motivated to help. Those from the Fog were probably the glow people Seth despised, but- The Faide? What are they? the cksmith asked at the weird way to call them. Seth hoped they werent talking past each other on the matter. Thats what some of them call themselves, at least the ones that can be spoken to. Apparently, its because they had faded from this world, or something like that. I also met one or two that called themselves Veiled Ones, as they are not fully part of our world... or something like that, Bart said with a shrug. Maybe he was a good leader with the heart in the right ce, but he definitely didnt have a talent for information gathering. The way he talked about it sounded more like yarn, than reliable info. Still... Since Bart was the only source, the cksmith intended to use it. That sounds like you interacted with them a bunch of times. Can you tell me more about what kinds there are and their society? Some who I met talked of courts, like what a king would have, he asked for the piece he did hear about. Bart nodded ponderingly. He took a moment to sort his thoughts before he answered. There are those who live in groups, they call courts, yes. Many of the Faide belong to this group, but at least just as many are solitary, and some of the really feisty ones are more like monster packs. At least the courts can be talked to, even the more hostile ones, he finally gave his opinion on the matter based on his experience. The Veiled on the other hand are almostpletely solitary, either appearing whenever they like or living in secluded ces. For example, one of our scouts met an old woman, living in a strange hut, in a thick small forest that had not existed a year ago. The woman spoke to him when he just got in sight of the hut and asked him to share some of his rations. He said that the encounter was extremely disconcerting, but the woman did not make any hostile moves, so he shared some of his rations and was able to leave just like that. But he swears that he slipped through deaths ws that day. Had he somehow offended her, who knows what she would have done to him? The next time he came by the same opening in the ruins, it was just an empty field of debris. No forest, no hut. Bart shared some yarn, that sounded like a fairy tale. Except for the fact that he didnt gain anything from the encounter. Or maybe he just didnt share if he gained something? So some of them have the ability to appear and vanish however they like?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Some do, but it seems there are conditions on the where. They arent like assassins that suddenly appear behind you, and it seems like they cant appear in settlements, homes, or protected areas. At least so far, none of them suddenly appeared in the middle of yourplexes, but maybe thats just courtesy? I wouldnt doubt it for some of them, the leader from South Ypselon said with a shrug. It seemed like Bart and his people had no big problems with the Faide in general, but he mentioned the feisty ones, so the cksmith asked him to borate on that. Ah, well, you were in Y-City yourself, right? You saw some of the creatures that appeared. Though many cantpare to high-level beasts from dungeons or the Pathworks, there are those that are very tricky and others that are extremely strong. Scouts vanish regrly, with only a fewing back telling stories of beautiful women appearing at night, charming them, and drinking the blood of theirpanions. A Faide we know said they are called Baobhan, a terrifying type of vampire. Other examples the Chosen of Krios mentioned were swarms of evil spirits that moved as one entity with a kind of hive mind, lone wolves that were almost undetectable and would hunt people for miles, literally stalk them, even wait outside the city until they left again. And, of course, he also mentioned the goblin-like creature with red caps, Mike had also mentioned before. If they were not in the System Age, where magic and skills were avable to most, these stories would have been more than just concerning. At least they were able to fight back, if necessary. The mood had dipped a little, talking about some of the terrible fates that happened to his subordinates, but in the middle of the ensuing silence, Bart sighed. At least they arent all bad or dangerous, unlike 99% of whates from the portals, he mentioned, rousing Seths curiosity. The cksmith could only remember two-three instances where the neers were good. He himself had met Strik Forebone, who seemed like an okay dude. Mike had met a kind of white wisent that kind of helped their group. But those two were more neutral than good. Thest one was rather recent, it was the dwarfs who called themselves the Stoneborn, that appeared in the Northeastern mountains and helped a group of cultivators when they were in danger. Good ones? Yeah, they are actually a big help now that I think of it. Small creatures of various humanoid shapes. They will ask for protection and food; in exchange, they help in the house using some nifty magic. hmm.. Seth was getting ideas, but he already had his golems. Was there room for fairy maids? Chapter 1082. First Round Finally, what all of you have been waiting for! The first round of the Pythian games Martial Tournament! 42 high-level yers have ughtered their way through the preliminaries to arrive at this point. They havee from all around the Pathworks, all of them aiming for the top, the glory, and the final prize of a legendary item! Wee back, everyone! Umi Kaldrops greeted the crowd, winking into one of the golem''s eyes. Heavy rain was drumming on the roof above the stands, but the rain magically evaded the prominent announcer, floating in the air. It wasnt the best weather for an event. The weather couldnt diminish the amount of poltern the audience was engaging in, before anyone even entered the oval. Raindrops sshed on the fresh stage, mirroring the lights of the crowd.. Once again, the center of the stadium had changed overnight. The preliminaries had left irreparable scars on the arena, so much so, that they had topletely exchange it. The new square was covered in expensive , ready for the abuse of the intense fights of the tournament. It was also shielded by a freshly strengthened barrier to ensure the safety of the audience. Please greet our participants! she called out and 41 people lined up on the stage, being drenched by the heavy rain. Of course, they could have blocked the rain, with the fancy new barrier, but Minas Mar made the executive decision, that battling in the heavy rains was a much more dramatic and interesting setting. Before I exin the tournament and we begin with the pairing of the participants, I have an announcement for our esteemed audience. Bart, the winner of the 38th Preliminary round will unfortunately not be joining the tournament. Which means we will have a bye in the first round''s drawing, she revealed and continued without losing any momentum. The tournament will be random single elimination, she started and a simple tournament tree appeared on the big screens. It had six levels of rounds, however itcked the usual progression path up to the final. Unlike a traditional tournament where the opponents a participant could face in the following round would be fixed, there will be a new drawing at the start of every new round, meaning the participant will never know who their enemy in the next round will be, exciting, right? she exined the tree graphic to the audience. The tournament structure was acknowledged with mixed feelings, mostly by people who were into gambling. This structure made traditional betting harder as there was no clear path of possible progression to bet at. As if holding back the structure of the tournament up to the first day wasn''t bad enough, choosing this structure one could think Minas Mar was against gambling. On the contrary, there were many bookies instructed by Jane, that offered various different opportunities to bet on and specialized in the tournament. Minas Mar wasn''t against gambling, they were trying to monopolize it. As you can see, our numbers are a little unfitting, so there is a little specialty. There will also be a bye in the drawing for the second, and third rounds, but on top of that two of the losers will get another chance to return in the fourth round! she revealed to the crowd. the rule of random drawing for every route already seemed whimsical, but the whimsy was about to continue. How will these lucky ones be chosen you may ask, Umi leaned into the camera questioning. Of course, by poprity vote from the live audience! You, the viewers, will be able to vote on who you want to see return for the quarter-finals! she called out with a big smile. the audience was shocked for a moment. They would be given the power to decide on two cements in the quarter-finals. Was this proper? Was this fair? Probably not, but it was original and the crowd loved the power given to them, as they answered the moderator with overwhelming cheers. Well, then, let''s proceed to see, who will fight each other in the first round! A gaudy man with a draw pot entered the arena. His clothes and charisma outed Rayki as a talented bard and showman, which was why the Faer was chosen to appear here. He was holding a very special kind of drawing pot, an item that could not be influenced by a yers luck attribute. It was a small gift from Bryce, the local master of the Adventurer Guild. When prompted to, each participant of the tournament stepped forward to draw a lot, one by one, the pairings appeared on the big screen around the arena. The pairings were met with cheers and poltern, but when the eponymous participant stepped up to the draw, his expression crumpled up in bitterness. He had drawn the bye! Like the dwarf, the audience cried out in disappointment. The bye meant that Polter would only get to find during the second round. Hey, Knee SplitterD-Do you maybe want to trade with me? a voice asked from behind him. It was a tall, barbarian woman. Her body was riddled with bulging muscles She wasnt just muscr, but was also well endowed and had a beautiful face, satisfying a very special kind of kink the audience and the people in chat had warmed up to during her battle in the preliminaries. The number of times people asked to be crushed between her ties or drown in her **** would explode whenever she was on screen. Polter was shocked, as he didnt expect the so-called muscle mommy to be able to speak so softly and gently. She even blushed a little when talking to the dwarf. Even going as far as to use one of the appropriate honorific pronouns for a dwarven warrior. Why would you want to trade with me? he asked a little perplexed, more in shock about her approach, than about her question. Was it even allowed to switch opponents?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Th-That guy is a creep. I do not wish to risk my chastity in this battle, she whispered but the golem microphone picked it up. Many people looked at the pairings and nodded, while the chat kept raving as it had already been since her pairing was announced. The man she was supposed to fight was a buff cultivator. He had no fancy techniques or elegant sword moves as the other cultivators had shown so far, but he was incredibly tough. The people of the Voracious Cloud Continent called people like him Body Cultivators. Martial Artists that focusedpletely on their physical prowess. But that wasnt the problem. Using his unbelievable tankiness, the man had already caused an uproar during the preliminaries as he... took his time with female opponents, even if it meant suffering a beating. The new cult surrounding the barbarian idol was spamming in the chat ever since the pairing was announced. Polter looked at the cultivator in question, who only had a smirk to offer at the woman trying to evade him. The dwarf himself had also seen his preposterous act during the preliminaries. Using a fight to the death to harass the opponents of the opposite sex, it was clear this wasnt an exception for this guy, but his modus operandi. Is that allowed? Polter asked Rayki, whether they were even allowed to exchange ces. Rayki put his hand to his ears, as he listened to the instructions he was given directly from Minas Mars VIP booth. Two participants exchanging opponents is not valid, he started, a big oh of disappointment and some boos came from the audience. However, since this is a bye, it does not matter. If both of you agree, it can be done, the bard ended his sentence, causing the audience to heave a sigh of relief. What about my opinion on this? the buff martial artist came over and asked in a bad mood. It seemed that he didnt expect the rules to be bent so easily. Again, Rayki put his hand on his ear, to get instructions. I will ry the Tower Masters words. Nobody gives a fuck about your opinion. Now shut up, or there will be a second bye in the first round. Is what I was asked to tell you, the bard ryed the message word for word. Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am?! the cultivator eximed offended. Yes we know, do you wish to continue like this and forfeit the tournament? the bard asked wittily, but his eyes were cold. There was nothing he wanted more than to get the chance to kick this guy out right now. However, the muscle brain had more wit than one would expect, and he begrudgingly reigned in his rampant ego trip. Self-control was apparently a virtue among cultivators, but for some reason, very few of them actually held that virtue. Seeing the man back off was a wonder in and of itself. Good, then it is decided. Participant Polter Onyxheart exchanged his bye with the barbarian Simplicity and will fight the cultivator Dumm Ting in the third fight of the third round! Rayi announced and the pairing on the screens switched to reflect the change. Okay! With everything in ce- Do you want to finally kick this party off? Umi roused the audience. They were all stoked for the first fight, poltering away in the stands. All participants except the first pair left the arena. Left in the arena were two men. On the left stood a tall, muscr man, his only special feature being the bald head and third eye on his forehead. On the right stood a warrior covered in full leather armor, wielding a Halberd. His face was hidden by the spectacle helmet and chain veil. You all know them! On the right, we have Tien Shen, who has shown terrifying martial prowess in the preliminaries! On the right is Byron, a rising star of the Boulder Guild, a local guild of Urth! Are you two ready? She waited for the twobatants to give their okay before continuing. Then lets start our first fight! Chapter 1083. Byron vs Tian Shen The crowd cheered but the poltern stayed in moderation. Tian Shen was a cultivator who had shown great basic power and technique, but it also meant that his fighting style was somewhat in. of course, seeing someone destroy armor, weapons, and magic with their bare fists had charm to some people but it wasn''t in the overall taste of the audience that looked forward to shy skills and magic. Byron also wasn''t really one that satisfied the audience''s thirst for shy carnage. Although he had won his preliminary round, simr to his opponent, it wasn''t like he single-handedly killed all 100 of his opponents. As such, the first pairing did not gain any immediate love from the audience, past the enthusiasm to see a brutal fight. However... The moment the fight started, the two opponents vanished from the spots on opposite sides of the arena. With an ear-shattering crash, they shed in the center. they had moved so fast that barely anyone in the audience was able to see them move. Fists, Feet, and Halberd shed in a quick exchange of moves, spraying sparks everywhere. shing light kept shining like lightning in the thunderstorm. the whole scene being entuated by the pouring rain, drenching the twobatants. Seeing their sudden speed and power, the audience realized that they had held back during the preliminaries. A Series of sharp stabs from the halberd''s pike drove the cultivator back. Although he managed to deflect or block the attacks with his palms, they were colored red as the rain mixed with the blood flowing from his wounds. The two finally split, taking some distance from one another for the first time since the fight started. Tian Shen''s powerful fists which had broken many weapons so far, were biting on granite, facing the Halberd from Minas Mar''s storage. The almost silent high-speed disy of martial skill, despitecking the shiness of magic, managed to rouse the excitement of the audience, adding the roaring, cheering, and poltern of the audience, to the soundscape of pouring rain and shing weapons. Tian Shen could be seen taking a deep breath, as he calmed himself. It seems the tournament is truly on a different level than the preliminaries. It would be disrespectful to hold back any longer, he spoke in a calm voice before his hand started glowing in a golden light. Dodonpa! he suddenly shouted and a golden energy beam shot toward Byron. Aiming for the opponent''s heart with incredible speed, the beam exploded in a bright light, leaving the audience unable to see how it affected Byron. However, Tien Shen didn''t have the time to check either, as he had to evade the answer to the question in the next moment. A crescent of pale green light, aiming to lop his head off, came flying straight at him. It was only when the rey from the golem recording ran, that people realized what happened. Byron had silently blocked the sneak attack with the shaft of his halberd, and used the resulting stance to swing it down in a forceful motion, shooting off the energy attack, aiming for Tien Shen''s life. By the time the cultivator recovered from dodging, the warrior was already onto him, this time he had the initiative, and his Halberd was coated in a green aura, simr to the skill he had just fired off. Yet, the fight stayed bnced, as Tien Shen had also started using a kind of aura to deflect the barrage of attacks. Despiteing to appreciate the raw fight in the beginning, the audience was delighted to see the battle be shier with energy beams and aura skills being reflected in the puddles of water from the rain. ... Tien Shen felt pressured and it wasn''t only because his sneak attack was easily parried. For a while now, he felt a foreign energy wreaking havoc in the wounds on his hands. They didn''t just not heal but seemed to grow gradually worse. If this went on, he would soon be unable to fight. Running out of time, he chose his only, albeit cowardly move. Taiyken!, Tien Shen cried out and the whole arena was drowned in a sh of light. He rushed forward. His opponent had to be blinded. So far, there had been nobody who was able to resist the light of the sr re his master taught him. Although this attack was a little cowardly, this was for their schools. If he was able to bring home a heaven-grade weapon, the Crane School would rise again, to even greater height! As expected, the native had broken his stance and seemed to be confused. Tien Shen, his straightened hand enveloped in aura to create a de, charged at his opponent, intending to pierce his hand straight through his body and heart, killing him in a single move. The streaming rain couldn''t cool his heated body, as he put all the energy into this attack. This was the end. he would advance in the tournament and bring home glory and the prize! His hand stabbed forward, sure of his victory. The feeling of his hand breaking through the armor and ripping to the flesh of his opponent. The boiling blood and the heat of life when his hand entered another living being... didn''t happen. His hand pierced through Byron, he saw it with his own eyes, but it was like touching air. There was nothing.N?v(el)B\\jnn Then the world started tilting. Thest thing he remembered was his head hitting the floor of the arena and his own, headless body slumping to the ground. then everything became dark. ... Once Tien Shen''s body crashed to the ground and vanished to be revived at the Adventurer Guild''s revival point, the image of the confused Byron that had been stabbed vanished and the real Byron appeared from a haze, blood still dripping from his Halberd. The audience was going crazy. It had started with an incredible disy of skill, only to have a turnaround and end with an incredible trade of deceptions. One tried to blind his opponent, only to be in by a hidden enemy. Byron, silent as he had been during the whole fight, stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for his victory to be announced. He didn''t have to wait long for Umi to appear beside him, a bright smile on her face, shielding him from the rain, still pouring down from above. As you all saw, we have a winner! Byron of the Boulder Guild is the first participant to move on to the next round! she announced, lifting his arm in the air. The crowd that had been silent in bafflement at the sudden and abrupt end broke into cheers. Apanied by the crowd''s roars, Byron left the stage making way for the next fight. The match between him and Tien Shen had barely taken 20 minutes. That was exciting, wasn''t it? We will have a small break to check the stage before our next pair enters the arena, she announced. The break also gave the audience some time to process what happened, watch reys, get some food and drinks, or use the toilets. ... Wow, I didn''t expect your Byron to be that strong. What was thatst move? Gallwell asked Brock in surprise. Byron had not shown any special skills apart from his prowess and control in spearmanship during the preliminaries. Byron is our ace, I would have been surprised if he had been the one of the three that didn''t advance, Brock bragged confidently. However, he didn''t reveal what move Byron had used. After all, there was a chance that he would meet Tiny in the following rounds. The was no way he would reveal anything to Gallwell at this point. Fine, keep your secrets. it''s not like he will stand a chance against Tiny with such tricks, Gallwell taunted a little. We will see about that if your Tiny even gets into the next round, Brock said smugly. Tiny''s performance in the first round was simr to Polter''s, as he brutally struck down dozens of opponents with an over-sized hammer, but he had already shown struggle against some of the stronger people in the preliminaries. On the other hand, his opponent was diametrically opposed to him. The Dark Mage of Mud had wreaked havoc in his preliminary bracket and killed all 99 of his opponents himself. As a creature immune to physical damage, he was the worst opponent for Tiny. I wouldn''t be so sure about that, Gallwell said mysteriously. Was he hinting that his protege was still holding something back, despite already struggling in the preliminaries? Chapter 1084. Great and Thunderous Wee back from the break, Umi Kaldrops greeted the audience once again, 10 minutes after the first fight. I hope all of you managed to take care of your business and get ready, for the next fight. Two new participants entered the stage. Although everyone was looking forward to the third fight, between Caleb and the ruffian cultivator, this fight still managed to garner much attention. On the left side floating slightly above ground was a being of nightmares, a demon from uncountable fairy tails, a boogeyman that could make a grown man pee his pants, a Sanit''Bolg. creatures with the faces of deep sea creatures and a dark desire for the minds and memories of sentient beings. It wore a dark glossy attire, that entuated its alien appearance. Despite being revived without injuries, the creature had left the nearly 100 opponents it slew asting trauma, they may never recover from. Facing the materialized nightmare, was a chosen from a different world, a man aching to a battle bard with the powers of Bragi, the Asgardian god of poetry. Both had shown incredible crowd control during the preliminaries, making this match-up very interesting. Would the chosen of god, using Word Magic be able to defeat the childhood nightmare of most people in the audience and those watching at home? Even Umi looked a little ufortable, being this close to the creature, observing her with dark eyes full of cold intelligence. but as a professional, it didn''t stop her from doing her role. On the left, we have Alhoon, a proud Sanit''Bolg from the Inchworm Swamps of the Sulphuric nes. On the right we have Bregar, a Bard from a world called Asdef and the chosen of Bragi! she waited a moment for the cheers of the crowd to subside. Are bothbatants ready? Good. Then, let the fight begin! she gave the signal after they both nodded and hurried back above the arena, outside of the shield, so she wouldn''t be pulled into their fight. She was barely out of the barrier when the two shed. Bregar had unsheathed his de, a saber with rows of small holes and a row of rings, that would generate sound in conjunction with his fighting techniques, however, the Sanit''Bolg had already raised its hand, and like the countless fighters during the preliminaries, Bregar seemed to experience incredible pressure, forcing him to lower his stance. He barely managed to keep himself from kneeling down, like the many before him did. With a sudden eleration, Alhoon shot toward Bregar, who had trouble standing straight. The audience already saw the repeat of the horrible scenes they had seen before. The Sanit''Bolg wouldtch onto his victim''s head, crush its skull with the jaws hidden below the rubbery flesh and suck out all the emotions, memory, and brain, leaving a dead husk on the ground. Fall! It was a dark voice, a deep voice, one that prated everything and even raised the hair on the skin of the onlooker who only heard it through the loudspeakers. It didn''t seem to fit the bard, but it was Bregar who pressed out the word through gritted teeth. The Word Magic was like an irrefutablemand to the world, and the creature charging at him was smashed to the ground with incredible force. Its soft body, a mockery of a human shape, squelched and burst, as the momentum carried it forward across the arena floor, leaving bits and pieces of violet goo in a streak on the floor. Stunned, the injured Sanit''Bolg tried to stand up where it came to a halt. It was hissing and gargling, as if talking to itself, before turning to Bregar, who was now standing straight again. The suddenmand, had stopped Alhoon''s control. Very well, I underestimated you, the Sanit''Bolg said in a cold, poised tone. Its voice was emotionless and controlled. It will not happen again... it said and started casting. A dark miasma rose from the arena floor, but it was apanied by the light ngs, a harmonic whistling, that was generated from the bard''s sword dance. I didn''t get where I am today, by letting myself get pushed around. No man, or beast, or Sanit''Bolg, or boogeyman Is going to drag me down! The pouring rain intensified around them, as Bregar''s haunting voice prated the arena. His voice was oozing with dark disdain. Thunder rolled in the clouds above, and the dark mists rising from the stage couldn''t withstand the waves of music. Fumbling, the Sanit''Bolg found his spells failing in the heavy rain. His ws surrounded in a devilish aura, and he rushed at the bard to attack him, but as he danced his number the boogeyman was unable to touch Bregar, who kept dancing and singing, building up momentum. The lightning will be shing. The thunder, it will roar. You''ll never know what hit ''ya! Wait''ll you see what I have in store! A savage kick to the stomach in the middle of the dance, pushed Alhoon away from him, as his choreography intensified. Only the whistling of the sword, the drumming of the rain, and the bard''s voice could be heard in the stadium as if everyone was listening to a sacred ritual in silence. Great and loud It''s gonna be great and loud. When you fall, you''ll really fall! And you''re gonna fall Big! And you''re gonna fall Loud! You''re gonna fall BIG AND - A blinding light filled the arena. The whole stadium shook with a thunder that prated the audience deep into their chest and marrow. A massive lighting had suddenly struck the center of the stage, in sync with the lyrics of the song. Blinded and deafened, the people could only stare as they slowly regained their senses of sight and hearing. There was nothing to hear, the world had fallen silent, but the arena was a sight to behold. Where Alhoon the Sanit''Bolg hat stood was only a ckened crater, tens of meters wide, and only soot was left from the terrifying foe. Bregar on the other hand hade to a halt. his dance was over, and the song finished. he was sheathing his sword. Sure of his victory. And then he turned around and- faced Umi who came down to congratte him. Against everyone''s expectations, there was no sudden turnaround like in the first battle. Everyone would have thought especially a dark creature like the Sanit''Bolg had a way to evade that strike, but the announcer''s appearance confirmed, that Alhoon had actually appeared at the revival spot in the medical wing. We have a winner! Bregar won with a crushing stage performance, kicking Alhoon out of the tournament! A great apuse for our winner! Umi eximed, breaking the audience from their stupor. The silence was gone, the rushing of rain and the roar of the crowd seemed even louder than ever before. The bard waved at the crowd with a charismatic smile but didn''t say anything. Despite trying to hide it, the attentive observer could see the sign of fatigue on Bregar. Slight shaking of his hand, weakness in his knees... The fight had not been as easy as it seemed, but he was victorious. ... Wasn''t that a little fast? Fin asked slightly disappointed. She had had some expectations of the boogeyman of the preliminaries, but the Sanit''bolg was gone in an instant. The second fight was even shorter than the first, but there was nothing wrong with it as long as the fights were exciting. they had nned four days for the tournament, if things progressed faster than expected, they could simply elongate the scheduled break before the final. Constant excitement would only cause people to get bored if the level wasn''t kept high. A break was just the right thing to allow the people to calm down and recuperate a little. No, this is good Fin, Jane suddenly answered Fin. but she didn''t find it good for the same reason as Seth. A lot of people bet on the brain sucker to win, we made quite a lot with this quick loss, she added happily and startedughing to herself.N?v(el)B\\jnn Psht, the third fight is beginning, Monique admonished Jane. The chosen of Athene had been looking forward to Polter''s fight. As a spear demon herself, she was looking forward to the poleaxe demon''s performance. Chapter 1085. Blessing of JaQuus The third fight was about to begin. Why did things have to progress so quickly? Minas Mar''s erratic rules andst-minute announcements had not justplicated the work of independent betting shops, but also his own mission. As the only one of their team that made it to the tournament, the burden weighed heavy on him. He had to make it to the end. Sitting in his own private room, he was given as one of the tournament participants, he was mulling over his situation. Conflicted he looked at the small vial in his hands. How much he had longed for this tiny thing back in the day. The power it promised, the life it would give... but now he was hesitating. He was scheduled to fight a cultivator in the seventh match. From what he saw of the preliminaries, he stood no chance. If he took the serum now the transformation might be finished by the time he was supposed to fight, then he would stand a chance, but... What if the next fight continued to grow shorter and shorter? Even if everything went well, what if Minas Mar found out about him over the course of the next few fights? Stuck in his worries, he didn''t notice the shadow slithering into the room from below the door. hehe, you can''t beat Choon Long, you know it yourself, right? You are worried they will find out who you are when you transform, right? Your tiny worries are so easy to read, a smooth, silky voice whispered in his ears. Although he didn''t notice it enter, he didn''t panic. What do you want? He had already recognized that it was a demon talking to him. Since a demon dared to enter his private booth like this, his was probably not hostile, but sent by their allies. Although he understood that this shaky bond was necessary, it didn''t mean he liked working with them. Right to business, good. You are not the only one who knows you probably won''t be able to win against the cultivators, that why my lord sent me here, to give you a chance, the demonic voice whispered. Don''t make such a face, it''s not like I''m here because I want to either, but we need more people in the next round for the n to work out, it said annoyed when the man grimaced. Yeah, it was all for their secondary n. Fine, how does this work? he said, cing the vial back in his inventory. he would listen first, to see if the demon''s suggestion had a lower risk. the shadow that came in from below the door stretched and separated from the surface it was cast on, bing a dark, transparent snake. You just have to reach out your hand and repeat the following sentence. I ept the Blessing. Then you will be given part of the powers of the great demon. Easy, right? the snake spoke enchantingly. The man nodded. Since demons were also participating, the blessing of a demon would draw less attention than sudden immortality. Fine. I ept the blessing, he said and stretched out his hand. Good boy, the snakeughed and bit him. When it bit his arm, a dark tattoo appeared, looking ugly and infected. He didn''t utter a sound, but his face distorted when he felt the dark, burning power infect his body and mind. N?v(el)B\\jnn And now, I would be much obliged if you gave me that vial, the snake said haughtily. The man didn''t want to, but his body moved on its own. he took the vial from his inventory and handed it to the snake. Don''t worry. the power up is real, just, don''t tell anyone I took the vial, the snake said and left with a sinisterughter. He slumped on the bed when the control over his body finally faded. Just what had he done? .... Someone knocked on the door Sir Onyxheart, your match will start soon. Would you please get ready and enter the arena? a staff member informed him. Alright, I''m ready; the dwarf answered. he had already worn and checked his armor thoroughly. he had just been doing thest touch-ups on his weapon and shield. Maintenance shouldn''t be neglected, even with magical weapons. When he opened the door, he found a man in a suit waiting for him. He was one of the staff from Minas Mar. The participant''s rooms were protected by severalyers of defenses, one of which was abyrinthine structure of hallways and stairs that led to them. Although none of them would stop someone with a member''s pass for the Participants, the structure alone usually needed a guide. This was why an employee would lead the participants to the arena, and also to make sure nobody interfered on the way. The noise of the crowd greeted the dwarf as he stepped out into the stadium. Rain hit his helmet and shoulders, but found no gap to enter his armor. On the other side of the oval, he saw his opponent also stepping into the rain. Polter had spent the morning watching the rey of the preliminaries. Despite his skewed personality, he had to admit that the giant of a man was going to be a tough opponent. Like Tien Shen he used no obvious energy techniques in the preliminaries, however, his physical might itself was several steps above the cultivator Byron fought. Bare fists that punched through high-quality armor, bare muscles that stopped epic-rated des. The analysis from the fight in the preliminaries made it quite clear why he didn''t use weapons, the man''s body was refined to the level of an epic or higher-rated equipment. It seemed like he was confident not to need any external items. A notion that was foreign to the dwarf. No matter how strong one was, a force multiplier would alwayse in handy. Stepping on the stage, the quirky moderator appeared floating over their heads, however, Polter didn''t care much for her drivel. His eyes had met with Dumm Ting. The other gave him a gaze full of cruelty, his looks making clear what he intended to do with the dwarf. Sparks were flying between the two, one angry to have his chance for groping the well-endowed barbarian babe taken from him, the other feeling offended for being perceived as easy prey. The round, attractive face of Umi Kaldrops slowly lowered between the two and whispered in a way the audience was unable to listen, her voice cold and threatening. Listen here you little shits, stop sharing romantic gazes and get ready. I will announce the start of the fight now, surprising both of them with her crass words. Why was SHE of all people suddenly pissed? And why was his hair standing on end like this? What Polter did not know, because he concentrated on staring back at Dumm Ting and ignored Umi''s drivel was that she had already tried asking the two pigheads five times for their confirmation that they were ready. Since our contestants are finally ready, let''s start the fight! she called out to the audience in her usual, upbeat voice. However, she did emphasize the finally. Hurriedly, Polter took his stance. It was time for the fight people had been looking forward to. With Dumm Ting fighting barehanded and Polter carrying a poleaxe, the onset of the fight resembled the first one between Tien Shen and Byron. While one tried to get close, the other used his superior reach to his advantage. As simr as it looked in the beginning, it became soon clear that the standard both participants were acting on was a lot higher than the first fight. Chapter 1086. Dumm Ting I, Dumm Ting, will crush you! the cultivator roared, gaining many boos and disapproving nces from the audience. It seemed that nobody among the cultivators in the audience agreed with his self-proimed title. His roar was only met by Polter''s chuckle. Who would have thought that that wide chest of yours was only there to bellow empty phrases, the dwarf sneered. Grunting, Dumm Ting showered the dwarf in quick jabs, that were all evaded despite his opponent wearing heavy armor. Suddenly, in between the quickbination of punches his muscles suddenly visibly bulged as he wound up and mixed in a lightning-fast, brutal punch. The audience that had a hard time following the action suddenly heard an audible crunch, followed by Dumm Ting quickly taking his distance from Polter. Only high-level adventurers and cultivators were able to see what happened with their bare eyes, other had to watch the rey of the golem recording. A fist traveling with incredible speed had been met by a shield covered in a thinyer of silver aura. Deforming on impact with a crunch that could be heard in the whole stadium, it was safe to say that the first lost this encounter.N?v(el)B\\jnn At the same time, the poleaxe of the littlebatant had aimed to lop off the cultivator''s ankle, forcing him to quickly take flight. To the onlooker, there seemed to be a clear advantage to one side. ... What a monster... Polter thought internally, checking his opponent''s status with appraisal. Although he could barely see his physical stats, it was enough to make the dwarf think like this. The cultivator didn''t wear any items that increased his strength, but all of his physical attributes were above 400, despite keeping a , albeit ugly, human form! Especially his defense wasparable to his own, wearing the armor. The dwarf felt reminded of Azotain, the golem he had fought a few days earlier. if there was one difference, then that the cultivator was fighting without a weapon, making the fight easier on Polter, having the range advantage. However, he had gotten cocky, when the cultivator proved to be quite predictable. He intended to feel out his opponent, but the sudden punch had caught him off-guard, instinctively parried it with his shield and shield saint aura. The impact had him shudder and he quickly counter-attacked to gain somefortable distance. He didn''t like to admit it, but he had to get serious. Although he had studied the preliminaries, Dumm Ting was above what he had expected. He had hoped to keep some of his skills up his sleeve for the following rounds, but this was not the time to take things slowly. This wasn''t like his fight with Azotain, where the only stake was a lost bet. This was still the first round of the tournament, his pride didn''t allow him to lose before he showed everything he got. Determined he looked at his opponent, seeing his action with slight surprise. Although the hand should have been pulverized, the other was already balling and releasing his fist, as if it had just fallen asleep for a moment. Showing his hand already functioning again, was a clear sign that he possessed incredible healing capabilities in addition to his physical attributes. he cracked his knuckles before turning to Polter. That hurt a little. But don''t think your shell will save you next time, little tortoise, he said with a sneer and his aura rose. His body started to grow. Polter clicked his tongue. Since the other seemed to go all out, he would miss this chance to get in a fighting condition. Loosening his shoulders he began activating a slew of buff skills. to raise his willpower and endurance, to raise his strength, to raise his defense... On the other side, the almost 2-meter tall man easily grew to double his height, bing a terrifying sight to behold. Polter on the other hand didn''t grow in size, instead, his shield slipped from his hand and he grasped the poleaxe in both hands. For a moment, the glint of mockery could be seen in Dumm Ting''s eyes and expression, thinking his opponent lost the will to fight. But it was quickly snuffed out when the shield started floating in a perimeter around the dwarf. It was not that his shield was an ego item, but it was one of the skills of a shield saint, , which instilled part of the wielder''s will into the shield. A flying shield? What kind of bullshit is that?! he eximed aggravated. I will show you that all your toys are nothing in front of true skills! Dumm Ting eximed, gaining some approval from the audience. To not rely on external means was a big part of the philosophy of many cultivators. Two seemed to be ready to sh again. After the moment it took them to power up, the two fighters rushed at each other again. Now facing a four-meter-tall giant, the dwarf started infusing his aura into the pole axe. Dark mes licked up from the weapon in his hand. Although the poleax was inspired by the axe of chains Seth had once lent him, this was the fundamental difference between the two. The mes looking like cursed fire were the Blessing of Oh. Oh was the god of dwarfs and anything underground from Polter''s home world. Unlike cursed fire, this was a pure dark me, without anything evil or twisted. Mixed into the blessing was Polter''s aura as the polearm demon, raising its damage and speed in addition to the blessing of his god. Mountains Crusher! Dumm Ting eximed, his fist d in red aura. The attack carried a terrifying pressure, literally, the power to crush mountains. In turn, Polter enveloped himself with the dark mes. After all, he was Shield Saint, a ss evolved from a Pdin. Enveloping himself in the power of his guardian deity was the basics. And when the fists descended on him- Bind! Polter used his chance to activate the weapon''s skill. Dumm Ting''s body was stopped in his tracks, and his terrifying strike halted. Against his will, he was frozen in a horse stance, his arms stretched out, still aiming for where the dwarf had stood. This wouldn''t hold for long, Polter knew this best. It took less than a second for the cultivator to regain control, but it was toote. Polter jumped in the air, whirling the poleaxed in a , he minced the hulk''s calves all the way up to his knees, where a final, devastating strike directly sank the axe de into Dumm Ting''s knee, severing the bones and joint, only leaving it attached by a strip of skin. When Dumm Ting regained control, he was already falling, bellowing in pain, as he crashed onto the arena floor, together with his devastating skill, creating several cracks and a small crater in the rare marble the arena was made of. Cutting him with the mes of Oh, the god of everything below, was Polter''s way to prevent his freakish healing. With his left knee severed and his lower legs engulfed in the dark mes, Dumm Ting didn''t seem like a threat, but Polter had no intention of letting him off. But his opponent had also no intention of just dying- When Polter came for the final attack, Dumm Ting as if only waiting for the chance, kicked him away. He stood on his hands, using his burning lower leg to sort of roundhouse kick him across the arena... This fight was still far from over. Don''t think this is over, little man! Dumm Ting hollered, rolling away before he got back on his feet at the edge of the arena. Chapter 1087. Saints Charge Standing on one leg at the edge of the arena, his gaze pierced Polter, who was recovering from the kick to his guts. In an immense act of sheer will, Dumm Ting ripped away the burning flesh without so much as a grunt, shocking the audience with the graphic disy of self-control. In a quick motion, he swallowed a pill from the pouch on his belt. A fine haze surrounded him, as the wounds started closing at a speed that it looked like his flesh had gained its own spirit and started molding itself back into shape. Even his nearly severed leg also recovered at break-neck speed, dousing thest small mes that were still burning in the wound. there was somemotion from the audience, but Umi Kaldrops shook her head, givingmentary. You know the rules, there are no rules in the arena. the only restriction is that participants can''t meddle with each other off-stage, she reminded the people with a wink. The dwarf was back on his feet, but he didn''t recover in time to stop Dumm Ting''s actions. Although the attack that catapulted him away seemed haphazard, it had dealt quite a bit of damage to his armor and left him momentarily stunned. But Dumm Ting wasn''t the only one who had some time and drugs on his hands. Since his opponent openly used doping, Polter saw no reason not to do it himself. He downed a jug of Ironheart Stout which improved his defense and all of his resistance and stamina. Seeing the dwarf imitate Dumm Ting''s actions, calmed whoever was still feeling a little peeved about the cultivator''s shameless drug abuse. He was almost done, when he saw his opponent charge at him. it didn''t seem like he would be given the courtesy to finish his drink in peace, well, it didn''t matter. With a practice swing,cking any superfluous motion, the jug took flight aiming for Dumm Ting''s face with utmost precision.N?v(el)B\\jnn The ultimate insult among dwarfs, throwing a not empty jug into the other''s face. Surprised the muscle mountain dodged the not-so-hidden projectile, only to find the peak of the poleaxe aiming for his face. Polter left his defense to the shield, floating around him, while he concentrated on the offense. Mixing faints with actual attacks, he drove the giant back again. It wasn''t just his proficiency, but also the vital points he was aiming for. It was safe to say, that increasing his size was not to Dumm Ting''s advantage, as he brought his ...family jewels to the perfect height for the poleaxe to aim for from time to time. After several minutes of back and forth evading the cowardly attacks, the cultivators seemed to have enough. With several back flips he increased the distance between them, quick enough that Polter couldn''t rush after him, not even with his charge skill. Dumm Ting made several hand seals before ying his palms together and releasing a deep breath. Then he started talking, his voice bing louder and louder, growing more hysterical. You know little man, if this was a real fight, I would have fled, as you are not worth risking my life. But did you know, given the nature of this tournament, there is no reason to hold back on forbidden techniques! he ended in crazedughter as his skin started turning a crimson red, and ck markings surfaced all across his body. Dropping a This is not even my final form!, the battle entered the second stage. ... There were murmurs in the crowd, it seemed like the cultivators among them knew what was going on. Sitting in Minas Mar''s private booth, Master Mountain also scowled at the sight. he had returned the other day, just in time to see the Tournament. Xiong Peng and his disciples had also arrived with him, but they were given their own booth. Yu, what is going on? Seth asked curiously. Dumm Ting had just started transforming in the arena and started looking like a devil. You heard what he said, it''s a forbidden technique. It''s what we call techniques that can rapidly raise the user''s power, but they usuallye at a great cost. Usually, the user would be burning away their lives for a temporary boost, but this is a form of bedevilment, Yu said disgusted. What does that mean? the cksmith asked, surprised by the new term the cultivator had used. In the arena, the fight jumped back into action, as Polter was not nice enough to wait for Dumm Ting to finish his transformation. However, it was clear, that the shield saint had lost the initiative. He was more and more often forced to parry or block attacks, relying heavily on his shield. I don''t know what technique this man is using, but the visible signs of bedevilment show that he probably sacrificed a huge number of lives to gain power, he exined, Since they can revive, it seems he is even burning his life force on top of everything. His power already doubledpared to before and is still rising, I''m afraid your friend won''t be able to keep this up for much longer... In the arena, a circle of five shields of light appeared around Polter, when a barrage of fight rained down on him. The brilliant skill that illuminated the wet arena didn''t stay for long, as the magical shields quickly broke under the force of the fists and kicks of the cultivator A power gained by sacrifices? that really sounded like a demonic pact for once. It''s not what you think. It has nothing to do with the demons you know. This is about rituals to absorb the flesh, blood, and energy of the pure and innocent, Yu corrected Seth''s line of thought.4 The innocent and pure? Fin asked concerned. This definition left only one group of people in her mind. Karina''s expression had also hardened. Seeing her serious face, Yu hesitated for a moment to continue. But he did it anyway. It is as you think. These rituals are known to predominantly sacrifice children and youths for the purity of their bodies and Qi. Having amassed so much power, Dumm Ting must have sacrificed hundreds or even thousands... Master Mountain said with a heavy voice. ... His opponent had suddenly grown to be a monster, gaining over 50 levels, and was even recognized as a boss mob by the system. The tremendous rise in power became apparent in their fight. Polter was struggling a lot, while his opponent kept growing stronger as time went on. Despite his attacks bing easier to predict, it didn''t help a lot, since Polter was not quick enough to really use his knowledge. The strike kepting faster and faster, although he tried utilizing the ck mes, Dumm Ting simply resisted, as his fists kept crashing against the dwarf''s shields and armor. Polter could feel it the moment before it happened. His bulwark, the relic shield that had kept all attacks away from him, gave in! It was an inaudible crack, as all the umted damage connected and- An unstoppable fist aimed for his life. He saw it as if it was in slow motion. Crashing through his shield, aura, and barrier, it formed into a w and ripped away the armor and flesh on the left of his rib cage. He could feel his flesh and muscle tear with excruciating rity. But he didn''t lose his cool, he wasn''t dying yet. Raising his broken shield he activated for ast devastating strike. In a ray of bright light, the dwarf shot at the monstrosity to take its life. The poleaxe stretched forward, aiming for Dumm Ting''s heart, Polter attempted ast valiant charge, yet- A monstrous hand pped away the polearm with a force that ripped it from Polter''s grip. The poleaxe ttered across the arena, quickly followed by its owner, who received a bone-crunching kick. His right arm he used to block the kick was broken, but hended close to the poleaxe. he started crawling toward it when he felt a terrible pain in his lower leg. Looking back, the red hulk stomped his leg. It was broken with his foot turned in an unnatural angle. Still, Polter just grunted. You are ying tough, huh? Don''t worry, this is far from over. I will use my remaining time to give you a hero''s death, Dumm Ting whispered with wicked glee. The dwarf was a realist and he realised he was fighting a vastly superior sadist. I g- he wanted to give up, not giving the cultivator a chance to further humiliate him, but a vicious bitch p broke his jaw. The next minutes were filled with agonizing pain until his sight finally went dark. The next thing he knew was that he woke up at the respawn point. He had lost terribly. He was actually eliminated in the first round... Chapter 1088. Garmin DelPrado The audience was shocked, their poltern stuck in their throats. Their great champion had not been simply snuffed out the moment after his opponent entered his second phase, no, they were forced to watch him get tortured by the beast his opponent had be. However, the moment the poltern stopped., an even greater turmoil erupted as the yers fell silent. Cultivators who knew how Dumm Ting won were appalled, many outright screaming their protest. Protest in the shape of curses and death threats. Had they been offended by his lustful nature before, they now outright asked for someone to take his life. It didn''t take long for the people who wondered why the cultivators were snapping to ask for the reason and the horrible truth quickly spread among the dense audience ranks until the whole stadium chanted for Dumm Ting''s death. Polter''s loss and how he lost was one thing, but they were the smallest reason for the crowd''s reaction. The beast in question on the other hand was losing his mind. Acting like an aimless monster, crashing his fist into the arena floor, roaring mindlessly, he seemed out of control. The power he had umted had not been kind to him. Now, I understand what he said before. I don''t want to imagine how he umted so much energy, but it seems that he can''t control it once he unleashed it, Yumented with a frown, seeing Dumm Tinga acting at the center of the stadium. The berserk Qi is melting his body from the inside out, he is currently dying with excruciating pain. Good! Let him! Fin said coldly, however, it didn''t sound like this gruesome fate was not enough to appease her. It definitely wasn''t enough to appease Karina, who was silently staring at the arena, her usually kind eyes were filled with murderous intent. I''m just saying this so nobody does anything stupid. Don''t touch him while he is a participant in the tournament, he said to himself, as much as to the others. Seth gave the room a serious look, especially Karina who seemed ready to jump into the arena right now. He''s free game once he is out, he added. The cksmith wasn''t happy at all. Dumm Ting''s alleged deeds to gain power were appalling, but what had his innards boiling, was that he was forced to watch Polter suffer, as the monster ripped him apart on the stage. The dwarf was one of the few outside of Minas Mar, Seth considered a friend and cared for. What if he wins? Mina asked, she had a bad taste in her mouth just thinking about this creature winning the tournament and having Seth make a legendary weapon for him. Seth''s nail was silently scratching on the armrest of his chair. Then he will get his legendary equipment. Of course, whether it will be a blessing or a curse to him...is up to me, he answered coldly. his tone made it quite clear, that it was not going to be the former, IF the cultivator won. Boss, what do we do about this? Umi Kaldrops finally asked over thelink. it had been two minutes since Polter''s loss. Dumm Ting was calming down, bleeding from all orifices he was slowly falling silent. It was clear that he finally died. Dere him the winner and end him. We have more fight for the day, the tower master answered her, prompting her to give a small, but shocked nod. As you can seedies and gentlemen... we have a winner. Dumm Ting defeated Polter Onyxheart and moves on to the second round! she said slightly apologetic, facing the boos of the crowd. Nobody agreed with the oue, but nobody could change it either. The fact that she continued on to crush the slowly dying Dumm Ting''s skull under her high heels to force him to respawn only appeased the crowd slightly. At least nobody med her for the oue of the fight. In consideration of the current mood, management has decided to move the break and concert forward in the schedule. I''m sure we can all use some time to calm down and recollect our thoughts. We understand you are upset, but it would be a shame to let this overshadow the following events, the moderator announced the change in ns. It was as she said, there were still 12 more fights toe on the first day, and it would have been a shame to let this fight ruin the mood for the rest of the first day. This was why Seth and the others decided to move forward with the break and the musical performance. The performer was The Traveling Sound, the famous Master Bard Garmin Del''Prado who had acted as a judge during the musical round. Seeing the current mood, they really needed his skill at the moment if they wanted to save the first day if not the whole tournament. Where are you going? Mina asked when Seth stood up from his chair shortly after the change in schedule was announced. The break had just begun. Although the bard would have liked to see the performance of the Master Bard, there was something more important.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om To look for Polter. I want to talk to him, he simply said before leaving. The dwarf had suffered a terrible loss. Worse than just being overpowered. Since business was dealt with and he calmed down a little himself, the cksmith worried about the dwarf. The hallways of the stadium were filled with people, taking care of their business in the break before the music event. This couldn''t bother Seth, he simply used the maintenance corridors to evade the crowd and appeared at the medical wing unbeknownst to anyone. They called it the medical wing and there was everything one needed to take care of the wounded, like healers and potions, but most importantly it was also the location of the respawn point. Seth hoped to find the dwarf still here. he was right. Right in his assumption and right in worrying. Polter, wearing a casual dwarven chainmail sat on one of the beds, but what Seth had worried about had also happened. Dumm Ting who had been ended by Umi had obviously appeared here and the twobatants met here. The massive man was hunching over Polter, who had looked back at his torturer with an uncharacteristically frightened face. Seth had never experienced such torture himself, but he had heard what it could do to people, to die like that. It seemed like his worry for Polter was not unfounded, but that he met his torturer and killer right afterward made things even worse. Seth even med himself a little, that he had not thought of this before he gave the order to kill the beast. At the time, he was simply as upset as everyone else and wanted to get on with the tournament... ... Little man, how did you like that? Do you fear me now? Huhuhu, that look in your eyes tells me you do, and you are right in doing so. Once this tournament is over, I will find you and- Dumm Ting stopped talking when a heavy gauntlet suddenly rested on his shoulder. During the split second it stayed there, the cultivator felt a terrifying and dark energy enter his body. It was evil, and corrupted, but far colder and vicious than the power he gained from the sacrifices. Most of all, it was strong and fast, invading his body against his will before he could react and sapping away strength. He felt weak, and sick and vertigo rattled his brain while his field of vision distorted. His joints started aching and his stomach churning. Shocked, he turned to the man whoid his hand on his shoulder, trying to jump away from his touch, but a sudden blinding light blinded him for a moment. When his shaky vision returned, he was no longer in the weird clean room, where he was revived. He stood on a barren field, as far as his eyes could see. Above the dry in of dirt was a ck sky. An insurmountable feeling of dread filled his mind when a hand broke through the gray ash covering the dry ground. Dark hollow souls of children and women rose, grasping for his legs, his body his being. The darkest fear that had gued him in the dreams he was unable to remember until now, hade true. The souls of his victims hade for retribution, they were here to drag him into the dark emptiness outside the circle of reincarnation, where he had banished them with his deeds. He couldn''t run, he couldn''t hide. All his power was gone and he could only uselessly struggle as he drowned in their bodies and was pulled down into the darkness. ... What in the world did you do to him? Polter asked befuddled, seeing the giant viin frozen in ce. His expression was struck with terror, while his eyes were quickly jumping all over the ce as if he was dreaming a horrible dream with his eyes wide open. Polter waved his hand in front of the man''s face, but there was no reaction at all. Seth nced at Antares, his shield he used to cast , right after using Lesath to give him a little taste of the gue Curse. He didn''t expect the light to be this effective on a cruel monster like this, maybe he should use this more often? Don''t worry about it. Let''s leave here. Chapter 1089. The guy cheated How do you feel Polter? Seth asked after they found an empty staff room. The cksmith pulled out a few bottles of booze from his inventory and opened one for the depressed dwarf. How am I supposed to feel? Like shit. Not only did he break my shield and armor, I was trampled on and simply... Fuck man, I lost in the very first round, the dwarfined frustrated. Seth nodded understandingly. Polter had looked forward to shining in the tournament, but he met a truly terrible opponent right in the beginning. If it helps you, you shouldn''t me your gear, skills, or even yourself. You didn''t lose because you werecking, Seth told him seriously. Then why did I lose? Polter asked, throwing his hands in the air. When it wasn''t about himcking experience or umtion, or his gear, or his skills, then why did he lose? The guy cheated, Seth stated dryly. Not right here, not during the battle, but.. and then the cksmith started exining to the dwarf, what Master Mountains had told them before. ... Meanwhile, the measures to prevent the tournament from being ruined were underway and the Master Bard entered the stage to soothe the audience. Long Story short, it worked. the master bard''s performance even left a deep impression on the demons listening. His heartfelt songs in addition to his beautiful musical performance really soothed the upset crowd, helping everyone to slow down and rx. They didn''t forget their rage toward Dumm Ting, but they also realized, that they would lose the chance to enjoy the event if they kept holding onto the grudge. With the crowd appeased, they could finally start with the rest of the fight for the day The fourth fight showcased Lyca, the Amazon against Alsmost, a sorcerer from Chrona. The oue was expected. Although the magician delivered a surprisingly tough fight, he couldn''t beat the Amazon, despite her being heavily nerfed. The fifth fight presented a simr match-up. There was Tiny, the second inmand of Gamma Resistance. The name was misleading, as he was the same kind of mountain as Gallwell, maybe a little leaner, and he wielded a massive, fantasy-style hammer with a handle like a polearm. His opponent was another spellcaster from the Pathworks. If there was ever a personification of the phrase going full goblin-mode, it was this scraggly old man. Wearing an old brown robe, that was too short for him in every aspect, he looked more like a goblin than goblins themselves. This man called himself the Dark Mage of Mug. While Tiny had shone during the preliminaries with his great skills as a warrior, attracting some fans, the Mage of Mug had stayed under the radar despite winning his preliminaries round. Despite not seeing much of the mage, everyone thought this match-up already had a clear winner. Until the Dark Mage of Mug was given their new moniker by the chat: The Mud Wizard. The moment Umi announced the fight, the whole arena turned into a swampy field of mud. Clinging to clothes and gear, it instantly made it hard for Tiny in his armor, and with his heavy weapon to move. While the warrior''s movements were hampered, the Mud Wizard jumped around like a monkey, unhindered by the mud, which couldn''t cling to his short, worn-out robe. Laughing, cackling, and mocking, he drew circles around Tiny, and kept flinging balls of mud at him, that stuck to the warrior''s body, and weighed him further down. The Vice-Master of Gamma Resistance went so far as to reveal his status as the Chosen of Magni, using overwhelming strength to rid himself of the mug, momentarily. No matter how strong he was, or the skills he used, he was unable to catch the elusive mudpuppy. Meanwhile, the Mud Wizard did little apart from evading and building up mud on his opponent. However, this was enough. In the end, Tiny drowned under mountains of mud, mug, and swampy water, when his mana finally ran out. It was a surprising turnaround from the expected narrative, but it was also more lighthearted for the audience, as the old man kept slinging slurs and taunts at Tiny, together with his balls of mud, some of which hit the young man harder than the magic. Seth was even convinced that he probably had a bardic secondary ss. It was the longest fight so far, as it took almost an hour for the Mud Wizard to wear down Tiny, yet nobodyined, as it all was one great performance by the spellcaster. Together with the previous musical performance and the admirable 4th fight, the mood of the day had mostly turned for the better. Riding the momentum, the next fight was all clean, exciting duels. The 6th fight brought a popr Figure back into the spotlight. Alphalfa Bignoggin held a rare mix of sses, he was a type of summoner and a swordsman. He had previously shown a host of summoned creatures like a beautiful elven-looking elemental creature and an over five-meter-tall barbarian humanoid. None of these creatures were below lv.90 which essentially made him a one-man team during the preliminaries. On top of that, he augmented themon weakness of a summoner by bing a tough swordsman himself. Using these summons and swordsmanship, he was able to shine in the preliminaries. He was also a rising star in the Chrona Empire with growing poprity. Facing him was a cultivator who started off as a stranger to the audience, but rose in fame thanks to his performance in the preliminaries. Perl Woul was a cultivator with pale, immacte skin and a androgynous face, that had both genders in the audience swoon for him. The skills he disyed had also left a deep impression on the people, especially Urthans who knew this kind of power only from fiction.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The man disyed a wide area of assassination skills. Most prominent were his invisible strings and flying weapons that dismembered his opponents before they themselves even realized it. Despite his fair and slender figure, he had shown brutal strength and cold judgment. And the winner is- Perl Woul! Umi announced when the find finished in a mere five minutes. As much as Bignoggin had tried to augment the weakness of a summoner, he was in a bad match-up against a professional assassin. Perl Woul had seemingly vanished the moment the battle began. Neither the summoned creatures nor the summoner were able to detect him until the moment all of them started from criss-cross patterns all around their body and disintegrated into chunks of meat on the arena floor. The assassin only showed his figure to the fear-stricken Alphalfa, when the swordsmanship was already falling apart. The cultivator epted his win with a silent note and minimal bow toward Umi before leaving the stage under the cheers of the audience. His cold and controlled demeanor, together with his fair face had the crowd enraptured, making him a fan favorite. In the meantime, Seth had returned to the booth. After Seth shared with him the reason for the sudden power-up of his opponent, Polter had asked the cksmith for some time alone, to think. Do you think Perl Woul would be able to skill Dumm Ting? Mina asked Yu and Seth shortly after the fight ended, looking up from her screen. Why do you suddenly ask? Mike asked surprised at the sudden question. There have been heated debates in the chat ever since Polter lost. Everyone is discussing who of the remaining participants should take Dumm Ting apart in the next round, she said and held up the tablet-like screen. Seth looked at the chat, after thest match, there were obviously a lot of people saying Perl Woul would do the same to Dumm Ting, others said that it would be more fitting for Lyca to pummel the perverted Monster to dust. Some were calling out people who had yet to make it to Round 2. However, the strongest faction was advocating for a match between Dumm Ting and the Mud Wizard. They wanted to see the evil cultivator suffer helplessly, as Tiny had in his fight against the sharp-tongued mudslinger. Hmm, if Dumm Ting relies on that power against Perl Would... he would probably lose, Yu said slowly. Hecks control and self-awareness in that form. All that improves are his physical powers, so if the assassin disappears and strikes him from the shadows, there would be little he can do, Master Mountain concluded. Although Yu was their resident expert for cultivators, something was bothering Seth about this assumption, though he didn''t quite know why he doubted it. Would it really be that easy to assassinate Dumm Ting? It was hard to ept that someone was supposed to have such an easy time, where Polter could barely do anything. Well, we will see, if they get to meet... Chapter 1090. Adam Clarke The seventh fight was something special to watch. Not because of the cultivator Choon Long. Although he was much liked by the audience because he mixed sword moves with shy magical techniques, his opponent was the unique one. Adam rke was an adventurer from Y-City versed in gun kata skills that were developed in Y-City after the apocalypse. The weapons he used were some of the few surviving masterpieces of the gunsmiths of Ypselon. All in all, it was a mix of hand-to-handbat and the ability to summon various types of firearms from the inventory. The magic firearms developed in Y-City left an impression even on the well-versed people from the Chrona Empire. Although magical firearms were no new idea, as they were something every hextech engineer would work on at some point, the products produceding from an age of technology that adapted to magic were something else. Especially the explosives. His preliminaries yed out like watching an action movie, where a single person with a host of guns and grenades, mowed down a field of opponents. However, it was questionable whether he would be able to stand against the cultivators who did something quite simr, but in a much shorter time. Although many hoped for the marksman to continue on, so they could see him disy more of his skills, it seemed questionable whether he would be able to defeat Choon Long, who outranked him in everything, judging on his skills in the preliminaries. That''s him, right? Seth asked Leana, when both contestants stepped into the arena, under Umi''s moderation. Adam rke was not just any adventurer from Y-City. He was quite well-known during the time of the Scene''s reign and belonged to the higher caste of their societal system. Yes, although we couldn''t prove it so far, we suspect he is a candidate from the Scene, the princess confirmed. Of course, they were not talking about the actual scene. They were the remnants that had not been in Ypselon at the time, which meant they evaded the district-wide eradication of their organization. Minas Mar knew that they were still somewhere, hiding in the cracks and dark holes, waiting for a chance to take revenge. The problem was that not all of them were recipients of the immortal serum. Which meant they didn''t have too hard of a time to enter as refugees.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om With Leana''s help, they tried to keep an eye on everyone that could be a part or a coborator of these remnants. As princess of Chrona, Leana was educated and had more experience with this kind of stuff, which was why they left it to her. The marksman was one of the suspects, but so far they couldn''t find any definite clues. He had shown no reaction to the soul-whisking barrier when entering the city. he had also received no wounds during the preliminaries that could have betrayed the fact that he took the serum after entering. He also had not met anyone suspicious since entering Little Gamma. Still, they kept their eyes on him. Against their initial suspicions, a different surprise waited for them and the audience, when the fight began. Adam rke had experienced an incredible power-uppared to the preliminaries. he was significantly faster and stronger as if all his attributes had received a massive boost. To the point that he was able to keep up with the vastly superior cultivator. The fight was a firework of magical techniques, explosions, and raw meleebat. rke expertly wielded pistols, rifles, and fists, matching Choon Long''s sword hit for hit and matching his bizarre magic shot for shot. But in a battle of attrition, Choon Long still had the upper hand. Although their attributes seemed to be equal, their stamina wasn''t. Seeing rke''s power, Seth and Leana had initially thought that he had finally made a mistake and taken the serum, but it became clear what happened as the fight went on. Pressured by his own fatigue, Adam started to release a demonic aura. Now this wasn''t the evil energy cultivators would talk about, but literally the Aura of a demon. rke had made a pact with the devil to improve his powers, and now he started incorporating curses and dark magic into his original skills to make up for hisck of stamina. His appearance also started changing, as half his face turned a pale gray and a dark-blue horn started growing from the right of his forehead. Who knew what price he paid for this power, but it seemed to work and wasn''t against the rules. After all, why would a deal with the devil be worse than being sponsored by a sky daddy? I see, you have done well to havee this far. With an opponent like you, I feel no regrets going all out, Choon Long suddenly stated and the cultivator''s whole body started turning a light-green shade of jade green. Choon Long stopped blocking rke''s shots and attacks altogether. The magic bullets and cursed shots could not even put a nick on the man''s jade skin anymore. Before Adam and the audience even realized what had happened, Choon Long had already charged past his opponent. The marksman from Y-City, the likely spy from the scene, parted into four pieces amidst a fountain of blood. Not even the deal with a demon had been able to secure his victor against the jade-skinned Choon Long. Up in the VIP booth of Minas Mar, everyone looked at Master Mountain. The sudden spike in speed and defense that definitely pushed the cultivator past the lv.100 cap they had set for the tournament, made them suspicious. Could Choon Long be simr to Dumm Ting? But Yu shook his head. This is a secret technique of the Jade Well Sect. As an inner sect disciple, it''s no surprise for Choon Long to know it. It is only a temporary improvement and can''t bepared to forbidden techniques like Dumm Ting used, he exined calmly, guessing what was on their minds. As Adam rke''s body vanished from the arena, to revive at the respawn point, Umi went ahead and dered Choon Long the winner of the duel. Unlike the m Perl Would, Choon Long visibly enjoyed the attention and cheers of the crowd. Well, I guess that takes care of one potential spy... Seth mumbled. The next fight was one Seth had been personally interested in. Not because it was a fight between two women, but because one of them was the Saintess of Gatris, the Goddess of Dark Mercy. The leader of the same church, that had kidnapped children in Delta in an attempt to foster holy warriors, or summon an avatar of their goddess, or whatever it was they actually intended to do. Despite his Ravenous Sog getting a power-up from foiling their ns, Seth still held a grudge, so he actually cheered for their opponent, ady called Dowloon. She was the first female cultivator in the first round and had the moniker Shadow under the Rosebushes. From what Seth heard this moniker had ayered meaning. On one hand, roses were beautiful but had thorns. Anyone in the stadium would attest that Dowloon was a breathtaking beauty. Yu had to exin the second part to him. Calling her the Shadow under the Rosebushes was not as ttering as it sounded, as it called her a snake, waiting for her innocent victims to admire the roses, before striking them with her poisonous bite. The reason why they called her a poisonous snake with a beautiful face didn''t need any exnation, as Dowloon was the first truly terrifying poison cultivator Seth had witnessed. She was different from the wimp that was taken down by the Lizardman in the preliminaries. She won the preliminaries by covering the whole arena in a poison mist, that melted her opponents within minutes. All the whileughing like a true demon. It was a battle between a maniac and a religious fanatic. Seth was used to hanging around people with one or two loose screws, so he still choose to cheer for the poisonousdy to win. Chapter 1091: Dowloon vs the Saintess Chapter 1091: Dowloon vs the Saintess Looking around the arena, her face turned into a displeased frown. Such savage disy of power beneath her. For her to use the powers granted to her by her goddess for something this mundane... To act as entertainment for a bunch of mongrels had her feeling deeply humiliated. No wonder they had forced her to do this as a mistake for her failures. She had shone ever since she was chosen during the ritual and was sent to Urth after initial setbacks, but... After making promising progress in growing the local church someone infiltrated their church and even foiled her ritual to have an avatar of Gatris descend. If it wasn''t for the upper echelons and the Council of Saints forcing her, she would have never stooped so low to take part in this circus. But offering the church a legendary armament was the only way she could make up for the loss incurred. That''s just how valuable the material for the Blood of Gatris was. After eyeing the audience, that were whistling and cheering like horny mutts, she turned to her opponent. The saintess had to admit, that this Fairy Dowloon, as she called herself, rivaled her in appearance, though her way of fighting was despicable. As the saintess of the Goddess of Dark Mercy, she found no beauty in a cowardly weapon like poison. How could one break their spirit and open their mind to the mercy of their goddess, when using they didn''t thoroughly break their pride and confidence? How could they realize the mercy of knowing their ce and enter Gatris'' Embrace, if they were not properly broken? Thinking of what she would do to the cold beauty before her inadvertently brought a crooked smile. Maybe it wasn''t so bad to take part in the tournament, she did enjoy this kind of missionary work after all. Are both contestants ready?, the moderator girl asked the two women. She didn''t say a word and simply nodded, her opponent did the same. The saintess was looking forward to seeing, whether Dowloon would keep ying silent, once she started to proselytize her. Since both agreed, Begin! the announcer called out and the other immediately spread a cloud of thick poison mist across the arena. She could feel the tiny drops of poisonnd on her, eating away at her skin and robe. The pain of being dissolved, the suffering, the burning. It sparked a fire of passion in her soul as waves of pleasure shook her body together with the pain. Her eyes opened wide, as the poison invaded every pore of her body, and she folded her hands in prayer.Consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt utbore et dolore magna. Aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua! she finished her chant with a saintly smile, hiding the intense pleasure flooding through her body. The announcement rang in her mind. A holy aura enveloped her body, shielding her against the poison mist, mending her robe, and healing her wounds. Finally, she stood among the poison mist,pletely unharmed. Even when the dropletsnded on her skin or drenched her robe, they could no longer harm her. This was the power Gatris gave her followers. Enjoying the pain, bing immune to it, showing the other that even their greatest strength is vain before the powers of god, and enlightening them on her way to grant them mercy in knowing their y and allowing them to leave this world to enter her embrace. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. This can''t be it. Please show me everything, Give it all you got, and let me enlighten you in the way of my goddess, she taunted her opponent. it sounded benign, almost pacifistic, but really, it was just a taunt to slowly disassemble her opponent''s mentality and savor more of her skills. The notification came without warning. Why did it suddenly go up? The Aura of Gatris was only supposed to increase skill proficiency when she was attacked. Was she? The saintess started looking around herself in a hurry. She found a set of darts with bright colorful feathers decorating her buttocks. Since when were they there?! She had not even felt a sting. The initial confusion turned into amusement before it became a chuckle and thenughter. What did it matter whether she couldn''t see the attack when the attack only helped her raise her skills? She truly enjoyed the powers granted by Gatris, the pain, the pleasure, and the pleasure of crushing others. She thrived with these powers, it was the reason she became a saintess in the first ce. Your poison does not work! What else can you do? sheughed in the mist when theughter suddenly got stuck in her throat. An emotionless face, with wide-open eyes, appeared beside her. The pupils were big, dark, and cold. There was an unsettling darkness in the depths of these dark eyes. It felt like she was staring into an abyss and a cold shiver ran down her spine...followed by a terrible heat shooting down her abdomen and legs. Looking down, she found a foreign hand, deeply embedded in her abdomen. Her eyes dted, feeling the cruel Dowloon rummaging around in her bowels. Then she gifted the fairy a crooked smile, filled with glee. ... The audience watched with bated breath. Was this the end for the saintess? Seth sure hoped so, but his hopes were dashed. With sudden, jerky movements, the saintess of Gatris caught Dowloon''s head and turned it by 180%. A yelp went through the crowd. it was a gut-wrenching sight and everyone expected a disgusting crunch, but they were surprised again, as the female cultivator simply spun her body in the air, escaping the grasp. She didn''t seem hurt at all, although she was moving her head left and right as if to loosen her neck muscles. With a whipping motion, she professionally got rid of the blood on her hand and looked at the saintess in silence. With a smile that had the crowd''s hair stand on end, the saintess looked at her, her head leaning to the side. The dark hole in her abdomen dripping with blood was slowly closing back up. Then the fight finally started, as the saintess and Dowloon exchanged quick moves in closebat. The cultivator seemed to have given up on the poison approach, but the saintess received less and less injuries, while Dowloon kept getting battered. This was the same strategy they had already seen of the saintess in the preliminaries. She would simply take whatever was thrown at her and slowly grind her enemy into submission. Not once had she used a weapon before. Growing ustomed to her opponent''s specialties and then crushing them with brutal force. However, it didn''t seem like the Poison Fairy, as the chat dubbed her, was going down any time soon, just because her poison didn''t work. In a purely physical slugfest, she still dominated over the saintess. She is quite skilled inbat for a poison cultivator, even Yu praised her fighting. But would that be enough for her to win over the power of someone blessed by a god? .. The relentless fists met in midair, but she had to evade, feeling a painful sting run through her body. She coughed, feeling incredibly sick. Just what was going on? Things had been going so well since the start of the fight, but then this suddenly appeared when they started exchanging blows. The weird energy that apanied every attack of Dowloon simply bypassed her magic blessing. Why couldn''t she resist it? It was a constant question in her mind, as she kept feeling sicker and sicker with every stack of poison she received. At least it wasn''t real poison. Her HP was totally fine, but she was racking up status effects. If she didn''t end this fight soon, she might... This sense of urgency and threat was a first for her. This wasn''t how it was supposed to go! It was her that should be- She suddenly felt something rip on her inside and a scalding hot wave of blood traveled up her through and gushed from her mouth.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om She felt something move in her chest. Another bout of terrible pain rushed to her brain and then the world went dark. She had failed her goddess once again. ... it seems like we have a winner! Umi called out. The poison mist receded, and only the Poison Fairy stood in the arena. Nobody knew why the saintess suddenly died, but everyone cheered for the cold beauty that won the match. Chapter 1092: Some quick Fights Chapter 1092: Some quick Fights With the eighth fight over they were halfway through today''s program and a small break was announced. This would have originally been the time for the musical event, but since they had pulled it forward, it was just a normal break before the ninth fight began. Should we try to recruit Dowloon? She seems quite effective in fighting the crowd. She could wreak havoc on a bunch of Urthans, a slightly older woman, wearing a tight white robe suggested to her colleagues. They had watched the fight on a screen in a za of the Pythian Vige. However, the men two men beside her shook their heads. We already tried after the preliminaries. She is only here for the heaven-grade weapon. Unless we offer her one, there is probably no way for us to get her on our side, he gave a simple exnation. he still remembered the fairy''s cold eyes, as if she stared directly into his soul. His fists balled. It had felt like she was looking at him like he was a vermin. The worst part is, that he couldn''t do anything against it. Even if he risked their ns and fought her then and there, he was unsure whether he could even beat her. She wasn''t someone they should associate with... But I have to admit, this show is somewhat entertaining. It''s different from the martial tournaments at home, their thirdpanion suddenly said, changing the topic. At his words, they looked at him and then at the screen where he was looking. It showed the arena, where the ninth fight had just begun. The contestants were a fairy wearing a suit of armor that looked like big leathery leaves and a slightly green skin tone and a massive hunk of a man. He barely wore anything, just a harness of leather strips, boots, and a skimpy leather skirt. Oh my...if I was a little younger... the female cultivator mumbled at the sight, having herpanions cringe. ...N?v(el)B\\jnnBreakheart, the barbarian was a fan favorite among the female audience. His great muscles and handsome face had many swoon over him, but he was up against a favorite of the male audience, April Vine. She was a chosen from Delta of an undisclosed god, but the effects were quite pronounced. On top of her High Druid ss, she was able to manipte nt life as she wished. N-No! Not like this! Not so rough! Breakheart cried out with a surprisingly gentle voice as he was bound and hoisted by vines, spawning some new fetishes among the viewers. The fight between the buff warrior and the nt-wielding druid went as expected and Lady Vine moved on to the next round, after gifting the audience the unforgettable scene, of Breakheart being professionally bound by roots and punished. It didn''t seem like this disy was an ident either. The tenth fight was between two foreigners. Hankleberry Sawyer, a beastman knight from the Chrona Empire, and Naginata Totonikova, another female cultivator. Their fight was the most normal, to date. Neither showed any overwhelming skills or special powers. it was an honest, hard-fought match that ended in Hankleberry barely eking out his victory. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The eleventh match was one of the quick ones since one of them was the natural enemy of the others. Kozzos, a demon who had shown overwhelming talent in magic during the preliminaries faced off against an Exorcist from the Voracious Cloud Continent. Although demons as they existed across the world of the Pathworks were not asmon on the Cloud Continent, it didn''t mean there weren''t simr existences present. The exorcist Fan Juan easily countered the cursed magic of the demon with his formation skills. Using familiar spirits and obscure spells, he managed to beat the demon inbat after sealing his magic. It was one of the quicker fights, but very popr with the audience. Especially the seven-tailed fox he summoned in the end caught the crowd''s fancy. Seth also couldn''t help but feel curious about these connections between demons and these spirit creatures. However, Yu their walking encyclopedia of the Voracious Cloud Continent couldn''t help him a lot on this matter, as Fan Juan was the cultivator from a different province far in the east. There were no such creatures in the XiGuang Province that bordered Urth. Taking into ount that, ording to Master Mountain, the provinces of the Cloud Continent were eachparable in size to Urth and used to be their own worlds, it made sense that there would be great differences... The twelfth and thirteenth match ended very quickly, too. Both had monsters that dominated during the preliminaries, easily wiping the board on their own. In the twelfth match, it was an illusive cultivator who simply called himself Nam. The cultivator had a nice face, but mostly expressionless. He was tall and his body, although covered in runic bandages, was visibly toned from intense training, but not bulky with muscles. Nam was a sword cultivator. Although there were others like him during the previous round, he was the strongest that had appeared in the tournament so far. During the preliminaries, his aura alone was able to take control of his opponents'' swords, killing them with their own weapons. It was a power move that had him move on to the tournament barely revealing any of his true skills. It was an incredibly bad match-up for the swashbuckler from the Pathworks who barely managed to get through his preliminary round. The moment the match began, Nam only unsheathed three centimeters of his sword, before his opponent was beheaded by his own saber. The cksmith was intrigued by this weird skill. Seth was curious whether this would also work on ego swords or weapons soul-bound to their owner. Yu exined a little about it and it seemed like this kind of trick was usually not possible among strong cultivators, since they would usually imprint their weapons with their Qi. The other short battle featured Bercy, the Beast. From what Seth heard about her, she was a notorious adventurer from the Pathworks, wanted across many worlds. She had a tendency to lose control, especially with nobles. After beating up a few, and allegedly helping in killing a few more, she had quite the reputation, as shown by the boos she received from the noble audience when she entered the stage. Bercy was a huge woman, but still in the realm of humans and not barbarian. Still, she satisfied all criteria for the chat to chant Muscle Mommy. The mix of simple leather and fur armor she wore, was more of a fashion statement to keep basic decency and cover the basic areas that should be covered. Although she had a rough face, it had its appeal as she seemed to be a joyful person in general. She always had an amused sneer on her lips. However, the reason she wore no great armor and scratched a different kink for some people in the chat was a different one. The moment she entered the fight, she turned into a massive, distinctly female werewolf with incredible powers. Her preliminary round left the arena drenched in blood and pieces of her opponents. It would have been a nightmare to clean up if the bodies didn''t vanish thanks to the Adventurer Guild''s formation. Her opponent was a fiendish cultivator, as Yu called him. In general, they counted as people who would kill without mercy for their own gain and only respected strength. They were also known to be cruel and erratic because of the techniques they used to cultivate. However, the person with a cruel fate was the cultivator in question. Despite giving a good performance during the preliminaries, he was ripped apart by the juggernaut in a hot second. Bercy ignored his dark magic and skills, all of them ncing off of her body, and literally tore him to pieces. It was quite the gruesome disy, yet it was unable to discourage her hardcore fans, spamming Eat me too, Mommy! in the chats. Seth started seriously questioning whether it was a good idea to have invested in bringing back streams. But he was also curious to see how Bercy would react if she saw these ... avid reactions to her performance. Thanks to the quick fights, they were ahead of schedule and decided to give people another short break, before they started thest two fights of the day. Chapter 1093: Suddenly Frozen Chapter 1093: Suddenly Frozen Darkness enveloped him. But it wasn''t just theck of light. He had explored ancient caves and burial mounts, where no light reached. This was different, he was blind. And not just blind, all sound had also disappeared. He couldn''t even taste the fresh air after the rain in the arena had finally stopped. The only sense he could still perceive was the slight breeze of air and the touch of his robes on his skin He tried to calm down and use his Qi sense to perceive the world around him, but to his horror, even his divine consciousness was blocked from seeing anything past his body! Just what had the blind cripple done to him? he tried recalling what just happened. What did they call him? He should have listened when the fairy announced their names, but he was too focused. He had been ready to unsheathe his de and cut the other apart the moment she announced the beginning of the fight. Ultimately, he had only made a single step and started his technique, when the other pulled an old sword from his belt and he lost all senses. His technique failed and he suffered a slight recoil, but it wasn''t important. He had toe up with something... However, intrusive thoughts kept interrupting him. How long had it been since he was trapped in this darkness? Why didn''t the other attack already? Was he mocking him? How did this look from the outside? He would make the old man pay for this humiliation. Thest thought led back to what he was supposed to do and he suddenly thought it was a brilliant idea to unleash his ultimate technique. if he simply destroyed the whole stage, he HAD to hit his opponent! He had wanted to hold back initially, but hiding his strength wouldn''t work out if he died here and now. He was just collecting his energy to follow this n, when he felt a slight sting in his forehead. When he woke up again, he stood in a white, clean room. His senses were back and he immediately realized that he was no longer in the arena...N?v(el)B\\jnn What happened? he mumbled exasperatedly not expecting an answer, but it came. You lost, honey, the answer came from an olderdy wearing a white uniform.... The fourteenth match was probably the weirdest yet. The cultivator who went by the moniker of the Quick de had suddenly frozen after only taking a single step. he was looking around in flight, obviously seeing things the audience could not. When he stopped his opponent, an old man from Y-City simply strutted forward to end him. He was a blind old man, but he was also known as the Chosen of Hodr, the god of darkness and warriors. Although he had shown no overwhelming performance before, he had gotten through the preliminaries without a scratch, despite being blind. Within a minute after the fight started, the Chosen of Hodr had leisurely inserted his unmaintained-looking sword into the head of his opponent, without experiencing even the slightest resistance from the cultivator. The whole sequence was outright eerie and disturbed the audience, so much so, that the old man left the arena in silence after being announced the victor. The people were still too out of it, to cheer for the winner who strolled back to his private room. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Alright, who is ready for thest battle of the day? Umi broke the awkward silence cheerfully. We have another two stars for our final match of the day. You know him from the 23rd round of the Preliminaries, Count Nox, the Crimson Shadow! she introduced the first contestant. A man wearing a wine-red, intricate coat walked to the stage. He was sickly pale and had a pronounced pair of canines. One didn''t have to witness his debut to recognize him as a vampire. The count in his title was no empty title but identified him as a noble vampire The incredibly handsome vampire was not bothered by the rays of sunlight peeking through the breaking cloud cover. The audience readily cheered for the umon sight. Although vampires were generally disliked, Noble Vampires had a standing as demi-humans in the Chrona Empire. Whereas Count Nox was known for his pearly white smile during the preliminaries after killing almost the opposing yers himself, he wasn''t in the mood to act for the audience, as he looked forward to his opponent. With heavy steps, Ibelin Godfrey entered the arena. The normal image of a knight, or a knight ss, in people''s minds, was that of a man in heavy te armor. Most tanks wore it too. However, after seeing Ibelin Godfrey this changed. His equipment differed from that normally associated with tanks or knights. He wore long, silvery mail, covered by a surcoat disying his coat of arms. Heavy gauntlets covered his hand and the menacing-looking great helm hid his face. There was a simple arming sword at his belt and a medium-sized shield on his back. Despite not fitting the traditional image of a knight as poprized by the system, he simply emanated the quintessence of a knight. That was until the battle began. If Seth had to give ament about Ibelin Godfrey, then probably that he was the most unique person from Ypselon he had seen so far. Everything about him was perfectly min-maxed for his ss and fighting style. His equipment was all epic with simple specialization in raising his defense and the power of holy skills. In addition, they all had the additionalment (Blessed) behind their name. Since both contestants are ready, let the final fight of the day- Begin! Umi Kaldrops announced the start of the first day''s final fight, the 15th match of the first round. Ibelin''s image of a knight immediately shattered, when he pulled out his signature weapon, which he used to mow down his opponents in the preliminaries. Deus Vult! Ibelin eximed in a deep voice. The roars of his magic minigun, dubbed the Bonesaw by chat, filled the stadium and the audience reinvigorated their poltern. Unlike Adam rke, who was a marksman specialized in agile and stylish gun kata and hand-to-handbat that relied on fast switching between handguns and rifles, Godfrey was a human gun turret. For the ordinary observer, the noble Vampire had met his worst enemy, because Ibelin Godfrey was not just a simple knight, but the chosen of an undisclosed god of light, carrying the unique ss of a Holy Cannoneer, a mix of Marksman and Holy Crusader, as well as Pdin of Light. Ibelin''s wave of bullets that had proven hard to dodge during the preliminaries, brought an aura of divine punishment with them, as they were all blessed by the holy crusader. If the vampire was to be hit, the wound would be hard to heal even for the supernatural high-speed regeneration of a high-rank vampire. Although the oue seemed predictable, the audience was still ecstatic. A bnced, high-octane fight got them just as roused as a brutal, one-sided beatdown. Even happier were they, when things did not turn out as expected. Unlike the participants in the preliminaries, Nox was prepared. Using his supernatural reflexes he dodged the stream of bullets by observing the direction of the barrel and turning his body into mist at times. While he evaded the bullets he cast waves of blood magic and curses at the crusader. Stationary as he was, he was an easy target. But there was a reason he didn''t bother dodging, all of the vampire''s attack nced off an invisible shield, spewing golden sparks when hit. Now they were in a standoff. One kept dodging, while the other was immune to attacks. And suddenly, the buzzing of the minigun fell silent. Had the Crusader run out of ammo? Was it possible? Nox saw his chance, rushing at the knight, wielding a dark sword, covered in crimson magic, he intended to sh through the shield and kill his opponent in one move. However, the crusader had simply changed his gun. By the time the vampire reached Ibelin, he stared down the barrel of a machine gun. Parry this, filthy casual, the shot echoed through the stadium. Nox tried, but the sword exploded in his hands and so did his head. ... Well done. It seems like rke''s fate was a good reminder? an irritating voice rang from themunication orb. The old man frowned at the orb in his hands but stayed silent. Haha, I''m just joking. You know I am! I always trusted that you would make it. Don''t forget to take our little present before you draw your lot for the next round, the voice at the other end insisted. I understand, so don''t contact me again. Chapter 1094: Why are you calling? Chapter 1094: Why are you calling? Nox had just lost his head, something usually not lethal for a vampire. However, the bullet shot was d in holy power, so Nox was already disintegrating to respawn at the medical win. At this moment, Seth''s phone rang. Not hismunication orb, but the phone. Joannia? Why are you calling all of a sudden? the cksmith asked a little confused that she called him so early. I did it! she only said into the phone excitedly.N?v(el)B\\jnn You did what? Seth asked confused. He doubted she already made a new prototype or something along those lines. I managed to reactivate the mech!- Well, the systems that are still able to run. It seems like a massive energy spike destroyed the energy reactor, but we are lucky it didn''tpletely fry the main board. I only had to supply some energy to gain ess to the software, a flood of words spilled from her mouth. Wait-Wait! You did what? You activated that thing? Why didn''t you call me right away- No, why did you do that without asking in the first ce? Seth asked alerted. After all, this was a highly advanced technology that fought a long battle with Ceres. It was incredibly dangerous. I waited for today''s events to end before I called you. I didn''t want to interrupt you, she answered hesitatingly. I''ming there right now. Don''t touch that thing, it would be best if you cut the energy for now. I will be there in a minute, Seth said quickly and rushed off. "Guys, shit hit the fan, I have to go~" he called out in passing as he left the private booth. Shit-Shit-Shit, Seth kept cursing in his mind as he rushed through the air towards the city center. He kept using and spamming to travel through the air and between the crown scrapers of Little Gamma.The cksmith had not expected that she would start reactivating the thing. Not anytime soon at least. They only talked about her studying and learning from it, not repairing the actual thing! He was close to the branch office where Joannia was working, when a massiveser beam shot out from the building, burning a hole the diameter of a tunnel into the hardwood wall. He saw something move close to the st radius. If it wasn''t for Theia''s Vision, he would have had a hard time making out what it was. Yet, he still had a hard time making out what it was supposed to be. Seth saw it clearly despite the distance and speed it was moving, but the best description he was able toe up with was a fist-sized ruby with six mechanic legs. The ruby was scuttling away from the building when a figure appeared in the smoke at the hole. Stay right here, you little shit! Joannia roared as she started pursuing the six-legged ruby. What in the world was going on? Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. What in the world is going on? Seth asked the huffing fleetmander as he caught up with her. Surprisingly, she was able to keep up with the speed of the ruby so far. The thing in question was running along the walls ahead of them. This thing was ejected from the cyborg. I bet it''s some kind of autonomous ck box. I think it got charged when I powered and activated some of the systems I was able to ess, she gave her assessment of what happened. And the massiveser beam? Seth asked, to which Joannia suddenly evaded his gaze. N-Now isn''t the time! We have to catch that thing! It is probably full of invaluable information, she changed the subject quickly. Seth gave her a serious look, suspecting that she was the one who blew a hole in his building, but she was right. Unlike Joannia, Seth had some inkling about the cyborg-mech''s deeply concerning background. Whatever mechanic being wreaked havoc in the Unimed Mountains, had built this thing to fight Ceres, putting up a fight against the legendary elemental. Who knew what would happen if that thing managed to escape with information on the fight and their city? He really didn''t need another crisis on top of the problems that were already brewing everywhere. Seth started running full speed, using , in addition to passives such as Alecto''s Wings, which granted +20% movement speed when hunting a target activated. Of course, Seth could have destroyed it, but- Leaving Joannia in the dust, he shot off like a bullet train. Before the running ruby, the size of a fist knew what had happened, the phantom of Seth had already rushed past its position, where only its six legs remained. The ruby in question was firmly held in Seth''s hand. It had some cracks from the impact with his palm at high speed but was otherwise intact. ..Now he just had to decelerate somehow... Seth jumped and turned in the air, a move he was only able to thanks to his passive . In the air, he used the ne of that had turned vertical with the direction of his feet, to teleport higher up in the air. Having his velocity turn straight up in the air, he quickly became slower and then started falling gently thanks to . After elerating for five seconds to catch the ruby, it took a whole minute to deal with his speed in a way that didn''t cause damage to the surrounding buildings. Of course, the high-speed chase and graceful breaking maneuver didn''t stay unnoticed. Seth had not worn his Helm of Hades. With the streets and buildings filled with people he blew past, it would have been weirder to not have caused amotion. You caught it! Joannia cried out in glee, as she caught up, to the cksmith in dark armor, who was bombarded by all kinds of magical image-taking contraptions. Little Gamma was filled with tourists from the Pathworks, but even for them, this was a great show. Since the tournament had ended, they had more than enough free time to guffaw about this. Yeah I got it, Seth said with a serious tone, pushing his way through the crowd. The shine vanished from her eyes. She quickly realized that she had done something incredibly stupid in her scientific curiosity. Ever since Seth became more proficient as a bard, he had gotten better at reading people''s expressions. And these were clearly Joannia''s worries. The cksmith deliberately picked up the ripped-off legs, not looking at her. I''m sorry. I acted rashly. I think I was a little too eager, working in ab again, she said in a grave voice. Yeah, you did. Make sure it does not happen again, Seth said with a friendly smile and handed her the parts of the autonomous ck box, as Joannia called it. The cksmith remembered the damaged ck box that had been recovered by Lydia and the others. He had yet to hear any news from Baker''s people researching the thing. Maybe Joannia was a better choice for that, too? Let''s get back to the branch, this is not the ce for serious talk, Seth reminded her and they quickly fled the crowd. Seth lost control over his facial expression for a moment. A title he had almost forgotten made its return, only to change the question for an exmation mark... ... What happened here? Mina repeated his earlier question. While Joannia and Seth rushed back, the main party of Minas Mar had returned from the stadium to find a giant hole in their branch building. Seth turned to the fleetmander beside him. Errm, I can exin.. Chapter 1095: A flight of fancy Chapter 1095: A flight of fancy In the end, the hole in the wall was not a big deal, since Karina was with them to repair it in a jiffy. The ruby on the other hand had been a little cracked and Joannia wasnt able to get anything useful out of it in the immediate time, if at all. They may have lost a great source of info, but it was still better than that thing escaping. Seth had also had her swear not to power up any parts of the mech anymore and only learn from taking it apart. Although this way of research would take much longer than switch it on and see what it does, but it was better than risking another ruby situation. After the shock in the early evening, things started calming down again. Originally, they would have been tense, because they didnt know the ns of the enemy, but Marys people finally had a breakthrough. After finding some clues, they had apprehended Adam rke and, managed to make him talk. He was really part of what was left of The Scene. Unfortunately, he was just a small fish, at least in what was left of the organization. At the time of their fall, he wasnt even high enough to receive the immortal serum and now he was used as a pawn. As such he didnt know the whole n, but they knew enough to prepare. The more concerning part of the information he gave them, was that a demon had gotten hold of a vial of the serum. If the serum could already turn a normal huma into something aching to a demon, that grew stronger by absorbing souls, what would it do to a demon, whose nature it was to absorb souls and grow stronger? Of course, there was also the question of the identity of that demon, however, this had to wait. Currently, they were just d to know, that the night would be calm. Or at least, that anymotions tonight, would not be caused by the big yer ... I''m really sorry... the dragon knight apologized. Caleb was quite embarrassed, having to visit the medical wing before he even got to star in his first fight. Having to visit to have his hungover and injuries from a bar fight treated made it even more shameful. He kept apologizing to the healer, as his face turned redder and redder.It all started because he wanted to cheer up Polter and invited him for a drink... somehow their bar tour ended in a mass brawl that enveloped half of the Pythian Vige''s party mile. He had no recollection of how things escted this far...Yet, it was a glorious fight. It had been a long time since he beat someone up. Of course, he would never voice those thoughts out loud. Being too violent wasn''t good for the image. Stop apologizing already. This ce is meant for us, so just let them do their work. You just thank them honestly afterward, Polter admonished him. The dwarf was still drunk. He had kept drinking even during the brawl, bludgeoning people with his tankard left and right. He was yet to be hit by the sobering magic of the healers. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Last night was really a great poltern, Caleb silently thought to himself, remembering some of these scenes. At least the dwarf seemed to have brightened up after letting it all out in the night. Caleb grinned unknowingly, prompting Polter to give him a silent nod of approval. He also thought it was a glorious night. I heard you guys had funst night... a serious voice cut through the jolly atmosphere between the two. A tall, attractive woman with a well-toned body stood in the door to the medical wing. Caleb had seen her among the people of Minas Mar before. Monique, what brings you here? Polter asked, his voice sobering up without the power of magic. Polter hurriedly got up, clumsily trying to wipe the grumps and chunks of yesterday''s excess out of his beard. No need to pretend now, Polter. I know yesterday was a bad day, but did you guys have to demolish five bars and a tea house? What were you even doing in that tea house, for god''s sake? she asked annoyed. It seemed like the crimesid bare before the blonde vixen and judging by her mood, she was the one who had to deal with the aftermath. Caleb felt even more guilty than before. I''m sorry. But it wasn''t Caleb who apologized first, but Polter readily gave in and apologized, nervously turning his tankard in his hands. He couldn''t remember ever seeing Polter act this respectfully toward somebody. M-me too, he hurriedly apologized along with the dwarf. He couldn''t his heart beating faster, seeing her slightly angry gaze as she looked at them. Had he always been someone like this? No, no this was special. Could it be? Her fair face, the well-trained body, the golden hair glittering in the whitemp lights. Hey, is something wrong? We can''t have you dazing off right before the fight. You are lucky we didn''t disqualify you for the shit you stirred, Monique called the dragon knight back to reality. Right, this wasn''t the time. The only reason he had a healer cure his hangover was because his fight would start in less than 30 minutes. Everything''s okay, I''m ready, Caleb hurriedly answered hair, breaking away from his suddenly developing crush. He jumped off the bed, dusting off his clothes, trying to show that he was okay. Caleb may have tried to look cool, but there was no oveing the ripped and dirty clothes, that were covered in all the fluids of a bar fight.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Monique only red at him for a moment. Alright, then go to your room and get yourself ready for the match, she simply said and left the medical wing. Caleb''s eyes traced her until she was out the door. he even kept looking at the door until he felt an ufortably prating stare drilling into the side of his head. Polter was looking at him...intensely. Who would have thought that Caleb, the great Dragon Knight known for his various exploits, would fall in love at some point in time, the dwarf mocked when he finally got his attention. Hng... Caleb groaned. He couldn''t even say anything in his defense. He had enjoyed the standing his ss and power brought. He had many women, but this time, it was different. Maybe this time it was really... Let me warn you. Monique is not someone you should try to fool around with. Seth values her highly and she is more than capable to wring the life out of some little manwhore that tries to y with her, Polter cautioned him honestly. You know she''s over lv.150 and she is a Chosen of Athene, you should have heard about what kind of people Athene would choose. On second thought, maybe it was nothing...Just a flight of fancy, yeah. Nothing to risk his life over. I think will go get ready for the fight now, he said and went to the door. Yeah, you should. I will cheer for you from the stands, Polter gave his farewell, before Caleb left the medical wing, meeting the staff that brought him to his room. Polter was right, it wasn''t time to look for women, he had to concentrate on his fight. Still. Although he had pushed it away for now, a tiny seed had burrowed itself deep in Caleb''s heart. ... Wee back everyone, to the second day of the Pythian Games'' Martial Tournament. Today we will see thest five matches of the first round before we go into the second round. Umi Kaldrops was already busy in the arena, greeting the audience. Caleb, standing at ready rolled his shoulders. His equipment was repaired, his body had recovered and Wyvern, his mount was in peak condition. He used thesest few minutes before the fight to get into the right mindset and down several potion cocktails. He had to win so he had the chance to avenge Polter. Chapter 1096: Name of the Game Chapter 1096: Name of the Game I hope all of you had a good night of rest because you should be wide awake for the 16th match of the first round. On the left, we have Caleb, the Dragon Knight. He is a contestant who not only shone in the preliminaries but has already appeared in previous contests, like the Great Race. And on the right,ing from the Beast Pce of the Southern nes, we have Hao Li. He and his wolfpanion have shown what they are capable of during the preliminaries and can''t be underestimated, Hao Li stepping onto the stage looked wild, very much unlike most cultivators they had seen on Urth so far. He wore a vest made of thick, coarse leather, barely keeping his bulging muscles in check, and a skirt made of the same leather. it was urate to call his hair a big, filthy mane. Beside him stood a massive wolf, as big as a horse. Caleb, on the other hand, not sitting on his Wyvern, was the spitting image of a knight, as it was popr among the people of the system worlds; A full te armor and a longsword on his belt. The dragon knight also carried ance in his hand. His Wyvern had not entered the field, yet. This could get interesting, Yu, sitting up in the VIP booth of Minas Mar,mented slightly intrigued. What do you mean? Seth asked him curious. The cksmith had a rough idea of Caleb''s strength and the prowess of a Wyvern. Although he couldn''t say the same about Hao Li, but unless he had something more up his sleeve, his wolf wouldn''t be enough to keep up with a Wyvern, if they stayed on the ground. Hao Li is a beast cultivator, you don''t see these very often. They live in the hostile nes in the south. It''s said they rear some of the fiercest beasts of the XiGuang Province. I''m looking forward to seeing whether the rumors are true, Master Mountain exined his sentiment but didn''t exin any further. Getting some exposition from his friend, Seth questioned whether he underestimated the wolf. ... Hah, where is your lizard beast, reflective man? Do you really think you stand a chance against the great Hao Li without it? Hao Li said roughly andughed at him, as he sent his wolf forward. Caleb didn''t take the bait, he didn''t even use his weapon.The giant beast, a wolf the size of a horse, was slugged straight in the face by the armored fist. Theparatively small figure of the knight stood still, as the massive wolf flew, turning around its own axis, and crashed into the arena floor, whimpering in pain. A dim light could be seen in the gaps of his helmet''s visor as he looked straight back at the cultivator. How dare you! Hao Li eximed incensed, seeing his pet hurt. His exposed muscles bulged as he charged at the silent Caleb. The aura around his body became visible to the naked eye as he rushed forward. However, his run came to a sudden halt when he had to evade the sharp stab of ance, aiming for his eyes. Hng! You are wide open! he recovered, trying to aim for the gap in the knight''s defense after he got past the spear''s tip. Yet again, his fist met a gauntlet''s palm in midair and was stopped in its tracks. Caleb clenched the man''s hand securely. The expressionless helmet looked Hao Li in the face. Still, the cultivator got the message the moment he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He was the one that was open. The knight had exchanged thence for a dagger and wordlessly started stabbing him repeatedly, not letting go of his hand. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Guohh! Apanied by a massive roar of pain and anger, Hao Li exploded with force and managed to wrench away his hand from the knight''s death grip. The beats cultivator took his distance, examining the extent of his wounds. His chiseled six-pack was mangled, at least none of the perforations was big enough for his entrails to hang out. Caleb on the other hand could be seen silently wiping the blood off the dagger before changing back to thence. He was clear, that he could have killed the cultivator then and there, but he was also clear that he didn''t show the best figure in the previous events. After the loss against the golem and his performance during the race, he felt like the audience saw him as someone overly reliant on the Wyvern. It didn''t feel good to be underestimated, just because he approached the events with leisure. He would show them the power of a dragon knight by making an example of Hao Li. If you have any other tricks up your sleeve, bring them out now, the knight said calmly, his deep voice reverberating in the stadium. His calm, confident demeanor seemed out of character for the Caleb they had seen so far, but it scratched an itch none of the other contestants had touched upon so far. Calm and confident in his skills. Yet he did not directly strike down his opponent but gave them the chance to disy their best skills. This was the niche the saintess of Gatris could have upied if she wasn''t an absolute crazy wench, that disgusted the audience with her mockery and sadism. Hao Li didn''t have to be asked twice. He opened the pouches on his belt and beasts started appearing in the arena. Another two wolves of simr size to the first one, a tiger the size of an elephant, a bear the size of a house, an eagle the size of a small ne, a creature that looked like a deer, bigger and with a set of sharp teeth and some more monsters the knight found hard to describe. Caleb had not expected for the man to pull out an army of beasts from his belt. He was prepared for a power-up skill other cultivators like Dumm Ting showed, but not that he would turn out to be a tamer ss. Haha, you should have ended me when you had the chance, shiny man! Hao Li chuckled. Protected by a snake humongous snake, the cultivator sat down cross-legged and started meditating. Was he mocking him? no, after a moment of observation, Caleb found that all beasts suddenly had a visible aura. Looking at the status, all of their stats had risen by 10%. Hao Li was actually buffing his pets from the rear! He clicked his tongue. This was going to be a challenge without Wyvern, unless... he acted a little unknightly. Caleb''s arm wound back as a small round bottle appeared in his hand. With a mighty throw, the bottle was flung among the crowd of beasts. A gray vapor rose from the ce where the bottlended and enveloped Hao Li and the beasts. Some of the beasts caughed, others bled from their eyes and nose. Hao Li started retching violently. After rising by 10%, all of their stats had now fallen by 30%.N?v(el)B\\jnn P-Poison? How could you? The audience was also shocked at the sudden twist. Caleb simply shrugged his shoulders. You buff them, I debuff them. it''s the name of the game. if there is something I learned after watching you cultivators fight in the preliminaries, then that I don''t need a corresponding ss to chuck poison bottles at someone. And I came prepared, he added and threw another one. As if receiving a silentmand, all beasts suddenly charged at the knight, like they were trying to stop him from throwing another one. This was the moment Caleb had waited for. He threw the bottle on the ground, creating a smoke screen. It was true, he had broken out from his narrow perspective, after watching the tournament. If he was in singlebat, nothing stopped him from using consumables to create an advantage for himself. using poison in this way may have been different when in a party, or in a dungeon, but nothing hindered him here. Although Caleb had no dedicated skill to see inside the smoke screen he created, he didn''t need it, after all, he didn''t stay in there. His aim was not the beasts... The Knight used , which would usually be used on the back of his mount, to shoot straight through the mist, hisnce pointing ahead. On his way, he had grazed past the massive bear, creating a clean cut-out on its hind leg. Leaving the beasts behind him, there was nothing but Hao Li and the snake before him. The poison mist he spread didn''t affect him, after all, he had drunk the antidote not too long ago. The snake charged forward to stop him and passed by thence he had thrown midway. While the serpentine foe received the same treatment as the wolf at the start, being flung away by a brutal, armored punch, thence traveled unchallenged, aiming for Hao Li. but the beats cultivator couldn''t be underestimated. Thence, powered by a skill, was deflected by a glowing talisman suddenly appearing in the air. But before Hao Li could gloat about the fact, that the sneak attack was unsessful, Caleb was already upon him, the symbol of knighthood in his hand. The sword had left its sheath. Glowing with greenish-blue sword aura it drew a simple sh, from the top of the head, down to the ground. The battle ended as the two halves of Hao Li fell to the arena floor. Chapter 1097: Puppets and Cats Chapter 1097: Puppets and Cats "Wow, did he just pull out beasts from the bags on his belt?" Evan, their resident tamer and Chosen of Hermes asked excitedly. Seth had a rough idea of why he was excited. Although Evan''s pet space had more slots for creatures because of his ss and blessing, it was still restricted. This meant that, unless he wanted to travel with an army of beasts, he had to choose wisely which ones to take along in his pet space. The cksmith looked over to Yu, curious about the answer. The cksmith also wanted to know. In the system they needed a high-ranked enchanter or sorceress like Al''Zalsa to create a spatial item like his Legion, that could also keep living creatures. However, Hao Li had a full belt of little bags that were able to hold living beasts.N?v(el)B\\jnn Yu grimaced, seeing all the eyes on him. "I only know that they are called beast pouches. I heard they use them to nurture their beasts, but that is all," Yu admitted hisck of knowledge. "Well, he did mention that they aren''t seen often outside of their ins.." Seth thought to himself. All this meant, that they would have to talk to Hao Li about it. If it was a technology they could use for themselves, it wouldn''t just be Evan who benefited from it. Ellen would also be able to bring even more of her slimes with her and it could also be used for golems, Faer, or even people. ... The 17th fight of the first round featured another urthan chosen and a cultivator with a simr specialization as Cormac Payle, the chosen of Hephaestus. The woman called herself Sarfine Venlen and she was the chosen of Freya, while her opponent was called Long Jian and used the cultivator version of automatons, puppet beasts. The battle was very exciting for the audience to watch, although the Long Joan barely moved. The main fight was between the exotic beats puppets he kept pulling from his spatial ring, and Sarfine, who had summoned the Cats of Freya to battle alongside her.Her summons were divine beasts and were both lv.99 powerhouses that had not appeared during the preliminaries. She was just within the rules of the tournament, with her two summons, yet she was on the losing end. "I heard that skilled puppet cultivators were able to preserve the cultivation base and skills of their specimen, but this is quite surprising," even Yumented in awe. Long Jian''s puppets all ranged in the 90s when judged by a system skill, but each of his creations was almost able to keep up with the lv.99 divine beasts. This was because they benefited from the same effect as golems. Since they were not alive, theycked most weaknesses of a living beast in addition to having their bodies augmented and strengthened by precious materials and mysterious techniques. As mentioned before, it was not too different from Seth''s way of making golems. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Are there a lot of powerful creatures like this in the Voracious Cloud Continent?" Seth couldn''t help but ask. In his eyes, the techniques used to strengthen the puppets were not that advanced, however, the raw materials they were made of were extraordinary. Although Yu said that very precious minerals for forging had be incredibly rare on the continent, they didn''t seem tock powerful beasts and associated materials. "There are various regions ruled by beasts, where few people dare to tread. This kind of collection would havee at a great cost," Yu didn''t deny that there were many beasts, but he didn''t forget to mention the danger. It wasn''t like just anyone collected this many beast corpses. "It must have taken a long time to collect this many," the cultivator added. No matter the case, Long Jian was able to secure his victory after a fight thatsted almost a full hour. It was a hard fight for the Chosen of Freya, however, it was hard to tell whether it was an easy or hard victory for the puppet master. The cultivator had not shown any signs of emotions during the battle, making it hard to gauge, how much of his power he had shown. The 18th match was a lot less spectacr. The match was between two participants of the Pathworks. One was an elf with a simr fighting style to Lydia, a mix of meleebat and using the bow for close and mid-range shots. His opponent was a man in a dark cloak who didn''t reveal his name but called himself a Priest of Corruption. The fight ended in a surprise win for thetter. When the elf attacked, the priest suddenly swung a crude and rusty saber at him. The elf intended to block the attack with his bow, only for the bow to instantly rot away upon being touched by the de. The bow''s owner immediately followed the bow''s fate. The second the saber touched him, he rotted away in a matter of seconds, bing a puddle of dark sludge on the arena floor. With the priest ending his fight immediately, they had made up for the time lost in the previous fight and the tournament was back on schedule. Despite his ominous name, he garnered great cheers from the audience, because of his overwhelming performance. Fight 19 was disturbing, to say the least. The cultivator Jin Kamin didn''t get much of a chance to show off his skills before his opponent, the chat lovingly dubbed the Maggot Priest. The creature calling itself Okrot Na and his it''s appearance in a big bulky robe used divine magic based on maggots. After a short fight, where they exchanged punches, Jin Kamin died the horrifying way of being eaten by parasitic worms from the inside out. It was not pretty to watch and nobody in the audience started apuding until Umi prompted them to. Nobody knew where Okrot Na came from, nor did he reveal much of himself. However, whatever deity he worshiped, the power he used was no joke. Just their intimidation factor was already out of this world. After this little horror show, it was finally time for thest fight of the first round. It was close to midday and they nned to have a break and a show before drawing the next round''s match-ups. However, currently, all eyes were on the two simrbatants that had entered the arena. One figure Seth had already grown acquainted with. Hannibal Cho the man who punched with his feet, It was finally his turn, but his opponent was not an easy one. The footfist was up against a chosen of Urth, whose fighting style was very simr to his own. Mathias Bartholomew was the Chosen of Balder and a former refugee from Beta who found refuge in Delta andter moved to the Tree Stations. Simr to cultivators like Dumm Ting and his opponent, he excelled in hand-to-handbat. As the god of peace, Balder didn''t grant any weapon skills or fighting skills, however, Bartholomew had found his way to exploit his blessings for the best results. In the preliminaries next to no weapons or skills were able to harm him, despite not even wearing any armor. Of course, he didn''t reveal his skill or how they worked, but everything suggested that he had at least inherited some of Balder''s invincibility. From the preliminaries, the people of Minas Mar guessed that he had simr defensive capabilities as Tekar gained from his two unique sses. But he had more additional skills. He was able to heal his wounds in addition to his proficiency in weaponlessbat. Everything so far promised this match to be an epic slugfest. Chapter 1098: Unexpected Loss Chapter 1098: Unexpected Loss Hannibal Cho felt conflicted about his opponent. He didnt wish to look down on the man, but he couldnt help thinking less of him, after analyzing the Chosen of Balder. He had seen the man fight in the preliminaries. Although his physique was impressive, his technique was basic. There were some signs of a systematic skill, but his fighting style didnt implement any principles or cirction techniques. It felt like he was disparaging the man, though he simply tried to make an objective judgment. However, his verdict was, that his opponent relied mostly on this exotic power granted to him by some Idol or totem beast. If it was like this, then he wouldnt be much more than a very tough punching bag. It saddened the cultivator because he had been looking forward to hard fights, that would help him widen his horizon. His eyes wandered once again over his opponent, as he readied himself for the fight, waiting for thedy with the loud voice to announce the start of the fight. Mathias Bartholomew only wore a pair of trousers. The bare chest was decorated by some tribal tattoos, and he disyed a beard of such girth, that nobody from the Cloud Continent could have copied. Let the fight, begin! Umi gave the signal, and Bartholomew vanished from his sight for just a moment. Hannibal just managed to block the sudden attack with his forearms. A smile yed around his lips. Fortunately, it seemed like he ended up underestimating his opponent. A quick back-and-forth of punches and blocks forced Cho to focus on the battle at hand. Although his technique didnt improve, the Chosen of Balder surely made sure not to show the full extent of his power during the preliminaries. The cultivator had to admit, the mans physical prowess was even slightly above his own, despite already using qi to reinforce his body. A certain light appeared in Hannibal Chos eyes. If things were like this, maybe he would be able to go all out for a little while. As expected, the fight between the two hand-to-hand-to-footbatants was a high-speed exchange of brutal punches. Although Seth himself had little interest in weaponless fighting skills, like the audience, he couldnt help to be intrigued by the brutal and fat battle between two men, who had be human murder weapons. At first, the fight was mostly silent, only the smacking of their ps, punches, and kicks, echoed across the arena. Then it became faster, the stato of meat being tenderized as the twobatants battled it out held the audience in suspense. Hannibal Cho finally showed signs of using his powers, as a dark, yellow aura enveloped his body and at this point, Mathias Bartholomew actually startedughing. As the bruises, burns, andcerations on his body kept umting, the sound of ps was apanied by his crazed cackle. At first, the audience was confused. Why was the manughing? But viewers like Seth knew, that Bartholomew also started going all out. The tide turned, and he stopped umting wounds, instead his body started rapidly healing as he started to shine, brighter than the sun. That wasnt that hard since it was a cloudy day, but still, he finally showed what it meant to be the chosen of the God of Light. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition. From this point on, their roles were reversed. Mathias Bartholomew kept bing faster and stronger, while Hannibal Cho umted wounds. Despite having the superior technique, albeit a weird one that used his feet to punch, it actually looked like the cultivator was going to lose this one. Seth was especially surprised. The cksmith had honestly expected for Hannibal Cho to get at least to the half-finals Mathias Bartholomew on the other hand was a wildcard. He was originally someone who fled from Gamma during the first time when Leana evacuated them. It had not been that long since he made a name for himself in the worsening Delta. It was inconclusive whether he was part of a faction. They simply knew too little about him, so Minas Mar had not approached him. Of course, they also didnt know too much about Joannia or Hannibal Cho, but they had proven themselves through their deeds. Even if Seth didnt know themander of Epsilons Fleet, she had brought people from New Hope, and some of thosePip knew. Seth didnt stay long enough, but there were people among those she brought with her, that knew the girl from the time before the apocalypse. Seeing Bartholomew pummel the cultivator, apanied by joyfulughter, Seth hoped he at least wouldnt be an enemy in the future. Although he had yet to cross the lv.100 threshold, he definitely had the potential to go up against his friends, had they met before they entered the Path to Legend. Of course, this was on the basis that none of them used their legendary equipment. Still, that was quite a feat. But the greatest surprise of this match was that Hannibal Cho didn''t experience a second wind. It seemed like tried to make aeback, but ultimately, Mathias Bartholomew won the final match of the first round. This concludes the first round of the Pythian Games'' Great Tournament! We will now have a short break before drawing our match-ups for the second round. But before we go into the break, can I have another great apuse for all contestants? Umi motivated the audience. On the big screens in the stadium, pictures of all 41 participants kept showing up. Mary fell into her seat beside him. During the break, she had made her way to the participants rooms to meet Hannibal Cho. They had talked with Hannibal Cho about joining Minas Mar if there was to be a fight after or during the finale. Mary wanted to see for himself, whether the cultivator was still in the mood to keep his word. Seth wouldnt have med him if he wanted to leave after receiving such a brutal beating. The man was literally beaten to death in front of a live audience. So, what did he say? the cksmith asked curiously.N?v(el)B\\jnn What did he say? He simplyughed. This guy actually thanked me for the chance to experience such a death and went on to babble about some kind of closed-door training Maryined tired. I allowed him to stay in the room in the arena for now, but I dont know if he is still in the right state of mind Hoho, my guess would be that the little friend had an enlightenment during the fight, Master Mountainmented on Marys report. He definitely saw a lot of lights in that fight with the Chosen of a God of Light, but what does have to do with his mental state? Fin asked half-jokingly. Yu smiled amused. Us cultivators rely on the understanding of our techniques. We grow through experience and knowledge, but sometimes we get stuck at things we cant wrap our head around. A good rattling, like the one he experienced, can get these thoughts unstuck. I believe, once he sorted his thoughts andes back out, he will be a lot stronger than before, Master Mountain gave a short lecture, ignoring whether Fin made a joke, or genuinely asked. Of course, the others had also listened in on their conversation. Some were left with thoughtful expressions when Yu ended his exnation. It was good that their ally would grow stronger, but on the other hand, it was concerning that cultivators had the potential for sudden power-ups. That was different from the temporary improvement they had seen so far. Dont worry, its not thatmon to have an enlightenment. It is a rare chance, often only attained in a life-or-death battle at the brink of destruction, Yu tried to calm them down, seeing their concerned faces. So, you are saying there is always a chance that a really tough opponent has a sudden burst of power just before we can defeat them? Seth asked mischievously. He understood what Yu was trying to do, but he couldnt help rain on his parade. I didnt mean it like that! Yu said hurriedly, but he realized the cksmith was just joking with him when everyone around started chuckling. As tough opponent suddenly bing stronger just before their imminent demise? It stopped being something unusual to them. Especially Dungeon bosses loved to pull such stunts. They talked a little longer about the enlightenment of cultivators before the break finally ended. It was time to draw the pairings for the second round. Chapter 1099: Drawing Lots again Chapter 1099: Drawing Lots again In the end, none of your people got through the first round, the robe chuckled, watching the remaining participants assemble in the arena to draw lots. The bulky robe beside him stayed silent. Well, it doesn''t matter. In the end, nothing can stop our n as long as the old man does as he is told, he said with a bright smile. One figure in particr was greeted by the crowd with overwhelming boos and curses. Among the 21 remaining participants was Dumm Ting, who entered with a smug smile. He seemed to enjoy the venomous attention. Man, if I didn''t know better, I could have sworn we have nted this guy... the bulky robe mumbled. Seeing the glee on the viin''s face, he would fit well among Bragmomal''smanders. The first ten people drew their lots and robes smiles only grew brighter when it was the turn for the old man to pull his lot. Everything went as expected. Their candidates would meet the sess of their n was imminent! The ten pairings of the second round were 1. Lyca, the Amazon vs Hankleberry Sawyer, the beastman Knight 2. The Maggot Priest vs Dumm Ting, the demonic cultivator,n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om 3. Dowloon, the Shadow unter the Rosebushes vs April Vine, dubbed the Lady of Thorns,4. Long Jian, the Puppet User vs Mathias Bartholomew, the Chosen of Balder, 5. Cultivator Nam vs Bregar, the Chosen of Bragi 6. The exorcist from the Continent, Fan Juan vs the blind man 7. Bercy the Beast vs Byron from the Boulder Guild 8. Caleb, the Dragon Knight vs the barbarian Simplicity 9. Perl Woul, the Assassin vs the Priest of Corruption 10. The Mud Wizard vs Choon Long, the Spear Cultivator, ... With the matches decided, I would like to ask everyone except the first pair to leave the arena, Umi said happily. Since the fight was announced, they would directly begin. However, the audience was not quite in the mood for the first match, as Dumm Ting''s mug had reminded him of the event that almost ruined the whole tournament. Seeing how he would face the mysterious Maggot Priest, they were looking forward to seeing the massive cultivator suffer a cruel fate at his hands. The audience was not the only onecking enthusiasm for this match. Hankleberry Sawyers''s ears and tail visibly drooped the moment he knew who he would face. Depressed, the dog-eared beastman knight stayed in the arena for the first match. The reason for his mood was quite simple. He had barely made it into the second round, but now he immediately had to go up against the favorite of the tournament, Lyca. he was clear about the fact that he didn''t stand a chance. Still, he stood in the arena and faced the fight. Begin! Umi Kaldrops announced. The knight disyed heroic bravery, facing the Amazon inbat. His awe-inspiring figure would be remembered for the next three minutes after he was pped out of the arena by a single move from the Amazon. Lyca''s own, shocked expression made it more than obvious to the audience, that she had not expected that Sawyer would be unable to even react to her attack. This way the first fight of the second round ended in less than a minute, with Lyca''s victory. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Seth would have to lie to say this was unexpected, but it was a shame that Sawyer didn''t get more of a stage to disy his abilities. it really was a little unfair for the Amazon to participate like this. There were limited ps and cheers for this fight, but the best part in the eyes of the audience was that it ended quickly, making way for the second battle. Once Lyca left and Sawyer was brought to the medical wing, Okrot Na, the Priest of an unknown god and Dumm Ting the martial warrior entered the arena. it was probably the only situation in which the dark being hiding under the robe and killing its enemies with vermin and insects, would have a greater amount of cheers than its opponent. The cksmith also looked forward to the oue of this match. Remembering what Dumm Ting had done to Polter, he actually cheered for the Maggot Priest to kill the cultivator with excruciating pain. Although he had calmed down a lot after giving Dumm Ting a taste of the , he had no reason to forgive any of his sins. Do you think the priest can take down the muscle mountain? Fin asked beside him. She had taken human size and upied thefortable seat on his left. I sure hope so, but it''s hard to tell. Dumm Ting is strong, but I think this Okrot Na has yet to show his full capabilities, the cksmith gave his opinion just before they turned back to the arena where the match finally began. This time, Dumm Ting didn''t even bother to hold back. His secret was already revealed to he unleashed the evil energy collected through the sacrifice of the innocent right from the start. It seemed that knowing he wouldn''t die, had made him reckless. The massive meat mountain rushed across the arena with incredible speed. Even Seth had to admit, that his rush was probably faster than his own movement speed when wearing the Scorpion Armor. The cultivator swung his fist and with a st, Okrot Na was ttened and pieces of him sshed across the arena, leaving just the robe under the massive fist. Ha! Haha! Dumm Tingughed, surprised and in disbelief at first, but it quickly turned into a fit ofughter at the demise of his opponent. However, the stadium stayed silent. Some people, like Seth, doubted it was already over, others were too disgusted by the cultivator and refused to cheer. Using Seth was able to quickly see the changes in the arena. The sttered parts and blood of the Maggot Priest seeped into the cracks in the arena floor, some of them looked like shadow worms, digging into the darkness. The rest of the audience also noticed. Only theughing bloke didn''t. Was his perception already this blurred? Kukuku, I knew it. I knew I wasn''t weak. There is nothing wrong with my strength! I have nothing to apologize for. Why would a predator apologize to his prey?! Yes! he mumbled incoherent sentences before turning to Umi Kaldrops. Hey! Announce my victory already! he barked at her. She gave him a disgusted nce before looking toward the private booth of Minas Mar, to see if there were any instructions. Seth stayed silent. Silence meant that she was not supposed to do anything. Umi ignored the cultivator and flew further up, taking some distance from the rabid gori. As he angrily looked up at her, the whole arena grew dark. Crimson runes of light appeared across the battleground, glowing in an ominous twilight. They slowly started moving as an unnerving guttural choir permeated the stadium. The choir was joined by cheers of people who were surprised by the sudden return of the Maggot priest and the people who expected that this was not the end of the fight. Angered by this, Dumm Ting let out a bestial roar and was enveloped by the sickening power, countering the dark runes encroaching on him. Enraged he started punching the runes, shattering them left and right. Laughing as he felt superior. Yet, the shattered runes simply turned to specks of light and quickly reformed outside of Dumm Ting''s field of vision. This went on for a while before the cultivator suddenly halted. He grunted and his hands were shaking. Suddenly, he vomited a dark sludge onto the floor. It was a mix of rotten blood, waste, and..slugs? The skin on his hand began heaving and dozens tiny maggots began munching their way to freedom, turning his hand into a bloody mess. The look of shock and realization had the audience in tion when he finally realized that he was fighting windmills. It seems like all of it was just a ploy to whittle away at Dumm Ting''s energy shield and invade his body with this sorcery, Yu mumbled surprised. is it that surprising? Seth asked him interested. Well, it needs some fundamental understanding of energy cirction toe up with such a strategy. I just wonder how they came up with this, Master Mountain answered. hmm.. Seth was about to question the origins of Okrot Na when the situation in the arena changed once again. Don''t think this little trick can save you! Stop hiding ande out! Dumm Ting suddenly hollered. His fists were enveloped in a deep crimson-red color as he smashed them onto the arena floor. The dark energy passed through the gaps in the special marble and lit up the whole square ground. The marble cracked, it crumbled and as Dumm Ting channeled his power, the crater he stood in grew bigger and deeper until finally a giant worm covered in wound was unearthed. There you are! With the whole arena doused in his QI, there was no escape for Okrot Na. To the disappointment of almost everyone watching, the maggot was ultimately crushed and burned under the power of the cultivator. Unwilling, Umi had to announce him the winner, once Okrot Na reappeared in the medical wing. Chapter 1100: Vines and Roses Chapter 1100: Vines and Roses The poison mist was prated by massive roots, shooting at the poison fairy. The female cultivator managed to avoid the attack barely, but her robes were ripped in several ces, exposing subtle, pale skin. Hmmp Dowloon expressed her dissatisfaction as she looked at her opponent. April Vine had a dangerous glint in her eyes after her vegan attack had almost left a scratch on the beauty. C''mon, stop running from me sweetheart. I just wanna y~ she said, seductively licking her lips. Her hand ran down her tight, green leather armor, implying what she wanted to do to Dowloon. With the Cultivator advancing another round, the mood of the event was dampened, but the fight between the twodies, the poison fairy Dowloon and April Vine was slowly- quickly lifting the mood of the audience. Especially the chat was filled horny dogs. If you don''t stop running, you will end up naked before we can make it to the private room, she moaned, as thick trunks impacted the arena floor, shaking the stadium. Dowloon barely managed to evade the heavy-handed attack, losing a few more rags of her robe, riling up the audience and the chat. Keep dodging! You can do it, Dowloon! We believe in you! the chat was flooded with messages and cheers, ying off of what April Vine had just said. Everyone was hoping that the poison fairy would stay in the ring until the end. So far, April Vine had shone, and incredible resistance to the poisons Dowloon had spread in the arena. Even when she started using hidden weapons, they were either blocked by wooden vines, or the wounds they caused would close quickly. It was the only disy of her skills as a high druid, so far. If anything, the fight not only further revealed the ntdy''s entric personality, but also that she was an incredible mid-range fighter. The cultivator had yet to find a chance to approach her to engage in meleebat as she did with the Saintess of Gatris. Some more of Dowloon''s fair body was revealed before the situation finally took a turn.It started with Dowloon suddenly halting, before throwing a row of silver needles at April Vine. They were too fast for the audience to see and were only revealed when they hit the thick root, the ntdy used to block them. The was no difference from before. The cultivator used a hidden weapon and the druid would block it. Except, the massive green vines April had used to attack and keep the cultivator in the distance suddenly started withering. Dark spots were spreading from various ces, not just the five where April blocked the attack. All vines visible in the arena were quickly turning ck, as they lost all life. As if exposed to incredible heat, they shriveled up. This was her chance. Dowloon rushed at the champion from Urth, who was still baffled by the sudden turn of events. As before, her hand shot forward, aiming to rip out April''s heart, however, her hand was deflected by a thick vine, tightly wound around the adventurer''s body. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The next moment she received the full brunt of a strike by a giant paw that struck her chin from the left. Her brain rattled, and she stumbled back to see the consequences of her actions. The beautiful April Vine, the High Druid turned into a massive bear with the antlers of a moose.N?v(el)B\\jnn ROAR! she roared to the sky, shaking the arena with her voice alone. Triggered by the memory of the dwarf, the audience joined in and started to polter once again. As she cried out, as if powered by the poltern, a thick, moss-green aura rose from the bear, and the vines further wrapped around the transformed fighter, giving the bear additional armor. Dowloon who had just been struck by one of the massive paws had barely regained herposure when a flurry of strikes started raining down on her. The bear, covered in the green aura, used its arms like clubs as it rapidly aimed to smash the tiny cultivator under her paws. April Vine had lost the yful aura. This was the real fight. It seemed that Dowloons poison was not effective against the vine armor covered by the high druid''s powers, as such she could only ept being forced into a disadvantageous meleebat. Despite cultivators having stronger bodies on average, it wasn''t the case this time. For some time she was able to keep up, but the battle quickly turned into a one-sided beatdown. April Vine seemed truly angered by something, as she literally massaged Dowloon into the ground. The audience was delighted, intensifying their poltern. These people were here for death and destruction and a brutal beatdown was right up their alley. As the two went at it in the arena, a staff came into Minas Mar''s booth and handed Mary a note. Her eyes jumped back and forth as she read the note. Her lips became thin. This is confirmed? she asked the messenger dryly. Seth looked over to her, this didn''t seem like they were good news. Seeing his look, Mary exined. Arget Nore has decided to retreat from Gamma, she revealed the information they had just received. The undead empire had ultimately decided to retreat back home, instead of resisting the siege of the Shadow army that had risen on the necrotd. Seth tried concentrating his senses on the presences of his golems. The more there were, the harder it had be to distinguish the small dots in the far distance, but he was able to confirm it. Where he had previously a slight inkling of the golems they had sold to Arget Nore somewhere northeast of Delta, there were no more signals. This meant they were either destroyed or had left this dimension. The cksmith sighed. This wasn''t good news, as they had lost an ally that could have helped them to resist the possible invasion of Spatia. But he also couldn''t say that he was saddened to hear, that the undead had struggled to the point they had to retreat. He held no sympathy for the undead empire, it was just a shame to lose a potential shield and customer like that. How likely is it for this jackal army to leave Gamma? Mike asked concerned. After all, it was a force that had forced a multidimensional empire to retreat. Of course, this didn''t mean Arget Nore was beaten, they had just judged the endeavor to not be worth the effort. Still, took some power to aplish this much. Unlikely, Leana stated certain. Oh, how did youe to this conclusion? Seth asked, why she was so sure of her answer. I''m 80% to know what this jackal army actually is. My contacts in Chrona were cut off, so it took a while but I believe it is the skill of a holy relic of Anubis, the princes revealed to them what her sources outside of Chrona managed to dig up. Apparently it vanished a couple of centuries ago, but apparently it possessed the power to not just boost a necromancer''s skill, but also grant specific Skills of the god, such as summoning the Army of Anubis to the mortal ne. Okay, but why does that make it unlikely for them to leave Gamma? Mike asked confused. because they are only that strong in Gamma. They are strengthened by Arget Nore''s Land of the Dead, just like the undead maybe even more. We already suspected that they didn''t use this to attack any of the Tree Stations because it mightck power anywhere else. This information confirms this, she exined. This conjecture meant, that the Army of Anubis was no real threat to any of the Tree Stations. The Guardian Trees had already dealt with more than enough undying fiends. And this concludes our third match! Can I have a great apuse for our winner, Dowloon? Umi eximed in the arena, prompting everyone''s head to turn back to the arena. How in the world did the poison fairy manage to turn the match around? Seeing her badly bruised figure, barely was the answer. At least Chat got what they wanted. Dowloonsted till the end, and she had barely any fabric left to cover her body. Chapter 1101: One-Use Weapon Chapter 1101: One-Use Weapon Watching the rey, Dowloon had received a serious beating until she used herst resort. It was too fast for even the golems to record, but the oue was that there was a tiny hole burned through the transformed April''s chest, piercing her internals and killing the high druid in its bear state. Seth squinted as Master Mountain, who didn''t seem that surprised at the rey. Did you see what happened, Yu? the cksmith asked suspiciously. While they had been distracted by the news of Arget Nore''s retreat, the cultivator had probably kept watching the fight. The person in question confirmed with a nod and a knowing smile. Stop holding it back, what did she do?! Fin eximed exasperatedly. She was the most upset that she had missed the decisive moment. Okay, okay, I''m telling, I''m telling, he said with a defeated chuckle. From what I could see, Fairy Dowloon threw a silver needle, which seemed like an expendable weaponparable to a heaven-grade artifact, he exined what he saw. Seth''s thoughts sped up. Heaven-grade? That means it wasparable to a relic-rated or legendary weapon. An expendable legendary weapon... Seth mumbled intrigued. Why would someone make a one-use legendary weapon, unless the materials didn''t allow it to be used more often? They exist, though they are rare and usually a closely guarded secret of ns or sects. Even I didn''t know that she had such a hidden background, Yu added.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The cksmith readily believed Yu''s words. He guessed that the one-use nature came from non-legendary materials being used in a special manufacturing technique. If someone had a technique to create somethingparable to a legendary item, with lesser materials, it was normal to keep it secret. he had to know, after all, he did the same with his ability to refine or . Except for the inner circle of Minas Mar, nobody knew. Hmm, this exins how she won against that bear, I guess, Fin mumbled, still depressed that she didn''t actually get to see that scene.On that note, maybe I should go and have a look at Lady Vine in the Medical Wing, Luf suggested to go look for the chosen from Urth. She had proven incredible strength in this fight and had only lost because her opponent had a legendary trump card. April Vine was one of the Chosen that had appeared at the beginning of the Age of Gods, like Elza and Marcel. Unlike those two, she didn''te to Minas Mar but stayed with her own, medium-sized guild at Delta. They had approached her previously and invited her to the banquet where they tried to recruit potential allies, but she had refused to attend back then. Maybe she will see things differently, after such an unfair loss, Luf hinted at with a scheming smile. Seth nodded. The biggest draw Minas Mar had to recruit new people was items. Having lost because the opponent had better equipment, maybe April would now be more open to cooperating with them. While Luf left, the event continued in the arena. The fourth match had the Puppet Master, Long Jian go up against Mathias Bartholomew, the chosen of Balder. The premise of the battle was almost like their roles were reversed. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. This time it was an Urthan that was going to fight with martial arts, while the person from the Voracious Cloud Continent was using the style of a tamer, using puppets made from powerful beasts to fight his opponent. Long Jian had fared quite well against the Chosen of Freya, would he be able to add another win against a chosen of the Asgardian Pantheon to his resume? Are you ready? Then let this fight. BEGIN! Umi announced at the center of the stadium and the fourth fight of the second round broke loose. Neither of the two held back. Instantly, the arena was filled with puppet beasts of varying size, but even the weakest wereparable to an elite mob above lv.90. He had lost a few in the fight with the Chosen of Freya, but with how many there were, it had barely put a dent in his vanguard. The dent came with Mathias Bartholomew. From the very beginning, he had transformed into the silhouette of a human made of pure, white light. He dove into the ranks of the puppet beats like a shooting star, impacting like a meteor. Light-elemental damage added to each of his attacks, he became a dervish in a storm of broken puppet pieces. A unique technique only he, as the chosen of Balder, was able to pull off thanks to his blessing. The god of peace and light Balder was famously immune to damage from all things in existence. this didn''t perfectly trante to his champion, but it meant that Mathias Bartholomew had a high immunity to all damages. Neither could the puppets greatly harm him nor did he suffer the recoil from punching their sturdy bodies. Added on top of this, came the power of light, which was able to burn through the hard shells and explode from the inside. The pain of seeing his puppets get destroyed one by one was clearly visible on Long Jian''s face. Bartholomew was like a super cockroach that wouldn''t die even when hit with a hammer. Furthermore, it would not just survive but steal said hammer from you and bash your skull in with it. Facing the cockroach of light, the cultivator made an unprecedented, but sensible decision. I concede! he called out and quickly stored the beast in his spatial ring. Long Jian had actually given up, making him the first participant who didn''t decide to fight to the death. Taking into ount, that the puppet beasts couldn''t beat Mathias, and wouldn''t be revived by the magic of the arena, he had no reason to go all the way. the price was too high. The light around Bartholomew dispersed and the Chosen looked at the cultivator in surprise. Seeing the determination in Long Jian''s eyes, the yer gave him a respectful nod. It had taken Umi Kaldrops a moment to realize that a participant had actually conceded their match. I- I guess this means we have a winner! Give it up for Mathias Bartholomew! He moves on to the third round! she called out when she finally came back to her senses. The audience was not as thrilled about this anticlimactic end, but they still apuded out of courtesy. With the fourth match of round two and the 9th match of the daying to an end, it was finally time for another break, before they held thest six matches of round two. Using the break, the team from Minas Mar was having a scrumptious meal. The cksmith and the fairy were locked in a battle for the meatballs when someone returned to their booth. Evan, where have you been this long? Lydia asked him, causing Seth to also look over curiously. Using the distraction, Fin deviously stole thest meatballs from the table. I went to meet Hao Li, to ask about the beast pouches, Evan answered with a happy smile. Seth remembered the beast cultivator. They had talked about the beast pouches he had used to store his tamed creatures. If they were able to get their hands on those it had a great potential, especially for Evan. However, the Chosen of Hermes shook his head at the questioning gazes. We can''t use them. Their pouches seem to work because of their special cultivation technique. he didn''t go into detail, but it''s not actually the pouches that are special. He even let me appraise the pouches, but they are simple leather pouches, Evan exined, however, he didn''t seem overly sad that he didn''t get additional pet space from the interaction. Then why are you so happy when you didn''t get the beast pouches? Mina questioned his mood in and took a sip from her ss. We exchanged some knowledge and he had some great tips about rearing beasts from the Clod Continent. He also gave me some beast eggs to try and raise. Once you get to know him, he is a really good guy, Evan said happily. Ah yes, he didn''t get the space, but even more pets. It seemed like those two had hit it off, Seth noted positively. Although it was regrettable those beast pouches weren''t for everyone The break is ending and the next fight is beginning soon. All viewers please get back to your seats. Their talk was interrupted by Umi Kaldrops introduction at the end of the break. I hope all of you had time to grab a bite and visit the toilets because we still have an action-filled day of battle for you! Chapter 1102: Not a Word Chapter 1102: Not a Word Despite Umi''s deration of thrilling battles, the fifth match ended the moment it began. Cultivator Nam, the silent swordsman swished past Bregar and cut his throat before the Chosen of Bragi could even say a word. Shock and despair filled his expression as light left his eyes and he vanished from the arena. This was how the fifth match ended and Nam continued on to the quarter-finals. After the winner was announced and Nam left the stage, Umi introduced the participants of the next round as they entered. One was the peculiar exorcist from the Voracious Cloud Continent, the other was the Blind Man, the urthan chosen of Hodr, the god of cold, darkness, and winter. This is the one, right? Mina asked Mary excitedly. the Chosen of Hestia nodded with a serious face. Did you find all the totems? Seth asked to make sure. Yeah, we found all the totems set up around the stadium and apprehended the people who set them up, the head of administration exined. Seth looked at the arena, feeling the massive presence lurking below. All preparations were in ce. The show could begin. Good. .... Standing in the arena, he grasped the ragged handle of his sword tightly. He could smell the cold damp air and vividly imagine the sky covered in gray clouds and the arena that was submerged in the pale, gray light, sucking saturation from everything. Maybe the scene he imagined was influenced by his own mindset, but what a fittingly dreary setting for what he was about to do. He was nervous and depressed. Until thest moment he had hoped things wouldn''t actually y out like this, but everything went as they told him. He drank the potion before drawing lots, It raised his luck by 60 points, yet he still ended up matching with the right opponent. Wasn''t luck supposed to work in his favor? Did that mean this was really the only way?The old man wavered, feeling conflicted. Concentrating on the cultivator, who would y along with him, he hoped to find him waver too. Maybe, if both of them didn''t want to do this, they could find a way to stop it...? No, there was no ending this now. But it would have made him feel better if he wasn''t the only one doubting their actions. Thanks to the moring and noise of the stadium and the blessing of his god, he was able to perceive the rough contours of the arena. However, Fan Juan stood still like a statue. No hint of nervousness, no racing heart, no quivering limbs... He only seemed to look at him with a cold, haughty stare. There was no wavering or fear, all the old man could perceive from him was a freezing determination. They were about to kill hundreds of thousands of people to unleash hell on Urth, but he stayed calm, not showing any emotion at all. Just how was this man raised to be like this?N?v(el)B\\jnn Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Let the battle- BEGIN! the announcer suddenly called out. The blind man was too distracted and didn''t even notice her moderation before. With the start of the match, hecked the time for concerns. Things burning with a foreign energy started flying at him like bullets, but he was easily able to dodge. This was all he had to do in the grand scheme of things. His opponent would set up a formation on the arena at the center of the stadium, he just had to y along. Like a choreographed fight, despite never practicing it, he just had to make it look realistic. His scratched-up sword sought the throat of his opponent at various moments in the fight, but of course, it always left enough leeway for the exorcist to evade. he could see his opponent''s body temperature, making his contours even clearer to his senses. When the things drenched in energy stopped flying around his ears, he knew it was time for the second stage. He ground his teeth, it was time to shed blood. his blood. The cultivator now started engaging him in meleebat and the blind man had to intentionally allow to be hit, as the formation had to be drawn in blood. I''m sorry... so sorry, he thought in his mind over and over as he became clearer and clearer about what was about to happen. Soon the formation would beplete. It would envelop the whole stadium and sacrifice everyone present to allow an avatar of Bragmomal to descend onto this ne and conquer Little Gamma. The curse around his heart tightened in reaction to his doubts. If it was just his own life, he would have allowed it to crush his heart and just died here... But he couldn''t do that. He could only decide to live with the guilt. Last one, Fan Juan whispered under his breath, and the old man felt a terrible pain, as the cultivator cut a massive gash across his chest. His blood sttered across the arena floor,pleting the core of the formation. He could feel the life force vividly draining from the air and traveling through the traces of blood. Even without sight, he could clearly feel the pattern of the magic formation that activated under his feet. His heart sank, it was done... He waited but nothing happened. He didn''t know what was supposed to happen, but he expected the screaming of the audience, and the rise of some evil energy, but nothing of the sort happened. ~Not enough...~ a dark voice rumbled quietly in his mind. Was this the voice of the demon they were summoning? What did he mean by that? Damn it-! No! No! I didn''t agree to this! Fan Juan suddenly eximed. Did something go wrong? before his senses, he detected the cultivator, his contours, the heat of his body, the strong vitality coursing through his veins, as well as his rising heartbeat. This vitality was now slowly draining down into the formation he was able to feel so vividly. The man attempted to flee from the arena, but he fell the moment he tried to step away. Hectically, he made hand movements and used various foreign energies, but he didn''t move away from that spot anymore. ~Not....enough...!~ The voice said again, more forceful this time, the vitality was sucked even quicker from the cultivator. In a matter of seconds, Fan Juan fell silent, unable to move. The old man now also felt the drain of the formation and directly fell to his knees. Yes, this was not how it was supposed to go. Something had gone wrong... But maybe this was for the best. Something must have gone wrong with the formation and now the demon was taking their life instead of that of the audience. This was at least the old man''s hope. With just the two of them, maybe it would all fail and nobody else would have to die. he still held up his end of the deal, so nothing would happen to her... He thanked his luck. Yes, this was truly the best oue he could have hoped. Convincing himself, that this was the best and that nothing would happen to her, he slowly slipped into the darkness. In hisst moments, he felt a terrifying presence rising from the bowels of the earth. The World gave its farewells, by gifting him onest moment of true existential fear. ... The formation glowed a deep red. Seth''s eyes glinted when he heard a notification that a new formation was memorized. The Sigil of Bragmomal was usable with the ability he had attained from the demon scroll. It was a surprising message in a weird situation. While he was distracted, things started to change in the arena. The two participants had fallen to the ground, their life essence being pulled in to power the formation that had lost the totems that would have expanded it to epass the whole stadium. Another suspicion had been confirmed with this incident. Seth was now sure that the demons of Bragmomal, the enemy Joannia and the fleet of Epsilon had faced in their homnd, had also aided the Scene in setting up the formation that aided them in their ascension. But this time, they had caught wind of it in time. So all that was left was to watch the show. Chapter 1103: Thats a demon! Chapter 1103: That''s a demon! The two fighters that had fallen to the ground slowly started dissipating. But it was different from how the respawn with the power of the Dungeon god would have worked. Their bodies, as well as the blood on the floor, started turning into crimson kes, blown about by a storm. In the air above the arena, the kes turned into streams that started to unite and reassemble. It was clear that the original ritual had failed, but the sacrifice of the two summoners still led to a result. Forming from the recycled bodies of the summoners, a demon took shape. Hovering above the arena it started with a wide crimson chest, that slowly grew arms, an abdomen, and huge ck wings. The audience had already caught onto the fact that something was definitely going wrong. it was not hard for the adventurers and yers in the crowd to recognize a demon summoning when they saw it. In reaction to the growingmotion, Umi turned to the audience. Please stay calm everyone. Nothing will happen to you, everything is under control, she told them calmly, although the presence taking shape had also her heart quiver a little. She was far from weak herself, but the aura of this demon was disturbing. Would things really be okay? Are you kidding me!? That''s a demon! Oh god, it''s a demon This isn''t a normal summoning! I''m sure that''s an avatar. A demon is creating an avatar and you say everything is under control? if it''s an avatar it had to be close to the legendary rank! That avatar is a national threat!Like her, many in the audience had doubt in their heart. Their moring and shouts even fed her own doubts. The demon had now taken shape and her heart sank when it looked at her. She couldn''t even see its level with appraisal! A demon like that... she wouldn''t stand a chance. With it taken full shape, and suppressive aura swept over the arena. Darkness and fear tried to invade their hearts. At this point, all she could do was believe that what she said was true. Please calm down, Minas Mar has prepared measures for all kinds of- Situations. She was about to repeat what she was told to say if anything untoward happened, but before she could finish, the ground surrounding the arena at the center of the stadium broke open like water. A massive snake, as thick and as wide as the center of the stadium surfaced, shooting straight in the air. The giant maw, like two ships cashing their decks against each other, closed around the demon that had taken shape in the sky. After snatching the fearsome demon from the air like a treat, the giant serpent submerged straight back into the ground. The most wonder-some part was that the arena square was leftpletely intact as if the beast had simply phased through it. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. True silence. The whole arena was left in shock. They had seen Python before, but at that time the giant snake was maybe half that size! And it had just snatched that national threat out of the air like some small prey. Everyone was silent, however, Umi proved to be the professional she was hired as. Although her face was also covered in cold sweat, she turned to the audience with a bright smile. A big apuse for Python, the Guardian of Little Gamma! she eximed joyfully. As if her words had broken a spell, many people on the stand fell back on their seats with a sigh of relief. Of course, there were many in the audience who had stayed calm despite the sudden thrill of the situation, but many were drenched in cold sweat and had held their breath until Umi broke the silence. When the realization of what had just happened finally kicked him, the stadium was filled with poltern and cheers. Some were genuinely happy and impressed, others cheered to cover that they were shaken by the hidden strength of this strange new world. Revealing Python in this way was a power move. Deterrence to the outside, advertisement to the people under their protection. In the booth of Minas, some were frowning. Wasn''t that thing a little stronger than expected? Jonah asked. they had stopped the original n which would have resulted in the sacrifice of the whole stadium to summon an Avatar of Bragmomal. Despite that, the avatar that was summoned ranged above lv.140. Its level was still rising until Python crushed it. Seth was quite satisfied with how things went, but he had to admit that he didn''t expect that the formation would take this turn, killing the two participants as sacrifices and using their entire being to create a demonic avatar. You are right, it was a little unexpected for the demon to grow, despite theck of sacrifices. But that''s why we directly left it to Python, the cksmith admitted the oversight, but it wasn''t like they underestimated their opponent. From the start, they shot a squirrel with a rocketuncher. Just because the squirrel turned out to be a puma, didn''t mean it could survive the rocketuncher. If anything, it made the rocketuncher look more impressive. But what do we do about the voting now? Do we drop it? Fin asked sadly,ing from apletely different direction. What do you mean Fin? Seth asked a little confused about what she was talking about. I mean, aren''t we missing someone now? the fairy asked. Now, he understood what she meant. Since both participants werepletely and absolutely dead, they were suddenly missing a participant for the next round on the next rounds, however- It won''t really change anything. Originally we would have had 11 people after this one, which would be five fights and one bye. One missing only means that things add up now and there won''t be a bye. It just means the audience will be able to vote three people back in, instead of two. Seth exined it to the fairy. The cksmith knew that their way of holding a tournament was slightly unorthodox, but Seth thought it was more fun this way when losers had the chance toe back. After all, sometimes someone just met their nemesis and didn''t get the chance to shine. Allowing the audience to have a hand in giving someone a second chance felt like the right thing to do. I know we just made one, but maybe a little break would be good now? Mary asked in the round. Good idea, I''m sure the people could use one to calm down, Seth agreed.N?v(el)B\\jnn They informed Umi of the decision and she announced a 10-minute break for the audience to calm their nerves and the participants to get ready for the next match. In this period, Luf returned to the booth of Minas Mar. How did it go? Leana asked. Luf had left earlier to have a conversation with April Vine, the n-based chosen from Delta. After seeing her actual prowess in the arena, they decided to approach her once again when she was at her lowest. The special faer gave a short recount of her conversation with April. Lady Vine agreed to have a meeting in the evening after the fights have ended. After our conversation, she seems a little more open to joining hands with Minas Mar, she ended her summary with a friendly smile. Luf had been known for her wisdom when she was still alive and it showed. She had deftly approached April in her time of need and skillfully convinced her that Minas Mar could give her what she was cking. Well done, Leana praised her. Seth nodded, agreeing with the praise of the princess. it was always good to gain more allies. Of course, everything depended on the oue of the meeting, but considering that the yer from Delta had refused to converse with them so far, getting to this point was a great achievement. But before they met April Vine, there were four fights left before the day ended. Chapter 1104: Byron and the Beast Chapter 1104: Byron and the Beast After the audience had some time to calm down during the break, the next fight began. After the slightly shocking interruption, we will now proceed with the sixth fight. On the left side, we have Bercy, the Beast, and on the right Byron, from the Boulder Guild! Umi Kaldrops introduced the two. Following the usual routine, the announcer had the participants ready up before starting the match. Bercy immediately charged at Byron, turning into the massive wolfdy of Chat''s dreams. in a matter of milliseconds Unlike in thest fight, the Chosen of Skrymir didn''t hide himself but chose the direct confrontation with his halberd. w and halberd met in midair. The shock wave of their collision blew away dust and debris on the arena floor. Blocking her hands with the handle of the halberd, they were locked in a contest of strength. Ho? You dare to block my strike so directly, she snarled amused, putting in more force. How else would I get you so readily to touch my hard shaft? Byron answered with a cheeky grin, shocking the audience. Byron seemed like the silent type. Were they wrong all along!? Huhu, but isn''t your hard shaft a little bendy, my hero? sheughed, as the spear shaft started bending under the pressure of her paws. It has been a long time since a woman bent my shaft like this. Do you have any ns tonight? the chosen asked mischievous. The more unorthodox part of the chat was furious. Byron was openly flirting with their furry goddess. The rising star of the Boulder Guild was quickly bing a public enemy. Bercy snarled, exposing her rows of pearly white, but it didn''t sound threatening.I don''t have ns tonight, but you will have to prove that your shaft is worth my time, and can do more than just soften in my hands! sheughed, kicking Byron in the stomach. Surprised, Byron flew across the arena. Your Byron is quite the character, Gallwell joked, sitting beside Brock on the stands. I guess? I didn''t know he had these kinds of preferences... the guild master answered a little embarrassed. Don''t me him too much. It''s not like he is alone in his...desires, the leader of Gamma''s Resistance said with augh. So you like it rough, I''m already looking forward to tonight, Byron said excitedly, down in the arena. Gallwell''s face fell a little. Maybe you should have a talk with him, not to be too open in public.. he added onto his previous statement. Recovering from the kick, Byron matched the wolfdy strike for strike in physicalbat. A barrage of thrusts had her hurriedly evade his attacks with subtle movement, showing that she was not just strong but also agile. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Hey, hey now. We just met, aren''t you a little over-eager? You can''t just thrust your spear into a girl on your first date~ she chuckled, grabbing Byron''s shaft, and stopping the attack. A violent aura surrounded her ws as she punched forward, aiming for his heart. Let go of his halberd with his left hand, his palm met her in mid-air. The sound echoing in the stadium was like breaking icebergs or shattering stones. Their palms pressed against each other, and Byron inteced his fingers with hers. Then how about holding hands first? And if you still want my heartter, I will dly offer it to you, he answered her with a grin, that was answered with an animalistic sneer of her. Charmer, she chuckled and her w grasped his hand, her ws prating the back of his hand. Grabbing his hand and weapon, she pulled him in, her maw wide open to bite his head right off. He let go of his halberd and used the momentum of the pull and roll past her. Pulling her arm with him, he bent it on her back, shredding the back of his hand in the process. Whoa, I know I''m a treat, but please be more gentle, he grunted in her ear, holding her arm in an arm hold. Seeing him press his body against her back and whispering in her ears, earned him another slew of curses from Bercy''s simps. You look so sweet, I couldn''t help myself, she eximed, using his own halberd to stab backward, aiming for his left kidney. Hurriedly, Byron shoved her forward, slipped by the halberd tip and de, and wrestled it away from her back-turned hand. Bercy used the shove to roll over once and face him again. Now they were back to square one, except for the adventurer''s hand profusely bleeding from the ws and his subsequent attempt to force her into an arm hold. The blood kept flowing in an almost continuous stream, quickly making a puddle at his feed, as they stared at each other. Bercy sensually licked his blood from her ws and gave him a toothy grin. You should know that you will bleed out in a few minutes. You can''t beat me until then, give up. Bercy said seriously. Byron knew. He had gotten the message of the bleeding status the moment her ws ripped through his skin. Byron could barely feel the hand and the bleeding cost him 2% health every second. He had nothing to treat the curse-like status effect, which left him with barely 30 seconds. I know, however, I can''t lose this match before you agree to go out with me! he brandished his halberd again, this time it was apanied by a tremendous force, putting weight to the atmosphere itself. The arena cracked as he stepped forward, attacking with ast mighty strike. Bercy''s eyes widened as she felt a smidgen of fear and awe in her heart. This strike felt like it had the weight of mountains behind it. All her senses screamed danger as her body moved on muscle memory and instinct. Moving as if her body had lost all weight and rigidity, she evaded the terrifying attack by a hair''s breadth. Everything seemed to slow down as Adrenaline pumped through her veins. The glinting de passed by her snout and she saw a mountain range reflected on the axe head and peak of the weapon. Then the world sped up again. She used her current position to kick the shaft of the halberd, disarming Byron once again. With a turn and a pounce, she smacked him to the ground. Sitting atop him, she held him down. Byron''s eyes, widened in surprise had only her figure in their focus, as the wolfdy bent over him. Her hot breath hit his face. Sitting atop his hips, Bercy suddenly felt something unprecedented. Byron''s love reared its ugly head, giving her a not-unpleasant surprise. The man''s health was quickly running out, so she bent forward to whisper in his ears so that the golem''s eyes couldn''t record it. Fine, let''s meet tonight. Let''s see how much further your skills can take you. Hearing her gentle whisper in his ears, telling him of the fulfillment of his wish, Byron slipped into the embrace of death without regrets.N?v(el)B\\jnn ... Mina grasped his hand gently. Seth interlocked their fingers gently. This reminded me of us, she said gently, leaning her head on his shoulder. Seth leaned his head against hers, nodding slowly. Would Byron be able to end up as happy as he and Mina and Fin? The cksmith doubted it, but he wished the two the best of luck. Still, there was a small doubt in his mind. What was wrong with his people? Most of the fights so far had been silent matches, only thebatants from Urth had a tendency to flirt with their opponents. Seeing the chat... he decided not to dwell on it for his own calm of mind. After this weirdly heartwarming match to the death, it was finally time for one of their acquaintances to enter the stage again. Caleb the Dragon Knight was going to fight Simplicity, the barbarian who had gotten a bye for the first round. Although he decided not to dwell on it, it would have calmed him, if Caleb also tried to flirt with the hugedy, that had another cult following among the audience. Chapter 1105: Assassin vs Corruption Chapter 1105: Assassin vs Corruption Contrary to his hopes, the fight between Simplicity and Caleb was a clean battle. Although Chat went crazy calling for their muscle mommy, the Dragon Knight ultimately managed to defeat her, once again without calling out his Wyvern. Why did the man have to be such a gentleman? He didn''t even damage her bikini armor in the battle, making the people of Urth look even worse in the cksmith''s eyes. His victory had also earned Caleb the ire of the muscle mommy faction. Since Simplicity had a bye for the first round and lost quite quickly to Caleb, she never had the chance to shine and disy her skills. he felt a little bad for her, but this was how thepetition went. It was a good thing, Caleb probably wouldn''t care about the bad publicity. Seth was confident to know, why the dragon knight had be so serious about progressing in the tournament. He probably aimed to be the one to kick Dumm Ting out of thepetition. Whether he had what it took to do so, Seth didn''t know. The next fight was a wee distraction. The fight between the otherworldly assassin and the man calling himself the priest of corruption promised to be interesting, as both had yet to disy much of their abilities. ... Umi fled to the skies as the arena was suddenly covered in a corrupted dome of green light, Shocked, she looked back down at the tiled square where the twobatants were currently fighting. So far it had been a constant back and forth of unexpected turns. Perl Woul, the mysterious assassin had vanished the moment she announced the start of the fight. Despite her level being in the 120s, she was unable to sense the assassin, until things were toote. Suddenly, a golden light lit up around the hooded priest''s neck, cutting the hood and cleanly beheading him. The cut hood fluttered away, but the head only slowly slid from its neck, revealing that the priest of corruption was a handsome young man with short dark hair.The rusty saber in his hand ttered on the floor, leaving trails of sand, wherever it dposed the special marble of the arena. The lifeless body fell to its knees, the head tilted forward, falling. Everyone thought it was over, but the falling head was suddenly caught by the hands of the headless body. No blood flowed from the neck, but bright green mes sprouted from the cut surfaces and reconnected them back together. The first surprise was that the Priest of corruption was virtually immortal. Afterward, his body was covered in glowing runes and he managed to lock the assassin into high-speedbat. The priest used the fearsome saber he had picked up again to block all kinds of hidden weapons and strings the assassin used to attack from mid-range. Although the priest couldn''t sense Perl Woul, the dposing saber decimated the hidden weapons his opponents used to attack. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Yet it didn''t seem like there was any limit to the string the cultivator was able to use. While the priest was able to block the flying dagger and cut some strings, he was also in a constant state of having to regenerate his own wounds, as the golden streaks kept amputating parts of his body, or outright dismembering him at least twice. Buy me some time! the priest suddenly said, a massive warrior in crude armor appeared in the arena. Swinging its massive arms, it tangled up the of golden threads and for the first time, Perl Woul received an attack, as the backhand of the giant swatted him from the air, with a random swing of its arm. With surprising force, the cultivator was smacked against the inside of the barrier covering the arena. Blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, he was caught by the berserking giant, who flung the man around, smacking him onto the arena floor several times, before its fingers turned into a rain of dark blood and finger segments. The atmosphere around Perl Would have changed, now that hended back in the arena for everyone to see. His presence grew, bing terrifying and suppressive, like a snake looking at its prey. in the next moment, without any signs of movement, the summoned giant was covered in golden lines. Yet, before he was dismembered, he vanished, leaving the string to disintegrate in the air without causing any damage. Thanks, that''s good enough, the priest said. That was the moment the dome of corrupted light appeared, epassing the arena and even the barrier covering it. Perl Woul squinted his eyes before he suddenly widened them. Bted, Umi remembered toment. The priest has summoned a force field and it seems to impede Perl Woul? she interpreted the handsome cultivator''s facial expressions. Are you surprised? Now that I dered this the territory of my goddess, you won''t be able to hide your presence from me, the priest of corruption said with a bright smile. Now that the assassin''s stealth was countered, would the priest gain the upper hand? ...I won''t make a difference. the cultivator said emotionlessly and vanished again. No, he didn''t vanish. He just moved at an incredible speed, Umi could barely perceive. She shared her observation with the audience as Perl Woul appeared above the priest, his presence suddenly several times mightier than moments ago. A golden crescent shot from his finger, cutting the priest into six stripes before he could even react. However, before the cut pieces fell to the ground, they were once again enveloped in weird mes and he regenerated yet again. The fight continued, but this was thest surprising turn. It was as the cultivator had said. Despite dering a holy territory, the priest of corruption could do nothing but dying and reviving again and again. The arena floor''s marble was decimated over and over as the cultivator''s attack destroyed his opponent, not losing strength at any point. After twenty minutes of this, Umi was at a loss for words. This was a dead end. It may have been different if the quasi-immortal was able to oust his opponent, but Perl Woul seemed able to kill him for days without tiring.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Umi was deliberating to ask management to end the fight forcefully. At this point, it was clear who had the upper hand. This was a tournament after all. Constantly evading the death match rule, just to be cut apart again was not the point of the battle. But before she could contact them- Fine, I give up.... the priest called out, raising his hands in defeat. He had juste back from being minced meat and hurriedly surrendered before the assassin could cut him apart again. Luckily, the person in question had also realized that continuing made no sense. Or maybe reviving was not as cheap as the person made it seem. Either way, with the priest''s surrender, Umi was able to announce Perl Would victory and entry to the next round. There was only one fight remaining now. After the arena was restored by the busy masons from Minas Mar, thest participants entered the stage. It was the match between the illusive Mud Wizard, as he was dubbed by the audience, and the cultivator Choon Long. Despite being the final battle of the second round, it was an almost embarrassingly simr repetition of the Mud Wizard''s fight in the first round. Even though Choon Long knew the Mud Wizard''s stick, he was unable to ovee the powers of muck. Forced to struggle on a battlefield that drained his stamina and life force, he stood no chance. Thest match of the second round didn''t end with a loud bang but with the spear cultivator''s regretful groan. Chapter 1106: Unlimitted Meat Chapter 1106: Unlimitted Meat --Outside of Little Gamma, Night-- We shouldn''t have trusted these savages from the start, the man hiding his face with a beautiful silver mask said scornfully to his fellow perpetrators. Lodged in the mountainside not far away was the burly figure of a disfigured demon, the rags of his robe were lying on the ground. Under the foot of the Monkey Masked cultivate, groveled the dismembered dismembered body of the coborator of the scene, like a maggot on a fishing hook. His legs and arms were cut off and in the process of regrowing. Several pairs were already decorating the clearing. This unholy immortality these savages hade up with intrigued the fiendish cultivators, but they had already found that their magic was ipatible with cultivation. Taking their elixir would cut one''s cultivation path, destroying any chance ever to advance further. That was if one didn''t lose their mind in the process of severing their cultivation from their body. The monkey mask squinted sharply at the silver-masked man. Were these savages untrustworthy, yes. But they were not the only ones. Fan Yuan had been his person, but now he was feigning ignorance. He felt disgusted with the man, but there was no need to risk their n, for useless squabble. You are right. Who would have thought they would act so foolishly, risking the whole operation for some quick gain? One had to be an idiot to think that was worth the risk. Although he knew that starting a fight here wouldn''t lead to anything, he couldn''t hold himself back from a small side blow. It was effective, the man in the silver mask halted for a moment and swallowed whatever was cooking up in him before he agreed with a silent nod. At least there was one advantage to the whole fiasco, with the natives and the weird beasts out of the game, there were fewer people to share the spoils and rewards with. Let''s end this here and stay low until the Silk River Sect arrives, a third figure announced. The Monkey Mask nodded and ced a paper slip on the struggling maggot under his boot. Hundreds of characters spread over his body, originating from the sealing talisman. The man stopped struggling and the limps stopped regrowing. He rolled the body into a sheet of cloth, carrying it like a lunch package. Are you taking that thing along? the silver-masked man asked confused, actually asking why he was doing so.Of course, I will. Look at all the limbs I cut off. An almost endless source of meat, he will be great to feed the beast of our sect, the Monkey Mask mentioned something neither of the others had thought of. Probably because they were not thrifty enough to feed their mounts and pets with human meat. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The figures dispersed, to escape from the awkward silence that ensued. ---- --Next Day, Arena-- Once again, the remaining participants assembled in the arena to draw lots for their next opponent. The initial 42 had shrunken down to the ten that now stood before Rayki holding the draw pot. Caleb red at the pot, he would be 8th to draw his lot. if he was unlucky, Dumm Ting would once again evade his grasp. The first to draw was the Amazon. Lyca stepped forward, drawing the Number five, meaning she would fight in thest match of the third round. Dumm Ting, apanied by the jeers of the audience was next, drawing the number two. Dowloon,pletely healed from the beating she received from April, drew the one. So far, no pairing had been decided yet. The chosen of Balder drew the number three. The mysterious swordsman just called Nam, also drew the five. This meant the first pairing was decided, Lyca and Nam would fight in the fifth match. Caleb''s heart raced. Not it was just the werewolfdy before it was his turn and Bercy drew... the four. Relieve filled his heart, this was his chance. With just some luck, he would finally get the chance to beat the shit out of Dumm Ting. After a little ruffling, his hand emerged from the pot of paper slips. nervously, he unraveled the lot and- Two! The secondplete pairing was him vs Dumm Ting. He cheered internally. The other pairing was Dowloon vs Godfrey in the first match, Bartholomew vs the assassin in the third and in the fourth match, it was Bercy against the Mudwizard. However, Caleb didn''t pay much attention to these proceedings, he was focused on imagining what he would soon do to Dumm Ting. But first, he had to leave the arena with the others. It was not his turn, yet. ... Seth cheered for the dragon knight when the lots were drawn. To think that he would actually meet Dumm Ting like this, Caleb was really lucky. After the pairings were chosen, everyone but the poison fairy and Ibelin Godfrey left the arena. The two were an interesting match-up that could go both ways with what they had shown so far. However, Seth''s thoughts kept wandering to Python. He had tried contacting the deity golem after the events ended yesterday, but Python had fallen silent. He was able to detect her fuzzy presence in the chamber below the tree. Although her not answering was concerning, the cksmith was not too worried, as he could detect that she had another growth spurt after swallowing the demon and saving the day in front of the crowd. At this pace, would Python ascend even before the tournament ended? He didn''t quite know what level she was at the moment and the possibility was high that things went a little different for deities who grew with the power of faith. She probably had to concentrate. This had to be the reason she couldn''t respond. He calmed himself with this thought. Everything okay? Mina pulled him out of his thoughts. Oh, sure, he said with a smile, turning his attention back to the arena, where the fight was about to start. Who do you think will win? he changed the topic and asked Mina. The cat girl looked down at the arena for a while, before a mischievous appeared on her lip. What do I get if I''m right? she asked yfully. Seth fell silent for a moment. Well, what would you want? he asked hesitatingly. Don''t worry, I just want to try something tonight. I''m sure you will like it, too; she said confidently, snuggling up to him. i also want to bet! Fin involved herself in the conversation. Seth looked a Mina, who confidently agreed to let the fairypete with the same stakes. Okay, then you have to say your predictions at the same time, the cksmith set the rules. On three: 1, 2, 3- The Holy Knight, they both announced at the same time, with utmost confidence. What now? Seth asked, as they had both chosen the same answer. What else? if we are right, we both get to try something we want tonight; Fin said leisurely. Seth grimaced, so the only potential loser here was him... But why did you both choose the crusader? Seth asked curious. You will see, Mina said mysteriously but didn''t exin. Fin also didn''t reveal her secrets. he could only watch the fight to find out...N?v(el)B\\jnn Chapter 1107: Guns and Roses Chapter 1107: Guns and Roses Like wasps, the glowing pieces of metal flitted past her ears, as she hid inside the poison smoke. Dowloon had tried attacking him with throwing daggers and poison needles, but everything she threw at him was blocked by the weird golden shield, covered in foreign scriptures. Even her Myriad Poison Smoke was unable to get through the membrane of light. At least she didn''t have too much trouble evading the volleys of snappy metal, as he simply kept strafing left and right through the smoke. if only it wasn''t so loud, the roar of his strange weapon rang in her ears, but the projectiles hitting the barrier in the back weren''t any quieter.N?v(el)B\\jnn it was hard thinking in the noise, exining the wave of relief when the shrapnel-spitting spear fell silent. her eyes covered in Qi pierced the smoke and observed what her opponent was up to. he had lowered his weapon and clicked his tongue. This is just a waste of bullets... he mumbled and pulled a small ck ball from his spatial storage. An audible chink echoed through the stadium when he pulled a small ring from the item. It was a sound anyone in the audience knew much too well from various media, however, Dowloon only questioned what he was doing... He suddenly threw it across the arena!? Was it a hidden weapon-? She questioned when her world was shaken. Her eardrums felt like ripping when a massive explosion took ce in the corner of the arena. The shockwave, fire, and smoke blew away her poison mist and almost herself, too. What kind of artifact was this? Since when had the native''s urns with sealed fire talismans inside? She had seen their magic, but this was a surprise. The power was easilyparable to what people had thrown at her during the preliminaries, but... it had also dispelled a big part of her poison? How could this happen? Her thoughts slowed when her eyes fell on the man in the menacing helmet once again. 2...3...4...5, he kept bringing out more of the apples... Chink! tong tong tong. One fell right before her feet. !!! Dowloon started running, using the Mist Escape technique, her body integrated with the poison and allowed her to appear on the other side of the arena before the thing exploded. But it didn''t help her, as more and more explosions followed, dispelling her poison mist with their magic power, and ripping her robes with the tiny shrapnel expelled from them.There you are, the man in weird armor said calmly when she had no choice but to appear before him and the audience. The weird bombs had dispelled too much of her poison mists to use her technique. Dowloon stayed silent as she activated her technique. Godfrey was not the only one with a few tricks up their sleeves. After all, she had not simply been running around while hiding in the mist. Channeling her energy, she activated the trap formation. ... It seemed like Dowloon was in trouble, but terrifying energy suddenly started umting in the center of the arena, surrounding Ibelin Godfrey. The golden barrier sizzled as drops of a dark violet fluid condensed around it. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Seth watched the poison eat into the marble flooring, creating a viscous swamp in the arena. So far, the arena tiles had only been damaged on a few asions. Vathon had rmended them for their sturdiness and personally cut these. However, it seemed like they had finally reached the point, that people would no longer be able to hold back from using their trump card. Ibelin''s golden sphere was quickly swallowed by the sludge Dowloon had created. The crusader had vanished from the eyes of the audience. Silence followed, only filled by the questions in chat and among the audience, whether Ibelin was dead or not. While everyone else was questioning whether it was over, the poison fairy popped a pill in her mouth and calmly observed the pool of poison. She didn''t seem to be convinced that it was over. Focused on her own trap, two daggers with wavy edges appeared in her hands. When Umi Kaldrops had just asked management whether she should announce a winner, the pool of sludge exploded. Covered in acidic grime and a wispy golden aura, Ibelin Godfrey jumped back into the arena. The eyes of his helmet were burning in a bright golden light, like the sun, as he charged at Dowloon. No weapon in hand, he simply swung his hand, the gauntlet emitting his holy aura. Fist of God, the knight eximed in a deep, sinister voice, as the gauntlet crashed into the crossed des. The daggers spat sparks as Dowloon barely managed to shift away from the attack in the nick of time. The massive imprint of a fist had destroyed the arena floor where she had just stood. Had she decided to block, she would have been minced meat. Ibelin straightened his back, seeing how his surprise attack had failed. He had not lost his knightly aura, even with the ugly poison sticking to his armor. He shook himself, making the viscous fluid ssh everywhere. he didn''t seem bothered by it at all. Seth stared at his figure when he finally had a guess as to why the girls were so confident in their guess. Don''t tell he has poison immunity... Seth said with a sigh. Or a high resistance. it''s something all pdin or crusader sses have, once they start following a god, Fin answered with a cheeky grin. Simr to Tekar who had a basic resistance to almost everything, these holy tanks also came with various perks, of which poison resistance or immunity belonged to the standard. You may have traveled outside for a few months, but we grew up with the system. There is still stuff you don''t know, the fairy continued confidently. It wasn''t often that she was able to brag with her knowledge and experience, so she enjoyed it thoroughly. Don''t get so cocky yet, Dowloon has not lost yet, the cksmith countered. Just because Ibelin was powerful against poison, didn''t guarantee his victory. As if to support this im, the twobatants were fighting on equal terms in the arena. Dowloon was covered in a rose-colored energy that kept expanding as she shed with the crusader over several times. When she finally dodged a second strike that put a crater into the floor, ibelin stopped chasing after her. Now that your poisons ran dry and your flimsy hidden weapons are used up, I see you are a worthy opponent in the end, he admitted and finally unsheathed the simple-looking sword that hung at his hip. In the name of Axol, I offer you a holy duel, do you agree? he asked, holding the almost boring-looking arming sword in front of him. His other hand had equipped an almost as simple kite shield. Uncertain, the cultivator looked at him, before she nodded. Almost as if saying it was better to have an honest duel than him pulling another weird weapon from his behind. The knight smashed the sword in his shield, and the arena was covered by a transparent membrane with a golden hue. At the edges of the arena, the membrane went straight up, ultimately forming a cube-shaped cage. Ibelin''s Holy Duel was a glorified cage match. This was the moment when they really started going for each other''s throats. Golden and rose-colored auras kept shing and exploding as a fireworks of skills and techniques exploded in the center of the stadium. s, no matter how hard the poison fairy struggled, ultimately it came as the girls had predicted. Thest one standing, albeit covered in horrifying wounds, was Ibelin Godfrey. She shouldn''t have agreed to the duel, Minas said with a disappointed headshake. Why? Seth asked, waiting for them to enlighten him on crusaders. These guys are already the essence of a cockroach on the battlefield and this kind of person gets another 50-75% boost when engaging in a holy duel with the name of their god on the line. She has no chance, Fin exined That''s a scam! Seth eximed a little upset. Yep, she was totally duped, Mina said with a nod. She might have had a chance if she hadn''t agreed to the duel." it doesn''t work unless the opponent agrees? Seth asked surprised. Mina shook her head. That''s why, although this is overpowered, it seldom has a chance to shine, unless they get to fight someone clueless, Mina answered. This calmed Seth a little. At least it had a pretty high prerequisite to be used. After all, what enemy would knowingly agree for their opponent to power up? Chapter 1108: Might and Magic Chapter 1108: Might and Magic Dumm Ting versus Caleb, the fight was finally here. Seth was curious whether the Dragon Knight would be able to avenge his friend, or would another acquaintance from the Evaluation fall to the fist of the vicious cultivator? After all they had seen in the previous fights, it was unlikely that Dumm Ting would be able to make it to the finals. In the previous fights, participants had finally started showing skills that were able to damage the rare-rated marble Vathon used to tile the arena. Dumm Ting, on the other hand, had already peaked in the very first fight against Polter and wasn''t able to harm the arena even in his berserk mode. It was unlikely that he would go much further, but would Caleb be the one to stop him? Seth knew Caleb had yet to summon his Wyvern, but he was unsure whether the giant reptile would be a big help in this fight. Whether he was able to kick his opponent out or not, the audience was on his side, calling on the knight to finally end the cultivator''s win streak. The source for Dumm Ting''s power had long been published and became well known to all viewers. Even the Muscle Mommy Cult was on Caleb''s side, despite his defeating Simplicity in the previous round. In the arena, the two enemies entered the stage. Caleb cracked his knuckles, as he signaled that he was ready. After Dumm Ting did the same, Umi once again announced the start of the fight. The knight had yet to move when a massive fist struck his stomach. With an evil grin, the cultivator had attacked the moment the match was announced. I heard you were a friend of the midget. I have also seen your fights until now. If you think you can win against me with those half-baked skills, you should give up avenging your body. Just be an obedient stepping stone for my greatness! he rambled on. Caleb had taken a few steps back, not saying anything. Now, he looked up. Sorry, I was just surprised. Was that all? he asked, wiping non-existent dust from his cuirass, where his opponent''s fist hit. he seemedpletely fine, despite the punch that had echoed in the arena. Suddenly, the knight appeared right in front of the hulk, who was two heads taller and three shoulders wider than him. The gauntlet sunk into the chiseled six-pack, as Caleb reciprocated the earlier surprise attack.You would better start using that power you are so proud of If you don''t want to be pummeled to death by an amateur. You know, the one you got from cowardly killing women and children, he taunted confidently. Even Seth and the others in the booth were surprised by this move. Caleb was clearly even stronger and faster than in the previous fights. I guess he took them all, today, Janemented Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. What do you mean? Mary asked her. Oh, you know... he bought out pretty much all the epic-rated potions from Turquoise Anvil. Even the experimental stuff, she said with a shrug. He had that much money? Seth asked surprised. The epic potions were not cheap. Although they were able to grow most of what Alison needed at the herb garden in Minas Mar, it didn''t mean they would sell under market value. that would have been unfair to independent alchemists. I might have also given him a loan... she said with an apologetic smile. Good job, Seth praised her, surprising Jane who expected a scolding. The cksmith, however, was in favor of having someone strong like Caleb owe them money. Hmm, but that can''t be all, Alison spoke up before Seth could ask for the interest rate she gave Caleb. What do you mean? Seth asked a little confused. I know my potions. Even if he took all of it, it can''t stack that much. The previous rounds maybe, but he must have taken something else for this one, Alison said vaguely. So Caleb was not just relying on potions he bought on Urth against Dumm Ting. Shh, Fin interrupted them annoyed. The fairy was invested in watching. They realized they had been talking over the fight, so they fell silent again, to watch.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Swallowing the bait, Dumm Ting had rushed at the knight, but without activating the evil power, it was as Caleb said. Speed, strength, and reaction, the knight was far above the cultivator in all physical traits. What happened? In thest fight, you used it right from the start. Could it be, have you be afraid of dying in this ring? Caleb provoked, as he deliberately aimed all his punches at Dumm Ting''s face, while not receiving any himself. Could that be? Seth thought to himself. Dying in the arena was the same as dying in the dungeon. This meant the one dying would lose something. A yer would lose experience. What were the cultivators losing? From what they found during the preliminaries. it seemed that they lost cultivation. Was Dunn Ting afraid of losing cultivation? He, I have been holding back because I was confident I could kill you without it, but I guess you are just as annoying as the midget, he said as his body started bulging like a monster. He was enveloped by that same evil aura as in the previous fights. Dumm Ting had signed his death sentence, but would he die before or after the dragon knight? With the cultivator''s transformation, the ying field was leveled. Although Caleb''s stats wereparable, maybe a little lower, he was unable to keep up with the opponent who trained in martial arts their whole life. The dragon knight was finally forced to start fighting seriously, pulling out a shield and sword Seth looked at the equipment with suspicion. Caleb used to use ance, where did he get the Sword? It also had a familiar design. Hey Jane, could it be that you didn''t only sell him potions on loan? Seth asked after inadvertently appraising the items. Epic Phys. Damage:1800 Mag. Damage: 1000 Durability: 3200 1. +25% Power to Spells and Sword Skills 2. Heat de 3. +50 Strength 4. Passive Skill: Fire Resistance lv.3 5. Active Skill: me Lance A de of unique Design created by Craftsman Pennyworth. Using Ithildin, the weapon possesses an incredible magic conductivity that further strengthens the enchantments of the Arcane cksmith.> Liam Pennyworth was one of the two cksmiths, together with Neill Repmore, who they had recruited from the craftsman of Delta. Liam had an easily recognizable style, as he kept putting a lot of effort into engraving the features of beasts into the weapons, most often dragons. In this case, the sword in question was more of a knife. It was single-edged with a dragon engraved on the back and sides of the de so that it looked like the tip emerged from its maw. The shield featured the portrait of a ferocious turtle, doing the same as the sword, except the active skill created a barrier instead of firing a mence. This was just decoration, which actually lowered the durability of the sword to a certain degree. It was to make him stop this bad habit since his weapons sold well with people who didn''t know about the drawbacks of this decoration. Although the works of their new recruits could hardlypare to what Seth, Tored, or the dwarfs were able to produce, it was good enough to be sold as a regr product in the Turquoise Anvil. Haha, yes... Jane admitted readily. Seth wasn''t bothered that Caleb bought equipment from their store. What he was confused about was that Caleb originally owned a relic-ratednce. So why did he switch to a shield and sword in this fight? Chapter 1109: Might and Magic (2) Chapter 1109: Might and Magic (2) Despite using items now, Caleb was still having a hard time against the hulking monster, pumped up with the power of sacrificing innocent lives. however, he was far from being as helpless against the cultivator as his previous opponents. Heat de, one of the effects of the Dragon-Hheaded de, was a different version of covering the sword in mes. It heated the de all the way to the point where it would not yet start losing strength or bend out of shape. With the super-heated de, Caleb kept shing at Dumm Ting. The martial warrior''s skin had proven to be as hard as armor in previous fights, especially in this shape. However, the sword left steaming, cauterized wounds wherever it hit, even when he blocked. They were not lethal, but the cultivator moaned in pain whenever the weapon touched him. Do you like my new sword? I got it especially for you~ Caleb chortled, despite the pressure he felt himself. You know, I even went as far as to have a goblin shaman buff me before the fight. One of the spells was Increased Pain. All my attacks should cause double the pain it would usually. I didn''t want you to get out of this easily.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Dumm Ting grunted when he swatted the sword and earned another burn on his arm. He struck forward with a straight punch. Caleb raised his shield to block, but the fist suddenly opened, grabbing the shield. In a quick move, he wrestled the shield away from the knight''s arm, smacked the owner in the face with it, and threw it away like a Frisbee. Don''t get cocky with me, the pressed out angrily and gave Caleb several jabs in the face and a kick to the ribs before the knight could recover his stance. Although the cultivator suffered, it wasn''t like Caleb was in a good position himself. Seth was still unsure what Caleb was trying to do. he probably still had something up, but he was drawing out the battle for no reason. The current time, before Dumm ting went berserk, was the most dangerous, it wasn''t the time to hold back. After a minute of silent back and forth, trading injuries with each other, Caleb took his distance from Dumm Ting. he wiped the blood from his battered nose. I guess you are right. I wanted to torment you, while you were still able to actually perceive it, but I can''t risk losing this just to make you suffer, Caleb said, obviously deciding to stop being cocky. Dumm ting grinned.So that was your n? Thene on! Bring out your mount or whatever you still have left and I will show you what it means to be a tormentor; the bulky foe said, a fire burning in his eyes. Seth would Argue that Ceres was probably the best teacher for that, after all, the elemental carried that title. We will see about that. Wyvern,e out! Caleb called out. It was at this time, that Seth realized for the first time, that Caleb had actually named his Wyvern, Wyvern... The creature that appeared behind the knight was a massive flying reptile that filled half the arena. Its intelligent eyes focused on Dumm Ting with killing intent. Appraising it now, Seth also found that his Wyvern had actually evolved in the few days since the race. Stolen story; please report. Haha! Dumm Tingughed out loud and swung his fist. Unlike ever before, the evil energy that had flowed rampantly in his surroundings, suddenly swirled around his arms, extending his punch into a beam of energy that shattered the dodging Wyvern''s shoulder, despite the resistance of the Wyvern Scales. The Wyvern cried out in pain, as its hot blood dripped on the arena floor. Caleb, Seth, the audience, everyone was shocked, except for Master Mountain who watched the spectacle with a dark pondering look. The cultivator chuckled at everyone''s face- It''s all thanks to this tournament. With the experience in the previous fights, I have finally gotten the hang of controlling this power. I wanted to keep it secret until the finals, but in the end, I just can''t resist trampling you like your little midget friend, he said with a giant, crazed grin. Caleb ignored him, silently looking at Wvyern touching its wounded shoulder. What happened? Did you lose your tongue because I hurt your little pet? Here, let me do it some more! Even more swirling power collected around his arm. As it shot off, it dug a long trench in the hard marble floor, however, it was dissipated by a mightynce, splitting the attack. Good, then let''s drop all pretenses. ! A dense mist suddenly surrounded Caleb and Wyvern, covering half the arena. Massive winds started blowing as a tornado shaped and molded the mist. Dumm Ting cautiously took some distance as the surge tried to pull him into the tornado. Now that''s some cartoon shit transformation, if I ever seen one... Jonah eximed under his breath, breaking the silence in the room. When the mist receded, it revealed Caleb in a massive, disgustingly ostentatious, green, wyvern-themed armor that seemed to have fused to his body. The moment he appeared, he vanished. The next moment, Dumm Ting''s severed arm fell to the ground, severed by a super-sonic thrust of thence in Caleb''s hands. The transformed knight had charged straight past him, disintegrating his right shoulder with the thrust of hisnce. Dumm Ting looked at his shoulder in shock, the stump wriggling in disbelief. Another super-sonic thrust shot towards him, aiming for his head this time, however, the giant barely managed to evade this time. Caleb was not so fast that the cultivator could not react. Seth was pretty sure that Caleb had used a version of to pin his opponent in ce the first time. Having evaded the thrust, Dumm Ting turned, aiming a backhanded strike at the knight, using his remaining arm. Caleb ducked under it, swiping with hisnce, aiming for the cultivator''s face. The other stepped back, only suffering a small cut on the nose. Caleb stabbed again, but this time.... the Lance was caught! In shock, the knight stared at the right arm that had grabbed thence and then at the severed arm on the ground. He had not noticed, but the audience had watched in shock. In the moments when Caleb tried to use the surprise to end Dumm Ting, the cultivator had actually regenerated his arm and terrifyingly high speed. Even Master Mountain seemed surprised that someone on the level of Dumm Ting was able to regenerate a severed limb in the blink of an eye. He must haveprehended a special inheritance or mystical power, Yu exined, facing the questioning eyes of the people surrounding him. What''s with these assholesprehending weird stuff all the time? Seth thought disgruntled. Holding Caleb''snce, Dumm Ting kicked the knight in the stomach, however, he couldn''t wrestle thence away from him and it slipped from his hand. Propelled by the kick, hended on the opposite side of the arena. Laboriously, the knight stood up, looking at Dumm Ting. Haha!What do you think? All your efforts were pointless. In the arena, all wounds, all cuts, all burns Dumm Ting had sustained during the fight had vanished in front of Caleb''s eyes. However, the adventurer looked less shocked than he was annoyed. Fine then. I wanted to be thrifty and you showed me that was wrong. You chose the hard way. Caleb cracked his neck and proceeded to pull a thick stack of scrolls from his inventory. You aren''t fighting just me, you are fighting the power of the loan I took, he eximed and twisted the whole stack of 15-20 scrolls, ripping them apart. A myriad of magical light effects surrounded Caleb, imbuing him and his weapon with the spells that were stored in the scrolls. Seth looked over at Jane, this time he was slightly displeased. Just how much did she loan him? Was this Caleb fighting Dumm Ting, or Minas Mar crushing him with Caleb as a proxy? These were not simple scrolls from their shop. They only sold the scrolls made for practice by their enchanters. The ones Caleb used were too high-grade. He had to have bought them at the auction house. I assure you it was a good deal, Jane said apologetically. You will have to exin to me how good it waster. Chapter 1110. Might and Money ! +100% Mana +250% Mana Regeneration for 5 minutes> ! +150 to all stats for 5 minutes> ! +600% to all damage for 3 minutes.> ! 30% of phys. damage is negated for 5 minutes> ! All attacks are imbued with deadly poison for 10 Minutes> ! Cooldowns are halved for 10 Minutes> . Attacks cause 10 times the pain and have a 40% chance of causing mental status ailments.> ... Despite the incredible power flowing into him, Caleb was frustrated. He had hoped to be able to save some of the equipment for the next round. He had bought the best stuff money could buy from the auction house. Had this left him in crippling debt? Yes. But this was worth it. Especially if he ended up winning the legendary weapon. Then even signing the 10-year contract with the Turquoise Anvil would have been cheap. But Dumm Ting had proven too strong. Even if he blew his load now, he couldn''t lose here. He had to win, for Polter and for himself. Even if he could not win the tournament, he had to win this fight! Hoho, do you really think those talismans and light effects can impress me? No matter what you do, you will end like your midget friend! Dumm Tingughed confidently. Caleb simply attacked. he would make him regret letting him power up. A simple step forward, carried the knight as if he had used a charge skill. Wind pressed in his face and Caleb was barely able to cope with the incredible rise in stats of the scrolls, on top of the potion and transformation buffs. As a consequence, he slightly missed his mark. He aimed to sever Dumm Ting''s arm again, but he only grazed his shoulder. Satisfied, he saw the expression of absolute shock in his opponent''s face from the corner of his eyes. When he had rushed past the cultivator, the stadium was shaken by an incredible scream of agony. Looking back, Dumm Ting was holding his arm, staring at him in confusion and shock. Tears were streaming down his cheek. What did you do to me just now!? he eximed usatory. Caleb looked at thence. Maybe he could have held back on the scrolls. Was this effective? The knight also saw dark veins spreading from below Dumm Ting''s hand. The deadly poison was also taking effect. Are you already regretting letting me use the scrolls? Caleb asked joyfully. He had not even used to stop Dumm Ting, yet the cultivator had been barely able to react to his attack. Maybe he didn''t have to use all the scrolls, but it was already done. He could just as well enjoy the next few minutes. It was unknightly to bully the weak, but it was very chivalrous to punish evil. It was punishment time. Caleb didn''t feel shame for the joy he felt, seeing the despair in Dumm Ting''s eyes. Over and over, Caleb attacked, covering him in wounds as his howling filled the arena. ... After the dragon knight buffed himself with the power of money, the fight turned into a one-sided beating. Dumm Ting could barely defend himself, and the stadium was filled with his screams of anguish, his hopeless crying and begging for mercy, his begging for death to escape the pain. Whatever Caleb had used, it hadpletely messed up the viin. The unteral destruction pleased most of the audience, though most didn''t enjoy this kind of disy, nobody argued that he didn''t deserve it. Finally, after roughly 4 minutes of suffering, Dumm Ting died from the effects of poisoning. At this point, his whole body had turned dark from poison, and covered in necrotic wounds. It was no pretty sight and people were d when it finally disappeared from the arena. Although death was not final in this arena, nobody doubted that Dumm Ting was a broken man. So how much did you actually lend him? Seth asked intrigued when Caleb was announced the winner. The cksmith was not a fan of consumables in general and preferred permanent effects. On one hand, he had been living in a world without magic for most of his life. He just didn''t know the heights that consumables could take one to and thus never considered it a viable option. On the other hand, he never thought the buff potions were necessarily worth it. Even when he felt like Mr.Moneybags, he never saw a consumable he thought was worth the money. Even good ones were usually very expensive with a rtively short duration. But seeing Caleb''s sudden change in power made him waver. Jane started sweating a little. F-five thousand gold, she answered hesitantly. !!! the room was filled with silent shock by everyone but Master Mountain, who didn''t really have an idea about how much that was. Yep, this just confirmed why Seth never really got into consumables. Yet, the power of the scrolls the dragon knight had shown didn''t fully lose their attraction for Seth. After all, it couldn''t be that he spent that much on just the scrolls, right? Having some high-rated consumables as a backup didn''t seem like a bad idea. Jane... Do you know what scrolls Caleb used? the cksmith asked interested. No, but I can ask him when hees to reportter, she said hurriedly. Why would he report to you? Mina asked the finance manager. Of course, because he works for us now, Jane answered with some pride, pulling out a contract. So that''s why you agreed to give him a loan, Seth understood, reading the contract. The magic contract was rtively simple and kind of fair. Caleb took a loan of 5000 Gold from Minas Mar, in exchange he had to work for them for 10 years to pay it off or pay double of the remaining debt to get out of the contract earlier.N?v(el)B\\jnn Best case, Caleb would work 10 years for them for almost nothing, or they would get back 1.5 - double the amount invested. Well done, Jane, Seth praised. ... A person, wearing an identity-concealing robe entered the betting booth. The room was filled with people, their voices bing a thick noise. He walked past them, picking up snippets of their conversations. Who would have thought that the knight could pull it off? I was quite awesome, someone said jolly Awesome my foot! I lost almost 200 silver because of this! his conversation partner eximed in frustration. And whose fault is that? I told you not to bet on that asshole cultivator. You heard what he did to be so strong, his buddy med him with augh. Is it wrong to want to make some money with a save bet? Emma will kill me when I get home. the other said, close to crying. it seemed that those silvers were his whole savings. Simr conversations could be heard in the room. Many were frustrated about the loss, but they couldn''t argue, that it was good that Dumm Ting lost. Those who had actually bet on the Dragon Knight were especially happy. With a win rate of 1:7, they made back seven times their investment. The robe silently approached the counter, cing their betting lot before the bookmaker. Reading the little piece of paper, the staff''s eyes widened. Pleasee to the back. It would be better to handle such a sum away from prying eyes, the staff members suggested, asking the robe to enter a private room. Caleb hesitated for a moment, but he followed anyway. He needed his winnings. To lessen his debt Caleb had actually bet on himself, using the rest of his loan. He bet a whopping 350 gold, which meant his earnings were around 2450 gold. With this much start capital, he would be able to lessen the time he was bound by a contract to maybe a year or two. Some smart investments here, some hard work there. Even if he didn''t win the tournament, two years of contractedbor were still worth the chance that he could have won. had he known Dumm Ting was this strong, he would have preferred meeting him only in the finals. Oh my, Caleb. Funny meeting you here. A joyful voice greeted him as he entered the private room. Sitting on thefy sofa were Jane and Mary sipping on drinks. His heart slipped down to his pants. Chapter 1111: Mud Crap Chapter 1111: Mud Crap In the battle between Dumm Ting and the Dragon Knight, they experienced a small tournament climax. An aggravating, despised enemy had found a satisfying end, but the show was far from over. After all, that was just the second fight of the third round. After a 15-minute break to give the audience some time to process the fight and run the clipped highlights of the match, the next pair of contestants entered the stage. The mood in the stadium had noticeably lifted after Caleb had dealt with their grudge for them. Their cheers greeted the next two fighters, who were also two highly popr characters. On the left side, we have Bercy, the Beast, Umi introduced the werewolfdy who gained a cult following among the audience in the chat and some secret admirers among those in the stadium. And on the right side, we have the Dark Wizard of Mug! the announcer introduced her opponent. As thest true caster in the tournament, his support was not any weaker than Bercys. Though hecked a crowd of hungry fans of the opposite sex, many of the mage sses supported him vigorously as theirst representative. The moment Umi announced the start of the fight, Bercy charged forward. The clothing blew from her body as she turned into her anthropomorphic wolf-shape. Her transformation was so fast, that even the golem camera''s slow motion was unable to capture the moment between her unclothing and transformation, despite chat and some audience members trying their hardest to find the specific freeze frames. In the blink of an eye, the werewolf was upon the wizard. Her brutal ws punched through his wiry body, only for the body to turn into mud that now covered her w! It was a mud clone all along! When had he switched ces with it? Starting from the puddle made of crushed clones, the dreadful field of muck rapidly spread across the arena. Thick, dark sludge oozed up from between the tiles and rose off the ground surrounding the arena. It didn''t look like a thickyer, but Bercy actually sank into the mud, all the way to her knees. Half the arena away, the Dark Wizard of Muck appeared. In a jolly motion, he jumped from the depths of the mud andnded on his scrawny wizard staff, sitting on its tip with crossed legs. Did you think you could win by moving fast? What now doggy? You are already in my domain~ he tainted her with the voice of a jolly old man, though nobody had seen his face yet. However, Bercy''s flews lifted in a sardonic smile, exposing her massive fangs.You seem confused about whose domain this is! she said with a boisterousugh, as her ws started digging, flinging mud left and right. Despite the viscous mug sticking to her fur and ws, she didn''t slow down as she rushed at the wizard. She almost seemed happy, rolling in the mud. So far all warrior-types that were unlucky enough to face the Dark Wizard of muck had fallen to his stamina-sapping mud pack, but Bercy was unaffected. Would the Mud Wizard finally be driven into a corner? The audience watched with held breath. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ... Seth wasn''t holding his breath. He wasn''t even there to watch the fight. Despite Monique and Jonah volunteering toe, the cksmith decided to deal with thest fight''s aftermath alone. It didn''t take a fortune teller to know what would happen in the Medical Wing was the second fight. Angry bellowing audible from far away just confirmed what they all expected. Dumm Ting was not keen on epting his loss.N?v(el)B\\jnn Get out of my way! I will personallyin to- The door of the medical wing was smashed open and the cultivator fell silent when he found a figure in full armor standing in the hallway. He recognized the Tower Master who appeared a few times during the Pythian Games. -to who? Who will youin to? And about what? Come on, tell me~ Seth asked coldly, his tone was cuttingly cold,den with magical power that conveyed a barely concealed threat. Despite Seth asking so nicely, Dumm Ting had fallen silent for good. The cksmith was a little confused when he noticed the fear in Dumm Ting''s gaze. He was sure the cultivator had not seen him when he used and the on him, or maybe it was a subconscious response. After all, he was already lv. 106 and his aura had slightly changed. Although he didn''t know the exact reason, there was no reason not to use this opportunity. Leave. Quietly. I don''t want to see you here or in the Pythian Vige again, he spoke clearly. It was clear that disobedience would not be met with mercy. Surprising, Dumm Ting gritted his teeth but nodded wordlessly. Watching his back, Seth observed the massive martial artist stomping away. The bard was d that it was this easy to send Dumm Ting away. When he turned around the corner spoke to the figure standing there. Send some Oathguards to observe him. I''m sure they will approach him, Seth said to Lydia. He''s strong has a grudge against us and obviously no scruple with doing evil. It would be weird for them not to try and recruit him... Lydia agreed with a nod. While Seth returned to the VIP Booth, Lydia left to arrange a pursuit team. .... Back at the booth, Seth was finally able to join the others in watching the mud wrestling. Bercy was doing quite well, despite her fur being drenched in mud, to the joy of her fans. The Mud Wizard on the other hand was finally pushed to the point that his witty remarks fell silent. Like a wild mud puppy, Bercy chased the wiry mage, whose wily dodging maneuvers kept draining the werewolfs stamina. Except that they didnt seem to work. Although the few times she did get him, he turned out to be a clone, Seth knew better. With Theias Vision, he was able to see the moment when the mage used blink to exchange his body with a double made of mud. If this kept going, it would be the Wizard running out of mana before Bercy ran out of stamina. What is wrong with you?! Are you an undead? Why arent you getting tired?! the Dark Wizard of Mug eximed frustrated seeing that Bercy was still just fine after over 30 minutes of chase. Kuku, ady never tells ~ she chuckled, striking through the air and sending a w bean at the mage. This time, he didnt dodge. Swinging his staff, he created a barrier that stopped her attack. Fine then. Take your secrets to the grave, he said with a grunt. In the center of the barrier, he sat on his staff and started chanting. His mumbling was like a swarm of flies. Finally, Bercy was able to close the distance for good. As long as she got through the barrier, this would be her- The moment she gleefully tried to attack the barrier, and ck rock spire shot up from the ground and pierced her abdomen. Helplessly, she was hoisted up in the air like a g. It was the first time that the Dark Wizard of Mug used such a brutal, direct attack. The mumbling stopped. The barrier vanished. The Dark Wizard of Mug jumped off his staff. It had looked like he was buying time to chant a powerful spell that could end the fight, but was it all just an borate ruse? Directly below the spire of impalement, a magic circle took shape in the mug, as if drawn by invisible hands. Seth was familiar with his circle, albeit he had only seen it in books while trying to learn earth spells. The moment the circle was finished, a soft column of light shot to the sky, enveloping Bercy, and turning her to stone. The greater Circle of Petrification had turned the werewolf on a stick into a striking statue in the center of the stadium. Chapter 1112: Light vs Thread Chapter 1112: Light vs Thread For several breaths, everyone stared in silence. The drawn-out battle had suddenly ended. After a moment of silence, the announcer remembered her job. I- I guess we have a winner? Umi Kaldrops said hesitatingly, seeing the statue of the impaled Bercy. There had been no signs of life for minutes, but there was also no notice from the medical wing. She was about to contact management when she heard the sound of pebbles falling. Don''t kill me off just yet, she heard aborious growl. She was still impaled on the spire, but theyer of stone that made it look like she was petrified crumbled, falling to the ground.N?v(el)B\\jnn I see now. You must have a high level of earth affinity or resistance, the wizard said intrigued, but without surprise in his voice. Too bad your recovery took a little too long. At some point, without even the audience noticing, the mud had vanished from the arena. Where did it- Before anyone could finish that thought, it was answered. There was a shadow growing faster and faster, covering the arena. Looking up, they saw where the mud had gone. Meteor, the Dark Wizard of Mug said almost disinterested, as a stone the size of the arena crashed into the center of the stadium, crushing Bercy once and for all. ... Howe he was able to cast meteor? Mina asked surprised. There was a barrier that stopped outside intervention and harm to the audience covering the arena. How was he able to cast a meteor spell that attacked from far above, without the barrier stopping it? Well, he requested it beforehand, Mary answered that question with a shrug.Isn''t that against the rules? Fin asked shocked. What rules? Seth asked with a grin. He understood her confusion, but there were no such rules. This was why he had personally allowed this. After all, the barrier wasn''t there to impede the participants. The wizard cast the spell himself, why would they block it? It was also a nice, unexpected twist, although Bercy fans would have disagreed. Oh~ Fin grinned knowingly. To begin with, these fights are supposed to be as close to real ones as can be. You can''t call it a fight if we are the ones blocking the ultimate skill for them, Monique said in agreement. If a participant relied on the protection meant for the audience and against outside intervention, it wouldn''t be a realistic fight. After taking a short break to fix up the arena, it was ready for the next fight. Next on the program was the battle between the assassin from the continent and the sparkly chosen of Balder. With the progression of the tournament, the fight kept bing harder to predict. Nobody knew who would end up with the upper hand, but both sides and vehement supporters raised the amount of bets despite the low quota. One could even say that the betting audience was a lot more vocal in this one, or they simply weren''t drowned out by the fans of either of the parties, filling the chats with borderline inappropriate content. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the tform they originally published on. Shortly after Umi dered the start of the fight, the freshly repaired arena had turned into a field of rubble and debris. The two fighters went all out from the very beginning, not giving their opponent a chance to brief. The fact that the special marble instantly shattered under their attacks, showed how much they had been holding back in the previous fights. While the assassin used his superior speed and agility, Bartholomew shone in brute force and magic-augmented attacks. While the fists didn''t seem to threaten him, Perl Woul had a hard time, dodging the explosions and beams of light fired by the chosen. Seeing Bartholomew go all out, Seth couldn''t help but think that he would have been an interesting match against Dumm Ting. the cksmith didn''t know what the champion of light did for doping, or whether he used any, but he was sure it would have been an interesting match. His thought turning to the despicable cultivator, Seth couldn''t help but hope that the invisibility cloaks they had pilfered from the Scene would be enough to sessfully trail him. He did not doubt that their enemy would approach him. After reading through the report Marco had sent back, Dumm Ting would fit right in with the assortment of enemies they had on the Voracious Cloud Continent. After his thoughts went on the slight tangent, the cksmith looked back onto the arena, to find that the fight had taken a turn. Although it was not obvious for the normal eyes, using Theia''s Vision, Seth was able to see that Perl Woul''s movements had be quicker and smoother. A dangerous aura started oozing from his body. Contrary to before, he started confronting the champion of Balder more and more often. Deflecting and countering the melee attacks, and skillfully dodging the magic power and skills, he showed superior prowess when it came to technique and reading his opponent. It was as if he had used the previous half of the fight to observe his opponent, learn his moves, ande up with ways to counter him. Bartholomew became visibly flustered as the fight went on and he was more and more often in the defense. You have a mighty body, barely anything can harm you and any harm done heals quickly, the assassin suddenly spoke in a cold voice. I admit that I have had a hard time fighting you. Had you learned more profound techniques and didn''tck experience, I may have lost today. You are talking as if you already won! Bartholomew eximed with augh, charging at Perl Woul with a straight punch, that was apanied by a wave of light. Just one hit would have scorched the cultivator to a piece of brisket. the strike connected, but the assassin disintegrated. The reflection of light betrayed the next next attack, as a formation of strings started moving. The star with myriads of tips suddenly started tightening around Bartholomew''s neck at the very center of the. It''s because I just did, the assassin said, standing behind him. Bartholomew''s neck was covered inyers uponyers of fine energy silk which all connected back to the hands of Perl Would. Grasping his murder weapon, he kicked away his opponent''s legs, throwing Mathias to the ground. Holding the reigns in his hand, and pressing his foot into Bartholomew''s back, he hindered him from resisting as he pulled with more and more force. A tough body, that heals any wounds. shing and cutting you is a meaningless effort, but what if I simply kill you without causing any external harm at all? Now that would be... effective, he said calmly, watching the chosen struggle under his food. With his neck pulled back and a foot in his back, he could do little more but il his arms and gasp helplessly. As exciting and full-throttle the battle began, as cruel and martial it seemed to end. "Kuk, "Bartholomew pressed out as his body started jolting and glowing. Perl Woul held onto the string tightly, observing thest struggles of his opponent, when suddenly the string snapped and the man under his food exploded in zing light. The center of the arena was bright like a sh grenade and even Seth was barely able to see what happened. The Figure of Bartholomew exuding a tremendous amount of light grabbed Bakc, snatching the surprised assassin''s foot on his back. Pulled to the ground, into the embrace of the Champion of Balder, it was the end of the assassin. he couldn''tpete with the chosen in a grappling contest. Perl Woul''s body vanished from the arena before Bartholomew''s light receded. The audience was ready to praise the disy of power and ingenuity of the assassin but werepletely stunned by the sudden turn of events. Bartholomew Mathias didn''t mind theck of cheer in the beginning. He was smiling and waving at the people, as his victory was confirmed. The Chosen of Balder had moved on into the quarter-finals. Under thete apuse of the audience, after his victory was confirmed, he silently left the arena, making way for the fifth andst fight of this round. The two strongest contenders of the tournament so far were scheduled to fight, Lyca and Nam. Today they would lose one of the absolute favorites for the title of champion. But first! They needed to repair the arena, that had turned into a field of rubble. Chapter 1113: The Den Chapter 1113: The Den A tall figure shoved her way through the crowd during the break, aiming for the exit of the stadium. Aggravated, he left the arena behind. Had he ever been treated like this? The Tower master had chased him out like a scurvy dog, not even giving him the face for ast appearance in front of the audience Dumm Tings fist clenched and then rxed as he gave his situation a thorough thought. His ns had utterly failed. He had even revealed his sins to the world, but couldnt win the heaven-grade artifact in the end. But it wasnt without gains, since he finally learned how to control the blood energy he had absorbed during the rituals. Although his control was rudimentary and unrefined, it was a starting point. He no longer had to fear losing his mind while training. Still, it didnt feel great leaving like this, having to hide his face using an artifact robe he had bought in the Pythian Vige. But there was no helping it. He was no longer a participant in the tournament, which also meant the protection he received from Minas Amr was also voided. With his secret known, there were more than enough righteous people who woulde for his head, jumping at the opportunity to decorate themselves with the achievement of his death. He had to get out of Little Gamma first, then he needed a ce to train and consolidate his powers. Once he reached a new realm, he would return and have his revenge on this obnoxious Tower Master and all the people he cared for. He would start with the people he wanted to protect and work his way up until he would make him watch as he tortured his friends and lovers- His thoughts of revenge stopped when a figure stepped in his way. This was quick. He had just left the stadium, but there were already people after him. They wore simple, yet expensive robes, identifying them as one of his people. Someone from an influential family, maybe? Although he couldnt see their face, their stance made it clear that they were there for him. What do you want? the massive man grunted. This was a simple alley between buildings. The two were alone here. He, again, checked with his senses, nobody else was there. Did he think he could take him down alone? Dumm Ting, I assume? the figure asked without hurry. If there were any doubts left that they werent here for him, they were now gone.I didnt expect that people woulde for my head this quickly. How did you know when I left the stadium? the martial artist asked calmly. Despite the image he liked to show the outside world, he was far from a brainless madman who only knew violence. He liked the act, but that was all it was: An act. Im not here for your head. The opposite, in fact. We have a n to smite this abominable Minas Mar and show these barbarians their ce. My senior brother decided to offer you a role in this n. Dont you want a chance to take revenge on them? the figure said directly. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it A chance to take revenge so soon? Dumm Ting looked the man up and down, thinking about the offer. It would have been a lie to say that he wasnt interested. But to offer him a part here and now? Dumm Ting shook his head. Of course, he could have listened to him, heard the details of the n, and decided afterward, however, there was one thing he waspletely convinced of: These people just wanted him as a pawn. And he was not interested in ying the pawn in someone elses game. If they seeded in their n. He was about to refuse, but it seemed like his answer had already been written on his face. His words got stuck in his throat and his eyes ripped open wide when a sharp wave of killing intent washed over him. Despite having mastered the excessive amounts of energy, he instinctively knew that he stood no chance against the shadowy figure. There is no room for any more unpredictable variables. You either obey or die here, the other gave him the options to choose from. He had no right to decline and live on... Ultimately, Dumm Ting could only nod in agreement to join their n, without even knowing what the n was. Having subdued the martial artist, the figure turned around, prompting Dumm Ting to follow him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ... Are we reporting this to the Princess or Miss Albright? a voice whispered shortly after they left the alley. Unbeknownst to the two cultivators, there was a group of five people, yers with stealth sses, wearing the invisibility cloaks they had looted from the Scene. At one point it almost seemed like either of the two had noticed them, but ultimately the cloaks worked just fine and hid their presence from the two. At the question, the leader shook his head, realizing he was invisible he whispered, Why? This is what we expected. What is happening from here on is the important part. We have to observe where the two are going and follow them, one thief said to the other. They were part of a rather fresh division of Minas Mar, tasked with information gathering and espionage. The two silently followed the two cultivators, aided by the cloaks of invisibility from the Scene and boots of silence made by Neeco Booz himself. Their targets actually left the Pythian Vige towards the south. Once they were out of sight of the settlement, their speed picked up drastically, as they began to jump and almost flypared to run. It wasn''t surprising, as the two thieves had already seen people from the Cloud Continent move like this during the race. Still, they had a hard time keeping up, despite the aid of the master tailor''s outfit. The two pursuers were growing tired when Dumm Ting and the other finally came to a halt on the ce of snow and ice, marred with rifts and holes. ciers were not umon in these mountains, but it seemed like someone had made it intentionally hard to traverse. Stay close behind me from here on out. If you get lost in the illusion array, I won''te looking for you, the figure leading the buff cultivator said shortly, before he walked on in measured steps. An Illusion array? What were they talking about? One of the two pursuers from Minas Mar lifted their Clearsight sses, an item created by Grant May, the best enchanter currently in Minas Mar. When he looked ahead with his bare eyes, the ragged cier they were standing on turned into an even, wide teau covered in short grass and some snow. The two cultivators had also vanished. Looking through the sses again, he was able to see the two carefully taking a thin path, evading the various hurdles. Slightly impressed with the ability to create such a big illusion, and with reinforced confidence in the equipment they got from Minas Mar. He quickly followed the two, after confirming that his partner was doing the same by using the authentication function of the Rings of Minas Mar as a way to exchange simple Morse code. They followed them over a winding path until they reached an ice cavern, leading deep into the cier. They had found the hide-out but didn''t enter right away. You go back and report the location, I will follow them inside and and nt some golems. There was no discussion or sentimental arguing. He received the affirmation over the ring. Assuming his partner left, he followed the cultivators into the den of the tiger. Chapter 1114: Lyca vs Nam Chapter 1114: Lyca vs Nam It is time for the battle you all have been waiting for! Twobatants who look back at a streak of overwhelming victories. The amazon Lyca and sword cultivator Name, the two forces of nature are finally shing! Umi Kaldrops gave her introduction to the fifth andst fight of the third round, The ultimate duel between two participants who won all their fights so far in a matter of seconds. Even Seth was interested to see who would win between these two. If Lyca wasn''t restricted, he would have had no doubt of her victory, but considering that Nam had revealed next to nothing of his skills, the restricted Amazon would probably have a hard time for the first time in the tournament. Even Lyca seemed to take the fight seriously. Unlike in the previous fight where she wore casual attire, she now wore the armor from her homnd. It was a tight leather cuirass with a skirt, golden bracers as well as golden shin guards. The cksmith knew they were from her homnd, because the the couldn''t appraise them. They were items yet to be recognized by the system. Although her attire said that she was serious, the athletic amazon entered the arena with a wide grin. She was visibly excited about this fight. On the other side, Nam had finally dropped the dark cloaks that had hidden most of his body in the previous fights. He wore wide ck pants while his muscr upper body was covered in bandages filled with weird runic characters. A ck facial mask hid everything below his eyes. A striking feature where his ck eyes and the bright green mane of hair. At his belt hung the simple, straight sword he had yet to fully unsheathe. His appearance screamed main character or antagonist. As if to bless the fight, the clouds had dispersed and the sun shone brightly on the freshly repaired arena. Umi Kaldrops floated above the arena. Are you ready? she asked as always. Lyca nodded. Nam pulled his sword from the sheathe and took his stance before he also nodded. His dark eyes were fixed on the Amazon who had been doing light warm-up moves ever since entering the stage. Seth couldn''t help his bad habit of appraising weapons. <> RelicPhys. Attack 1991 Mag. Attack 1800n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Durability: 1988 1. + 120% on Energy-based Attacks 2. + 100% Power of Dark magic and Curses 3. + 90% Attack Speed 4. Toggle Skill: Fox mes 5. Active Skill: Manta Frenzy A de forged from the bones of an ancient maritime beast with a handle wrapped with the leather of a fox spirit. Created by a Craftsmen of the Steel Fist Sect, 375 years before the current owner obtained it from the hidden storage of the fallen sect. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Has a low chance of bing a legendary sword if its wielder bes a legend.> Surprised, Seth found that it was actually a sword forged from a bone and it was already quite old. Since the tournament started, Seth had realized that the descriptions of items from the Voracious Cloud Continent kept bing more and more precise. The vor text was quite interesting. As for the skill and effects of the weapon, they were simple and straightforward. The covered the de in a special kind of magical me, while added 100% of the basic movement speed and attack speed. overall, it was a very good weapon for a straightforward warrior. ...one-Begin! Umi gave the start signal and Seth had no longer the time to ponder and observe the weapon. Nam moved so fast that he simply vanished from the spot where he had stood. People heard the loud ng of metal on metal before they realized what they saw. Nam had directly charged and attacked Lyca, only to have his sword stopped dead in its tracks by the golden bracer on her right arm. Nam''s serious face was met by Lyca''s joyful grin. Sheunched forward, trying to grab the man with her free hand. Jumping back, the cultivator quickly evaded her grappling motion, taking his distance. What happened? Just now you couldn''t approach me fast enough, now you are too shy for some skin ship? she provoked the silent man with a chuckle. As she charged forward to close the distance, the arena tile broke under her step. They were not using any skills yet, but there was already damage to the flooring. It was a high-speed sh that barely anyone in the audience could follow. One would expect the one with a sword to have an advantage over a barehanded opponent, but it was an even battle of evasions and blocks, without either of the twonding a hit. After a minute or two of feeling each other out Cultivator Nam made the next step. As Lyca was about to block his sword strike, the edge of his weapon was covered in sword aura, as bright green as his hair. A sly ploy to cut through the bracers and amputate her arm. TING! The deafening sound echoed in the stadium. Probably only Seth was able to follow what happened next in real-time. Instead of hitting the bracer, the sword covered in aura was blocked by a golden pole that appeared in Lyca''s hand, straight from her inventory. The cultivator''s arm was still shaking slightly when he had to bend back. A thin golden de shot past his face, missing his eyeball by a hair''s breadth. So close, Seth almost started sweating himself. The cultivator used some kind of technique to almost instantly move out of Lycas range. The next scene everyone was able to perceive after the big thing, was Nam standing in a defensive stance, several meters away from the Amazon, who was now equipped with a golden dory, a spear slightly above her height. They had reached the old conundrum, the spear vs the sword. At this point, there was no perceivable difference between the rare-rated marble and ordinary stone. As the weapons shed and skills came into the mix, their de winds alone cut up and shattered the floor, with stones and debris flying everywhere. Those are Qi Swords. Materializing twelve at his level... he must be a prodigy from a sect or the disciple of a hidden master, Yumented when Cultivator Nam started using swords shaped from energy to attack. They didn''t just shoot around like projectiles, but in several instances showed skill as if they were wielded by actual people. However, this couldn''t corner Lyca just yet. The amazon had brought forth a great shield, which she used to block the additional attacks, with apparent ease as the smile on her face only grew wider as the battle intensified. The fight was at a level that made it hard even for Seth to follow, since so much was going on. Even if he was able to perceive it thanks to his amulet, he couldn''t grasp everything because of theplexity of the battle. He didn''t seem to be the only one. Mina, Fin, and the others who had not left to grind levels across the Pathworks had looks of trepidation as they couldn''t quite follow what happened without using the rey functions on the screens. Others like Monique were watching with silent attention. Monique was absorbing what she saw from Lyca. She used to hold the ss of spear demon and was the chosen of Athena. As they used simr weapons, she tried to learn from the way the amazon fought. Jonah was not much different, his eyes were fixed on cultivator Nam. Although their levels were different, the cultivator had an edge in the time he wielded his sword and the techniques he learned. Seth didn''t doubt that either of them could win against the two on the arena floor, but it wouldn''t be pretty. The cksmith focused back on the fight, waiting for the conclusion or the next twist. Chapter 1115: Round 3 Ends Chapter 1115: Round 3 Ends Spectral swords whizzing through the air and weapons shing, the two fighters kicked up dust clouds everywhere. After 15 minutes of the fight, the neat and clean arena had turned into nothing more than a sand pit for the two participants. Seth could imagine Vathon''s crying face, seeing his hard work literally stomped to dust with almost every fight in the third round. But this time especially so. Seth feared that they would need to put down metal tes for the quarter-finals and up... Lyca had been unable to ovee the stalemate so far, but the cksmith was sure that at least Nam still had something up his sleeve. He doubted the rune-covered bandages on his body were just decoration. As for Lyca, Seth doubted that she was prepared to unseal her powers. Neither of the two seemed prone to use external stimnts either. Suddenly, Lyca was covered in a glistening aura, charging so fast even Seth lost her for a moment, Energy swords shattered in her wake, as her aim held true and the dory spear pierced Nam''s abdomen. It was the first decisive injury, yet he seemed unperturbed, shing his sword down at her. With a kick against his chest, she pulled out the spear covered in aura and evaded the swording for her neck. Nam stumbled back when the bone-shattering kick hit his chest, but what had him stare at his body, was the silver aura, burning away at the bandages. Urgh, shit... no you''ve done... the silent cultivator finally spoke in a rough, raspy voice. His curse sounded a little annoyed and angry, but also almost defeated. Before the bandages were damaged any further, the runes on them started moving, flowing along the strips of fabric. Lyca''s aura dispersed, but the bandages loosened, falling down to his hips, revealing a terrifying sight to the audience. The abdomen and chest below the bandages were hollowed, Flesh and organs had shriveled away with necrosis. His ribs didn''t end in a sternum but seemed like broken, sharpened spikes, barely holding the still-beating heart and one more thing in ce. Opposite the heart was what looked like a roughly hewn jade marble, ced in the remnants of his rib cage. Nam also removed the face mask, revealing that his lower jaw, upper jaw, and nose had mostly skeletonized with some shreds of rotten meat still holding on. Was Nam actually an undead? but his heart was still beating, what could have happened to him to disfigure him like this? With the fall of the bandages, a wave of power rushed across the arena. The stadium was filled with the smell of old tombs and forgotten crypts. It was the smell of rotten meat, long past the time it stopped smelling like rotten meat. Even Lyca, the amazon well-versed in abstruse creatures looked at her opponent with surprise and a little bit of concern.Let''s end this quickly... Nam pressed out from his lip-less mouth. A transparent fire started burning on all swords, not just the ones in his hands, but also the ones he created using his Qi. At the same time, he experienced a tremendous boost in speed and attack speed. He finally used the skills of his sword. Under the barrage of his des, a difference finally became clear. With the unsealing of his body, Lyca was clearly at a disadvantage against the half-rotten swordsman. Twirling her spear and shield, she collected her silver aura around her, blocking all his attacks that came from every direction. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. She moved faster and faster, before the aura sted outward with a loud shout, disintegrating the Qi swords and throwing the cultivator tumbling back. After a short tumble, Nam was already back in position, recreating the Qi swords around him, however, Lyca lifted her hands. I concede this match, the amazon suddenly said with a wry smile. The cultivator squinted at her. Why? Is it because I look like this? I don''t need your sympathy, he scoffed at her. but Lyca shook her head. I know you can''tst long like this, but I won''t be able to beat you right now. There is no need to continue a pointless struggle, she said carefree and shrugged her shoulders. before Umi Kaldrops could make an announcement, Lyca had already turned around, walking toward the edge of the arena. Th-This means we have a winner! After the surprising forfeit from one of our favorites, Lyca, cultivator Nam will go on into the quarter-finals! she announced the result of the match. nobody had expected Lyca to give up, not even Seth. Especially not Seth. She had given up right after witnessing Nam''s final form. This also concludes the third round! We have our final five contestants. It is now time to choose the wild card! In the following two-hour long break, we will conduct the voting for the remaining three participants of the quarter-finals. Everyone in the stadium, please use the devices under your seats, or the screens provided to give your vote on who of the previous participants should get a second chance and enter the Quart finals! We will announce the winners of the poll and the pairing of the quarter-finals after the break. With the third round concluded it was finally time for the audience to vote on which of those who lost in the previous rounds, would be given a second chance and return in the quarter-finals. Once the three were chosen, it would also be time for thest random draw. The quarter, semi, and finals would be held in a typical tournament fashion, as it didn''t make sense to have a random draw with just four people left. Should we go out to get some fresh air? Seth asked Mina and Fin, as he stood up from his seat. There were two hours before anything interesting was scheduled to happen. However, as they were about to step out. They found a staff waiting in the hallway. T-Tower Master! she eximed surprised, when she saw Seth open the door. The cksmith observed her for a moment and recognized her as one of Mary''s secretaries. In her hand were a stack of papers and a crystal ball. Did you wait out here for Mary? What about me? the person in question asked from behind. A-Actually, I''m here for both of you and Lady Leana, she answered after hesitating for a moment. The agents that followed Dumm Ting have reported back, she said, pushing forward a stack of papers. Hmm, i think it would be good for everyone to hear this, Seth decided after skimming through the papers. It was a summary of the experiences of the two agents that followed Dumm Ting, while the crystal ball was a direct report, as well as footage from the sight itself. Sorry, no fresh air, instead some work, Seth apologized to the others, but nobodyined. They finally had some substantial leads on the actual attack, everyone knew the weight of the matter and wanted to know more. The first video was one of the assassins giving an initial report on the events that led to them finding the location and the location itself. ording to the secretary, this report had been sent roughly one hour ago. The second were clips from inside the hideout. The video showed a huge ice cavern, big enough to house a small town. People in robes were busily walking here and there on scaffolding and paths built into the icy walls. they only arrived a few minutes ago. What in the-? How? both Leana and Evee eximed at the same time when the footage showed a huge magic circleid out on the bottom of the cavern. Yu also furrowed his brows. Everyone looked at the two women with questioning gazes, waiting for them to exin. That''s definitelyrge-scale system magic, Leana said. It''s a massive teleportation anchor. They are trying to teleport something really big, Evee, their residential expert in teleport technology, borated. Yu nodded.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om That exins why it looks so unfamiliar. This is not something from the voracious Cloud Continent, Master Mountain added. So someone from the Pathworks is helping them? Fin asked. Not just the Pathworks, it had to be a huge power from within the system worlds... someone at the level of Chrona or the Muir Empire, the princess revealed that the cultivators had a huge backer! Chapter 1116: Quarter-Finals Begin Chapter 1116: Quarter-Finals Begin Minas Mar had a rough idea of how many enemies they currently had on the Voracious Cloud Continent, thanks to Marco and the presently missing Paolo. The sect alliance at the rim of the XiGuang Province where the entrance to Urth had appeared was not a joke. Although they were removed from the central powers, even small Sects on the Voracious Cloud Continent couldn''t be underestimated. Yet, this force even had the help of a great force within the system worlds. So it''s Spatia again, everyone realized with a sigh. It didn''t take much brain gymnastics to find out who it was. They knew that the Scene was involved with Spatia and ording to their recent information, even some demons. With the remnants of the Scene and the demons of Bragmomal had both appeared to cooperate in recent incidences, it was not hard to guess, that Spatia was also supporting this operation. The rival empire of Chrona had even gone as far as to send people equipped with legendary items, during the the war with Y-City. Most of them had found their way to the hands of Minas Mar. This time they went as far as to set up such a huge teleportation formation. the price must have been astronomical. This exins how they want to get past the gate surveince, Luf gave a conjecture. With the passage between the Cloud Continent and Urth being the only way in, Minas Mar was naturally observing it vigntly. However, with a teleport formation like this, they wouldn''t need to use the passage at all. ording to the report, the agent that went in was able to listen in on some conversations. it seems that they really intend to attack during the final when the tournament garners the most attention. That means we only have a few hours, right? Mina mentioned, flipping through the papers. Right, but now that we have thisst puzzle peace, we can give them the wee they deserve, Luf mentioned with a smile. With the information they had gotten from Adam rke, their investigations, and this report, they had a pretty clear idea about how things were supposed to go down, ording to their n. Wait, aren''t we hitting them right away? Fin asked surprised and a little disappointed. The fairy brute was always in the mood for the direct approach. Since they had the location and an estimate of their current troops, why not just storm the ce right away? This way, they could directly get rid of a potential threat to the citizens and audience.Where''s the fun in that? Faenys asked with a grin. They areing to the doors of how stronghold, challenging us. We should crush them in the most humiliating way possible, to send a message to everyone else, the mountain brigand and chosen of Phobos voiced her opinion. This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Although nobody voiced it like this, everyone had a simr idea. Since they already knew the enemy n, it was best to use them for their own goals, instead of snuffing them out in secret. Seth also considered that their base in the mountains probably wasn''t without security. Why start a siege on their own, when the enemy wanted to smash their head on their door? I just had a good idea how to tie it in with the purpose of the Pythian Games, the cksmith said with a sinister smile. the team spent the two-hour break,ing up with their n.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ... The break finally ended around noon. people had the chance to rx and have a meal before the meat of the tournament finally began. Wee back, everyone! Did you enjoy the break? Umi Kaldrops greeted the audience. The break came to an end, and it was time for the reveal of the voting and the subsequent drawing for the quarter-finals. During the break, the arena floors had been repaired and upgraded to luxurious Mithril tes. Since rare marble didn''t cut it anymore, they really had to move on to rare metal. Apart from Umi, the final five of thest round were also assembled in the arena. Your votes are in! The audience has chosen their three champions to return for the quarterfinals and they are: In first ce with over 40% of the votes, Lyca, the Amazon, returns for the quarter-finals! Cheers rocked the stadium. Her great performance and sportsmanship in thest fight of the previous round had captured the heart of the audience and voided her forfeit. With a bright smile, Lyca joined the five already in the arena. In second with a whopping 20% we wee back Bercy, the Beast, Umi called out and the werewolf warrioress came up to the arena. She showed a roguish grin, as she waved to the audience. Who would have thought that she had this many supporters among the live audience and not just in the chat? Andstly, with 15% of the votes, we wee back Dowloon, the Shadows under the Rosebushes, Umi called out thest returnee. Dowloon, the Poison fairy, walked up to the arena with light steps and joined the row of participants. Unlike the other two, she didn''t react to the cheers of the audience. Seth felt a little disappointed, that Polter was not given the chance to return after he had such a great impact on the audience during the preliminaries. But it seemed like the hype had died down, with his loss. On the other hand, the impact of a beautiful woman would never let up. The audience had made sure to raise their woman quota for the quarter-finals. With the 8 participants for the quarter finals assembled, it was time for thest random draw the the Martial Tournament. Like before, each participant stepped forward to pull a lot from the pot in Rayki''s hands. Each of the eight drew a number, under the excited gaze of the audience watching with baited breath. With this, we have our match-ups for the quarter-finals! Umi announced once Lyca had taken out the second tost lot. The big screen in the stadium showed the pairings for the next round. Caleb vs Bercy Mathias Bartholomew vs Nam Lyca vs Ibelin Godfrey Dowloon vs Dark Wizard of Mug ... You now have another 10 minutes to make your bets in the stadium, before the quarter-finalsmence, Umi informed the audience. In the meantime, everyone but Caleb and Bercy left the arena. Caleb looked over at the woman in fur armor, judging her strength. The Dragon Knight felt like crying, seeing his money flow away from him. If he had faced Lyca or Nam at least, he could have given up gracefully, with a good excuse for Jane. The day before, when he intended to get his winning from the bet, he had a short meeting with Jane. The Lord of Minas Mar had... suggested that he would invest the money from betting into trying to win the tournament. In the end, he guessed it was still better that he was allowed to use the money to get items, than not getting the money at all. Apparently, betting on himself wasn''t 100% legal. He had still hoped to surrender in this round and save the items, maybe selling them offter in secret... Don''t look too much. I already have a suitor, she joked when she noticed his looks. Caleb couldn''t help but cringe. His luck was really the worst. He had already given up on winning the tournament, but since he had a rtively high chance against her when using potions, he was forced to waste his money on a lost cause, he really didn''t want to know what Minas Mar would do to him if his performance wasn''t convincing... Chapter 1117: Bercy vs Caleb Chapter 1117: Bercy vs Caleb While Caleb was busy with his own worries, the audience was shocked by the announcement that Bercy had a suitor. Wild spections fill the chat, especially. The general consensus by the time the short break ended was that it had to be Byron, the man who started flirting with Bercy in the second round. Consequently, the chat was filled with cries of injustice such as It should have been ME! Not him! as well as general curses for Byron and by extension, the Boulder Guild. Especially his guild was catching some undeserved strays. Everyone, it is time! The quarter-finals of the Pythian Games'' martial Tournament will finally begin! Are the participants ready? Then-Begin! Umi announced the fight, one the short break was over. Unlike previous fights, it didn''t immediately devolve into a slugfest of attacks. The werewolf and the dragon knight were vigntly watching each other. Even Bercy had dropped her trademark sneer, observing Caleb with a serious expression. The dragon knight had left quite an impression with his battle against Dumm Ting. Even though they were clear about the fact that he used a lot of external help and stimnts, the systematic deconstruction of a horrible hulk like Dumm Ting was impressive nheless. Bercy had to think twice before charging at him, who knew how many potions and scrolls he had this time? But he wasn''t the only one able to do so-. the beats seemed to have lost her patience and attacked, but she didn''t transform. ( Much to the dismay of her fans.) In human form she attacked with a saber, only to be blocked by Caleb''s fiery sword. Yet, neither of the two was pushed back. An indication that Caleb was not as doped this time, as during his fight with the cultivator. The audience also realized that Bercy had also started using performance-enhancing substances. Caleb showed about the same level of power as during the previous rounds, meaning that the untransformed Bercy on drugs, rivaled the dragon knight on drugs. The next step was obvious, Bercy Transformed to have a deciding edge in battle. But she wasn''t the only one able to change shape. While Bercy became a shapely werewolf and attacked, Caleb wore his mounts, blocking her with hisnce and wyvern armor. It was a battle of transformers and steroid abuse.... He was crying tears of blood, but he didn''t have a choice. Bercy had taken a page from his ybook, making the fight harder than it had to be. If he wanted to win, without rousing Jane''s suspicion of trying to save money, he had to use some scrolls. Once again equipped with Herculean Strength, he brutally overpowered the wild werewolf. Although she tried buffing herself up, too, but she couldn''t beat the mary power of her opponent. This novel is published on a different tform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Bercy was helpless against his onught and he won the fight within 30 seconds after he used the scroll. But there was no happiness in his soul. He had won, but at what cost? The scroll of Herculean Strength ranged between 200 and 350 Gold in the auction house. A little depressed he returned to his private room, where Jane was already waiting for him with a benign smile. She patted his shoulder as she passed by him leaving the room. Good Work, well done, she whispered into his ear before leaving. Was that all she came here for? To give her approval? He just wanted to throw himself on the sofa and wallow in self-pity, when he saw the room, and quickly forced himself to smile.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om SURPRISE! his party from his evaluation greeted him. he had not even noticed the decorated room and the people inside. his focus had been on Jane. You did it, you are in the semi-finale! Polter gave him a strong hug. The dwarf seemed genuinely happy for him. Caleb was d, that the shadow on Polter''s face was gone, ever since Caleb defeated Dumm Ting yesterday. It was hard to perceive, but he knew that his loss had still weighed on the dwarf before. Suddenly, he didn''t feel as regretful about the money he spent and the contracts he signed. Yeah! I am, aren''t I? Let''s celebrate a little for now and watch the rest of the fight, he answered his genuine smile with one of his own and joined everyone. There was no alcohol of course, since Caleb would have to fight again soon, but there were cakes and other drinks. Everything one needed for a calmer party. Had Jane organized all that... maybe she wasn''t so bad after all? ... With grim determination, she stepped into the arena. Her eyes focused on the scrawny man on the opposite side of the arena. It was her turn, again. She would not fail a second time! This was herst chance and she would not squander it. Especially since she had already used one of thest remaining Silver Sparrows she was able to retrieve from her ancestor''s hideout. The despair she felt after her loss against the knight, would not be in vain. They called you the Shadow under the Rosebushes, a snake hiding in the darkness behind dangerous beauty. I can see what they mean~ the old man cackled, jumping up and bncing on his staff. She didn''t answer. She had heard this often. What others called her, was not worth her attention. Dowloon was ready to do anything to revive her family and get revenge. No matter how underhanded it was. No matter the cost. Are you ready? Umi Kaldrops asked them. She nodded and the hidden weapons slid in her hands when she heard the familiar question. Circting the energy in her body evenly, she crouched like a loaded spring, as her eyes focused on the shadow below the opponent''s hat. After studying his previous fights, she had a general idea of his power and speed, as well as of the strategies he had shown so far. As the announcer gave the countdown, her mind cooled down and the poison in her body roused. Dowloon was sure that her opponent already had a way to circumvent her poison cloud, it seemed there were various ways in this system, that were able to counter her specialty, but it didn''t matter in this case. She didn''t rely on the poison cloud to finish him. Begin! The spring snapped and a cloud of needles and knives left her sleeves, but there were only two actually lethal throws, aiming for her opponent''s head and heart. All hit, especially the lethal ones, but as expected, her opponent had already switched ces with a mud double. Meanwhile, she had used her technique, to disperse the poison and energy in her body, creating a cloud of deadly poison to cover the arena. As the poison cloud spread, so did the mud on the metal tes that covered the ground. The feeling of the sticky sludge creeping up on her boots was disgusting, but Dowloon didn''t care. She had no intention to move anyway. Instead, she closed her eyes and focused on her other senses. She didn''t need to see with her eyes in this fog. A disturbance in the fog, a small gasp, a quiet squelsh of the mud. A silver needle was fired from her fingers. Oh! A surprised sound, the sound of wind, and the disturbance in the fog told her that she was close, but had missed by just a little. Haha, that was close! But even if you hit, your poison can''t harm me! her opponent cackled joyfully. Whether her skills would work on him, she would show him. With a small smile, she started getting serious. Chapter 1118: Dowloon in the Mud Chapter 1118: Dowloon in the Mud The Dark Wizard of Mug started growing suspicious. Ever since her first attack, Dowloon would only attack him periodically. She also didn''t move around, she didn''t even try to evade his mud pack. Had she given up all hope, because her poison fog didn''t work? She just stood there and- Her hand moved and he used to evade the attack like before, however- The notifications rushed through his mind. What? he eximed silently. He had not even noticed being attacked! Looking at his body, he found a silver needle sticking out from his thigh. Had it hit him just before he was able to evade? The system answered his question the moment it came to mind. this was why he didn''t notice being hit, he wasn''t even able to feel this little damage because he was drugged in the same move! Wait, when it was like this, what if-?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ... the notifications repeated and his poison counter became two when he just noticed what was even happening. he didn''t even know what the poison counter would do! Apparently it didn''t count as poison, or else the High Potion of Poison Resistance would have negated it. ... Again. He had not even seen her move! The counter went up to three. He couldn''t bother thinking of what the counter would do, he had to block these attacks. He cast Stone Skin, a spell that created a shell of hardened mud on his skin. Ping! His quick thinking was rewarded with the sound of a needle hitting him, not dealing any damage. Yet- The Poison Counter could not be avoided!How did the crusader win again? he asked himself before he came to a realization. The crusader had used a holy shield to block attacks, so her weapons never reached him. So the energy could probably only be transmitted over a short distance. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it With a quick action, he erected an earth barrier from the mud. Although it would cost him his mobility, Dowloon was also unable to move, covered in a thickyer of mud herself. As if to confirm his conclusion, there was a ding on the outside of the shield, but the Poison Counter didn''t change. Using the moment of calmness, he started to cast Rock Spike to finish the fight, however. Krt~ Krt~ Krt~ A weird sound on the earth shell kept disrupting his concentration. What was-? Something fell on his shoulder. Another, another...they moved- ... because of the poisonous smoke, the golems were barely able to record anything for the audience. The screen only showed the shadowy figure of Dowloon covered in mud and the Mud Wizard who had suddenly decided to raise an earth barrier. Things were calm... BOOM, the stadium shook, betraying the calm before. Shocked and surprised, everyone stared at the arena, where the ball of the Mud Wizard had just exploded in a huge fireball, erasing a great part of the fog and finally revealing the arena to the eyes of the audience, though they may have preferred not to see. Crying a screeching, a young man, barely a teenager, was rolling on the ground. his robes were singed and ragged. His flesh was tattered in many ces, as he was covered in a horde of insects, eating him alive. Many died in the explosion, but there was still a lot of wriggling on and under his skin. He kept screeching in pain, as he seemed to try to rip his skin off with his bare hands. make it stop! Take them out! Out! he whined, obviously deranged. People were shocked that the mysterious Dark Wizard of Mug was actually such a young boy(or at least looked like one), but they were even more horrified by his fate. Dowloon didn''t even move, as the young man became using low-tier fire magic to literally burn his own flesh off. Probably the most haunting end of a duel so far, was him burning himself,ughing in relief. When he ultimately died quickly after, the mud lost its cohesion and slid off Dowloon, leaving the Poison Fairy dirty but mostly unharmed. We have a winner! Dowloon goes on to the semi-finals, where she will meet Caleb! Umi btedly announced when the Mud Wizard''s death was clear. Dowloon shot a short nce at the burned corpse vanishing before she lifted her hand to ept the victory. Even she didn''t seem toofortable with how the battle ended. But how did she manage to cover him in bugs? Fin asked confused, when Dowloon left the stage, making space for the repair teams that prepared it for the next fight. The mud, Master Mountainmented on her question. Since she herself was covered all the time, it probably wasn''t hard for her to have her insects infiltrate it. When he covered himself in a shell of it, she effectively trapped himself in a nest, to be eaten alive, he exined. A-Are people that use insectsmon on the Cloud Continent? Jess asked slightly perturbed. There were a few others in the room, that attentively listened to the answer to that question. The fate of fighting and being eaten alive by insects was a special kind of terrifying end, nobody wanted to experience. Hmm, there are not that many in the XiGuang Province as it isn''t native to ournds. But I heard the practice of Gu or Bug Handling is more prevalent in other ces, partially even recing the practice of Qi gathering. Or so I heard, I wasn''t there myself, he answered the question vaguely. Although the answer was vague, the people especially interested seemed to calm down a little. Sounds like they are rare in the province? the cksmith asked to rify. Hmm, yeah. Now that you mentioned it, I wouldn''t have expected to see one here, Yu answered pondering. It seemed that Dowloon had some intriguing secrets, Seth may have been interested in, if they weren''t preupied with a foreign force threatening to crash their party. For now, the third battle was already about to begin. One could say these first two were just appetizers, now came the heavy hitter of the tournament. Lyca and Nam, both had already shown their prowess, and they were going against Ibelin Godfrey and Bartholomew Mathias respectively. Would they fight each other again in the semi-finals, or would there be a surprise? Would the new Mithril flooring survive their battles? The audience was moring to see what would happen. It didn''t take long for the arena to be maintained. Finally, the two participants stepped into the arena. On one side Nam, the mysterious cultivator who was revealed to be a half-rotten Corpse with a beating heart. On the other Bartholomew, a Chosen of Balder whose fighting style so far was closer to that of a cultivator, than a yer''s. Umi went through the usual procedures before- Begin! -announcing the start of the fight. Chapter 1119: Nam vs Bartholomew Chapter 1119: Nam vs Bartholomew Spectral swords whizzed through the air but they were unable to even touch the raving champion of light. Even Mantaman, the relic-rated sword, was unable to touch Bartholomew Mathias. As the two shed in the center of the arena, its de was stopped about an inch from his skin. The Chosen''s fist on the other handnded squarely on Nam''s Jaw, directly ripping away his mouth mask and reposing the rotten face beneath. The cultivator stumbled backward but didn''t seem to be affected any further. This was a warning. Don''t you dare to hold back against me, Bartholomew made it clear that he had held back on the punch, but the fight so far showed, that he decided to go all beginning with this fight. It was emphasized by the fact, that Nam''s bare de was unable to even touch him, much less his Qi des. In previous fights, the participants had been able to harm and cut him with some difficulty, although he healed quickly. Whether he took some buffs, or just held in the previous rounds, it was clear that he didn''t dare to underestimate the cultivator. I already know this isn''t your peak, so get- the fist fighter was interrupted as a de covered in aura zoomed past his face. He moved back just in time to evade, but still suffered a nick on the ridge of his nose. Although it healed shut at a visible speed, there was still a tiny drop of blood, flowing down his face like a tear. Fine.. the hollow, raspy voice that came straight from his throat said, as he charged at Bartholomew in a flurry of strikes. His moves, every changing, left virtually no gaps for a counterattack to disrupt his flow. Unlike Lyca, who wasparable in skill, Mathias was quickly pushed back. He could only do his best to dodge lethal strikes, a small wounds kept umting. ... this is the difference in experience and training... the half-rotten cultivator gasped, overpowering his unarmed opponent, even without unsealing the bandages. but he quickly had to eat his own words. As if to answer the small provocation, Bartholomew started being covered in light. Previously, he had used attacks that resembled light magic, which in many cases were only meant as distractions or diversion, but this was different. His whole body started to be covered by a bright glow, yet dim enough not to blind anyone. He simply became a white silhouette, like a reverse shadow, with his features and details vanishing. Even Seth, with the godly vision skill, was unable to fully make out his contours, as he kept moving. Just the visual effect would have been an annoyance to fight, the cksmith imagined, as the opponent''s limbs practically vanished from sight unless they protruded outside of his silhouette.It was not just a visual effect. When Nam attacked with his sword to interrupt the skill, it was deflected with a loud nk, audible across the stadium. Batholomew was easily bing 20-30% faster than before, as he used this chance to counterattack. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition. Hunched over like a boxer, he was raining quick, hard jabs on the sword cultivator''s body who seemed only able to haplessly receive the attacks, unable to react. The cksmith had no difficulty imagining why, nam was unable to see the attacks. While he and the audience had a side view, that showed Bartholomew''s posture and quick actions, his arms would be invisible to the cultivator, with the chosen''s torso in the background of the attacks. Nam on the other hand, was once again unable to ovee the shell of light with his sword. Seeing the futility of the current situation, the cultivator chose flight, turning the fight into a chase. A humanoid ball of light was pursuing the cultivator with the skull face across the arena. Bam! Bam! Bam! The bright strikes Nam barely evaded every time, leaving deep indent on the Mithril tes and stone below it. Bam! Bam! nk! It seemed Nam finally decided to face his opponent and stop the wanton abuse of the arena floors. His sword was covered in the fox mes and his eyes...were closed? It worked, Nam seemingly relying on his other senses, was now able to keep up with his opponent''s speed and attacks. He managed to parry all the jabs and strikesing his way, even counter-attacked. But even with the fox mes in addition to his sword aura was able to pass through the shell of light. It didn''t seem like he would be able to get around dropping those bandages if he even wanted to put an injury on Bartholomew. Unlike Lyca, the chosen of Baldur didn''t force Name to take the bandages off. The cultivator struggled against the fist for another five minutes, before he decided to unseal his power of his own ord. Once again, the broken, ripped open rib cage, empty apart from the rotten, desated offal, with the still beating heart was revealed to the world. At the same him, his aura almost doubled. The fight heated up again, as Nam started attacking faster and more vehemently. Haha, that''s it! the nk silhouetteughed joyfully when cuts and cracks started forming on the shell, wherever the burning de hit. In reaction to that, Bartholomew started firing zing whiteser beams at random intervals that kept burning clean holes in the fabric and flesh of his opponent. Enough! Nam eximed when one of these shots barely missed the heart in his ribcage. He was covered in a sickly clean aura and suddenly vanished for a fraction of a second. Anyone who blinked had missed in. In one moment he stood opposite the white figure, the next he was standing several meters behind it. Blood stained the pure white figure. The glowing arms had fallen to the floor, their stumps bleeding profusely and there was a thing red line forming across Bartholomew''s stomach area. In a split second, Nam had dismembered his opponent. However, the cultivator didn''t look good either. The close-ups showed the rot on his body slowly progressing, making its way across the face, and grasping for the beating heart in his chest. It seemed like he would die soon, but the fight wasn''t over, yet. Aser beam shot from the mouth of the figure behind him, directly pierced the heart, before the rot could im it. Bartholomew Mathias had shown his incredible healing capabilities before. Bisecting him, was not enough. You should have gone for the head- the chosen spat some nonsense right before he started puking blood and falling to the ground. It seemed that Nam''s attack was still wreaking havoc on his body, still, he had won. The body of the mysterious cultivator started fading away, as he was respawning in the medical wing, signaling the end of the match and making clear that they had a winner. It was a shocking oue. The odds had been clearly in favor of Nam, yet the chosen from Urth had managed to endure and ovee his opponent. To the left, Seth could hear Jane chuckle. This oue must have made a lot of money at the betting office. While people in the arena already started getting it ready for the next fight, the cksmith suddenly stood up. Where are you going, Seth? Mina asked, seeing him suddenly leaving. I just got curious about something and wanted to go take a look, the cksmith said with a smile.N?v(el)B\\jnn He had gotten curious about Cultivator Nam. The man was different from most of the other participants. Most of them were here for greed and fame. Some may have other goals, looking further than just getting their hand on a legendary weapon, but Nam seemed truly desperate for something. Seth couldn''t help but want to know, what he needed so desperately. After all, it didn''t cost him anything to find out what he would have asked for, if he won. Chapter 1120: Nams Wish Chapter 1120: Nam''s Wish The medical wing was silent. The healer had left, leaving the cultivator alone, sitting on one of the sick beds. Since the preliminaries, there had always only been one or two people here. it''s not like a lot of people got hurt in the stadium. Lost. He had lost and to make things worse, he once again felt the ursed poison rouse in his body. Just the short moment when he used his Qi to attack, instead of sealing the poison, was enough to tremendously worsen his condition. Despite reviving, not all the damage had been reset for him. Was even the dungeon god unable topletely undo this ailment? Trying to think of how to continue from he, he was deep in thought. He looked up when he heard steps in the door frame. A man wearing the casual attire of Urth strolled in and leaned back against the door frame. Nam could feel a pair of appraising eyes wander over his body. Observing the neer himself, the cultivator suddenly realized who hade to visit him on the sick bed. T-Tower Master? the foreign words awkwardly rolled over his mostly rotten tongue. The man who just came nodded. Wh- Why brings- What brings you here? he tried talking urthan, but ultimately gave up, reverting to his nativenguage. He knew that the foreign power the Urthans relied on was able to trante for him. He had still attempted to learn theirnguage for the past week. You seemed quite desperate to win the tournament. I different kind of desperatepared to the other participants. That was why I wanted to hear you out, the man said with an irresponsible shrug and a small smile ying around his lips. Nam stared at him for a while. Hear him out? Did that mean he might still have a chance? What do you want to hear? he pressed out, tasting the irony saliva in his mouth.What would you have wanted, if you won? It was a simple question, but it wasplicated to answer. Could he trust this man with his master''s work? Had he won, he would have had to answer it, but Minas Mar would have had the obligation to fulfill his wish. But he had not won. His master entrusted him with this on his deathbed.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om What if he told the Tower Master and he decided to get rid of him and steal it? it wouldn''t have been the first time, but with his current strength, would he be able to resist if they decided to take it? No, he would simply die in vain, trying to protect it... A token to work against... this, he said vaguely, pointing at his bandaged chest. Right, he didn''t have to mention the schematics here. he could just stay vague about it. Hmm, what is it? A curse? A poison? the man asked, curious. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. It''s a heaven-grade poison called the Deity Rending Poison that can even kill an immortal. Without these bandages, my life would have been long lost, he pushed himself and gave a longer answer. I need at least a heaven-grade artifact to ovee it. The Tower master''s eyebrows rose in surprise when he revealed that he was afflicted by a heaven-grade poison. Yet, he wasn''t overly shocked about the name, probably because he didn''t even know what the Deity Rending Poison was. If he knew that it was one of the most feared weapons on the Cloud Continent, his reaction would have surely been different. that fact that even the power of the dungeon god that revived him didn''t fully reset the effect of unsealing the bandages was proof enough. hmm, so what you would have asked for would have been a legendary item with a legendary poison-curing effect, the Tower Master summarized ponderingly. Legendary?... Right, it was what they called heaven grade. Name shook his head slowly. Curing it is practically impossible. But as long as it could weaken the poison, I could push it out using my cultivation. Healing the damage afterward will be easy, he exined. This was the n his master came up with, it was just that they couldn''t implement it before his master fell to the Deity Rending Poison. In all this time, he still had been unable to find a material that could handle the formation and a craftsman that could create the final product. The cksmith squinted at him suspiciously. He stepped right before him and bent slightly down to look him directly in the eyes. I feel that you are still hiding something from me, but it''s not actually important to me. The real question is, what can I get from you? How much are you willing to pay to make this happen? his voice sounded friendly but it had an edge. This was a clear-cut business conversation, but for some reason, Nam was not put off by that. He had talked with many money-minded sect elders and craftsmen who aimed for the legacy of his master. They just wanted to take advantage of him, aiming to get rid of him at the end of the deal. This was different. The Tower Master showed no interest in the materials or knowledge he had to offer, he was aiming for him. Nam found this open demand more trustworthy. At least, if the master of Minas Mar wanted him as a ve, he would actually try to help him survive. And as long as he survived there would be opportunities for him. Anything. I will give you anything you demand if you can make it happen, he answered decisively. There was no waver in his raspy voice. Whoa, that''s a little intense. You should be a little more careful with your words, someone with less character might have used this chance to take advantage of you, you know? Don''t worry, I offer you a fair deal, he said and waved his hand. With a jet of me, a parchment appeared in his hand. Nam had heard about these magical contracts the Urthans used. His eyes jumped back and forth, reading the unfamiliar characters on the paper. he didn''t know thenguage, but for some reason, he was able to understand them perfectly fine. The condition could be easily summed up in four points. Minas Mar''s Offer: An item that would help him recover from the poison one way or the other. The price: He swearing fealty to Minas Mar, the moment the items were provided and its effect was confirmed. Conditions to break the Contract: In case that he broke his oath, his soul would belong to the Tower Master. Apart from that, there would be a re-negotiation after 10 years if he wished to leave. The contract even allowed him to buy his freedom if he provided a heaven-grade material. He thought for a moment. His sect was already gone and hecked the skills to revive it. He was realistic about this, but he still had something to do. Thest point had him pondering. His soul was a high price, but it was only in case he broke the oath. Apart from that it was only about his service. Maybe- What if I provided a formation enchantment that will work against the poison from the start? he finally made the decision to try and trust the Tower Master a little, revealing the work of his master. The cksmith looked at him in surprise. So you can already provide a powerful enchantment? I would have to see, whether I can even use it. If I can, we can renegotiate the period for the contract, he said and tapped the contract. A new point was added which summarized what he just said. If the tower master was able to use the enchantment in the creation of the product to be provided, the contract time could be directly negotiated, instead of the re-negotiation 10 yearster. As long as he could survive, even 10 years wouldn''t be too long, and with this contract, he would also not lose anything. Either Minas mar seeded and he survived, or they didn''t and he would leave to seek a different way. Nodding, Nam signed the contract. Chapter 1121: Amazon vs Crusader Chapter 1121: Amazon vs Crusader While Seth was busy head-hunting, the stadium didn''t wait for his return. In the arena, thest fight of the quarter-finals had already begun. On one side was Lyca, who had be the favorite of the tournament thanks to Nam''s loss, in her fullbat attire. Her opponent was the holy cannoneer from Urth, the human gun turret Ibelin Godfrey. He too, didn''t waste time with the Gatling gun and went directly for the high-calibre machine gun. The roar of gunfire filled the arena, Under the golden dome covering the battlefield, even Lyca was forced to evade and shield against his onught. That''s what she gets for epting the Holy Duel, Brock, the Master of the Boulder Guild,mented on the stands. The crusader had requested the duel right in the beginning and the Amazon had agreed because she was interested in the fight. Don''t be so dismissive. It''s only been a few minutes since the fight started, I''m sure she has another ace up her sleeve, Gallwell, the leader of Gamma Resistance, reminded him. Although she seemed to be at a disadvantage now, it didn''t mean that it would stay that way. hah! You are just denying the truth because you bet on her, the other taunted him friendly. After their initial small rivalry about their people, they had hit it off once it was clear neither of their own would make it far in the tournament. They had spent the past days, watching the fights together with their guild members in a booth they reserved together. The two fell silent when a sonic boom erupted from the arena, overshadowing the gunfire. Their heads snapped back to the arena in synchronicity to see that Lyca''s spear had finally shed against the crusader''s shield. Sparks spewed at the ce they met, cracks could be seen spreading in the air. The holy barrier was being damaged, however, Lyca''s spear started slipping off the membrane, unable to fully break or prate it. Despite the shield that quickly rose to protect her, there was a tiny opening in her guard, which the serious knight used without hesitation. The sonic boom was followed by the crack of a single shot. Like tracer ammunition, it left a bright streak of light in the air like aser beam. It pierced the amazon''s torso cleanly, but only had enough energy to fall outside the arena, once it had drilled through her.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om What kind of skill was that? Brock mumbled shocked. He didn''t know a lot about cannoneers, but this looked simr to high-grade archer skills. Something like or It was the first time Ibelin had used an actual, perceivable skill with his firearms.In the arena, Lyca stared at the hole in her chest. Blood dripped from her lips, as her eyes were glued to the bloody hole in her hardened leather harness. Well fought, sheplimented her opponent without any regret. Her gaze lost its light and she started vanishing from the arena. ... Say what?! Lyca lost?! But I was only gone for like 10 minutes! Seth eximed minutes after returning to their booth. He just came back from his conversation with Nam. When he noticed that the arena was being repaired, he asked what happened, only for his friends to exin to him, that he missed thest match of the quarter-finals And even more shocking: That their Lyca was the one eliminated! It was hard to believe the powerful Amazon would lose twice in their tournament. it became more believable when they told him that she had epted the sacred duel from the beginning. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. At this point, the two favorites of the tournament were actually eliminated during the quarter-finals. The semi-finals would be held with three of the original winners and one returnee. This was an oue few would have anticipated. Well, at least I''m in time for the start of the semi-finals. How are our preparation for thating along? he asked Mary and Leana about the main act of the day. Yes. The golems are in position and we sent a few more scouts in the surrounding mountains. We also informed our allies and mercenaries about the proceedings, Mary answered. Everything is ready for the grand wee. Seth nodded. Now all they had to do was wait for the Grand Tournament, which had been degraded to a secondary climax to end and to see what their enemy had prepared for them. Shouldnt we go all out and crush them? If we show the world what we can do, Im sure nobody will pick a fight with us anymore, Fin asserted, still a little unhappy about their n. And steal Pythons show? You forgot these guys are just the cultivators working with demons and losers from the Scene. We have to stay vignt because of Spatia, Faenysmented roughly, but unexpectedly perceptive. Although her words were a little rough, she clearly pointed out the crux of the matter. Forces like Spatia or Chrona wouldnt get scared by their strength, they would just prepare better. Minas Mar decided to only use their new and secondary powers, leaving the stage to Python. If they only revealed what was necessary to deal with the situation, the true mastermind behind it all would underestimate them. What did Yu call it again? Marinating the chicken to eat the tiger, or something like that. In turn, they would have more leeway to react to attacks and buy more time to grow stronger. ... The day was not young anymore but it was still bright outside. The sun was still some distance away from the mountains in the west. The clouds that had covered the sky from time to time on the previous tournament day were gone. The sun shone down on the final three matches of the tournament. Wee back from the break everyone and wee to the semi-finals of the Pythian Games'' Martial Tournament! Just four contestants remain! I probably don''t have to repeat it for you, but for formality''s sake: Following the traditional tournament style, the pairing of the semi-finals results from the winners of the quarter-finals. Our first duel will feature the contestant you all voted back in, Dowloon, the Shadow under the Rosebushes, and the man who had struggled his way here all the way from the preliminaries, the yer of Dumm Ting, the Dragon Knight, Caleb! And the second match will feature the yers of favorites. Bartholomew Mathias and Ibelin Godfrey, the men who surprisingly kicked out our two favorites for the title, Lyca and Nam! Without further ado, let''s greet the participants for the first match. Dowloon, Caleb, pleasee to the arena; Umi Kaldrops announced the continuation of the tournament. Caleb stepped up to the stage, quite confident this time. After the battle with Bercy, he still had most of his prepared consumables left over and he had used his time since to prepare for his opponent. He went to re-watch the fight between the Mud Wizard and Dowloon, toe up with a counter. Since it ultimately became Dowloon he had to face, he had visited the mud wizard in the medical wing after their fight, to get some tips on how to beat her. The mage didn''t readily help him, but a few gold coins had loosened his tongue. This was how Caleb came to know about how the man died and the Poison Energy that the Poison Fairy had used on him. Although the wizard couldn''t tell him what the exact purpose of the counters was, the dragon knight now had an idea of what to expect. In his current state, he was buffed by Twinkle Rainborn, the goblin shaman from his former Team, pumped up with potions that raised his stats and he went out of his way to use a scroll that temporarily granted the Trait of Blood of Mithridates, which granted absolute immunity to all poison for 1h. With some luck, this and the new shield would be enough to win this match. Are the two of you ready? Umi asked as always. Caleb nodded, bringing out his new shield and his heat sword. He was ready. Dowloon on the other hand, brought out two simple, unadorned daggers. Would she fight in meleebat? What happened to her hidden weapon arts? He remembered her using wavy daggers in her fight with the crusader, but wasn''t that more of ast resort? She cracked her long, slender neck, before she also nodded, giving the signal that she was ready, too. Alright! Then let the match- BEGIN! Umi announced and Dowloon charged at him. Slightly surprised, Caleb raised his shield, to block her straightforward dagger attack. With the shield raised to block, it deployed a transparent bubble barrier around him. This effect was his preparation for her poison counter. The shield created this way had 75% of his own total defense andsted for at least a minute before it had to be redeployed unless it was broken. Dowloon''s simple dagger covered in a dark aura shed with his barrier. Sparks flew for a fraction of a second and- it broke! Her attack continued, directly hitting his shield, leaving a notch on its surface. Urgh! the dragon knight moaned a little displeased, as the force on the shield far surpassed what he expected based on her previous fight. Dowloon''s usually cold face showed a small, smug smirk at his reaction. You are not the only ones who can use medicines. Chapter 1122: Unknightly Fighting Chapter 1122: Unknightly Fighting She had already shown most of her skills in previous fights and she was prepared to face several counters now. She knew that using the same tactics would work twice in this ce. Like her opponent, Dowloon had studied Caleb''s previous fights and knew he would be prepared for the things she had already shown. What she had not done so far, was enhance herself. The fairy didn''t need to buy drugs. She was a master of poisons, naturally, she also knew a thing or two about medicines. Although meleebat wasn''t her forte, using it from the start had the element of surprise she needed to shake up his concentration. Breaking the membrane with her dagger, she spun around, aiming her other hand at him. Silver Rain, she mumbled and a torrent of silver needles exploded from her sleeve, turning the knight into a porcupine. Each needle wasced with her poison energy, invading his body. On a normal person, the energy would have acted like terrible poison and wreaked havoc in their body. Not so much on these people. Although she couldn''t rely on the poisonous effect, it had other uses. Since the poison was countered, she concentrated on invading her opponent with her energy. As long as she kept up with- The moment her feet were back on the ground, her back bent back like a spring, barely avoiding thence aiming for her heart. She could still feel the slight burn of a cut across her cheek and ear. Fluidly, she turned the evasion into an attack and kicked the knight in his armored stomach. Using him as a ledge she pushed herself off and made a flick backward on her feet, facing him again. None of her needles, not even her kick, had dealt any damage to her opponent, however, she could feel her power flowing into his body. If this is how you want to y, let''s reverse the roles, the knight suddenly said with a charismatic smile and dropped a vial. The ss contained broke on the arena floor and the liquid spilled, suddenly turning into a thick smoke that blocked her vision. Was he serious? Unfortunately for him, it didn''t work. Her power was already inside his body, she was easily able to locate him even without being able to see him. She stepped forward to charge at him when her foot hit something that rolled away. A ck, roughly apple-sized - O.0 Shocked, she rushed back as fast and far as she could before the hand grenade detonated sending shrapnel across the arena. How was this reversing roles?! -Chink!Kya! her scream echoed across the stadium. A terrible pain, as if her lower leg was cut off was coursing through her body. Looking at the ground, a metal contraption of spikes eagerly bit down on her leg, drawing blood. She had stepped on a trap! The knight had not just thrown the hand grenade inside the fog. Teary-eyed and slightly ashamed to have screamed at the sudden pain, she bent over to pry apart the jaws of the trap, only to be surprised by another small, ck thing rolling at her feet. In great hurry, she ripped apart the flimsy trap and ran away. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. After a moment, there was no explosion this time. Instead, She felt spikes pierce the bottom of her feet. Caltrops, the arena floor was littered in caltrops. The worst kind, with barbs on their tips. When did this man start fighting like a fiend? Where did he even get caldrops that could pierce the soles of her earth-grade shoes? Under pain, her resentment for Caleb grew and she used it tobat the pain of removing the caldrops from her feet. As she did it, she noticed that her opponent gave her an awful lot of time... What was he nning? She used a salve on her feet and waited with bated breath. Although the arena seemed to be covered in traps that were hard to see in the fog, her opponent had stopped attacking after the initial grenade and the second thing that didn''t explode... She had a suspicion. Could it be that Caleb, although he deployed the fog, couldn''t see in it either? The grenade was thrown right after it was deployed and the second thing only came after she revealed her position with a scream. If it was like this, then as long as she didn''t reveal her position, her opponent would be helpless. Dowloon on the other hand was able to know where Caleb was, and he had not moved from his initial position. Was he listening for a sign of her, like a spider in a? If it was like this, then she was able to win this. Suddenly, she felt a disturbance in the energy. Caleb had not changed position, but he moved. Shortly after she heard the sound of something falling on the arena again. Her heart jumped when she saw the ck thing not too far away from her, just close enough to barely see it. This time, she didn''t run. Even without properly seeing it, it didn''t seem like the explosive. She shuffled closer, silently evading stepping onto any more traps or caldrops. A stone?! What had fallen on the arena wasn''t a grenade, but a dark stone roughly the shape and size of one. Then, was the previous one also a stone? Not only had she let out an embarrassing cry, she even fled in panic from a stone. Her face burned a little. She would make him pay for that.N?v(el)B\\jnn ... Caleb is really going all out, but can he actually call himself a knight at this point? Lydia joked about the situation in the arena. The Dragon Knight was more like a trapper or assassin at this point, using all kinds of borate tricks. Although it wasn''t forbidden, Caleb was really excessive in using consumables. Seth didn''t condemn him, he found it actually quite interesting that someone thought of using such rtively simple means in this kind of high-level battle. The only problem with this strategy was, that it wasn''t very sustainable. The capital investments for this kind of effect were immense and didn''tst long, while it would lose effectivity as the enemy grew stronger or more skillful. This was why Seth preferred items with permanent effects, over temporary effects and consumables., as they didn''t need any further maintenance or cost. He also knew himself too well, he would just keep forgetting or get confused if there was too much to keep in mind. As they were talking things in the arena had taken a boring turn. Being barely able to see thebatants thanks to the golem cameras, the audience was quite calm, almost bored, as neither of them moved, ying mind games with each other. This situation persisted for a bunch of excruciating minutes when things in the arena began to change again. Nobody knew when exactly it happened, but the bright Mithril tes covering the arena floor seemed to have turned darker in the blurry fog and it kept doing so. The lowering of the golem down to the floor revealed the shocking truth, the arena floor was being covered in vicious-looking bugs! The only ce not covered in bugs was a small radius surrounding Caleb, as if they were avoiding him. or rather, his vision, as the dragon knight seemed unaware of the darkness hiding in his own fog. Momentster, the knight''s screams resounded. The ck mass covering the arena began to move engulfing Caleb in a tsunami of flesh-eating bugs. The scene was disyed on all screens, recorded by several golem eyes that had surrounded Caleb in anticipation of this scene. Biting and ripping at what little skin was exposed from his armor, the little critters seemed to be even more ravenous. Caleb slowly vanished in the mass of insects, only his panicky screams were heard. But these soon turned to an angry roar and the pile exploded. The fog and bugs were swept away, revealing the knight beneath. The eyes in Minas Mar''s booth suddenly flew to Seth, who pursed his lips in disapproval. It was clear what they wanted to say. Caleb suddenly looked like him. The Wyvern Knight was covered in mes, wearing them like armor. This had to be the effect of another scroll. Would Caleb also get the Burning Savage title? Wearing his mount as armor, covered in fire, Caleb was at his current strongest form. Would the two finally start fighting for real? Chapter 1123: Silver Sparrow Chapter 1123: Silver Sparrow Caleb could still feel the crawling on his skin, the pain, and the disgust. How deprived did one have to be to try and feed their opponent alive to insects? The wounds had mostly healed and the insects were burned away, but the trauma stayed. Still, he kept his cool, unlike when facing Dumm Ting and blowing his budget. The battle that ensued was an honest melee battle without much cunning. He had switched to hisnce to keep her at bay and used his shield and its barrier to guard against the showers of hidden weapons. He wanted to beat the cultivator in a fair contest of skill. To his dismay, they were evenly matched in meleebat. Despite having the better reach, he could not gain the upper hand against the poison fairy that kept agilely avoiding his attack. The fact that he had to avoid his own trap now, too, didn''t make it better. His problem was that he wouldn''t be able to keep going for much longer. The match stretched on, closing in on the one-hour mark, meaning that soon the Trait of Blood of Mithridates, which granted him immunity to her poisons, would vanish. At this point, he didn''t know what would happen. Even if she had kind of given up on using the poison cloud, the dragon knight was still afflicted by 7 poison counters. It was nine before, but when the bugs attacked him, the counters slightly decreased for some reason. But he couldn''t let his guard down, when his immunity was gone, he was guaranteed to lose. Ultimately, Caleb decided to use more of the items he had prepared for the final stretch. Even if it meant losing the finale, he could ept letting her win after what she did to him. ... Dowloon saw. The dragon knight had suddenly charged away from her, a piece of parchment appearing in his hands. She knew what that meant, she had seen his fight against the evil bloke. She gritted her teeth. She couldn''t allow this guy to grow any stronger. With a heavy heart, she made her final move. The Silver Sparrow would reap another life.... Seth had his eyes glued to Dowloon the moment the fight ended. it was the same move she used against April Vine. A special silver needle flung at incredible speed and exuding a peculiar power left her hand. Using Theia''s Vision he was able to observe the item in minute detail. With a sharp tip and small fletching protruding from its back, it looked like a crossbow bolt but the size of a knitting needle. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Legendary Phys. Damage: 2100 Qi Damage: 3000 Durability: 1/1 1. Ignore Defense 2. Deal 250% Energy Damage 3. Internal Rupture 4. +150% Poison Damage The legendary Silver Sparrow, the perfect assassination weapon for the assassin practiced in Qi and poison arts. With a low durability by design, it will explode upon entering the opponent''s body, bing untraceable after killing the target. Restrictions: One-time Use> Now Seth understood what Yu meant when called it a consumable heaven-grade weapon. By design, it was made to destroy itself creating the effect of Internal Rupture, turning the opponents inside to mush. The question now was: How many did Dowloon actually have? She used one against April Vine but didn''t use it against the crusader before, despite her imminent loss. Was she hesitant to use it because she didn''t have a great number of them, or was there a different reason she didn''t use it at the time? These were just a few quick thoughts that shot through his mind, as he watched the weapon unfold its horrifying power. Caleb''s armor, fused with his Wyvern mount could barely put up any resistance, as the needle prated the armor tes like a hot knife entering butter. With the speed and force that it flew, one would have expected it to straight up pierce the knight and exit his body on the opposite side. But as the description described, the needlepletely vanished after entering Caleb''s body. The man in question, who was about to rip a scroll, froze where he stood before a fountain of blood ejected from his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. (and maybe some other non-visible orifices). His internal organs had been ripped apart by the explosion of the Silver Sparrow and its shrapnel. He unceremoniously died, falling over after taking a final step. Caleb was the second one felled in the arena this way, April was the first. Would there be a third? In the finale, she would either meet Mathias Bartholomew, the chosen of Baldur, or she would have a rematch with Ibelin Godfrey, who won against her before. Would she be able to win the second time around? No matter what- We have our first finalist! Dowloon has in Caleb, the Dragon Knight, and moves on to the finale! Umi Kaldrops finally announced at the end of the one-hour-long fight. Now they were getting close to early evening with two more fights to go. Do you want to go meet Caleb, now that he lost? Seth asked Jane. After all, now that he was out of the tournament, he had some contractual duties to fulfill. You are right, it will be good if I brief him about our ns for today. I will also gather the other people we recruited, to give them an update all at once, she agreed with a happy smile. Since she was the one who made the - employment contract with Caleb, it was only fair that she got to boss him around. Good idea, I will leave you to it, he said his goodbyes. Since their ns forter had been rather spontaneous, they had almost forgotten to gather their mercenaries and friends and inform them about what was about to happen.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om They would have some time to prepare and they wouldn''t unknowingly interfere with their n by jumping out at the wrong moment. On that note, any messages from the lookouts? the cksmith asked Mary and Leana. But the two shook their heads. There is yet to happen anything in their hideout and we have not gotten any messages of other forces making their way here, yet, Luf gave a short status report. Muh, waiting for something even bigger kinda ruined my excitement for the finale, Finined a little sullen. She had sunken down on her seat, watching people on the arena floor, busy cleaning up all the stuff Caleb had distributed to catch Dowloon. Right, it''s a little like a spoiler, saying the result of the grand event isn''t even that important for the plot, huh? Seth sympathized with her but didn''t quite agree. After all, the whole reason for the whole event still persisted. Python was constantly gaining faith and Seth''s reputation had skyrocketed thanks to repeating what was up for grabs as the final prize. The Power of Existence he gathered per day had more than doubled since the tournament started, reaching about 500p a day in the past few days. His excitement over the quickly growing points was only dampened by the risen price for a level-up. Even if he saved up all his points, he was still weeks away from reaching lv.7 as a Legendary Forger. On the other hand, if he didn''t intend to rigorously save up, he finally had some points to experiment with upgrading materials, like Tored''s near-Adamantium-Alloy, or the materials of the Guivre. They were projects he had put on ice for the past weeks, as he worked on other stuff. He put these thoughts aside when things continued in the arena. The remnants of Caleb''s strategy were cleaned away and Umi had called the next two participants to the arena. Chapter 1124: Crusader vs Chosen Chapter 1124: Crusader vs Chosen The twobatants of the final round of the semi-final had entered the arena, facing each other. On one side was Ibelin Godfrey. looking like the spitting image of a crusader with his great helmet, mail armor, and unique surcoat. The only thing spitting in the face of the image was his modern weaponry consisting of heavy firearms and explosives. As if deliberately trying to be the exact opposite was Bartholomew Mathias, the chosen of Baldur, God of Light and Peace. Contrary to his opponent he was almostpletely naked and unarmed. Solely the pair of trousers he wore protected the billions of viewers from witnessing his dangly crown jewels. Despite looking like opposites, if onepared their fighting style so far, they were more simr than one would expect. Both relied on an overwhelming defense, reliant on holy skills while dealing powerful attacks in melee and long-distancebat. Ready? Then-begin! Umi announced the start of the battle. The chosen of Baldur immediately charged forward closing the distance. he was met by a hail of gunfire. However, the bullets could not prate his defense and bounced off. ultimately, his fist struck the crusader''s shield, creating cracks in the invisible barrier. Before you ask, I will not show you the courtesy of agreeing to a Holy Duel, Bartholomew informed his opponent, as he punched the shield several more times, ignoring the bullets bouncing off his abs. The Holy Duel, which allowed the crusader to fight in the name of his god and would increase his power tremendously, was the reason Ibelin was able to best Lyca in their previous fight. Although Bartholomew seemed like a battle freak, he was obviously not stupid enough to y on hard mode thiste in the tournament. Godfrey stayed calm, relying on the shield. Although it was cracking, it didn''t seem like it would burst anytime soon.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Hmm. Thank you for your consideration, but don''t worry. I will still win, he said with solemn confidence. The machine gun in his hands vanished and something else appeared in his hand, shining in a blinding golden light. Even Bartholomew was forced to let off of the barrier and take some distance Let me introduce you to my holynce, Ma Deus, he revealed and the light condensed. It was a massive machine gun as tall as himself and with a barrel as thick as his wrist. The upright standing firearm fell forward,nding on a materializing tripod.The moment it connected, an ear-shattering shot was fired that echoed through the stadium. The arena shook with dust rising into the air. Not even Seth was able to follow the zooming projectile that left the barrel, ripping a chunk off Bartholomew''s side without even losing speed. The chosen had tried evading in thest moment, preventing it from piercing his stomach. Godfrey was quite unique on Urth, as he was one of the few who had not converted to the ways of the System. One could say that he was the peak of the way of Y-City, where people had been forced to strive for a fusion of magic and science. As technology stopped working in Ypselon at the beginning of the apocalypse and they refused outside interference from the Pathworks because of the early invasion of the Muir Empire, it was the only ce where people like Ibelin coulde from. Although Beta had a simr fate in the beginning, they fell too early. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the vition. How much he would have liked to appraise Ibelin''s guns, but they had all been enchanted with a power that blocked appraisal. The cksmith would have loved to know where these guns came from, or whether the person who made them was even still alive. He would have already been happy learning how they blocked the appraisal. ording to Leana, there were several ways to block appraisal, the mostmon being a specific skill being involved. However, these skills were incredibly rare and books or scrolls containing them were not even sold on the Auction house. At least there was none, ever since Seth had gotten his VIP status. Allegedly there were also some enchantments with the effect, but not even the Chrona Empire had someone who knew an enchantment for blocking the appraisal of an item. It was just a short thought, that was drowned as the machine gun did what was expected of it, firing. Umi''smentary, the murmurs of the audience, everything fell silent as Ma Deus started speaking in rapid fire. A dust storm rose from the arena as the stadium was shaken by the guns roars and the stream of bullets pelted Bartholomew. Ayer of light covered the champion''s body, barely deflecting the stream of bullets, as he was helplessly pushed back under the impact of Ibelin''s attack. With a roar, Bartholomew exploded in a nova of searing light, blowing away bullets and Ibelin. The radiant light made it hard to look at. Unlike in the previous fight, when he became a well-defined silhouette of white light, the light was spread out, actually hiding his figure in the brightly illuminated area. Haha, how about this? Can you still hit me? Bartholomew taunted confident in his skill. It was true, not even the audience far away was able to see him with their bare eyes. But Ibelin stayed calm, as he pulled something from his inventory. Dont worry, I can deal with it, he said smugly, putting on a pair of shades, on top of the great helmets eye slits. Equipped with his pair of shades, the holynce Ma Deus started roaring again, breathing out shower after shower of holy high-caliber bullets. They vanished in the brightness, many ying a rapid stato when they exploded on the opposite side of the barrier that covered the arena and protected the audience from the powers of the participants. Urm, do you think the barrier can hold on? Mina suddenly asked a little concerned. She had zoomed in on the perspective of a golem eye, that was observing the barrier, which was slowly forming cracks after being repeatedly shot in the same spot by the overblown weapon. Dont worry, even if it breaks, thats just the firstyer, Luf informed her calmly. The wise death bride had already thought of this. Like the arena floor covered in , the barrier had also gotten an upgrade during the transition to the final battles. Although they were prepared, it didnt mean that they would have expected participants below level 100 and without legendary items to exert this amount of damage. It would have been a reason for concern if Ibelin had the buff on top of firing the holynce. At that point, he may have posed a threat to the barrier and maybe even the audience. However, this was not the worst-case scenario. The barrier cracked, but it didnt break. Ma Deus dealt just enough damage to ovee the self-repair function in that small area. Watching the spectacle, Seths curiosity about the maker of those firearms only grew. After all, who was able to create such powerful armaments and be able to stay hidden from their eyes? Well, it wasnt like they had been actively looking for a gunsmith, but one would have expected to hear about them through rumors. Sr Spear! a shout suddenly echoed through the arena and a giant spear materialized from light shot toward the crusader. It seemed like Bartholomew finally decided to counterattack. The magic attack the size of a bus crashed into Ibelins invisible barrier, finally crushing it to smithereens and directly hitting the holy cannoneer. Tightly grasping his holynce, Ibelin was catapulted away and rolled a little further across the arena floor before finallying to a halt. I finally got through the shell, Bartholomew spoke, breathing heavily. The light had dimmed and revealed the severe bruises and wounds that covered his body. But Ibelin didnt react. The crusader was mumbling something, lying on the ground. that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy. 1. What are you mumbling about? Is it thest prayer for your god? Bartholomew asked with mild mockery in his voice. 2 the solemn voice of the crusader was transmitted through the speakers in the stadium, confusing the audience. Why was he counting? Batholomew realized that his counting probably didnt mean anything good, but by the time he wanted to make distance, it was toote. 3. He threw something at the Chosen of Baldur, who was not standing far away. The whole arena was swallowed by an explosion. Roaring mes and ck smoke surged against the barrier that barely managed to contain the final attack of Ibelin Godfrey. Umi Kaldrops was spared from suffering, as she was just outside the barrier when it happened. It was impossible to see what was happening in the arena. All they could do now was wait for one or both of them to appear in the medical wing, or for the smoke and fire to subside. Chapter 1125: Double Wipeout Chapter 1125: Double Wipeout The smoke had yet to dissipate when the message came from the medical wing. Batholomew Mathias had just respawned in the sick area, meaning Ibelin Godfrey was the winner of this duel.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Umi lowered her altitude to look for him and announce his victory. With a was of her microphone, a strong gust swept over the arena, revealing that- it was empty! After the shocking revtion, she got another notification from the medical wing. I just got the notification, both contestants have now appeared at the medical wing! However, Ibelin Godfrey appeared a full two minutester, making him the victor of this match. Ibelin Godfrey moves on to the finals! she called out. The cheers of the audience were mixed, as the fight ended in a double wipeout, with the winner not present in the arena. Ibelins Victory also meant they would get a reprise of a previous match. In the final, Dowloon and Ibelin would meet each other once again on the field of battle. Would the Poison Fairy be able to ovee her previous defeat and ultimately be the Tournament Champion? Would the crusader continue his winning streak? What intrigued Seth about this was that he had no idea what either of the two would ask of him as their prize. He was no gun smith and Ibelin seemed to have his source for a good firearm, so what would he wish for from a cksmith? Dowloon used a wide array of weapons, but her main means of attack was her poison. Neither seemed likely to ask for a weapon, so maybe it would be armor? Or something along the lines of a token, as Nam had asked of him. The half-rotten swordsman had given Seth the parchments containing the schematics of his master, but they were not like a skill book or an enchantment scroll that allowed him to directly learn it. The cksmith would need to study them closer, to adapt them to the system skills. He would probably have to ask Grant May, their in-house enchanter, to cooperate with him on this endeavor. He had already some experience with the methods of artificers from the Voracious Cloud Continent, because of the booklets Yu had given way back when they first met. Alison worked a lot on adapting the recipes to the system and finding fitting ingredients, creating her best potions to date. Seth had not bothered trying to do the same. Although he had no full understanding of the simple artificer enchantments in the booklet, their description made them out to be not much better than the enchantment he had already known at the time. Back then, he rather concentrated on raising his proficiency, than spending time on research.However, just a cursory nce at the schematics Nam had given him, convinced Seth that this blueprint was on the level of a legendary enchantment, made up of a mix of engravings and enchantment formations. If Seth seeded in replicating it in a way that was recognized by the system, it would be a huge addition to his repertoire as a legendary forger. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. If Dowloon managed to win her rematch, would she bring him something even more interesting than Nam? Maybe the blueprint for those silver bolts, the Silver Sparrows? Although they were only one-time-use, the one use one got out of them was one hell of a use. If he managed to produce them in numbers, they could be a great trump card for assassin yers. Especially the agent under Cade would profit a lot from such an ace if the production wasn''t too costly. However, before he dreamed any further of getting his hands on even more good stuff, they had to see the tournament and the Pythian games, to an end. The final match would herald the grand climax of the day, ording to the info they got from their scouts. Currently, Dowloon and Ibelin were having a 30-minute break in the medical wing to recover for the final. Meanwhile, they had the finalists of the musician contests give another show, enchanting the audience. It was the calm before the storm, literally. ... ----Cavern in the Mountains south of Little Gamma--- Safely hidden in a dark corner, behind a stack of shipping crates, he sat and watched the live feed of the golem eyes. Although the spy golems were great at secretly recording, their ability to transmit the data across wide ranges was deliberately cut short. The magic signal could have allowed them to be detected, this was why he stayed close by to collect the data and transmit the files once something of importance happened, and it seemed like something was about to happen. On the floor of the vast cavern teams of cultists were getting busy, running left and right. They prepared the formation and ced materials in specific ces of the drawing. The foci of the magic circle. With the final fight around the corner, it seemed like they also became serious. He watched them on the screen, as the markings carved on the ice filled with blue light. As the light grew brighter, the lines drawn on the floor grew thicker. This was different from the teleportation circles he had seen at Minas Pn or the system church. In the end, all lines had fused together into a big circle- No, it was a gate like the entrance of some dungeon. A spatial passage had been created in the ice cavern below the cier and didn''t take long before the first people passed through. Appearing first were cultivators riding on swords and simr devices. They headed straight for the ceiling, destroying it to make space for what followed them. Next were small flying vessels, not dissimr to airships or space shuttles, and then his jaw dropped. The ceiling had to go, for what appeared now. Huge flying ships. They had neither sails nor oars, but there were literal ships and barges levitating in the air. They had vivid carvings of vicious beast faces at their bow and devices like cannons lined their nks. A flying fleet was ascending above the cier. Hurriedly, hepiled was he had seen and was about to leave the cave to send the message, when the mother of all ships passed through the gate. A giant dragon-faced bow surfaced from the whirling energy portal, a massive cannon in its maws. It was rising vertically, straight into the sky. It was so big that there was not even a finger''s breadth between the edge of the portal and its nks. This thing was so big, that it looked like it could have been carved from a crown-scraper tree, so the size of a big containership. Its deck was overflowing with imposing people in bright robes. He could only stare at it until finally, the back was slowing exiting the gate. But at this point, his eyes were no longer on the ship, but on the man sitting on a throne at the back of the massive flying ship. The agent was terrified by looking at the man. Even at this distance, his aura was like facing a boss double his own level or more. An insurmountable wall, certain death if face directly. He had to leave and send the message! He had to pry away his eyes! But he could, his gaze was still on the many finely chiseled features, that showed an indiscernible age when the man suddenly turned his head. With leisure, the elder looked to the side. Their eyes had locked! The agent could have sworn that he saw him. But the terrifying, piercing eyes swept over him like nothing happened. Bathed in cold sweat, he finally regained the power over his legs and left the cavern in a hurry. Whether he saw him or not, he had to contact Minas Mar about this! Chapter 1126: They are coming Chapter 1126: They areing I just got the report, it seems they areing, Leana informed the group sitting in the VIP lounge. They had invited Polter and the others over for a briefing, while they waited for the final match to begin.N?v(el)B\\jnn Everyone watched the footage of the flying ship passing through the portal. Especially the scene of thest ship and the figure sitting on the throne had everyone holding their breath. Although it couldntpare to Epsilons mother ship in size, it was still humongous and the aura of the old man was peculiar and somewhat familiar to a few of them. Thats the master of the Silk River Sect, that little freak actually dared toe over, Master Mountain eximed when he saw him. Daring to disy his aura in a foreign world Hao Peng, the master of the Snow Falcon sect mumbled at the sight. Even if he stepped into the realm of an immortal, is he not afraid of the world''s suppression? heined. Urths World Will is only just awakening, Yu whispered to him. Seth had an inkling about what Yu meant, but the realization of why the mans aura felt so familiar pushed itself into the foreground. It was simr to when they faced the undead ancient dragon, the Stoorworm, and when he interacted with Apollo for a moment. Immortals from the Voracious Cloud Continent would roughly equate to a legend in the system. And that was what he recognized, the aura that could onlye from someone with the power of a legend. The cksmith didnt like to admit it but realizing that they would be facing an actual legend in this battle, shook him. They had legends on their side, like Ceres and the Guardian Tree, but they werent prepared to fight a being on their level. Python grew a lot, to the point that Seth didnt even know how strong she was now, but he didnt get the notification that she became a legend or ascended to be a god, yet. She had fallen into a kind of hibernation after swallowing the demon.Of course, he heard that there were differences in power levels for legends, just like how different paths had different oues, but he doubted a legendary cultivator would be weak inbat. Dont worry, if your wyrm cant take it, we will step in, Hao Peng, the old man who had pleaded with him for help to find his granddaughter just a few weeks ago, reassured him. Was his worry that obvious? Thanks, the cksmith tanked him with an appreciative smile. Seth was very confident in Minas Mars power, in general. But his confidence had wavered with the sudden reveal of their enemys power level. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. It wasnt because he thought they couldnt beat them. Seth was selfish, He wasnt worried about being able to beat them, but about having to make sacrifices to do so. He wasnt ready- No, he wasnt willing to sacrifice anything. He invested quite a lot into his friends and the people of Minas Mar, and not just material things. Even their most recent allies, he wasnt willing to throw out to die. Others could throw their men into a desperate fight, to eke out a vain victory, but what the cksmith wanted was a clean and crushing victory, where only their opponent suffered losses. They could all go suck a big one, but he wasnt willing to sacrifice anything for this cruel world. Wee to our grand final! You all have watched the past five days in excitement. The brutal fights, the bloody destruction, everything led to this moment. And thanks to our audience, we actually get to watch a rematch! Please greet our finalist, Dowloon, the Shadow under the Rose Bushes, and Ibelin Godfrey, the Holy Cannoneer! Umi Kaldrops announced shortly after the break ended. It had be evening now. The sun was growing closer to the mountain range in the west and its warm light had a tinge of orange. It was the perfect setting for the final showdown of two fierce rivals. Umi gave the two a moment for trash talk, but neither of the two was the talkative type. When she realized that neither of them would be willing to jump over their shadow and give the audience a show, she continued with the normal procedure. Are you two ready? she asked and her question was answered by their nodding. Then let the final fight of this Grand Tournament- BEGIN! she eximed, apanied by the roars of the audience and the firearms in the arena. The moment the battle began, bullets filled the air. But not just bullets, but also poison smoke. At first, it looked like a redo of their original fight, but the sudden sound of impacts in the fog, which even overshadowed the gunfire said otherwise. Every time an impact rang, the smoke would part, revealing the scene of Dowloon, smashing her daggers into Ibelins shield. Like in her fight with Caleb, she was seeking a direct confrontation with Ibelin. This time she was not na?ve enough to agree to a holy duel. On top of that, it seemed that she was also using doping again, as her movements were even faster than when fighting the dragon knight. Especially her speed. It was thanks to her risen speed, that she had no problems evading Ibelins bullet spray. Even at close range. Having little to no vision and faced with the high-speed foe, it seemed like the first time that the crusader truly experienced difficulties. Every impact of Dowloons left a spiderweb of cracks on his barrier. Although the cracks mended after a while, they had already seen that it could be ovee. Maybe Bartholomew Mathias seeding in smashing the invisible shield, had given the Poison Fairy the confidence in this strategy. Yeah, get that turtle! Gallwell cheered for Dowloon. As an aggressive man, he didn''t like the way Ibelin fought, albeit he had to admit that it was effective. Things looked good for her. The only worry was Ibelin''s holynce. There was no telling whether Dowloon couldpete with that. To call him a turtle, when even you would run from his Ma Deus... Brock scoffed sarcastically. The master of the boulder guild thought calling a tank a turtle was ignorant. Hmph! I could take it...probably...Gallwell said defiantly, but he piped down a little. The fight had not been on for a long when a stadium staff approached their seat. They were not hard to recognize in their ck and yellow uniforms. Mr. Gallwell, Mr. Arrison. the Lords of Minas Mar ass for your presence in the VIP.-lounge of Minas Mar, they said with a slight bow. What? He wants us to visit them in the middle of the final? Gallwell eximed peeved. Obviously, he wasn''t willing to just drop watching the final battle. Brock was simrly unhappy: I was ordered to inform you that it is concerning today''s climax, they added mysteriously. A simple listener may have thought it was about the final or the prize ceremony after that. But the two men had already been informed about what was going to happen today. Minas Mar asking for their presence, probably meant that the ns needed to change or something unforeseen happened. Alright, let''s go, Brock didn''t resist much and agreed. Fine, I''m following... Gallwell said, still a little moody. Chapter 1127: The Final Chapter 1127: The Final It was an unexpected but not unwee chance for retribution. She could still vividly remember the feeling of shrapnel and bullets biting into her flesh. Maybe because she just had a fight that reminded her of the painful memory, but that didnt matter. This time, it wouldnt end like that. This time things were different. After her loss, Minas Mar had asked her, just like the other losers, to stay at their rooms in the stadium until the finals began. It was for the voting, the chance to re-enter the battle. She had spent that time analyzing her fight over and over. Dowloon had learned her lesson. She had been too arrogant when she first entered thispetition. The preliminaries had given her a false sense of superiority. Her opponents had dropped like flies without her even showing a fraction of her abilities. Things had changed after she entered the true tournament. Every opponent had brought her to the limit, forcing her to reveal more and more of her trump cards. She had even revealed her bug-handling techniques. She even used two of her Silver Sparrows. However, she didnt regret it. It was all worth it as long as she won. Hoping for that sliver of a chance to re-enter during the quarter-finals, she had looked into all her possible opponents, but Ibelin Godfrey especially. It was the reason she even got a new pair of daggers, retraining her dagger arts. It was the reason why she adopted the tactics of Urthans, doping herself before the fight. She had not expected to use this strategy on the dragon knight first, it was actually the n to overwhelm Ibelin if she happened to meet him. Although Ibelin had revealed his worrying holynce in the battle with the light man, she didnt waver.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Her unadorned daggers smashed into the invisible shield, creating huge spiderwebs of cracks. She knew that she was physically superior to her opponent, with the doping even more than before. This was why she was a little disappointed that it didnt go like when she faced Caleb, where every hit was able to smash the barrier. She knew that her previous tactic of dissolving it wouldn''t work. She had to do with brute force. Still, the performance of these daggers was far above what she expected. She had asked for a pair of unadorned des from thedy they called Jane and bartered several bottles of poison for them. Dowloon had never expected to get a pair of weapons that would be able to handle her poison Qi for this long. This meant they had to be at least earth-grade weapons. She had been very depressed after her original was cracked and unusable after the first fight with Ibelin. Had she known she could get something this good she may have asked for something with more ir.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. As she grew confident in the weapons, she infused more and more Poison Qi into them. The more she could put in an attack, the more would stay in her opponent''s body. Injecting her spiritual power into him was her most cost-effective chance to win. Dodging the bullet storm, it was hard to hit the same ce several times, as Ibelins previous opponent did. She alsocked the kind of defense to just ignore these feisty little projectiles. No matter how hard-hitting the same ce every time was, it was the only way she could have weakened the barrier enough. Despite her increased power, it was hard to keep up with these foreign weapons and the power overflowing in her body, because of the pills she swallowed. Dowloon could barely control the energy coursing in her Qi veins, trying to eject as much as possible through the daggers. Had she maybe taken too much in preparation for this fight? This was probably the most she could take without- her mind halted for a moment as she had a realization. At the end of this moment, this short hesitation, she suddenly stared down the barrel of the massive gun Ma Deus. The smaller roars had fallen silent, as a massive boom shattered her eardrums. There was no time to dodge, instinctively she just tilted to the side. Searing pain filled her mind and numbed her thoughts. She could no longer feel the left side of her face. The pain, the hot streams of water flowing down her neck, the influx of cold air flowing through her cracked mrs - She was probably missing half her face right now! Tsk, you shouldn''t have dodged. it would have been a painless, a merciful, a beautiful death I could have devoted to god, Ibelin scoffed disappointed as he moved the rifle to aim at her again. Painless... Merciful... Her eyes regained focus and her mind regained rity when these words sank into her consciousness and stoked a fire. Who wanted that? Did she ask for that? How dare he look down on her like this, to even stage her death!? When he wanted to end this in a clean, and beautiful victory, she would do her worst to win as ugly and messy as possible. Her own ideal of the fight was gone. She struggled, tumbled, and rolled over the ground to evade the next shot, that drilled a hole into the metal tes covering the arena floor. She let go of a dagger to pull out jade bottles and vials from her cosmos pouch. Pills and poisons were randomly shoved into her face. Dowloon had realized one thing, to win she didn''t have to survive, she just had to kill her opponent before she died herself. The pills and poisons liquefied on her tongue, fusing into her body and spiritual sea. Like a roaring river, the force pushed through her, wrecking her body, but bringing tremendous force with it. Her hand gripped the remaining dagger tight, her bones and sinews creaking under the strength. Her eyes trailed over to the crusader, who was already aiming at her again. The moment he fired, she was gone. With explosive strength, she used her movement art to practically vanish from his sight. She strained her body and allowed the poison Qi to drill outward, through every pore of her skin. She became a shooting star, with a trail of poison, cloaked in her own poison smoke. The dagger was now not just surrounded with poison aura, but dripping with liquid, materialized from her power. With umted speed, velocity, and strength she stabbed the barrier moments after the third shot. There was an audible cracking, the tip of the dagger, at the center of a massive spiderweb of cracks, had pierced through! Finally, she was able to break through the barrier. Just the tip was inside the barrier, but that was enough, as the tiniest drop of liquefied poison Qi turned into a thick fog that filled the bubble of her opponent. Dowloon knew that her opponent seemed immune to poison, but she also couldn''tpletely believe it to be without effects. She had watched the vision they called a recording of theirst fight over and over. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could swear, that Ibelin was not as unharmed after the bath in poison as it had seemed to her back then. Had she kept using her poison and not epted a stupid duel, she may have still won in the end. This mist was created from the utmost concentration of her overflowing Poison Qi. If this had no effect, then- A violent coughing from the inside confirmed her thoughts. She could feel her energy invading his body. Chapter 1128: The Final (2) Chapter 1128: The Final (2) Things became a little crowded in the VIP Lounge of Minas Mar. They had assembled all their coborators, mercenaries, and allies currently present in Little Gamma for a final briefing before the climax. Since things had slightly changed, knowing that there was someone of legendary status among the enemy, their n also needed corrections. This was why they had also called in local leaders like Gallwell and Brock to prepare thoroughly as a backup. There were many grim faces upon the reveal of the full extent of the enemy force they were expecting. To hear that someone with a legendary status was among the attackers shocked many of them. After all, people like Gallwell or Brock had only just stepped on the Path to Legend. Wouldn''t it be more sensible if we took the fleet and met them before they reach Little Gamma? Joannia, the fleetmander of Epsilon suggested. As someone from a ce with next to no contact with a system force, it was her first time hearing of legends. When the path to legends was mentioned, she couldn''t even hear it, since she had yet to reach lv.90. This was why could suggest such a bold tactic, unafraid of the extent of the power of a legend, which was treated like a nuclear weapon by forces like Spatia or Chrona. No, we are in a better position if we defend here, than facing them out there, Monique exined their decision. If they met them on the open field, or rather the open mountain range, they would lose their advantage of having the Guardian Tree in their back. It would also go against their original n, which was to give Python another stage to act as the protector of Little Gamma. As they talked, the fight in the arena took its turn, with Dowloon gaining the upper hand. The surprising turn of the fight was appreciated, but overshadowed by other news, as the notifications from the scouts came in, in the middle of the briefing. The swarm of cultivators and their fleet hade to a hold among the mountains south of Little Gamma. Hidden from the view of the Tree Station, it seemed like they were waiting. Waiting for the right time to act. Alright, I think everyone should have understood the situation at this point. Let''s finish the meeting quickly so everyone can go and do their tasks, Seth announced. Since they were waiting for the right moment, they still had some more time. At least until the final of the grand Tournament ended.And someone has to inform Python to finish up. ... has failed to resist Deadly Poison!> has failed to resist Deadly Poison!> has seeded to resist Poison Energy!> Ibelin was coughing heavily as he drank a healing potion to offset the deadly poison for now The effects were much worse than thest time he faced her. How could she use such a terrifying poison? This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Last time he managed to hide the effects, but it was toote now. He should have prepared something to negate poison, instead of relying only on his skills. But he felt it would have been wrong to just chalk it up to being not prepared. His opponent had made a terrifying transformation. It was not just her outward appearance that turned from theposed and fair poison fairy into a figure oozing terrifyingly deadly poison after he shot off half her face. Her fighting style had be much more terrifying in these past few days. When she put her mind to it, he stood no chance against her in a melee fight without the buff of the holy duel. He had seen her fight with Caleb, but experiencing it himself hit differently. Especially, since she started oozing poison, she had gonepletely berserk. Throwing around Ma Deus, he tried to shoot her when she stormed at the barrier again, but he couldn''t keep up. The pain in his throat and eyes made it hard to see and every tick of the poison caused pain across his body. When he managed to aim, she simply vanished into the smoke and came from another ce. Once again, the dagger pierced the barrier and sprayed in poison. has failed to resist Deadly Poison!> has failed to resist Deadly Poison!> has seeded to resist Poison Energy!> Urgh, the poison actually stacked, forcing him to cast God''s Grace, a heal over time, on himself, to stop his quickly bottoming out health bar from falling to 0. If things continued like this he would have to- Boom! Another miss! No, notpletely! He had grazed her hip this time. it seemed like her reaction had dulled. Then- Crack! has failed to resist Deadly Poison!> has failed to resist Deadly Poison!> has failed to resist Poison Energy!> His barrier was pierced again, and the poison was stacked again but his resistance had failed. A sudden pain pierced his pain, like a terrible migraine and his whole body ached. The vertigo had him almost throwing up his lunch. Was this the poison energy wrecking his insides...?n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Boom! A miss. he had a hard time standing straight, not to mention aiming. He gritted his teeth, if only he had put some effort into learning more holy skills. He doubted he would have such a problem now if he had learned or . As things stood, there was no way he could win this the normal way. Who would have thought he would use this twice in the same day...? Reaching into his inventory, an imperial orb appeared in his hand. The holy hand grenade. Although he wouldn''t survive, but it would cause much less damage to him than to Dowloon. His hands grabbed the cross-shaped pin when his barrier suddenly shattered. Without deterrent shots, the poison fairy had finally seeded inyering the damage and breaking through. Despite her efforts, it didn''t matter anymore. She couldn''t stop him from pulling the - No you don''t! she eximed, her gaze so bright and wild it burned into the back of his eyes, just before he was blinded by a bright streak of silver light. He felt the terrible pain of something piercing his guts, followed by a burning heat and pain radiating through his whole body. It was just a fraction of a second before blood shot from ALL his orifices and he lost consciousness. ... Godfrey fell to the floor, lifeless. She had done it. In a panic, she had used herst Silver Sparrow to end Ibelin, but it had paid off. He was unable to activate the final weapon! The golden ball rolled from his dead hand, the cross still stuck in it. A hot wave of relief washed through her aching body as the realization hit her. She had won! She had actually won! The frustration, the sorrow, the sadness if her original loss were not for naught. Ultimately, she had seeded. She canceled her technique and the poison fog dissipated, slowly giving view of the lifeless body of Ibelin Godfrey. That was slowly vanishing as he respawned in the medical wing. It was the irrevocable sign that she had truly won, something nobody could take from her now. ..we have a winner! Dowloon is the champion of the Grand Tournament and the final of the Pythian Games! She was able to hear Umi Kaldrop''s announcement in the distance as her consciousness slowly slipped away. All tension had left her body and the substances she had taken were running their course. A smile appeared on her face at thest moment before everything went dark. ... The winner was announced, but the fleet of cultivators had yet to move. What were they waiting for? Since they didn''t crash in right after the fight, Minas Mar had to continue the event as nned, which meant that once Dowloon was revived and healed, they would hold the prize ceremony. As the sun slowly lowered and set the sky aze with a fiery sunset, the workers prepared a simple pedestal on the arena. Nobody fixed the floor, as they didn''t want to wipe away the proud sign of the final battle. This was the battlefield of the two finalists, this was where the strongest would be given their hard-earned rewards. Giving them the rewards, was Seth''s job, as the Tower Master of Minas Mar. Since he would have to appear on the stage to give everyone their prizes, maybe this was the moment the enemy was waiting for. Chapter 1129: Annoying Chapter 1129: Annoying ---Deep under the Guardian Tree of Little Gamma--- Annoying. That thought was on her mind as she wound her body. One of the small ones had just informed her that her strength was needed and she didn''t have much time. Her stomach was still full from all the faith and energy of the tiny demon. She didn''t want to move. With just a little more time, she would be able to incorporate all this power and her foundation would be solid. She would finally be able to fulfill her long-cherished wish and ovee the wall that had kept her back for so long.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Originally she thought she would be able to break the chains of destiny through her child, she had never expected to do it this way, but now she was this close. If she stopped now, what if she was held back again? Banging against those doors again, unable to ever cross? She knew what the cksmith, her creator nned. It was not a bad n, but she was afraid to stop now. Maybe she could use a little trick to buy her time? The energy of the demon she swallowed. Shepressed it into a tiny ball. She already had enough pure energy of faith to manifest her divinity, and there was stilling more. She didn''t need this tainted one. The ball of energy became a ball and ultimately an egg. This would be enough to buy her time. She was sure. ...Seth wearing a casual suit entered the arena. Behind him followed Rayki, the Faer bard, carrying a tabled. On it were four trophies of simple design, but forged from epic , as well as three white crystal cards and a card of simr size, but made from . The white crystal cards were the credit card equivalent of the System Bank. Those for the two participants in third ce, Caleb and Bartholomew, held 150 Gold. The one for the second ce, Ibelin Godfrey, was worth 200 gold. The card forged from was the representation of the promise to create a legendary item for the winner of the Grand Tournament. Congratting the 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd ce with a trained smile, Seth handed them their trophy and prize money. Caleb''s smile was a little strained. understandably so. Compared to the money he had invested in his attempt to win, this was peanuts. Seth ignored him and continued. Ibelin didn''t show much emotion, simply taking his prize. 200 Gold was a lot, when one didn''t invest several thousand into trying to win. Finally, he came before Dowloon. If youe across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Now, she didn''t look like the poison-drenched dreadnought that had bashed her dagger into Ibelin''s barrier. The fair young woman, looked almost benign as she reciprocated his gaze emotionless. It was hard to believe that she could fight in desperation like a berserker. You cane visit our branch of the Turquoise Anvil tomorrow and we can talk about what item you want, he whispered so only she could hear him. If it wasn''t for the impending attack, he would have invited her to the loungeter that day. She simply nodded, her eyes glued to the card and trophy, as she took them from his hands. It seemed like it was true, that epic-rated or earth-grade materials were even more scarce on the Cloud Continent than on Urth. Bartholomew''s, Ibelin''s, and Caleb''s reaction to the trophy was not as exaggerated. But maybe that was because they didn''t quite know what they were given. It seemed like cultivators did not necessarily need an appraisal skill to identify high-grade materials. Dowloon didnt answer out loudly but simply gave a silent nod to show that she had understood. She was still in a weird state of mind by the feeling of dying to her own poison, so she couldnt quite hide her emotions when she saw the luxurious prices. She could feel her spiritual energy react to them, the moment they were in her hands. She didnt know about other properties, but the affinity to spiritual energy was exceptional. These had to be at least earth-grade materials. A statue and card made of earth-grade materials How many energy crystals could get for the card alone? Of course, she couldnt let go of the card, but the trophy was the same. There was enough material to make an earth-grade sword or spear. In the hands of the right craftsman, they might even be low heaven grade! Her hand wound tightly around the ck card, with a golden letter imprinted on it. She was about to think about what things she could do with the trophy but realized how empty such thoughts were. In her hands, she had the promise of a heaven-grade item, just for her. One made especially for her to her specifications. How grand was that? The trophy was just paltrypared to that. She would finally be able to fulfill her long-cherished wish and- Whooooo A siren interrupted her thoughts, and several things happened at the same time. Several transparentyers of barriers covered the eye of the arena, the Pythian Vige, and the audience. Flying ships, barges and other vessels appeared in the sky, apanied by a swarm of cultivators and the sound of explosions. Various people in the stand jumped up from their seats, weapons in their hands.What in the world was going on?! was her first thought, but she quickly surmised that the stadium was being attacked. Storing the trophy and card in her cosmos pouch, she brought out the pair of daggers, ready to defend herself. The other people on the podium were no different from her, each taking a vignt stance, ready to defend or attack. The only one who didnt seem surprised or disturbed at all was the Tower Master, who had just whispered to her. He simply looked to the sky, with a serious expression. Following his gaze, her eyes widened, After she was forced to be a loose cultivator in the XiGuang Province, she came to know a good bit about the greater and minor powers in the region. She recognized the vessels of the Silk River Sect crowing the sky, painted with shiny but muted varnish, and the distinctive tail of silken tubes, that made them look like they drew a silk river in the sky. The Silk River Sect wasnt a great power across the province, but they were still a medium-sized sect, someone like her couldnt pick a fight with. Dowloon also recognized some of the identifying features of other, smaller sects among the people in the sky. This was crazy. Did they attempt to start a war with Minas Mar, or Urth? Didnt the Immortal Summit discourage hostile actions? In the time it took her to try and grasp the situation, the scene in the stadium had changed. The people that had drawn weapons in the stand, had been subdued in an instant by some kind of invisible force. The big screens everywhere in the stadium showed scenes of the fleet of cultivators hovering above the Pythian Vige and Little Gamma. They looked tinypared to the alien metropolis of giant, inhabitable trees, connecting to the lower branches of the giant trees crown that covered them all. Why would they show this to so many people that they were currently under attack? Shouldnt they try to hide it? Unless... was this a show of power? Chapter 1130: Clearing his Throat Chapter 1130: Clearing his Throat With a satisfied smile, he saw the maggots on the ground squirm in panic. Standing aboard the main vessel of the Alliance Fleet, Dumm Ting watched the scene below in glee. It warmed his despicable heart, to see the chaos in the streets below rife with panic and fighting. Whhoooo~ We ask all citizens to evacuate the Pythian Vige immediately. If you are able to, please use to evacuate now! Sirens and announcements sounded in the city below. People of the Sect Alliance that had infiltrated earlier and adventurers hired by their allies were causing havoc in the streets, fighting Guards and other adventurers. many of them vanished in the face of danger, but others tried to fight with their pathetic skills. The Oathguards in their bright armor were easy to spot in the crowd, trying to protect these patheticmoners and weaklings, allowing them to scurry around the streets in the direction of Little Gamma under the protection of the massive tree. He couldnt help but burst intoughter at the thought of their faces when the great barrier protecting the Pythian Vige fell. He couldn''t wait for the despair in their eyes. They would raze the Pythian Vige to the ground and this was just the start. All the pieces were already in ce. Allowing them to flee or evacuate under the tree was just a false hope. How delectable would their despair be, when they realized that there was nowhere to hide? Once the Pythian Vige was ttened, the same would happen to Little Gamma. It was inevitable.N?v(el)B\\jnn The chaotic energy in his chest acted up. How much he wished he was down there to join the blood feast. But he held back, this was just the beginning, and it was not his stage yet. he calmed his blood thirst with the thought of what was toe. He would harvest his fair share, once all defenses had fallen. Now then, where is that pesky serpent, that killed my Elder Gak? Im Sect leader Yoma Ma and I havee to deliver punishment onto the worms who call themselves Minas Mar! the sect leader of the Silk River Sect spoke righteously, His voice was projected by his spiritual power, so it would reach everyone below. Yes, this was the first step. Sect Leader Ma would crush their guardian beast in front of their eyes, crushing their morale right from the start. Then the barrier would fall and the fleet of cultivators would descend in a rain of ughter! There was no way the forces of Minas Mar would be able to face the Sect Alliance, with the protector gone. Silence fell over the city below.In the stadium, people were staring at the screens in shock and interest. It seemed that there was someone with quite a grudge against Minas Mar. Would Python appear again and smash them, like it did the demon? Yoma Ma red at the city, his fists clenched as he didnt get an answer. Where was this impertinent reptile? The silence was disrupted by the disharmonic sound of someone clearing his throat. It was a coughing and retching that raised the hair in one''s nape. Who was strangling a sick cat? Dumm Ting thought, having a weirdly urate idea of how that was supposed to sound. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the tform they originally published on. All eyes fell on the Tower Master, who was still leisurely standing in the center of the arena, together with the top four participants of the tournament. It was he who had audibly, goosebump-inducingly, cleared his throat to answer. Its good that you human wastes came here of your own volition. I hate leaving the house to take out the trash like you. You know, I have my own list I wish to punish you for- he spoke out, obviously seeing no need to introduce himself, as he took how a stack of papers. Dumm Ting''s face folded in hatred when he saw that the Tower Master didnt seem disturbed in the least, but he even had the gall to start rattling down a list of charges against the Sect Alliance and its members. He not only spoke about their actions in Y-City which included the kidnapping and deportation of children and adults as cultivation resources or disciples. The fiendish sect''s actions in Delta, including drug poisoning, drug distribution, and murder to turn people into pills were also included. The Tower Master even mentioned misdeeds they had allegedlymitted in the XiGuang Province, ranging from theft, ckmail, and robbery, to murder and rape the Silk River Sect hadmitted. That''s enough! the immortal bellowed. However, the voice amplified by the many loudspeakers in the Pythian Vige merrily went on to reveal more of the misdeeds of their more fiendish allies, like genocide ofmoners, and ve trade. There were people in the audience that seemed shocked the Silk River sect would fall as low as to conspire and associate with such scum. Dumm Ting cowered away, taking some distance from the sect leader, who was slowly releasing a dangerous aura. The snake had yet to appear, but Yoma Ma looked ready to jump into the fight and if it was just to silence the Tower Master and his preposterous speech. It was no different for the cultivators on other ships and those in the air. The speech was irrationally aggravating to anyone whose sect was mentioned. Dumm Ting, on the other hand, couldn''t help but question where Minas Mar even got this information. Did they have allies on the continent? Or did they send spies? He didn''t doubt the information, the reactions were quite clear on that part. He was just curious how these backwater bumpkins had managed to find out so much about the inner workings of the XiGuang Province. Even a normal sect wouldn''t know this much without a good amount of digging and investments. The sect master of the Silk River Sect clicked his tongue. That Tower Master is a feisty one. The snake still has not appeared. Are they just buying time, or is it really noting? he mumbled. Despite grinding his teeth, he had not lost his rationality. His role was to take down the snake before they went on the offensive. ~Fine, I will go down and attack the city, to lure out the beast. Wait with the signal until I''m done.~ he gave instructions using soundless transmission before he pulled out his weapon. The Silk River Millennium Ice Saber glinted in the light of the sunset. You have a loud mouth! So face me! the immortal pressed out and jumped from the barge. Surrounded by a stream of indomitable Qi, he fell to the ground like a meteor. The earth shattered under his feet, leaving a massive crater in the mountain teau. Hended in pose and didn''t wait for even a moment to wield the massive saber in his hand. The swing alone created a frost nova around him, that froze up part of the in and the buildings on the outskirts of the Pythian vige. Yoma Ma didn''t shout the name of a technique, it was a simple swing of his weapon that caused a wave of misty air and frost to shoot toward the city. Wherever it passed, it left a thickyer of ice, even on snow. The attack that seemed powerful enough to turn people on the street into ice sculptures, surged against the barrier covering the vige. The wave of frost sshed against the magical dome and created walls of ice, easily 20 stories in height. The whole scene was visible on the screen in the arena, prompting an impressed oh! from the crowd. it was an impressivelyrge-scale attack, not apanied by any chanting or techniques, leaving an impact on both, yers and cultivators alike. Dumm Ting couldn''t help but be impressed, too. This was the fusion of a heaven-grade weapon and peak de mastery. However, his breath stocked and his heart raced when there was a sudden change in the terrain surrounding Yoma Ma. This could only mean one thing. The earth below the immortal''s feet started moving like liquid, as a massive maw surfaced to swallow him alive. Finally! The snake had appeared. The n could finally continue. He was not worried about the immortal, vanishing in the gullet of the beast. He was just excited, that he could finally join the battle below! Chapter 1031. On the Streets As Tyr''s Gavel turned another cultivator into a bloom of blood mist, he already felt the attack of the next one bashing against his back. It wasn''t strong enough to ovee the defense of his armor, but it angered him slightly. With a backhand swing, there was another puddle of blood on the street. Gallwell was already a little pissed because he missed part of the final and had to watch the rest on the public screen in the Pythian za and not live. But ultimately he was d that he had listened to Seth and his people. Before the final ended Gamma Resistance and the Boulder Guild had assembled their men in the Pythian Vige and spread across the city to prevent coteral damage and casualties among the public. When the swarm of cultivators appeared in the sky, about every third cultivator and a bunch of foreign adventurers started attacking people and the infrastructure at random. Casting skill for wide area destruction, or sneak attacking pedestrians. It was a good thing most yers vanished the moment the announcements rang only a few suffered from sneak attacks. Gallwell and the people of Gamma Resistance were deployed around the Pythian za, the biggest square in the vige and the biggest venue for public viewing. It wasn''t so he could watch the rest of the final, at least it wasn''t the only reason. Once the battle began, the za fit the criteria of a battlefield. It was the best ce to max out the effects of his skills as the Chosen of Tyr, the god of war and justice. Apart from leadership buffs to his men, the trait Men of War also triggered. The average level of the attackers was 75, not weak at all, but with the various battlefield buffs even the ordinary members of Gamma Resistance were able to go toe to toe with most of the attackers. allowing the people not involved to evacuate. They jumped in to prevent damage, but in many cases, the intervention of the Guards or guilds wasn''t even needed. The Pythian vige wasn''t a ce ordinary citizens of Little Gamma woulde without confidence in protecting themselves. Instead of running, many would join them in defending. It was a scene, not too umon across the Pythian Vige. The members of the guilds and the guards stopped the initial surprise attack across the city, preventing a panic. The tourists, the visitors, and even some of the residents who migrated here joined the battle after the initial surprise was gone angered by the sneak attacks, the overall situation, or the damage to their property. ... Not everyone was so righteous that they would join the defense battle, or petty enough to turn around and stab their attacker in the back, the moment they got distracted. While Gallwell and the people of the guilds concentrated on fighting, many of the guards focused on evacuating the uninvolved citizens left in the Pythian Vige. These consisted mostly of cultivators that hade here for business, or to watch the tournament. Of course, they couldn''t just let this crowd of people enter Little Gamma. This was why they had prepared several shelters across the Pythian Vige with smaller barriers, to house the certified visitors and business owners. Despite that, arge number of guards were bound at the pathway to cross barriers to enter Little Gamma. Not because there was a strenuous process of checking passports or something like that. People without permission to enter Little Gamma would simply bounce off the city barrier, unable to cross, anyway. The pathway was clogged up by people who had no entry permission and decided to stay and argue with the guards, to gain ess to Little Gamma, blocking the few people with permission who couldn''t use . There is nothing we can do about it. If you didn''t get the permit through official channels, you aren''t able to cross the barrier, the guards kept repeating. They didn''t have the means, much less the permission or will to let random people flood into Little Gamma. Not that they would have if they could. The guards were also local adventurers. They were clear about the chance that many of these people were spies, trying to get in and cause havoc. Despite their insistence that there was nothing they could do, the people stayed and argued, holding up the whole operation, maybe even on purpose. Let me in! I said let me in! I will not die in this ce! a man in blue robes screeched, pulling out the saber from the sheath at his hip. The moment the weapon left the sheath, the man lost consciousness and crumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes. A figure had appeared behind him and K.O.ed him in a single strike. Listen here you maggots. If you have no permission to enter Little Gamma, then fuck off. Right now, nothing stops you from just leaving the Pythian Vige and going outside. If you don''t want to do that either then, step aside and stop causing trouble. Otherwise, you will end up like him and who knows what will happen to him? the pissed Cade ordered the crowd. She hadrge rings under her eyes. After being pulled off from the duty of protecting the construction site, she became the leader of the covert operations. Leana didn''t me her for what she did and in many ways, this was a promotion... It was just so tiresometely. She had not slept in days. Seeing this crowd of people just irked her to no end, on top of her already aggravated, sleep-deprived state. It reminded her too much of thest days in Gamma. You can''t do this! You can''t treat us like that! Do you know who I am!? Obviously, a bunch of them were unwilling to take the order lying down. They quickly joined the first guy, literally taking the order lying down. Seeing her quickly deal with insurgents, the crowd fell silent. I will not argue about this. If you have no permit and stay to cause trouble, I will floor you and throw you outside the barrier myself. Everyone else get in line and leave quickly, she shouted for everyone to hear, further silencing the crowd. With a sharp re, the guards who had hesitated for a moment, also started ushering people to form orderly lines and sending them through the gateway. ... ---Delta--- Perturbed he looked to the sky above Delta. The clouds were hanging deep, swallowing the peak of the volcano the city snuggled up to and hiding the floating peaks in the surroundings. The sunset had colored them crimson, but something didn''t seem right about the shade of red to be just the light of the sunset. Rich stood at the window of his office on the tenth floor of the parliament building. As thest remaining member of the original Evaluation Team that followed the instructions of Delta''s parliament, he was always on standby in case there was an attack on the assembly. Ever since the sudden attack on Arget Nore by a yet-to-be-identified force , the assembly members were practically living in the parliament toe up with assistance and defense measures. As they stayed here, so did he and his team. There was another meeting right now. But this time they were not talking about the undead. It was probably to watch the final of the Pythian Game with bated breath. They didn''t want to admit it, but Minas Mar had long outgrown them. Adventurers and People with talent, striving for a greater future, would ultimately choose to leave Delta and live in one of the Tree Stations. Rich couldn''t me them. Maybe he would have left, too, but the offer he got here was too good to leave. Since the attack on the granaries, things had gradually be worse in Delta. Lately, there had also beenints from and against the forces of Chrona stationed in Delta.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Despite half their force in Delta being made up of people recruited here, public opinion had taken a weird turn and in answer to that, soldiers alsoined about their treatment. It was like someone was manipting public opinion to drive a wedge between Delta and the Chrona Empire. The vemancer couldn''t help but suspect the new ambassador of Chrona. At least it felt like things had gotten worse since he arrived. His attitude in meetings and on official events also wasn''t very diplomatic. It was clear that he didn''t like Urth and would randomly find details to pick on or bring up previous failings. However, he was nothing more than a glorified bodyguard. His opinion didn''t matter to the big shots, or they also knew but decided to stay silent. Either way, it didn''t take much to see the Delta was caught in a downward spiral ever since Princess Leana wasn''t in charge. With idle thoughts, his eyes wandered over the city skyline in the distance. On the opposite side of the city was demon territory. The weird spires and entric alteration to the original city building had turned the demon district into a sight that wouldn''t get boring. His eyes focused on a pir of bright red smoke rising between the high risers of the demon district. Another new feature. What exactly were the demons doing this time? Was it the start of another radical change like the part of the city enchanted with eternal shadows? Rich was wasting his time thinking about the red smoke when he heard a great outcry from the assembly hall. With a swift move, he charged into the chamber, to find the politicians fixated on the hologram in the center. It showed the Pythian Vige, surrounded by a foreign fleet of flying vessels and cultivators. Little Gamma was being attacked! Chapter 1132: A Setting the Stage Chapter 1132: A Setting the Stage Could he really do this? No, he had to! He didnt believe the lies. The Scene would have never betrayed them. Minas Mar destroyed Y-City for their own gain! The peaceful atmosphere on the surface couldnt deceive him. All these people herded into their Tree Stations, and used like cattle or ves to farm gold for them. Secretly, Minas Mar had seized control over Urth. With Delta faltering, they were aiming for World Domination. It was clear as day to him. They had to be stopped. HE would stop them. It wasnt hard to y along with their charade. A smile here, a handshake there. ying along with disgustingly sweet and happy conversations until he finally was in the position he was now. His fingers flitted across the control console of the shield generator. This was the eye of just one of the many barrier formations that protected Little Gamma and the Pythian Vige. His own efforts would bring them to fall, but he was just a small cog. There were many like him. The moment the signal was given, he hade here to power down the generators and wee their liberators from the Voracious Cloud Continent. With their help, they would-! A piercing pain in his chest had him cramping up, punching a bunch of gibberish into the console. Had hebeen found out? A violent cough sttered his blood across the generator. So this was how he would die. Perpetrator apprehended sessfully. Proceeding to shut down generator for recalibration, an emotionless voice as. As he was violently thrown to the side, he saw it was one of the golems of Minas Mar, still carrying the bloodied sword it used to stab him. Why? Why would they kill him only to continue what he was already doing? Umi watched the situation in shock. Leana, the princess from Chrona, had warned her that there might be some disturbances during theter stages of the games, but the anchor thought the demon would be the worst of it all.She never expected an army, led by a legend to attack the Pythian Vige! She would not have agreed to work here if she had known beforehand. The weird thing was, that she would have thought that she would be in more of a panic at this point. However, Please stay in your seats, we have everything under control, the Oathguards kept repeating as they walked around the audience stands, calming down people. There had been a few moles that tried to cause a ruckus, but they had been apprehended without being able to cause any harm. The vige had a shield and the Arena was armored like a tortoise too, instilling confidence into her. maybe not even an immortal could get through them. Most of all, at no point did the Tower Master seem flustered. He even went ahead and started using the enemy of crimes, which made her shudder and angry. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. They were facing an army with a legendary warrior at their helm, but Minas Mar didnt seem fazed by this. Maybe this was why she was able to remain calm. It wasnt just her, even the audience seemed more confused than in a panic. Well, most of them wouldnt be able to recognize a legend either. Still, they treated the scenes on the screen more like a final show, than an actual danger. The bird eye view of the attack was breathtaking and now the big hero, Python, had finally appeared, too. Standing on the arena, she inched closer to the Tower Master. She wanted to ask. There had to be a n. He was too calm tock a n. They had even prepared a list of crimes. What exactly is the n he-? she whispered to him but halted when her heart jumped. The thick shield that covered the Pythian Vige and which had easily blocked the legend''s attack had suddenly vanished. It was clear to see on the screens around the stadium and in the sky above them Their greatest defense was gone! In a slight panic, she turned to the Tower Master, however, he didn''t seem perturbed at all. Finally! Dumm Ting rejoiced as the great barge, the fleet, and the swarm of cultivators moved into the airspace above The Pythian Vige. They were like a swarm of locusts, descending on a field to ravage and devour the crop. However, the crop Dumm Ting was after, the weak and the easy prey, were already gone. Not there there were many in the Pythian Vige, to begin with. But the only people left on the streets were cultivators, adventurers, and guards, still fighting. They came to loot and pige, but there wasn''t much to loot and pige at this stage. While many of the individual cultivators and weaker disciples of the sects descended to join the street battles, the attention of the fleet was on the reason for the vige''s existence. Attack the stadium! elders and squad leadersmanded their men. Yes. The biggest and juiciest fruit left in the Pythian Vige was the stadium, luring the locust like a plumb, ripe fruit, despite its hard shell. Dumm Ting followed without doubts. They were thousands, and they were let by elders in Spirit Severing Realm and above. How long could it take to cut into the hard shell and feast on the nectar of violence? Although many used the excuse of righteousness, but he didn''t. He was honest with himself. He loved the feeling of ripping apart weaklings with his bare hands! ... Now the people in the stadium did start getting nervous, seeing the swarm of cultivators in the sky above. not all of them were powerful yers or cultivators. Many were nobles or wealthy merchants from System Worlds who enjoyed a good show, or Urthans who didn''t want to miss the event. They weren''t able to protect themselves. The previous disturbance was dealt with quickly, so they did not fear the attackers much. But seeing the sky darken with flying shuttles and people standing on swords, Umi had to admit that it was moderately frightening even to her. The arena was now filled with the dampened noise of attacks. The whole fleet bombarded the barrier. Barrages of bright energy attack crashed into the shield above, creating a terrifying firework. The situation on the screens was not much better. Going against her expectations, Python was actually fighting the Immortal, but it was clear that the snake was at a disadvantage. After swallowing Yoma Ma, it was almost like the serpent choked and was forced to spit him back out, with only a few rips in his robes. It was followed by a very uneven exchange of long-range attacks, as Yoma Ma stood in the air and kept firing freezing de energy at the snake, while Python countered with boulder breath, spitting huge amounts of rocks, that met his attack in midair. However, simr to the barrier above the arena slowly weakening under the attack of the swarm, Python umted gashes and wounds. She was not a being made of flesh, so no blood flowed, but she looked worse and worse for the wear. Even the Tower Master red at the screen. Was he finally worried? The only ces looking promising were the street battles, where members of the Oathguard and Guilds engaged the swarm and were holding their own pretty well, for now. Suddenly, the Tower Master raised his hand to hismlink. Alright, if everything is ready, close the barrier, he said calmly, racing a storm in Umi''s mind. ...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Ha! This worm is weaker than I expected, Yoma Maughed out loud. He was barely using 40% of his power, easily ying with the great guardian beast. But he decided that it was getting time to end this. He would y the beast in his next move and join the Elders to break the barrier on the stadium. Then he would take that impertinent worm they called the Tower Master and parade his dismembered corpse in the streets of their city. He would make an example out of Minas Mar and teach these disgusting animals what it meant to pick a fight with the Silk River Sect! Circting his spiritual energy, he got ready to use a technique to finish off the pile of rubbish they called their guardian beast when his concentration was disrupted. The shield was suddenly up again! He was separated from his subordinates! Chapter 1133: In the Skies Chapter 1133: In the Skies Dumm Ting was still on the main barge of the Silk River Sect, when the shield suddenly appeared again above them, throwing the cultivators in slight confusion. What was happening? Didn''t they destroy the barrier? He gritted his teeth, had the Silk River''s n been foiled? No, even if they managed to reinstate the barrier, they were already inside. Although Yoma Ma was probably locked out, it wasn''t like they needed him to break through this barrier. The fight may be tougher when Minas Mar intervened, but they would still manage. He was still rationalizing their current situation when one of the greater shuttles close by was suddenly hit by a beam of light. The roaring power almost turned him deaf, as it pounded against the shuttle''s formation shield. An armada of flying vessels had appeared from the direction of the giant tree. This had to be the fleet from Urth he heard about. Had they hid themselves in the crown of the tree? When had they entered the air space of the Pythian Vige? Ha! Dumm Ting had seen the fleet from Epsilon before. There was barely half of the fleet present, but even if the full fleet was here, they would have been helplessly outnumbered. What did they think they could do with these few ships? These Urthans weren''t the only ones with shields. They wouldn''t be able to harm them any time soon. In the meantime, their other ships would rip them apart, was what he thought to himself, smugly raising a g. Now that they were here, they wouldn''t just raze the vige but also destroy their precious toys. It soothed him slightly, thinking of their faces, once all their hidden cards were gone! A fraction of a second after he thought so, the continuous beam of energy had burned a hole in the shield and pierced the magic shuttle, exploding into a cloud of fire and smoke. Its pieces rained down on the city. His jaw dropped. The next moment several more shuttles were hit by simr energy beams. A quarter of the urthan shuttles started firing this kind of energy weapon. Wee to the shooting gallery, gentlemen. You are the targets. The voice came from the stadium. It was the same voice that had berated the Sect Alliance not too long ago. The Tower Master had spoken and with his words, a barrage of attacks rose from the vige. The sky darkened with arrows and was illuminated again by bright magic. The airspace above the stadium became chaos.Filling the roofs of buildings close to the stadium were rows upon rows of faceless, armored enemies, firing arrows and magic in the sky. Most of the magic and arrows weren''t able to deal much harm to the shuttle or sect elites, but many of the weaker disciples and cannon fodder were taken out of the air. However, the bigger problem was the energy beams shot by the fleet of Epsilon. While the leader still struggled to make a decision and change course to face them, the beams took out one flying barge after another. They had jumped right into a trap. Right before his eyes, Dumm Ting saw an elder in the early Spirit Severing realm step forward in an attempt to block one of the beams with his palm technique. Covered in his inherent barrier, empowered by his spiritual power he blocked the terrifying attack for almost 30 seconds. More than double than some of the formation barriers managed. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. Despite holding out, the martial artist had to watch in horrified fascination, as the man''s palms started disintegrating to coal, beginning from his fingertips, once the 10th second passed. At first, the elder stayed silent in dogged concentration, but as his hand ckened and crumbled, the concentration broke. Hisst, shameful squeal when his shield broke was cut short as he was swallowed by the beam, and turned to ashes. Horrible, but stupid. Concentrate on the stadium barrier, we will take care of this! Three other elders volunteered. They evaded the attacks, ignoring the plight of the shuttle owners and crew. They had to get rid of the origin of the beam, the flying vessels of Epsilon. Dumm Ting''s heart hardly moved, when the two elders that got close to the armada didn''t get much further. The two of them were only in the first stage of the spirit severing and couldn''t even get past the curtain fire of the other ships protecting the beam shooters. The third elder in the middle stages of Spirit Severing found an anticlimactic end when he suddenly fell from the sky with an arrow in his head. Dumm Ting took a sharp breath. They even had archers powerful enough to one-shot a Spirit Severing stage elder. Unless the sect leader came back...the martial artist started to worry, that they might actually lose at this rate. Just where was Yoma Ma? ... Forget the arena! We have to take care of that fleet or else we will be picked off one by one! the elders of the sect alliance began reorganizing their approach, facing the attack of the Epsilon Fleet. The fate of the ships attacked and the elders that had attacked previously was a grim reminder not to underestimate their opponents.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om She could hear their call and ns. Had nobody taught them to be a little more covert when talking about their ns? Well, it helped her, so she wouldn''tin! She drew back the string of her bow and cast . Letting go, an arrow imbued with death aura was sent flying. Without a sound or a hint of its presence, it was lodged in the back of the head of the man who had just spoken the loudest. The man who had stood on the bow of his own flying barge lost all tension. All the discussion and calls between the cultivators fell silent as their eyes focused on him in shock. Slowly, he fell over the railing of his ship and started his almostical journey downward. All eyes followed his ungentle tumbling in the air. They flinched when his body unceremoniously hit the ground. In a fraction of a second, one of their elder had lost their life, just like that. When the appearance of the fleet was the signal, then this was the starting shot for what happened next. With the fleet drawing attention and engaging in aerial battles with the enemy vessels, it was time for them to take care of the big fish. The only individual cultivators that would pose a threat to the ships of Epsilon were those who reached the Spirit Severing stage or above. Drawing the Bow of Wepwawet again, Lydia cast , shooting into the sky filled with enemies. Surrounding the arrow were dark veils of wind, the winds of the underworld. Hit by the sudden pir of death rising to the sky many cultivators died. Some died directly to the damage of the skill, others from the impact on the ground, after being blown off their flying swords with heavy injury. On the ground, this attack would have blown an 18-meter-wide path into enemy ranks, directed at the sky made it even more impressive. What are you waiting for? Get them! Lydia cried out,manding everyone to engage inbat. Rushing past her were the Oathguards, the mercenaries they had recruited during the tournament, like Lyca, Polter, Bercy, April Vine, and Hannibal Cho, Bart, and the members of Minas Mar that had not left Urth before. Most of them were riding Aerial Strikers, the terrifying giant dragonfly golems with mantis sickles. Using the path Lydia opened, they rose to the skies, directly infiltrating enemy ranks from behind. Right after the group set off, Lydia also jumped on an unmanned aerial striker and followed them into battle. ... The whole sequence was broadcast in the stadium, to show the live audience that there was nothing to fear. Everything was under control. However, it had a different effect on some of the people in the stadium. Let me leave, I also want to fight out there, Bartholomew Mathias insisted, seeing that other participants had joined the battle outside. Nam was also ready to join the fight outside, signaling his opinion with a silent nod before the Tower Master. You called it a shooting gallery, let me also join in, Ibelin Godfrey demanded. Well, fine, Caleb, you go with them, Seth gave in. Nam and Caleb would have been part of this anyway if the attack had not happened in the middle of the prize ceremony. Should I also go? Dowloon asked hesitant. She didn''t owe Minas Mar anything, and it was clear she offered more out of concern that she might not get her prize in the and than care for the actual situation. Nah, they will manage. The situation isn''t dire enough that we would have to ask our guests for help, he said, though he was slightly worried about their ns. Why did Python send a representative? Chapter 1134: In the Skies(2) Chapter 1134: In the Skies(2) In the sky, the reinforcements from the arena engaged the swarm of cultivators. Sickle and de collided, spraying sparks everywhere. The dashing-looking cultivator already had a hard time fending off the attack from the flying striker, he couldn''t even react when Bercy leaped off the mount and kicked him in the face with a satisfying crunch, turning his shapely nose into a swollen potato. With a mighty push, the cultivator tumbled to earth, while she made a back flick tond on the aerial striker. She couldn''t help the wolfish grin on her face. She didn''t mind that most of the guys in the air were not her match, it just made the hunt more fun. She was already aiming for the next target when the hair on her neck suddenly stood on end. Crouching down, she evaded the jaws biting at her neck She immediately counter-attacked, but her attack passed through a ck mist. Her nose canine nose wrinkled. Vampire Scum, she eximed, ejecting w aura to blow away the dark mist. A few meters away, a man wearing a wine-red, intricate coat took shape, floating in the air. He was sickly pale and had a pronounced pair of canines. It was Count Nox, from the first round of the tournament! You dirty mutt, you wrinkled my suit, he cursed her, smoothing his coat. Not just a bloodsucker, but a spatian rat, too, Bercy spat out aggressively, despite not being too confident in her victory. Vampires were a tricky opponent, when one didn''t have an effective attack As it would happen, the werewolfdy didn''t possess a holy skill. The best she could do was to draw the fight out and- Nox''s head suddenly exploded into a cloud of fine crimson mist right before her eyes. Some gory pieces of his brain, and skin with hair hit her and got stuck in her fur. She had been barely able to see whips of golden light passing by. The vampire''s body plummeted to the ground, while Bercy looked around for the perpetrator. In the corner of her eyes, she saw another streak of light, taking the life of a cultivator in the air. This time she saw where it came from.Down on the ground, not far from the Arena''s exit stood Ibelin Godfrey. He waved at the werewolf when he noticed her gaze on him. How terrifying. She had not known that the crusader was even more dangerous in extreme long-range battle than in the arena! He had killed Nox in a single shot, and this time the vampire was dead for good. ... In a different ce, Lydia had engaged one of the Alliance Elders. Under her constant suppressive fire, her opponent had descended to a now empty viewing za. There was still fighting in the streets, but this ce had emptied quickly when the people on the ground saw the big shot approach. With the sword in hand, instead of floating with it in the air, he blocked her barrage of arrows, at least those he had to dodge to prevent injury. Lydia didn''t like it, but she had to admit that her opponent was strong and skilled. Now that they were in the ce, her opponent rushed forward to engage in a melee fight. a sound decision, in close range the bow was not as effective of a weapon, giving him an advantage. What he didn''t expect was that following him to the ground was Lydia''s n all along. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The sharp sword, skillfully wielded in a synergy of martial arts and spiritual energy, was crudely smacked away by the violent bash of The Bat. Since the bat came out, Lydia had no intention to show mercy. Skillfully weaving her divine skill with the power of Gravity Bat and the trait of Kanabo Demon, she unleashed a series of brutal strikes. She could feel her opponent tremble in fear when he tried to block her strikes. The chosen of Wepwawet didn''t aim for him but was deliberately aiming for his sword. Whenever he tried to execute a technique, the bat would strike down. Over and over until the sword finally flew out of his hand. The blood of his own ripped and torn palm had cost him his weapon. The unarmed opponent quickly faced the horror of the bat, at least it was over quickly. She had no time for recovery, or rather, it was not given to her. oh, a contest of blunt weapon? Challenge epted! She had just ended the elder of the whatever-sect when she heard someone talk. Apanying the sentence was an almost imperceptible strike aimed at her head. The incredible speed made her unable to react in time. She already saw him live shooting by, when the cudgel was stopped right before her eyes. She looked up to get a clear sight of her attacker. It was a slender cultivator in an uncharacteristically green armor with golden ornaments. His face was hidden by the wooden mask of a monkey face, fitting his wild short hair rising skyward. In the corner of her eyes, she saw what had stopped the cudgel. A weapon she was very familiar with, despite not seeing it used it battle. A very wide-bellied de, made for hacking and shing. No handle, no crossbar, just one continuous piece of red metal. The ughter''s de oozing with crimson vapor pushed back against the cudgel. Wielding it was a massive anthropomorphic lion wearing exotic armor. Mike, wearing the ughter''s set had appeared in her moment of need. Cudgel and de started to shake when both fighters put more force into their locked weapons to gain the upper hand. Ultimately, it was the monkey mask that did a flip back to recover its stance and face the two chosen from Minas Mar. Be careful, Lydia. This monkey is a level above the other riffraff here. We should work together and end him quickly, Mike whispered to her, suggesting to go all out together with him, to finish the fight quickly. What are you whispering? Are you worried for your woman? I will allow the woman to retreat, so we can have a proper battle! the cultivator offered honorably, as he vigntly watched the two, ready to react. Lydia shot him a contemptuous look before she turned into the figure of a silver-blue anthropomorphic wolf, not any smaller than the lion. W-Wait a moment, 2vs1 doesn''t sound fair, right? Monkey Mask stuttered, visibly losing tension in his stance. it seemed like he just lost confidence in taking on the both of them. Too bad, we at Minas Mar never prided ourselves on offering our opponents a fair fight, the Lion said, exposing his big fangs with a grin, before charging at the cultivator, wielding his pair of ughter des, while Lydia changed to the bow, assuming the ce of the rearguard. ...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The sky above the Pythian Vige had turned into a battlefield and it didn''t look good for the cultivators. Epsilon''s fleet that had appeared earlier shot down the flying barges one by one. The swarm of cultivators was under heavy fire, from arrows, magic, and bullets from the ground. The elder of the spirit severing stage and above that could hold their own were fragmented, either fighting the allies of Minas Mar or trying to attack the enemy fleet. Forced to see his men get decimated in an ambush, the sect leader turned away from the barrier. With hatred burning in his eyes, he shed the attacking Python with a quick movement, so fast that barely anyone in the audience was able to see. The Guardian had shown a poor performance, but nobody expected things to just end. The situation above the city had given them hope, but now the only one that kept the immortal in check was gone. Umi''s breath stopped and her heart sank. This was it! In shock, she watched the passive snake, as big as a crown scraper, crumble apart into massive chunks of ice. Python was in! The guardian of Little Gamma had fallen at the hand of a legendary adversary. In horror, the whole audience watched the death of Python, except for the Tower Master, who seemed frustrated rather than shocked. After getting rid of what only seemed like a nuisance to him, the sect leader of the Silk River Sect turned to the barrier. Lifting his translucent ice saber, he shed at the barrier, crumbling the 20-story-high ice walls. the actual impact could even be heard in the stadium, just moments after it appeared on the screen. What are we doing? The city barrier can only hold him back for so long! We can''t face a legend of such strength! Umi finally snapped, giving in to the panic and showering the Tower Master with Questions and worries. The Tower Master just held her an arm''s length away from him and looked at the screen with a disappointed sigh. It seemed like this wasn''t part of the n! Chapter 1135: On the Streets-Lunacy And Madness Chapter 1135: On the Streets-Lunacy And Madness Haha! The Alliance leader slew the beast! The Snake is gone!! Once the leader is here, he will squash those ships with a flick of his wrist! Cheers could be heard above the city. it was a wave that propagated through the crowd of cultivators after some saw the victory of the immortal. Despite defending themselves against a deadly hail of artillery, the swarm of cultivators took the time to cheer and curse at their enemies, when they heard the banging in the barrier. In the distance, they could see the spires of ice blooming with every attack of their leader. Dumm Ting also felt like the n was getting back on track. The alliance had some casualties, but nothing he cared for, or that could disrupt the ns. He was confident that once Yoma Ma entered the city, it would be stomped in a single step. After all, what was a puny barrier to an immortal? It could buy them time at best. And after the Pythian vige was ttened and the arena ravaged, there would be nothing stopping them from looting Little Gamma! Motivated, he finally decided to join the fray. With the tainted spiritual energy coursing through his body like a raging cyclone, the martial artist jumped down, to help the attack on the ranged units that had hampered their attack so far. He fell like a rock,nding in a cloud of wood splinter, as he shattered the roof hended on. before the dust settled, his massive fist, d in spiritual energy and fist aura crashed into the next-best opponent. The resistance was surprising, as the weight of the man he targeted far surpassed what he expected. With a satisfying crunch, his torso gave way. But instead of blowing the shooter off the roof, he just tumbled back several steps and fell on his ass. Only up close, did he realize that not all of them were covered in borate armor, but many were covered in ayer of metal scales. What kind of armor was that? It seemed fused to their bodies... Suddenly, all of their eyes were on him. he suddenly had a foreboding hunch. it didn''t feel like he was looked at by enemies. he knew the gazes of anger and hatred, these looks were empty. Hostile, but empty. There were no emotions, just the determination to kill. The most shocking part was when the guy he had just beaten down, simply started standing up again. His chest waspletely caved in from his earlier punch but he rose from the ground as if he was fine. Apanied by the sounds of resetting bones, his chest even started slowly bulging back out again!Just what are you... he mumbled just when he realized what they were! Golems! The terrible puppets of Minas Mar. He had seen some during the games. They were existences simr to the monster puppets one of the participants used in the tournament Tough opponents, but if they were simr to the monster puppets, then they could be broken! With unwavering mania, Dumm Ting was ready to start his personal rooftop battle against the creatures of Minas Mar, however- Back off, he is mine, a thunderous voicemanded the golem and a small figure fell from the sky. They were barely the height of his knee in his current form. A diabolical grin appeared on his face. Despite the new silvery armor, shield, and axe, he recognized the midget he had tortured in the first round. His fight with the dwarf had forced him to reveal his cards early on, ruining his n. But the memory still made him happy. It unshackled his restraints and continuously allowed him to gain experience and finally advance in the control of his energy. He wasn''t able to kill the midget back then, but now he had the chance to repeat the scenario and bring it all to a glorious end. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. What a wee reunion. For you to be my first kill once again, how symbolic, hemented, observing the dwarf. The only change he could make out was the equipment. His vertically challenged victim was now d in a full suit of silver armor, fitted to his stature. Things will be different this time, the dwarf''s voice rumbled. Seeing the unwavering conviction in the other''s eyes, his smile vanished. He instinctively felt that this wasn''t the same one he had destroyed a few days ago. ... . Your Conviction has risen.> Polter could feel it excessively clear. There should have been doubt in his mind. Just a few days ago this man had brutally tortured him to death. The memory was still vivid, He had not changed. There was no way the him now could take him down. There should have been doubt, but there wasn''t. Just an unreasonable conviction. He had to do this and there was no way around it. He was thankful to Caleb for what he did, but it just soothed an itch he had to scratch himself. His fist clenched tightly onto the poleaxe and shield Seth had provided him. He was still unsure when Seth asked him to participate. He had hesitated when he saw the equipment the cksmith had prepared for him, but his mind had cleared once he donned the armor and jewelry. The dwarf stopped worrying about guilt, about pride, or other people''s opinions. There was only one path for him to take. He stepped forward with conviction and the unbending will of a dwarf. Without warning, the poleaxe rushed ahead, stabbing at Dumm Ting''s heart. Despite evading, blood dripped to the ground. He suffered a nasty gash across his chest from the de of the poleaxe flying by. He had evaded the tip, not the de. Dimm Ting''s eyes red at him. He sneered, he was finally able to hurt him without difficulty.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The martial artist didn''t take this silently and upped his game. With terrifying speed and fist d in the tainted, evil aura, he started a series of high-speed strikes to tenderize Polter before the main course. Polter didn''t even bother blocking, using the gaps in the attacks to get his own. in He held a shield, but hadpletely forsaken his defense in favor of offense. The giant fistsnded on the silver armor, like meteor strikes. Yet, when the fists d in swirls of dark power came in contact with the armor, the aura dissipated. Polter felt the physical impact, but they were unable to deal any great harm to him. Instead, the moonstone gems on the armor shone slightly brighter. It seemed that the cultivator''s spiritual armor was close enough to be countered by the same principles. . Your Conviction has risen.> Polter could not help the smirk on his lips. The difference was so great, it was exhrating. The fist that had haunted his dreams was unable to so much as bruise him. The mes of conviction burned even brighter. He wanted to go even further. . Your madness has risen.> His poleaxe covered in the mes of Oh bit deep into the hulk, splitting flesh and bone. he could feel the power running through his veins. Seth had roughly exined the effect, but Polter had not expected how it would feel. With glee, he started turning Dumm Ting into a bloody mess. It was not a one-sided fight. Polter also suffered a lot, but he couldn''t even register the damage he took. It didn''t matter, it was of no concern to him at this point. in this arena, created by the surrounding golems, he was having his rematch and he was- The poleaxe in his hand was suddenly grabbed and a punch straight to the face took him off his feet. Looking up, he saw Dumm Ting towering over him once again. His figure made it hard to believe he was alive. The deep cuts and bruises that covered his body, burning in dark mes made it look like he was an undead who just crawled out of a fire pit. Despite what he looked like, he had just yanked the weapon from Polter''s hand and thrown it off the roof. His mind was nk. How did that happen? heh, I can read it in your face. It''s because you lost control. I just needed to y a little weak and what happened? I was easily able to disarm you! the cultivator said with a sadistic grin. Despite his condition, he enjoyed berating and belittling Polter. I told you how this would end. it doesn''t matter how much you try to prevent it, this will end with your death. This ill-fated karma will find its end, once I send you on your way, he monologued happily. No! This couldn''t happen. Not again. The dwarf had to admit that he was right. he had lost himself in the power of the armor. he had fought barely using his technique or skills, like a brainless child drunk on power. Seth had warned him about the effects, but he had underestimated it. But Dumm Ting also made a mistake. He decided to talk giving Polter the chance to regain rity. he had lost his weapon, but he still had his shield. he was a shield saint, and he knew that there had to be a way. . Your Conviction has risen.> Yes, there was always a way. . Your madness has risen.> Chapter 1136: On the Streets- Harsh Words Chapter 1136: On the Streets- Harsh Words In the dim twilight of the setting sun, several adjacent streets had turned into a scene from a horror movie. Lifeless bodies suspended in semi-translucent goo, sticking to the pavement and buildings along the street. Slimes, thousands of them, had flooded the streets and apprehended everyone who resisted. In the center of the cmity spanning several blocks was a short, quirky-looking woman with shoulder-length ck hair and a silver armor. Ellen Culpepper had unleashed the unholy wave of infamous trash mobs she had reared in the depths of Minas Mar. Slimes had conquered part of the Pythian Vige, catching and killing enemies with unprecedented might. However, not everyone was killed. Elly had made sure to differentiate, although everyone ended up inside a slime, not everyone suffered the fate of slowly being dissolved by the slime''s acidic insides. Ordinary people, yers, and immigrants left in the vige had been caught inside Shell Slimes, one of her special breeds, for their own safety. Under the organization of Luf, she and the other members who had not left Urth had been dispatched outside the arena to take care of things in the vige. It was their chance to farm Power of Existence. the other was the trump card, in case things went haywire The foreboding knocking that shook the city, as massive strikes pounded the barrier from outside quickened her actions. Even though many of the people here were not citizens of Urth, but immigrants from the Pathworks or the Continent who set up shop here for the Pythian Games, they still had a certain responsibility for their safety. At least for the people who paid to open shop here. Fall. The Slime Rancher was busy directing the slimes to collect the spoils and bring civilians and non-hostiles to safety when suddenly all strength left her body. She had lost all control over herself, the moment themanding word echoed in the street.Fu- She wanted to curse, but the air was pressed out of her as she crashed on the ground. It was embarrassing to admit, but she was weak to mental status effects like this. As a Slime Rancher, most of her AP were focused on the special Control attribute she needed to tame beasts. There were also some in Strength and Agility, but all of her other attributes were rather pitiful. Especially Willpower. Even with equipment, it wasnt any less pitiful With a crappy multiplier on top, her resistance to mind attacks was- You are alone. -Almost non-existent. Before she couldmand the slimes to defend her, the other spoke again. Sorrow struck her heart when she felt her connection to the slimes vanish. A deep feeling of loneliness overcame her. She felt helpless, she wanted to scream, thrash, and panic, but she couldnt fight the lethargy that came with the depression and sudden solitude. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om She knew it was an attack, but that didnt help. Even that was forgotten quickly as most thoughts came to a grinding halt, paralyzed by the emotions that hit her. With her thoughts flowing unwilling like viscous honey, she looked in the direction of the voice. There stood a man. She remembered this figure. Before her thoughts could fully recognize who, it was- There is only darkness for you. She had lost her ability to see before her thoughts could connect the figure to her memory. And death for your people. She suddenly had the deep-seated conviction, that everyone she knew and loved was doomed to die today. There was nothing they could do, even her strongest friends would find their end today. Hot tears streamed down her face, and she fell into darkness, unable to react to the footsteps that wereing closer These cultivators are just the beginning. We have a terrible army, that will raze Urth until all lights of resistance are extinguished, the figure spoke sadistically, now much closer. They were clearly happy to torture her like this. Her dim mind was filled with the other''s amusedughter, torturing her with illusions. She didnt know how long her mind was filled with the sound, but it suddenly stopped. Sluggishly her thoughts realized the silence. ---Moments earlier--- What do you think you are doing? Shay eximed wrathfully as he entered the slimed street. Before him he saw Bregar, the Chosen of Bragi who hade to Urth to participate in the Grand Tournament, chuckling over the limp body of his girlfriend. He reacted instinctively. The moment Bregar turned around, his mouth open to speak, a bubble of water formed around his head, silencing all words. The wielder of the voice was instantly struggling not to drown, kneeling on the ground. Keep him trapped, I will look after the girl. Twinkle said and walked past him. ording to the goblins instruction, Shay used the water to not just silence, but also bin Bregar. The shaman who had followed him here started casting spells and skills on Elly. She is okay, physically at least. She suffered some terrible status ailments, but she will be back on her feet soon, the shaman shared his prognosis. Shays heart lightened again, but the moment of carelessness was immediately used, as Bregar suddenly attacked him with a dagger. The water mage managed to parry with his staff in time, but he was still baffled by the sudden attack. Although initially effective, the bubble of water over his head had suddenly lost the power to drown him. Had he suddenly learned ? No, it had to be more, as not even his water restraints were able to hold him down. Summoned by the nking of weapons, Twinkle Rainborn also joined the fight. The small goblin wasnt an imposing sight, but he was incredibly adept and versatile in meleebat as much as he was in spell casting and shamanism. It was not a long, or spectacr fight, as Bregar didnt evenst a minute against the two. Ultimately, he lost consciousness after a devastating bonk of the shamans fetish on the back of his head. To prevent any other surprises, Shay trapped him in a massive, revolving water prison, where he was thrown around like a cloth in a washing machine. A warm feeling flooded her consciousness, bringing light and warmth back to her. And sight. Ellen''s thoughts were suddenly able to race again, as she took in the scene before her. She saw Shay, wearing the same Lunacy Set as her, controlling a massive ball was water floating in the air. Beside her loved one, stood a goblin in an exotic outfit with lots of feathers and a staff. Was that the goblin shaman? Then she noticed a figure being thrown around in the currents of the water ball. Finally, she was able to reconnect with her memory and recognize who it was. The Chosen of Bragi who participated in the grand Tournament! Now, the weird power that had thrown her into despair made sense. But why? No, she knew the reason. Although her mind was lethargic at the time, she still remembered what the terrible voice had told her. This attack was just the beginning. They woulde with a terrible army to raze Urth. Bragi was a Spy and by the way he talked, probably from Spatia. It fit together with what they knew about the organization behind the attack of the Sect Alliance. Spatia using the Pythian game to smuggle in some of their people fit the bill just nicely. They had to warn the others. Maybe there were more participants that intended to cause trouble? She hurriedly got on her feet. Still weak in the knees, she stumbled only to be caught by Shay who rushed to her side. We have to warn everyone. If Bregar is a spy from Spatia, then others- We know. Why do you think we rushed over here? Ah! Chapter 1137: On the Streets- Blaze Road Chapter 1137: On the Streets- ze Road A stream of fire shot through the gap between buildings, covering the whole street, not leaving any room for escape. Yet, when the mes subsided, there was a streak of road, untouched by the terrible me. At its tip stood a tall, lean man, wielding a sword. It was covered in a blue sword aura. He had split the attack, leaving himpletely unharmed. Marcel had tried to end things quickly, because of the knocking on the barrier, but it seemed like his opponent didn''t agree. A swordsman wielding the powers of fire And you were with a woman using ice earlier, you must be Marcel, of the Boulder Guild, right? he asked calmly, returning to a different sword stance. I didnt think I would be so unlucky toe across one of our priority targets, he said with a smug smile and charged at Marcel. He was not running, but each step was unnaturally long. Was this why they called some techniques ground shrink? He didnt have the time for idle thoughts. He blew out his breath and parried the sword that wasing for his heart. The metal cried when the two weapons, one d in a calm blue, the other in a fiery orange aura collided. The force that assailed his arm was tremendous, it was like blocking the paw of a giant monster, just that the monster was his size and grinned him in the face, as it kept driving the weapon forward. Marcel and the cultivators locked eyes in this short moment before a bloom of fire forced the opponent to jump back. His shoulder was charred and his robes were singed. He stared at Marcel vigntly, as his sword had suddenly turned into a pir of fire. The surprise attack was unable to take him out, but it the wound would obstruct him from fully using his skills. ~Well done, Whitehilt!~ he thought. ~Thanks, partner~ Whitehilt answered happily. Originally, Marcel had been depressed. Despite being chosen by a god, it was not a very strong one. Faia, the god of mescked the power to give Marcel a legendary material. He also told the swordsman, that there was yet to appear a fitting material on Urth.At the question of why he couldnt buy one from the auction house, the god stayed rather quiet about the why but insisted that it wouldnt count and couldnt be done. Marcelforted himself with the fact that even stronger gods like Tyr or Maahes send their champions on quests to get local materials. He was jealous of Lydia, who had even gotten two materials from her god. But that was in the past. A few months ago, Seth had suddenly called him saying he might have a weapon for him. When he came to the embassy, the cksmith had wordlessly handed this sword to him, indicating for him to grab the hilt. It was a weird gesture at first, but when Marcel took hold of Whitehilt, he immediately understood. The sword was an ego weapon, that could not just choose its owner passively. Had it not liked him, it could have set him on mes then and there. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences elsewhere. Luckily, he lived to grow a great partnership with his new weapon. Since he was able to let go of his regrets concerning his divine patron, he was able to make leaps and bounds in his training, raising his level alone in the Abyss. Swinging the almost four-meter-long pir of fire, Marcel pursued the cultivator. White hilt was a relic with a chance of bing a legend, as long as it was nurtured by the deeds of its owner. So all Marcel had to do now was make a name for himself and the sword, to attain a legendary weapon. Its me Sword effect, coupled with Marcel''s blessing from a god of fire and turned the sword d in mes, into a massive pir, like a supersized lightsaber. it was great to leave asting image, on top of being incredibly powerful. The fire swept by the cultivator, who barely managed to block it with an aura of spiritual energy. And this was the perfect ce to gain recognition. Marcel and Elza had rushed here when they heard what was about to happen in Little Gamma. Primarily to help, but if helping came with Pathworks-wide recognition, there was no reason toin. Again and again, the pir of mes sought to incinerate the opponent, who persistently managed to escape with his life, time and time again. However, the cultivator tired quickly. Thanks to the initial burn, he couldnt perform his swordsmanship correctly and rued wounds with every encounter. ~Lets end this!~ White hilt cheered, as the cultivator had finally fallen to his knees. He was a strong opponent. Without Whithilt''s ability to independently use its skills, Marcel would have had a hard time fighting him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Following the swords suggestion, Marcel aimed for the final strike, when he felt a sharp pain at his waist, right below the rib cage. He struck to his side, but his attacker had already backed away. It was a female cultivator wearing a dark outfit. Looking down on himself, he found that a small knife had snaked its way through the gaps in his armor. The woman had stabbed him through a gap at his waist, aiming for his kidneys. Looking back at her, she already had another two simr knives in her hands. Are you okay? she asked the man on the ground without taking her eyes off Marcel. So you werent alone, Marcel spoke out the obvious, as he pulled out the dagger. The wound was not big, it had barely cost him any health. It would heal without even using a potion. The worst point was the Foreign Qi. It was shown as a status ailment, that had various effects on him, mostly lowering his attributes by a few points. This was the first time Marcel experienced these effects, but apart from a slight nausea, he felt no immediate effects. There are actually three of us; another bloke revealed himself, stepping out from the shadows. He had a huge, crude cudgel with studs resting on his shoulder. Where were you when I was beating him? Why are you onlying out of the woodwork when Im about to kill him? Marcel asked jokingly, his thoughts racing to calcte his odds of victory. Three vs one was a bit much, but one of them was already out ofmission. 2 vs 1, maybe. It would be hard if they had the same level as him, but maybe he could manage. We would be med if he died on us, the bloke answered, shrugging his shoulders. What touchingradery, Marcelmented sarcastically. He deliberated calling for backup. Just attack him. I will take care of SuOl. The woman berated the bloke and thetter rushed at Marcel. Round two began. This guy was a little slower than the lean swordsman, but the first time he parried the club, Marcel quickly learned that parrying the massive club was no good. The velocity behind the club almost broke his wrist, when he tried to redirect the attack. ~Wow, that hurt a little. An ordinary sword might have broken. We should change strategy.~ the sword advised, unwilling to take any more such strikes. The chosen of Feia nodded, they couldn''tpete in brute force with this guy, so some brains were needed. Holding the sword at his side, the tip aimed at the bloke, Marcel used a divine skill. Starting from his feet, he was d in a foreboding me. The club wielder hesitated to get closer, observing the swordsman vigntly. Quicker than the Wind the swordsman eximed and vanished. The bloke saw a sh of light and hurriedly evaded. An ignorant smile surfaced when he thought that he had sessfully evaded the attack he couldn''t clearly see. Only a straight streak of the burning road indicated Marcel''s path. The smile quickly vanished when his eyes followed the trail and saw the sword aimed at him stuck in the chest of the cultivator SuOl, who was being treated by theirpanion. His femalepanion could also watch in shock, as SuOl was incinerated. One down, two to go. Chapter 1138.On the Streets- Hail Road Chapter 1138.On the Streets- Hail Road Two to go, were big words he came to regret. After killing his original opponent in a surprise attack, he now found himself to be the main focus for the two neers, and neither of them was weaker than the swordsman cultivator. Since theirrade was dead, he now faced both of them at the same time. Maybe it wasn''t the best idea to get rid of the weakest threat... but at the time he felt it was better than having to fight all threeter on. While the bloke kept driving him back with powerful club techniques, the female cultivator would wait for openings to start sneak attacks like her original attack, when she stabbed him through the gaps in his armor. it didn''t help his concentration, that the banging echoing through the city kept bing louder. The fiery swordsman was able to survive, but he wasn''t doing well in the two-on-one. Many of his skills needed a certain initial time or sequence to show their full effect, which he wasn''t given. He mostly relied on and the effects of White Hilt to keep his own in the unfair fight. ~Let''s do that! I''m sure it will give us a chance!~ White Hilt suggested to use the strongest skill it had. ~You are right. I doubt it could kill either of them, but I''m sure it will give us an opportunity.~ the swordsman agreed. Although it was not the first White Hilt, that Edward currently used, it was the second and was originally wielded by Marco. It didn''t share the legendary material or Ixion''s enchantment, but it was almost identical in every other aspect, such as- ! Marcel eximed the name of the skill, using it together with White Hilt. it also had , a skill that resembled the spell of Fire Rain, then summoned down a rain of fireballs in a limited area of effect, as the name suggested. However, coupled with the blessing of Feia and -Massive fireballs came falling from the sky, like the burning parts of orbital trash that fell to the''s surface. The impacts destroyed surrounding buildings and blew craters in the street. It took five seconds topletely channel the skill before Marcel was able to move. This seemed like an eternity in a high-octane battle, but his opponents had other problems. Swinging his club, the bloke actually parried one of the embers, only to be enveloped by a bloom of fire and it exploded. Even if it didn''t end him, it was hard to believe he would get unscathed. The female simrly, was busy evading the falling debris of the building copsing left and right. The moment the five seconds were over, Marcel charged once again, aiming for the female cultivator emerging from the curtain of copsing buildings. He vanished from where he stood, leaving a zing trail behind him. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. zing right past the woman, who made a step back at thest possible moment. She was smiling, ready to give a snarkyment when she realized that she had not evaded because of luck or skill. Marcel had his next skill already cocked and read. With a wide swing of his ck, he created a crescent of intensely glowing wire that grew in all directions and shot off from the four-meter-long me sword in his hands. it was not just simply a wave of fire, as itbined the heat of the me with the sharpness of the sword. The air, the dust, surrounding debris of stone, would and steal, were cut and melted by the disk of sharp fire. The female cultivator had no time for an elegant evasion, as she jumped straight up in the air, making a hurried flip forward. her roll on the ground was followed by a painful groan. She had been slightly toote, losing the tip of her left foot to the disk of fire. her dagger ready, her angry eyes focused on Marcel, she was ready to charge at and kill him with everything she had. Again, toote. Now that Marcel had the chance, he was chaining his attacks one after the other. by the time she was back on her feet, White Hilt''s was already descending on the top of her head. She still tried to throw herself out of the way, seeding it only losing her right arm, shoulder, and some bits of the torso. The right half of her body burning like tinder, she rolled over the ground, away from the swordsman.N?v(el)B\\jnn Marcel clicked his tongue. When he followed after her to give her the final strike, he already saw that the attack would fail. In the shadows of the fire covering the street, he saw the figure of the bloke charging over with big, flowing steps. His robes were burning, his flesh singed, and he was ignoring the fire and smoke on the street toe to her side and save his fellow disciple. It was almost touching if it wasn''t for the fact that they were crazy murderers from Marcel''s perspective. If he followed through with his attack, he would receive the cudgel straight to the skull. He kinda doubted his survival of that attack. Change of n, he aimed to confront the bloke, instead of ending the halved fairy. he would use his hurry to defend her. He would act like he didn''t notice him, aim for the girl at first, and change the trajectory of his attack in thest moment, to stab the bloke right through his throat. Just a few steps separated them from each other. Marcel was ready to yank up White Hilt to end the bloke when the debris and ruins to the left of them suddenly exploded. A cold wind blew over the street, creating a storm of fire and smoke, stopping either of the parties. At the same time, the figure of a man was catapulted through the gap between Marcel and the two cultivators, creating a trench between them beforeing to a halt. The fiery swordsman vigntly nced at the neer. His robes were in tatters and a deformed silver mask hid half of what looked like a very handsome face, after a beating and suffering from frostbites. The two parties were still frozen in shock, trying to make heads and tails from the sudden change in the situation., when another figure came through the new opening in the ruins. Marcel! Are you okay? Elza called out, her usually cold and emotional voice somewhat thawed in concern for her lover. His heart beat faster, recognizing her concerned face. he quickly wanted to tell her that he was okay, but he still had to watch out for the bloke and what seemed to be Elza''s original opponent. I saw the ember raining down and thought you were in danger, she added when she found Marcel still standing upright with only minor wounds. It wasn''t easy, but I managed against those three, he exined a little embarrassed. Elza frowned. Let''s take them down together and- she was in the middle of her sentence when Marcel suddenly charged at her. For a moment she thought he would hug her, but he actually parried a spike of dark red energy, the man on the ground shot her. To think you would ignore this one to flirt with your boy toy. I thought we had something special, he stated as he released himself from the embrace of the ground and wiped the dust off his tattered robes. She shot the man a frigid nce. Let''s end these guys together and move on, she finished her sentence as if she wasn''t just interrupted rudely. Let''s do it quickly. Chapter 1139: On the Streets- Puppet Theater Chapter 1139: On the Streets- Puppet Theater Fin, Bulko, Lyxiss, go to the north. The Golems report a huge number of unknown creatures rampaging over there. Mina, please go northwest. The Saintess of Gatris was seen going rampant, Luf distributed the remaining members of Yulcat''s Fur to the hot spots on their map. The super secretary with the moniker of the Wise was acting as the focus of themand center directing the members of Minas Mar from the arena. While mostly the mercenaries and risen to the skies, many of the other members had entered the city on the ground to contain the chaos on the streets Roger, their answers echoed from them-link. ... It was hard for the northern part of the Pythian Vige toe into view, as little more than a field of ruins was left. What they did see were a bunch of exotic figures and beasts moving through the debris, hunting foreigners still left in the Pythian Vige. Not to eat. Unconscious or dead people were shoved into massive baskets the beast carried on their backs. Curiously, it almost looked like a harvest festival, just that the fruits being picked were people. Quite macabre. In this ce, there were many inns and restaurants that were built by people who migrated to Urth to do business during the Games. As such, these were mostly ordinary buildings and not tree houses, like the ones in the Tree Stations. The buildings built here fell apart like matchstick houses when faced with these creatures.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Hey, don''t those look familiar? Bulko asked suspiciously as they got closer. They were not monsters they knew from their own home world, nor did they resemble anything they had heard about. Where could they have-Don''t they look like the puppet beasts that one cultivator used? Fin asked unsure. racking her brain for the name of the guy. Wasn''t it Long Huan, Long Jian... something like that? Lyxiss tried toe up with the name. Long Jian! That was the name. So he was with the Silk River sect, huh? Bulko remembered when the half-elf mentioned it. Let''s pick up the speed and get rid of them quickly, the fairy brute said, looking forward to a battle. The other two agreed and they sped up their Alpeka, closing in on the horde of beasts. ... Long Jian was quite happy that he had followed the Sect Alliance here. Well, technically he was here first, but he wouldn''t havee if they had not asked him. Of course, it was beneath him to actually collude with the Silk River Sect. He was only here because it benefited him. Whether the Sect Alliance was winning in the fights above or not, was of no concern to him. It wasn''t often that he got his hand on such good quality research materials. This book''s true home is on another tform. Check it out there for the real experience. While the alliance was distracting Minas Mar, he would fill his bags with materials and make off before anything untoward happened. Was what he thought, until he started losing connection to several of his puppets. The people in this ce were not weak, which was the whole reason for his harvest. Losing a few mid-grade puppets like Breakwind Wolves or Iron Armadillos wasn''t weird, nor did he care for the cheap products. However, his heart jumped when he suddenly lost the connection to his Millennium Bull. The Millennium Bull was one of his upper-grade puppets, one of the first he had gotten from the Sect. When it was alive, the Millennium Bull was a terrifying monster in the Spirit Severing Realm. Its puppet was slightly weaker in spiritual energy, but he had used precious materials to further strengthen its body. Imbued with a strand of his divine consciousness, it was even able to act alone and make intelligent decisions. Despite not being his strongest puppet, it was a shock to find out that there was someone able to defeat it in the area. Waving his hand, he brought out a new puppet. It was a massive pig, easily 4-5 stories tall. Its skin had a golden sheen to it. Golden Boar, go take a look. If they fought the Millennium Bull, they must be weakened now. Kill them and bring back their bodies and the Millennium Bull, he instructed his puppet. The bull could be repaired and if he got the body of its killer on top of it, he still gained something. After sending the pig to finish it, he didnt pay any more attention, confident that the Golden Boar would soon return victorious. Even when he lost the connection with more cheap puppets, he didn''t mind and kept collecting the bodies that the other puppets brought to him. The confidence held true until he lost connection with the Golden Boar, too. When the Golden Boar didn''t return, Long Jian became a little upset. The Bull and the Boar were both rewards he got for sect missions, losing them like this irked him. I will have to go personally, he finally decided and jumped on the back of his Bright Moon Wolf, a beast puppet he often used as a mount because of its superior speed on the ground. it didn''t take long for him to reach the ce, where the remnant of the golden boar were still burning. The massive beast was sprawled across the street. The hardened shell and bones were burning with terrifying mes, but what had ended the puppet was that its reinforced skull was brutally crushed. Long Jian swallowed hard. What was the Golden Boar? Although it wasn''t his strongest puppet, it was able to fight someone at the peak of the Spirit Severing stage with just its durability. An opponent that was able to crush its skull, was someone he had to be careful of. Well, if it isn''t Long Jian. To think one of our participants would do something like this, he heard a high voice speak out disappointed. His head turned around, to see a tiny figure stand on a windowsill above. She was hard to spot, if it wasn''t for her bright hair reflecting the shine of the fire on the street he wouldn''t have been able to make her out. he remembered her from the information he was given about Minas Mar. Fin, the Fairy, one of the concubines of the Tower Master. Long Jian raised his guard, circting the spiritual energy in his body. The information mentioned that she was strong in meleebat. It must have been her that had crushed the Golden Boar. The Millennium Bull was probably her doing, too. If she attacked, he was ready to defend and distract her with his best puppets. Are you really not going to say anything in your defense? Well, not that there could be any valid excuse, right? she kept rambling on with a carefree voice. Long Jian scowled and then scoffed. What was there to apologize for? He knew too well, that this world practiced weird customs. The rights of the weak, what a stupid notion. The puppet maker knew perfectly well, that if it wasn''t for the agreement between the sects and the secr powers, nobody would stop their sect from collecting materials among themoners. How much quicker could they advance if they had more supply to practice? Just the materials he collected today would allow the human puppet techniques of his sects to advance by leaps and bounds. The elders would finally be able to research to their heart''s desire. The fresh disciples would finally be able to collect real experience, instead of having to risk their lives outside with half-baked skills to secure mediocre materials for practice. But these people, they treated the lives of these scums as something precious. They had destroyed his puppets for strangers they didn''t even know. As if they could be talked into agreeing with his actions. While the little humanoid was still talking, Long Jian had alreadymanded for all the puppets in the surroundings to gather at his location. he would swamp her with numbers and flee. Suddenly the copsed buildings to his left exploded as a de of wind passed through. He was still nning to counter Fin, so the attack caught him off guard. it was toote to dodge. Since he couldn''t evade, a towering figure appeared beside him. It was a huge man, easily two meters tall, wearing a striking green armor. Wielding a brutal Guan Dao he faced the wind de, his beard waving in the wind. If someone looked closely, beyond the beard, his skin was dried and reinforced, like that of a mummy. This was his strongest puppet, gifted to him by the sect leader for his protection. The Emerald Mountain Emperor had jumped forward to save his life! Chapter 1141: Eclipse of Mercy Chapter 1141: Eclipse of Mercy Mina had separated from the others, earlier and headed west. As the night fully descended, she abandoned the Alpeka and prowled the city on her own, traveling through the all-epassing shadow of the night. The main battle happened in the distance, with the explosions and noise of battle only serving as a dampened background noise. Luf had told her that the Saintess of Gatris was creating trouble in the northwestern outskirts of the Pythian Vige. The city in this ce was eerily quiet. Seeing the usually busy street absolutely quiet was the best sign that something was not right. Other ces were still brimming withbat on the streets, but the northwest had turned into a ghost town, devoid of people. All the people staying in the Pythian vige are either adventurers or cultivators who came to make a living by running inns and restaurants. Although yers could use to flee, the average level of these people was quite high, and she doubted they would have just evacuated because they faced some attacks. This situation was a little different from what she heard from Luf. At least she couldnt remember her mentioning any mass disappearances. Could this really be the work of the saintess? She was pondering about it when the sky suddenly turned darker. Surprised she realized that the barrier had vanished. She was about to call Luf when her ears twitched. For the first time, she heard a foreign sound since she entered the silent city. It was a suppressed curse followed by a small repeating sound. She came to the conclusion that it had to be steps. Following the soft sounds of steps, the beastman found a lone adventurer sneaking through the back alley behind a restaurant. She couldnt see his face, but he was clearly trembling. Despite being in a state of fear or panic, he was moving slowly with measured steps. He was probably a thief or assassin ss, to sneak like that despite the situation and his mental state. Passing him, swimming through the shadows, she slowly emerged right in front of him. The adventurer froze in fear, but he didnt scream, or make any sounds. Suspecting there was a reason for his silence, she spoke as softly as possible. Im Mina, a Lord of Minas Mar. What happened here?She spoke barely any louder than the man beathed, but her words were clearly audible in the quiet night air. The man swallowed hard, hesitating whether he should believe her and talk, or whether this was just another nightmare, and it was finally time for him to die. I want to help, but I have to know what happened, the cat girl insisted. I- I dont know. I was still fighting those crazies not too long ago, but when the night fell, more and more people... vanished? No. no, thats not the right word, or maybe it is? They were simply gone from one moment to the other, He breathed the words more than he spoke them. His ragged breath made it hard to follow. I think it has something to do with noise. At first, there was too much going on, butter I realized. Whenever there was a scream or a loud shout, it suddenly cut off. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. How long has it been since it started? Mina asked concerned. It had barely been 20 minutes since Luf told her toe here. Had the situation changed this rapidly? It was hard to believe that this many people vanished this such a short amount of time. The Saintess she had seen in the tournament didnt seem to be capable of that. I dont know when it started, but its been five minutes since I heard another person for thest time he answered, shaking his head. Thedy from Mians Mar realized, that he didnt have any more answers than this. At least he was able to provide her with some clues. Why didnt you use Home Call? Mina finally asked. was the ultimate skill for yers to save their lives. Even if he registered the Pythian Vige as a return spot, that would have probably been better than sneaking around here. Things were dire if the perpetrator actually managed to block the skill. The formation needed to block teleportation needed a lot of time and preparation. Pulling that off right under their noses was concerning and slightly embarrassing. To the point that she would even suspect that the perpetrator hand inside help. Urgh, I would have if I could. My is on cooldown. I used it to get back here to see the final. I bet a lot of the guys that vanished just dipped out he pressed out, frustrated. Mina nodded; d that her original conjecture was true, and it wasnt the worst-case scenario. This would lower the estimated number of victims. Unless the system skill was on cooldown, nobody unwilling to fight had to stay. Of course, people from the Voracious Cloud Continent didnt have that option. That begged the question of what happened to those guys. You can get out of this ce alone. Aim for the stadium at the center, she told him after a moment of thought. The stadium? Are you crazy? Th fights there are the worst! he hissed agitated. Yeah, and the stadium is the safest and most chaotic ce in the Vige. Nobody will notice some guy sneaking by toward it. Here, they will at least let you stay within the barrier bound with this, she said and handed him a card made of . He hesitated but finally took it with a look of surprise. Thank you, he whispered. Now go, she said, sending the man on his way, while she turned back to her original direction. With some clues now, she knew what she was looking for. She had the hunch that those people were still alive. A noise-triggered method to have people vanish without a trace seemed to borate if the goal was simply to collect corpses. It made no sense to her. If they were this powerful, they could have just killed everyone present directly and collected the bodies. That would have eliminated the chance for people to use , too. Luf, what is going on with the barrier? she quietly contacted themand center before she continued. Don''t worry, things are back on track now, was the only answer she got. Weirdly enough, it was enough for her to stop worrying. She gave a quick update on what she found out before she continued on the journey. Following her hunch, she knew what she was looking for. Thanks to Master Mountain she knew, whether it was a cultivator or a yer, there was next to no way to just let a crowd of living people vanish. This meant she had to look out for a ce full of people. That shouldnt be that hard, with how empty the rest of the city was. Ultimately, this still meant that she was simply prowling around the city, just with little more direction, paying attention to ces where they could collect bodies or hold people captive. She felt really stupid for this when she finally came across what she was looking for. At the northwestern edge of the Pythian Vige, someone created a field of ruins. Magical symbols covered the cleared arena, glowing an ominous dark orange color in the night. The people she had been looking for were limply levitating in the air above this area. They didnt even try to hide this shit! It was even lit up. Swallowing her indignation and frustration about the time she had spent searching, she focused on the situation at hand. The people seemed unconscious. Except for the rings of energy that looked like ck crowns of thorns surrounding their heads and the thorns piercing into their skulls, they seemed fine. At least her hunch was right and they were still alive.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Contrary to her doubts, she actually saw the Saintess of Gatris standing in the center of this ce, which looked unlike any magic formation she knew. Kneeling in front of the three-meter-tall statue of a blindfolded demon witch, she seemed immersed in prayer. A ritual. This was the only exnation Mina was able toe up with. Then was the kidnapping of these people also part of her power she didnt show the tournament or was it maybe the effect of an item. The statue, for example, seemed quite peculiar. Was this the true face of Gatris? When are you finally done, woman? a scruff, dissonant voice suddenly broke the silence of the night, making Mina jolt in surprise. Appearing from the darkness, as if stepping through the thick, ck smoke, was a demon. Surprised she realized that he was also among the tournament participants. Stepping out of the shadow, Mina released a few golem eyes from her inventory. Since they had lost contact with the ones originally in this area, she had to bring new ones herself. The fight wouldnt be broadcast live, but an edited version was nned to be releasedter. She threw her hair around and smiled at the camera. Show time. Chapter 1040. On the Street- Rooftop Conclusion This guy is really tough, contrary to his looks, Marcel eximed half joking and half annoyed through his gritted teeth. He and Elza had started fighting together after her powerful entrance. His three original opponents had quickly fallen, but the man the ice queen had thrown over here was like a cockroach. Are you jealous? I''m used to jealousy. Not everyone can be strong and handsome. i don''t hold it against someone whocks both like you, the young man with the silver mask taunted. Despite looking like a potato after his fight with Elza, he had only grown stronger and more handsome. Tsk, to think he held back against me, despite the beating I gave him, Elza said, slight annoyance audible in her cold voice. Since the couple fought together, the young man had revealed that he was not only proficient in ice magic but also in fire magic. He spoke some mumbo jumbo about Ying and Yang and how he had perfected controlling the properties of opposites. it sounded like a lot of bullshit and bragging to them, but his power was undeniable. What will you do now? You don''t stand a chance; the young cultivator said with a smug face. He was right, they were in a stalemate and it was uncertain who would tire out first. Marcel and Erza shared a nce. In sync, they pulled out a potion bottle each, popping the cork, and chucked it. The young man could only stare in surprise, by the time he wanted to act, they had already thrown away the empty bottles. Time for round three. They spoke and attacked together. Connecting the fire and ice, to create a storm to apany their attacks, their powers had grown by several times. They doping. it was super effective! Facing theirbined attacks, imbued with holy power, the cultivator had no more chance to catch a breath. They weaved their attacks together, quickly pushing into a corner, when suddenly- The constant banging in the city fell silent. The barrier above had vanished. in shock, the battle halted. That''s my sign! Bye! the handsome man called out. Using the chance he turned into a streak of rainbow light, fleeing from their fight. ... Dwarfs were well-known for their willpower. They didn''t just start off with a high score in the attribute, but also strong modifiers for stats like mental resistance. This was why Seth had no doubts when he gave Polter not just the Lunacy Armor, but also the Set of Madness, two item sets that usually shouldn''t be worn together. Polter''s willpower and resistance were off the chartspared to normal yers. No matter what intrusive thoughts spoke to him, he would have the leeway to make his own decisions. He would not fall to lunacy or madness... unless he wanted it. Star-breaking Shield Bash! the dwarf d in ck mes cried out and charged at the giant like a madman. The shield didn''t get much action in his previous frenzy, but now it was all he had left. he didn''t use a skill but called out a phrase he had learned from Seth. Dumm Ting''s expression was visibly stumped. Although he had let himself be beaten to a sorry state to crush his opponent''s mentality, the Dwarf almost didn''t react to the loss of his main weapon. Btedly, the martial artist hurried to protect his especially vulnerable twins, when he realized what the dwarf was up to. Bruised arms blocked the smooth silver shield d in shield aura and ck mes. Because of the size difference, Dumm Ting had to move into an awkward stance to defend against the attack from below. What kind of creature are you?! To attack a man''s - Star-breaking Shield Bash! the dwarf interrupted him, not stopping at all. He angled the shield and the smooth surface slid away from his forearms. Polter ducked down, passing through his legs, and aimed straight up for the magic pouch. Like a dog hunted by a bee, the cultivator made a massive leap in the air, to evade the shattering of bis dragon pearls. The edge of the silver shield barely missed the dangly bits. The aura of might surrounding Polter visibly increased, when the dwarf made a 180 turn to face his opponent who was now in mid-air. Star Breaking Throw! he eximed, and threw the the cuss, his sidearm, after the opponent. Dumm Ting grunted. he wasn''t at the level where he could freely move in the air, but the midget was underestimating him! Kicking the air, he changed his position, but couldn''t fully evade. The cuss covered in dark mes deeply lodged into his thigh, instead of his whatchamacallit. You animal! Dumm Ting cried out, when Polter was already rushing to the ce he was going tond, however, the martial artist was not disturbed enough to follow his pace. Dumm Ting turned his leap into a jump attack. Gathering his spiritual energy, he was ready to crush the dwarf on the rooftop below. The Offensive was always the best defense! Just before Dumm Ting came down like an artillery shell, Polter evaded, allowing the cultivator to drill through the roof into the floors below.N?v(el)B\\jnn The golems had long evacuated the building. It had only been Dumm Ting and Polter for a while. The moment the cultivator drilled into the rooftop, the sun finally vanished behind the mountains. the night began. When Dumm Ting looked up to see his vertically challenged opponent, he saw his silhouette with the big waning moon as the background and slightly illuminated by the bright lights of the adjacent city. The hits on the barrier were now visible ripples of light across the dome that covered the city. The dwarf didn''t follow him. Why had he suddenly be so calm, just ring at him from above? Dumm Ting used the moment of silence to circte his Qi and recover some of his wounds. he didn''t know what had happened to the dwarf, but driving out the dark mes had be much harder than in their first fight. Overall, how had he be so much stronger? Are you hiding from me now? the dwarf''s cackle came from above. Dumm Ting took a deep breath and with one push of spiritual energy, he drove the dark me from his wounds. He was ready to end the midget once and for all. Returning to the rooftop, he felt ready to face the dwarf until he met him in the moonlight. His senses tingled, signaling him extreme danger. Suddenly, Polter vanished from his view. ! ! the words reached his ears when the shield already towered over him. He crossed his arms but couldn''t mitigate the force. The martial artist was catapulted across the rooftop. With the terrifying eleration, the dwarf followed the cultivator. ! ! Dumm Ting had juste to a halt after rolling across the rooftop when the dwarf was already on him. He wasn''t wearing the shield anymore. What bash was he talking about? He was holding the shield with both hands on the rim and hit his upper arm with the edge! An audible crack betrayed the fact, that his arm actually broke from that strike. He kept repeating the word Shield bash as he hammered him with the shield, the normal hits had him winding in pain, Empowering his broken bones with energy, Dumm Ting could only cower on the ground and protect his vitals. Star Breaking Shield Bash! Instinctively, the martial artist moved to protect his stars, however, no attack below the belt came. Instead, he got a massive hit to his now-exposed head. Was this how it ended? Suddenly, things went dark. But it wasn''t that he was gone, but the barrier in the sky had vanished! The elder did it! Ha! As long as he got out of this he could- He heard a crack and things went dark. This time for good. Only Polter was left on the roof, looking at the sky, breathing heavily. He had gotten his revenge, but.. had they lost the war? Chapter 1140: Overload Chapter 1140: Overload The air was hot and heavy, It was hard to breathe, but the technicians did their best, running around the shield bunker, recing foci, and cooling down formation lines. We can''t manage for much longer! If we don''t deactivate, the formation will melt, and the generator overheat! Everything here may explode! a technician cried out to the golem standing at the control panel. Azotain observed the people running around as the golem processed the words of the technician. The shield generator Azotain was in charge of was close to exploding under the pressure. Usually, this pressure was shared with the array of generators that created the barrier covering the Pythian vige. Deactivating the generator would not be a problem, usually. The advantage of a barrier with an array of generators was that if one generator fell out, the barrier would weaken, but not fall. They could cycle for maintenance and save power when there was no immediate threat. However, if their generator was like this, then all others were experiencing this, too. The knocking of the immortal outside was quickly bringing their door to the edge of its durability. If he shut down their shield generator, the barrier would weaken and the load they were currently taking would be directly redistributed to all others. The Result: Immediate Extermination. All other shield bunkers but this one would explode and the barrier wouldpletely fall. ... Well, well, well, look what we have here. A nice little field, ready for a harvest, a voice suddenly echoed across the crowd assembled at the crossing between the barrier of the Pythian Vige and that of Little Gamma.People who were unwilling to fight, but couldn''t cross into Little Gamma, enter the prepared shelters, or didn''t dare to leave the Pythian Vige before the barrier became a prison, had gathered in this ce. There were also about 30 local guards from Little Gamma. Several members of the Guilds had also found their way here. Everyone looked at the figure trudging down the empty main street leading up to the crossing between barriers. It wasn''t a huge figure, but rather scrawny and toned. Their body was covered by a ripped, hooded robe and bandages. in their hand, they held a peculiar, rusty saber. What are you doing here, Priest of Corruption? Tiny of Gamma Resistance stepped forward, his massive hammer resting on his shoulder. The figure came to a halt, staring at the Chosen of Magni blocking his path. Just im some souls for Mother. These maggots of the Cloud Continent are a great harvest, he clearly voiced his intention to ughter all the foreigners present here. Tiny sighed, taking the massive hammer from his back. Don''t tell me you are you going to stand in the way of my holy rite, the priest said almost disappointed of Tiny''s decision to protect them. Tiny scratched his cheek. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It''s not like I''m particrly interested in protecting them, but I have a reputation to protect for Gamma Resistance as the vice-leader, you know? he answered a little irresponsible. I see, well then... Corruption Knight, take care of him for me!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om What are you- Tiny was rudely interrupted by an eight-meter-tall beast in armor, pping him away, sending him crashing into the next row of buildings, just to pursue his target the next moment. With Tiny out of the way, the priest turned to the crowd of cultivators. You seem to take us for a bunch of sheep ready for ughter! one of them stepped forward, unsheathing his sword. After all, they had the strength and standing that allowed him toe to Urth and they had survived this hostile world so far. Just because they were unwilling to fight a fight that wasn''t theirs, didn''t mean they were weak or cowards. At least not all of them. Right, Guard Kang, y that guy for me! someone else ordered their bodyguard. Following their example, roughly a third stepped forward to face him. They roughly knew his abilities from the tournament. They just had to make sure not to be hit by the weird saber, then- The priest suddenly vanished from their vision. Covered in glowing tattoos he appeared right in front of Guard Kang. The man was still able to react. Lifting his sword to block the rusty saber, only to witness it instantly wither and break. He would have died then and there, if the priest wasn''t suddenly thrown back. Showing a simr figure as Tiny earlier, the priest crashed into a nearby building. At the helm of the crowd stood the still pissed and tired-looking Cade Albright. Her hand had turned into a massive disfigured w, dripping with the blood of the priest. The crowd could only look on in shock, as Cade appearing was even faster than the priest disappearing. they were still in a stupor when they heard the rubble move. The priest groveled out from the gravel of the destroyed building. On the man''s exposed chest were four distinct w marks, bleeding profusely. The flesh around them was squirming, as if it was trying to heal them, but was unable to do so. Dark, sickly veins spread out from these w marks. Urgh, how could this be? the priest moaned, finding that the wounds were not healing as they should have. Hmm, looks like I won''t even need to use my path to kill you. I can just cut you into ribbons, Cade said a little disappointed. Her Rakshasa ws were able to damage the soul, and it seemed that even the Priest of Corruption couldn''t easily counter this damage. She had been kind of looking forward to unleashing the power of her path for the first time, facing a worthy opponent. Hmm, it seems like you are right, he agreed, touching the open wound. The dark veins were quickly receding as his body countered the poison of her ws, but it had a hard time closing the wounds. There is no point in fighting then, bye! the priest said decisively. He gave her a friendly wave and ran away, leaving the stumped Cade and the crowd behind. A momentter, the barrier protecting the Pythian Vige and keeping the cultivators inside, disintegrated. Tsk, looks like simply don''t want to go my way... she sighed. ... ---A little while earlier--- Requesting immediate, simultaneous shutdown of all shield generators because of overheating. Requesting immediate, simultaneous shutdown of all shield generators because of overheating. Requesting immediate, simultaneous shutdown of all shield generators because of overheating. Dozens of golems contacted the VIP lounge of Minas Mar, which had turned into ta temporarymand center. The messages from the golems stationed at the shield generators came flowing in incessantly, and all of them were the same; requesting to shut down the barrier immediately to prevent the generators and lives from being lost. Things inside the barrier were going as nned. The allied troops of Urth with the mercenaries and members of Minas Mar at their helm, were decimation the swarm of cultivators who lost the protection of their leader. However, said Leader was posing a tremendous threat outside the barrier, to the point that their shield generators were failing. The moment they lowered this defense, the immortal would rush in and who knew what he would do? Just decimating Minas Mar''s troops would have been the friendly option. The only problem with this was their unwillingness to show that they also had two immortals on their side. Xiong Peng and Yu had both revealed that they were also immortals, so they were on the same stage as the alliance leader, just older with more experience and power. Leana, Mary, and the other members of themand central were discussing, hesitating to deactivate the barrier, when Seth''s voice suddenly cut cleanly through the chaotic noise. Shut down the generators. It will be okay. Chapter 1142: Eclipse of Mercy Chapter 1142: Eclipse of Mercy Mina had separated from the others, earlier and headed west. As the night fully descended, she abandoned the Alpeka and prowled the city on her own, traveling through the all-epassing shadow of the night. The main battle happened in the distance, with the explosions and noise of battle only serving as a dampened background noise. Luf had told her that the Saintess of Gatris was creating trouble in the northwestern outskirts of the Pythian Vige. The city in this ce was eerily quiet. Seeing the usually busy street absolutely quiet was the best sign that something was not right. Other ces were still brimming withbat on the streets, but the northwest had turned into a ghost town, devoid of people. All the people staying in the Pythian vige are either adventurers or cultivators who came to make a living by running inns and restaurants. Although yers could use to flee, the average level of these people was quite high, and she doubted they would have just evacuated because they faced some attacks. This situation was a little different from what she heard from Luf. At least she couldnt remember her mentioning any mass disappearances. Could this really be the work of the saintess? She was pondering about it when the sky suddenly turned darker. Surprised she realized that the barrier had vanished. She was about to call Luf when her ears twitched. For the first time, she heard a foreign sound since she entered the silent city. It was a suppressed curse followed by a small repeating sound. She came to the conclusion that it had to be steps. Following the soft sounds of steps, the beastman found a lone adventurer sneaking through the back alley behind a restaurant. She couldnt see his face, but he was clearly trembling. Despite being in a state of fear or panic, he was moving slowly with measured steps. He was probably a thief or assassin ss, to sneak like that despite the situation and his mental state. Passing him, swimming through the shadows, she slowly emerged right in front of him. The adventurer froze in fear, but he didnt scream, or make any sounds. Suspecting there was a reason for his silence, she spoke as softly as possible. Im Mina, a Lord of Minas Mar. What happened here?She spoke barely any louder than the man beathed, but her words were clearly audible in the quiet night air. The man swallowed hard, hesitating whether he should believe her and talk, or whether this was just another nightmare, and it was finally time for him to die. I want to help, but I have to know what happened, the cat girl insisted. I- I dont know. I was still fighting those crazies not too long ago, but when the night fell, more and more people... vanished? No. no, thats not the right word, or maybe it is? They were simply gone from one moment to the other, He breathed the words more than he spoke them. His ragged breath made it hard to follow. I think it has something to do with noise. At first, there was too much going on, butter I realized. Whenever there was a scream or a loud shout, it suddenly cut off. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. How long has it been since it started? Mina asked concerned. It had barely been 20 minutes since Luf told her toe here. Had the situation changed this rapidly? It was hard to believe that this many people vanished this such a short amount of time. The Saintess she had seen in the tournament didnt seem to be capable of that. I dont know when it started, but its been five minutes since I heard another person for thest time he answered, shaking his head. Thedy from Mians Mar realized, that he didnt have any more answers than this. At least he was able to provide her with some clues. Why didnt you use Home Call? Mina finally asked. was the ultimate skill for yers to save their lives. Even if he registered the Pythian Vige as a return spot, that would have probably been better than sneaking around here. Things were dire if the perpetrator actually managed to block the skill. The formation needed to block teleportation needed a lot of time and preparation. Pulling that off right under their noses was concerning and slightly embarrassing. To the point that she would even suspect that the perpetrator hand inside help. Urgh, I would have if I could. My is on cooldown. I used it to get back here to see the final. I bet a lot of the guys that vanished just dipped out he pressed out, frustrated. Mina nodded; d that her original conjecture was true, and it wasnt the worst-case scenario. This would lower the estimated number of victims. Unless the system skill was on cooldown, nobody unwilling to fight had to stay. Of course, people from the Voracious Cloud Continent didnt have that option. That begged the question of what happened to those guys. You can get out of this ce alone. Aim for the stadium at the center, she told him after a moment of thought. The stadium? Are you crazy? Th fights there are the worst! he hissed agitated. Yeah, and the stadium is the safest and most chaotic ce in the Vige. Nobody will notice some guy sneaking by toward it. Here, they will at least let you stay within the barrier bound with this, she said and handed him a card made of . He hesitated but finally took it with a look of surprise. Thank you, he whispered. Now go, she said, sending the man on his way, while she turned back to her original direction. With some clues now, she knew what she was looking for. She had the hunch that those people were still alive. A noise-triggered method to have people vanish without a trace seemed to borate if the goal was simply to collect corpses. It made no sense to her. If they were this powerful, they could have just killed everyone present directly and collected the bodies. That would have eliminated the chance for people to use , too. Luf, what is going on with the barrier? she quietly contacted themand center before she continued. Don''t worry, things are back on track now, was the only answer she got. Weirdly enough, it was enough for her to stop worrying. She gave a quick update on what she found out before she continued on the journey.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Following her hunch, she knew what she was looking for. Thanks to Master Mountain she knew, whether it was a cultivator or a yer, there was next to no way to just let a crowd of living people vanish. This meant she had to look out for a ce full of people. That shouldnt be that hard, with how empty the rest of the city was. Ultimately, this still meant that she was simply prowling around the city, just with little more direction, paying attention to ces where they could collect bodies or hold people captive. She felt really stupid for this when she finally came across what she was looking for. At the northwestern edge of the Pythian Vige, someone created a field of ruins. Magical symbols covered the cleared arena, glowing an ominous dark orange color in the night. The people she had been looking for were limply levitating in the air above this area. They didnt even try to hide this shit! It was even lit up. Swallowing her indignation and frustration about the time she had spent searching, she focused on the situation at hand. The people seemed unconscious. Except for the rings of energy that looked like ck crowns of thorns surrounding their heads and the thorns piercing into their skulls, they seemed fine. At least her hunch was right and they were still alive. Contrary to her doubts, she actually saw the Saintess of Gatris standing in the center of this ce, which looked unlike any magic formation she knew. Kneeling in front of the three-meter-tall statue of a blindfolded demon witch, she seemed immersed in prayer. A ritual. This was the only exnation Mina was able toe up with. Then was the kidnapping of these people also part of her power she didnt show the tournament or was it maybe the effect of an item. The statue, for example, seemed quite peculiar. Was this the true face of Gatris? When are you finally done, woman? a scruff, dissonant voice suddenly broke the silence of the night, making Mina jolt in surprise. Appearing from the darkness, as if stepping through the thick, ck smoke, was a demon. Surprised she realized that he was also among the tournament participants. Stepping out of the shadow, Mina released a few golem eyes from her inventory. Since they had lost contact with the ones originally in this area, she had to bring new ones herself. The fight wouldnt be broadcast live, but an edited version was nned to be releasedter. She threw her hair around and smiled at the camera. Show time. Chapter 1143: In the Skies(3) Chapter 1143: In the Skies(3) The battle in the sky was now in full swing. On one hand, the two fleets had finally engaged inbat. the cultivator ship were firing formation cannons and energy weapon of their own, facing the beam of Epsilon. While the ships were locked in aerial battle, they were surrounded by a cloud of individualbats. Many of the weaker cultivators had descended to the city, either felled by the attacks from the ground or to evade the offense of Minas Mar. They rather faced the golems, than the people on aerial strikers. Those left battling in the sky were the various elders and people from Minas Mar. These opponents were not to be underestimated, although the rank of elder seemed to lose some of its meaning when facing a sect alliance with hundreds of them. Each of them ranged between lv.85 to lv.120 when observed with an appraisal skill and they all possessed weird and ultimate skills and techniques that could raise their level in a desperate moment. It became even more chaotic when either side brought their pets and mounts on top of their own power. Aerial strikers and exotic beasts rained from the sky, in addition to cultivators and yers. Despite each member of the Oathguard having breached lv.90 and being d in relic-rated items, there was no easy victory. Caleb''snce was evaded by a hair''s breadth when he charged at the figure in ck and red robes. The man in question used no weapons, but his hands were like ws. He had already punched a hole through the stomach of an Oathguard and was about to finish the man when the Dragon Knight interrupted. These were the most dangerous ones among the cultivators left in the sky. Some of these alliance members were leaders of their sects or had the standing of grand elders. They possessed power a normal Oathguard couldn''tpare to. It couldn''t be helped. Oathguards were chosen by character, not by skill. They usually hadmon or umon sses thatcked the skills to cross this difference in power. They mostly relied on their equipment to kill stronger opponents, but that approach had its limits.Although thence was avoided, Wyvern managed to snatch the man from the opponent''s hand. There was no time to get him to safety, so the Wyvern threw the body to a passing firefly, while Caleb had a short back-and-forth with the cultivator. I don''t know if I should call you brave or stupid to face this paragon, the Dark Sovereign spoke boastfully. I know you aren''t part of Minas Mar. I will give you a chance to live. All i wish is to take revenge on Minas Mar for the damage and loss we suffered because of them, he offered graciously. Caleb squinted. He had gotten a very short briefing about Minas Mar''s history with Cultivators, but this guy didn''t seem like a member of the Silk River Sect, who should have suffered the most. he looked dark and evil, the aura he gave off was cruel and brutal. Hmm, i see. What did they do to you? the knight yed along, lowering hisnce. Of course, he had no intention to agree with the other, but it was a good method to buy some time. This man seemed strong, engaging with him would either be a hard or an expensive fight. The more time he bought, the better the chances became. Although the initial situation in this battle seemed dire, as both sides seemed to suffer tremendous damage. However, there was a great difference between the cultivators and the yers. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. In general, Cultivators were strong warriors or magicians with strong individual battle prowess. Even when working together in so-called formations, these had either either offensive or defensive purposes. yers on the other hand existed in a party system for the most part. They had various roles and specializations to work together and survive in a dungeon. What they had that cultivators didn''t have were Healers. Unlike the yers, cultivators had no way to quickly recover in the middle ofbat. Some may have had strong regeneration or consumables, but nothing couldpare to the convenience and speed of healers and health potions. Although it seemed like an even fight in the beginning with many Oathguards and aerial strikers leaving the battlefield in the same numbers as cultivators and beasts, most of the yers returned to get healed by their party members and the aerial strikers repaired themselves on the ground. As time went on, their side grew stronger, whittling away at the cultivator army. So, the more time Caleb bought, the higher the chance that he didn''t have to face this guy alone. Ha, I know you are buying time, but I don''t mind. I will satiate your curiosity. My elders went to the length of gifting these savages with the grace of the Blood Berserk Pill and as thanks they colluded with the despicable Mount Crane Sect to strike us. Caleb cocked his head. That called up a memory. Wait, wasn''t that this weird super-addictive drug that turned people into mindless beasts? he asked disgustedly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om They were blessed with the power of the Berserk Demon. It is their fault if their mind is too weak to handle this blessing, the Dark Sovereign said leisurely. And then those guys that got the blessing, got into the next batch of pills, wasn''t that it? Caleb wanted to throw up at the thought that people ate medicine made by other people. To serve their essence to a greater goal, is the final price to pay for blessing received. Do not besmirch their sacrifice as something unclean, the cultivator warned him. Don''t try to make it sound nice. I heard you people poisoned refugees with the stuff. You fed it to unsuspecting people that''s huakh- Caleb gagged at the thought. The disgust it brought him, had seared that story into the back of his mind. Knowing that this was the guy responsible for these acts gave Caleb the shove he needed to drop his original n. Rip! The sound of a scroll being used. There was nothing left to say, no more time to buy. Caleb decided that this was worth the price. He had already buffed himself with potions earlier. After ripping a scroll, he charged at the dark sovereign on Wyverns back. Now this fight was more even. The flying lizard swiped its ws at the fiendish cultivator. Barely evading, his robes ripped, exposing a pale, perfectly trained chest. His hand shot up, but not to protect his chastity, but to defend against thence that weaved in between the w attack. The tip of the relic-ratednce tore the skin of his palms, but Caleb could tell that he jumped backward to mitigate the damage, otherwise he would have at least pierced the mans hands. Coming to a halt after tumbling back through the air for a few steps, his opponent grumbled. You have thrown my mercy to the wind. I will make you regret choosing to fight me, the man barked, pulling an ominous ck whip from his sleeves. The ck, shiny surface resembled the carapace of a bug, oozing with a dark aura, like a curse. As if you werent fast enough, now you even pulled out a whip? Didnt your partner tell you thats not manly to be too quick? Calebs taunted, moments before Wyvern let loose a massive breath attack that covered the man and the surface of half a football field. It is not the duration, but the endurance that counts! the Dark Sovereign eximed, swinging his arm over and over. By quicklyshing out, he created a barrier around himself to block the mes. Thats what they all say, but we know it''s not true~ Calebughed, stabbing forward, using . The energy attack released from his mightynce passed through the remnants of the breath, absorbing the elder wyverns fire to further strengthen the speed and attack power. The brightly shiningnce exploded on the dark ball the cultivator had created around himself, bursting it. With a cry, the Dark Sovereign was thrown away, tumbling through the air. The cultivator was able to catch himself, a moment before crashing into a rooftop. Yet, he got close enough for one of the golems to take a swipe at him. He evaded the surprise attack in a hurry, shooting a re at the golem, before turning to Caleb again. Where are you going, Quickshot? Are you running away from facing a real man? the Dark Sovereign suddenly suffered a taunt from behind. Its not like I dont understand you. How could a coward like you dare to face a real male like this general Orc! the ugly beast on the rooftopughed heartily. You little! pulling the slightly damaged whip taut, he was ready to attack the orc golem. It was the perfect chance for Caleb, With an Overwhelming , he rammed hisnce into the Dark Sovereigns back. With the center of his upper body missing, he tumbled to the ground. Chapter 1144: On the Streets- Frozen Decay. Chapter 1144: On the Streets- Frozen Decay. ---Eastern Part of the Pythian Vige--- Dust Crunched under his heavy boots as he reached the ce Luf told him about. Looking around, he frowned grimly and slightly disgusted. The whole street was filled with withered bodies. Seeing the scene and connecting it with the crunch, made a shiver run down his spine. Maybe all the dust here was the bodies of victims. He had a hard time thinking of many things worse than this. Maybe it wasparable to the memories of the war with the maritime empire in Y-City, but those times were still worse in his opinion, as it was hisrades that littered the streets, ripped into pieces, not a bunch of strangers turned to husks. Judging by their attire and weaponry who seemed mostly untouched, it wasn''t hard to guess that they were cultivators. Whether they were part of the alliance or not, he couldn''t tell at this point. Still, he doubted all of them were hostiles. Whoever did this just didn''t care about friend or foe. Nervously, his right gripped the handle of the pipe harder, while the left did the same with the , the upgraded version of his original shield. It shared all the original functions, except that it was made of , had higher base stats, and added 120 to Strength and Endurance. When he turned around the corner, he found the probably weirdest situation, yet. He found two confirmed hostiles fighting each other. Even weirder was that one of them was actually supposed to have died a little earlier. On one side was a criminally handsome cultivator. His pale skin like jade stood in stark contrast to his fingers covered in crimson blood. The other was anky man hiding his face, swinging a rusty saber around. How did the Priest of Corruption, who fled from Cade, get involved in a fight with the Dark Sovereign Caleb had supposedly killed? The thing was that he originally wasn''t here for either of the two. ording to Luf, Alphalfa Bignoggin the Sword Summoner was supposed to go on a killing spree here. He was one of the participants of the tournament''s first round and was a mix of swordsman and summoner. During the current chaos, his actions outed him as an agent of Spatia.However, there were no traces of anybody, but those two duking it out. the fearsome corrosive saber the priest wielded shed with the blood ws of the Dark Sovereign over and over. Although his hands sizzled, there were few signs of the Dark Sovereign suffering any damage from the holy weapon that had wrecked quite a number of people during the tournament. Tekar was still deliberating who to take out first when the fight finally took a decisive turn, as the cultivator managed to grasp the priest''s neck and wrist. Holding the saber at a distance, the w choked the priest, who started withering at a visible speed. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Jump''em! Sock''em! Within the blink of an eye, Tekar appeared behind the Dark Sovereign, and the curved end of the pipe struck the man''s skull. With he had charged behind the cultivator and with he dealt three times the physical damage because it was an underhanded attack to a vital area. The cultivator fell to the floor from the surprise attack and let go of the priest, who fell to his knees, coughing and gasping for air. His desated appearance quickly healed and would be gone in a matter of moments. Urgh! How- The cultivator on the ground started struggling again. Despite the tremendous boost of the legendary weapon, Tekar''s activeck of physical damage despite his stats shone again. Despite suffering the strike to the head with perfect execution, the cultivator was not even knocked out, rubbing the back of his head. How dare you ambush me, the Dark Sovereign So Da- A second strike with the pipe shut him up and stopped him from trying to stand up. It triggered several effects of Sleep Paralysis, like blindness, and paralysis, but most importantly silence. Pressed down by the Curse of Burden and paralyzed, the cultivator was forced to shut up. I don''t care what Soda you are, I prefer my beverages still. Tekar frowned, wondering how often he would have to strike the man in the head to end him once and for all when the priest suddenly spoke up. You are Tekar, right? Thanks for the -ng! he had been amicably speaking to the walking fortress when he suddenly tried to attack him and the floored sovereign, only for the attack to be easily deflected by Tekar''s shield. While the priest was still recovering his weapon, the pipe struck forward, quick as a snake, biting the Priest''s knew. In addition to the satisfying crunch of the joint, Tekar hooked it with the bent end of the pipe and pulled the priest off his feet. In a fluid motion, he brought the pipe back around and struck the sovereign''s ribs, to add anotheryer of status effects and the curse of burden. After all, he didn''t want the guy to run away while he dealt with the priest. Enduring the curse himself, he made only two steps forward. The moment the priest of corruption looked up, the pipe broke his shoulder. Now this, was how it was supposed to be. Although the priest had fought on almost equal terms with the cultivators, his body was much weaker, despite recovering at an incredible rate. Flung to the side again, the priest groaned under the pain and the curse of burden. Originally, i didn''te for either of you, but since I found you, i will have to take care of you, Tekar spoke with his calm, deep voice as he towered over the Priest of Corruption. Take care...of me? Hah! heughed out as intricate tattoos started glowing across his body. The saber jumped up and shed across Tekar''s chest, but it didn''t cut anything. In the tournament, flesh and armor were dposed by this weapon, but facing the master of defense, it could only slide off his personal shield. Although Corrosion is a higher conceptpared to basic effects, I have 75% resistance against it. The damage of your weapon can''t even get past my defense to touch my equipment, Tekar exined, almost feeling sorry for the man. Haha, that means I can''t damage you, but you can''t kill me either! Just let me go, I will leave Urth quietly, the priest offered apromise. You are right, I can''t kill you. As a matter of fact, I can''t even deal enough damage to kill the other one. However, I can keep you here until I called someone that CAN take care of you, he added with an amused smile, as he proceeded to call Luf for backup. I will send Cade your way. ...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om --- Cinema Dimension--- For the first time in a long while, the whole hall was absolutely silent. All gods present were watching various perspectives of the war with rapt attention. Even Seth decided not toin that Minas Mar wasn''t going all out, a it made for a more exciting battle. However, a sudden pping broke the silence. Happily pping her hands together was a new figure sitting in the front row, right beside Hades and Persephone. She was a mountain of a woman, giving off a motherly aura. Hades looked over at his grandmother pping excitedly. Yia yia, what happened? he asked, leaning over to the personification of earth. She gifted him a bright smile, a witty glint in her eyes. Kuku, you will see soon, she said mysteriously, not intending to spoil her grandchild''s fun. For Gaia to be this happy, he had some ideas about what he was supposed to look forward to. Amused, the god of the underworld leaned back in his seat, waiting for the show to start. Chapter 1145: Super Ebola Chapter 1145: Super Eb Mina knew what she had to do. She had seen the power of the Saintess in the arena. The extreme adaptability of Gatris that was supposed to drive the opponent into despair, to crush their spirit until they epted her mercy. What was needed in this case was not overwhelming power, but a single quick and powerful attack that could end everything in one go. Mina had just the perfect weapons for that. The cat girl appeared from the shadows behind the praying Saintess and struck down with Asclepius Needle, using the assassin skills and , in addition to from her shadow assassin ss. Her strike was apanied by the shattering of a barrier. Of course, the Saintess of Gatris was not chanting on her knees, without any defense at all. However, the bubble of divine power shattered under the power of the attack. The saint''s defense was broken, but Mina''s attack had also lost a lot of its force. Half expecting it, Mina only used the dagger''s and after the shield was broken. The first casting a deadly disease on the Saintess, the second casting a normal disease onto her. Super Eb-Urth Strain!> Galloping Leprosy!> Duoh! What have you done? My innards-! the Saintess turned to her, tears of blood flowing from her eyes. The stabbing wound in her back seemed like the smallest problem when her lower robes became tainted with blood and...worse. Disgusted and fascinated, Mina took several quick steps back. Goddess! Help- she thrashed around on the ground, tortured by whatever Super Eb to her. Galloping Leprosy only just started to appear, as her skin dissolved at a visible speed. She was covered in growing lesions, turning her whole body into a big, infected wound. Yeah, no. We can''t have that, Mina shook her head. She couldn''t allow her to somehow plea for divine help, so she swung the Shard of Biting Ice, casting on the Saintess. Before she could speak any further, she was encased in a shell of cursed ice, that slowly absorbed her life force, in addition to the damage the diseases dealt. She probably wouldn''tst the full 5 minutes of the .Although this was why she was sent here, Mina was surprised about how easy it went. Well, she was also quite lucky with the RNG on the disease. Super Eb? What even was that? It totally destroyed the Saintess in moments. With the Saintess of Gatris stuck in the coffin of ice, slowly nearing her demise, the Beastman had time to pay attention to the statue, she was praying to. The weird, demonic effigy, which was probably the true face of Gatris, only shown to her dearest followers, was slowly losing its glow after the prayers stopped. The runic formation in the area did the same. Despite that, the people floating in the air wearing the crowns of thorns were not released from their curse. Despite the ritual being interrupted, they kept floating around with their mindless expressions. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. She stopped her ears from twitching when she heard an almost unperceivable sound from behind her. It was followed by the sound of a de cutting the air. A crude rapier passed through her shoulder but didnt cause any damage or pain. Having used the power of the Ring of Gyges to face the surprise attack, she used this chance to counterattack, shing the demon across his chest, leaving a cut and a deep gash in his flesh. The pig-faced creature grunted deeply in surprise and pain. Intangibility? Interesting, the attackermented as he dashed away to gain distance from the cat girl. Mina pursued him both daggers drawn, ready for a melee fight, while his skills were sealed. However, he managed to stay alive for the duration of 10 seconds, after which he turned into smoke. The cloud of demon smoke then charged back to the encased priestess. You are Mina, right? I didnt think I would be lucky enough to actually meet the Tower Masters woman alone out here, the demon said with a crooked smile. Just anyone from Minas Amr would have done the trick, but to lure out someone of special interestWhat a great day! You will be the perfect hostage. Hearing the demons talk, Mina inadvertently used , the assassin version of to check his level. It had not changed from the time of the tournament, but she decided to stay vignt. There were enough cases of people exceeding the level limit using various techniques.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Dont you think you overestimate yourself, if you think you can capture me? Mina asked honestly, with a slight intention to taunt him. Maybe he would blurt something out when he was agitated? Oh, right, right, right, I forgot, he said and pulled a ring from his finger. It was a crude ck iron ring and it turned to dust, the moment it was unequipped. The moment it was gone, his aura exploded. Mina didnt need a skill to tell her that he was rapidly growing stronger, but it helped her quantify the difference in power. His level kept jumping higher and higher with bigger and bigger steps and despite looking incremental, the power he exuded rose exponentially. By the time the power stopped rising, Minas couldn''t even see the level anymore. he had managed to reach lv. 118 herself. For her skill to stop working, the beast had to be at least 50 levels above her, so probably in the 170s... The visual change was tremendous, too, as the demon had grown more and more bestial with every jump in power, turning him into a 4-meter-tall hairy hog, walking on its hind legs and a snake tail. When Porco Bello was finished with his transformation, he kicked the ice sarcophagus, breaking the curse and sending the Saintess flying across the ground. Get up, you stupid wench! I dont care if you are on your dying breaths, finish the ritual! he barked at the sainted, who was crawling on the ground, puking and sweating blood. She looked like a dposing corpse, but only 2/3 of her HP were depleted so far. She whined and cried. Unable to speak, she only nodded at the demons words and scurried over to the effigy, to continue her prayer. Then the beats turned to her, cracking his neck and knuckles. Still doubting my power? the asked brashly. Mina couldnt say that she wasnt intimidated. Her instinct told her to run away. Even with her legendary equipment, she was not confident about defeating this kind of monster. In the moment of silence that ensued as Porci Bello waited for her answer, his expression suddenly changed. His smug smile vanished as his eyes turned big. Super Eb-Urth Strain!> Galloping Leprosy!> Urgh?! What is-? he suddenly choked, holding his stomach, Bitch! What is this? There is no way I would contract a mortal disease... he mumbled. Mina was just as shocked as the demon. She never heard that demons could get sick, but she had also never heard of Super Eb... There were things on Urth that couldn''t be exined by system standards, like a zombie virus able to infect even the undead. She was reminded of the experimentation in Beta and the Immortal Serum of the Scene. Was this another danger still asleep somewhere on Urth? Dohhh! the giant pig shouted as a fountain of brown sludge erupted from its rear. As the stream of waste flowed, it shot Mina a hateful nce that made her heart shiver. Even Super Eb couldn''t do much more than give this transcendent the shits. Enraged by the rapid evacuation of his bowels, the beast charged at the cat girl. Mina wasn''t a masochist, and she had no wish to fight a beast spraying liquid manure everywhere. She knew what to do in the face of overwhelming power. Chapter 288. Weighed, Measured, Judged Chapter288. Weighed, Measured, Judged A person stepped into the square. This time an actual human. He wore a unique hat and ck robes with red details. The symbol of chain links was embroidered on his chest and he wore a thick crimson red chain around his neck. An entourage of people in simr robes followed him. They wore ck chains on their wrists and their faces were covered in by a loose fabric with the chain symbol. As theyter came to know these were the Chained Apostles. A caste of priests that were in charge of... weing new sheep to the herd. Anywhere else they would be called envers. Their blessing from God gave them the power to force others to answer their questions, to see through lies, and create ve cors based on the worth of the sheep. Their work was the judgment, registration, and envement of the captives by putting a ve cor on them. One by one the captives were taken from the cages and led before these inquisitors. It did not take long for Seth''s turn. "What is your ss?" the emotionless voice asked him, and he felt the urge to answer. "cksmith." he could not resist to answer but what he said was his to decide. There had been more than enough people who tried to lie and got punished for it before him. Seth decided to be technically honest. "And your second ss?" "Scald." The priest made a derogatory sound and mumbled "Useless. Wasting even the second ss on something like that." "You have been judged to be a menial worker. Your number is 3663. Remember it well as this is the first andst name that will ever matter to you again." An ominous feeling overcame the priest as he said that, but he shrugged it off. Then heid his hand around Seth''s neck and started to mumble a chant. He felt the priest''s hands heat up and when the man removed his hands there was an iron cor around his neck. Just like it had happened to everyone else before him. With that Seth''s fate was decided and he was brought away with the other workers. The other fates he had seen were warriors who got bound by a silver cor and magicians who were bound by a silver one. As the most numerous, Seth followed the row on worker out of the square. When he passed the castle walls, he felt a restrictive feeling lifted only to be reced by a new one originating from the cor. Past the walls came a deste wastnd into view. Here and there he could spot rests of ruins among the dead nts and lifeless earth. They were led to a big camp at the edge of this wastnd where a lush forest could be seen. Rows upon rows of barracks waited here for them, like in some kind of convict colony. They were assembled before a rostrum. The guard here was not the creepy warden, but other humans wearing red and ck uniforms. It took a while, but at some point, a man with a few medals on his chest stepped onto the stage. "Wee to your new life, Vermin. You have the great chance to help our wonderful Theocracy grow into the future. I know of the lies you believe in and that the ursed system church had strengthened, but we will help free yourself of these thoughts. We understand that you will think of resistance or flight at first, but I advise you against it. The evil system''s influence on you is locked and the filthy power had been suppressed. Resistance will be punished. Flight only means death. You cannot survive alone in this green hell past the border of this camp. Resistance is futile. Hope is an illusion." Many were hit hard by this cold speech, but Seth listened to it as if it was a stage y. Seeing the forest had a bigger impact on him. He had connected the dots about the theocracy raiding the Starta Vige, the recent capture, and this forest. He had returned to Alpha. This bridgehead o the Theocracy was situated in the sea of trees, probably close to Deltan the flooded city. His thoughts were interrupted by a brute shove against his shoulder. "Get into your barracks, 3663." a guard snarled at him and pointed at one of the buildings. Most of the building was one big room, like a hall and it was filled to the brim with bunk beds. When Seth entered the sleeping hall, he was surprised to see a familiar face. Evan was also dered to be a worker and was sitting on one of the beds with a gloomy face. He wore a gray shirt and gray pants. The number 3647 was printed on the back of the gray jacket. Bundles of these clothes could be seen on the free beds. Did he also have to wear this stuff? Seth didn''t approach Evan yet but threw him a look when the other finally noticed him. He found his bed because the number was stamped on the iron frame of the bunk bed and his gray clothes were ced on it. "You seem to be in high spirits for someone who just became a ve for the rest of his life." an old raspy voice spoke to Seth from above. On the upper bed, he saw an old man looking down at him. His old eyes seemed to rx and his bare, dirty feet dangled over the edge of the bed. "I will give you tip, youngin. Let go of all hope of escape. This old man has tried for his whole life. There is no escape." Seth got suspicious. If the man was trying to escape his whole life, didn''t it mean he was not from Urth? "Oh? You tried to run your whole life? Then why didn''t they already kill you?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The old man reeled in his scrawny legs and turned to lie on his belly and give Seth a good look. His unkempt gray beard and sparse hair made him look like a lunatic. But his voice and eyes were calm, with only a little hint of insanity. "To discourage people like you. I am an example of the futility of escape." "They really like the word futile..." Seth muttered as the man leaned back on his bed. "That they do. And chains. They talk more about those fucking chains than a goddamn jeweler." the answer came. ~I don''t trust him.~ Seth didn''t trust the old man either, but he was sure he could supplement his knowledge on how things worked here. The cksmith kept talking to the old man and the other told his stories. He was here to show the "futility of escape" it meant they wanted the old man to tell them about all the securities measures that stopped him. 1004, the man''s number, had lost count on the many times he tried to escape and was ultimately caught. Whether these stories were true or not didn''t even matter. Seth was sure there had to be some truth in what he talked about. He just needed to glean the right information from the prisoner''s yarn. What Simon had told him and Al''s presence helped. First and foremost was information on the ve cors. Depending on the quality of the cor they restricted the wearer more or less. Warriors were used as a fighting force. They could use their skills, but their cors allowed the Priests to use mind control. They were forced to follow orders and could only act as mindless drones most of the time. Magicians were slightly better off. Depending on their specialization they had to either fight or help in research. Their skills could be unlocked depending on the situation. Their cors did not have the function to control them, but they would be punished with tremendous pain if they did not follow amand. Workers had ess to any system functionality or skillspletely sealed. They were no better than strongborers. In exchange, they were only controlled by force. Their cors could be used to locate them if they fled but that was all. Other than that, it was all about patrols, the terrifying wardens, the covered inquisitors that can find you anywhere so on and so forth. These were the alleged reason why a worker couldn''t run, even if they got rid of the cor. "But nobody can get rid of these cors anyways. They are created with divine magic. It would probably need a craftsmen cksmith just to open these worker cors. Not to mention those of warriors or magicians." Oh yeah, that was nonsense. Even without his he could see that the worker cors were justmon items. Most cksmiths could take them off. He guessed that it was simr for the gold and silver cors. Seth was sure he could take off his cor but what came afterward? He couldn''t just leave the people behind. Especially Duhu and Evans had grown a little on him. It was better not to rush things for now. Seth wanted to observe the situation himself instead of deciding on the ramblings of an old coot. Chapter 1146: Cut Strings Chapter 1146: Cut Strings Covered in emerald aura, the ive bit into the torrential wind de. For a moment both powers wrestled to gain the upper hand, but ultimately it was a simple attack struggling against an intelligent opponent. Before the ive could sustain anysting damage, the Emerald Mountain Emperor angled the de and deflected the mighty attack straight up in the air. The maneuver seemed effortless from an observers standpoint, but Long Jian knew it better. Through his connection with the puppet, he was able to monitor its status perfectly. In life, the Emerald Mountain Emperor was a mighty cultivator who had stepped into the peak of the Dao Seeking Stage, just shy of bing an immortal. Although his spiritual power slightly diminished after his death and being turned into a puppet, his body had been improved using various highest earth-grade materials. Despite almost being a heaven-grade puppet, his joints and bones had creaked and cried, facing the attack head-on. He had no time to rest. Before Long Jian knew what was going on, the Emerald Emperor had moved again, the wide de of the Gian Dao blocking a tiny fist that had aimed for his heart with the speed of an arrow. The fist hitting the metal sounded like a bell being rung. The tiny concubine of the Tower Master left her seat on the windowsill to attack him. The puppet master finally realized that he was in danger. The hidden mage and the visible fairy, he couldnt just rely on the Emerald Emperor to face both enemies. Go look for the mage, hemanded the Bright Moon Wolf to search for the hidden enemy, as two more puppets appeared beside him. He doubted the puppets spread throughout the region would be of much help to face the concubine, this was why he brought out two more cultivator puppets. The Swift Breeze Duo was a pair of brother and sister that made a name for themselves 500 years ago. They were assassins who even killed people in the early stages of the Dao Severing realm in their height. The skeletal remains he pilfered from their gravecked much of their former strength, but they still possessed their incredible movement techniques. With overwhelming speed, that managed to drive the tiny foe back. Their fists were unable to prate the shield she used in defense and offense, but that wasnt their job anyway. It was the Guan Dao appearing whenever there was a gap, to break the bugs shell.This is starting to get fun, the concubinemented, and her tiny armor started glowing. The next moment she matched the speed of the assassin duo. On the other hand, they couldnt match her strength. With fists covered in golden spheres, she started punching the puppets, breaking them apart. You got any more? she asked with an excited smile. She was about to attack the Emerald Emperor when the ruins were crushed again. The skull and parts of a massive would, thrown around in a tornado, suddenly came crashing down when the storm disintegrated. Long Jian recognized them at first nce. They were parts of his Bright Moon Wolf! Disgracefully disassembled, the puppet returned, together with the perpetrators of its destruction. A bulky-looking man in armor and a petite-looking fairy, carrying a staff. It was the kind of magic staff with a big orb at the top, that the people of Urth used for their sorcery, not as a weapon. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I knew it was him. I told you it was him, the female told the buff guy beside her I never said you are wrong. I just noted that there could be someone else using puppets here. Its not a discipline exclusive to him, the bulky fellow argued. Bickering like that, they appeared on top of the hill of debris. This wasn''t good. He recognized them as lords of Minas Mar. The woman was an elemental sorceress. The wind attack earlier had to be her doing! The physician was not much of a concern, but the other two... The spread puppets needed time to assemble. He had to act quickly even if he had to take a loss here! Sentinel Centipede, Granite Toad, Steel Ox! Work with the Emerald Mountain Emperor to buy time! he called forth the three puppets with the best defense and instructed them using the soundlessmunication technique. Surrounding Long Jian appeared three more beasts. The first was a massive, ugly centipede with a dark ck carapace shining as if it wascquered. It looked especially mortifying with the irregr shiny spikes on its back, glinting in the twilight of the night. It was the size of a bus and appeared to his right. The second was a gray toad with a coarse skin appearing to his left. It had barely any color at all and seemed to fuse with the background. For normal eyes, the toad was hard to make out in the darkness, despite being the size of a cow The third was a steel-blue water ox the size of a small apartment building. Towering over Long Jian from behind him, it overshadowed the whole area. Together with the Emperor, they protected the puppeteer from four directions. Wow, just how many more do you have? You are almost like Seth, the tiny foe whistled at the sight of three new puppets. Of course, your toys can''tpare to his, she added offhandedly, dismissing his work as second-rate. Oh, please. You don''t even know what you are talking about! The golems you people make are crudepared to the intricate art of our puppet craft! the young cultivator argued. But not because of pride, but because he saw a chance to buy time and preserve his four defenders. Ha! Wanna bet? the brute took the bait. He saw the other two shake their heads, unable to say anything. maybe the winged girl was belligerent in general? If he could get her to argue with him using words, then-n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Here, let''s have a duel, just puppets. How about that? she suddenly said and brought out a golem from her spatial equipment. Wearing full te armor it looked like a shining silver knight. It had simr proportions to his Emerald Mountain Emperor, only that the weapon it used was a diabolical-looking mace. This wasn''t what he wanted at all. However, maybe that was even better. Who knew how long he could lock the dimwit in a discussion before she would snap ande swinging at him? Is that your only contestant? Then is it my four against your individual one? And those two won''t interfere? he asked to make sure. If she was really stupid enough to give him such an advantage. In that case, he would have been able to draw out this duel until his army assembled. Sure, it''s not like I need more than her. Right Esperanza? the fairy said confidently. In turn, the golem mmed its fist against its chest. It was a mighty nk showing how much force was in that movement. Exactly, no need to bother anyone else, the golem said in a dull, but slightly high voice. Then shall we begin? Long Jian asked, confident that he would be able to get out of there alive. Maybe he would even be able toe out on top today? he would slowly whittle down this golem and by the time he ended the match, these three would be encircled by his army. The knight golem stepped forward, the bright silver armor, reflecting the moonlight and the stars. Weighing the brutal mace in its hand, it leaned back. He couldn''t make out any eyes, but its posture made it seem like it was looking down on him. Before we start, let me pose a question as you seem quite happy about this situation. Did you know that giving someone Hope is one of the cruelest things one can do? Esperanza asked in wicked glee. --- Southwestern outskirts--- A rainbow streak of light was shooting towards the edge of the Pythian Vige. Since the barrier was gone, the handsome man with the silver half-mask saw no reason to stay any longer and risk his life. Since Yoma Ma broke the barrier, he would simply rejoin once the immortal brought everything under control. Once he was outside the Pythian Vige he would simply hide close by and- his thoughts came to a halt when his gaze fell on the southern mountain range. What is the world- The moment he was distracted, he was suddenly intercepted by a golden pir of rising light. Suffering the sudden strike, they crashed into the city below. How was someone able to intercept his life-saving escape technique? His heart dropped when he saw the striking figure towering over him, d in golden radiance. Hello there, he heart, when someonended before him. Lyca, the Amazon had appeared. He swallowed hard, her presence waspletely different from the arena. So much that he doubted he had a chance, even if he went all out, but the even bigger problem was what he saw before being struck down. I- I surrender? Chapter 1147: Ascension and Fall Chapter 1147: Ascension and Fall Yoma Ma stood in the center of an ice field. Spikes of frozen water, up to 30 stories high, surrounded the ce where he fought the shield of the Pythian Vige. The twilight right after the sunset, when the first stars appeared and reflected in the ice, made it look almost ethereal. The barrier was sturdier than he expected, but it finally shattered. Seeing the carnage inside, doubts had started forming in his mind. It was true, that the Sect Alliance wanted revenge, but maybe they had listened a little too closely...too greedily to the foreigners and their promises. Just what kind of trap had they been led into... No matter what, now he had to move to save the situation. He couldn''t let the sacrifices be for naught. he would get rid of all obstacles and reassemble to alliance members before plundering the vige and turning to Little Gamma. Determined to end everything, Yoma Ma stepped over the border where the barrier had been, but he halted. Cultivators always train their senses and spirit. Going through much meditation and many life-or-death situations gave them something akin to a sixth sense. It was a hunch that made him look to the far mountains. A hunch he had moments before the unnatural cry echoes across Little Gamma. This was not the roar of a beast, but the scream of the mountains. In the far distance, he saw the row of mountains surrounding Little Gamma. The peaks in the distance jolted and jumped up one by one, erupting in cascades of snow and the cries of boulders shattering and breaking apart. it was a sound that made even his 330-year-old heart shudder. The scene was almost reminiscent of a bow wave, like that of a big fish swimming close to the surface. Gritting his teeth, Yoma Ma tightened the grip on his weapon. before his weary eyes, the mountains lifted their head! One of the smaller peaks between the foothills rose to the sky, atop a giant head. The sect master took a moment to recognize what he was witnessing. It was hard to make out in the early night, but the breaking mountains and splintering boulder rising to the sky took the distinctive shape of a snake. A giant serpent.... a world serpent? A giant snake... a shocking thought came to his mind. Was this Python? The true Python? He cursed inwardly. A foreign voice confirmed his worries in his head.As much as he mocked the worm he fought earlier for being called a guardian beast, he now cursed that this was just too much. This was on the level of a divine beast. Nobody told him about this! At this rate, he would have to risk his life to fight it... Looking at the hopeless battlefield behind him and the more than dangerous opponent before him, Yoma Ma made a decision. ... --- Moments before the Barrier fell--- +20% to all stats of your autonomous creations. + 15% to all your Attributes> Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. Your creations have it slightly easier to raise their level of existence> The chance for your creation to gain power from the vestiges of the past increases even further.> A big weight lifted from his heart when he heard the massive notification, while the other were discussing the overheating of the shield generators. He knew that Python sent a cheap clone to fight an immortal, but he didn''t know why. Now, he felt like he understood. Python was at the cusp of ascension and needed time, but now she finally ascended to godhood! The serpent was the third creation of his that ascended to a legendary status and the first to be a god. The main objective of the Pythian Games was achieved before she had the chance for a showdown. He had a hard time believing how relieved he was that things had worked out. The cksmith didn''t mind the low-ranking prefix. With the 300% boost in the vicinity of Little Gamma, he doubted the Sect master of the Silk River Sect would stand a chance. What do you mean? How will it be okay? Jane''s slightly upset voice came over them link. Make sure to have the golem eyes observe Yoma Ma. Python is ready. ... The stadium had fallen silent. The chat had fallen silent. The world had fallen silent. The audience across the Pathworks gaped in shock at the events currently unfolding on Urth. Legends and gods had revealed their existence in the rtively new world. I-Is that really Python? some people asked. Fuck, that thing is the size of a mountain... Others wondered about the incredulous size, which was hard for them to grasp. The shocked and unbelieving silence broke as waves of cheers filled the stadium and the chat was filled with emojis. The reappearance of Python meant they didn''t have to die! Hey, isn''t that guy running? What is Yoma Ma doing? various voicesmented on the scene shared on the big screen. At the sight of the giant snake, the immortal turned tail and charged into the city. The first thought was that he wanted to use the time until Python reached the Pythian Vige to kill as many enemies as he could, however, he simply passed by the fighter on the streets, not interfering with either side. Could it be... is he trying to flee? some cultivators could be heard asking such questions, realizing that Yoma Ma was running straight in the direction of the massive barge he originally came on. ha! Look at him running! Yoma Ma? More like Yo Mama!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Look at him running to Hisma Ma, with his diaper full to the brim! The moment Big Momma appears, Yo Mama is running for his life! ngl, I also got the shits when the mountains suddenly moved! Chat was overflowing with cheers and jeering at Yoma Ma who was sprinting across the Pythian vige. The cultivator was moving at an incredible speed, so fast even the golem eyes couldn''t keep up. Instead of an eye following him, the scene would always cut to the POV of golem eyes that were next to or along his path. At the same time, the massive snake was slowly emerging from the depths of the mountain range. In the dark, it looked like a huge shadow had risen, to swallow the stars in the sky, as Python threw her shadow on the Pythian Vige. If this went on, Yoma Ma would be able to get atop his ship and fly away! The people were dismayed. Partially, because the culprit of this mayhem was about to get away, but also because that meant they lost the chance to see a fight between legends! How often did one get such a chance? Legends were treated like secret weapons. Their deployment was top secret and their fights that would usually happen on war-torn border worlds seldom left witnesses. It was an incredible chance that was about to vanish. Seth was d this was their reaction, although it seemed inappropriate for the level of danger everyone was in. Minas Mar had sessfully instilled confidence into the audience. They were confident in their safety measures, this was why they had the leeway to act rxed. Though Seth''s opinion slightly differed. He didn''t want a fight between legends within the city. He still remembered the oue of the fight between Al''Zalsa and a Quasi-Immortal from the Voracious Cloud Continent. The mountain peaks surrounding Delta had be flying inds... Yoma Ma leaped in the air andnded on the deck of the big barge. Many of the disciples of the sect were currently in battle, so he stepped to the helm himself, to steer the vessel. Was he actually nning to leave the people of his sect behind?! The Sect Leader of the Silk River sect quickly started his gship and turned it around, aiming the dragon-faced bow south, the direction where they came from. Shocked, the audience and the alliance members watched the barge shoot into the distance at top speed. Several beams from Epsilon''s Fleet hit it as it escaped, but couldn''t prate the shield. The barge was flying so fast that it left golem eyes following it behind, forcing the editor to cut to other golem eyes across the city, to record it. When Yoma Ma grossed the city borders, aiming for the southern mountains, everything seemed over. The audience already gave up their hope to see a legendary battle, when a giant thorn shot up from the ground. The spike of stone easily tore through the defensive formations of the ship and prated the bow all the way to the deck. The flying vessel wasn''t just stopped in its tracks, but its own momentum ripped the giant mother ship of the Sect Alliance apart. The alliance was forced to witness their core piece turn into a cloud of exotic wood, golden embellishment, and smithereens. Moments after hitting the rock spire, something inside the ship exploded in a massive fireball, ripping apart the spire and what was left of the ship. Somewhere, somehow, a burning wheel was rolling out from the cloud of destruction just outside the city boundary. The message was clear: Nobody was leaving today. Chapter 1148: Small Fist Pump Chapter 1148: Small Fist Pump While everyone looked on in shock, still processing what just happened, Seth couldn''t help a small fist pump when nobody was looking. Python not only epically stopped Yoma Ma, but she also did so outside the city. Whether this was sensible consideration or coincidence, didn''t matter. Despite seeming slow because of her size, Python was moving at an incredible speed. By the time Yoma Ma''s ship crossed the city boundaries, Python had also reached the edge of the Pythian Vige. She wasn''t too far away when she cast the rock spire that brought the ship down. Dim lights of the city below illuminated her massive figure, towering over even the highest high riser in the satellite settlement, as she closed in on the crash site. There were no signs of Yoma Ma. Was he hiding? In the meantime, the cultivators that had held on all this time, even when they were surrounded and slowly whittled away, finally fell into a panic. Their own Alliance Leader, an immortal, didn''t simply try to run away, but alsopletely abandoned them in the face of danger. The elders understood that choosing escape didn''t mean that Yoma Ma would definitely lose in a fight against the guardian beast. Evading an unprofitable fight was the intelligent thing to do, butpletely abandoning them definitely meant the end of this alliance. It didn''t take an elder to realize that they stood no chance when even the immortal decided to run. Flee! the various group leaders in the air screamed. Vermillion Autumn Sect to me! The barrier is gone! We have to leave! Grass Viper Temple, to me!Adorable Frog Lake, to me! This is a lost cause! We have to get out of here! Various sects tried to assemble what was left of their people while facing the continued attacks from Minas Mar and its allies. Chaos ensued in the wake of Yoma Ma''s escape. Especially the Silk River sect was in dire straits, as their core vessel had just vanished in a cinematic explosion. Not just the gship, their whole n was suddenlying down in mes. What would they do if they found out about the worst part? All of their failure and humiliation was broadcast live to a myriad of worlds. Their failure became legendary. ... I guess we won''t get a chance to step in today, old friend, Xiong Peng mentioned to Master Mountain. The two allied cultivators stayed back, to only interfere if things were dire. You? What about us? Jess grumbled. The members that had gone on field trips across the Pathworks to gain levels had all been on standby in the VIP Lounge, forced to watch the others go out to fight. Monique sighed. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. You know why- she spoke up, but Jess interrupted her. Yeah, yeah, same reason why his people weren''t allowed to join, she said and pointed at Xiong Peng. The strategy was to only reveal as much power as was needed and as little as possible. This battle was the time for everyone else to gain some fame and levels. Although they all agreed on this strategy they couldn''t help but grumble. Who could me them? They had to watch their friends go into battle and weren''t allowed to help. On the other hand, they all understood Luf''s exnation. They couldn''t always be there to help if something happened. On the contrary, if those who were strong always stepped forward to protect the others out of concern, then they didn''t just protect them, but they took away their chance to grow. Of course, there was always danger involved, but this was still the closest to a controlled environment. It was better for everyone to fight here, where they could watch and intervene, than facing the regret when something unforeseen happened and they lost someone because they couldn''t be there in time. ... The burning pile suddenly burst apart, spraying ming debris and embers everywhere. The alliance leader broke out from the remnants of his gship. His robes were ripped and bloodied from the ship''s explosion, giving him the aura of a warrior putting up ast stand, not a leader who tried to abandon his men. The orange glow of the spray of fire and cold moonlight from above illuminated the scene of the two very different opponents.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Fine then, beast! If you insist on this battle, I will fight you to the death!, he cried out with fervor, as he rose to the skies. His eyes burned with wrath, facing the moving massif before him. He swung his frosty saber, gushing with growing icicles. cial Strike! he shouted the name of his technique and a giant crescent of dark blue ice blocked out the moon and stars. The broadcast had to change to a wide-angle view to show the whole extent of the attack. The crescent of ice grew further as it flew, hitting the giant snake mountain in the neck. Like a cier but with the speed of a bullet, the ice ground against the mountainous rock snake. Python was bathed in viscous floods of ice. But for a moment, she didn''t move an inch. When the surge of ice passed, all it left was a shallow mark, ground in the shell of the guardian god. In the scene, showing the giant snake, facing the immortal, this attack seemed mighty but with little effect. However, the audience broke out in cries of astounding and panic, seeing the pictures of the attack''s aftermath. Without the barrier, there was nothing protecting the Pythian Vige. Python suffered just a scratch, but the outskirts of the Pythian vige were flooded by a tsunami of ice! Inns, restaurants, shops, and high risers no matter what style were ripped away like models made of matchsticks. Even the sparse house trees ced in the Pythian vige froze at the base and broke away. The one attack hadpletely devastated the southern edge of the city. Whatever was still on the streets in this ce, was covered in tens of meters of ice. Only the barriers of temporary shelters set up by Minas Mar in a hurry, barely held out against the peripheral damage of the attack, albeit flickering dangerously. This was the attack of a legend specialized inbat! Everyone who saw this scene, immediately understood why legends were only used with caution. It was also the first time for Seth to see this directly. It wasn''t the extent of the damage that shocked him, but the ease with which it was brought. For Yoma Ma, this seemed like an ordinary attack, as if he only got serious now and had held back in the fight with Python''s stand-in. The giant snake head looked over the several square kilometers of the city that were drowned in heavy ice and snorted disapprovingly. How dare you look away in our battle! the immortal shouted. He used a technique and appeared directly beside Python''s head. Compared to the snake, the alliance leader was not even the size of an ant, but when he struck her with the saber she was thrown back, and half her head was covered in a clump of ice. However- Let''s change location, her voice echoed calmly through the whole city. It was spoken calmly but so loud, that even the immortal covered his ears. The voice of god was harsh to the ears of mortals. Adding the bonus because she was the Guardian God of Little Gamma, it was even hard for the immortal to withstand. As if I would follow the suggestion of- the alliance leader cried out, but he was interrupted. Python''s head snapped back with speed unimaginable for her size, and he once against found himself in the maw of the giant snake. Fluidly, she followed the snap with a dive into the ground. The incredibly big snake dove into the ground, as if it was water, but without a single ssh and simply vanished together with her opponent. Seth was about to let out a sigh of relief, when the whole stadium shook. No, not just the stadium. the whole city shook as if it suffered an earthquake. What was going on?! Chapter 1449: Foundation Shattering Chapter 1449: Foundation Shattering ---Northwest of Python, a little earlier--- The beast charging at her with shit propulsion, Porco Be, a being close to bing a legend with a level of at least 170+, was suddenly forced to throw himself to the side. Embarrassing and clumsy, the massive boar rolled on the ground to get away for the stream of fire that had suddenly aimed for its head. For the first time since he transcended mortality and worked towards bing a Demon Lord, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine and fear grab his heart. For a moment he felt actually afraid of death. His mind instantly cooled down, although it was still a little hazy. This wasn''t in the information they got. The cat girl wasn''t supposed to be able to use such terrifying fire magic. She was a shadow assassin and a shadow mage and it was mentioned that she might have a legendary item, but it should all align with darkness and shadows. His bowels churned and shit was running down his legs, but he pushed aside the shame he felt. He knew no magic for healing. A disease that could ovee his vitality ... There was nothing he could do but to endure it. Pushing aside these thoughts, he focused on the situation at hand. Regaining focus just in time, Porco was able to p away the fireball the size of his rotund belly. He acted on instinct, not fearing the magic, only to feel the searing pain cooking the palm of his hand after the fact. When his hand didn''t heal instantly, he had a bad hunch concerning these mes, but he didn''t have the time to think. Another me pir tried to drill through his body, attacking from the back. Once again, the massive pig was forced to roll through the field of debris, crushing several of the sacrificial offerings on his way. Rolling on the ground for the second time, he finally had the state of mind to gauge his situation. Looking at the cat girl, she was clearly frozen in fear and shock. Wasn''t this her doing? Those feelings were not directed at him, but the man standing beside her. The armor couldn''t hide its origins from Porco Bello. There was tremendous demonic presence surrounding him and the darkness of the visor shone with incredible malice. there was no mention of a demon of that caliber to have sided with Minas Mar.It was the armored man that shot the fireball. The great demon knew because he observed him throw it the moment he saw him. He didn''t repeat the same mistake and evaded the attack this time. Slowly, his rusty battle senses reawakened. He had been fighting weaklings for too long, leading to this embarrassing situation. Porco dodged the next me pir, too. The attack was lethal but predictable. How long had it been since he was forced to fight seriously? He had almost forgotten how to fight a dangerous opponent. Now, that his mind changed gears, he had no problem dealing with such attacks. The next fireball was leisurely pped away. This time he protected his palm with his demonic power, not suffering any injury at all. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. I am the Demon Baron, Porco Bello. Who are you? the demon, vignt of the second attacker who cast the me pir, called out. Although he couldn''t know all the names of powerful demons, because they were a fragmented group of people, there was still a chance. If he knew his identity, he would have a better way to estimate his strength and powers. The other made a sound for the first time. Heughed. I know what you are thinking. My name won''t be of help to you, even if you know it. I''m Bazilith, Guard of the Harem, he announced loud and proud, mming his fist against his chest. The face of the cat girl beside him turned a bright red. The Harem Guard was right, the name didn''t ring any bells for Porco Bello, but his heart dropped when he noticed something else. When the armored demon mmed his hand against his chest, Proco recognized the crest emzoned on the cuirass. With a racing heart, he dodged another stream of fire aiming for his life. He finally realized why he had a bad hunch about these mes. In the corner of his eyes, he also noticed who cast the streams of fire, it was a lone de, flying in the air. But this wasn''t important! He didn''t know who Bazilith was, but this was the crest of Xaphan, Demon God of the Burning Skies. Together with the hunch he had earlier, this left only one conclusion: Bazilith had the Blessing of Xaphan.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Rousing his powers, Poroc Bello ignored the floating de and charged at the Bazilith. He had to take him out as quickly as possible. He couldn''t risk fighting the me of Burning Skies for too long. Even if he could bock it, it was a me that could permanently burn holy and demonic powers. Someone of his level would never recover what was lost this way. He had to crush this Harem Guard as quickly as possible. His senses tingled and he made a somersault. A de covered in mes passed where his neck had just been. The unfinished sword kept attacking him as if swung by a master swordsman. The attacks of the de had suddenly be incredibly sharp, totally different from the earlier, predictable magic attacks. Bazilith also charged forward,. Covered in mes, his armor began glowing in a bright orange. As if they realized what he was trying to do and decided to work together, the de and the demon attacked Porco Bello with synchronized attacks. The knowledge about the me severely hindered the great demon from unleashing his full power. Compared to his usual style of reckless, overpowering strength, he was forced to be incredibly careful, trying not to receive any attacks from the me, at all. As long as he bought enough time for the ritual to finish, he could leave this troublesome matter to the avatar of Gatris and capture the cat girl. Time stretched as he concentrated on evading with hisrge body, minimizing the times he counterattacked. Porco clicked his tongue. What was the stupid priestess doing? With a side step, he turned into smoke once again, so get out of theirbined attacks and throw a nce at the effigy of Gatris where- The priestess of Gatris was lying dead on the floor, a dagger sticking out from the back of her head. The cat girl stood close by, watching his fight with Bazilith. He nked for a moment. He had not paid any attention to her after Bazilith appeared. in that time, that wench went ahead and killed the Saintess! It was just a moment where he stopped, distracted by the sudden change in situation, but it came at a steep price. It was toote to evade the de suddenly shing down at him. His arms rose to the sky, instinctively blocking the attack. The sharp metal sliced his thick hide, cutting deep into his flesh, all the way to the bone. The force was so great he sank and foot deep into the pavement, but it was unable to sever his limb. Pain filled his mind. It was like liquid fire was flooding his forearms. The next moment a terrifying impact hit his already sorry stomach. While the sword force him to block, Bazilith had hit him right in the belly, causing another fountain of shit and blood to stain his legs. This was it. He had enough. The ritual was ruined. There was no other way left than to deal with these maggots seriously! Tremendous power roused from the depths of his soul as he lifted his hands above his head and mmed them on the ground. Demonic energy flooded the ground and traveled deeper and deeper. Past the pavement, past the roots, shattering the very foundation of the city; the mountain bedrock. Chapter 1150: Amazon Delivery Chapter 1150: Amazon Delivery Just a moment ago he was d that Python had taken her fight elsewhere, and now the whole city suddenly rocked like there was an earthquake. The arena just shook a little, but the scenes of the city were different, where some buildings hit by the shock wave simply crumbled away. Guys, what is going on there? Seth asked through them link, forcing his voice to stay calm. The cksmith was still in public, standing with Dowloon in the arena. He couldn''t show that there was anything to be worried about. The epicenter is in the northwest of the city. We lost contact with the golem eyes in the area some time ago. Judging from the damage across the whole region, it seems that an unexpectedly strong enemy appeared there, Luf calmly summarized that their n had gone a little awry. Seth burrowed his brows, he had a bad hunch when he asked the next question. Who is fighting in the northwest? with this kind of damage, they had to be close to being a legend and or have several legendary items... ... Mina went there, Luf finally answered. The cksmith''s frown deepened. He saw iting, but he still hoped he was wrong. Among the members that didn''t leave Urth, only Mina had Bazilith. The Golem was one with the greatest potential among his more recent creations and probably the strongest in Little Gamma, apart from Python. Seth also knew that Mina was more than strong enough to at least flee from a very strong enemy. Still, his fist clenched in worry. Do we have anyone in the area that could help quickly? Seth whispered. Around this time, he regretted not bringing Tatzel and Puffles. The two were not interested in the tournament and stayed in Delta, otherwise, Seth would have thrown the Nightmare Centipede at the problem. Well, there is someone, yes. ....Fuck... Mina pressed out. She could only run for now, as fast as she could. The wholend was cracked and shifting. Porco Bello stood in the center of a crater, a web of cracks surrounding him, as the broken floor rose like a cliff, or sank to unknown depths. The loss of the saintess seemingly came with the loss of its mind. He had just devastated the whole northwest of the city. A quick nce around told her that the primary destruction had hit none of the civilians floating around. She breathed a sigh for a moment, then Mina saw. In the distance, Porco had lifted his hands again for another strike. She gulped hard. A single strike had broken the very mountain below their feet. What happened the second time?! The rampage of someone close to the legendary status was frightening. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Bazilith was a streak of ming metal as he charged at the demon to end his rampage, but before he could stop the pig, the fists struck the ground again. Pirs ofnd rose to the skies, blocking the golem''s path. Using the instinct of the ze cat, Bazilith barely managed to maneuver between the rising cliffs and close in on his target. When a wall rose right in front of him, he shed it, proving the power of a creation built with legendary materials. The ming de in his hand, easily cut the bedrock, leaving surfaces of bubbling molten rock. The two shed again. Even with this disy of strength, Mina didn''t think that Porco was much superior to the golem given to her by Seth. In her opinion, the difference was that one side tried to preserve the surroundings, while the other had let go of any reason. However, she didn''t have the time to idly watch the battle anymore. Bazilith didn''t have the time to care and the great demon had no intention to begin with, to be careful of the floating people in the air. The hundreds of people, cultivators, and yers that didn''t use in time and were assembled to be sacrificed here were still filling the air above them. Although she wanted to join the battle, she couldnt ignore the people who would lose their lives in the throes of battle. As the only one able to, she decided that Disaster Management was the best she was able to do in this situation. Jumping in the air, using and , Mina rose into the sky, catching the unconscious people with her magic. Shadow Tendrils grew from the darkness and slithered through the night, collecting the levitating bodies. Using her shadow magic and her rings , Mina did her best to get the captives away from the center of the battle. Luckily, the people were not pinned in ce. She was able to move them with a moderately strong nudge. As speed was of the essence, there may have been some more forceful nudges here and there, but a few bruised and broken ribs were better than death, right? The battle below was raging on. Mina was forced to revise her earlier opinion, as the battle went on. Ever since Porco released his power and shattered the ground he clearly had the upper hand. Using overwhelming, strength and speed in addition to tactics incorporating the terrains, he was able to pressure Bazilith. Had Porco been holding back before? For what reason? No matter what the reason was, he stopped holding back and things werent going well for the golem. Despite being able to harm the demon in some moments, using unexpected moves, Bazilith being broken and squashed by the pigs fist happened a lot more often. Looking down, Mina worried. The radius of destruction kept growing as more buildings crumbled and were swallowed by the rifts in the ground. If things kept going like this, she would have to move the floaters even further away. For now, she ced them close to the western edge, where the noise of battle quietened. Here, they floated like a group of misshapen jellyfish in the night sky of the empty city. There were probably several thousand at this point. Mina sighed, she was fatigued, but at least she was almost done. She turned around to go get the rest when a golden meteor crashed into the city not far away from her. The shadow mage melded into the darkness, preparing for a potential enemy, however, Hey, Mina?! Are you here? I saw you just a moment ago. Luf sent me to help.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Lyca announced her presence with a bright smile. Lyca? she recognized the Amazon in her golden battle gear. However, in the first moment, she doubted she would be of much help. Although Seth and the others insisted that she was extremely powerful, Mina had only seen her performance during the tournament. Could she have beaten the Amazon at lv.100 without any legendary equipment? Maybe not, but unless the unsealed power was tremendous, she would be as much help in the fight against Porco Bello, as her so far. The radiating womans smile grew wider as if reading her thoughts and being amused by it. Dont worry, I released the seal on my way here. I will definitely be able to help, she guaranteed. It was weird. At first, Mina had her doubts, but when she looked at the Amazons handsome smile, she slowly lost her worries. Maybe she should have some more confidence in Seth and the others, guaranteeing her strength Well, fine then. Lets get going. I still have a bunch of people hanging around, waiting for me, the cat girl shrugged and signaled the Amazon to follow her, as she vanished into the night, in the direction of battle. Chapter 1151: The Pig, Lyca, and Bazilith Chapter 1151: The Pig, Lyca, and Bazilith He roared in rage as his enemy was once again shattered but quickly reformed itself. The great demon had quickly realized that he was actually fighting a golem, but it didnt help soothe his anger. Again and again, he crushed the moving amor, again and again, it started rebuilding itself! Porco had unleashed his full power to deal with the weird warrior quickly and to take revenge on Minas Mar for the loss he suffered. Instead, he felt like he was being whittled away, despite his efforts. His opponent simply kepting back, while the cuts on his arms still burned with excruciating pain and refused to heal. He was a mountain, hard and strong. He was able to crush anything in his path, but the golem was like the ocean. Unrelenting, unforgiving, constantly eroding his base using the me of the Burning Skies. His heart quivered at the time it would take to recover to his former strength. Decades? Centuries? That was if he ever even managed to climb his way back up. He couldnt even flee at this point. Bragmomal didnt ept cowards and much less weaklings. Porco would die here or by his hands. The frustration, the sorrows, everything fueled his rage and madness, as he poured it into his attacks. Laced with curses and dark magic, his fists kept pounding the little bastard into the ground. There was no way out, other than winning and surviving here. He would- Urgh! Survive? A sudden strike filled with tremendous power hit his back, catapulting him deep into the cliffs he raised himself. The attack was unlike anything the little golem had done so far and itcked the searing pain of demonic mes. However, the physical force behind it actually cracked his spine. The damage was healed by the time he was able to stop his flight, but it had left asting impact. The thing he was proudest of, was his physical strength and defense. His body was a fortress. Despite that, his back was shattered. The thought of a purely physical force able to do so ran shivers down his healed spine. Not even Bragmomal was able of an attack of this extent, and he had long be a Demon King, a legend by system standards.Crush rock in his hands, he pulled himself out from the hole he created on the way and finally saw his attacker. A tall, lean woman wearing golden armor in the style of the Olympian Pantheon. In her hands a shield, dripping with his blood, and a spear. Im Lyca, Amazon of Solene Im on my journey into the System Worlds. Would you care for a bout? she asked with a confident smile as if she was simply introducing herself to a simple stranger.N?v(el)B\\jnn He knew her, but he almost failed to recognize her. The power she radiated was on apletely different level from what he witnessed during the tournament. The little golem was annoying, but this wench seemed like a serious problem... How are things going? Seth asked the moment he entered the VIP-lounge that had be their base of operations for the moment. When he looked around the room, he found that most of his friends had their eyes glued to their screens. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The fights across the city have calmed down and the members we sent out are now gathering at the center to deal with the remaining swarm and the deserters, Luf gave a short summary of the current situation. Without the immortal to back them, the alliance had lost its cohesion. Fearing a monumental loss, they were all trying their best to get out of the city, now that the barrier was gone. The people and allies of Minas Mar on the other hand had fought with minimal losses so far and were now pushing inward to surround the remaining enemy forces. They hade to murder and pige and nobody was ready to just let them leave without paying the price. What about Mina? Did Lyca get there in time? the cksmith asked the more pressing question. He didn''t feel the need to hide, that he cared for her the most, especially since she was the one in the danger zone. Luf couldn''t suppress a small cheeky smile. What do you think they are watching? she asked, pointing at the crowd in the lounge watching a broadcast with rapt attention. Since Lyca brought a few live-broadcast golem eyes with her, we were able to get a live feed from the battle. Mina is fine. The golem bought enough time, now it and Lyca are fighting the beast. she exined the situation and showed him the broadcast on the tablet. It was a massive hog walking on two legs, being pummeled by super-saiyan Lyca and the half-molten Bazilith. The northwestern part of the Pythian Vige waspletely fucked. The ne where the city was built had turned into andscape resembling a miniature version of the guild''s Holy Land. In the air above the jagged battlefield floated people wearing crowns of dark energy, seemingly unconscious. Mina was not involved in the fight, but Seth could see the shadows move at the fringes of the scenes, taking away these victims. Like the others, his attention was drawn to the battle, once his worries for his fiance were appeased It didn''t take much for the demonic bard to recognize the opponent as a demon, and a strong one at that. Secretly, the cksmith had thought of Bazilith as one of the golems with the greatest growth potential. Its power right after creation probably only fell behind Al''Zalsar and the Colossus of Rhodes. That it could keep up with a great demon without having much chance to grow, just showed that he was correct. Seeing Lyca able to pummel the great demon just confirmed his opinion of her. She may not be a legend, but she was probably around the power level of Al''Zalsar, albeit with a different specialization. Did you decide not to broadcast this? Seth asked Luf. The scenes currently shown in the arena and to the world, were the triumphal advance of Minas Mar''s forces against the chaotic army of cultivators. We discussed it, but decided to keep this footage back, Mary intervened. Good. Well done, Seth praised with a nod. After all, they were not a TV station that had to chase quotes at any price. Bazilith was the secret bodyguard he prepared for Mina and Fin. Revealing his existence to the world would just made its job harder. Wait, what is going on there? Duhu suddenly mentioned, looking at his screen. ... Mina was high above in the air, collecting thest floaters, when she noticed a dim orange glow in the devastated city below. It wasnt the fire of Bazilith, who turned into a beast of semi-liquid metal. It also wasnt Lycas golden radiance, but a much dimmer and much wider glow. The light crept up through the holes, the cracks, and the canyons created by Porco Bellos rampage. Aww, shit Mina mumbled pulling away the remaining floater and getting away from the battle. She had stayed long enough in Delta to know that a glow from the deep was nothing good. After all, the biggest threat to the central district was that the highest peak of the central mountains range, not too far away from it, was a massive volcano. As such, her first thought when seeing this kind of glow was that magma was trapped below the surface of the mountains. Porco had ripped and trenched into the bedrock, hundreds of meters deep. The conclusion was only logical. Looking back from a safer distance, Mina''s heart dropped. Porco had stopped fighting the two and ignored their attacks, instead, he was once again lifting his fists in the air. He was surrounded by an aura of darkness, that stopped Bazilith and Lyca from interrupting his final move. The power was channeled into his raised fist, just before they struck down at a speed, Mina couldn''t perceive. It was as if a massive hammer strike had pounded the ground as Porco hit it for the third time. The whole area in a radius of hundreds of meters sank down by tens of meters. The next moment, fountains of molten rock rose into the night sky, illuminating the raggedndscape with their orange hue. A truly apocalyptic scene. Where the Pig, Lyca, and Bazilith had been fighting just moments ago, ake ofva was quickly taking shape as the liquid rock filled the crater. Chapter 1152: Ponze Chapter 1152: Ponze If there was no way out for him, he would at least make his enemy''s victory as bitter as he could. This was the decision Porco Bello made, moments before he concentrated all his power and fired a suicide attack into the ground. He decided to destroy as much of what they tried to protect, as possible. The me of Burning Skies had eaten away too much of his strength to take down the whole city, but he felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw the yellow magma bubbling up and rising around him. It warmed his heart, so to say. Lyca, the Amazon, had to back off, evading the rising tide. Even someone with her strength couldn''t just walk around in molten stone like it was nothing. Porco Bello himself could feel it singing his hair and cooking his skin. A demonic scent of bacon filled the air. His power was exhausted, and he was close to death. He could only wee the de of the only one thriving in this changed environment. The little golem had no disadvantage, fighting in a field of magma. The great demon didn''t even resist, when the unfinished de it wielded sliced his flesh and pierced his heart, burning it with the me of Burning Skies. Hisst moments were filled with the searing pain of the me pouring into his body, Still, there was an ugly smile on his face. I may fall here, but don''t think this is over, he whispered maliciously, before sinking to his knees, his corpse submerging in theva. he left ast, disconcerting message with Bazilith and died. ... ---Chrona, Capital Chrona, Imperial Pce, a few dayster--- Warm sunlight fell in through therge windows, in the back of the wide desk. The office tinged in the golden light of the evening sun was spartan in furniture and decorations, but what was inside was of the highest quality and craftsmanship.Sitting on the desk, with the sun shining on his back was a young man with shoulder-length blonde hair, glittering in the light. With an amused frown, a smile somewhere between dissatisfaction and malice, the man read a stack of paper that came together with a disy orb. ns couldn''t always work out perfectly. Likest time when he sent pursuers after the champions of Minas Mar that had entered the System World to gain acim. Miraculously, they all managed to escape the people sent after them and the schemes set up to fell them. The people of Urth seemed like poison to borate ns. The only one suffering a major injury was the man who gained the name of the Beauty Sword. Reportedly, the agents managed to sever his leg with the System de, meaning that there was no way for him to recover it. But this was the only achievement that came out of that n. But this time, Ponze Leon Chrona, third born of Leander Cornelius Chrona, the Emperor of Chrona, couldn''t help but smile in sadistic anticipation. Of course, not everything went as expected. Did he expect for Minas Mar to be actually able to deal with the legend and his forces they had ushered in from the adjacent world? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. No. That even Bragmomal''s subordinates would be unable to stir much trouble was also against his expectations. What he wanted was for Little Gamma to be razed to the ground and the whole Pathworks to watch as it happened. Why else would he have pulled some string to allow the broadcast to reach as far as possible? Instead, only the temporary settlement surrounding the arena had suffered damages, part of it vanishing in a pool of magma. The guardian god of Gamma made a cinematic entrance onto the world stage, reportedly defeating a fresh legend right after its ascension. The alliance of cultivators that invaded was repelled or captured, and a great demon was in. Great news for them. Still, the reason he couldn''t help but smile, was because he already imagined the future. Right now, they were so happy, unting their victory and garnering praise. In the meantime, none of their actions had thwarted the original objective. The fact that Urth no longer rejected the entry of legends was now public knowledge for all to see. it wasn''t just that a foreign legend had entered their world, but everyone saw the appearance of a new god live on TV. Nobody could deny it anymore. Among the stack of paper in his hands, was also the official statement of Spatia concerning this topic. Spatia stated their im to Urth under the name of the Durnham Family and their intent to defend this im with with the use of legends. Everything was as they agreed on. Ponze couldn''t help butugh inwardly, about how fruitful this cooperation had been so far. He had taken quite the loss during the Evaluation, as the people under him lost most of their promising talents to Natina Durnham. However, yesterday''s enemy was today''s friend. Following the incident during the Evaluation, Spatia had actively intervened on Urth and approached him for an alliance he had yet to regret. he was able to push out Hardwig, the favorite son of Leander, frame and estrange Leana from the capital and get closer to the seat of the Emperor, all for the small price of a single, small world. Now, all the requirements were met, and all pawns were in ce. He could finally hold up his end of the deal. ... Are you really leaving already? Why don''t you stay for a little longer? I want to show Delta to you! Mina whined, trying to convince Lyca to stay. A few days after the tournament and the Pythian games ended, Lyca shared her intent to leave Urth and keep traveling. Seth would have also asked her to stay, but he doubted he would be more convincing than Mina. Of all the people that were leaving, he wanted her to stay the most. After all, she was someone ofparable power level to Al''Zalsar. However, the Amazon was in the middle of a ritualistic journey to explore the world. he could only try to understand her circumstances since he didn''t have the means to make her stay. Most of their temporary allies recruited during the tournament intended to leave soon. Even Polter! he was sad, but he could understand that he wanted to go home, after such an exciting adventure. After all, Polter''s home world was also a new one and not exactly peaceful either. The urgent situations had been dealt with. Although the northwestern part of the Pythian Vige had turned into an expansive pool ofva and many buildings across the city were damaged or destroyed, there was a minimum number of casualties. Not many remnants of the sect alliance managed to flee in the battle following Python''s intervention, rendering the imminent threat of cultivators negligible. As for Python... the guardian god of Little Gamma was currently curled up under the guardian tree, digesting her gains from the battle. After Python vanished with Yoma Ma, there was no notice of either of them until the early hours of the next day, when Seth got two distinct messages, pertaining to her deeds.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om As for what exactly this meant, he had no idea, since Python stayed curled up and didn''t react. As mentioned, she was busy digesting the influx of power she gained, not just from Yoma Ma, but also from the announcement that she was a freshly ascended lesser god who was able to y a legend. As for the public opinion after the battle, it was unexpectedly good. maybe it would have been different if people knew that they had willingly taken some risks, but as for now, Minas Mar was known as a growing force from a new System World, that was able to grow in record time,to the point they were able to defend against a legend and a huge army of high-level enemies. The publicity was visible in the Power of Existence the members who managed to y their part on the big screen reaped. not so much for Seth, since the whole battle slightly overshadowed the whole story about the legendary price. Still, it grew, too. Seth himself, had been busy helping in dealing with the aftermath for the past few days. Now, that things calmed down and visitor were quickly flowing back to their own homes, he finally had the time to take care of the next step in their n. Hello Dowloon, I''m d we are finally able to meet. Come, take a seat. Let''s talk about your prize. Chapter 1153: The Prize Chapter 1153: The Prize During the tournament, Seth had taken on two contractual obligations to make items. He promised Nam to create an item to help him, in exchange for his service and the blueprint for said item and the other was the grand prize of the tournament. Of course, the former had to wait until the winner received their prize. You want what? the cksmith asked again to make sure he didn''t mishear. I hope you could create a heaven-grade set of robes for me, the poison fairy repeated herself. N-not an armor or weapon or jewelry... but robes? Seth stuttered. He was known as a master cksmith, the whole point of the tournament was to make his skills known to the world. Why in the world was she asking for clothes?! Wasn''t the prize any kind of heaven-grade armament? Dowloon asked innocently. She blushed a little before she continued talking. it seemed she was aware, that her wish was slightly outside the scope of what was supposed to be the prize. I-It''s just.. I have been looking for a really long time to get a set of clothes that won''t deteriorate and break down from my skills, especially when I think of the future. I know it''s a little much to ask, but heaven-grade robes are what I really need the most. I''m actually on the cusp of breaking through and I''m afraid... her hands moved nervously with slight embarrassment. I''m afraid to be disrobed every time I use my skills, once I break through to the Spirit Severing Realm, she finally revealed her concerns to the cksmith. Seth looked at her. He remembered the spam in the chat during her fight with April. Yep, her sudden disrobing in the middle of a fight was dangerous for all parties involved. Especially her dignity. Seeing the cold poison queen this fragile touched Seth a little, however, it couldn''t be done. I understand your circumstances. however, I can''t make you a legendary- heaven-grade robe as the prize for the tournament, the cksmith said with a sigh. For that grade, he needed Neeco Booz and it wasn''t the point of the Tournament to advertise their ability to make legendary textiles...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//omI-i see, if you can''t do it, there is nothing I can do about that. Then maybe a new dagger? she epted his refusal, turning even redder now that she had exposed her weakness for nothing. I didn''t say that we can''t do it. I''m just saying we can''t do it as the prize for the tournament. It wouldn''t be good to publish that we can do that, too. At least at the moment. A dagger, or maybe a set of daggers seems like a good prize to advertise, the bard rified the misunderstanding. Dowloon looked at him with big eyes. But you can make me a set of heaven-grade robes? I already made a lot of sketches about what I need and- She jumped up excited before she quickly railed in her emotions and sat back down. You probably aren''t offering this to me for free, right? We are talking about a heaven-grade armament. There are sects that will sell out cities to get their hands on one... I have no money or backing to my name. What exactly do you want from me? she suddenly asked with concern. Although she seemed to imagine all kinds of terrible things, the shocking thing was that she seemed to be ready to do anything. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Seth had the substantial suspicion, that the fear of goingmando in the middle of the battle, was not her biggest reason to look for custom-made legendary robes. Although she had concerns, she really seemed ready to do anything. A beautiful, fairdy, ready to do anything he asked of her... Plop! He mmed a contract paper on the desk between them. Sign this, and I will fashion you in heaven grade from to toe, the demonic bard offered her soul contract with a bright smile. It was the same conditions he offered Nam. A lesser man may have thought of something more uncouth than forcing her into a 10-year freebor contract asbat personnel, but not Seth. He wasn''t unaware of this option, but he was simply a loyal man... to two women. There was no space for kinky stuff unless Mina or Fin brought it up. Dowloon''s value as abatant far outweighed her worth as a human of the opposite sex. If he could make a Dowloon that broke through and got her hands on a legendary robe to stay with Minas Mar and protect their people for the next 10 years, it was almost as good as Nam. If he was lucky, she might also share the method to make the Silver Sparrows with him, if she needed more of them. As for the robe in question, he would need to bring her to Neeco Booz, their master tailor, for a separate conversationter on. Seths skill had improved to the point he could appraise legendary cloth items, but he was no master tailor. Introducing him to the Poison Fairy wouldnt be a problem once she signed. All the important uses were already in the contract, so they wouldnt have to keep many secrets from Dowloon. While Seth had his own thoughts, Dowloon was carefully reading the contract. Opposite to her earlier excitement, her eyes were slowly wandering across the paper in slow deliberation. This was the great advantage of a soul contract; one didnt need any special skills to read and understand it. Even an illiterate would be able to read the demonic runes burned on the paper. Okay, this seems satisfactory, she said after a while. She had probably read the whole document twice. Surprisingly, she had no further questions orints. The demonic bard almost regretted not putting in any catch. Even just to see how she would react if she found one. If you agree, you just have to sign with your blood, he exined the procedure. Before Seth could offer any utensils, the cultivator had already stabbed her fingertip with a needly a drew several characters in thick lines with her bloodied finger. Once it was signed, the bard made stored it with some fire and smoke. Can we talk about the robe now? she asked with glittering eyes, ready to pull out a bunch of sketches from her cosmos pouch. The cksmith shook his head. I will have to ask our tailor to join that topic. We met to talk about your prize, so lets talk about the kind of daggers you want. the cksmith brought the conversation back to the topic. Dowloown was a lot less enthusiastic all of a sudden, er eyes trailed off into the distance, looking through him, not at him. I actually don''t have much of a preference for daggers... Dowloon started off conflicted but suddenly stopped talking. her eyes focused back on him. She didn''t look as excited as she was before but she looked moderately happy. Could you make me a rope dart instead? she asked out of nowhere. Seth looked at her perplexed. What was a rope dart? Seth had no problem acknowledging that he didn''t know what she was talking about and the Poison Fairy quickly exined it. It was a niche weapon from the ce she originated from. Roughly exined, it was a spike or a de at the end of a rope or chain. If it wasn''t for magic or in her case spiritual energy, this didn''t sound like the most useful weapon forbat, to Seth. However, Dowloon had aptly shown that her fighting style relied a lot on throwing disposable des or needles at her opponent. Putting a string on that to make them easily retrievable wasn''t the craziest idea, since the actually fighting skill already existed. Since the cultivator finally had an idea about what weapon she wanted from Seth, they spent the next hour ironing out what exactly it was supposed to look like. In the end, it was a de at the end of a serrated chain, that could also be used as a short dagger. Concerning the powers it should possess, Dowloon was less vocal. She simply didn''t know what was possible and how much the cksmith was capable of. The only specification she was able toe up with was that it had to resist corrosion from her poison energy. Do you already have a way to control the dart? Seth asked to rify. Cultivators had their own ways of remote controlling their armament as many of the sword cultivators had proven in previous battles. Dowloon nodded. I possess a heaven-grade manual for fighting with a robe dart but it''s a very rare weapon, which is why I never used it until now... And why she almost forgot that she had it. This manual seemed to be the reason that she had some excitement for her prize. Seth was okay with that, at least she didn''t just say Some kind of dagger. A rope dart was something quite exotic and fresh, which was why he was also motivated to make it. Alright then. You will return with us to Delta and stay at the embassy until your prize is ready. There we can also talk about your robes. Chapter 1154: Putrid Edge Chapter 1154: Putrid Edge After the tournament, there was a lot of stuff for Minas Mar to do. The Pythian Vige had suffered a lot of damage. Although it was not as great of a concern to Minas Mar, as the ce was not meant to be permanent in the first ce, they had to prepare emergency shelters. There were still many guests without the permission to enter Little Gamma, who wished to stay and watch the award ceremony. The most important part of said ceremony was Seth''s sole responsibility, apart from appearing at one or two press conferences. As such, while everyone else was busy with the aftermath, the cksmith sat in his workshop in Minas Mar and pondered over the window of . Seth had never really heard of a rope dart and he also didn''t inherit any blueprints he could base it off of. After Dowloon had described the weapon and its use to him, he realized that he had some dim memories of seeing a simr weapon in a video game or two he used to y for a short while. Based on her description and vague memories of the game, he tried toe up with a design using to simte various materials. For this, Seth had and pile of unexpected spoils from the fights in the Pythian Vige beside him. He wasn''t out there himself, so he didn''t get any souls, but Fin, Bulko, and Lyxiss brought back a bunch of pre-processed parts from the monster puppets they destroyed. Of course, it wasn''t the dart part he was struggling with. ording to the poison fairy, the dart of a rope dart could be blunt like the weight of a chain sickle, or essentially be a heavy dagger tied to the end of the rope. Seth had already secured the material for the dart, a piece of legendary . For Ortega''s armor, a ughterer''s Set made of he had made a whole batch from the Xiong Peng, the Sect Master of the Soaring Eagle Sect gave him. As the basic effects of the metal were random the cksmith had processed a bunch of the material, making several bars to get the right raw material for the armor. Despite his heightened luck, he was also left with a small stack of pieces that ended up unusable, as their powers didn''t fit the set, or the chosen of Montu. With Seth''s blessing as the god of Desert, Chaos, and Destruction, it was not too weird to have some pieces that aligned with Dowloon''s needs. One of the bracers, for example, had an effect called , however, it was applied to the wearer and caused constant corrosion damage when wearing.He couldn''t just reforge it to get this effect again, but it proved there was a chance to get something that went along with her skills. Worst case, he would make one with and stack it with enchantments. The material of the dart was not his worry, what he was pondering over was the rope. Dowloon mentioned that it did not have to be a rope, but that there were also versions with chains. As a cksmith, making a chain was not hard, but Seth wasn''t ready to take the easy way out. Seth had quite a few options. The material scavenged from the puppets had a bunch of relic-rated refined sinews, which would make for great bowstrings, but he would have to reprocess them to make them into rope... Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the vition. Another option was asking Neeco to create magic threats into a rope. The same could be done with Puffle''s threads. Apletely different idea was the vines of the Guardian Tree, who were inherently flexible but... All the options meant straying away from his expertise. This was the public award for the Great Tournament. He needed something that screamed cksmith. Even further, something unique to him and his skill set... As he sat there, pondering, he finally had an enlightenment. When Dowloon mentioned that the rope dart could also use a chain, the picture he had in his head was a chain of bis, heavy links. The traditional picture of a chain. A chain and cksmith would forge. But he wasn''t just a cksmith. Seth was a master goldsmith, and a goldsmith had many ways to create a chain and suddenly the easy way out became the first choice, as he found a way to give it his own spin. After perusing his jewelry blueprints, Seth quickly found the chain design he wanted to use. The Byzential Chain, also called the Idiot''s Delight, was an intricate 4 in 1 chain design, meaning that each link passed through four others. The overall look not just resembled a rope, but also allowed the chain to have some flex and drape like a real rope. However, the intricate 3-dimensional design, also meant an increase in weight, limiting his choice of materials to something more on the light. Thinking of light and durable materials, Seth suddenly smirked. The best trade-off between weight and durability was , the refined form of . The obvious choice was the dwarven originating from Polter''s home world. However, the cksmith could not help but entertain this small intrusive thought. What if... yeah, what if he used urthan on the chain? Wouldn''t that be...fun? He really started liking the idea of a rope dart, after being hit with a stroke of inspiration and got right to work. The pale blue mes zed as Seth started off with the chain. The first step was turning a few bars of into billets, which he couldter use to make wire for the chain.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om As the hammer fell, his voice rose, expelling dissonant words. Fueled by his ability, the mes rose on the anvil, while a sickly fog gathered on the floor. When choosing the forging bad, Seth had perused many demons of poison, but ultimately returned to Botis, because he was already familiar with the snake demon. Last time, he had called upon the demon when making the Venom Khopesh, because he was not just a demon associated with poison, but also a powerful swordsman. This time''s bad, however, leaned more into calling upon his power as a demonic viper. The description mentioned the weapon in question being imbued with a strong poison effect, but also an increase in reflexes, like those of a snake. As this was a weapon for a poison user, it seemed right to strike the bnce here. After preparing the billets, Seth changed gears and began working on the dart part without stopping the bad. Channeling the viper demon, he could feel its interest rising, when it saw the , as the god''s powers aligned with the mainstream nature of demons. The cksmith had all the failed parts of Ortega''s ughterer''s set ready to recycle, in an attempt to get a dart de that would fit Dowloon. Relying on his upgraded Lucky Trinket, he began forging des. Ready to make up to ten versions of the de, Seth''s heart jumped in relief, when the third attempt finished with an effect called Putrid Edge, which had a 20% to cause Blood Poisoning on target and increased the damage of poisons by 10%. The important part of the description was the effects of the Blood Poisoning. On the surface, the Putrid Edge didn''t sound like much, however, Blood Poisoning didn''t just deal damage based on magic damage, it also lowered all stats by 20% and the resistance to Poison and Disease by 50% in addition to status ailments that came along with sepsis. The chance was only 1/5, but if it triggered, it would mean an almost certain demise. Especially against someone like Dowloon. With the de finished, he turned to make the chain at the Jeweler''s Table. Although Seth had no interest in asking the tailor for help, he dly had Sivri help him make the wire and rings for the chain. He wanted a tight weave, so the wire couldn''t be too thin and the rings not too big. Weaving the chain was tedious work, but had a meditative effect on Seth, leaving him alone with his thoughts. The incident during the Pythian Games made him question, whether they still underestimated their enemies... The length of the rope was based on the user''s wingspan and height of the user. Dowloon was not overly wide or tall, the cksmith needed to make just about three meters of chain. Of course, he had entertained the thought of somehow making the whole rope able to shoot forth and retract, but he decided that was the job of Dowloon''s Arts, not his. After he finished the chain and attached it to the de, there were only two steps left to finish the de. Engraving enchantments and despite knowing it would leave Minas Mar with Dowloon eventually, he intended to add a soul to it. The cksmith didn''t intend to pull his punches on the prize. Chapter 1155: Viper Dart- Award Ceremony Chapter 1155: Viper Dart- Award Ceremony ---A few hours earlier--- I have just the right thing you need! she eximed, before vanishing to the back of the shop. Tano''Mol had still not returned from Thres yet. In actuality, there had been no more contact from Adam for the past weeks. Another point they had not yet the time to worry about, just like the situation in former Gamma... Luckily, Sandra Irving, Tano''Mol''s associate in Urth was still here to run the shop and manage the merchandise. The reason Seth was here, was to get a soul for the rope dart. After the cksmith described the weapon and the power he was looking for, he vanished in the back of the temporary shop in the embassy. He could hear her rummage through crates in the back, Although she had done a lot to recreate the original aesthetic of Tano''Mol''s Soul Emporium in the rooms given to them, the back was still filled with crates and boxes, as if they just moved in. At least it seemed like she knew her way around, as it didn''t take long for Sandra to return with an orb in her hand. It was the device and vessel that allowed even normal people to see the souls stored inside. This is the soul of the illustrious Circle Serpent, a rare snake that has no poison fangs, but attacks with its tail to inject a deadly poison, she exined proudly, as Seth looked at the soul with his . The soul of a rare Circle Snake, a monster that generates a deadly poison in its tail and uses high acrobatics to travel and attack. High Affinity with Poison. Skills: Poison Dive, Wheel of Death. Trait: Body Control> A snake with acrobatics? the cksmith eximed surprised. Apart from that, it was one of the rare souls with a trait and definite skills. From his experience, Seth had realized that this often didn''t depend on the quality of the souls, but how defining these traits and skills were for the existence when it was alive. At least when it came to these naturally harvested ones. It''s said that it will bite its own tail and bounce like a wheel to pursue a prey or escape from a predator, Sandra exined readily. Since Seth saved them from the minions of Bragmomal, she had been a lot friendlier with him.Okay, this will do, the cksmith decided. Just because he didn''t want to leave out a soul, didn''t mean that he would go out of his way to find an overwhelming one for Dowloon. After all, this weapon WOULD leave Minas Mar, when the Poison Fairy''s contract ran out. ---Present-- Using the soul of the Circle Snake, Seth forged a soul armament replica of the finished rope dart body. The cksmith didn''t have any enchantments that strengthened poison damage itself. The Poison Enchantments he did have would make much difference in the hands of Dowloon. Instead, Seth decided to stack enchantments for physical attributes on the souls and the body which would add up to over 100 points to Strength, Endurance, and Agility. Thest step was to inject the soul into the weapon and rebirth it with a bath in the Waters of Styx. Although the chain made thest step a little difficult, it was far from the difficulty of injecting a soul into the fabric. Soon the rope dart started floating in the bubble of water and a row of notifications rang in his ear. This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Seth had expected the synergy of powers, but the influence of a demonic being? Was it Botis? The cksmith had not paid the demon off beforehand, so Dowloon would have had to pay the price. He cradled his still bare chin, missing the feeling of his beard, as he checked on the item. Legendary Phys.Damage.: 2300 Mag.Damage.:1700 Durability: 5000(de) Durability: 2400(Rope) 1.+20% To all stats in the Moonlightn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om 2.+60% Power of Spells and energy-based skills 3. Encroachment of Botis 4. Putrid Edge 5. +125 Strength 6. +125 Endurance 7. +125 Agility 8. Active Skill: Poison Dive of Botis, 9. Active Skill: Wheel of Death 10. Botis'' Serpent Rope An exotic soft weapon, created by the hands of Master Smith, the first Master cksmith, Master Enchanter, and Master Goldsmith on Urth. The intricate power granted to the item through various means makes mastering the art of wielding it worth the effort. Advised Usage Requirements: 300 Willpower> Seth''s eyes rose when he read through the description and realized the changes it went through. This was more than just an enchantment through a forging bad, it was almost like Botis had slightly blessed the item himself. What was the first and biggest surprise was that Encroachment of Lunacy had changed. Simr to when he used the feasting bad to strengthen it and create , Botis''s influence changed it and its effects. +70% Poison Damage Poison Damage increases with the number of Poisoned targets. Improves the power of the wearer based on the Indifference or Coldness in their actions. Lessens emotions in their action based on Willpower> The effect had not just absorbed the poison affinity of the Circle Serpent, but it hadpletely changed the basis of the Lunacy effect. To slowly lose your emotions in battle... This was more terrifying to Seth than bing a hard-headed mule. He could only hope Dowloon had a strong willpower. Apart from this, there were two more things affected by the influence of Botis. The smaller change was the snake''s original skill, the . Here the effect was strengthened and the poison was switched. The Dartunches forward with double the user''s attack speed, like the head of a viper, resembling the swift sword of Botis. Targets are afflicted by the Deadly Poison of Botis on hit. > The bigger change was the new effect, which had seemingly absorbed the Trait: Body Control that was supposed to be granted to the carrier. The Viper Dart bears the temperament of Botis. In case of the target Dodging, or the usercking in skill, the Dart will correct its course to a certain extent to aim for the opponent''s vitals.> Simr to the original malicious will of Seth''s Bow, the Viper Dart had a minor targeting option Overall, it was ambitious whether the influence of Botis was something good, but Seth thought that it definitely was an overall improvement. Maybe not losing the trait for the targeting, but Dowloon would never know about it, anyway. Lastly, the was a weird charge skill, that was about cartwheeling with an aura of poison, away from the opponent in the best case. Now that the rope dart was finished, they could finally, officially, bring the Pythian Games to a grandiose close. ... The award ceremony was the final stone to end the Pythian Games, broadcast to almost all corners of the system worlds. In front of the world, Seth handed over the Viper Dart to Dowloon, for everyone to see. The final proof to the world, that Seth was able to create legendary custom equipment. Or did it? People couldn''t just use appraisal through the screens, which was why they even had three independent appraisers certify the weapon to the audience. After reaching a certain level professional appraisers gained the power to disy the effects of the items they appraised. Disying the stats on screen could be forged, but the status windows they disy couldn''t be faked. Of course, they hid all the info apart from the legendary rating and the vor text. This was Dowloon''s private information, after all. But to eradicate even thest doubts, Dowloon had agreed to show some moves. Of course, the Poison Fairy was the first to see her new weapon, to make sure she was satisfied. One didn''t need an appraisal skill, to see the air about her change the moment she grasped her new weapon. She stood at the center of the arena and started going through a move set, getting used to her new weapon. The bright silver chain with the dark gray de at the end started moving faster and faster as the Poison Fairy moved into the arena. Slowly, poison aura started building up around her and enveloped the weapon and it became obvious that she started precisely controlling its movements. The poisonous winds created as a side effect of her show carved trenches into the flooring of the arena, shocking the audience. Seth heard the notification after the performance ended. But the immediate amount of points pouring in and the prospect of increased yields in the future, currently couldn''t distract him from the pain he felt when Dowloon fucked up the whole arena floor. Did she have any idea how long the apprentices had to polish those? With someughs and some tears, the Pythian Games had finallye to an end three days after the final of the Grand Tournament. The tourists would leave in a few days, Minas Mar would clean up the Pythian Vige and maybe things would finally calm down a little. Chapter 1156 1155. Viper Dart- Award Ceremony 1156 1155. Viper Dart- Award Ceremony ---A few hours earlier--- "I have just the right thing you need!" she eximed, before vanishing to the back of the shop. Tano''Mol had still not returned from Thres yet. In actuality, there had been no more contact from Adam for the past weeks. Another point they had not yet the time to worry about, just like the situation in former Gamma... Luckily, Sandra Irving, Tano''Mol''s associate in Urth was still here to run the shop and manage the merchandise. The reason Seth was here, was to get a soul for the rope dart. After the cksmith described the weapon and the power he was looking for, he vanished in the back of the temporary shop in the embassy. He could hear her rummage through crates in the back, Although she had done a lot to recreate the original aesthetic of Tano''Mol''s Soul Emporium in the rooms given to them, the back was still filled with crates and boxes, as if they just moved in. At least it seemed like she knew her way around, as it didn''t take long for Sandra to return with an orb in her hand. It was the device and vessel that allowed even normal people to see the souls stored inside. "This is the soul of the illustrious Circle Serpent, a rare snake that has no poison fangs, but attacks with its tail to inject a deadly poison," she exined proudly, as Seth looked at the soul with his . "A snake with acrobatics?" the cksmith eximed surprised. Apart from that, it was one of the rare souls with a trait and definite skills. From his experience, Seth had realized that this often didn''t depend on the quality of the souls, but how defining these traits and skills were for the existence when it was alive. At least when it came to these naturally harvested ones. "It''s said that it will bite its own tail and bounce like a wheel to pursue a prey or escape from a predator," Sandra exined readily. Since Seth saved them from the minions of Bragmomal, she had been a lot friendlier with him. "Okay, this will do," the cksmith decided. Just because he didn''t want to leave out a soul, didn''t mean that he would go out of his way to find an overwhelming one for Dowloon. After all, this weapon WOULD leave Minas Mar, when the Poison Fairy''s contract ran out. ---Present-- Using the soul of the Circle Snake, Seth forged a soul armament replica of the finished rope dart body. The cksmith didn''t have any enchantments that strengthened poison damage itself. The Poison Enchantments he did have would make much difference in the hands of Dowloon. Instead, Seth decided to stack enchantments for physical attributes on the souls and the body which would add up to over 100 points to Strength, Endurance, and Agility. Thest step was to inject the soul into the weapon and rebirth it with a bath in the Waters of Styx. Although the chain made thest step a little difficult, it was far from the difficulty of injecting a soul into the fabric. Soon the rope dart started floating in the bubble of water and a row of notifications rang in his ear. Seth had expected the synergy of powers, but the influence of a demonic being? Was it Botis? The cksmith had not paid the demon off beforehand, so Dowloon would have had to pay the price. He cradled his still bare chin, missing the feeling of his beard, as he checked on the item. Seth''s eyes rose when he read through the description and realized the changes it went through. This was more than just an enchantment through a forging bad, it was almost like Botis had slightly blessed the item himself. What was the first and biggest surprise was that Encroachment of Lunacy had changed. Simr to when he used the feasting bad to strengthen it and create , Botis''s influence changed it and its effects. The effect had not just absorbed the poison affinity of the Circle Serpent, but it hadpletely changed the basis of the Lunacy effect. To slowly lose your emotions in battle... This was more terrifying to Seth than bing a hard-headed mule. He could only hope Dowloon had a strong willpower. Apart from this, there were two more things affected by the influence of Botis. The smaller change was the snake''s original skill, the . Here the effect was strengthened and the poison was switched. The Dartunches forward with double the user''s attack speed, like the head of a viper, resembling the swift sword of Botis. Targets are afflicted by the Deadly Poison of Botis on hit. > The bigger change was the new effect, which had seemingly absorbed the Trait: Body Control that was supposed to be granted to the carrier. The Viper Dart bears the temperament of Botis. In case of the target Dodging, or the usercking in skill, the Dart will correct its course to a certain extent to aim for the opponent''s vitals.> Simr to the original malicious will of Seth''s Bow, the Viper Dart had a minor targeting option Overall, it was ambitious whether the influence of Botis was something good, but Seth thought that it definitely was an overall improvement. Maybe not losing the trait for the targeting, but Dowloon would never know about it, anyway. Lastly, the was a weird charge skill, that was about cartwheeling with an aura of poison, away from the opponent in the best case. Now that the rope dart was finished, they could finally, officially, bring the Pythian Games to a grandiose close. ... The award ceremony was the final stone to end the Pythian Games, broadcast to almost all corners of the system worlds. In front of the world, Seth handed over the Viper Dart to Dowloon, for everyone to see. The final proof to the world, that Seth was able to create legendary custom equipment. Or did it? People couldn''t just use appraisal through the screens, which was why they even had three independent appraisers certify the weapon to the audience. After reaching a certain level professional appraisers gained the power to disy the effects of the items they appraised. Disying the stats on screen could be forged, but the status windows they disy couldn''t be faked. Of course, they hid all the info apart from the legendary rating and the vor text. This was Dowloon''s private information, after all. But to eradicate even thest doubts, Dowloon had agreed to show some moves. Of course, the Poison Fairy was the first to see her new weapon, to make sure she was satisfied. One didn''t need an appraisal skill, to see the air about her change the moment she grasped her new weapon. She stood at the center of the arena and started going through a move set, getting used to her new weapon. The bright silver chain with the dark gray de at the end started moving faster and faster as the Poison Fairy moved into the arena. Slowly, poison aura started building up around her and enveloped the weapon and it became obvious that she started precisely controlling its movements. The poisonous winds created as a side effect of her show carved trenches into the flooring of the arena, shocking the audience. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Seth heard the notification after the performance ended. But the immediate amount of points pouring in and the prospect of increased yields in the future, currently couldn''t distract him from the pain he felt when Dowloon fucked up the whole arena floor. Did she have any idea how long the apprentices had to polish those? With someughs and some tears, the Pythian Games had finallye to an end three days after the final of the Grand Tournament. The tourists would leave in a few days, Minas Mar would clean up the Pythian Vige and maybe things would finally calm down a little. Chapter 1157: Schemes in Delta Chapter 1157: Schemes in Delta ---Delta, Two days after the Final--- His heart pounded like crazy, but he knew of the importance of his mission. This was their only chance to secure the document, as everything was being prepared for the evacuation from Delta. Crouched, he silently snuck along the corridors of Chrona''s embassy. Tonight was the only chance when all documents were stored together for moving them, before they were transported tomorrow. Themander had especially given him the Ring of Greater Shadows and a high-grade invisibility cloak for the mission. Despite that, it was no easy task to sneak into the embassy. Even in the middle of the night, there was a great number of guards and security systems. The safety measures even mixed urthan technology with Chrona''s magic formations. It was next to impossible to move around the mainplex of the embassy with his skills. Luckily, the documents they were after were not actually deemed highly important. He wasn''t here to steal state secrets or proof of Merkraut Sar''s corruption. What he needed was located in the storage rooms on the subterranean levels, where the ordinary documents and magical contracts were gathered and stored for movement tomorrow. Down here, the security was muchxer. The urthan cameras were easily evaded with the invisibility cloak and with his thief skills and the relic-rated ring from themander, the guards were also no problem. Following his mini-map of theplex he found an easy way down, using the original emergency staircase, leading him to the storage parcels. While the stairs were only surveilled by cameras and guards, his told him that he had to be more careful in this corridor lined my chain-link cages. Blowing a hand full of powered magic crystals into the air, made the various formations in the path visible. After analyzing and identifying the various magic traps and rm magic installed he proceeded to use the low-rank magic scroll Water Vapor to create a thin mist in the corridor. In addition to the formations on the floor, he found that the path was also secured byser barriers.They were cleverly ced in a way that someone who tried evading the formations was forced to trip the rm with theser sensors and if one tried to evade the barriers, they had to trip the trap formations. A simple yet effective setup that was able to thwart most simple thieves. But that was all. A shadow thief like him, equipped with the relic-rated ring could easily evade this. The safety measures fit the perceived value of what was stored here. As a matter of fact, most of the stuff down here had no value and was not worth stealing. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The thief melded into the shadows with the help of the Greater Ring of Shadows and was able to pass by most formations and technology by simply moving along the ceiling. He was long since ustomed to the navigation along the ceiling and quickly found the parcel he was looking for. It was filled with stacks of boxes of magic documents. Boring stuff that mostly documented administrative processes in Delta. Really nothing one was supposed to steal, but here was the key to their n. He rummaged through the boxes,paring their dates and contents until he found what he was looking for. So what if Chrona wanted to leave Delta? So what if many of the traitors left with the cowards? They would stay and they would defend Delta from outsiders.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om As long as they had these, they would be able to break loose from Chrona. Of course, he couldn''t just steal the boxes he needed. That would have been noticed tomorrow during the transportation, however- Opening the boxes he emptied their contents into his inventory and filled the boxes with stacks of nk paper. Like this, they would only notice what was gone when it was already toote, if they ever found out what was missing in the first ce. He kind of doubted anyone would have checked the contents of these boxes in the next decade. With the key to their rebellion in his pocket, the thief quickly left the underground of the embassy. ... His steps hesitated as he passed through the dark streets of Delta. The past weeks had left their marks on the city. The Peddler of Ruin had honored his name. To make their investments in Delta worth it, he had implemented various cost-saving measures. One of which was that street lighting was turned off in most of the city. He didn''t quite know, but he heard that they were using the electricity produced in Delta to create magic crystals for the empire now. They were really just sucking them dry as best as they could before running away. He clicked his tongue in frustration. Despite working his way up, he had no influence on the politics, He was only able to watch on from the sidelines as the mismanaged the city and sucked it dry of resources. Maybe the most disgusted he was by the council, set up by Merkraut Sar. A bunch of short-sighted old fogeys, a bunch of weather vanes, happily nodding and agreeing to whatever the foreigners told them. Yes, Mr. Chrona. Please, Mr. Chrona. Mr Spatia wille to take over? Of course, we will ept it Mr. Chrona! His fist involuntarily clenched at the thought of their groveling before a foreign power. Especially that obnoxious little fatty Longbottom. If Merkraut Sar didn''t wear shoes, Ichabott would have probably licked his feet... He would have never thought that he could feel like this towards another human being. He also never expected that he would even consider doing, what he was about to do. However, his feet carried him steadily through the dark streets of the city. Passing empty houses and dpidated shops, he slowly entered a slightly more prosperous area. Stepping out of an alley, he entered a wide main street. Here there were still some shops and bars that managed to stay open because of the regr influx of people. If he walked down to the left, he would get to the System Churchs branch in Delta. As for the other direction, it was where his destinationy. Instinctively evading the passerbies, he still mulled over his decision. He was convinced that what he intended to do was right, but he didnt know whether they would believe him. If things failed because of his behavior in the past, he might regret it for the rest of his life. He couldnt remember when, but he had alreadye to a halt when he realized that he arrived. Looking up, his eyes wandered across the awe-inspiring facade of Minas Mars embassy. Right, he had arrived. Shaking off his worries and intrusive thoughts, he stepped towards the entrance door, guarded by two knights even in the middle of the knight. Whether things worked out or not, to see whether the cat was still alive or already dead... It was time to look in the box. ... In a luxurious salon, hung with heavy smoke clouds, from cigarettes and cigars. men and women in entric, expensive clothes stood or sat around a polished wooden table. We should prepare to move, a man with his face hidden in a pale blue wizard robe suggested, bending over the table, toward the person in the center of the room. Wearing a silver suit, she had a heavy aura, as the cigar in her mouth quickly burned away under her strong drags. hmm, you are right. It''s time to stand by our oath, she agreed ominously. Chapter 1158 1157. Schemes in Delta 1158 1157. Schemes in Delta n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om ---Delta, Two days after the Final--- His heart pounded like crazy, but he knew of the importance of his mission. This was their only chance to secure the document, as everything was being prepared for the evacuation from Delta. Crouched, he silently snuck along the corridors of Chrona''s embassy. Tonight was the only chance when all documents were stored together for moving them, before they were transported tomorrow. Themander had especially given him the Ring of Greater Shadows and a high-grade invisibility cloak for the mission. Despite that, it was no easy task to sneak into the embassy. Even in the middle of the night, there was a great number of guards and security systems. The safety measures even mixed urthan technology with Chrona''s magic formations. It was next to impossible to move around the mainplex of the embassy with his skills. Luckily, the documents they were after were not actually deemed highly important. He wasn''t here to steal state secrets or proof of Merkraut Sar''s corruption. What he needed was located in the storage rooms on the subterranean levels, where the ordinary documents and magical contracts were gathered and stored for movement tomorrow. Down here, the security was muchxer. The urthan cameras were easily evaded with the invisibility cloak and with his thief skills and the relic-rated ring from themander, the guards were also no problem. Following his mini-map of theplex he found an easy way down, using the original emergency staircase, leading him to the storage parcels. While the stairs were only surveilled by cameras and guards, his told him that he had to be more careful in this corridor lined my chain-link cages. Blowing a hand full of powered magic crystals into the air, made the various formations in the path visible. After analyzing and identifying the various magic traps and rm magic installed he proceeded to use the low-rank magic scroll "Water Vapor" to create a thin mist in the corridor. In addition to the formations on the floor, he found that the path was also secured byser barriers. They were cleverly ced in a way that someone who tried evading the formations was forced to trip the rm with theser sensors and if one tried to evade the barriers, they had to trip the trap formations. A simple yet effective setup that was able to thwart most simple thieves. But that was all. A shadow thief like him, equipped with the relic-rated ring could easily evade this. The safety measures fit the perceived value of what was stored here. As a matter of fact, most of the stuff down here had no value and was not worth stealing. The thief melded into the shadows with the help of the Greater Ring of Shadows and was able to pass by most formations and technology by simply moving along the ceiling. He was long since ustomed to the navigation along the ceiling and quickly found the parcel he was looking for. It was filled with stacks of boxes of magic documents. Boring stuff that mostly documented administrative processes in Delta. Really nothing one was supposed to steal, but here was the key to their n. He rummaged through the boxes,paring their dates and contents until he found what he was looking for. So what if Chrona wanted to leave Delta? So what if many of the traitors left with the cowards? They would stay and they would defend Delta from outsiders. As long as they had these, they would be able to break loose from Chrona. Of course, he couldn''t just steal the boxes he needed. That would have been noticed tomorrow during the transportation, however- Opening the boxes he emptied their contents into his inventory and filled the boxes with stacks of nk paper. Like this, they would only notice what was gone when it was already toote, if they ever found out what was missing in the first ce. He kind of doubted anyone would have checked the contents of these boxes in the next decade. With the key to their rebellion in his pocket, the thief quickly left the underground of the embassy. ... His steps hesitated as he passed through the dark streets of Delta. The past weeks had left their marks on the city. The Peddler of Ruin had honored his name. To make their investments in Delta worth it, he had implemented various cost-saving measures. One of which was that street lighting was turned off in most of the city. He didn''t quite know, but he heard that they were using the electricity produced in Delta to create magic crystals for the empire now. They were really just sucking them dry as best as they could before running away. He clicked his tongue in frustration. Despite working his way up, he had no influence on the politics, He was only able to watch on from the sidelines as the mismanaged the city and sucked it dry of resources. Maybe the most disgusted he was by the council, set up by Merkraut Sar. A bunch of short-sighted old fogeys, a bunch of weather vanes, happily nodding and agreeing to whatever the foreigners told them. Yes, Mr. Chrona. Please, Mr. Chrona. Mr Spatia wille to take over? Of course, we will ept it Mr. Chrona! His fist involuntarily clenched at the thought of their groveling before a foreign power. Especially that obnoxious little fatty Longbottom. If Merkraut Sar didn''t wear shoes, Ichabott would have probably licked his feet... He would have never thought that he could feel like this towards another human being. He also never expected that he would even consider doing, what he was about to do. However, his feet carried him steadily through the dark streets of the city. Passing empty houses and dpidated shops, he slowly entered a slightly more prosperous area. Stepping out of an alley, he entered a wide main street. Here there were still some shops and bars that managed to stay open because of the regr influx of people. If he walked down to the left, he would get to the System Church''s branch in Delta. As for the other direction, it was where his destinationy.Instinctively evading the passerbies, he still mulled over his decision. He was convinced that what he intended to do was right, but he didn''t know whether they would believe him. If things failed because of his behavior in the past, he might regret it for the rest of his life. He couldn''t remember when, but he had alreadye to a halt when he realized that he arrived. Looking up, his eyes wandered across the awe-inspiring facade of Minas Mar''s embassy.Right, he had arrived. Shaking off his worries and intrusive thoughts, he stepped towards the entrance door, guarded by two knights even in the middle of the knight. Whether things worked out or not, to see whether the cat was still alive or already dead... It was time to look in the box. ... In a luxurious salon, hung with heavy smoke clouds, from cigarettes and cigars. men and women in entric, expensive clothes stood or sat around a polished wooden table. "We should prepare to move," a man with his face hidden in a pale blue wizard robe suggested, bending over the table, toward the person in the center of the room. Wearing a silver suit, she had a heavy aura, as the cigar in her mouth quickly burned away under her strong drags. "hmm, you are right. It''s time to stand by our oath," she agreed ominously. Chapter 1159: Yellow Jack Chapter 1159: Yellow Jack ---Delta--- Quick steps echoed in the decaying streets of the demon district. However, the excitement of the hunt only soothed his boredom slightly. His sharp eyes watched the little mantis demon sprint through the alleys, knocking and trying to open random doors. All of these houses were long abandoned. Bragmomals subordinates had no interest in living in the decaying structure the humans left to the demons. The demons that used to live here those who didnt evacuate in time ended up like the little mantis, as his ythings. Soggy ster and bricks crumbled under his ws as he stalked his prey, sneaking along the walls high above. This was all he could do to pass the time, as they waited for the Greta Harvest. At least it would happen soon, the thought of humans living so close by and not being able to hunt them irked him. Mncholic he realized that the chase was over. The Mantis had taken several more turns but finally had to stop from exhaustion. Breathing heavily, she whimpered in despair, as she slowly slid down the filthy wall behind her. Quietly, he walked until he was right above it. His wings buzzed, alerting her of his presence. Her facetted eyes frozen in shock, she looked up at the wall she was leaning on. The small demon screamed in panic. Kyaa! Hel-Urgh! The mantis couldnt even finish a word before he was upon it. His mandibles crushed the crunchy shell. Delectable juices gushed into his throat and ran down his chin. A single bite to the neck and his prey was limply hanging from his mouth, dead. By Bragmomal, Yellow Jack! Another one? he was greeted as he came back to camp. He was still holding half the body of his prey in his hands, busy ripping chunks of flesh and innards from his snack. He looked up, still chewing parts of Mantis.What else is there to do? We cant train, we cant go out and fight, we cant go out and hunt. All I can do is capture these maggots that dont deserve to be called demons, the winged hunter shrugged his two sets of shoulders. Well, lets hope you didnt spoil your appetite with that. A messenger from Durnham has reached themander. Chrona will pull out their troops today in the evening. They will only leave a minimum number. Commander said we will strike tonight. Officially, the troops of Chrona were to wait for Spatias army to take over Delta in their stead before leaving. That was what Chrona knew, unofficially Spatia had no intention to bother with the people of Urth. The Little Witch of Durnham made a deal with them, they didnt want to refuse. Delta was theirs. It''s an all-you-can-eat buffet of human souls. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred tform. Support original creators! His wings buzzed in excitement. He didnt care much for the n, salvia was dripping from his mandible at the thought of soft, human flesh. Disgusted, he threw away the half-eaten corpse in his hand. How could he keep eating this shit with the prospect of a much better future prey? Of course not, Im ready whenever! he eximed. His stomach and spoiled? He had barely eaten anything. He was so ready to fill it with gourmet food. The hardest was waiting for the night. When the sun slowly started sinking, theirmander finally called for their assembly. The demon army gathered close to the new summoning circle at the center of the demon district. They had cleared several blocks of building, to create a massive formation, powered by the fiery power of the mountain beneath their feet.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om This magic circle also had an additional effect, to weaken and ultimately break the magic Chrona used to calm the volcano. Did Spatia really think they could use them so easily? Once they had their fill, they would leave and blow up all of Delta, right in the face of the empire. I wont give you a long speech. Chrona is gone. You all know why we are here. Go ahead, rampage, murder, plunder, do whatever you want, but dont forget, 40% of anything you bring back, belongs to his highness. Anybody who tries to hide their loot is punishable by corporal punishment. Onest thing, stay away from the embassy of Minas Mar. No need to stir up a hos nest. With few words, themander, a massive demon in both height and width, sent them off to attack the city. Bragmomals demons didnt move in orderly rows, but more like a swarm of locusts, some even resembled locusts. Spreading his wings, he rose up to join his brothers in the sky. Finally, he was able to stretch his wings. The cloud of monsters rose above the demon district and dove toward the part of Delta, popted by humans. Despite many people emigrating to Minas Mar, there were still millions in Delta. More than enough for them to feast! The moment he was above the human part of Delta, he couldnt hold himself back any longer. Diving down in a straight line, Yellow Jack punched his four arms into the wall of the tower-like building. He didnt stop, instead his ws ripped a hole into the building, from the point of entry, all the way to the ground, where hended. Heughed like a maniac the whole time, his euphoria fueled by the surprised faces of residents who had no idea what was going on. It was as the leaders said! The little piggies had relied on barriers and magic to protect their tender meat, this was now over! No Chrona, no shell! The people inside surprisingly didnt just run and scream. Despite the initial shock, they had instantly equipped armor and weapons. The tips of spears poked for his body, but they simply nced at his chitin skin. The insect demonughed in a deep, malicious voice. I love it when the prey is fighting back. The fear in their eyes when they finally lose all hope is just- Thunk! Yellow Jack suddenly felt an impact on the back of his head, interrupting his monologue. He wanted to turn around and see who dared to attack him from behind when his attention was caught by a peculiar thing. His many eyes showed him various images of the tip of an arrow. The weird part was that he saw it from the back, as if Only then did his brain finally realize, that his monologue was not interrupted. It was ended for good. Losing his senses, he slumped to the ground. As he fell, he revealed the picture of a knight in bright silver armor to the family that had desperately defended themselves against the wasp demon. He slowly lowered the empty bow he held in hand. The knight nodded at them before he continued moving. Whooooo! Momentster, Delta was shaken by the sound of warning sirens. The ear-shattering sound was not stopped by walls or istion and went on for a full minute before fell silent. The sound of heavy boots marching through the streets grew louder. Had the forces of Chrona not left? Had they returned? The distressed people dared to foster and glimmer of hope. But no, what followed next told them otherwise. Hear ye, Hear ye, citizens of Delta. This is the Tower Master of Minas Mar speaking to you with an important announcement. We decided to take over. Delta is now a special administrative region of Minas Mar, effective immediately. As for you, goddamn demon scum- Get the fuck off of my property. Thunder and explosions roared in the city. His words were like a signal, that announced the start of a war. The night was filled with the noise of battle, as the two invading forces shed for sovereignty over Delta. Chapter 1160: This arrogant little-! Chapter 1160: This arrogant little-! This arrogant little-! Ichabot Longbottom cursed at the announcement that just echoed across the city, He knew it. He knew Minas Mar were just a bunch of power-hungry tyrants. He never liked their conceited leader. Quick, activate Iego! Strike both parties down! he dered. Under the influence of Chrona''s new representative he had managed to w his way back into a position of power, now he was part of the council in charge of governing Delta. Iego is for defense against external enemies... They are already within the city parameters, another member said, obviously tired of Ichabot''s stupid ideas and antics. Project Iego was a defense system based on the floating peaks surrounding Delta. It had no inward-facing attack or defense qualities. And anyway, all we can do now is hope Minas Mar wins, at least they wouldn''t kill us, another membermented. what are you even saying!? Do you hear yourself talk, man? We are the chosen representatives of the people! We can''t give up! We need to defend Delta from these invaders! Ichabot insisted that they had to do something. However, his emotional speech only caused wry and sarcastic smiles. You mean the same way you groveled before Merkraut Sar to get a seat in this council? some asked, his voice oozing with acid. Enough! Ichabot became red as a tomato and was about to scream at the man when the oldest in the council told them to shut up. Ichabot is right in one thing. We can''t just wait for someone to win and hand over the city to the victor. We have to mobilize the special forces to interfere, he spoke his mind. In the meantime, we should seek shelter in theplex below the parliament. At least until reinforcement from Spatia arrives, he added.For a moment he seemed like he meant well, but in the end, he was no different from them. Throw out the special forces as a pretense and hide until the storm passes. ... Seth was a little surprised to find a horde of demons swarming Delta. It seemed like everyone had the same idea about acting a little more aggressively. Since Chrona announced their retreat from Delta, only leaving a minimum number of personnel to keep the city safe until Spatia came, it felt like an invitation to take the city. They expected there to be few people, but nobody expected that minimum personal meant that they even pulled out the security technicians and deactivated building security. This was suspicious, but none of Seth''s worries, for now. This narrative has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. He red at the horde of demons who stopped at his announcement but didn''t retreat. A massively obese-looking demon slowly floated to the front of the demons in the sky. The beast was easily five meters in height and width. We are the Army of Bragmomal! We don''t back down from a fight! he answered smugly, looking down at the army of knights and golems. There were easily thrice as many demons as people on Minas Mar''s side. Are you sure you want this? Seth asked with a dangerous edge in his words. They hade to Delta by teleporting to Minas Mar which was why there were only Oathguards and golems making up their ground forces. Both groups had grown quite a bit. Because of the expansion of Minas Mar, the Oathguard now numbered roughly 3500 men, of which 2000 were here. Apart from them, there were the over 5000 golem made of orcs from Kozdams, as well as the various Golem Knights and Faer. On the surface, the demons really seemed like they had an advantage. However, Minas Mar had arrived prepared for a battle. Haha! Bragmomal would skin us alive if he heard we retreated without a fight! Attack! the fat demonmanded, not listening to Seth. Hismand to attack was overshadowed by an ear-shattering crack in the sky. You asked for it, Seth shrugged, as hell broke loose.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Thunder and lightning roared in the clouds above. The strikes of light illuminating the city with every roar also revealed a massive creature weaving in and out of the tumultuous cloud cover. The next moment beam of heat and light descended from the sky, burning holes in the rows of Demon. At the same moment, storms of lightning, ice, and fire rained down on them. The demon army fell into chaos, as the herd was suddenly thinned. Up in the clouds, Puffles and Tatzel were farming experience remotely, making sure not to destroy the city below the demons. The sky filled with scenes straight from apocalypse movies, illuminated the city below, where the Army of Minas Mar engaged the demons in brutalbat. What looked like an overwhelming victory to the demonic forces, quickly revealed itself as a one-sided massacre as Minas Mar''s relic-rated weapons cut through the demons like a hot knife through butter. Golems swarmed the streets on the hunt for demons, while the Oathguards put priority on evacuating the survivors of Delta under Minas Mar''s shield which covered almost a fifth of the city. The defenses set up by Chrona were gone, but this also meant nothing blocked the Tower of Minas Mar from showing its power. ... Look, what are those beasts in the sky? one of the assemblymen who was observing the situation outside eximed. At his exmation, several more men came to take a look, shocked by the sight of the massive silhouettes in the clouds. The shadows of a giant flying centipede and a smaller dragon-like creature reigning above the clouds were eerily familiar. however, it took someone tone-deaf like Ichabott to speak out about what everyone was thinking. It''s the pets of the Tower Master! But unlike everyone else who was concerned by the sight and the danger these creatures exuded, the former chancellor seemed almost excited. The rotund man waddled back to the bench of the council. This is our chance! These creatures have invaded the air space of Delta. I formally request for the deployment of the Iego System! Let''s make an example of his pets and shoot them from the sky. Without them, Minas Mar and the Demons will whittle each other away. I''m convinced our special forces and our city guards are enough to take care of what is left then, he spoke quickly in a single breath. Although Ichabott spoke like a nutcase, a disconcerting craze in his eyes, the councilmen were pondering. The oldest of them, given the highest rank by Merkraut Sar, finally nodded after they convened for a moment. Dealing a hit to Minas Mar before they could overrun the city was not the worst idea. Excitedly, Ichabott went along with the preparations to deploy Project Iego. Originally nned as a continuous defense system, at the suggestion of the representative of Chrona, they had decided to only activate it in emergencies to save energy. With the magic seals of all five councilmen, they activated Project Iego, the defense system using the floating peaks surrounding Delta in the sky. tensed they waited for the magic of the system to activate and the throes of pain and death of the creatures in the sky. Well, mostly Ichabott waited for it. However, nothing happened. It didn''t activate! one of the assemblymen at the window confirmed their suspicion. They tried again. And again. And again, but it didn''t work. Did it break? Ichabott asked in dismay. Did the reduced maintenance lead to this? None of them knew that this was their lucky day. Minas Mar had long since used the backdoor originally implemented by Al''Zalsar to take back control of Project Iego. Who knew what would have happened to them, if they managed to actually harm either Tatzel or Puffles? Chapter 1161: People are Flooding Chapter 1161: People are Flooding ---A few minutes earlier--- The quiet sound of fists clenching and teeth grinding could be heard across the southern wall of Delta. The men standing here, looking in helpless fury as their home was destroyed, were thest remaining soldiers of Chrona, who were left to guard the city wall until Spatia arrived. Maybe it was wrong to call them thest remaining soldiers of Chrona, as all of them were locally from Delta and had joined Chronas army to protect their homes. They had volunteered for thisst task, not because they wanted more time to give their home ast goodbye. Looking at his men from his office inside the gatehouse, Commander Garroun sighed. Looking at the stack of documents on his desk, he was seriously deliberating their next steps. His fingers thoughtfully brushed over the stack of employment contracts. Yes, his men had not stayed to hand over their home to the tyrants of Spatia. Their n was actually to use the remaining days to annul the magic contracts that bound them to the orders of Merkraut Sar and defend Delta against the invaders. He himself had wrestled with the doubts in his mind for a long time. He was born and raised in Chrona and had always been proud of his loyalty to the empire, but he couldnt agree to the things happening here. Ultimately, he had decided to help them, instead of stopping them. There was no concrete information about how long Spatia would have taken to arrive in Delta, but they thought to have at least a couple days A couple days to correctly annul the magic contracts and set them free from their oath of loyalty. Maybe even have enough time to organize a defense force Yet, Man proposes, God disposes. The supervision had barely left this world, when the demon army flooded the city, and they all were dammed to watch on helplessly because of these contracts. Their orders bound them to the tops of these walls. The consequences of breaking the orders would have rendered them just as useless as staying on the walls. They would just increase the number of casualties. A couple of days to break the contracts correctly What if he just burned them right here, right now?They would all suffer a terrifying recoil; he might even die but his men would survive. Momentarily weakened, sure, but free to take action and defend their people. But many of them would die, throwing themselves into the flood of bodies they couldnt stop, not even in their top form. Conflicted, he kept staring at the contracts, pressured by the curses of his men on the wall and the noises of destruction of the city. Screams of agony and fear, explosions and desperate battles, the sound weighed heavy on his mind. To condemn his men to face a pointless death, for the vain satisfaction of allowing them to die in glory, defending what they loved? Or keep them on the walls, probably preserving more people of Delta, than they could save in the battle below? If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. His fist mmed on the table. He couldnt make the decision. He hated himself for it, but he couldnt stand by either of the options. Cowardly, he rather didnt make a decision at all. He couldnt face the possible consequences, he WOOOO~ WOOOO~ In his weakest moment, he suddenly heard horns shaking the district, even the walls below his feet. Running outside, he joined themotion on the walls. People are flooding into Delta! Its a massive army! the lookout at the watchtower cried out, not bothering to use skills or magic to report the scene. Thunder and lightning suddenly raged in the skies above them. Garroun could now also see the knights suddenly pouring into the city from a ce west of the southern gate. They couldnt see where exactly all of these people came from, but he recognized some of the armors, before Hear ye! Hear ye!... Minas Mar hade to im Delta. ---Present--- The demonmander''s face fell seeing his troops being pushed back like this. However, this wasn''t the first time, and it would not be thest time he experienced a difficult situation on the battlefield. He quickly judged the situation and the causes. Although Minas Mar had the upper hand when it came to the quality of foot soldiers, this could be made up with numbers. What truly guided the tide of battle were the groups of high-profile leaders ughtering demons and pushing back the front line. Apart from Minas Mar, there were also a few groups of fighters that had emerged from among the popce of Delta, that were resisting. One in particr was pushing back with equal power to the soldiers of Minas Mar. If they wanted to use their numerical advantage, they had to bnce the influence of these elites. Decisively, he called out for his troop of loyal subordinates. They were demons he had handpicked and trained. It would be easy for them to get rid of most obstacles. Once the elites were gone or upied, they could use their numbers to take care of the golems and guards. Lachmal, Kreischmal, Stirbmal, go up there and stop those beasts. Don''t look at me like that, I just want you to distract them, not y them, he spoke to the three demon generals under his directmand, who had the best skills in aerialbat. Weinmal, Hormal, Keinmal... he named another ten of his subordinates. Take some people and stop those leading the front lines, he continued, pointing at a few ces. Among them were an anthropomorphic bull and his team, quickly dispatching demons with wide AOE skills, a team of knights leading golems with terrifying efficiency, and various more parties of Oathguards led by significantly strong yers identified as members of Minas Mar. But before they could go to the ces instructed by theirmander, 9 of them were struck down with a single attack each. Two had arrows blowing up their heads. Another two were killed by the same attack, something that looked like an orange stake made of solid heat and fire. Their bodies instantly turned to ashes. The fifth died from a lightning bolt and the sixth had his heart skewered by an aura spear. Number Seven was killed by a Bone Stake. Eight got bisected by a windde. Thest one was probably the most terrifying one, since he suddenly started screeching in fear and simply died without any signs of how... Yo, big guy~ Did you think we would just leave you alone? a caster with a dainty wand, wearing silver te armor asked him joyfully. The surrounding building roofs were filled with figures, some of which had just killed his personal subordinates with ease.N?v(el)B\\jnn The fat demon squinted. He couldnt remember their names, but he recognized their faces from the dossier he had read about Minas Mar. All of them were part of the teams, the guild used as external strike forces, innocently dubbed "The Field Teams". S-Sir? the remaining four underlings asked unsurely. They didn''t know whether they should defend themander or use his earliermand as an excuse to run. . These maggots wouldn''t be any help anyway. Just fuck off and do what you are told, I can take care of them myself, themander said grimly. If they could distract the beasts in the sky, they could at least gain the advantage in the sky. It was obvious, what would happen to the battlefield, if these people were allowed to roam freely. He on the other hand would face off against the elites of Minas Mar alone and keep them here. He had some pride in his strength. He was no weaker than the sneaky pig that had an unlucky encounter with the unleashed Amazon. The Amazon wasn''t here, but he didn''t dare underestimate his opponents. Unlike this pig, he was ready to do anything to survive. Chapter 1162: Upper Ranks of a different Faction Chapter 1162: Upper Ranks of a different Faction There were no golems to broadcast this battle. Nobody wanted Chrona to hurry back, or Spatia to hurry up. While the group that had left Urth to level up took care of the upper ranks of the demons, Seth was left to deal with the upper ranks of a different faction. I would not have thought that you would be the one to open the door for me, Seth greeted their informant with a wry smile. Standing at the door of the parliament building was Rich, the vemancer. Behind him stood a toon of people in the high lv.90, d in epic and relic-rated items. You know, you can''t choose your family, but you can choose your employer, he said and shrugged, keeping his wry smile. Rich had actually contacted Minas Mar after the news of Chrona''s evacuation became known and asked to join as an affiliate. It was his information that allowed Minas Mar to arrive in time to stop the demons from harming their future asset. He didn''t just offer information, but also the parliament. Seth didn''t need to be an experienced politician to know that these old fogeys would not let go of their power easily, despite having done an awful job so far. After the hero left, Rich actually became the strongest yer they could hire for money in Delta and they gave himmand over the elites, they had painstakingly nurtured with the tax money of Delta. Now their very own private army, held the door open, for the new owner of the ce. Minas Mar guaranteed Tree Stations the right to govern themselves, but there was no way they could just leave the leadership of Delta as it was. Once the demons were dealt with, a thorough clean-up was in order. Without warning, the cksmith kicked open the room to the parliament. There had been some changes in the past months with Merkraut Sar''s intervention. At the center of the wide auditorium, was a bench where the council sat like a panel of judges, while the rest of the politicians were seated on their normal seats. Originally, the parliament was supposed to be an assembly of elected representatives, each with the same standing. Here it was restructured to look like the elected representatives had to speak to and be judged by the council, which had the power to make and change the final decision. All eyes turned to the door in shock. They were in the middle of evacuating the auditorium when the door suddenly flew straight across the room. Ichabott, standing by the bench quivered in anger at the sight of the Tower Master strolling into the auditorium.You have some gall to just break in here! Do you know where this is?! he screeched, huffing and puffing like a steam engine. What''s wrong with walking around my property? I''m sure you heard my announcement earlier. Minas Mar will be taking charge of Delta from now on, Seth said smugly, with a calm and confident voice. They were not here to talk. The decision had already been made. He was simply informing them. How did you get in here? Ichabott barked, ignoring his words. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. The older gentleman at the center of the council cleared his throat to get the attention. All of us here are elected representatives of the people. By what right do you think you can relieve us of our duty? he asked, trying to sound calm, but it was clear that he was frightened. By my power as the newndlord. Don''t worry, not all of you will lose your job, it would be a little hard to find substitutes right away. Once we sifted out the spies and sympathizers of Spatia and Chrona, I''m sure some of you can be reinstated until we hold a new election here, he answered graciously. The bard''s words were clear. The old man realized that there was no negotiating with Seth. He looked around, but the Tower Master hade without familiar faces like Mary or Leana, who could be talked to diplomatically. Please don''t resist as the Oathguard takes you into custody until the situation has calmed down a little, the bard asked nicely, as the team of armored guards entered the room. What happened to the people we sent to guard the entrance? the old man asked Seth, as one of the Oathguards put them in arcane shackles. Oh, we let them in, Rich offered an answer, popping up from behind the Oathguards in the cracked door frame. Rich! You betrayed us?! Ichabott eximed in an ear-piercingly high voice. The short, rotund man was ready to jump at the vemancer''s throat if it wasn''t for two Oathguards holding him down. Yeah, I worked for you for over a year and had enough time to make up my opinion. Delta is better off if Minas Mar takes charge,pared to you bunch of opportunistic hyenas, Rich said with a frown, his eyes wandering over the group of assemblymen in disgust. It was clear that there were no good people among them, in his opinion. What will you do with us? the older man asked him. For now, we will put you under house arrest in the parliament building. Your final fate will be decided after the investigations. but don''t worry, none of you will die, Seth said with a friendly smile, but somehow the politicians could help their minds circle around how many terrible things weren''t actually lethal. ... Ptui, the obese demonmander spat out saliva mixed with purple blood. He was bleeding from several wounds across his massive body. Other parts were bruised or burned. he had already unleashed his full power, rising to lv.180, but he could not keep up with the elites of Minas Mar. It wasn''t even that they had good team y, the number one reason for high-ranking beings to fall at the hands of weaker yers. Each and every one of them possessed terrifying skills and attacks, despite being over 40 levels lower than him. Yet, it wasn''t them he was afraid of. What struck horror into him was that monstrous Tower Master. He had realized the problem some time ago. Each and every one of his opponents had not just a high level but was also covered in relics and legendary items. That cksmith had created monsters, without anyone realizing. For some reason, the demon even thought that this was just the tip of the iceberg. His eyes wandered over the circle of terrifyingly overgeared existences. Despite the hard fight, neither of them showed signs of wounds or exhaustion. While he had suffered, he had not even put a dent into them. This was a pointless fight. Themander had already made the decision, the moment he recognized their power. He had to flee. It was his only chance of survival. Of course, Bragmomal hated cowards, but he also liked people who brought results. Maybe he couldn''t beat Minas Mar here, but bringing back the information he gained here would be worth his life, maybe more. Haha, I see that I can''t beat you, so I will take you down with me! he hollered boisterously. Concentrating all of his energy in his shell of muscle and fat, he started to glow in a vicious light. As expected, the champions backed off expecting he prepared for a suicide attack. On the contrary, this was actually his ultimate escape skill! As 90% of his body and energy turned into a terrifying bomb, carpeting part of the city, the demonmander''s true body shot through the sky with incredible speed. He was moving toward the summoning circle. It wouldn''t take much to configure it and return to- His thoughts stocked, his body stopped, and his eyes fell on a scene out of his nightmares. The giant summoning circle was destroyed! The thick lines of metal, glowing in a demonic red, were severed and had lost their luster. Golems, the size of cows and the shape of murderous termites were busy taking it apart, harvesting the materials, and vanishing in holes in the ground. Oh my, did you really think you could escape? ascivious voice spoke to him. Throwing his head around, he found a curvaceousdy standing in the air, looking at him with sarcastic pity. We already made sure, that nobody will get out of here. Really. Nobody, she added with an ominous smile, that had the demon''s heart throb in fear.N?v(el)B\\jnn Nobody but these two were there to see what happened, but themander vanished from the world, without as much as a scream. Chapter 1163: Outrageous Defense Chapter 1163: Outrageous Defense Valiantly, Tekar jumped to the front of the party, blocking the fat demon''s Explosion attack from the field team members of Minas Mar. Although he was behind in level, he still had the most outrageous defense in all of Minas Mar, apart from their Tower Master. The team members were lucky enough to hide behind Tekar. Despite being momentarily blinded by the bright light, Tekar managed to deploy the blessings Alexiares and Aniketos to protect the city below. The explosion that could have eradicated a quarter of the district crashed into his blessed shield and was redirected upwards. Still, the blessing was not almighty. Tekar was only able to mitigate the damage to the city directly below. The explosion still ttened the buildings in a radius of 100 meters and damaged many further away. A quarter of the district lost their windows, but not their lives. When the light finally let off, they looked at the destruction below in trepidation. Nobody really expected Delta to be a battlefield today. There were still people in the area. Of course, coteral damage was the norm in a war, but all of them had hoped to take over Delta as peacefully and with as little damage as possible. The worst resistance they had expected were the subordinates of Chrona that still manned the city gates and the council shaped by the Peddler of Ruin. That they would face a horde of demons wasn''t nned... Movement in the ruins caught their attention as more and more rubble started being pushed aside. Demons and People emerged from the ruins of the buildings. For a moment, they had forgotten, that yers were much more resilient than people before the apocalypse. There was still a chance to rescue people even in the epicenter of the damage. Monique growled when she saw the demons that managed to crawl from the debris attack the people who had just managed to survive a catastrophe. She didn''t have to say anything, as the people around her already rushed to the ground, ending the demons. The chosen of Athena stayed up on the roof and looked at the situation. Athena was a goddess of warfare and strategy, this was why Monique was given themand in the field. looking at the change in the situation, she frowned. The demon armysmander and their elite leaders were gone, but their burning desire couldnt be quenched by the sudden loss of leadership. On the contrary, without a guiding hand, they turned even wilder and more dangerous, spreading out to hunt the survivors still present in Delta.Monique clicked her tongue, there were simply too many small fries running around. The urban battlefield renderedrge-scale skills that could end them all useless, unless they wanted to wipe out the remaining people in Delta, too. Lifting her hand, she shot a signal re to the sky. Despite being right below the city, the Tower of Minas Mar had never interfered with Delta, except during a crisis. A big reason for this was the security systems of Chrona, which wouldnt have allowed any interference without the existence of the tower bing known. It was time to reveal a fraction of what it could do. Shortly after the signal was given, the noise of battle fell silent. All demons in range suddenly became sluggish, weaker ones outright falling asleep. The magic remote cast by the Tower Ego had its limits as remote casting was a terribly inefficient technique, however, demons across half of delta had instantly be less dangerous or werepletely neutralized. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Originally, they made up this strategy to deal with the remnants of Chrona''s army if they decided to abandon the city walls and attack. It could also be turned into an offensive attack if Spatia managed to invade the city area of Delta. After all, the enemy empire''s troops were already preparing toe to Delta. Of course, the danger wasn''t over with this. Just because they were sleeping or drowsy for now, didn''t mean they weren''t dangerous. After the sleep magic was cast teams of golems appeared in the streets, teleported by the tower. They were the ordinary merchandise, originally meant to be sold to Arget Nore. They now flooded the streets of Delta. Although they couldn''tpare to the golem knights Seth besouled, they were enough to deal with the weakened demons. To allow for flexible decision-making, each team of merchandise was led by one of Seth''s Golem Knights with a budding ego or a named golem. She didn''t dare use the Strategy Sleepy Head before, because of the demon elites possibly negating the magic or usingrge-scale attacks to destroy the golems. Unlike, them, the demons would have any qualms about destroying the city and killing many, to get rid of the enemy. With the massive influx on their side and the already incurred losses for the demons, the numbers on the ground were now even, not counting Delta''s civilians and adventurers not leaving without a fight. Some were another problem, for both sides. Nobody liked demons, but it didn''t mean they were okay with Minas Mar''s objective either. those attacking or resisting in the middle of the chaotic battlefield were taken care of by the Oathguard, one way or the other. Luckily, people hostile toward Minas Mar were few and far between.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Despite smear campaigns against them in the past, Minas Mar''s reputation had improvedtely and became much better than the public opinions toward Chrona, or an invading demon army. Public opinion of either was horrible, thetter being slightly worse. Their performance during the tournament incident had not just revealed that legends existed on Urth and could enter Urth, but also that Minas Mar was a force to be reckoned with, as they had actually managed to defeat said legend. Across the whole of the Pathworks and the system worlds, it might not have been as big a deal, but on Urth, they were proven to be the strongest. In chaotic times, people wanted strong leaders they could rely on and who could protect them, and Minas Mar spared no expense to propagate this image to the people of Delta, ever since they decided to take over. As such, the reaction to Minas Mar''s arrival was no surprise. Thank you so much! the Oathguards were praised with cheer and gratitude by the people they saved from demons or pulled from the wreckage to evacuate to the safety of Minas Mar''s shield. With the implementation of the Strategy Sleepy Head, the situation quickly turned for the better and the troops of Minas Mar were able to sort out the mess. When Seth returned to the embassy after capturing the politicians and grounding them in the parliament, they were mostly busy with cleanup instead of fighting. The were only individual pockets of demons left, spread across the city outside their influence. Those were still heavily besieged by local powers and golems. Seth, there is someone who would like to meet you, Evee approached Seth when he returned. The Chosen of Persephone had taken part in the battle until the demonmander self-detronated, but had not summoned any of her undead. They didn''t want to scare the people of Delta. Instead, she had started helping with organizing the refugee camps and medical tents. Behind her was a woman with a crooked smile and a smoldering cigar in the edge of her mouth. She wore a silver suit and a red coat with ck fur was draped around her shoulders. Everything about her screamed shady underworld boss. However, Seth actually recognized her. It wasn''t just because he was able to feel their connection, but the aura of this woman was hard to forget. She was like a forged edge. Despite her appearance, she was straight and sharp, hard, but flexible enough. They are from the Riot Guild here in Delta. They joined our troops earlier on in the fight and have proven quite useful in battle, Evee exined, but the cksmith didn''t actually need the introduction. I remember you, he said before she could introduce herself. She was one of the 400 Faer he created from the ego souls of Tano''Mol''s soul tank. To be precise, she was one of the 200, who decided to leave, instead of staying with Minas Mar. Bodeka, right? Seth asked. Him remembering her name shocked her so much, that she even lost her smile, staring at him. Y-Yes! We havee to follow the oath, she said when she found her tongue again and kneeled before him. In the back, the group of misfits, half of which were also Faer, followed her in the action. Evee was left looking confused at what was happening here. The oath, was for the Faer that had left, toe to their aid in case of emergency. Seth never really expected any of the leavers to keep the oath, but it was a nice surprise. Then I will wee you back with open arms. Follow Evee and see where you can help here. Chapter 1164: Commander Garroun Chapter 1164: Commander Garroun --- A few hourster--- So, what about the troops from Chrona? Seth asked in the round. The leaders of Minas Mar had gathered in the upied parliament to talk about the current state of Delta. The demonmander was in, and the demon army had been mostly eradicated by the golems. The survivors of Delta had been evacuated under the barrier of Minas Mar for now, as even the portal defense had been shut off by Chrona before leaving. It was clear that there was more going on than a peaceful retreat, but it was important to pacify Delta first. While the were still some demons on the loose, thest imminent threat was the troops of Chrona that were left to man the walls of Delta to protect the city against monsters and the undead. They could only truly stabilize their hold on Delta, once they were dealt with. Their Commander said he would only talk to the Tower Master and Princess Leana, Monique answered his question. So far, the guard on the walls had made no move to either attack or surrender. Seth nodded pondering. I see. Leana, what do you think? he asked the princess of Chrona. This condition could end up as either a trap or a negotiation. Leana used to be the representative of the Empire in Delta. Although she had lost her connections to her allies in the capital, maybe there were still allies or sympathizers of hers among the people stationed here. I can''t tell, but I''m willing to go meet them, she answered determined to take the risk. After all, Chrona was still her home. Seth could understand if she didn''t wish to see the blood of her countrymen spilled by her new friends. Then let''s go. There is no reason to waste any more time. The sooner they are dealt with, the sooner we can back to important things, the cksmith decided. Spatia''s troops were on their way to take over for Chrona. until the time they arrived in Delta, there were a few things Seth wanted to finish. Effect-seeking, Seth, and Leana rode Puffles across the city to the southern main gate, where the headquarters of Chrona''s garrisons in Delta was located. The Ivicer had grown a lot doing whatever it liked, traveling around with Tatzel in the northern wilds.The nightmare centipede in his maximum size was now almost 200 meters long and the thickness of two trains. The head was so big, that the two were able tofortably stand on the Ivicer''s golden neckshield as Puffles flew through the skies over the city. ~To use the great me for showing off...~ the Ivicerined ~ Can you me me? Although you didn''t get the chance to show up during the tournament, the world should know your greatness! You shouldnd right before the interior side of the gate, to really showcase your splendor.~ Seth buttered him up. Heh, calling him a show-off? The sudden wiggle of the long body behind them showed who the vain one was. As the cksmith suggested, the massive centipede impressivelynded at the interior side of the southern main gate. The za there was just big enough for the Ivicer to roll up three-quarters of its body, while the rest stood erect, lowering his head for Leana and Seth to stand eye to eye with the guards on the wall. Also, the perfect height to st the whole structure to nirvana with a sr beam. The bard''s eyes wandered over the faces of the soldiers, lined up on the wall. He could see them swallow so hard, he imagined hearing it. Atop the gatehouse of the main gate, he found a man, wearing a more borate and high-quality armor than the rest of the gathered. I''m Commander Garroun of Chrona''s 1234th Legion, i greet the princess and the Tower master, he eximed the moment Puffles finally reached his stable position. Seth had never seen him, but Commander Garroun was a name he had known ever since they set up shop in Delta. He was a man who hadmand over Delta''s walls ever since they were raised. I''m d to see a familiar face here, Lena said with a wry smile. Despite the change in representatives, the leader of the city wall had never changed. he was someone she knew from her time on duty. However, this also meant that he never had a deep connection with any of them. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Garroun was a pure military man, without interest in politics outside of his duties. Hello, Commander. Are we talking out here, or are we going somewhere morefortable? Seth asked nonchntly. It won''t be a long conversation, and I hoped for my subordinates to hear it, too, themander admitted, exining his inhospitality of not inviting them in for a cup of tea. I hoped we could make a deal here. A deal? Leana whispered surprised. As mentioned, Garroun was a stoic man of duty. A man who would stick to the rules and his orders, no matter what. Suggesting a deal didn''t seem like something he would do. Yes. The men still stationed on these walls, are locals that did not want to leave their home until thest moment. Princess, you have the power to relieve them from their oath of alliance and allow them to defect and join Minas Mar in their defense of Delta, he revealed his shocking request. Not as shocking to Seth, but Leana was bbergasted, as it went against anything she knew of the man. Since her face asked the question, without the need to utter a word, Garroun continued speaking. Merkraut Sar and his master have sold out Delta to Spatia, he stated, his fist clenched so hard, that his knuckles whitened. Not only that, he used the Ambassador''s Token to give binding orders to stay on and defend the walls until Spatia arrived. We were forced to watch the demon army, unable to enter the city and help the citizens, he continued with a grim tone. The faces of the soldiers beside him were full of anger and frustration, but not aimed at them. Themander faced Seth directly. His clear blue eyes showed a will of steel and determination, showing that his next words came from his heart with sincerity. Thank you for stopping the demons. Following his words, the soldiers behind him nodded and repeated his thanks in their own words, whether spoken out or mumbling it, all the soldier showed their gratitude in some way. The cksmith hade to conquer their homes, and they actually thanked him for it. That was the state of Delta had reached. The bard pondered. There was no reason to refuse additional help, but could they really be trusted? There was no guarantee that there wasn''t some spy among them. On the other hand, they had ways to make sure that even a spy couldn''t dance out of line... Leana, what do you think? Could you do what he said? he asked the princess. If she couldn''t relieve them of the power of the oath to the empire, there was no reason to speak any further anyway. The princess had recovered from the shock she suffered due to Garroun''s request and nodded hesitatingly. I think it wouldn''t be a bad idea to take them in as a subsidiary force in Delta, Leana finally answered, already taking into ount the incorporation of Delta into Minas Mar''s system. Although Minas Mar allowed the Tree Stations autonomy, they also had affiliated forces and guilds in the various cities to help with security, maintenance, and the protection of the guild''s own interests, concerning dungeon materials and mining operations. Taking the remaining soldiers of Chrona and turning them into a subsidiary guild, was also along the lines of Seth''s thoughts to make sure they didn''t betray them. Subsidiaries gained benefits and part of the profits, in exchange they not only had to listen to orders from Minas Mar, but they all signed magic non-disclosure agreements. Though Seth considered using soul contracts in this case, just to make extra sure. What do you need to release their oaths? the cksmith asked. he doubted it was enough to be of royal blood and say that they were fired. However, his question wasn''t answered by the princess but by themander. Their employment contracts, Garroun said, waving a thick stack of papers. Merkraut Sar actually left them here? Leana eximed, shocked at the uncharacteristic negligence of the Peddler of Ruin. At this point, there were too many coincidences. Leana seemed to havee to the same conclusion as the cksmith, the whole scenario was nned. But if they nned to bind the guards to the walls and let the demons raze Delta, how could they forget the- He didn''t leave them. I smuggled them out during themotion when they were getting everything ready to leave, themander admitted honestly. Then Seth realized it. You ALSO wanted to take over Delta! he eximed with augh. Not fully. The original n was ripping the contracts and facing Spatia with everything we had, bearing the side effects of destroying the contract; themander exined. the soldiers beside him nodded. It really seemed like they were determined to fight Spatia to thest man, despite the risk of facing a legend. That the demons appeared right as they were left behind, was probably a shock for them, too. But with Princess Leana here, that won''t be necessary. She can simply annul the contracts, and set them free, Garroun added. I still don''t get why you are going so far. You know that this is technically treason, right? Didn''t you always loyally serve the empire? Did you think of the implication it would have if a remnant force of Chrona broke the agreement with Spatia and started a skirmish? The princess couldn''t help herself and asked the question that had upied her mind for a while. I may be loyal, but I''m not blind, princess. Even when I followed orders that were hard to execute, I always knew that they were made out of trying to get the best possible oue for everyone. But this decision is just a manufactured excuse for personal gain. I couldn''t just blindly follow these orders, even if it meant creating another war front. Seeing the situation in the city, I only feel confirmed in my decision. Wow, that really sold it. You are in. Sethmented,pletely breaking the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I can''t, Garroun blocked his offer right from the start. Why not? the cksmith asked surprised. Garroun really seemed to care for his people and the situation. My contract was not here in the first ce, but if I defected here, Merkraut Sar and his master would be able to use this as an excuse to intervene again. It would be best for me to be officially captured in a mutiny. You can then send me back to Chrona, with that message of your independence; themander exined realistically. He is right, Leana agreed with him, though her expression didn''t suggest that she liked or totally agreed with that action. Well, we can talk about that when it reallyes to it. I doubt we will get to release ormunicate with Chrona before we deal with Spatia, Seth said with a shrug of his shoulders. Whether they would really send themander back a messenger or not, would depend on whether they managed to properly make an example of the forces of Spatia. Maybe they won''t even dare to ask for you to be sent back.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Chapter 1165: Maybe not even one Chapter 1165: Maybe not even one Originally, their representative Natina and her troops were supposed to enter Delta through the System Church next Week. After their arrival, we were supposed to return to Chrona and leave the branch to Spatia''s priests, Simon exined how Spatia was meant to arrive if everything went as nned. Seth, Leana, Mary, Commander Garroun, some others, and Simon sat together at a table in the System Church of Delta, to make a rough outline of the current situation and their ns from now on. Their biggest problem was that they didn''t know how much longer they had before the troops of Spatia arrived. Simon''s information revealed that they had at least five days until they would try to enter through the system church. Considering the demon attack, they guessed that they nned to wait for the demons to wipe out Delta and the remaining soldiers, before using the church''s teleport formation to officially enter Urth and heroically strike back the demonic forces. At least this n was thwarted with the entrance of Minas Mar and their takeover of Delta. We should upy the System Church in Delta and block cross-world travel until people from the order of Minas Mar havepletely taken over operations here, Mary suggested the obvious next step. Over the past months, and with Simon''s help, Minas Mar had reared their own branch of the System Church in Minas Mar, made up of urthan priests and personnel. Like the Adventurer''s Guild, the church''s only official affiliation was with their god. But obviously, they were not really removed from the secr world and every greater power had their own orders or branches of the Church, more loyal to them and their ideals. Everyone nodded at Mary''s suggestion. With the teleport portal at the center of Delta blocked, Spatia would have to enter Urth somewhere else and travel to Delta. Nobody on the table suggested using this to set a trap. Letting the enemy in and fighting them in the middle of the city, was almost guaranteed to lose them the city, even if they won the battle. How long do you think they will need toe to Delta when they realize that the teleport is blocked? Mary asked in the round. Although some of them had experience with Spatia, especially Garroun as a military expert, they couldn''t guess how much longer they would have. Unfortunately, we have no information about the location of Spatia''s entry point to Urth. there could also be more than one, Leana shared her worries. The best guess would be that they have at least one close to Y-City since they approached that district first.We also don''t know how fast the travel, Garroun added, enforcing the point that they pretty much had no idea at all. Which means that the only thing we know for certain is the five days until they were originally scheduled to arrive, Seth summed it all up. In that case, I don''t have the time for these tea parties. I will leave the management and rearrangement to you. I will be at the workshop, the cksmith added and stood up. Seth was of the opinion, that he had something more important to do. Thest two encounters had raised a concern in his mind. Apart from the immortal, both incidences had demons that were close to attaining the legendary status as demons. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Bragmomal himself was just a legendary demon, but he had several demonsparable to Al''Zalsar in level when she was a lich under him. Then what about Spatia? They were undoubtedly a greater force than Bragmomal as they had an undetermined number of legends under them. Of course, there weren''t tens of them, but that wasn''t the point. Just how many near-legendary people would they have? Even when they didn''t send their full forces to Urth, what if there were more than they anticipated? Maybe not many legends, but dozens of people in thete 100s were just as bad. He had spoken with Leana about his worries. As the princess of an empireparable to Spatia, she was the best source of information. However, even she as a Princess had no idea about the number of legends her own empire had, much less how many Spatia was actually hiding. It was simr for people in thete 100s. She only had slightly more than themon knowledge of the topic. Usually, the kingdoms across the Pathworks, with enough power to make a name for themselves had 2-3 legendary people. Normal factions within a world, seldom even had one. The princess had assured him that Minas Mar was doing very well. With the addition of Al''Zalsar, there were now four confirmed legends in Minas Mar. Apart from her, there were many beings with the potential of bing legends in the near future, as well as the inner members who were all decked out in legendary and relic-rated equipment. Still, Their opponent was a terrifying Necromancer. Natina wouldn''t have stayed idle either. Not after she got an undead dragon. Just how many undead would she have gathered in the meantime? It was a lot easier for her to kill and resurrect a strong beast than it was to make a golem. Even with the golem forge. Necromancers fought in numbers and nothing stopped her from farming a high number of super-powerful troops. Seth simply worried that they still didn''t have enough firepower to ensure their victory. Everyone intended to prepare for a gruesome battle and hoped for a hard-fought victory, but not the cksmith. Some may say hecked emotional maturity, or maybe he was even naive, but Seth wasn''t ready to ept the loss of people as an inevitable oue of war. What he wanted was a certain, overwhelming victory. The enemy should bash their head in against their defenses and die before anyone even had the chance to get harmed. To get as close as possible to this ideal, he had five days. Just five guaranteed days. Would making Nam''s or Dowloon''s items help a lot? No. There wasn''t any time for them either. Weapons and armor wouldn''t help much. His thoughts wandered to his talk with Al''Zalsar a few days ago, after she suddenly appeared in the meeting. ... So my dream was true, you actually became a legend. the cksmith said. The two were sitting together in a cozy room adjacent to the meeting room and drank a cup of hot beverages the sorceress had brought from her journey. The mysterious coffee she bought from the people of Mistec actually permanently raised his attributes, which had been stagnant for quite a while now. His Agility had reached 325 points and his Endurance 343. But why did you onlye now? Seth asked her. They didn''t have much time to talk about her story, when she arrived earlier, however, unlike the others, Seth knew that she had been a legend for a while. And that she slew a dragon. ... I didn''t know legends could already enter this world... she admitted a little embarrassed. I stayed close to a port to Urth in a different world and waited for news to enter. " So, how did you kill the dragon? Seth asked the juicy stuff. As they drank the coffee, Al''zalsar told him the story of her advancement, which almost had him spit out the coffee again. He heard about the dragon Tydis and her quest for revenge for the first time.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Ultimately, the sorceress had managed to y the beast that had interrupted her first ascension to be a legend and reach this goal through this very feat. Of course, he congratted her from the depth of his heart, but there was a more pressing question on his mind. Did you dismantle the body? Since you asked me to meet you separately like this, is it because you have a gift for me? the cksmith asked. Even if it was just a lower dragon, the materials from its body were legendary dragon stuff. How could he not look forward to it? At Seth''s glistening eyes, Al''Zalsar actually hesitated for a moment before she continued speaking. Yes, I dismantled it. And yes, I brought most of its body with me. .. After that, she had shown him the materials she harvested from her archenemy''s body. Tydis was a sky-blue dragon, a sub-species specialized in magic. The damage negation couldn''tpare to those of an ancient dragon, but they also had the effect of improving the power of magic and mana regeneration. All of them were top-ss materials and would make for some of the best legendary armaments he made so far, but he still remembered the process of making his own armor. Dragon materials were equally as tough to work with as they were powerful. With the five days remaining, he wouldn''t be able to finish many items. Maybe not even one. No, there was something else- One thing he was confident in. Something he kept pushing back because of the tournament and five days, may just be enough to do it. Chapter 1166: Greed Wood Chapter 1166: Greed Wood Donnchadh, a creature that had appeared with the awakening of the realm. An undead beast that was actually native to Urth, with simrities to vampires and liches. The creature had been fighting an army of golems for days. It was the first ex-sized soul he had harvested since Al''Zalsar. If he was honest, he had been hesitating because it was such a rare resource. He had been looking into its potential to make a weapon or armor, but ultimately, there was never a choice other than making it a golem. If the situation hadn''t been dire, he may have kept hesitating and procrastinating on it, but now the decision was made. At least he had not been cking off when procrastinating, the ns for a golem were already finished. The only thing left was to implement them. After taking his leave from the meeting, Seth returned to Minas Mar. However, he did not directly return to his workshop, instead, he paid a visit to the Herb garden, or rather what was growing beyond the herb garden in Minas Mar. The tree chamber was as breathtaking as ever, looking like a starry knight with the magterns in the crown of the massive tree in its center. Climbing the huge roots, it took him a few minutes to reach the thick trunk. Karina? Are you there? he asked, knocking against the trunk of the Guardian Tree. The second piece he needed for the golem, was the wood of the hanging tree. In the cksmith''s opinion, the only material that could match the powers of Donnchadh was the wood of the Guardian Tree, especially its original traits as a Hanging Tree perfectly aligned with the nature of the nem marvo''s powers. Thepatibility of Donnchadh''s skills and the wood of the hanging tree was undeniable. The cksmith still vividly remembered the devastation of therge-scale drain skills the undead had used to refill his mana, health, and stamina.I''m always here, at least part of me~ he heard and a clone of the dryad stepped out of the trunk of the massive tree. How can I help you this time? Do you need more core wood? she asked yfully, knowing that this was probably the only reason Seth would visit the tree chamber. You caught me there, sorry, he apologized a little embarrassed, realizing that he really only came here when he wanted something. Nheless, he was here because he wanted something. Not core wood, but would it be possible to get wood with the original properties of the hanging tree? The dryad looked at him with surprise, before she pondered for a moment. I could try condensing some of the original nature, but it won''t beparable to the core wood. Is that okay? she asked innocently. The cksmith couldn''t help but think that the personality of these clones somewhat differed from the current dryad. Karina had changed a little ever since the Hanging Tree became legendary, However, these clones she was able to create were actually close to how the tree spirit acted in the beginning after Seth recreated her. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. That will be fine, the cksmith answered with a nod. As long as it fit the souls, the wood didn''t need to be too sturdy. The wood was going to be the golem''s flesh while the cksmith intended to make its frame from . Ever since Master Tored managed to create his own version of , their supply was only limited by Seth''s Power of Existence. Unfortunately, Tored''s alloy was not as close to the final product as the ingots Seth had looted from the Theocracy of Chains back then. It took over 3000 points of Power of Existence to refine one ingot of the faulty alloy into an ingot of genuine . He was barely able to afford it now. His point gain per day had risen quite a bit since the Pythian Games, especially after the Award Ceremony. This was why they now had a small supply of . After he gave his okay, the dryad stepped back to the trunk of the massive tree and started deploying her magic in synchronicity with the tree. A little shiver ran down his spine when he recognized the energy that was collecting under her hands. It reminded him of the pressure when he witnessed the hanging tree that grew at the center of his home district. It was an experience he could never truly forget. Slowly, a thick branch, the size of a normal tree, started growing from the bark of the Guardian Tree. The aura surrounding this branch was dark and ferocious. It matched the feeling of The Hangingtree to a T. His heart beat a little faster, not just because of the unhappy memory it brought back, but at the thought of creating a golem exuding this kind of aura, coupled with Donnchadh''s skills. He didn''t even need to appraise it to know that it was exactly what he needed. Karina had easily fulfilled his request. After growing to the length of a person, the branch grew thin at the base until it broke off from its own weight. There you go~ the clone prompted him to take his material with a kind smile. The mesmerized cksmith shook his head to get back to the present and appraised the trunk instinctively. Relic The culmination of the dark aspects of Urth''s Guardian Tree. Incredibly hard wood filled with the unbending desire to devour and grow in a never-ending cycle. You can feel power draining from your hand with a simple touch. Trait: Hangingtree''s Absorption. > The Hangingtree''s Absorption was the original power the tree used to extract nutrients from its victim, only leaving them as a dried-up husk hanging from its vines. It fused Life, Health, and Stamina drain as well as Blood Absorption. Seth froze when he saw the stats. Was Karina always able to make this kind of wood? This sounded like an incredibly strong power for a weapon if the trait could be controlled, but it activated on touch. An item that drained resources from the user every time you touched it the wrong way was inconvenient, but at the same moment, Seth could also think of a way to minimize that inconvenience. Maybe he was going to make some stuff with the shavings, once he was done.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Thank you, Karina. Well then, time is pressing, I hope you understand, the cksmith said, hurried to store the trunk of in his inventory. Of course. Are you going to use that wood for another golem? She asked curious as he was about to leave. Yes, I hope to add another friend to our forces, before things start, he said with a smile, before he vanished, teleporting to his workshop. ... As its reputation implied was a bitch to forge. The toughest, most resilient metal barely budged, despite being brought to heat and filled with to the brim with the power of which had recently turned lv.2. It didn''t help that the bard had gotten a little ambitious with the build. Not only was he singing the bad of Elufsiv the Esurient and paying the demon off with souls, but he was also running lv.9 at full force to meld half of Donnchadh''s soul into the golem''s Adamantium skeleton. While Seth was busy with that, he left the cutting of the wood to Cerberus. There was no modern chainsaw that could easily chew up magical woods. But the workshop guard was almost as good with a manual saw that his speed equaled to a sawmill. The wood Cerberus was cutting would be the armor and flesh Seth would attach to the frame once it was done. While the golem was done filleting the trunk in a matter of a day, Seth took three days to manufacture the parts of the frame, despite hurrying as best as he could. If forging was a bitch, engraving was hell. Just engraving and assembling the parts of the frame took just as long as forging the whole thing. But now he was at least finished the foundation. He had worked for three days straight, only taking a break to eat or chuck a Stamina Potion to get through the fatigue. He was tired and drenched in sweat, but at no point did he entertain the idea of stopping. Radiant Forgeright''s and had him in their grasp. The positive thing was that at least Donnchadh''s ego, or what was left of it, was not in a position to resist or sabotage him during the crafting. With just 12% of its original nature left, Seth intended to add one of the prepared cores with the Olympian automaton ego, to give the remaining ego a new nucleus to take root. He was just about to wipe his sweat away, when- Tower Master? someone suddenly asked from behind and started him. Chapter 1167: System Quest? Chapter 1167: System Quest? Tower Master? someone suddenly asked from behind. Seth jumped a little. he had just finished the part for the frame and put down his hammer. He had not noticed that someone had entered the workshop and watched him. You are one of Mary''s people, right? Want do you want? the cksmith didn''t bother admonishing him. he wanted to take a short break anyway. Ah, Lady Mary sent me to give a quick status update on the Delta and the Pythian Vige, he quickly answered. Seth was worried for a moment, signaling the man to quickly report. However, nothing was worrying about the report. With the help of Commander Garroun, Minas Mar was able to quickly sort out and fortify their position in Delta. The Pythian Vige left to some of Mary''s managers, had also calmed down tremendously. It was no wonder since most visitors had left. The games had ended so there was no need to stay any longer on Urth. At first, Seth questioned why they even sent that report, but he quickly realized why. It was Mary''s way to tell him not to worry and concentrate on his own work. Knowing that they were doing well, preparing for theing dangers, put his mind at ease and allowed him to dive into the work. Alright, tell her that I got the report. Tell her I will be finished in time he added thest part, after giving it a moment of thought. The day after tomorrow would be the day that Spatia was originally supposed to arrive through the System Church. He wanted to finish his work before their guaranteed time ran out. Any more days they bought by dying this arrival were a bonus. After the messenger left, Seth took an hour break to take a short nap, before he got back to work. The next step in the process was forging the flesh of the golem. After the trunk was cut into discs by Cerberus, Seth was able to see the wood''s natural color for the first time. It had a distinctive red tinge, like mahogany, but the rings inside were dark brown, like dried blood. Feeling the wood under his hammer was bliss, after the torture that was forging the . It felt like he was shaping y at this point. It was almost rxing, despite doing even more than before.In addition to singing the forging bad, and infusing the soul of Donnchadh, he was also using in addition to to strengthen and harden the , as he shaped the cross-sections of the trunk into armor parts he would attach to the frame. As for the bad, Seth did not use the Essence Devourer which he used on the . For the he decided on an old ssic. The bard used one of the first demonic bads he had learned, it was the Blooddrinker Bad Al''Zalsar taught him. It not only fit the characteristics of the wood but hoped it would allow the material to further strengthen itself in the future, as it would bathe in the blood of its opponents. or something like that. Under the reinforcement of the skill and the influence of the demonic power saturating the wood, turned it darker. The red of the wood became a deep crimson with a purple tinge, like the color of wine. The pattern of the growth rings turnedpletely ck. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences elsewhere. As he forged the armor tes, they turned to look like pattern-welded steel, dyed with red wine. One by one, wooden discs turned into a full, articted te armor, housing the soul of the nem marvo. And one by one, he attached them to the frame, slowly building a humanoid figure. Donnchadh''s original appearance was close to that of a tall burly dwarf. Maybe it would have been better to design the golem in a simr proportion to allow the soul to get used to it quicker, however, Seth did not have the time to ount for a burly physique. Leaving behind the pure aesthetic of a knight, Seth didn''t build any substructure for the armor, instead, he built it directly to the skeletal frame, creating a sleek almost skintight-looking, red armor with wine-red and ck markings. Seth had strayed from his usual design, but what he found off the beaten track intrigued him. The resulting vessel looked more like a robot with the looks of a knight. It was most definitely an armor, but it was too slender and elegant for a human to fit in. Maybe it was even more correct to call it a battle puppet. Thest step before cing the breastte, was setting the golem core into the mount he prepared in the frame. This was a core of , enchanted with the generic Automaton Core Circuit of Hephaestus. He had used a simr core for Haa''Skon and prepared several of them in advance. He hoped this would allow the soul to generate an ego not just quicker, but also a more obedient one. Although Donnchadh had suffered from mind decay, the 12% that was left had the potential to be problematic. Carefully, Seth installed the core in the chest of the golem and connected it to a piece of the soul, before fixing the breastte to the frame finishing the Golem. On the evening of the fourth day, since he started the work, the cksmith was finally about to finish his work. Once the core was installed, the battle puppet jerked for a moment, before the empty eyes of the mask helmet turned to Seth, as if it was waiting for instruction. This was the automaton ego taking control of the body. With a wave of his hand, Seth summoned the Waters of Styx. The massive sphere of water was calmly floating before the two. Step inside, he instructed the golem. With a nod and no hesitation, the new creation stepped into the water, to have the soul fused to the body and be reborn anew. Right after he got the notification that the automaton was finished, he was able to give the golem a final name. He would have called it Donnchadh, but its new appearance had nothing inmon with the ugly, undead dwarf sorcerer. Seth had a nicer sounding name, which still had a connection to its previous appearance and deeds. Your name is now Strix, he names the battle puppet. It stood silently for a moment, not answering, before it nodded and the name appeared in its status panel. lv.2 had be lv.3!> The notification following thepletion came and he was notified that his had finally leveled up again. The cksmith had ground his production skill quite a bit in the weeks leading up to the Pythian Games, leading to his reaching level 2 and now being close to level 3. He was about to look into the enchantments when another notification popped up and stopped his train of thought. .n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Difficulty: S Four of your Creations have met the basic requirements to earn the chance of inheriting the roles of the four mythical horsemen of the Apocalypse and be a legendary set. Fulfill the advanced requirements to allow your creations to inherit the powers of the four horsemen and be legends. Requirements: Fashion the Horsemen their condign arms and steeds. Wolfram(Conquest) - Bow of Conquest 1/1 - Mount of Conquest 0/1 Bazalith(War) - Sword of War 1/1 - Mount of War 0/1 Strix (Famine) - Scale of Famine 0/0 - Mount of Famine 0/0 Haa''Skon (Death) - Mount of Death 1/1 Reward: 1. The creations will inherit the power of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and be legendary. 2. Gain the unique title: cksmith of the Apocalypse. The power of all doomsday devices increases by 25%. Creations gain 15% to all attributes in a world, facing its perceived demise. Do you ept the system quest? Y/N> Chapter 1168: Dark Picture Chapter 1168: Dark Picture The four horsemen of the apocalypse? They were actually a thing? The cksmith was taken aback by the sudden quest. Seth had heard of the four horsemen during his travels after he left Urth, but he had always thought they were just some kind of allegory. Conquest and strife for power always caused war. Wars were a heavy burden on the nations in conflict, especially in less advanced worlds. This burden led to famine in the populous and ultimately, all of them led to the death of many people, either by the weapons of war or the consequences of famine. All system world started off facing their world ending. This course of events happened often, as such people talked of the four horsemen of the apocalypse appearing in the throes of the world''s end. Or so he thought. However, the quest suggested that they were real, myth-ranked beings. if that was true, they must have ridden at least once, to end a world. As for the quest, was there any reason to hesitate? Even though he didn''t know about the four horsemen on Urth, they were a big thing in the system worlds. Promoting Wolfram, Haa''Skon, Bazilith, and Strix directly to legend and inheriting their powers and all he had to do was arm them properly. Of course, he epted. Now Seth had a little shopping list of things he had to aplish in the near future. The question was whether would be able to make some of these before Spatia came, and they were sure they woulde. Four of their five-day grace period had been used to create Strix. He didn''t have time to test its power, but judging by stats, Strix was around the level of Bazalith. Seth only hoped that the skills of Donnchadh would allow it to have a huge impact in battle. Right now, it was early in the morning of the fifth day. With probably the greatest quest he had ever gotten before his face he deliberated changing their ns. If he could seed in the quest before Spatia arrived... He wobbled for a moment. First, he needed to get some sleep, then he would have to talk with the others about the four horsemen. He just left the workshop when hismunication orb vibrated. Seth, we have news! Leana''s voice echoed in the room, the moment he answered the call.---Cinema Dimension--- The cinema had fallen silent at the revtion of the quest. All eyes were either openly staring or secretly ncing at the god in the robe with the yful star pattern. The hood looked up at them, its mood undiscernible to the onlooker. What? he asked turning to Hades and Seth, two gods that dared to stare directly at him. Isn''t that a little excessive? I mean, the four horsemen... Hades mumbled and shrugged his shoulder. Even high-ranking gods had respect for powerful myths. When the four horsemen rode, not even the gods could stop them. Even if the cksmith''s golems would pale in the face of the real thing, it was well and truly an apocalyptic set. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. You worry too much, Hades, Seth said waving his hand, Aren''t you looking forward to what will happen from here on? If he managed to fulfill the quest, huhu, I can''t wait for their sh with Spatia. Even if it''s just that little necromancer girl of Kali and her underlings; While the gaze of Hades showed a slight worry about the decision, the look the god of chaos and destruction gave the System God was different. The desert god''s eyes were actually twinkling with admiration. Right, I knew Seth would understand it. Isn''t it fun? And it''s not like I tweaked the requirements to make it possible, he earned it all on his own, the system god said smugly, having found an ally. He was serious. It had actually taken the cksmith longer than he expected to get the quest. He waited with bated breath for the little cksmith to fulfill the requirements ever since he finished Bazilith. Since then, he had created many golems, but none who could have fit the role of Hunger. The timing was great. That is if he gets to finish the set before the chosen of Kali arrives, Apollomented with caution. This was exactly why it was so interesting. How could they not understand? Isn''t there anyone watching her champion here? Hermes asked loudly in the room. Nobody said anything until the Dungeon God cleared his throat. Kali has banned anyone from watching her and this stream simultaneously, he said a little embarrassed, admitting that he tried to send an avatar to watch at her ce. As a man in the business himself, he was a sucker for seeing a situation from multiple perspectives. Psht, someone suddenly interrupted the conversation. What? Who shushed at me? Who dares- the dungeon god got a little upset. Shut up, don''t you see that we are about to get an answer to our question? Hephaestus, who had kept his attention on the screen, barked at him. ... ---slightly earlier, Minas Mar--- Seth was about to ask Leana what was going on when the door of the workshop was shaken by the quick stato of heavy knocks. Someone was mming their fist at the door as if they tried to break it down. Who would dare to be so brazen in the smithies at this time? Tower Master, It''s me, Bart! I got urgent news! the chosen of Krios shouted from outside. His breathing was heavy from running there and trying to punch the door out of the frame. What did my door do to you!? the cksmith shouted, charging out of the workshop. Can''t you just call me like normal people? he came down on the mountain of a man with the easy-to-provoke anger of a man who had not slept for almost four days, waving around themunication orb in front of his face, that still had Leana connected to it. Bart? What are you doing there? the princess eximed, her voice being transmitted by the orb. Seth, can you please stop shaking the orb around? I''m getting nauseous... Mary asked pitifully from somewhere in the back. It seemed that he wasn''t just talking with Leana. Awkwardly, Seth stopped shaking the orb in the other man''s face. Sorry, Mary. I''m here because I have news from Y-City! Undead have appeared close to the center. Bart exined his presence. Although Bart had be the chosen of Krios and hade to Little Gama to join Minas Mar, many of his men were still in Y-City, patrolling the streets and reporting anomalies to him. Undead? the question came from the orb, concern in Leana''s voice. Undead meant there was a dark magic user or necromancer involved. The chances this was Arget Nore were low. What were they doing? she added worriedly. They have taken over what was left of the system church and are guarding the premise, the chosen of Krios exined further. The system church in Y-City had ceased operation. After the great battle the city had fallen most refugees migrated to Minas Mar. Since Samuel became the System God''s saint he also left Urth, while the staff was redistributed to branches in Minas Mar. Suppressed curses came from the orb in his hands. The answer from the orb was a row of curses, eximed by the princess. Leana, do you want to add something to the conversation, apart from your potty mouth? Seth asked her with a slight tease. Idyllin Mo contacted me. He had been monitoring the situation in Gamma and Sigma in case of changes. However, he just contacted me that there were signs of teleport activity in Gamma, she said gravely.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The mood to tease her instantly vanished. Either of the news was concerning, but putting what they just heard together, painted a dark picture. The grace period was over. Chapter 1169: No method too maliciou Chapter 1169: No method too maliciou During the Pythian Games, Gamma which had fallen into the hands of Arget Nore had suddenly fallen to an invincible wave of undead shadow warriors. Although they didn''t help the undead empire, they kept a close eye on the situation. Adding Bart''s information, it makes sense now. They probably had people overlooking the system church ever since the Y-City was abandoned. I bet they used it as an entry point to Urth and intended toe to Delta from there. When that didn''t work, because we closed the teleport hub, they must have turned to Gamma. We always guessed that Spatia was behind what happened to Arget Nore, but this is technically a guarantee it''s the truth, Leana spoke quickly, excited, but also shaken. Her theory suggested that not only did Spatia have a fixed entryway to Urth, but they also had a path to forward their troops directly to Gamma. Although Gamma was not much closer to Delta,pared to other districts, it had the Land of Dead. Their opponent was a powerful necromancer and now they had a base that constantly nurtured undead. It also meant that they probably didn''t have that much more time left. It would take high-level yers up to a week to traverse the mountains on the ground, but Natina could just pack her army on the dragon and fly over here. The enemy had the potential to arrive within less than two days from now. Doesn''t seem like we have much time, Seth concluded disgruntled. If things were like this, he wouldn''t be able to finish the quest before Natina arrived. I think we have to change our ns a little, Seth announced. His quest, the new information, and the shortened time called for it. It was reassuring that most of their preparations were already done. Leana had kept him updated about their progress while he was crafting. They had dealt with the aftermath of the demon attack in Delta. As the central district was apparently Spatia''s main goal, there had been a lot to fix to get ready, after Chrona technically sabotaged the city to fail the moment they left. Yet, Delta was most likely the most fit to face a siege of the current cities in Urth. With Project Iego in ce, its defense was assured. Seth had full confidence in Al''Zalsa''s work, even if they were to face Natina''s mountain-sized dragon. A big part of the preparations was not in Delta, although they were the most urgent here. Spatia was a super power and it would have been naive to expect that they would focus all they had in one ce. Even the Scene had attacked several Tree Stations at once.It was up to Leana and the others to manage their human resource to assure the safety of all Tree Stations, in case the empire decided to besiege them simultaneously. Even if that meant that they stretched their power a little thin. Business in Little Gamma had also finished. Leana and Mary had not just taken care of the consequences of battle in the Pythian Vige but had also managed everything necessary to station the fleet of Epsilon in TS5, as their new home. One of the measures to ensure safety across Minas Mar, the district. TS 4 and 5 were not big yet and were only protected by smaller forces, without any announced guardian, while 6 had Angelique, the Mirror of Dawn, who was slowly gaining levels as Seth''s servant revived by the . With the fleet stationed at 5, they would be able to help either of their neighbors quickly, if there was a need for it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Delta would be mostly protected by his creations, especially the big guns. He had no intention to hold back this time. While most of the golems were stationed in Delta, they would send members of the field teams, Oathguard, and some golems to all Tree Stations thatcked high-grade troops. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the vition. This was a measure to guard against Spatia changing targets, but also to put more precious personnel in safer ces. Many of the golems and the Faer could regenerate if they were destroyed, but the dead were a little harder to revive. While Delta and the tree stations are ready, we still need to buy some more time, Seth opened up to his friends. The cksmith revealed the quest he had just received. Some listened with attention butcked understanding. others who came from or traveled in the system worlds had shock written on their faces. Bing a legend by inheriting from a Myth was one of the hardest but also one of the strongest known methods. Dragons were the best example of it, all Dragons were legends because they inherited power from the myth of Dragons. Now, Seth talked about his four golems bing legendary Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They had decided to teach Spatia a lesson and what better lesson was there than steamrolling them with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse? But for that, he needed time to finish them. Seth needed to provide his four creations with three steeds and a weapon toplete the quest. Just 2 or 3 days wouldn''t be enough. After all, the quest spoke of condign arms and steeds. Seth couldn''t just throw something crude together and call it a day. The golem steeds he mass-produced wouldn''t do it and producing one, much less three by hand... he doubted there was enough time for that. They needed to buy more time for him. Originally, buying time may not have been feasible, as they didn''t know the ns of Spatia, but now? While there was a chance that Spatia changed their strategy after finding the System Church in Delta blocked, they doubted it. The time was just too short. Even if there were other factors, like spies, or missed reports from imprisoned spies, it was unlikely that the enemy would change the course of its main forces at this point and focus on one of the tree stations. They wanted Delta. Natina wanted Seth. She wanted revenge on Minas Mar and maybe even Urth in general. It was the only exnation for why she woulde personally. Although the tree stations had developed a lot in the past few months, Delta was still the biggest and strongest known target on Urth. Finding it destroyed by demons or upied by rebels, it was their best public excuse toy waste to Delta. Conquering, or gettingpletely rid of it was also the easiest and most cruel way to break them. If they started with the Tree Stations, they could still try to evacuate people to Delta, but if Delta was gone, things would be tighter. Without a doubt about their target, what stopped them from setting up traps? As they said, the best defense was a good offense. They quickly started brainstorming ways to hamper Spatia''s advance. No method was judged too malicious, or cruel to make them suffer. Especially Dowloon, their neer, shined in this discussion, offering her various skills. Guerri Warfare was the name of the game and especially the Faer that had rejoined after the battle with the demons were fire and me for this game. The biggest trump card they had against Natina might have been Haa''Skon. Like the Beasts of Cmity, the Death Knight was allowed to roam freely. He had traveled north of Delta and apparently assembled an army of the dead. Seth had not seen him since then, but they had called him back once they knew that Spatia wasing. Haa''Skon was also the only horseman who didn''t need anything from him. The cksmith was curious what his steed looked like, but it had to wait. With the Death Knight''s power to naturally dominate, he was like the natural enemy of Necromancers. Putting him in Natina''s way was the greatest trump card to buy time. After spending two hours talking and refining their ns, Seth left organizing everything for them. Time was precious, now more than ever. Sleep? How could he think of sleeping? He had to start working. Making a weapon for Strix was the first point on his agenda. Then he couldpletely concentrate on the steeds. And if Spatia managed toe before he finished, at least the golem would have a weapon to boost its powers. The armament of hunger was a scale. Seth was convinced that it was simply a symbol of the original myth. What exactly it symbolized in connection with Famine, he had no idea. There was also no description of its power in any sources he found. Now, Seth was a cksmith and not a scale maker so he was poring through images of scales on the web to find inspiration. While the traditional imagery of famine asked for a bnce, the bard just couldn''t warm up to the idea. Luckily the quest only said a scale, without defining how exactly it was supposed to look. Maybe a great enchanter like Al''Zalsar would have approached this in a different direction and created a powerful mystical artifact... Well, what he realized was that he wasn''t happy with the image of Strix the knight puppet to carry a simple scale, like a priest would a cross. Although time was running out, theck of sleep caught up to him as the situation turned quiet. Soon he rather listlessly scrolled through the search results, thinking up random ideas, like a sword that had the guard as the beam of a scale. But that would have been a sword and not a scale in the end. The search results became more and more obscure and unhelpful as his thoughts slowly wandered off when his eyes fell on something, that had him doubt it was a scale in the first ce. It looked oundish and dangerous and it spoke to Seth. He got excited. If a horseman of the apocalypse carried around a scale, it''s this one! it whispered in his ears. Inspiration started bubbling up, as the cksmith made the decision and got to work. he wanted to make sure that, by the time Spatia arrived, Strix would swing this around. Chapter 1170: In Gamma Chapter 1170: In Gamma ---A dayter, Gamma--- Seated on an ostentatious pnquin that also acted as a throne, her gaze drifted over the ruins of Gamma. She had to admit, judging by the ruins that were left, that this world used to have a great civilization. Technological advancements without any magic were fascinating. Not really desirable if you already have advanced magitech, but interesting nheless. There were zones across the myriad worlds of the Pathworks, thatcked magic, or had anti-magic zones. There were even ces that blocked the usage of skills. It was rare to get a chance to see this kind of civilization, as they would usuallypletely cut off their connections to the Pathworks, once they got the hang of how to do it. She only had this chance because this world was abnormally riddled with terrifying catastrophes. It was almost a shame, that she was going to crush everything that Only almost. Things had changed a lot in the past two years for her. Ever since she was able to be the chosen of Kali in one of the new territories her standing the the Family had risen. During the evaluation of Chrona, she managed to get her hands on undead with great potential and even managed to return to Spatia with a quasi-legendary skeleton dragon, that could rival legends. With this kind of power, her Durnham family had even risen to the standing of royalty, just below the imperial family. Theirnd had expanded to the size of a kingdom. There was only one blemish on her rise to power. The humiliation she suffered at the hands of the bard. Although her deeds at the evaluation were an overall sess, he had gotten in her way and thwarted her ns. His vulgar song and dance that mocked her and yed with her emotions was the worst. She had never felt so helpless and ashamed. She couldn''t sleepfortably with her pride trampled like that. He had to pay. All of them had to pay. To make matters worse, they kept resisting! Like an infestation that just couldn''t be stopped. Nothing they had done so far worked. On the contrary, they kept losing resources and personnel. However, this time, they had created the perfect pretext toe here personally. It cost a lot, but she would make sure to tten them with her own hands.Have the troops gathered? she asked, looking up from the cityscape, dotted with the burning spires of Arget Nore. The undead empire had no chance against the traitor they supported. The Book of Death, the holy relic of Anubis, was unbeatable in and of Death like they created here. As a necromancer herself, she could feel the dark energy of thend nurturing her, making the usage and growth of skills easier. Once they dealt with Delta and Minas Mar, maybe she would really set up a residence here. Even when this world was full of dangers, she was pretty confident. What could there possibly be that could threaten her? Yes, Your Highness. Everyone has arrived now, the servant that approached answered respectfully. The reason she was sitting here idle, was because they waited for the troops from Spatia to pass through the teleportation gate. Now the district below her was filled with almost 20,000 high-level soldiers, it had taken almost a full day to transfer them all here. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Originally, they would have gone directly to Delta, but the connection to the central district was lost. Most likely something had happened with the demons. Either Bragmomal betrayed them and broke their loose alliance or, the more likely assumption, Minas Mar has interfered. Either way, it forced them to gather at the closest teleport point they controlled, Gamma. Good, have them board the swarm, we will set off as soon as everyone is seated, she instructed. Nervously, the attendant looked to the sky above, covered in dark clouds. Circling above them, creating a tornado of doom, were rotten shadows in numbers so great he could hardly make out any individuals. Natina''s confidence was not just based on her skeleton dragon, which had risen to legendary status after she fully refined it with her improved skills. Thanks to the dragon, she was able to improve herself and her undead army by leaps and bounds. What cmities? Sheughed at the notion. She was the horde, and the horde would spread across Urth. She would kill and absorb anything that dared to get in her way! She would make all of Minas Mar and all of Urth her undead servants and force the bard to watch as she yed with their lives. She couldn''t help but silently chuckle at the thought of her revenge. As she got off her pnquin, the mountain-size skeleton dragon that towered behind her, lifted its head attentively. The hollow eye sockets glowed with a purple hue and a tinge of intelligence. All around the city ruins, the undead beasts flying in the skies soared to the ground, to pick up their human cargo. Undead Wyverns, giant bats, zombie eagles, several bone dragons, other huge birds, and flying beasts could be seen in her swarm,nding on the ground to pick up her army. She herself obviously climbed on the back of her dragon, where they built a small pavilion for her and her executive staff to stay and meet. ... His fingers wandered over the smooth, cold surface of the book''s obsidian pages. They were pale but looked no different from living flesh. He enjoyed the sensation of touch, having finally regained his senses of when he was alive and not a lich. It was all thanks to this book. Yet, he looked out the window of his spire in mncholy. He watched the overwhelming undead army and Spatia''s human troops ascend to the cloud, leaving to subjugate Delta. At this sigh, he couldn''t help but question his actions. Did he make the right decision? He had worked with them and doomed his world to exist under the rampant tyranny of a bratty little girl. Yet, he could regret it. The only reason he had the leeway to think like this, was because his yearnings had been satisfied. He had escaped the suppression of Arget Nore and gained an almost living body thanks to the decisions he made. Maybe the lives of everyone else in the world were not necessarily a sacrifice he was willing to make... But he would probably not change anything if he got thrust into the same situation again. But that didn''t mean that he could try to mitigate the damages of his actions. After the forces of Spatia left the ground, the falcon-headed warrior of Anubis suddenly rose all over the city and pursued them! Now that they were all in the air, they were vulnerable to fall damage! Even high-level yers had little chance of surviving a fall at total velocity on concrete! He would drop them like flies and- That was a really stupid decision, kiddo. He heard a voice behind him, but when he turned around, the scene in front of his eyes already started tilting. With a thunk, his severed head fell to the ground. He was an undead lich, severing his head was not lethal to him. Looking up from the ground, he found an unkempt middle-aged man sitting on the small sideboard at the wall behind him. He was still holding the long, sleek sword that had just severed his head. He belonged to Spatia and was probably a legend. But even a legend couldn''t kill him if they didn''t have- Save the arrogant little sneer, I already have your phctery, he said emotionless and suddenly crushed a crystal in his hands. It was the phctery he was forced to use under the supervision of Arget Nore''s elders. With a loud cinematic screech, the head and body turned to dust before the legendary man''s eyes. The many unceremoniously stepped to the pile of ashes and looked through it for the Book of the Dead, however, it was not there. The lich also didn''t drop an item box. And the army of Anubis also stopped their attack on Natina''s swarm. With a displeased grumble, he realized that they may have underestimated their coborator. ... Somewhere else in Gamma, a new Jackal Warrior stepped out of the shadows, carrying the ck book in his hands. Even a legend couldn''t kill him if they didn''t have- The Book of the Dead. He had long since unshackled himself from the phctery using the spells of the book. As long as it was in thend of death, he could infinitely revive himself, as long as he held possession of the book.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The perfect conditions to harass Spatia until they managed to leave the district borders. Chapter 1171: Dungeon Worm Nest Chapter 1171: Dungeon Worm Nest Above Gamma, the first battle of the war had started catching Spatia off guard. Their own henchman had decided to attack them from behind. There was another party, who had not expected this sudden turn of events, but they quickly set out to spread the news Seth! The unlocked door of the workshop mmed against the wall, as Fin and Mina kicked it open. Despite the grave situation they were in, they wereughing with excited smiles. They found the cksmith over an assortment of chains and hooks, meticulously engraving his handiwork. What is going on, you two? he asked with a warm smile. Seeing them this excited in this kind of situation made him happy, too. Once all this was over, he would take the two to a peaceful vacation, he thought wistfully. Just the three of them fooling around. Good news! Fin eximed, flying a few loops in the air. We asked Leana to let us deliver the news, Mina added, smiling brightly at his questioning gaze. Spatia god kicked in the back! Fin broke out, revealing what happened with concise words. Idyllin Mo sent an update from Gamma. Spatias troops are currently locked in battle with the undead that pushed back Arget Nore, Mina borated, Fins short report. The master of space magic had stayed close to Gamma after seeing the first signs of spatial activity. She exined the space magicians report in more detail, sharing with Seth what was happening in Gamma. But werent they allies? Seth asked a little confused. They had long sincee to the conclusion that the army of undead that defeated the undead empire was manipted by Spatia. Why would their own coborator attack them?T-That wasnt part of the report But its a fact that they are being held back and keep losing numbers, the fairy focused on the positive aspect of this situation. Who cared about the why, if the oue was good for them? Right, why overthink things? It was kind of fun, to think that Spatia already got their first setback before they were even able to leave Gamma. ording to the report, they did not try to subjugate the Undead of Gamma, leaving the district as quickly as they could instead, to aim for Delta. This meant that the betrayal had not bought them a lot of time, but it also meant that Spatia couldnt expect any support troops from Gamma. Imagining how foul their mood had to be right about now, he joined the two in excitement as he thought of what else they were going to face on their journey ahead. ---Outside of Gamma--- They had left the boundaries of the district far behind them before theynded to take a rest. What a heinous betrayal, after all the resources they had invested in that man. Her Fingernails dug into her palm, as she clenched her fist at the sight of her army. The attack came unexpectedly and hit unexpectedly hard. She had lost the weaker third of her flying undead, and about 1800 of the soldiers entrusted to her had fallen to their doom. Even if they were sturdy enough to survive the fall from such height, the ground was swarming with jackal soldiers that hacked them apart. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the vition. It wasnt that she cared for the lives they lost, but such losses so early on put her in a bad light. She might even have to exin herself in front of the emperor. Such a huge loss, without even entering a proper battle was hard to exin. The battle had cost them not just men and mounts, but also supplies who had fallen with the people and energy. The Army hadnded at a safe distance from thend of the dead to reorganize, redistribute, and recover from the ambush. She was thinking of how to exin the losses when one of her captains approached her. It was one of the undead heroes she had collected during the evaluation. They had grown brilliantly, thanks to their high potential and ss. The men have found signs of a fresh dungeon worm nest nearby, he informed her of their discovery. A nest of dungeon worms! What a wee surprise. Adult dungeon worms had a chance to grow legendary materials for alchemy in their stomachs. Where is that Nest? she asked eagerly. To the people here, this may have been a disaster, but it was a chance for her. You can see the peak over there, it is not far, the adjutant said with a bow and pointed to a mountain in the distance. It was a peak noticeably towering above the hills surrounding it. Even from this distance, she thought to see little holes dotting the surface. It was really a dungeon worm nest. However, it was a good distance north of their nned route. Going there meant veering off the direct course to Delta and would cost them time, but the potential gain was worth it to her. Get 50 scout teams ready. We are going to raid the nest, she said without hesitation. Going in was a no-brainer. Dungeon Worm materials were much thought after, especially among the higher ranks of nobility. Even non-legendary ones could be used on their soldiers or offspring to make up for ack of attributes or training. Offering them to the imperial family would further secure their standing and make up for her mistakes. Taking 50 scout teams meant she would go will almost all their scouts, leaving the army to protect the campsite. She took so many because dungeon worm nests were often veryplicated. Even if a fresh nest wouldnt have as many tunnels, the mapping would go quicker with more people. The chosen of Kali intentionally left the soldiers behind. She couldnt risk losing more of them, especially not on this unauthorized detour. She intended to make up their offensive power with undead instead. In the past, she would have used hordes of low-level undead to simply flood a ce like this, however, the battle during the evaluation had taught her that numbers were not everything. Stronger undead took more to control them, which was why she didnt have the numbers for that strategy anymore. She had to use the scouts and protect them with her undead. After they reached the mountains, Natina opened the gate to her undead dimension. Stepping out were 200 humanoid undead, most of them the promising talents of various worlds, all of them in thete lv. 90s. Apart from their pale skin andcking emotion, they were hard to distinguish from the scouts. Yet, the soldiers of Spatia had a cold shiver run down their spine. Sometimes, they could see the soul me glint in their eyes, radiating the cold of death. It was hard to say whether they were supposed to protect them or make sure they didnt run away The perfectly circr tunnels were dark and damp. The magic light hovering above their heads didnt help him calm down, as the reason for his growing anxiety was the gazes of the undead behind him. On a conscious level, he knew that they were here to protect them and wouldnt harm them, however, on an instinctive level he just wanted to stay away from them. Soldier or not, the breath of death was a heavy burden on anyones mind. To distract himself, he concentrated on his map and the path before them. Weird, this an umon copper ore, a member of the scout teams mumbled, as they touched the wall on the right. The vein of copper glittered in the magic light. This was weird indeed. Dungeon Worms created long and winding tunnels in the process of devouring the natural ore veins in mountains. Usually, they would only go for minerals of high purity and ignore others. It was only when several individuals stayed in a single mountain for mating, that they created this kind ofplicated nest structure. To not starve, they had to manage with what was close to the breeding ground. The weird part was, that it was still here. Umon ore could be refined to rare materials, as such it would be one of the first things the dungeon worms would devour. But the nest was still fresh. It was hard to believe, but maybe the worms had eaten something better up to now? However, looking at the map slowly filling in, he couldnt help his suspicions grow. He found this nest weirdly systematic for something created by worms in a breeding frenzy. He had visited two or three worm nests before, or dungeons that grew in them. This nest is too well structured Do you think someone made it? he suggested a preposterous idea. Why would anyone do something like that? If they were able to tame a dungeon worm, they would have better things to do, his teammate denied his idea.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om He wanted to argue further when the magic light suddenly flickered. It was a magic ball of light, how in the world did it flicker? The words he wanted to say were stuck in his throw, as the light of the magic receded, barely leaving them in a dim twilight. Oh no Chapter 1172: The Worm Mountain Chapter 1172: The Worm Mountain The temperature in the tunnel dropped. The magician put more mana into his light spell, however, the darkness seemed to have developed an almost physical property as the small circle of light surrounding them grew smaller and dimmer, against his best efforts. As the darkness swallowed the magic lightpletely, two of the undead that had followed them rushed to the front. Two were now guarding the front of the scout group, while two guarded the back. Yet, he didn''t feel reassured at all, but this time the sense of dread did note from the eerie bodyguards. The moisture in the dark tunnel sank on his skin and his damp clothes stuck to him as if it was glue. His breath grew heavy and morebored. His heart raced, his thoughts tangled- Something touched his shoulder and he jumped. But it was just his teammate, who grasped his shoulder. The warm hand was followed by a friendly voice he recognized even in this darkness. Dude, calm down! I think you are having a panic atta-AAAAH! The hand slipped from his shoulder, in ast desperate motion clinging to his gambeson before slipping off in the darkness. His heart dropped like a stone, his eyes widened in shock and terror. His mind went ck, a total shut-off. He didn''t even have enough capacity to panic. He witnessed the dim blue glow of the undead eyes move in the darkness. With incredible speed, it rose up in the air. Was the enemy above? How could they not notice...? A ng from above, a quiet groan, and the sound of two distinctive thuds on the ground could be heard. He barely started to regain his awareness of the situation, when a searing pain in his waist was followed by a mighty pull upwards. ...Natina''s head shot up, so fast that it made the guards surrounding her jump. She had been leisurely drinking tea at the foot of the mountain. The ce was quite picturesque and nice for a little tea break. Her leisure was interrupted by the twang of losing connection with one of her summons. One of her undead was in. The feeling of a second connection being severed followed. Two of them died in quick session. The enemy had to be powerful. Just what creature inside a dungeon worm nest was able to two of her revived yers in thete 90s? She clicked her tongue when she remembered that those undead were supposed to guard a scout team of ten people. With half the undead gone, how would the scouts fare? Focusing on her connection with her summons, she tried to locate the group that had lost two members, but before she could do so, she lost another two signals. A momentter she found that there were no iplete groups, the first group hadpletely vanished! With the undead gone, the scout teams were probably also annihted. She didn''t curse, instead, she focused her attention on her minions inside. She shared what just happened with the undead inside, so they would be cautious of their surroundings. As she did, she lost another connection. Identifying the team it belonged to, she immediately used a spell called Shared Vision, which allowed a necromancer to share the vision of their undead. The distance depended on the skill level of . If youe across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om What she saw the moment the connection was established was pitch-ck darkness. In the darkness, she was able to see the ten members of the scout teams as hollow apparitions of souls. It was how the undead saw the world when all lights vanished. Despite being used to the vision of the undead, she was momentarily confused about the perspective, until the undead was stabbing his spear downward, or rather upward? He was actually hanging upside down from the ceiling! It was hard to judge what was even going on based on the shared vision. When the undead looked up to attack, she only saw darkness there and the spear glowing in a dim magic light, stabbing into a ck mass. The next moment, she was thrown back, as the connection with the undead waspletely severed. This wasn''t good. Losing a few scouts was one thing, but her undead were precious. The worst part was that the enemy stayed unidentified. Ignoring the bacsh of the severed connection that gave her a slight headache, she immediately tried to cast her spell again to see the situation through one of the other undead in the second group, but before she could finish her chant, any sign of the grouppletely vanished from her consciousness. Now, she had already lost two groups. She had to know what was going on inside. With a wave of her hand, she brought forth a pack of zombified Dire Wolves, the size of horses. They were not much stronger than the undead yers inside, but they were faster and had better senses. They would be able to reinforce the groups and hopefully get more information. While the wolves entered the various passages of the worm nest, her subordinate approached her with a worried expression. Your Highness, what is going on? her adjutant asked shocked at the sudden sight of undead wolves rushing into the tunnels. Don''t worry about it. Something wiped out two of our scout teams, but the wolves should be able to deal with it, she said confidently. She doubted that whatever roamed these tunnels, could put up with her wolves, once they lost their stealth. W-Wouldnt it be better to inform the scout teams or call them back out until the creature is subjugated? the advisor suggested carefully. Although the scout teams were not weak and could face a dungeon worm or two, they were not fit to face whatever that creature was. Still Natina clicked her tongue. Havent we already lost enough time? This is already an unsanctioned detour. What will his majesty say, if we wasted another day exploring this ce? I won''t call them back, just because there are some hindrances, she denied the suggestion. Even if they found the dungeon worm materials, how would it reflect on her to waste days just because of some weird little critter? She couldn''t afford to show any more ws, not after what happened in Gamma. No, she would quickly get rid of it, and everything could continue as is. The loss of a few scouts in favor of exploring a dungeon worm nest was no big deal. Even if what they found was nothing great, nobody would me her for trying, as long as she managed to finish things properly. What were two or three scout teams? ...Or four? ...Five? What was going on? The wolves just entered the nest, but before they had time to pick up the trail, or reach the teams, the signs of the undead apanying the scout teams vanished in quick session. Too quick for just a few creatures. So fast that she couldnt even attempt to share their vision. Shit, call back the scouts! Hurry! she barked at the adjutant, just moments after she rejected him. At this pace, she would lose all the scout teams before the wolves even reached the location where the third team was wiped out. The problem was obviously bigger than expected. In the same breath, she brought out more high-ranking undead. Death Knights, Hell Knights, and headless horsemen in parties with undead mages and Liches. They were all mounted on undead steeds with fiery manes. At hermand rushed into the darkness of the mountain, which grew to be a curse on her expedition. Dungeon Worm Nest or not, she could not sacrifice all her scouts here when she wasn''t even sure of the oue. The undead would cover the scouts on their retreat and get out as many as possible. With breakneck speed, the undead riders spread in the tunnels, to reach the scout teams, much faster than the wolves she sent in earlier. The scouts are now returning back to the entrances, the adjutant holding onto themunication orb informed her. While the scouts had turned back and the undead were rushing in to meet them, she could only grind her teeth, observing the connections to the scout teams being snuffed out like candles in the wind One at a time, they kept vanishing.. She waspletely focused on the situation inside when a pair of foreign hands suddenly started shaking her. Your Highness, quick, we have to get away! her adjutant screamed, pointing at the mountain which started roaring, spitting clouds of dust in the air. The whole nk of the mountains suddenly started moving and the atmosphere was filled with dust and the sounds of breaking rock. The whole mountainside was copsing! Chapter 1173: The Worm Mountain(2) Chapter 1173: The Worm Mountain(2) ---Inside the mountain--- The mountain shook. Dust and pebbles falling from the ceiling woke him up. Disoriented and with his head throbbing painfully, he slowly opened his eyes. Looking around in the darkness, fragmented memories surfaced in his mind. Their team was attacked. the undead rushed at the solidified darkness, while he and his team members rand in the opposite direction. There was no light in the tunnels, he remembered some cries and screams from people that fell off, into vertical crossroads. How did he end up here? Right, he had been fumbling with hismunication orb while running to contactmand and report the situation, when his foot hit something hard and he fell. He touched his head, the wet feeling and smell of blood confirmed where the throbbing pain in his head came from. Considering his injury, it took him a moment to check his status to see what was going on. At least the system windows were bright in this darkness. They didn''t illuminate the tunnel, but he was able to read his status information. His health was still okay with 930/ 1000, but his status ailments showed a severe concussion, slight confusion, and some minor bleeding. As long as he didn''t have to fight anything it was nothing lethal, but he needed help... Yes, themunication orb, where was it? Fighting with his blurred mind, he looked for something in his inventory that could give some light. He had let go of his arcane torch when he ran. It wasn''t on his mind, as it stopped working in the presence of the beast.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Finally, he found his lighter in one of the supply boxes. The crystal used to light tobo gave off a dim blue light. Not as much as he hoped for, but enough to see the hands before his eyes. He remembered his potions when he found them. Sipping one of the health potions he was granted fixed him up for the most part. He still had a headache and a slight confusion. Using the light, he started looking for the orb. Although his health was no problem anymore, the creature that attacked them was. Looking around on all fours, fumbling around on the ground, his thoughts kept spiraling back to the attack.Maybe it would have been better not to drink the potion, as he was now falling into a panic. The danger of impending death became very real now. There was no chance he could fight that thing, that even the undead couldn''t. He needed to get help. He needed to call themand and- His fingers touched something smooth and round! He found themunication orb! -broken. For a moment the world turned even darker than it was without the lighter. There was no way to contact themand or the other teams. There was no way to fight. Run? Would he be able to get out of here alone? If those beasts pursued him he was doomed. But they had note to him yet. He didn''t know the reason, but he had been lying here for an unknown amount of time and wasn''t killed or eaten. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Maybe he could do it. Yes, his only chance was to get out. Maybe he would find another team on his way. If not... he would inform Her Highness once he got out. Yeah. Opening his he found that he was already a third of the way back. Just walking 3-4 kilometers through this darkness and hoping he wouldn''te across any monster, and he was outside. Easy! He motivated himself without much sess and started walking. ... The skeleton dragon easily stopped the falling debris, protecting his master and her entourage. However, when the cloud of dust settled Natina found that all the holes leading into the worm nest were copsed or buried by debris. Shit, this is crazy! she cursed very udylike, but she didnt care at this moment. Roughly 500 scouts and over 200 undead were originally inside. How many would have survived this copse? How many were now trapped in there? All of this was aplete disaster! Your Highness, are you alright? the adjutant asked worried. Yeah, yeah, get your hands off me. I have to think! she said harshly. A few teams of scouts, okay, but losing all scouts here? Like this? She would never hear the end of this. She had to do something quickly. Checking with her senses, she found most of her undead still alive, although scout teams kept vanishing as she thought so. With a wave of her hand, she released a group of great beasts from her undead dimension. Giants, Cliff Wolves, Crystal Mammoth, and more creatures several dozens of meters tall appeared at the foot of the copsed mountain cliff. Hurry, excavate the tunnels, shemanded her entourage and the group of massive beasts to dig. Of course, the skeleton dragon would have been able to move much more material, but this task was beneath itAnd it would probably just copse even more. The chosen of Kali on the other hand was deliberating to use her skill and take control of one of her undead while observing the situation inside. She was about to do it, when one of the Hell knights contacted her. ~Master, we are engaging inbat with an unknown creature.~ The leader of a group of riders informed her. Surprised, she shared his vision to finally get a glimpse at the things that gave her so much trouble. Viewing the perspective of a caster in the back she saw the sleek tunnel illuminated by various ghost mes the ck mage had cast. Finally, she was able to see the creature by the pure absence of light in a spot on the ceiling. Like a spider made of ck mist, it stuck to the tunnel ceiling right above their head. Even in this environment, the magic fire''s light kept constantly dimming. Without the light, even the undead had a hard time seeing it with their night vision. Now the necromancer realized how the creatures were able to end a whole team almost simultaneously. With their advantage in the darkness and the many limbs, they had a clear advantage. But not this time. The hell knight leader and his party had just waited for her to watch before he went on the offense Agilely, they jumped off the backs of their mounts, attacking the creature together. Weapons and skills rained on the beast, that adeptly blocked most of them with its limbs, only for several foggy tendrils to fall to the ground. Ultimately, it was a quick fight once the creature was exposed. It took only moments for the being to fall to the ground, broken. It was not so tough after all! Only in death did it reveal its true appearance as the ck fog quickly dissipated. Natina inadvertently frowned at the sight. It was anky being with many, long limbs made of a crimson metal. Protruding from the elongated humanoid torso were 10-15 PAIRs of arms with double joints. No legs, jut arms. The surface of its body was covered in runes still oozing a fine dark vapor. Was this what made up the secrets to its stealth? The torso was cleaved vertically by the Hell Knight right through the center, almostpletely splitting it in half, but these runes were still slightly active. The nature of the creature was secondary, for the moment. She had to share this information with the rest of the teams. It was proven that defeating the creature itself was not as big of a deal, as long as they managed to locate it properly. ... Natina instructed all scout teams to run any kind of light and illumination at maximum capacity and quickly gather in bigger groups to maximize light and survival chances, while she and the undead were excavating their escape routes. This worked. More and more often she got reports that they managed to y a beast they came across and the scout teams gathered. Another revtion had her click her tongue. After several encounters, it became clear, that these things had no souls, exining how they were able to hide even from the undead. Artificial creations. Golems. Adding the absence of any dungeon worm, she could only conclude that this was a trap from the very beginning. A trap prepared by Minas Mar and she actually fell for a trap right from the start... Chapter 1174: The Worm Mountain(3) Chapter 1174: The Worm Mountain(3) Just walking 3-4 kilometers- Easy! he cursed himself. It was hard to gauge how long he walked when he suddenly faced an insurmountable obstacle. No wonder nothing had pursued him, there was no way to run! This tunnel was blocked! It hadpletely copsed and there was no way past it. The tunnel itself had blocked his path. But he didn''t despair. All he had to do now was backtrack. The were more tunnels branching out or crossing this one. Tunnels other teams took. Going back would at least raise his chance to find other teams. With that in mind, he walked back, taking the first fork where he knew that one of the teams had taken it. He had not walked far when he saw a bright light from one of the vertical tunnels crossing his current one. This had to be a party! Finally other people! He hurried over, only toe to a quick halt at the steep drop of the hole leading down. The other party was easily 30-50 meters below. At his level, this was survivable...theoretically. He hesitated a moment. He wanted to call out to them, but if he called out, he might lure in the monsters. They were a group of scouts, four undead knights and there were even two undead dire wolves with them.N?v(el)B\\jnn Was that enough? he doubted that he was lucky enough that there was only one such monster in this mountain. if he cried out, how many could they defeat? Was he willing to sacrifice hisrades for a vague sense of security? Yes, but not if it was more likely that it would cause his own doom. Conflicted, he watch the group below pass by. Although he didn''t dare to call out, it didn''t mean he noted the direction they were going. They were not directly heading back outside. They were gathering. Command knew what was going on. That had to be it. He had to follow them. if he could join the groupter, it would still be enough. he just needed to find a ce to fix the rope to, then he could descend down to their tunnel and follow them from behind. Nodding excitedly, he started to look around, but the smooth tunnels had no ces to tie a rope to. He didn''t know whether there would be any other ways down, he had to take this one. He weighed the risks, before taking out his spare dagger.Using he lodged the weapon deep into the wall of the tunnel. The whole de vanished in the rock, all the way up to the guard. He winced at the scratching sound quietly echoing in the tunnel. Still, it was his most silent solution. Hurrying, he tied the rope to the handle of the dagger and started roping down the vertical tunnel, to enter the path he had seen the party. He had to suppress his happy chuckles as he was looking forward to getting to safety. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Just a few more meters down, then he would drop into the tunnel. he would see the light at the distance, where the other scout party was going, and follow them to the gathering point. Yes and then- nk! Argh! nk! Crunch! Help! FUCK! The echoes from below quickly dashed his hopes. He was dangling just above the tunnel when he witnessed the light quickly returning back to where he was. In a panic, he started pulling up the dangling end of his rope, that reached down into the tunnel, while also trying to get back up. Ahhh! someone carrying an arcane torch ran by screaming. They didn''t even notice him up above. probably because a cloud of darkness was following right behind them. His heart pounded all the way up in his throat as the beats bast by, seemingly not noticing him. The tunnel below had fallen dark again. He stared down for a while, then back up in the darkness where he came from. Then he dropped down into the dark tunnel. He had to reach the gathering point. It was his only hope and if there wasn''t one...then it was all over anyway. ... By the time she realized that everything was a trap, she had lost 15 scout teams, despite the new strategy showing results. She was gnashing her teeth when one of the scout teams called on themunication orb. The remaining teams had finally gathered and united with the riders and the wolf squad. All they had to do now, wase to meet up with the excavation team that was burrowing its way inside. ~Master, we have a problem...~ the hell knight at the helm of the riders suddenly contacted her foreboding. She shared his vision and found the tunnel separated in a stark divide between magical lights surrounding the lines of scouts and insurmountable darkness filling the tunnel ahead of them. Her people were not the only ones that had gathered. She was getting annoyed by the hold-up and made a decision. ... The hell knight at the front of their procession suddenly cramped and shook, as his shape and aura changed distinctively. His whole figure became more graceful and his mannerisms gained more ego. Well, then, let''s take care of this and waste no more time, the undead suddenly said in a very feminine voice. Had the princess descended onto her undead?, several people among the scouts thought in shock. It was the skill of some high-ranking necromancers, to be able to take control of their servants and transfer part of their power. It came at the risk of a tremendous bacsh and a loss in level if they died in this state, but this was not important to them. The chosen of Kali had decided toe personally! They actually had a chance to survive now! Of course, nobody would have voiced their doubts about the undead to protect them, but that didn''t change that they didn''t believe that the undead could get them out of these tunnels alive. The hell-knight was covered in a purple aura as he stepped forward and four additional arms appeared from the aura surrounding it. Each arm carried an orb or a staff, while the two original arms held the knight''s original sword and a saber made of aura. No undead were summoned, instead she turned into a storm of magic and des as she rushed into the darkness. In rapid session, the creatures clinging to the walls and ceiling of the tunnel were dismembered without a chance to resist. A mix of cold des and purple magic fire ripped them apart like toys. Natina carved a path through the creations of Minas Mar, showcasing the strength she had worked hard to attain. At this pace, they would soon be able to leave this ce, the scouts thought hopeful, unaware of what lurked in the darkness. ... Light, he saw it. How long had he walked in the dim light of his lighter? And this was a big light, this had to be the gathering ce! He had made it! He had dodged the beast and found safety! Hope bloomed in his heart. Hope that he would be able to really get out of here and survive! He charged towards the group in the light as quickly as he could. He was already able to see the undead knights making up the rearguard when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. He heard a notification but was unable toprehend it. No, no, he was so close! So...so close. He could not feel his legs anymore when he felt a pull lifting him away from the floor and away from the light. Just like the shine of the party in front, his hope quickly waned. Darkness swallowed him, but he wouldn''t be thest one. Chapter 1175: The Worm Mountain(4) Chapter 1175: The Worm Mountain(4) The feeling of destroying the weak with overwhelming power was a rush. She was carving a path through the darkness, fully focused on the battle when she heard amotion from the back. Before she acted herself, the Hell Knight leader informed her that a beast had appeared behind them and that they would take care of it. Submerging herself in the glee of killing a horde of mobs she quickly proceeded down the tunnel. The ecstasy only weakened when she saw the light past the wall of many-limbed creatures. It was actually the excavation party meeting them halfway through, also killing the creatures from their side. Take care of the scouts and get everyone out of here, shemanded the undead and her subordinates naturally. However, her adjutant looked a little hesitant before he spoke up. Your Highness, where are the scouts and undead? he asked the possessed skeleton, speaking with his masters voice. Natina turned around with slight confusion, finding the tunnel behind her empty. Indeed, where was everyone? The mounted troop had gone to deal with the trouble in the back, but what happened to the scouts and the undead guards? Signaling with her hand, she instructed them to follow as they walked back through the tunnel littered with limbs and split golem bodies. A second light appeared at the end of the hallway and the sound of battle that couldnt be heard before grew louder. What were they fighting? Had more golems appeared from behind? Their steps quickened and they ran down the tunnel. Finally, the group of scouts came in sight. Only a handful faced their direction and saw theming, the rest had all turned their backs to them, desperately firing skills, spells, and magic down the tunnel. Your Highness! You finally came back! the meager rearguard cried out in relief as they greeted the purple-glowing undead and the excavation team. Some of the people in the front turned back, all of them breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the reinforcement. What in the world is going on? she asked exasperated.The creature that followed us is far stronger and more resilient than the other ones! The undead guards were whittled away, and only the mounted knights are holding their ground and only because we are doing our best to support them, it bubbled out of one of the rearguards. Her undead knights were whittled away? Her death knights had a hard time facing the beast and were even forced to get help from scouts? She had not noticed any of this in her battle frenzy, but a quick swipe with her conscious confirmed that less than 80 of her undead were left. It was hard to believe, but It was true. Out of the way, she said harshly and pushed her way through the crowd. The ground was littered with undead that had their heads or bodies crushed. Pushing her way past the remaining scouts, she found her remaining undead locked in battle with an abomination. The searing light that filled the tunnel, was able to burn away the darkness and reveal a rough outline. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Filling theplete tunnel, it was a creature made of hundreds of shadow tendrils, that fought all the remaining undead at the same time. Whenever weapons and tendrils met, there was the sound of metal shing. Projectiles just vanished in the darkness or repelled with a nk. Magic just vanished in the darkness, without doing any visible damage. She watched the fight for a moment and had to admit that the scout was correct. The undead left were those with high agility and melee capabilities. Out of the way, I will take care of this! she announced loudly her aura of destruction ring up and illuminating the tunnel with divine power. The whole battle haled, even the shadow tendrils. All the focus was on her, at least for a fragment of a second. The next moment the shadow tendrils receded into the darkness beyond the circle of light. With incredible speed, the abomination had simplyvanished? Even Natina stared for a moment, as she processed the situation. It ran away?! she eximed shocked and frustrated. Everything in her wanted to give chase, but she knew that she shouldnt. Just running into the dark tunnels, looking for a shadow sounded and was simply stupid. It ached her heart, to see how many undead she had lost because of this episode, but undead could be replenished. The imperial family didnt care for her undead. She had to cut her losses and get the scout out of there. This was a colossal failure but at least it didnt be the worst case. This time, it was her taking over the rearguard, while the excavation team to the lead. Finally, they managed to save 350 of the 50 scout teams. They were all battered and exhausted, but alive. A night''s sleep and a bunch of potions, and they would be able to continue.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om With gnashing teeth, she conceded to have another day of rest, before she continued to Delta. On their third day since arriving on Urth, she gave the mountain ast, mean look, swearing toe back for revenge one day. .... The... Profane Dark really did a good job... It probably bought us another two days, she informed him with a wry smile, feeling awkward saying the name out loud. But she still found it preferable to the other one. This time it was Leana who came by the workshop, finding the cksmith finishing Strix''s weapon. I didn''t expect Arms to be this effective The cksmith looked up with a slight surprise, naming it by its nickname. Even when Leana found the Dark Profane a little weird, she couldn''t call that thing Arms. The empty Worm Mountain was the first of a handful of traps Minas Mar had prepared to impede them. It was all thanks to the help of Idyllon Mo, the space wizard, that they were able to prepare some things in such a short time. Thanks to him, Evan''s Dungeon Worms had enough time to create a fake nest that looked genuine, at least from the outside. They had created the perfect hunting ground for the Profane Dark and copies of it. The Profane Dark, Leana mentioned, was the golem Seth created with the soul of the troll. Turning it into a creature of darkness and cing it underground was the cksmith''s answer to ovee its weakness against sunlight. Its design was adapted to moving around subterranean cave systems. Unlike the copies, which were simply golems created with the golem forge using , the original was made of and incorporated his experience with the Armor of Lunacy. It didn''t just have the 90% resistance to physical damage, but the material and the enchantments of Elufsiv the Ensurient allowed it to resist, weaken, and absorb any magic in its surroundings. Is Arms okay? Seth asked out of curiosity. It had a great defense but its offense wascking behind. He didn''t expect the mountain to be able to buy that much time. Another two days. He had just finished the weapon of Hunger. For a moment he considered working on Nam''s and Dowloon''s items. Howeveeeeer~ If they really managed to buy that much time, trying to finish the apocalyptic set had a higher priority. If he was honest, he was way more interested in the quest, than in making some robes or trying to trante the cultivator blueprint he got from Nam into something usable. Finishing the quest also had a much greater immediate impact on theiring battle. How awesome, would it be, if they managed to stall enough time to finish, and Natina would arrive at Delta, only to face the quartet of fresh legends waiting for her. That was if she managed to get here in the first ce. Yes, we were able to contact it. The Profane Dark retreated when it faced a dangerous opponent, but it will follow the enemy from behind and look for chances to deal more damage, Leana exined the situation. No, just tell it to return. It''s not made for battle on the surface and fighting in daylight is too much of a risk, Seth said, thinking of the troll soul''s weakness. Although its body was surrounded by a light-swallowing darkness, the enchantment had its limits. Especially since daylight was no magic, so a big part of its defense didn''t work. Is the next stop of our little Odyssey ready? Seth asked on the side, putting the finishing touches on the weapon. Yes, Al''Zalsar finished her formation in time and Haa''Skon also began to move. Chapter 1176: Sorceress Trap Chapter 1176: Sorceress'' Trap When only a part of the scouts returned, they knew the Dungeon Worm Nest was a pure disaster, but none of them dared to mention it. The young princess had a terrible temper. They were just simple soldiers and didn''t dare to rouse her ire with careless words. After orders were given that they would stay for the night they simply carried on with the already established duties, after all, they had already stayed here for a couple of days. He tried to make himself look busy, but someone called out to him. Hey, Jimmy! Stop trying to dodge guard duty and start patrolling, his superior barked at him. He had hoped not to, but at this point, he wouldn''t be able to avoid punishment if he cked off. Hiding his big sigh, he saluted his superior and turned to patrol the surrounding woods. This pine forest was nothing special, initially. However, they had heard stories about Gamma beforeing here. It wasn''t Arget Nore that drove the natives from this ce, but Zarkists. He got goosebumps just thinking of Zarkists. A single scratch could turn you into a beast devotee of an evil god. Somehow the natives managed to defeat them, but the guys kept joking that there were still some random infected in this region. A rustling in the bushes rmed his heightened senses. He was really on edge. After all the horror stories they heard of Urth, nobody could me him. Carefully, he followed the rustling and found- A zombie deer crawling on the floor! Relief washed over him. It was just an undead. It was probably just a deer that got hunted on thend of death and turned by the power of thend. There was nothing to fear about that! With practiced movement, he stabbed at it with his spear. Just before the spear could pierce its head, its neck jerked to the side. Missing the head, the spear lodged deep into the neck and shoulders of the undead animal. The zombie suddenly cried tragically and spewed a fountain of rotten blood at him. Disgusted he stumbled back, pulling the spear with him. he tried to block the fountain, but he was drenched in ck blood. It had even sprayed through the gaps in his visor and hit his face. He imagined the metallic, rotten taste on his tongue and almost puked in his helmet. Disgusting bastard! with a swing of the spear he beheaded the deer. Shit, I will have to ask someone to use high-tier cleaning magic when I get back to camp....... God dammit, not again! Natina cried out. They had set out earlier in the morning of the next day after they realized the worm''s nest was just a trap. A fruitless endeavor without any gains and too many losses overall. It was still heavy on her mind by the time the army boarded the undead and flew to the skies. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Three hourster they came across another mountain with holes. Another nest of dungeon worms? No. The SAME hole-riddled mountain. Her failure was haunting her, taunting her, like a painful pimple that just wouldn''t go away. They even found their previous campsite here. Your Highness, it didn''t work, the mysterious swordsman who had paid a visit to the lich of Gamma, approached her. This was already the second time they had returned to this mountain. They had realized that they wandered into some kind of entrapment magic after the first time and tried a couple ofmon methods to counteract it, but they had arrived back at the mountain again. Calling it the curse of her expedition earlier was almost like a prophecy at this point. As if to punish them further, during every loop, they came across a vast assortment of starved flying creatures, attacking the airborne army in a feeding frenzy. Had those also been trapped in this enchantment? Fatigue started building up quickly among the living soldiers. The monsters were not that strong, but their numbers wererge. They would have to rest soon, but at least her swarm of doom was growing thanks to this. You don''t say! she almost barked back at the man stating the obvious, but managed to control her mouth, moments before disaster. This man was a legend, sent by the imperial family to support and protect her. Probably also to monitor and judge her. Either way, she was someone she shouldn''t offend, yet. They tried several other methods to escape, but they found the entrapment in this ce was powerful, yet subtle. This was the ingenious part. although the effects were almost non-existence, not even the legend beside her could escape the minuscule nudging that had them fly in circles for over half a day. You are right, I fear we will have to use that, she said instead, hinting at one of the hidden artifacts they brought along. Hm, it''s a pain to use it so early. We will have to find a different way to crack Iego, but I believe you are right, the legendary warrior agreed with her. The artifact in question was an orb that could negate all magic in a radius of two kilometers for a certain amount of time. The orb was called the barrier breaker and was one of the most powerful siege weapons an empire could possess. Of course, this power came at a price. It had a 30-day cooldown and did not differentiate between allies and enemies. Once used, nobody would be able to cast magic within the affected area. Mages, spells, most skills, magic artifacts, and everything that relied on magic or enchantments became temporarily useless. They had tried everything else they could think of because they didn''t want to waste this precious resource, but it seemed like they had no choice. Whoever set this up was either a legend or extremely skilled inrge-scale entrapment formations. Probably both. It was hard to believe Minas Mar would be able to set up something like this. They didn''t speak it out loud, but maybe Chrona had not kept their word. The enemy empire definitely had one or two characters the warrior could think of, that could pull off this kind of magic. ording to their information, there was nobody in Minas Mar capable of this. Before we do that, what if we try to leave by foot? the adjutant suddenly entered the conversation. We were always attacked by beasts in the air, but the camp was rtively calm. Maybe the beasts and the entrapment are a warning not to take shortcuts? he exined his idea. But this isn''t a dungeon. Why would they build in a way out, instead of trapping us indefinitely? Natina asked confused by the adjutant''s thought process. No, no, he may have a point. Such powerful magic that can even affect legends usuallyes with a catch. Legends depend a lot on their narrative, putting a clever way that allows a trap to be ovee, could allow a legend to lower the cost of the spell or enchantment, the swordsmen exined stoically. Natina listened to his talk but didn''t really get it. Well, if you agree to this, it won''t hurt to try it, she said with a shrug. If it didn''t work, she had two scapegoats to push the me onto. As such, they made the decision to walk away from the mountain. After a break, the army set off riding an army of undead beasts. Their speed took a dip as they now had to traverse thend, but miraculously they did not arrive back at the mountain. They rode eight hours straight and finally saw newndmarks. Hopeful whispers could be heard among the soldiers. I think this actually worked... Natina mumbled. At this point, they had been going for almost 20 hours without rest. The night was falling quickly, so they decided to set up camp instead of riding through the night. The camp was set up, with everyone looking forward to tomorrow when they could finally get back to their journey. Chapter 1177: The Odyssey Continues Chapter 1177: The Odyssey Continues ugh, riding undead in rough terrain, my ass hurts... the soldiersined as they set up camp. They had suffered a lot, despite their high levels. They were simply not used to riding the undead creatures that jumped around the rugged terrain in less than smooth movements. I really don''t know why we were even sent here. Lady Durnham should be more than enough. They even say she has 7- Shhh! Enough gossip! Are you trying to get us in trouble by talking about this here? Emanuel interrupted him, putting his hand above his mouth. Defeated he raised his hands, to signal that he understood. Although this was just a rumor, they had been cautioned to not speak of anything even slightly significant on enemy territory. Who knew who was listening? Any information the opponent gained was a loss. Or something like that. he had just finished fixing up his tent when rms rang in the camp. It''s a monster wave! the guards shouted and everyone equipped their battle gear. Years of hard drill overcame the fatigue as the instinctual took formations to defend the camp. he also wore his armor, spear, and shield, standing at the phnx with hisrades. So much for escaping by moving along the ground... He could hear the other sigh and whisper, as they vigntly stared into the dark forest. Right if the monsters attack, maybe we will be back at the mountain tomorrow... Don''t jinx it! Momentster they could hear what the scouts with night vision were able to spot from afar. The sound of feet stomping on the ground, the rustling of leaves, the breaking of- tree?! They could see anything, but it sounded like a wave of beasts was crushing the flora between them. Lights! they heard themands echo and the magician cast light spells that illuminated the surrounding woond. They put up terrain on a slightly more alleviated terrain, which allowed them to see the trees in the distance giving away before a massive dust cloud approached them. Ultimately, they were forced to use the Barrier Breaker to escape the trap, but it also taught them to stay cautious. Things were not as they were supposed to be and they were suspicious of Chrona, too. They also didn''t exclude the possibility of some other power helping them. A monster wave my ass! Those are undead! one of the soldiers with good eyesight eximed, spoiling what everyone got to see soonter. It was a vast mix of corpses in various stages of dposition and damage. Quite a few were little more than gnawed-off skeletons! These were definitely undead from Gamma.Look behind them! someone else shouted. Only the forerunners, unhampered by the forest were humanoids, they were followed by a wall of rotten flesh, waltzing over everything in its way. It was made of lots of beasts of various sizes, many big enough to trample a tree easily. Size and appearance couldn''t shake the trained soldiers, but the fact that their appraisal skills failed to gauge the opponent no matter how often they tried gave them a bad hunch. Still, the opponent didn''t seem too strong in the context of what it did. Wait for them to approach! Kill the small fries quickly, before taking on the big ones in parties! The leaders gave simplemands, It was clear that they didn''t give these run-of-the-mill undead much credit. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Rightly so! Despite resisting skills like , they could even put a scratch on the armor. They were at bestparable to ordinary lv.30 yers. Although they ttened the forest in their pat, the spatian army steamrolled them with ease. The humanoid zombies were ground to dust at their phnx and the undead beasts were no challenge for them. The worst that happened was that quite a few dirty their armor by puking their rotten blood and stuff all over them. At first, at least.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Ack! Hey, watch out where you are - Urgh! here and there people were getting surprised as the creatures they just slew would stand up again. Most didn''t even have the power to get past their armor''s defense, but they were relentless! Priests! Cleanse these creatures! themands were barked and the field was quickly filled with holy light as various spells of light and life were cast, the bane of all undead. It''s not working! he and many others cried out, seeing the undead be livelier instead of ashes when hit by holy light. Undead that didn''t fear the divine? That night, they really understood the meaning of an undying army. Still, they survived to the morning, most of them at least. In the end, the undying army did have a weakness. Two actually. They were not especially strong, so after learning that they kept standing up, they pulled back behind the barrier of the camp and fought from there. As they slew them over and over, they found the second one. Their energies waned with each injury, with every time they regenerated until they finally stayed down. It wasn''t that they were dead, but that theycked the energy to move any longer. He felt a deep dread when he realized that this was the only reason they didn''t all die that night. If they weren''t that weak, they may have broken through the barrier. Tired as they already were, how long would he and hisrades hold out? They had to mutte just a humanoid zombie over 10 times until they finally stayed down, monsters and beasts and a bunch more... The mood was glum as they packed together camp, still tired. Obviously, they had not gotten any rest in the night. Leaving on the back of the undead, they left behind a handful of graves and a vast field of corpses, staked to the ground, to stop them from ever getting up again. ... ...Fuuu- she barely managed to keep the curse inside, as they reached a certain mountain around noon of the next day. They had returned to the bane of her existence. In the distance, the Worm Mountain was towering over the t hills, once again. We are using it, I don''t care anymore, we have to get out of here, she made the decision to use the barrier breaker. if thest knight taught them one thing, then it was that they were targeted. There was no other exnation. if they kept dawdling, they would only umte more losses. Using the artifact took some preparation. Before they could use it, they decided to get a good rest, otherwise, they would be stuck in hostile territory AND unable to use magic. No magic also meant no barrier and no flying undead. Whether it was safe near the mountain or not, they weren''t sure, but as long as they stayed in the barrier, the weak undead wouldn''t be able to approach them. To make sure, Natina even ced some of her stronger subordinates in a perimeter around the camp. Nothing would be able to get into the camp and harm the soldiers entrusted to her. Her conviction remained steadfast untilte noon. She had almost calmed down when the first screams among the soldiers began, echoing through the camp. Gahh! Stop biting the zombie, Phil! Ahh! Hes gone crazy! Help! Stop biting me, Emanuel! Chaos had broken out among the tents as members had seemingly lost their sanity and were now attacking each other. Like animals, they jumped at the next best person beside them. Many suffered serious wounds before anyone could even intervene. What is going on? Natina asked forcefully, more annoyed than worried. Things just wouldn''t go her way! Now her own forces were going insane. Had she known this, she would have refused the army and rather hunted a few more Liches to increase the number of undead under her. You forced my hand, Jimmy! the screams kept going, as the soldiers were forced to use more drastic measures. Not too far from themand tent, a soldier had enough, and promptly Jimmys severed head was rotating through the air, lopped off by hisrade. But this was not the end of Jimmy. The Chosen of Kali was close enough to witness what happened next with her own eyes. The beheaded body didnt fall back over to tumble to the ground, no. The severed neck started growing shut and at visible speed, and a fresh head was growing from it. She didnt know who Jimmy was, but she doubted he possessed the kind of skill when he was alive. Instead, this was exactly how the undead fromst night had acted and regenerated! How could this have happened? Could it be...? but isnt it too far south? her adjutant mumbled something, sweating profusely. He was literally drenched within a moment. Stop mumbling to yourself. Out with it, if you know something! she demanded from the man. He was momentarily stunned but started talking quickly. I-I think its the zombie gue of Urth! Chapter 1178 1177. The Odyssey Continues 1178 1177. The Odyssey Continues "ugh, riding undead in rough terrain, my ass hurts..." the soldiersined as they set up camp. They had suffered a lot, despite their high levels. They were simply not used to riding the undead creatures that jumped around the rugged terrain in less than smooth movements. "I really don''t know why we were even sent here. Lady Durnham should be more than enough. They even say she has 7-" "Shhh! Enough gossip! Are you trying to get us in trouble by talking about this here?" Emanuel interrupted him, putting his hand above his mouth. Defeated he raised his hands, to signal that he understood. Although this was just a rumor, they had been cautioned to not speak of anything even slightly significant on enemy territory. Who knew who was listening? Any information the opponent gained was a loss. Or something like that. he had just finished fixing up his tent when rms rang in the camp. "It''s a monster wave!" the guards shouted and everyone equipped their battle gear. Years of hard drill overcame the fatigue as the instinctual took formations to defend the camp. he also wore his armor, spear, and shield, standing at the phnx with hisrades. "So much for escaping by moving along the ground..." He could hear the other sigh and whisper, as they vigntly stared into the dark forest. "Right if the monsters attack, maybe we will be back at the mountain tomorrow..." "Don''t jinx it!" Momentster they could hear what the scouts with night vision were able to spot from afar. The sound of feet stomping on the ground, the rustling of leaves, the breaking of- tree?! They could see anything, but it sounded like a wave of beasts was crushing the flora between them. "Lights!" they heard themands echo and the magician cast light spells that illuminated the surrounding woond. They put up terrain on a slightly more alleviated terrain, which allowed them to see the trees in the distance giving away before a massive dust cloud approached them. Ultimately, they were forced to use the Barrier Breaker to escape the trap, but it also taught them to stay cautious. Things were not as they were supposed to be and they were suspicious of Chrona, too. They also didn''t exclude the possibility of some other power helping them. "A monster wave my ass! Those are undead!" one of the soldiers with good eyesight eximed, spoiling what everyone got to see soonter. It was a vast mix of corpses in various stages of dposition and damage. Quite a few were little more than gnawed-off skeletons! These were definitely undead from Gamma. "Look behind them!" someone else shouted. Only the forerunners, unhampered by the forest were humanoids, they were followed by a wall of rotten flesh, waltzing over everything in its way. It was made of lots of beasts of various sizes, many big enough to trample a tree easily. Size and appearance couldn''t shake the trained soldiers, but the fact that their appraisal skills failed to gauge the opponent no matter how often they tried gave them a bad hunch. Still, the opponent didn''t seem too strong in the context of what it did. "Wait for them to approach! Kill the small fries quickly, before taking on the big ones in parties!" The leaders gave simplemands, It was clear that they didn''t give these run-of-the-mill undead much credit. Rightly so! Despite resisting skills like , they could even put a scratch on the armor. They were at bestparable to ordinary lv.30 yers. Although they ttened the forest in their pat, the spatian army steamrolled them with ease. The humanoid zombies were ground to dust at their phnx and the undead beasts were no challenge for them. The worst that happened was that quite a few dirty their armor by puking their rotten blood and stuff all over them. At first, at least. "Ack! Hey, watch out where you are - Urgh!" here and there people were getting surprised as the creatures they just slew would stand up again. Most didn''t even have the power to get past their armor''s defense, but they were relentless! "Priests! Cleanse these creatures!" themands were barked and the field was quickly filled with holy light as various spells of light and life were cast, the bane of all undead. "It''s not working!" he and many others cried out, seeing the undead be livelier instead of ashes when hit by holy light. Undead that didn''t fear the divine? That night, they really understood the meaning of an undying army. Still, they survived to the morning, most of them at least. In the end, the undying army did have a weakness. Two actually. They were not especially strong, so after learning that they kept standing up, they pulled back behind the barrier of the camp and fought from there. As they slew them over and over, they found the second one. Their energies waned with each injury, with every time they regenerated until they finally stayed down. It wasn''t that they were dead, but that theycked the energy to move any longer. He felt a deep dread when he realized that this was the only reason they didn''t all die that night. If they weren''t that weak, they may have broken through the barrier. Tired as they already were, how long would he and hisrades hold out? They had to mutte just a humanoid zombie over 10 times until they finally stayed down, monsters and beasts and a bunch more... The mood was glum as they packed together camp, still tired. Obviously, they had not gotten any rest in the night. Leaving on the back of the undead, they left behind a handful of graves and a vast field of corpses, staked to the ground, to stop them from ever getting up again. ... "...Fuuu-" she barely managed to keep the curse inside, as they reached a certain mountain around noon of the next day. They had returned to the bane of her existence. In the distance, the Worm Mountain was towering over the t hills, once again. "We are using it, I don''t care anymore, we have to get out of here," she made the decision to use the barrier breaker. if thest knight taught them one thing, then it was that they were targeted. There was no other exnation. if they kept dawdling, they would only umte more losses. Using the artifact took some preparation. Before they could use it, they decided to get a good rest, otherwise, they would be stuck in hostile territory AND unable to use magic. No magic also meant no barrier and no flying undead. Whether it was safe near the mountain or not, they weren''t sure, but as long as they stayed in the barrier, the weak undead wouldn''t be able to approach them. To make sure, Natina even ced some of her stronger subordinates in a perimeter around the camp. Nothing would be able to get into the camp and harm the soldiers entrusted to her. Her conviction remained steadfast untilte noon. She had almost calmed down when the first screams among the soldiers began, echoing through the camp. "Gahh!" "Stop biting the zombie, Phil! Ahh!" "He''s gone crazy! Help!" "Stop biting me, Emanuel!" Chaos had broken out among the tents as members had seemingly lost their sanity and were now attacking each other. Like animals, they jumped at the next best person beside them. Many suffered serious wounds before anyone could even intervene. "What is going on?" Natina asked forcefully, more annoyed than worried. Things just wouldn''t go her way! Now her own forces were going insane. Had she known this, she would have refused the army and rather hunted a few more Liches to increase the number of undead under her. "You forced my hand, Jimmy!" the screams kept going, as the soldiers were forced to use more drastic measures. Not too far from themand tent, a soldier had enough, and promptly Jimmy''s severed head was rotating through the air, lopped off by hisrade. But this was not the end of Jimmy. The Chosen of Kali was close enough to witness what happened next with her own eyes. The beheaded body didn''t fall back over to tumble to the ground, no. The severed neck started growing shut and at visible speed, and a fresh head was growing from it. She didn''t know who Jimmy was, but she doubted he possessed the kind of skill when he was alive. Instead, this was exactly how the undead fromst night had acted and regenerated! How could this have happened? "Could it be...? but isn''t it too far south?" her adjutant mumbled something, sweating profusely. He was literally drenched within a moment. "Stop mumbling to yourself. Out with it, if you know something!" she demanded from the man. He was momentarily stunned but started talking quickly. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "I-I think it''s the zombie gue of Urth!" Chapter 1179 1178. Aethon 1179 1178. Aethon "I-I think it''s the zombie gue of Urth! It isn''t supposed to exist this far south, but the symptoms seem to fit.," he exined with a wavering voice. Now that he mentioned it, Natina remembered reading about this in various dossiers. The Scene had even used it to create a serum of immortality. It was one of the few thingsing from Urth, that was judged impossible to be replicated with Spatia''s stage of technology. Unfortunately, the agents were unable to procure a sample before Y-City fell. "Bind the crazy ones with crowd control skills, strip off their equipment, and kick them out of the barrier! Anyone that got harmed by them will also be stripped and put under quarantine," she quickly started givingmands. Maybe it seemed coldhearted, but this was necessary. The Zombie gue was a disease that could even afflict undead with just a scratch and there was nomon magic that could heal it as far as they knew. They could only cut their losses and get rid of the infected before the pandemic could infect the rest of the army. As for those in quarantine, they would try to find a solution until they lost their mind. As terrifying as the disease was, as great would the achievement be to bring back valuable research data and maybe even a solution? She would dare to return empty-handed after losing over two hundred people to insanity. At least she would try to gain an achievement to make up for it. ---Minas Mar--- "So Haa''Skon is making his move, hmm?" the cksmith mumbled polishing the leg of arge, golem steed onest time, before putting away the cloth and stepping beside Mina, to get a good look at his work. Time was short, so Seth decided to use the design of the golem horses as a basis for the remaining mounts of the horsemen. Even if time wasn''t pressing, the cksmith didn''t think he would do it differently. After all, they were called the 4 Horsemen and all the potential members were all golem knights. The image of four mounted knights on armored horses wreaking havoc as they rode across the earth was an aesthetic he was unwilling to give on. "Yep. Who would have thought they would get out of Al''s first entrapment this quickly? But you didn''t call me to get a report, right?" Minas asked with an alluring smile, budging him with her shoulder. Seth had been stuck in the workshop for the past few days and they didn''t have many chances to spend time together. Putting his gloves away, he cupped her soft cheeks and went in for a kiss. She felt his hot breath touching her lips and closed her eyes, just to be left waiting, as he whispered in her ear. "Can you bring out Bazilith for me?" he asked with a cheeky grin. Her eyes flew open. Seeing his grin like that, Mina turned bright red. She thought he would- Before she could think any further he sealed her lips with his, catching her off guard. However, she quickly adapted and they shared a deep, long moment. "You tease!" she said, pping his chest when they finally separated again. She turned away and he used the chance to hug her from behind. "You tease me all the time, so it''s fun to see how weak you are to it yourself," he whispered in her ears from behind. Looking to the side, she avoided his eyes and cleared her throat. "A-Anyway, you wanted to see Bazilith, right? Here." She released the golem from her inventory, and the knight in dark crimson armor bursting in mes, holding his burning sword appeared in the workshop. Bazilith was quite unique among his creations, as he was made of a plethora of alloys while his soul was shared between the sword and his core. "Bazilith, I want to introduce you to someone. This is Aethon," he introduced the mount to the rider. Facing the ming knight, with the crest of Xaphan, was a steed not too different from himself. The inner workings of the golem steed were created from dwarven and like Bazilith, it had a core of and , enchanted with the generic Olympian automaton ego. Of course, there was the thought of creating the mounts from the dragon bones Al''Zalsar had brought him, but the biggest problem here was time. He clearly remembered clearly how exhausting it was to create the Scorpion Armor. It would have taken too long to create the golem horses using the dragon bones. He also wanted to save them forter, as he felt his current materials for fitting to the task at hand. They would be legendary once the quest was finished, anyway. Obviously, if these mounts didn''t fulfill the guest''s requirements he would have to rethink. So, the outer armor was created from epic and engraved with arge intricate circuit covering the whole body. This enchantment was new. After finishing Strix, his had reached level 3, but because of the quest announcement, he onlyter got the chance to check what enchantments he had unlocked. When he reached level two, he had unlocked the minor attribute series of Olympian enchantments, and level 3 gave him the series of minor elemental enchantments. When Seth researched the horsemen, he found that the only thing known about their horses was their color. In the case of War, it said: ".. a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from Earth, and that men would y one another, and a great sword was given to him." Thinking of how to make the horse red, he took some artistic license. Covering the body of the gleaming golem horse was Hephaestus'' Minor Fire enchantment, strengthened by his Trait: Kin of Fire. At Seth''s signal, the silver metal horse covered itself in a fur of crimson mes, solving the prerequisite for the Mount of War to be red. Bazilith''s eyes lit up when he saw the horse burst into mes, just like him. "On top of that it has the concentrated soul of a Wind Specter, allowing it to use wind magic and ride in the sky for a short amount of time. The soul is also enchanted with (minor) Olympian Speed," Seth exined. With a "p, p" he patted the horse''s shoulder like it was a car hood. "With this bad boy, you will be quick as a wildfire," he ended the sales talk. The soul of the horse was boiled down from 20 wind demons and a few cultivator souls he had collected during thest battles. As he wasn''t part of the actions, he had not profited very much from them. "Thank you, Master," Bazilith kneeled before him in gratitude. "No need to thank me, get on it. You probably never rode a horse, or any mount, before, so you should get used to it while there is still time," the cksmith suggested. As Bazilith was made with the soul and ego of a Crowned ze Cat, a demon beats, he would have never had the chance to ride a mount in human shape. The zing Knight nodded. After cautiously getting close he swung up on the back of the horse as if it was made for him. Which was true. Satisfied, Seth found that the quest window had updated Bazilith(War) - Sword of War 1/1 - Mount of War 1/1 n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Chapter 1180. Half-ass It ---A few hours earlier--- Following the skeleton dragon was a long line of undead mounts that cut a clear path across slopes, over passes, and through valleys. Riding in groups of 20 undead beasts, the army of Spatia was traveling into the central mountain range. On the various kinds of undead creatures sat parties of 5-10 soldiers. Because of the terrain, they were mostly traveling in single file. With the snow and dirt thrown up in the air, it was no wonder they could barely keep track of each other''s position. The soldiers just had to trust that their rotting mounts knew the way. Close to the end of the army, was a huge, half-rotten bear running along, no different than the other servants in the line. On his back were five people from Spatia, wearing the silver armor and crest of their empire. The vibrant colors of the shield split in a red and golden background, showing a star and a gauntlet raised as a fist, standing out in the dark, snowy mountains. They were also no different from other soldiers. Riding along like everyone else. The only different thing was a sudden cloud of snow that hid them for a split second because the bear rammed into one of the firs on the way. Suddenly, they were not like everyone else anymore. In fact, they were no more in general. The moment they were hidden from all eyes a translucent, pale blue tentacle shot from a nearby crevasse and pulled them into the depth before anyone could notice. In the risen dist and snow, with the distance to therades and the speed it happened, nobody should have been able to witness this scene, however... Far away, but not too far, was a group of people following the army of Spatia, keeping an eye on their progress. A huge man, with unnatural proportions holding the magical telescope they used to observe the enemy, suddenly eximed in shock: Shit, what was that?! What happened? Cromwel asked grumpily, looking up from the tablet disy in his hands. He wasn''t in the best mood, as the group of undead they had ced in the path of Spatia a day ago had vanished. The tablet in his hand connected to a bunch of golem drones he was using to find where the horde had wandered off to. I think I know what happened to the undead.... he said cryptically and exined the scene he just saw. The scientist''s face turned grim when he heard what had happened because it meant there was something dangerous in these mountains, they didn''t know about. Although they were running around the ce like they owned it, Urth was in fact constantly changing. It may have slowed down after the initial shock of the apocalypse, but their world was constantly filled with new dangers, whether it was creatures that entered from the Pathworks or new monsters being born by the world itself. We need more information. Cromwel also took out one of the telescopes and started observing the enemy army, to see what hispanion saw. It would have been easier to use the golem''s eyes, but they could risk getting to close to Spatia with them, as there was a chance they could follow the magical signal of the golem back to them. Keeping their distance, they kept surveilling the army until Cromwel also had the chance to see what the buff man had described. Knowing what to look out for, he was able to spot a beast carrying 10 people being pulled into the abyss of a cliff. Where is Haa''Skon? Cromwel asked as he quickly returned back to their temporary camp. We have to contact Minas Mar. he continued, looking around. The knight left a while ago without saying anything, typical. the too-slim woman, who waited at the camp, answered. Can''t you just contact them without him? she asked without much care. I don''t know if I should... Let''s wait for the knight... Cromwel dodged the answer. Although he wouldn''t admit it, he was too afraid of Haa''Skon to just do something without the golem''s approval. Even when he managed to stabilize his version of the serum, he would survive being turned into ck sludge by the death knight. As such, they waited. It wasn''t like they had a choice, as the death knight controlled their mounts, too. An hour went by, two... night fell quickly but the golem didn''t return. Did the tentacles get Haa''Skon, too? It was hard to imagine that the golem would fall to something like that. upied with idle thoughts, their silence was interrupted. Cromwel,e quick! You have to see that! the buff man called for them. Hurriedly, Cromwel ran back up to their lookout, The slim woman followed, she was bored and curious about the sudden action. When they reached the peak, they didn''t need the magic telescope to see what theirrade was so upset about. There was the skeleton dragon lying beside the camping army and a few miles further away was a mountain moving in the night! A peak not much smaller than the skeleton dragon. could be seen moving in the moonlight. It was still miles away from Spatia''s camp, but it was clearly heading their way. They probably didn''t even know what was happening, yet. What is that? Cromwel asked below his breath. It''s Haa''Skon! the buff guy called out, waving the telescope in the direction. ---a little earlier--- Natina suddenly felt the mes of many of her undead vanish, as if many had suddenly died at the same time. However, there was nothing happening in the camp... She quickly came to the conclusion that it had to be the undead who had vanished during the journey. The chosen of Kali grit her teeth. The death of the undead did leave much hope for the vanished soldiers. But why did it happen now all of a sudden? She was distracted when Kalzemir suddenly contacted her telepathically. In general, the ancient skeleton dragon was not too responsive to her and usually didn''t act of its own ord, but this time it took the initiative to warn her. Something wasing. Her eyes followed the direction where the skull of the dragon was pointing. She stared into the distance. They had set up camp in a valley surrounded by several mountains. Looking through the gap between those mountains, was a horizon of more mountains. Mountains were mostly covered in pine trees and snow. Mountains over mountains as far as the eye could see. Natina was tired of this view, they had for almost two weeks now, but she stared at it anyway. It took her a while to notice what the dragon was looking at. One tiny mountain among the sea of mountains in the far distance...had it tilted a little? Had it grown a little? Focusing on the mountain, she was certain. The mountain was moving! After five more minutes, she was sure, it was moving in their direction. A moving mountain? There was no way, it had to be a creature. During all her journey to find more beasts, it was her first time seeing somethingparable in size to the ancient dragon, except the field boss of Y-City, which even she didn''t dare to touch randomly. She brought out the appraisal scope, a strategic artifact that mixed the enchantment of irvoyance and Appraisal to check enemies in the distance. Now she could see the small mountain better and appraise what it was...? .... ---Delta--- Seth, Haa''Skon contacted us. He didn''t specify how, but he said he bought us another 2-3 days, but that''s it. Leana''s voice announced from the orb in his hands. he looked at the pitch-ck leg, oozing with the aura of darkness, and clicked his tongue. This wasn''t enough time. He just started working the mount for Strix and barely finished the second leg. This wouldn''t do. Would they have to go with the original n? Seth was quite confident in the n, but he wanted to finish the Horsemen of the Apocalypse as reassurance. Seth? Did you hear me? Leana asked, her voice sounding slightly worried. The cksmith stared at the leg in his hand as the cogs in his brain rattled. Two or three days, but he couldn''t half-ass it... or could he? What if he didn''t half-ass it, but used a shortcut? He could make up for it with materials. Yeah.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om If it was a couple of days, then yes, maybe he could adjust it, find and refine the soul... Seth? I''m here, sorry for not responding. I just had an idea how to finish in time, but tell Karina to prepare for n A if it doesn''t work, he said and shared his idea with Leana. He was confident that he could finish in time, but unsure whether the result would fulfill the quest requirement. They had to be prepared for that case. Chapter 1181: Lou Carcol Chapter 1181: Lou Carcol ckjawed, she found that her level was too low to get more than the name of the beast. This meant it had to be past lv. 180, maybe even over 190? On top of that, the name meant nothing to her. What was a Lou Carcol? She had put extensive research into her endeavor to find worthy beasts to add to her undead army after she attained the undead dragon. But she had never heard of a Lou Carcol. An unknown beast of tremendous level and size suddenly aimed for them? They had to prepare for a fight. She doubted this would be over with just one or two breaths of her dragon. She was about to put the artifact away when her scouter gave another reading. On the slopes of the moving mountain, she spotted a horse with sickly, pale fur. In the middle of its forehead was a festering wound, with rotten, ck blood flowing down over its snout. Its maw was filled with the fangs of a predator, giving it a terrifying, uncanny look. A Night Mare! She thought surprised. Night Mares were rare. As they were unicorns that were defiled by darkness, they were even rarer than unicorns. She had wanted one as a mount but was unable to find one. This one, however, already had a horseman. Atop the pale white horse sat a knight in ck armor, shining like a dark crystal. Dark fog was slowly emerging and sinking from his armor, enveloping him and his mount in a mystic aura. Just seeing the knight gave her a feeling of impending doom. The aura of death was strong in this one. Get ready for battle! Natina started givingmands and briefing themanders of the different units. Even if they didn''t know what creature Lou Carcol was, or what power the dark knight held, it was best if the Soldiers got ready to defend themselves. Quickly, the shields and defensive formations around the camp were reinforced, while Natina and her advisorsmuned. Ultimately, it was just a briefing, as the Chosen of Kali had already made her decision. She would take Kalzemir and attack the creatures before they even reached the camp. Let''s go, Kalzemir, she told the skeleton dragon. The rotten wings pped and the giant beast rose to the skies, thanks to the magic imbued in its movements. With its mighty wings, it only took the dragon and necromancer a minute to reach the mountains that was slowly drawing closer to their camp.The small mountains was now right below her, however, the dark knight and his steed had vanished by the time they arrived. There was only the mountain, which had suddenlye to a halt, acting as if it was just a normal peak among dozens of others. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She might have been fooled if it wasn''t for the appraisal identifying the mountains as a creature. At Natina''smand, the skeleton dragonnded, perching on the mountain. There was some give, but the mountains showed no signs of being crushed under the weight of the giant undead. In fact, it didn''t show any sign of reaction at all. Was the Lou Carcol maybe just a gentle giant? She was puzzled about theck of aggressiveness when camp contacted her. ... He had disagreed with Natina''s decision to leave camp and confront the creature she saw, but in the end, he couldn''t stop her. Well, the beast was not even legendary. Since she was not in danger, there was no reason for him to get involved. he was only here to make sure she didn''t die. Whether she made the stupid decision was none of his concern. Resting in his spacious magical tent, he was busy polishing his sword, when the wind carried screams and cries of panic through the p at the entrance. he clicked his tongue and went to have a look. Even if the little Durnham wasn''t here, the camp was heavily fortified. just what were they doing? Sosuke just stepped out of his tent, when he quickly made a step backward inside to evade a pale blue ball of slime. He quickly took in the sight of the camp. It was not a ball of slime, but a tentacle of slime he had evaded, and there were several dozen in camp, grabbing and kidnapping soldiers. The tentacles emerged from holes and cracks in the ground, many were also emerging from the smallke at the back of the camp, the reason they set up camp here. The people that were caught, were pulled back through the tentacle, to wherever they originated. He couldn''t help but recoil, when he watch this happen to some of the soldiers, as the bodies were sucked through cracks and holes, clearly to small for their bodies. before their eyes, they were crushed by an unknown force, which then sucked the gory mess through the cracks and holes. The camp had descended into chaos with fights happening everywhere. Nobody expected anything to bypass the defenses around the camp, so they were all unprepared for the sudden attack. The swordsman diced another tentacle aiming at him, but the cut parts simply turned to slime on the ground, while the tentacle pulled back and regenerated quickly. Like many others in the camp, he quickly realized that physical damage didn''t work on these tentacles. He saw that magic was able to put up somewhat of a fight. Earth Magic could temporarily close the gaps, Ice Magic could freeze the tentacles, and fire and lightning evaporated them, but nothing was a permanent solution. The tentacles just kept regenerating and breaking through the defenses. To him, the cause of the attack was obvious. It had to be the creature Natina talked about. He doubted it was a coincidence that the attack happened almost immediately after the Chosen of Kali and the dragon left camp. He grabbed the next best adjutant.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Contact Princess Durnham. Describe the situation and tell her to hurry. After barking his order and jumped intobat to mitigate the damages. Although he couldn''t permanently stop the tentacles, he could keep mowing them down whenever they popped up. The campsite was quickly drenched in slime. ... Natina stared at the mountain under the dragon. She had just heard what was happening in the camp and came to the same conclusion as Sosuke. Kalzemir, destroy it! shemanded the mountain-sized dragon, perching on the smaller mountain. The massive, flesh-less maw snapped open, as the dragon''s breath built up. As Kalzemircked the bodily function that usually enabled the dragon to breathe, the skeleton dragon had to form it with mana alone. The mountain didn''t move and a minuteter, the mighty dragon breath enveloped the mountain below its feet. Within a moment, the outside started glowing bright orange and liquefied, running down the mountain likeva. Molten ck was pooling around the mountain, but there was still no reaction from the Lou Carcol. After several minutes the breath finally died down. Silence followed as theva quickly cooled. Natina was about to order another breath when what was left of the mountain shook. The dragon started pping its wings, hovering above the mountain, as ps of hardenedva broke apart and slipped off. Falling ck revealed a smooth, gray shell below. The mountain was just a camouge for a massive spiraled shell. Finally, the beast revealed its face! Chapter 1182: Acid spray all Day Chapter 1182: Acid spray all Day Despite spending her days traveling in a pavilion on the back of a giant skeleton dragon, she had not grown numb to the sight of super-sized beasts, yet. Especially not one as exotic as the Lou Carcol. After the stone was molten off, it revealed a smooth, dark snail shell, like polished marble. Then she noticed it, the mass of slime surrounding the foot of the shell. Meat and body parts were emerging from the ground and flowing into the shell. Even at this point, this fat snail had the gall to calmly continue to eat her men right in front of her! Cook it, Kalzemir! shemanded the dragon to melt the snail. At first, she had considered adding the mountain to her subordinates, but she didn''t want a giant snail. This beast didn''t deserve an intact corpse. At her call, the breath was shot once again. The shell was baked in dragon fire and started to quickly pop off and break away. Massive tes of shell rained to the ground around the beast, quickly revealing scaled flesh below. The shell fell away, the flesh charred, but the slime didn''t stop, as the dragon burned the snail, the snail just kept consuming the army of Spatia. Just what kind of horrible beast had this world given birth to? When the dragon''s breath ultimately came to an end, half the creature was burned away. With dismay, Natina found that the streams of dismembered people and bloody slime had slowed, but not stopped. The worst part revealed itself when the charred ces started regenerating at incredible speed! Shit! The curse inadvertently slipped through her lips, when she realized that it was not just an incredibly strong monster, but was also infected by the zombie gue of Urth! A massive beast like this, with that kind of level... How long would she have to fit this, all the while the creature devoured her army! Kalzemir, lift it! get this thing of the ground! We have to get this thing away from the army.If she couldn''t kill it quickly, she simply had to get it away from the people and fight it somewhere where it couldn''t creature any more harm, while she fought it. It was the quickest solution that came to her mind. The giant dragon followed hermand. Its massive bone ws dug into the regenerating flesh and crumbly shell, while it wings started pping with tremendous might. As the dragon magic flowed through the wings, the Lou Carcol slowly started rising off the ground. Only now, when it was lifted into the air and the stretching slime snapped, depriving it of its food, did the beast finally react to its attacker. Opposite to her expectations, it was not the head of a snail that emerged from the snail shell. It resembled that of a crocodile-like dragon a lot more. Many hundreds of long tentacle-like barbels gave it the look of having a beard. The lip-less snout exposed rows of crooked teeth. Its three rows of eyes looked at the dragon above with malice and bit at its ankle, with a speed hardly believable for a creature of its size and making. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The jaws of the dragon snail mped on the bones of the ancient dragon, but couldn''t even leave a scratch. The bones had not just the same damage nullification as its scales, they had also a much higher durability and defense. In addition, Kalzemirwas also strengthened by its legend and Natina''s skills as a necromancer and Chosen of Kali. However, from its maw emerged the same slime that had crushed and taken her men. As the teeth didn''t work, the creature attacked with acidic slime tentacles. The slime it used against the skeleton dragon was actually so caustic that it managed to slowly deal damage, despite the 80% damage nullification and strengthening. This thing must actually be really close to being a legend... the necromancer thought, seeing the white fog rising from the bones, where the slime tentacles held onto Kalzemir. Just a little further! she cheered on the skeleton, while she began attacking the Lou Carcol. Spear burning with purple mes of destruction and death rained down on the crocodile snail and its slimy tentacles.N?v(el)B\\jnn She found that the rare death attribute had some effect against these urthan zombies. It was another conclusion they reached during their self-imposed quarantine. Although they had not yet found why, wounds with the death attribute seemed to need much more energy and time to heal for the undead. They flew for five minutes, traveling several kilometers before Kalzemir dropped the beast into a massive cial valley. It tried holding on, but the slime tentacles ripped under its weight. The thick snail shell crashed into the eons-old ice and cracked all over and some of the creature was spread across the cier as it was partially stted. The Lou Carcol, half-crushed and covered in burns, screeched in madness. It disgorged the contents of its innards to the sky in the form of an acid breath to cover the whole skeleton dragon in its expectoration. However, the attack was blocked by a city-sized shield that surrounded the skeleton dragon. We are far enough away from camp, use your real breath! Natina finallymanded. It was time for the skeleton dragon to get serious and reveal its signature move. The true fight began now, .... Far away, Haa''Skon sat on his steed and watched on as the beast that had eaten too many zombies and became one itself, was bathed in miasma. Ungodly amounts of darkness escaped from the maw of the skeleton dragon. Any life that flourished in the harsh climate up here waned. Animals rotted away instantly, monsters decayed at a visible speed, and trees wilted everywhere several kilometers in every direction from the attack. The Miasma Breath even colored the snow and tainted the very mountains ck. The whole cial valley was covered in a ck mist that blocked even the knight golem''s vision. When the breath ended, the dragon kept hovering above the dark sea it created. Had the weird snail creature died just like that? Haa''skon thought that it was very strong and had hoped it could reveal more of the enemy''s strength to him. He was about to give up on the pawn he stumbled over by chance when something left the mist. It was so fast, that it was almost impossible to see from this distance. The acid spit, much smaller than the earlier attack, traveled at such a high speed and velocity, that it broke through the dragon''s shield, aiming straight for the necromancer. Had Natina died here and now, Haa''Skon would not have even known what killed her. However, the dart of acid slime sttered when it hit a pitch-ck shield that had suddenly appeared around Natina. The ck shell, which seemed like an incredibly powerful defense spell, saved Natina''s life, but it also crumbled away after the attack. All of this happened in an instant, but he realized just as fast, that he had underestimated the beast he picked up on a walk. Just how many souls had it devoured, to be strong enough to resist the dragon''s breath at point-nk range? It seemed that this fight would not end anytime soon. ... ---Two dayster--- Natina was exhausted, but they finally did it. Oveing all the hardships, she finally saw the floating peaks of Delta on the horizon. They could see the end of their journey. However, her reputation was beyond saving at this point. No matter what she tried to tell herself...The price she paid to reach here was tremendous. The way from Gamma to Delta, which could be flown in a couple of days, cost them almost two weeks. During this perilous journey of disasters, she actually managed to lose the lives of 13000 soldiers. Most of them thanks to the courtesy of the Lou Carcol, which also cost her over a day to finally put to rest. Even if she tried to argue that there was enemy involvement, it didn''t change a thing. She was responsible. All she could do now was vent her frustration on the destination in sight. Chapter 1183: Lament Chapter 1183: Lament ---Minas Mar--- Seth had started with the Mount of War because the zing steed was the one he was able to do the quickest, as they were never too sure how much time was left. Ever since Natina started actively using her Dragon, the only things able to buy time were Al''Zalsar spell formations. They had been able to stall for two weeks, allowing Seth to finish two of the three needed mounts. Wolfram, you came. the cksmith greeted the dull gray knight who hade to the workshop. It had been a while since he saw Wolfram. The Golem Knight had been stationed in Minas Pn to manage a new badge of Golem Knights in the Adventurer Guild''s Holy Land. The ce had gotten quite busy with managing the territory of Kozdam Seth had liberated in his soul farming. There were tens of new dungeons they had to take care of while being vignt of the orc kingdom. A good ce for fresh golem knights to farm levels and grow. Yes, my Lord, the golem answered emotionless. Seth cringed. It didn''t matter with how little emotion he delivered the line, Seth knew that the golem was teasing him. After the song during the battle of Mount Agra. However, he didn''t mention it. You heard what this is about, right? Seth asked as he led the golem to a different room of the workshop. The reason was the nature of the mount he created. It had a negative impact on the work in the main workshop, which was why it was ced somewhere else. Yes, the lord is doing a quest that will allow us to be legends, Wolfram summed up the situation as he understood it. Right, and that''s why you are getting a mount, although you can fly just fine on your own, Seth said with a nod and they entered a specifically separated room. The moment Seth opened the door, a freezing cold breeze blew against them. The inside of the room was like a freezer. I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.Wolfram was chosen as the representative of Conquest. Comparing Wolfram and the text he found of the four horsemen of the apocalypse backed up his assumption, that these texts could be interpreted very loosely. After all, Wolfram neither had a crown, nor a bow. Instead, he was created with a mask and he used a staff for long-distance magic. If those were enough to substitute a bow and a crown, then his interpretation was a safe bet. Entering the room, they found the Mount of Conquest waiting in the center. Its metallic body was covered in glistening. white hoarfrost and swathes of cold fog descended from its body. This was definitely a white horse. With a coat of pure ice, its whiteness was undeniable. It''s...beautiful... the golem knight behind him stopped in his tracks and spoke...touched? Seth doubted he heard wrong. That sounded like genuine emotion. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. Its name is Lament. Its body ispletely made of dwarven Ithildin to maximize the power of its enchantment and soul, Seth exined matter-of-factly. As for the enchantment mentioned, Seth left out the forging bad, when it came to the golem steeds, as it was simply too tiresome to sing for each individual part used. He was also worried they might get in the way of the intricate enchantments needed for the golem to move. As such, Lament carried only two great enchantments, apart from the automaton ego on its core, Hephaestus'' Minor Frost Enchantment was engraved across its body and the Blessing of Cocytos on its soul. Thetter was also the reason for the choice of name, as the steed had the blessing of the River of Lamentation. The choice of enchantments was not purely based on the attempt to make a white golem horse, but also part of Seth''s attempt to try and focus on specific effects when enchanting his items. In this case, the enchantments followed the soul he had decided on. For Lament, he used of of thest remaining high-grade souls he had received from Tano''Mol. The Soul of the cial Treant (Big, Epic), a treant born not from nts. but growing ice. the soul alone gave Lament incredible control over ice and frost, together with the Trait Frostborn, which came with an immunity to ice damage, and +50% to the power of ice elemental attacks. There was also a reason why Seth chose to use the Soul of the cial Treant for Wolfram''s mount. He was supposed to be the horseman of conquest and one thing the cksmith inferred was that the reason was Wolfram''s main ability to use various kinds of crowd control, from skill inhibition to turning people into metal.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Conquest was about control and one of the elements best aligned with crowd control was frost. The rider could turn people into metal, the steed could turn them into ice. The rider could inhibit their skills, the steed you hold them in ce or slow them down. Seth found this quite fitting. The only problem was the constantly emitted cold. It got in the way of the furnace operation across the workshops on this floor, so they had to put Lament in an isted chamber. Unbothered by the cold, Wolfram stepped toward the mechanical horse, stroking its nose. Is it really mine? he asked again to make sure. Yes. How about you mount it and give it a test ride? Seth motivated the golem to get on the horse., keeping an eye on the quest window. Although he was convinced of his interpretation, he still let out a small sigh of relief when the quest got updated. Wolfram(Conquest) - Bow of Conquest 1/1 - Mount of Conquest 1/1 .... ---Central Mountain Range--- Night had fallen. In the far distance, they saw the bizarre skyline of the center of the central mountain range as dark shadows before a dark blue starry sky. Towering high into the clouds illuminated by the moon, they saw the central volcano on the horizon. At the nk of the massive mountain, they were already able to make out the lights of Delta, sprawling over the shoulder of the incredible massif. Surrounding this scenery was a field of broken and crippled mountain tops, with the missing peaks almost gently floating above in the sky. Like clouds, they were slowly drifting in a pattern that surrounded the bright city below. The Iego Defense System, as the locals called it. They had no reports of ever seeing it actually in action, but the superficial analysis they got from their coborators in Chrona suggested that even Natina''s Ancient Skeleton Dragon would have a hard time getting past it, much less her swarm of doom. As if their journey up to now was not proven enough, seeing the bright city, filled with lights and covered in the arcane light of barriers, made it clear that their original n failed. The demons had not razed the city and it had not be a burning field of ruins. It didn''t even seem very damaged from the distance. After having a good look, she returned to themand tent, where her adjutant, the legend sent by the imperial family, as well as her undeadmanders were waiting for her. Have the scouts returned yet? Natina asked the legendary swordsman beside her, who was gnawing on a straw of grass. Since the situation had obviously changed, they had the advance party of scouts, who had been slightly decimated at the start of the journey, out to get an outline of how things were in Delta. Chrona was supposed to technically leave the city defenseless with only a minimal force to protect against outside monsters. Yes, the banners of Minas Mar are flying on the walls of Delta and they had more than enough time to prepare their defenses. Barriers, spatial locks, everything is back online. They even strengthened the city barrier and installed various devices on the city wall. It seemed that nothing was as they hoped or expected to be. Minas Mar had upied the city for quite a while. it seemed that they had been constantly modifying it for a siege. A great battle was in the near future, but she was looking forward to finally unleashing her new power and crushing the cksmith and his little organization. Prepare the formation. No more dillydallying, we have been yed long enough. Chapter 1184: Portal in the Sky Chapter 1184: Portal in the Sky ---Delta, early morning--- The clouds above Delta suddenly started churning, as if a giant hurricane started forming right above the district. yers and golems looked up as the fabric of space itself split apart and a giant gate opened in the sky. Spatia started their attack! Inform the team leaders! the Garrounmanded, as the Oathguard and golems quickly started spreading the news. Meanwhile, the first wave descended from the gate above. A swarm of undead flying creatures, half-rotten monster birds, giant bats, and other bizarre beasts burning with the soul me of undeath descended unto the city, apanied by a screech of doom. Thirsting for blood, they dove toward the city. The gently drifting peaks surrounding the whole district suddenly came to a halt as the Iego System jumped into action. With a thunderous roar, the peaks were connected by a giant of energy and lightning. All the beasts that tried to pass by them were charred by the lightning, only arriving on the streets as ckened dust. Adventurers and natives who decided to stay and help in the defense of Delta cheered, seeing the terrifying swarm decimated by the city''s defense system. As the majority of the monsters stopped their descent, circling in the sky around the portal, Garroun guessed that the enemy was just testing their defenses. The cheers of Delta quickly choked when a massive w appeared from the portal and grabbed its rim. Another giant bony w, covered in shreds of mummified skin and scales appeared and grabbed the opposite edge of the rim. The notification of a legend. After a light jab, Spatia directly went for the haymaker. Emerging from the portal, pulling half its massive body through the opening, was the ancient skeleton Dragon of Spatia. Many people heard the notification as they were struck by the skeleton dragon''s pure aura and froze where they stood, unable to do anything.They were forced to watch in horror as the maws of the giant skull emerging from the whirling event horizon of the portal opened wide, and a downpour of dragon fire was unleashed upon Delta. The terrifying flood of mes crashed into the city shield of the Iego System''s defenses, turning into a dome of dragon fire blotting out Delta''s sky. It felt like the attack went on for an eternity, but the mes could not break through the protection. However, by the time the breath finally stopped, the floating peaks were all glowing in a bright orange, leaving everyone afraid of being hit by drops of molten stone, dripping down on the city. Garroun doubted the Iego System could block such and attack again. The work of the sorceress was mighty, but if its foundation melted away, Iego would ultimately fall. He was about to shout orders when someone intervened. Haha! How interesting! To use such a massive portal for a sneak attack!ughter could be heard echoing in the city below. This narrative has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. A woman had appeared in the sky, skimpy clothes barely covering her sinful body. Her aura easily rivaled that of the skeleton dragon, despite being just the size of a rice corn inparison. For most, it was the first time to witness legends in person! Even Garroun couldn''t help the shock, when he finally saw Al''zalsar in person. Usually, humanoid legends could hardlypare to massive beasts. The differences that already existed beforehand often carried over to when they became a legend. Still...he felt confident that the dragon yer had the upper hand here. I will y with you, Dragonboy, she announced, creating a ball of blue energy in her palm and throwing it toward the skeleton in the portal. As it flew, it kept growing, bing a massive blue spear made of pure energy, that was shooting straight at the dragon. Undead creatures threw themselves in their way in an attempt to stop the attack, but they were simply disintegrated without aplishing anything. Stuck in the portal, the dragon had few options to avoid, but when the massive spear was about to pierce the skeleton''s forehead, it was deflected by a fine, curved edge. ...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Who are you to interfere in this battle? Sosuke asked, his voice grim. This was outside of their estimations. They had agents all across Minas Mar, observing the district and its powers. Reports from their priests assured them that the divine presence under Little Gamma had not moved in the past two weeks. There should have only been the tree left in Delta. At least that was their hypothesis after analyzing Minas Mar for several months. All the trees protecting cities across the district seemed like off-shoots, yet all of them wereparable to strong boss monsters that were close to bing legends. The only conclusion was that there had to be a legendary progenitor tree and it should have been the only legend left on their side. Had a wandering legend actually joined Minas Mar or had they hired them? A dragon yer was the worst pairing for Kalzemir, Natina''s main weapon. He clicked his tongue. he would have to act as a babysitter sooner than expected. You dare question MY participation in this conflict? I''m Al''Zalsa, one of the founding members of Minas Mar! she said righteously. Don''t lie to me, there is no Lord called Al''Zalsar among the founding members of Minas Mar! he countered, technically correct. The limits of your knowledge are not fit to judge the truth of my words! the spicy sorceress countered, calling him stupid. Al''zalsar never officially appeared as a Lord of Minas Mar, as shecked a permanent body at the time of the founding. However, it was true, that the spiciest sorceress was one of the founding members of Minas Mar. Without her help, Seth would have never been able to steal control of the tower from the rightful heirs. As you wish! I don''t care who you are or where you came from. If you dare interfere, you feel the power of Spatia. Don''t me me for taking your head! Sosuke eximed and attacked. You ugly mule, I would never give you head! the sorceress shouted and with a wave of her hand, she shot a wave of magic to st the swordsman out of the sky. Choking from the sudden diss, Sosuke barely managed to counter the magic attack with his de energy. You perverted beast! he cried out incensed. Stepping in the air, he started a quick session of attacks, that covered Al''Zalzar in a storm of de energy. She could have easily avoided the attack, but then it would havended on the shield of Iego. Blocking the attacks with her personal shield, she red menacingly at the dragon skeleton, before casting several different spells. After the de storm passed, Sosuke looked at Al''zalsar, who had blocked his attacks with ease, conflicted. this fight was going to be harder than he thought. he had just finished the thought when the skimpily d woman charged at him. Why did she suddenly charge into a melee fight with him? He swung his de, but she actually caught it with her bare hand, only a tiny trickle of blood ran down her palm. We should go somewhere more private. Oh, but don''t think I would not be interested in a face like yours~ This is purely to make killing you less of a hassle. What? he eximed when a portal appeared behind him. With a push against his de, they were both sucked in and vanished from the vicinity of Delta. Although this was a simple back-and-forth of attacks and dialogue for the two, the battle happened so quickly, that the people watching from below had barely any idea about what was going on. The peaks of Project Iego had not even time to cool down a little when the two actors that had suddenly appeared disappeared just as suddenly. ... ---In the skies above Sigma--- Sosuke looked around, shocked at what just happened. he thought the city had instantly aged before he realized that it was not the same ce. This was a different, abandoned district. Then he looked at the woman, seething. Ugh, even if you kidnapped me from the battlefield, what would they do without you? Natina is more than enough to get rid of some legendary Tree, he eximed viciously, angry at the sudden discement. He was burning with embarrassment, to have allowed himself, to fall for such a move. Oh, it''s almost cute that you worry about them for me, but there is no need to. Even I''m often surprised at the things happening in this world. They can protect themselves just fine. Chapter 1185: Undead at the Walls Chapter 1185: Undead at the Walls Al''Zalsar had vanished with her date, but the moment of surprise was gone. The siege cannon installed in the walls of Delta was now aiming at the immobile Skeleton Dragon stuck in the portal. However, it made no visible impact. Ignoring their attacks, the skull was preparing for its next breath. They were desperately firing the cannons when new shouts and calls raised rm on the walls. Having directed their attention to the skies, portals opened all over the vicinity of the district. With the Iego System defending the air space above, Spatia judged the walls surrounding Delta were its greatest weak point. Since Chrona was their coborator, they had all the ns and blueprints they could ask for. Except for the Iego Project and recent additions, they knew Delta''s defenses inside out. The settlement was massive and the walls had only recently been added by Chrona to defend against the invasion of monsters. The walls had various weaknesses and loopholes and in many ces were only built as an anchor for the city shield. Most important of all, the walls were incredibly long. ording to their information, Minas Mar didn''t have the manpower to properly defend the whole length of the walls. Their scouts brought back news that the forces left by Chrona had joined them, but even then, they were far from enough to man the many dozens of kilometers of the city''s circumference. When they finally realized what was happening, it was toote. They are using artifacts to break through the barrier! those on the wall cried out, as the troops of Spatia approached in ces where the walls were sparsely manned or inconsistent because of cliffs and valleys at the edge of the city. As if these mongrels could have foreseen this genius y. The technicians of Spatia installed various devices that opened wide gaps in the overarching defense shield of Delta, allowing her undead troops to enter with ease and approach the city walls. The living would stay back and leave the battle to her undead. She had already lost too many, to risk losing even more. Under the cover of the attack from above, Natina''s servants marched toward Delta, aiming for the weak points in the defense to infiltrate the city and sabotage their defenses from within. It was a quick attack separated by several heavy hits following each other in quick session, aiming to breach Delta before Minas Mar could react. The dragon breath would destroy Iego and the soldiers would breach the shield. Ultimately, she wanted Delta defenseless. Then doom would rain onto the city and its popce! Originally, they intended to force Minas Mar to reveal their cards, but Natina was too agitated for that n. She just wanted to crush their hopes step by step and enjoy their despair.A smug smile yed on Natina''s lips as the mes of dragon fire traveled up the beast''s non-existing throat. The next attack was ready! ... MOOOH! the loud bellowing of a bull echoed across the whole of Delta. Simultaneously, the skull of the dragon about to attack was hit by a girthyser beam, that choked out the attack and pushed the skeleton back in the portal. The city was suddenly rocked by a very special announcement. In the sky, above even the portal, two long shadows had appeared. The bright beam of light was fired by one of them. Lightning shot from the sky, crashing into the undead forces of Spatia. Their shields were damaged, but they withstood the attack with little more than a shock. You are witnessing the Beasts of Cmity, haha. a childish voice said, reinforced by magic for everyone to hear. ~ Kneel before Puffles the Mighty, and shiver in fear!~ a dark, powerful voice echoed in their minds. The shadows that had appeared started firing beams and lightning and other spells at the troops of Spatia on the ground. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Attention to allmanding officers on the wall. Focus fire on the approaching troops. Do not concern yourself with the sky, Leana''s voice finally sounded from theirmunication devices. Their minds instantly calmed down, finally having someone take the lead over the situation. With the aerial support, the yers, guards, and Oathguards on the walls quickly changed gears, aiming for the undead knights and soldiers of Spatia. There you are, you Worm! Have forgotten what my Nidhog did to you? Nobody will save you this time! Natina''s voice could be heard from the portal. The next moment, more creatures appeared from the portal. Nidhog was the name of the bone dragon that the necromancer had used during the Evaluation in Kev?ti Kuinen. It had fought and overwhelmed Puffles to the point that Seth had to help his pet. Now it wasn''t just one bone dragon that appeared from the portal, but three. Serpent-like beast, with bodies, wings, and limbspletely shaped from mountains on bones. The hearts of the appraisers on the walls sank as they witnessed the levels of these beasts in shock. They were prepared for the skeleton dragon, but how was someone able to rear such massive Bone Dragons? Despite being high above in the air, their presence weighed heavily on the people of Delta. Just what is their level?! Appraiser! a leader on the wall called out, for someone with a high appraisal skill to take a look. However, his answer only lent itself to lowering their morale as he called out the names and levels of the three dragons. But that wasn''t all. Natina didn''t offer them a break. From the portal that was no longer blocked by a dragon head, several dozen massive undead beasts followed the dragons through the gate andnded on the various peaks floating around Delta, where they started attacking the still-glowing hot mountain peaks. Were they trying to destroy the enchantment on the peaks, that formed the Iego System?! Originally each peak was protected by their own shield, but they had been destroyed by the previous breath attack. The peaks themselves were not protected by the energy, only if the creatures got too close to the energy notes, would they be sted by the power of the instation. x2 ...n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om All of them were in the middle tote 100s! The morale of the normal yers plummeted. These creatures were not something they could deal with! Barely any of them were above lv.70, only the remnants of Chrona''s army standing a little better with an average level of 80. Would the cannons even work? Despite being the same kind of board cannons Epsilon''s fleet used, they did jack-diddly to the shields surrounding the enemy army, quickly approaching their positions. But it seemed like Spatia was not yet done with them! As if the appearance of the bone dragons was a sign, waves of ck magic rocked the walls. The various enchantments across the structure barely stopped the damage, but the people on the wall all heard the same announcements. ... Many dark curses and debuffs rained on them as new units appeared among the people of Spatia. Or rather, they finally revealed their presence on the battlefield. Aren''t those..? They are Liches! The enemy has Liches! the scouts shouted, seeing the arcane undead among the enemy army. Nobody needed an appraiser to know how dangerous they were. In themand center located at the embassy, Leana cursed. A lich was a magician that turned into an undead, but not any mage would be able to be turned or turn themselves into a Lich. They needed a certain amount of strength, talent, and ego unless they became a brainless undead who was able to use magic. A lich was easilyparable to a lv.130 mage yer. The pictures and reports from the battlefield also showed that there weren''t only necromantic Liches. It would have been wrong to assume that all Liches were just necromancers, or that was all they specialized in. They were mighty magic casters before they became undead. This many Liches, at least 40 and still counting. Natina must have been really busy in the time since the evaluation, considering the army she had amassed with the help of the Skeleton Dragon. E Especially the Bone Dragons. Weren''t the levels of these creatures dependent on the raw materials? How many high-level creatures would the creator have to have hunted to create such creatures? Considering the swarm of beasts, she had really abused her undead power pet to- WROOOM! A zing pir of light descended from the heavens, burning a hole through the cloud cover. It came down between the floating peaks and crashed into the ground right outside the city walls. On its path, the roaring attack swallowed one of the bone dragons to the point that it vanished in the glistening light and purified one of the spatian units marching toward the city together with their shield. ~ You dare bring up this one''s dark past!? That was then and this is now, you cunt!~ the Ivicer proimed righteously, proceeding to fire his sr breath at Nidhog. The beast withstood the beam initially, but the unrelenting power of the sun burned through the shield, bones, and dark magic holding it together,pletely disintegrating the bone dragon into a rain of bones. ~Bone Dragons cannot touch this mighty one''s rear!~ he announced, after proving that he could eradicate them, even with his normal beam attacks. This also made it overwhelmingly clear, that the rage of the sun was a pure fit of rage and not necessary for Puffles to deal with the current situation. Chapter 1186.Undead on the Walls Chapter 1186.Undead on the Walls The Ivicer had just proimed his power, reminding everyone that they still had allies in the sky. For a moment their gazes were caught by a smaller figure, falling from the sky. A massive Minotaur, over 3 meters tall, carrying an axe as big as himself,nded on one ind and cleaved a Corpse Shrieker, a giant ck monster bird, clean in two. The mighty performance was followed by the roar of thunder as clusters of lightning started raining on the beasts attacking the floating beasts. The message of the beasts of cmity was clear. Puffles, Tatzel, and Asterion were here to defend against the portal above. They just showcased their might, eradicating the beasts or pushing them into the energy beams of Iego, when a jet of dragon fire engulfed Puffles as an answer. The skeleton dragon was not gone! Puffles'' attack left a ck stain on its forehead, but nothing more. The Ivicer''s fate was uncertain, but nobody had the time to consider it. With the cracking of space, the massive ws of the dragon grasped the edges of the portal tighter and ripped it further open! Finally, the big boss pulled itself out of the portal, entering Delta''s air space and leaving a giant, jagged hole behind. Revealing its size, it rivaled the dome of lightning the Iego System created above Delta. ... Natina was quite upset, seeing the shitty centipede kill two of her bone dragons like it was nothing! Especially her poor Nidhog was sent back to the underworld again. She had enough. It was time for Kalzemir to take action. After hovering for a moment, the ws of the ancient dragonnded on the floating tips. Completely ignoring the energy attacks from the defense system, the beast put its full weight onto the cornerstones of the defense. Satisfied, she watched as the dome of lightning tried to resist, but the floating ind quickly started losing altitude, jeopardizing the function of the defense formation. She could hear the defenders outright screaming in panic, seeing a giant dragon pelvis descending from the sky.Once the ancient skeleton dragon entered Delta, it wouldn''t even take a minute to tten the whole city. Excited, the chosen of Kali clenched her fist. Despite losing a bunch of high-level undead, things were going easier than expected. Once the Iego System was gone everything would be over. Even if they somehow revealed their legendary tree, their defeat was inevitable. Once Delta was conquered, she would look for the cksmith and capture him. She would torture him and make him watch what she would do to his friends. She would proceed to crush Urth''s resistance and take this world for Spatia, maybe even keep it as her own fief to govern with iron fists. The chosen was excitedly waiting for the floating inds to be crushed when the nk of the volcano was suddenly submerged in golden light. Was it the rising sun? She quickly discarded that thought. They came from the east, the rising sun was in their back, so What. Was. That? --- About 10 days before the tournament, Southwest of Delta--- In the cracked valley where Seth used to practice with the Devils Wheel fiddle, stood the Golem Forge, reaching to the heavens. It was guarded by a massive golem, but inside it stood a golem at least three times its size. The King of the Colossi had turned into a massive statue, his skin now made of an uncountable number of tes, made of Stolen novel; please report. He donned the repaired armor as well as the crown he used to wear before Alisons felled him with her space-rending magic. Now that the Golem Forge finished its work, it was on Seth toplete thest step- Inserting the Core. Actually, it was the main core, as there were several cores with simpler degrees of automaton enchantments spread across the body. Seth hade up with this idea based on the fact or fiction that Dinosaurs actually had two brains because they were so big, that the reactions would have be too slow, or something like that. Of course, it was with the help of Tored and the others that he developed it into a system, where the secondary cores would work as ry points and be controlled by the central core. The central core itself was a basketball-sized sphere of epic and was engraved with Hephaestus'' Generic Automaton Core Circuit he had learned from Cormac Payle, the Chosen of Hephaestus. Melded into the core''s material itself was the soul of Knight Captain Wilkin, Seth had received for aplishing a quest by sending news of the knight orders demise to Okosea. The soul itself was just big and rare, but the description said that it contained 80% of the man''s original skills. It seemed that Wilkin used to be a Dark Temr, a variation of the Pdin ss, giving him a very rounded set of skills, that fitted the original specs of the body quite well. has strengthened your creation.> has strengthened. Your creation has gained the Trait: Helion''s Spark> -----N?v(el)B\\jnn Her jaw dropped when she realized what it was. A giant humanoid, the size of a colossus, roughly 300m tall, had appeared at the slopes of the volcano reaching past the clouds. His skin had the color of gold or bronze and he wore a golden armor on top. It wasnt the appearance itself that shocked Natina, it wasn''t even the sudden appearance of the hulk. It was what he did next, that baffled her to the point that she couldnt react. With an agility something that size shouldnt have, it jumped off the slope, performing a somersault in the air, followed by a dynamic kick, straight into the dragon''s rib cage. For a moment the world stood still. The sound of the two giants colliding was bloodcurdling. The deafening sound of mountains crunching echoed across the mountain range. Despite being several times bigger, the dragon buckled under the force and was pushed off the Iego System. Stumbling off the wobbly ind, the dragon fell into the field of valleys and crippled mountains, that surrounded Delta. The golden Juggernaut was hot on its heels and jumped after it. Landing on its back, he started grappling her dragon, like a catcher fighting a skeleton horse. She was justing to her senses, when she saw the colossus, lock the skeleton dragons forelegs and wings in a hold. What was with this agility and force, despite the much smaller size? But what really shocked her was the pain the dragon transmitted to her. Smoke was rising from the ces where the giant touched her dragon, and she could feel that it was the damage of purification. The greatest weakness for undead was pure holy power associated with light, nature, or the sun. But how could such a massive creature have the holy aura to damage the dragon with just its touch? Just what was this thing? It definitely wasnt a legend, there was no notification. It also didn''t seem like a deity... Still, it was able to tie down the skeleton dragon and its attribute gave it an advantage. She would have to- When Natina wanted to make her move, she was distracted by another set of pressing news. Their troops attacking the walls were facing unexpected resistance. Their aim were the vast stretches of walls that were hardly maintained or weaknesses that were hard to defend, however- There are undead on the walls! the messenger screamed into themunication orb, trying to ovee the noise of battle. The next scene showed the walls of Delta, which they assumed to be vastly understaffed, chockfull with an army of undead. Chapter 1187: A Plethora of Chapter 1187: A Plethora of Not just on the walls, but even behind the wall, towered massive creatures of considerable power When did Minas Mar employ the help of a Necromancer? She had never heard that the guild possessed someone of this caliber. She shook her head and calmed herself. So was this how they wanted to y? Did they think they could resist her with some paltry chatan and some rotting skeletons? It wouldnt make a difference. A purple gate opened behind her and three figures exited from it. If the people of Delta thought that the high-level beasts or liches were all, then they were wrong. Natina had worked the skeleton dragon to the bones to create her secret force. Afterying waste to kingdoms and conquering worlds with the dragon, it had not only regained its status as a legend but assembled a group of servants that could even rival smaller empires. She liked to think, that this group was the reason, why she was sent here alone. UzRoc, takemand of the Liches and conquer the walls. Crush them with all your might, she instructed the figure to her right. Rippling muscles and tall like a minotaur, the usually vibrant green skin faded to a gray and blue me burning in deep-set eyes, lying in the shadows of a hooded cape. A massive, menacing-looking orc shaman, with arms like tree trunks, carrying a crooked staff with all kinds of decoration.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Many of the surrounding staff heard the notification as the beast stepped out from Natinas undead space. The undead shaman grinned deviously, his handbing his beard, as he epted themand and vanished in a dim sh, as he used blink to appear in front of one of the many portals and join the soldiers at the frontline. Then she turned left, looking at the second figure that exited the portal. A dark robe, covered in ominous enchantments that reached all the way to the ground would have concealed the missing legs and given the illusion that it was a tall mage, but it opened in the front, exposing the shiny ck bones of the elder lich. It was the upper body of a skeleton that levitated several feet in the air. A big orb of ck crystal was floating just below its rib cage, exuding a dark vapor that fell to the ground. The skull, frozen in its eternal grin, looked at her, soul me burning in the empty eye sockets. Somehow, it managed to look serious and somber. The surrounding staff heard a second notification as the elder lich appeared beside her. Piotr, go and help the beasts. I want that dome to fall soon, she instructed the lich to join the battle above the city. The chosen of Kali had traveled the Pathworks and recruited a plethora of beasts and legends with the help of the dragon. UzRoc Marrowbiter was a legendary dark shaman, who reigned with terror and an iron fist over the vast ins of his home world until the ancient dragon recruited him. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Piotr Sokolov was a cruel man in life. An archmage held a whole city in his grasp, and when he was about to about to die, he turned himself into an undead and the whole city, too. Facing the fire of the dragon, he decided willingly to follow the chosen of Kali and wore his loyalty. But in this assembly of legends, he was not thest to enter the stage. Fafi, go help Kalzemir and get rid of that golden man, shemanded the third shadow that emerged from her portal. A huge creature, towering far above her head, nodded with many of its own. The surrounding staff froze, as they heard the third announcement and their eyes fell on the giant, many-headed reptile that had appeared in their midst. Another three legends joined the battle. If Minas Mar didn''t get serious now, she would burn Delta down. Tatzel suddenly heard an announcement. He knew what that meant and his eyes quickly searched for the legend, that had just appeared. 50% of a ck, shiny skeleton was floating not far from the horizon of the portal above Delta. The Imoogi spotted the lich in just the right moment, to witness a flood of undead creatures flow him through the portal. Like a stream, they gushed on top of the dome, many perishing in the fly zapper of Iego, but just as manynding on the damaged mountain peaks. Compared to the previous wave of beasts, their levels were negligible, but the Lich brought numbers with him and most importantly himself. Although the undead were burning on the hot molten rock, they didnt care and started attacking the enchantments with the remaining beast. Seeing their attempts, Tatzel acted quickly. He couldnt allow them to damage Iego, or AlZalsar would be angry with him! In a hurry, he cast Greater Chain Lightning to burn the horde of zombies to ashes, however, the Lich jumped in his way and canceled the magic with a wave of his bony arm. I will y with you, pseudo dragon, the undead said in his deep, hollow voice. WroooM! A bright beam of light struck the elder lich, but the attack only revealed that the floating torso was encased in severalyers of magic shields, that formed a blue sphere, encasing and protecting the mage from the attack. Although the attack was unable to prate, it crushed severalyers and pushed several hundred meters back. ~Who do you think you are, to ignore the great me!?~ the slightly dpidated nightmare centipede rejoined the battle. He was missing a few legs, and his white, smooth carapace was a little singed at the edges, but he was fine otherwise. Puffles had taken the dragon breath better than the Iego system. (Although the attack that hit him was much smaller than the first attack) A giant pest is still a pest. I dont have the time to y with insects! Piotr spoke arrogantly, firing a spell at Puffles. Tatzels heart dropped for a beat. It wasnt because of the massive wave of cursed magic that was closing in on Puffles, a magic that could easily destroy a whole city- No. It was the way Piotr had spoken to his brother and the consequences his words would have. ~A PEST!? The rat king dares call ME, Puffles the Great, a pest?!~ The Nightmare Centipede shouted in unbridled rage, as his giant body suddenly twitched, slightly contracting. The tes of his carapace struck against each other and a sphere of golden waves visibly expanded with incredible speed. This sphere of holy light easily atomized the fiendish spell. When the golden waves washed over Tatzel, they revealed themselves as the sound of the bell of a church or the gongs of a temple. The waves struck the legendary elder lich and he could be seen hurriedly reinforcing his shell, to withstand the sudden attack of holy power. ~ Watch closely what I do to your pack, rat king! I will show you what a pest extermination looks like! ~ For the first time, Tatzel remembered what Puffles had told them about his origin. Ivicers were like angels, they were the divine creations of Ivice, the god of the Sun. although their god had long fallen, it didnt change what they were. Following the announcement, Puffles began to shine. Immense amounts of light emitted from the centipede as he momentarily turned into a miniature sun. At first, Tatzel didnt understand the meaning behind this action, but he realized it immediately when he looked down. The hordes of undead that hadnded on the floating inds, were burning in the cleansing light of a new sun, that unleashed its wrath upon their unpure souls. Even the undead among Spatia and those controlled by Evee were suffering slight damage. While some of the stronger ones were able to barely withstand the attack, the horde of zombies Piotr brought along were helplessly purified. It was truly an extermination of pests. Chapter 1188: Backup 5 Chapter 1188: Backup 5 How much longer are we going to wait? Seeing three legends joining the battlefield, Cromwel couldn''t help but ask the ck knight. Although he knew that the knight was part of Minas Mar and wouldn''t harm him, the deathly aura he kept exuding inadvertently had the immortal shiver in his presence. The golden knight was valiantly fighting the skeleton dragon, but it was clear who had the upper hand in size and power. The knight was only holding on because of his holly attribute advantage and superior closebat skill. He did his best to keep the dragon in ce, using various joint locks mixed with heavy punches to the head and joints. The impacts were so overwhelming, that they could be heard all across Delta''s surroundings and caused avnches everywhere.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Despite the colossus struggling and the additional three legends that had just appeared, the ck knight just shook his head and said stoically: It is not time for us to ride, yet. ---Southeastern wall of Delta---- The chosen of Persephone had arrived on the walls and brought with her her undead army, to defend against Spatia and their Liches. Manning the full length of the wall, were now humanoid, or human-sized undead, firing long-distance spells and skills at the shield of Spatia, or maintaining their own. Filling the walls were undead she had farmed during her journey with Edward, but also experimental subjects she was gifted by the Maestro at the Adventurer Guild''s Holy Land. During their journey, some of these undead subjects had grown at an incredible rate, rivaling the stronger undead she got from her journey.Elemental spells and skills, but also acids and chemicals were fired at the mixed army of the living and the dead. While the barriers blocked the magic and the initial impact of liquids, they couldn''t stop the Maestro''s and her own concoctions and their resulting vapors from afflicting the army. With her presence here, the curses and debuffs of the Liches, had no chance of affecting her undead, thanks to various buff skills from her ss, as well as the aura of death from her armor. With Evee''s intervention, the advance on the walls essentially became a stalemate. However, the situation kept rapidly changing. A legend appeared in the sky, followed by a bright light that forced her to shield her eyes. It didn''t just burn the enemy undead, but also her own. She just thought she was lucky that none of her undead were weak enough to fall to the light when a voice north of her position shook the battlefield. You sloppy punks, let me show you how it is done! the rough voice eximed, the next moment a boulder of cursed fire and rock crashed into the various protective enchantments of the wall and the inner district barrier, only for them to dissolve whening in touch with the ming boulder. The massive rock burned through their enchantments and crashed into the physical city wall, which would withstand the tremendous impact. Ripping a breach into the city wall, the boulder kept traveling through the row of undead behind the wall and further into the district itself. Prating the wall meant that the boulder didn''t just locally destroy the defensive enchantment, but it would cause the enchantment along the whole section of the wall to fail. Cursing like a sailor, Evee jumped on the back of her mount, a griffin she managed to acquire during their travels, and quickly rushed to the breach in the wall. If youe across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Another legend! She couldn''t see the figure itself from the air above the wall, but a legend exined the sudden, mortifying attack that broke their secondary defenses easily. She gulped hard. For just a moment, she worried. Would she be able to face a legend on her own? Here''s Evee at the southeastern wall, Section 22. A legend appeared and broke through the wall. I could use some help here, she reported back to headquarters. For a moment she worried about taking down the legend, but then she came back to her senses. There was no reason for her to face this UzRoc alone. We hear you, Backup 5 is on the way to your location. Can you endure for a few minutes? Mary''s voice answered her promptly. Hearing Backup 5, her heart dropped. Does it have to be Backup 5? What about Backup 3 or 6? I take anyone else...No I might just try doing it alone she asked desperate. We needed the other backups.. somewhere else. Just keep your undead close to the wall, if you are that worried. Don''t try it alone, Seth wouldn''t be okay with any of you risking your lives to fight a legend. Mary answered, sternly warning her. Somewhere else? Where would they be that Mary didn''t dare tell her? Are you their summoner?! Come down and face me yourself, if you have the gall! a massive orc with a staff provoked her. She immediately knew that he was the legend in question. As if she wasn''t busy enough keeping the Liches at bay, now an enemy legend shamelessly asked her for a duel. Seeing the orc''s ugly mug, Evee could actually feel her knuckles itch. That was quite the beatable visage. Maybe he would have been a chance to really go all out, to a point that she wasn''t even able to test during her journey. However, Mary''s words still stuck in her mind. Seth was against it and it wasn''t a good idea to be out there when Backup 5 arrived. Ugh, fine... I will just buy some time. ... Tsk, wimp, UzRoc clicked his tongue when the enemy didn''t respond to his provocation With the kind of pompous entrance she had, riding a griffin and wearing and armor exuding an overwhelming aura of death, he had been looking forward to quickly ending this. Unexpectedly, the opponent turned out to be a coward. Then the minions would have to do it. With a sweeping motion, he swung his staff and a crimson light descended on the battlefield. With him at the center, it affected an area of 3 kilometers in diameter enveloping everyone in front and behind the wall. The troops of Spatia heard the announcement, as they were surrounded by the blood-red light. The opposite and more was happening to the defenders, who would suffer a 20-point penalty to their attributes, 20% lowered defense and a 30% higher chance to be afflicted by bleeding. What are you waiting for? Charge the breach! hemanded the army to invade the city. He was curious how the coward necromancer would react, as Soldiers and Undead strengthened by his spell rushed forward. HALT! the woman suddenly shouted, her voice enforced by mana, allowing it to be heard across the battlefield. . You have resisted because of your legendary status> . You have resisted because of your high intelligence.> OBEY! . You have resisted because your shackles are heavy.> For the first time since he became an undead, he felt like throwing up. It was like a kick in the ball and a punch in the stomach at the same time. Looking around, he found the troops in chaos. he had resisted the sudden wave of skills, but he was in the minority. Before his very eyes, most of the undead on the battlefield had defected and were attacking their former allies! It affected mostly the undead controlled by the Liches and barely anyone above lv.100, but it was more than enough to cause chaos. Especially since the Liches were affected even worse than him, by the aftereffects of the skills, despite resisting their effects. It was a loss, that they had to kill the undead they brought themselves, but weirdly enough, the opponent did not use the chance to deal a deciding strike. Only the defected undead she controlled fought in front of the walls, while her original summons stayed at the wall, blocking the breach. Was she this afraid to face him? Of course, the moment she dared enter the battlefield, he would jump on her. But to let go of such a good chance to deal a decisive strike, the woman was more cowardly than he ever thought- CAW! the cry of an eagle could suddenly be heard in the sky above as the cloud rapidly turned darker. He inadvertently looked up and - Chapter 1189: Pointing her-? Chapter 1189: Pointing her-? --- Southwest of Delta, Field of broken Mountains--- Slithering along the slopes below Delta was a giant snake, aiming for the dragon skeleton and golden colossus wrestling in the distance. She was as put as Python before her ascension, roughly 100 meters in length. But it wasn''t just a snake. The first third of its body was split into a dozen necks and heads which all connected into a thick node and only thest 2/3 after the node looked like a normal snake. A genuine hydra had appeared! Backup 6, do you see it? the voice came from them-link. He looked at the beast with mixed feelings. The sight brought back some bad memories for him. Thest time he fought a hydra, it was just a hatchling far from being a legend. Rayki thought of his partner for this endeavor. He now understood why he was given Backup 2, but would they be okay? Thinking of Backup 2, if he was honest, his feelings about his unexpected ally that was ced in his care were not much different from the ones he had looking at the legendary beast. How would the golem feel? Technically, Rayki knew this was a chimera Seth created, but...would Heads feel anything killing a being so simr to itself? He shook his head, to get rid of these thoughts. He had to concentrate. Rayki took courage, just like this was not a hatchling, he was no longer a young, na?ve bard, looking for his lost love. His hand gripped tightly onto the guitar; Seth had given him. I have visual confirmation. Its really an undead hydra. Its aiming for Hellion and the skeleton dragon. Should we engage? she asked, readying his instrument. Yes, engage, Leana gave the order to release another member of the beasts of cmity onto the field.... Natina called, and Minas Mar answered, however, not in the way she expected. Instead of the tree, another legend they had not known about appeared. A lightning eagle was circling over UzRocs position, ready to engage. The worm and pseudo-dragon were also managing to keep Piotr at bay. Who would have thought that the legendary lich wasnt going to be enough? At least Fafi was about to help Kalzemir. She had just finished this thought when the appearance of a new beast close to Fafi had her reeling back. An abomination had suddenly appeared on the slopes below Delta, just behind the giant hydra. For a moment she couldnt categorize what she was seeing. At first, it looked like another hydra had appeared, as it possessed eight serpent heads, but that was where the simrities ended. The eight serpents, each roughly 50-60 meters long were joined together, not into the body of a snake, but on the shoulder of a scaled giant! A 40-50 meter tall, wide, humanoid body of a giant, covered in the same scale as its eight heads and necks was rushing toward her Fafi! Dragging behind the hydra giant was a massive ck club that looked like a branch of a guardian tree. Rushing at her giant hydra, it lifted the weapon for a devastating surprise attack on her baby! At the same time, a song suddenly sounded across the mountains, to the point even she, at this distance, was able to hear it faintly. The moment the club descended, the lyrics started. Whoa, ck Batty! Bam-ba-Lam! Whoa, ck Batty! Bam-ba-Lam! A pitch-ck aura of dark mes burst forth from the bat, ready to smite Fafi. She watched what happened next with a grim, satisfied smile. As if that giant beast and its loud stomps could have sneaked up on the legendary hydra. It was a trap! This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. When the massive creature jumped up, lifting the weapon in midair, the dozen heads of the hydra snapped around and bathed the falling giant in poison and acid. For a moment, the creatures figure was hidden in the torrent of toxins. After this, it will just be mush, Natina thought to herself, already imagining a half-dissolved hydra giant fall limply to the ground. Despite her strong conviction, what emerged from the acid was a steaming hydra giant, who was otherwise perfectly fine. Its giant club came down and it was one of Fafis heads that became mush. However, the impromptu torch had been doused, so there was no fire damage involved. From the crushed skull, sprouted two new heads that attacked the giant. The thirteen heads from one and the 12 limbs from the other side quickly became entangled, embroiled in a deadly mess. Heads were biting, hands were grabbing, and maws were spitting magic and various kinds of substances. It was so chaotic, that even Natina couldn''t make out who had the upper hand. The damn thing gone wild! Bam-ba-Lam! I''m worryin'' outta my mind! Bam-ba-Lam! However, the music didn''t stop, and the ck bat didn''t either, as the bard tortured his instruments, ying quick ecstatic chords. Whoa, ck Betty! Bam-ba-Lam! Oh, ck Betty! Bam-ba-Lam! As the music went on, the ck bat, one of the few clearly visible things in the battle, started hitting quicker and quicker, as if it had a mind of its own. it quickly sacrifices uracy for speed, as the surroundingndscape was also quickly reshaped. The damn thing gone blind! Bam-ba-Lam! Oh, ck Batty! Bam-ba-Lam! But despite missing a lot, it also hit very often, crushing the Hydra''s skulls and burning the wounds. This was the way to kill a legendary hydra ording to Herakles'' story, but Natina wasn''t worried in the least. Why? Fafi was already an undead Hydra. When alive, a legendary Hydra had an immortal head, not too different from the phctery of a Lich. A head, not even Herakles was able to kill. Natina''s Fafi on the other hand had a genuine phctery, that was made from its immortal head, but was no longer bound to its body. This meant, that even if they kept crushing the head and burning the stumps, Fafi would eventually regenerate more heads. Yet, it didn''t change that Fafi was caught up in the fight, unable to free Kalzemir. She had no time toe up with a solution, as the lightning bird made its move. ---Southeastern wall of Delta---- His undead bones shook, without him being able to do anything about it. His thoughts were flowing slowly like syrup as he stared into the sky. Up there, the figure of a blue eagle circling over their position had appeared. The dark clouds above growled and lights shed as lightning cracked within them. Look at all the trash littered in the front yard. I think some spring cleaning is due~ A bad premonition overcame UzRoc as the way the creature spoke reminded him of himself. it was the note he struck, whenever he found some wandering merchants, or gathering children crossing the ins alone. He was seen as an easy prey, a fun ything. The tant disrespect would have angered him at any other moment. On the contrary, his mind grew incredibly cold and calcting. To be affected by the aura of its legend, even for just a moment, rmed him greatly. He had just shaken off the effect of witnessing the bird when lightning started raining from the clouds. Dozens of lightning bolts descended on the army, sting away the shields. Many of the Liches staggered and even copsed from the bacsh. Tick, Tock, it''s Monsoon o''clock! Following the childish phrase, the gates of heaven opened, and an ocean was unloaded on the mountain slope. Heavy rain drenched them in a second and turned the slightly snowy field into a hell of mud. Unheavenly amounts of water flowing down the mountain quickly created heavy sh floods that pulled away the ground from under their very feet.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Without the barriers, there was no resisting this. Technicians and humanoid undead were swept away immediately, like leaves in the wind. Bigger undead beasts were barely able to w to rocks and boulders, resisting the rapids pulling at them. UzRoc had lodged his staff into a crack in the rock to resist the stream and looked up at the city wall. Big, heavy monsters had pressed themselves into the breach, blocking the water and forcing it to flow past the district''s wall. His eyes looked up at the female necromancer in her ck armor, standing on top of one of the watch towers along the wall. Maybe it was just his imagination, but was she smiling at him? Why was she pointing her middle fingers at him? Before he was ripped away by the overwhelming amounts of water, he understood why she never sent any of her undead outside the walls. Chapter 1190: Uz’Roc Marrowbiter Chapter 1190: UzRoc Marrowbiter What in the world? Cromwel breathed in disbelief. They had followed HaaSkon here to assist Minas Mar in their fight, but did they even need it? There were two Kajuu Battles happening at the foot of the mountain, one bigger than the other. In the sky was a legendary lich, hard pressed under the fire of a pseudo dragon and the nightmare centipede. The walls of Delta were embroiled in a war of rotten meat, where undead crashed against each other on both sides. Southeast of the district was a sudden Monsoon, resulting in a sh flood that blew away the enemy troops and their legendarymander, in a stream of snow, ice, and mud. Its not time for us to ride, yet he parroted the golem in his mind. Yeah, no shit, Minas Mar was far from hard-pressed in this battle despite facing the oh-so-scary legends from other worlds! What were they even supposed to do here? HaaSkon sent mutants and zombies to hamper the enemys journey, but he and the other two were just standing there and watching from the sidelines. Cromwell stared at the golem knight from behind. Although he was a little upset, after following him all the way here, there was no way he would dare to tell the knight to the face. He wasnt suicidal. We will get a signal when it is time to intervene, Haa''Skon suddenly said, as if he knew what Cromwel was thinking.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om I-I see... the scientist could only say limply. It seems like the necromancer is getting serious now, Haa''Skonmented emotionless at the sight of several more super-sized beasts falling through the portal. A massive Arachne, a Rhino, and a jaguar, allparable in size to the Hydra Giant, dropped onto Iego. All three of them were beasts above lv.180. The Arachne and the jaguar nimblynded on the floating inds, the Rhino however, barreled straight through the energy beams and crashed into Delta''s barrier. Lightning was crackling, as the Iego system fried the beast, who was tanking it with its defense alone.Crying out tragically, the pachyderm reared up and mmed its feet onto the shield, creating various spider cracks across the city-wide barrier. The Arachne and the jaguar on the other hand sped off to help the dragon with his pesky monkey problem. Damn, how many more giant beasts do they have!? Cromwell eximed exasperated. So far, Minas Mar had countered the undead step for step, even the legendary ones. But would they be able to keep going like that? ... The cold water was draining away around him, leaving him in a shallowke, in a valley at the bottom of the mountain. The legendary zombie was covered in scrapes and some of his bones were cracked. Looking around he found most people dead and most undead damaged beyond repair. Many were ground to death by the ravaging rapids the mountain rock and the debris tumbling down with them. Uz''Rock looked up, finding the eagle already circling above him. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. Why didn''t it attack? All of them were standing in the water. A single lightning attack could finish off most of the survivors left. What was it doing? He was still looking up, when the groaning of beasts came to his ears, as the surrounding bodies began acting up. He also felt something. As an undead, he knew no pain anymore, but he could feel something gnawing away at his ankles and feet. Slowly, weakly, but he was still a legend. How would it be for the other undead? Looking around, he found the shallowke around him, illuminated by a dim, toxic green glow, something that also surrounded his ankles, Among the rotten and maimed bodies of his underlings and the undead beasts that were flushed down the mountains he spotted a single figure, silently drinking the muddy stew. The creature was not overly big, there were bigger beasts, strewn across the valley, but it stuck out because it was alive. The creature had the head of a snake, the body of a leopard, the tail of a lion, and the legs of a deer He had never seen such a creature, but it seemed like one of the wilder chimeras with a rtion to dragons- Just what wild magic or beasts had mated to create something like this? Observing it, he found that the green glow, that had the undead react, was spreading from its maw. I leave this to you, Blotches! the eagle cawed over the battlefield and turned away. Shocked, UzRoc found that the lightning eagle was aiming west. Everyone knew what was going on there, as the noise of the battle between the skeleton dragon and the golden giant could be heard all the way over there. He couldnt let an enemy legend join that fight! If that bird joined the battle, even the skeleton dragon might suffer. UzRoc ignored the weird creature and prepared magic to attack the eagle when the beast suddenly stopped drinking. Opening its jaws wide there was the deafening sound of a pack of hounds on a hunt, a cacophony of agitated barking and growling filled echoed in the mountain. The next moment, a beam of ck light passed by UzRocs pale green chest. The undead shaman managed to barely evade the sudden death ray, thanks to the horrendous sound the beast made, just before. Was it telling him that it was his opponent? The orc gritted his teeth. Were they all looking down at him? Incensed, he decided that he would show this creature who he was and then he would go and get rid of that golden giant and the pesky bird brain. I am UzRoc Marrowbiter, Bane of the ins! he dered. Arcane symbols and runes appeared all across the valley. They quickly started floating in circles around the moaning beasts and undead, as well as the dead bodies of Spatias technicians. Some burned themselves into the bodies of the beasts, others created bands of magic spells that continued to revolve around the beings, strengthening them with crimson light. UzRock himself threw off his cape, exposing the tall, muscr body. If it wasnt for the sickly pale skin tone and the fact that he was missing his scalp, it would have been hard to believe that he wasnt alive. The muscr body was not infused with runes and magic circles, while several magic bands kept gyrating around him and individual parts of his body. Blotches noticed that even his crooked stick had straightened, bing a pole encased in magic. The Questing beast found this disy of might quite messy and chaotic. Was this what differentiated legends and others like him? An borate light show and some shy transformation? Although it mocked the pompous disy of power, it couldnt deny the effects. The undead that could not move or resist the slow dposition into a nutritious solution, were now standing up again, several times stronger and more aggressive. Not only the orc had grown much stronger, but Blotches suddenly found itself facing everything that was left of the troop that was swept down here. Cocking its head, deliberating its next move. The greatest danger left on the field were the 5 Liches that were flushed down here and quickly recovered their footing. But they were also a great source of nutrients. The questing beast was stuck between killing the liches and lowering the danger and letting them live, so they could summon more cannon fodder. Its inner conflict didnt go on for long. It was just an intrusive thought before it remembered what was important here. In quick session, beams of death reaped the lives of anything that had the power to even slightly hold it back. Ceres had told it to take care of this ce. If under some freak coincidence, these food dispensers managed to allow the big guy to flee and interfere with the Parrot of Doom, Blotches was done for. Which was why they all had to die quickly. One would think undead were immune to death magic and instant death effects, but the opposite was the case. They were already closer to being dead than alive, it took a much smaller push to get them over that edge. The death ray was fired. The first Lich was unprepared as the ck beam struck the undead straight in the chest. Hit by the instant death effect, the soul fire was blown out and the skeleton crumbled to the ground. The heap of bones was covered by the slowly falling robe. In an instant, a creature above lv.150 was gone from the battlefield. For a moment, all the participants in the battle stared at the sad remains of the mighty caster. This instant, the next beam caught another Lich off guard a disintegrated him into a pile of bones and dust. You bastard! UzRoc eximed, seeing the minions he just buffed, getting mowed down like dry grass. Chapter 1191. Caustic Touch Chapter1191. Caustic Touch "What are you doing? Attack it!" Uz''Rocmanded, seeing the minions he just buffed, just standing there and watching as the Liches were mowed down like dry grass. The massive orc, covered in arcane runes and surrounded by shy magic circles also charged at the questing beast. Blotches didn''t mind him, or them, calmly casting another spell. However, this time the Liches were prepared. After all, they were no pushovers. The third of the five liches had already put a shield to block the death ray. In the end, it didn''t help him, as the beam managed to break through after a split second. The undead magician still tried to dodge, but he was grazed by the beam at the hip and instantly turned into a pile of dry bones. Even Blotches was surprised by how reliably the instant death effect triggered. It had never experienced this, during the short span of its existence on Urth. As much as it liked to explore the power of the magic more, it didn''t have the time. The undead horde was upon Blotches and the green geezer was trying to hit it with his stick. Even with their buffs most of the undead were unable to deal any harm to it. At best, they were slightly stronger than the stupid druid. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om The staff wielder was a different story. The dogged pursuit of the orc was scary. It felt like borderline harassment. Blotches squinted, spotting the two Liches left casting in the back, together with other undead casters. They were using the time the orc bought them, to get off a spell. Metaphorically cracking its long neck, the questing beats found it was time to show off its skills. The legend came at it, swinging his swollen staff at Blotches, but the questing beast evaded. Strategically, it started using its agile leopard body to weave, jump, and climb between the undead beasts that were rushing at it, maiming quite a few of the biggest in the process. The orc might have be a legend, but he was still an orc shaman. A bipedal creature focused on strength and magic,cking the agility and speed topare with the questing beast. Standing on the shoulders of a giant, Blotches had created the perfect moment. The numerical advantage had be a disadvantage. The questing beast had brought too many, too big bodies between itself and the legend, for the orc to reach it. Just enough quiet time, to cast another death ray, disintegrating another Lich and breaking the spell they were trying to cast on their own. The next moment, it suffered a heavy blow from the side and was shot off the body it was standing on. With all his rapid pursuit, Blotches forgot the most important thing about Uz''Roc. He was a shaman! At the same time, Blotches used to cast a spell; the orc also spent on casting an attack. The beast plummeted to the ground, feeling a terrifying burn on its left shoulder and side. Ignoring the pain, it quickly got up and created some distance. The shaman actually managed to give it a status ailment. Using a shortened chant it cast "Cure", a spell to get rid of debuffs like damage over time, however- "Haha, did you think a messy healing spell like that could save your life?" the shaman mocked the questing beast, just before bringing his stick down on its head. Of course, he wouldn''t wait for Blotches to deal with the problem. Blotches snorted, evading the potentially fatal attack, weaving and killing its way into the crowd of undead again. Its shoulder and side hurt with every move, as the skin was stretched. It had little time to look, but it felt like its skin and flesh were being eaten away. "Fine then", it thought, "If an elegant way doesn''t work, I will brute force it." It decided defiantly. If that scrawny little caster with his toothpick thought it would die from his tricks, then he was wrong! Who needed magic anyway? Not Blotches. Activating the skill , the questing beast doubled its already impressive health regeneration, oveing the dot with pure, passive healing. It was a cool feeling of relief, as the wound not just stopped spreading, but quickly started closing. The dot was still active, but its flesh healed quicker than the magic could eat it away. Since it had already stepped on the path of brute force, there was no reason to leave it that quickly again. Once again, blotches brought a wall of useless meat between the orc and itself, replicating the previous strategy. But when the moment came, when it would cast the death ray to kill thest lich, it betrayed expectations and didn''t stop. It used , a movement skill that used an alleviated position to jump down on its victim, to directly attack the remaining Lich. The undead caster was crushed to powder under its hooves. Swiping the sharp hooves left and right, it also took care of the other casters, that had mingled in the back and tried to cobble a spell together. Now, there was only the legend it had to worry about, left on the field. The Parrot of Doom had left the battlefield, to catch some more important prey. Circling in the sky above the valley, the elemental had one of the best views of the current situation. Ceres had noticed the beasts that appeared from the portal It didn''t care to bother with the giant rhino that dropped into the city, that the business of the field teams inside. The undead shadow leopard and Arachne, on the other hand, aimed for the colossus and dragon, wrestling it out among the crippled mountains. Hellion, one of their youngest siblings, was already struggling, just keeping the dragon upied. But that was not all, on the way there, there was also Heads, entangled with the Hydra. Both were battles of golems, struggling to keep legendary beasts upied. If those two creatures joined either battle, it would quickly take a turn for the worse. The situation was bnced in their favor for now, but if the legends managed to defeat Hellion and Heads, there would suddenly be two legends, free to roam and interfere with the rest of the battlefield. This was why Ceres left Blotches to buy time with the shaman and quickly eliminate those two troublemakers. Ceres quickly appeared in the sky above the running leopard and scuttling spider and started casting lighting at the two undead servants, however, they were more resilient than expected. The shadow leopard was using its agility and inform ability to melt into shadows to evade the lighting. On the other hand, the Arachne was able to divert his lighting! While the spider body was running on at full speed, the human half on its top was using a skill to generate strings ands. Whenever she was about to be hit by a lightning bolt, she would through a in the air, which diverted the attack away from her body. The storm elemental smirked internally, as his beak was not able to express such emotion. Were they trying to stall for time, like how Blotches did with the shaman? But such childish tricks wouldn''t work the elemental. As the incarnation of storm, lightning was not his only element. pping his wing several times, he summoned the storm. Terrifying wind began blowing down the mountain slopes below Delta. A localized hurricane began to rage surrounding the two undead beasts. It did not deal any noticeable damage, but it rendered her strategy of deployings useless, as the whimsy string was quickly blown away by the raging winds. The leopard evaded, but the Arachne was struck by lightning this time. She stumbled, she slowed down, but a single strike was unable to kill the lv.180+ beast. Not even if it was the Tormentor''s lightning. However, the spiderdy still stopped after running on for a moment and looked up at the sky with a grin. Why was she grinning? Chapter 1192: Rhinoceros of Destruction Chapter 1192: Rhinoceros of Destruction ---Delta--- Copsed skyscrapers framed the rim of the crater. The early morning sun fell on a cross-section of Delta''s underground, with broken pipes releasing water and steam into the hole. At the bottom, covered in debris, two parties faced each other. Two warriors in ancient armor stood on one side. The bull-headed man wore a set of armor, dominated by grays and ck. The anthropomorphic lion beside him had simr armor but in colors dominated by crimson. Towering over two meters tall, they looked like the incarnation of the heliopolian gods Montu and Maahes. the lion readied his ughterer''s des, while the bull carried two Khopesh emitting a toxic glow. As much as this sight would have pleased Seth''s soul as a craftsman, they paled inparison to the beast they were facing. A ck rhinoceros, 10 stories high, which had broken through Delta''s city shield and crashed into the megalopolis like a meteor. The crater they stood in was the lowest floor of Delta, so deep not even the rhino could be seen from above. Mike and Ortega had rushed here first, as the ones closest and the only ones currently decked out inplete legendary sets. However, facing the beast at this moment, they questioned their decision to not wait for some of the members that had left Urth to level up. At least the situation wasn''t the worst possible. The rhino was not in the best condition. It was covered in burns and bloody froth was dripping from its mouth. Resisting Iego and breaking a temporary hole in the shield had taken a lot out of it. The bull and the lion nced at each other and nodded. They could do this!n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om They had trained together for the past weeks, since Seth finished Ortega''s set, as their legendary sets were not only simr in looks but also shared most of their skills, creating a synergy if they fought together.Bull and Lion charged together and the ground under their feed turned to sand, increasing the speed of their charge even more. Mike aimed for the right leg of the Rhino, Ortega for the left. Seeing the dwarfs attacking, the undead rhino snorted and its charred skin was suddenly covered by a metallic sheen. Mike stacked the de sets damage to 4444 physical damage and used the divine skill to attack. However, the ughterer''s de crashed into the thick skin and simply slid over it! He was unable to deal any damage at all! The beast''s defense was terrific. Ortega had slightly more sess. His Khopesh could not bepared to the stacked damage of the ughterer''s de, but their special effects were more powerful. His damage was high thanks to the Twin de trait and the 20% Armor destruction per weapon. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Where the two des touched the skin and especially at the ce where their shes crossed, the Venom Dragon Poison took effects and the shallow wounds quickly started showing signs of poisoning but it was not enough to cause a poisoned status, but he had also sessfully lowered the Rhino''s poison resistance by 14%. Mike clicked his tongue and used . Stepping on the flowers appearing below his feet, he rose to the beast''s right rump. He attacked again in quick session, using and , stacking damage to the magic de. This time, Mike managed to cut several gashes across the Rhino''s side, proving that its magic defense wascking. However, that was all. For a moment, he had forgotten that they were fighting an undead. When the only fluid released from the wounds, was a ck, rotten sludge, he was painfully reminded again. Many of the skills of Maahes were specialized for the battlefield and the fight against many opponents. Fighting one big opponent was already a bad match-up, but since it was undead, it was also immune to the many bleeding effects that were part of his skill set! All he could actually count on was the fraction of divine power carried in the skills of Maahes. While Mike had risen upwards, Ortega had stayed with the left leg and rammed one of the Khopesh into the beast''s flesh, all the way up to the hilt. The weapon fashioned from a dragon fang, showed its performance when it came to piercing defense. The venom dragon poison worked just fine, even on undead, so he intended to keep stacking damage and lowering its resistance until the poison took full effect, but when he wanted to pull the weapon back out, the leg moved, kicking him aside. The Rhino didn''t intend to just stand there and take it. The bull-headed chosen managed to the remaining de in front of him and block just in time when the giant leg kicked out at him. Ortega was catapulted deep into the shadow of the stories below Delta. he took out several walls before he came to a halt. Looking around, he found himself on a field of wilted nts, covered in darkness. He guessed that this was one of the granaries that was destroyed in the previous terror attack. The chosen of Montu got up and inspected the damage. He had only one de left, which meant that he lost the set effect of the Fangs of Apep. Apart from that, he had only lost 50 HP from the kick. Seth''s ughter Set, made from the mirrored all the skill of the one Mike had, but the basic effects differed. Mike''s armor improved the power of the skills received from Maahes and its effect was influenced by his powers. For Ortega, each piece of equipment had a different effect instead of that, because of the chaotic trait of the material. Seth had exined it to him but Ortega only retained the basic important stuff. The crown''s Foreign Lord improved his defense by 75% on foreign soil. Ortega was originally born in Beta and moved to Delta when he was a child, so his defense was always boosted when he wore the armor. Off in the distance, he saw the hole he left in the wall. While Ortega rushed back, Mike was left to struggle against the rhino on his own, trying to stack the divine power of Maahes on the undead. Although he managed to cover it in shallow wounds, it rampage began cornering Mike. Things didn''t go too well on his end. ... ---Outside Delta--- Am I seeing things? Cromwel asked breathlessly as he saw what happened at the slopes below Delta. The terrifying lightning eagle was actually struggling! It had stalled the Arachne and the leopard with a storm, but it suddenly started struggling to stay in the air. Hmm, the spider woman had spread her threads in the wind and used them to entangle Ceres above, Haa''Skon said as emotionless as ever. The death knight was watching the fight with the magical scope, they had originally used to observe Spatia. The Arachne managed to stall Ceres, then wouldn''t the leopard intervene in the fight of the two snake heads? If that happened there was a chance that everything would cascade, ending in their defeat. Things seemed dire once again. And it''s still not time to intervene? the scientist asked again. The ck armor shook its helmet and pointed at the snaky mess, where the shadow leopard was about to engage with the bard, ying music to their battle. However, a group of people suddenly emerged from the mountain rock. Cromwel had no idea where they were hiding, but they surprised the feline, stopping it from interfering with the hydra battle. Cromwel had never seen them, but it seemed that Minas Mar had more to show. Chapter 1191. Caustic Touch

Chapter 1191. Caustic Touch

"What are you doing? Attack it!" Uz''Rocmanded, seeing the minions he just buffed, just standing there and watching as the Liches were mowed down like dry grass. The massive orc, covered in arcane runes and surrounded by shy magic circles also charged at the questing beast. Blotches didn''t mind him, or them, calmly casting another spell. However, this time the Liches were prepared. After all, they were no pushovers. The third of the five liches had already put a shield to block the death ray. In the end, it didn''t help him, as the beam managed to break through after a split second. The undead magician still tried to dodge, but he was grazed by the beam at the hip and instantly turned into a pile of dry bones. Even Blotches was surprised by how reliably the instant death effect triggered. It had never experienced this, during the short span of its existence on Urth. As much as it liked to explore the power of the magic more, it didn''t have the time. The undead horde was upon Blotches and the green geezer was trying to hit it with his stick. Even with their buffs most of the undead were unable to deal any harm to it. At best, they were slightly stronger than the stupid druid. The staff wielder was a different story. The dogged pursuit of the orc was scary. It felt like borderline harassment. Blotches squinted, spotting the two Liches left casting in the back, together with other undead casters. They were using the time the orc bought them, to get off a spell. Metaphorically cracking its long neck, the questing beats found it was time to show off its skills. The legend came at it, swinging his swollen staff at Blotches, but the questing beast evaded. Strategically, it started using its agile leopard body to weave, jump, and climb between the undead beasts that were rushing at it, maiming quite a few of the biggest in the process. The orc might have be a legend, but he was still an orc shaman. A bipedal creature focused on strength and magic,cking the agility and speed topare with the questing beast. Standing on the shoulders of a giant, Blotches had created the perfect moment. The numerical advantage had be a disadvantage. The questing beast had brought too many, too big bodies between itself and the legend, for the orc to reach it. Just enough quiet time, to cast another death ray, disintegrating another Lich and breaking the spell they were trying to cast on their own. The next moment, it suffered a heavy blow from the side and was shot off the body it was standing on. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om With all his rapid pursuit, Blotches forgot the most important thing about Uz''Roc. He was a shaman! At the same time, Blotches used to cast a spell; the orc also spent on casting an attack. The beast plummeted to the ground, feeling a terrifying burn on its left shoulder and side. Ignoring the pain, it quickly got up and created some distance. The shaman actually managed to give it a status ailment. Using a shortened chant it cast "Cure", a spell to get rid of debuffs like damage over time, however- "Haha, did you think a messy healing spell like that could save your life?" the shaman mocked the questing beast, just before bringing his stick down on its head. Of course, he wouldn''t wait for Blotches to deal with the problem. Blotches snorted, evading the potentially fatal attack, weaving and killing its way into the crowd of undead again. Its shoulder and side hurt with every move, as the skin was stretched. It had little time to look, but it felt like its skin and flesh were being eaten away. "Fine then", it thought, "If an elegant way doesn''t work, I will brute force it." It decided defiantly. If that scrawny little caster with his toothpick thought it would die from his tricks, then he was wrong! Who needed magic anyway? Not Blotches. Activating the skill , the questing beast doubled its already impressive health regeneration, oveing the dot with pure, passive healing. It was a cool feeling of relief, as the wound not just stopped spreading, but quickly started closing. The dot was still active, but its flesh healed quicker than the magic could eat it away. Since it had already stepped on the path of brute force, there was no reason to leave it that quickly again. Once again, blotches brought a wall of useless meat between the orc and itself, replicating the previous strategy. But when the moment came, when it would cast the death ray to kill thest lich, it betrayed expectations and didn''t stop. It used , a movement skill that used an alleviated position to jump down on its victim, to directly attack the remaining Lich. The undead caster was crushed to powder under its hooves. Swiping the sharp hooves left and right, it also took care of the other casters, that had mingled in the back and tried to cobble a spell together. Now, there was only the legend it had to worry about, left on the field. The Parrot of Doom had left the battlefield, to catch some more important prey. Circling in the sky above the valley, the elemental had one of the best views of the current situation. Ceres had noticed the beasts that appeared from the portal It didn''t care to bother with the giant rhino that dropped into the city, that the business of the field teams inside. The undead shadow leopard and Arachne, on the other hand, aimed for the colossus and dragon, wrestling it out among the crippled mountains. Hellion, one of their youngest siblings, was already struggling, just keeping the dragon upied. But that was not all, on the way there, there was also Heads, entangled with the Hydra. Both were battles of golems, struggling to keep legendary beasts upied. If those two creatures joined either battle, it would quickly take a turn for the worse. The situation was bnced in their favor for now, but if the legends managed to defeat Hellion and Heads, there would suddenly be two legends, free to roam and interfere with the rest of the battlefield. This was why Ceres left Blotches to buy time with the shaman and quickly eliminate those two troublemakers. Ceres quickly appeared in the sky above the running leopard and scuttling spider and started casting lighting at the two undead servants, however, they were more resilient than expected. The shadow leopard was using its agility and inform ability to melt into shadows to evade the lighting. On the other hand, the Arachne was able to divert his lighting! While the spider body was running on at full speed, the human half on its top was using a skill to generate strings ands. Whenever she was about to be hit by a lightning bolt, she would through a in the air, which diverted the attack away from her body. The storm elemental smirked internally, as his beak was not able to express such emotion. Were they trying to stall for time, like how Blotches did with the shaman? But such childish tricks wouldn''t work the elemental. As the incarnation of storm, lightning was not his only element. pping his wing several times, he summoned the storm. Terrifying wind began blowing down the mountain slopes below Delta. A localized hurricane began to rage surrounding the two undead beasts. It did not deal any noticeable damage, but it rendered her strategy of deployings useless, as the whimsy string was quickly blown away by the raging winds. The leopard evaded, but the Arachne was struck by lightning this time. She stumbled, she slowed down, but a single strike was unable to kill the lv.180+ beast. Not even if it was the Tormentor''s lightning. However, the spiderdy still stopped after running on for a moment and looked up at the sky with a grin. Why was she grinning? Chapter 1193: The eagle! Chapter 1193: The eagle! This little- Ceres thought annoyed. The storm and sky were filled with almost invisibly sticky threads that kept clinging to his body. They had traveled up the whirlwind he created himself and the elemental had a slightly hard time moving, as he was being quickly covered in spider silk. The storm elemental had already tried wind and lightning to rid himself of the messy stuff, but it proved to be difficult. The thread was able to draw and divert lightning attacks, while it was too durable to be cut with the wind. Its mechanic eyes focused on the arachnid woman, who was grinning in self-satisfaction. It had not even been a minute since Ceres was stalled by the sticky mess, but the Parrot of Doom had a short fuse and he was about fed up now. pping his wings in one mighty movement, a storm of metallic feathers shot to the ground. Flying with a terrific speed and sharpness, they easily cut through the threads that filled the air and rained onto the Arachne. She barely had time to realize what happened and lost her smile, when she was minced by Stygian feathers, shot from the eagle''s wings. How long had it been, since Ceres actually used this skill? The elemental didn''t even use it in his battle against the mechanic giant. That was how fed up he was. ...N?v(el)B\\jnn Chains of Light caught the giant creature''s leg for probably the third time, shortly stopping its movements before breaking. And for the second time, the off-tank was crushed by the massive paws, in an attempt to sever what he was crushed by. Bodeka and the Faer of her guild that stayed on Urth hade to Rayki''s reinforcement, facing the lv.183 undead shadow leopard. Although the guild was bigger, there were only 30 people, the Faer, as they were technically immortal. Other members stayed in Delta to help defend the walls. While the mess of snakes biting each other was going on in the background, they had surrounded the big cat. They were lucky the sun had just risen and the leopard was weakened as many of its skills depended on the darkness.If it could, it would have probably ignored them. As it had a mission it kept trying to escape and attack Heads or Rayki, who were keeping the legendary hydra in check. They were under immense pressure, as everything hinged now on them. With an average level of 85, the Faer were strong by yer standards, but they couldn''tpare to someone who was able to step on the path to legend like Rayki. Unlike Ori huma, many of them had long reached their level limit. Even Bodeka''s level hade to a hard stop at lv. 95. This book''s true home is on another tform. Check it out there for the real experience. They had to fully rely on their party y and the fact that they were hard to kill, to barely keep the beast in check. if they didn''t throw themselves into the battle with the resolve to suffer, it would have already escaped. they all knew full well, how much was at stake here and were ready to pay with their blood. CAW! Bodeka was about to rush in again, wielding the relic-rated sword she had gotten from Minas Mar''s treasury when the cry of an eagle almost shattered her eardrums. the aggression carried in the cry struck fear in her heart. A momentter a projectile crushed the massive beast before her. A blue lighting with a metallic sheen, traveling at high velocity, impacted the leopard''s shoulder, smashing it to the ground. it halted for just a moment, just long enough for Bodeka to recognize the lightning eagle. Its ws dug deep into the shoulder of the undead and with a p of its wings, it started lifting the beast several times its size, back up to the skies. In one moment, they were battling with their lives on the line, the next they watched the mortal opponent get carried away by aically small bird. They should have used the eagle from the start! ... The Tormentor did not bother any longer with the small fries. Ceres used the chance to the shadow leopard that kept evading its attacks personally and took it to the sky. The golem already had a good idea of how to deal with the undead. They were flying high above Delta, and still rising. below, they could see the Iego System and the fight of the lich with the Ivicer and the Imugi. There was also a new swarm of beasts, that tried passing through Iego and the gap in the shield, while Puffles and Tatzel were busy. Asterion waspletely bound in battles, against the stronger remnant of the first wave. The leopard in its ws began to struggle, despite its many broken bones from the earlier impact. Ceres simply tightened its grip and kept flying even higher. Would the undead die if the eagle dropped it from this height? Maybe, but a creature of its strength shouldn''t be underestimated. maybe it had ways to survive and heal. No, the Parrot of Doom had chosen a different fate for the beast. The distance to Delta grew and the city became smaller in the distance. Instead, the crater of the central volcano into view. Chrona had deployed a great enchantment formation to calm the mountain and stop it from eruption, but it was still very much active. When the orange glow ofva could be seen through the dark clouds of smoke, the undead seemed to realize what Ceres was going to do with it. Its struggle grew desperate, to the point that its rotted flesh and broken bones started tearing in an attempt to rip itself free from the eagle''s grip. But that also stopped after a light electroshock therapy. Limp and paralyzed, the frightening beast, a ruler of shadows, could only watch its end drawing closer. Directly above the crater, the ws finally released it, but it was not happy about the freedom it had longed for previously. Unable to do anything, it could only watch theva rush at it, before the end was here. Ceres was quite happy with itself. The undead had submerged in theva with a massive ssh, before its burning carcass was pushed back up, floating on the molten rock. A great idea and a marvelous execution. He circled once more, twice more, to watch the undead burn and make sure it was over before the elemental returned to Delta. ... The staff in her hand was creaking in misery, as she grabbed the legendary artifact harder and harder. That bird! She thought the centipede was annoying but the featherbrain was even worse! it was all the fault of that sparking menace. The invasion of Delta hade to a standstill. With Uz''Roc being swept away and being contained by the weird creature called a questing beast, the undead siege was unable to overpower the Necromancer and their army on the walls. Her Arachne and her leopard had also died to that stupid bird! They were once again at a standstill on the outside. At least the Rhino of Destruction managed to create a breach in the shield, so things were looking better. Send the teams in now, shemanded, her voice trembling with contained rage. Y-Your Highness, are you sure? The tree has not appeared yet. If we send the teams in now and Minas Mar reveals another legend, they- the adjutant stopped speaking when Natina raised her hand. Do not worry. Things will take a turn from now on. If the treees out, I will take care of it. She spoke with certainty. As she looked at the raging battles in the distance, a purple spark shone in her eyes. Sosuke may have stopped her from this, but he wasn''t here to do so. The fuse of the Chosen of Kali was much longer than that of the storm elemental, but it had been burning for a long time. Chapter 1194: Purple Bloom Chapter 1194: Purple Bloom Urgh! Mike groaned when the rhino finally managed to smack him with its head. Despite his skills and equipment, he was unable to ovee the 50-level difference in their levels. Just like with legends, depending on the path they took the difference in power could differ vastly. The difference between single levels was much greater beyond lv.100 and even before the ascension, the specialization could stretch that difference even further. It may sound like an excuse, but on top of therge level difference, the opponent had also a much bigger body with higher stats and attributes in general. Although the catman had next to no chance of sess, he still stood up again. The ughter''s set was not overly focused on defense, but the blunt force was far from enough to take him out. He just needed to hold on for Ortega to return. Together they would definitely be able to stall for reinforcement. Barely dodging the beast''s follow-up attack, the chosen of Maahes attacked the side of its massive skull. The skin was thinner here and Mike could actually feel the de slide over the bone below, as they cut the skin and flesh. Maybe he could have done more if he got the time to channel an AOE skill, but the Rhino didn''t give him the time to cast. he had to rely on his swordsmanship and quick skills to survive. Distracted by his sess for just a moment, he gave the Rhino the chance to counter, as suddenly its whole body fell in his direction! It was seriously trying to crush him with a body check! Mike had no choice but to use and to get far enough into the underground floors of Delta, to escape the beast, widening the hole it dug. He almost fell, when the foundations below Delta started crumbling away under the attack of the raging undead. he managed to flee further into the skies, thanks to the lotuses appearing in the air. Here he was also able to see Ortega''s return. The bull-headed man rushed up toward the beast''s belly, grabbing the Khopesh he lost on his way there. Re-quipped with both of his des he began spamming shes wildly, cutting up the rhino''s underbelly. There was no blood, but the wounds started oozing sludge and releasing white smoke. ROARF! The Rhinoceros of Destruction roared, but for the first time, there was a little more than pure wrath audible in the sound. Hurriedly it tried to roll over and crush Ortega, but the bull also escaped to the sky, and stepped on much darker lotus flowers than Mike.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om I finally managed to poison it! Ortega reported excitingly. His wild shes had erased the beasts and allowed the venom Dragon Poison to take effect on the undead. Now, it was quickly eating away at the belly, like a terrifying acid.They celebrated the sess with a high five, but the moment quickly ended. The Rhino below started snorting and huffing heavily, despite being an undead that didn''t need to breathe. It was quickly covered in a ck fog. The next moment it moved at a terrifying speed, Jumping along and crushing the sides of the hole it rose above, attaching the two in the sky. To shocked to move, they were about to be smacked out of the air, and maybe directly out of life. Eyes pressed shut, they were bracing themselves for the inevitable impact when a bright light shone through their eyelids. A meteor half the size of the rhino had smacked it out of the sky, ramming it right back down into the hole. Hey, Boys. Need some help? Jess called out from the sky above. James was also close by, standing at the edge of the hole. Reinforcements had arrived and hearts lightened. Jess'' attack had rammed the quick Rhino back into the hole and it didn''t seem to move anymore. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Why did it take so long? Ortega asked jokingly. Jess pointed to the sky, at the hole the rhino created. The barrier had yet to close again hordes of flying beasts were entering the shield, despite most of them dying to Iego. There is quite a lot going on right now. We should hurry and join the others before the big event. Yes, let''s- Just when they dared to hope that it was really over, a purple glow could be seen in the crater. ... ---Outside Delta--- Stop that already and fight me like a warrior! the shaman growled, wildly swinging his rod around. Evading the rampaging shaman as best as it could, it jumped and ran across the flooded valley, littered with corpses, finishing off the struggling undead that had been flushed down here. Since it managed to kill the three Liches, which were judged the greatest obstacle, it continued to buy time and keep Uz''Roc busy, as Ceres instructed. Its actions served to further provoke the legendary undead. After all, it was not a beast. Its job was to keep the guy here, not to fight him. It knew full well, that it just barely managed to survive by running away, a direct confrontation would mean death. So... it had to use psychological warfare to keep the undead''s aggro. The questing beast lost sight of how long they had yed cat and mouse for. The many close encounters with death, when the shaman''s glow stick just barely shaved by or only crazed it, when it was able to evade in thest moment, made it feel like hours. The wounds started umting and its stamina diminished. If it became slower now...it might forfeit its life. Now was the moment it had to risk it. Splitting its consciousness, the questing beast used some of its focus to cast a spell while on the move. Sanctuary! Blotches announced a few minutester, casting a field of healing. The valley was submerged in a golden glow, as the undead still holding on screeched in pain and began to burn. Just like poison could be used as medicine, life and death were two sides of the same coin, and the questing beast had practiced both to the peak of its talents. While the undead were suffering from the pure energy, the area of life magic strengthened itself, healed the wounds, and replenished some of the lost stamina. Although he didn''t start screaming in pain, it also served to weaken the orc shaman trying to kill it. With this, the remaining undead were mostly neutralized, only leaving the legend and the questing beast in the valley. You think you are really clever, huh? But you forgot something, Uz''Roc threatened sinister. Once again, the shaman charged forward, wielding his staff covered in bands of magic runes. Once again, its hooves dug into the ground to quickly evade the attack. This time, however, Blotches did not vanish from the spot where the staff was going to descend! Its hooves were suddenly stuck to the ground. The questing beast couldn''t move at all, as a dark power ensnared its feet. Its reptilian pupils narrowed, seeing the staffing down on it and it braced itself for the strike. Several skills were activated to increase its defense and durability just before the rod of doom struck down on its cor bone and shoulder. Blotches had taken quite the beating from Adam and was brought close to death by Ceres, but nothing it ever experienced since it opened its eyes on Urth couldpare to the feeling of having it whole left side crushed and disintegrated. The attack burned through all its defenses, and the questing beast felt like it was made of jelly, as it shot off, carried by the force of the attack. The right shoulder was shattered as it bounced off a ridge, which catapulted it straight back into the sky, where the shaman already waited for it! Receiving another strike to the stomach, all breath left its body as its rib cage caved in. Finally, it mmed into the ground. There was no further attack for now. The pain was overwhelming at the start, but it had quickly grown numb. Was this a sign that it was close to leaving this world again? It had been such a short time since he opened its eyes here, it was a shame that it already had to go... It knew that one slip-up was all it took to forfeit its life and it had slipped up. It couldn''t help to question how. Now that its body grew numb and the situation quiet, this thought wouldn''t let go of it. Just what happened... A shadow covered the sun and blotchedboriously opened its eyes. Uz''Roc towered over it, a sadistic grin on his pale lips. Do you know what mistake you made? he asked happily. Was this the moment when the viin revealed their evil n? The moment of its defeat and the moment to really rub his superiority in its face. but it really wanted to know. It''s head twitched, barely a nod. The Orc''s grin grew wider and he tapped his temple with his pointer finger and then pointed to the side. Blotches followed his gesture and saw a single skeleton in a dark robe, standing outside the range of the sanctuary. The instant death magic was a great move. Even a Lich with a phctery isn''t immune to that effect, but you only crushed this guy. So while you were so busy distracting me, he regenerated to take his revenge, the shaman revealed the questing beast''s oversight. it didn''t know what to feel at this point. Frustrated? Angry? Its thoughts were too numb to feel anything at this point in time. Yes, it had made a mistake, but there was nothing it could do about it anymore. As it stared at the undead legend towering over it, he was suddenly enveloped by a purple glow. The orc clicked his tongue. Tsk, she should have done that sooner. What''s the point when I''m already done here? Chapter 1195: Purple Bloom(2) Chapter 1195: Purple Bloom(2) ---Above Delta--- The skies above raged a chaotic battle. Asterion was a spinning top, turning into a disc of death with the Sacrilegious Labrys in his hands. Although Puffles and Tatzel were keeping the necromancer busy with a massive back and forth of great magics, the hordes of creatures pouring out from Piotr and the portal above were sheer unending. There were so many that even Iego and Puffles'' periodical ringing of the bells barely helped alleviate the pressure on the cow. The Minotaurcked AOE skills. He only had his great physique and weapon. His only hope was for Tatzel and Puffles to end their fight and help him... or someone else toe and help him. He wasn''t picky, as long as someone helped before he ran out of steam. For now, he actually held hopes. From the glimpses he managed to catch of the shy battle above, it seemed that the two pets of Seth actually had the upper hand in the fight with the legendary lich. Especially Puffles was raging and hollering, as he kept unleashing waves of holy energy to hurt the lich. ~ It''s over now, you bony waste!~ he heard the Ivicer announce and the giant pir of scorching light descended onto the world again. Thest time, it had eradicated two bone dragons and part of the enemy army.N?v(el)B\\jnn Asterion watched in fascination, as the pir''s power was concentrated onto the undead lich. Even more incredible was that the legend seemed to resist it! Inside the pir was a tiny dark shadow and maybe his eyes betrayed him, but he seemed to see a slight purple glow inside, contrasting with the golden light. ---Outside of Delta--- Alright! Whoa ck Batty, bam-bam Go ck Batty, bam-bam~Amidst the mess of entangled necks and snakeheads, the ck bat reignited in mes and Heads, the hydra giant began wildly crushing the skulls or mming the body, where all the hydra''s heads connected. Despite Rayki''s efforts and the title that improved damage against Hydras, the fight was a losing battle. Heads just barely managed to contain the legend thanks to its overwhelming attributes as a golem. However, Heads were only lv.151, while it was facing a full-fledged undead legend. Rayki tried his best to analyze the situation- The biggest problem was that the opponent was actually undead. Unlike a living Hydra, the burning of the stumps couldn''t stop the regeneration of the heads, only slow it down. It was like a Lich, which could regenerate its body as long as the Phctery was intact. The question was, what was its Phctery? An immortal head, buried somewhere? A core in its body? or maybe it was somewherepletely different? Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The only way to end this was probably either using Holy Magic, or death magic, the problem was that Rayki and Heads had neither. Unlike Hellion, they couldn''t use an elemental advantage to ovee the level gap. The situation looked bad and then the hydra began glowing with a purple aura. The dozens of heads it had grown so far, became faster and faster as they bit and tore at heads. It looked bad but became worse. ... His arms felt like they were being ripped out of their joints, as he was holding onto the wings of the skeleton below him. Hellion couldn''t fathom how it could have so much strength without any muscle or sinew in its body. Or how it was still moving so wildly, despite him putting his full weight into immobilizing the ancient dragon skeleton. The energy of his five cores was relentlessly fueled into the holy aura of Helion, who had blessed his existence. Dark smoke was ceaselessly rising as the divine power neutralized the dragon''s unholy power, but it was like water vapor rising from the sea. The ocean below him never even slowed its raging, much less did it seem to diminish. The bronze giant relied on the power of his body and the skills that appeared in his mind to wrestle the wild stallion below him to a standstill. Suddenly, the dragon skeleton reared up again, He instinctively tightened the hold on its wing and forelegs, only to suffer a heavy impact on his back, when the dragon threw itself against a nearby mountain stump. Just where was this powering from? Hellion was sure to be heavier than the whole skeleton, yet the dragon threw him around, despite not having any muscle or flesh. If this was how it wanted to y- His legs tightened around the skeleton''s lower spine and Hellion started to pull, bending the dragon''s spine backward. He roared as the dragon fell back over. Acting as a weight and anchor he immobilized it again. This was their constant back and forth. The only part the colossus of Rhodes had to be careful of was the giant beast''s maw and breath. However, things began to change when the rotten bones under his grasp started emitting a purple glow. The beast''s forelegs, which he had kept locked together with its wing, suddenly bent backward and clobbered his head. He didn''t feel pain, but the force was so great, he loosened his hold. All its joints began bending in an unnatural way and it used an unforeseen power to finally throw him off. Hellion revived a heavy kick and was thrown against the edge of a beheaded mountain. Slightly bedraggled he got up, leaning against the mountain slope. For the first time, he stood eye to eye with the dragon skeleton. The sizeparison was like an average human facing a massive bear. An unfamiliar feeling grew in his stomach, he felt a little queasy, suddenly facing the dangerous end of the dragon. The dragon was enveloped in purple light, almost resembling mes, making it look as if it had a body of light. He imagined to see a dangerous glint in its eyes. He felt queasy, insecure, maybe even frightened, but an instinct from the depth of his conscience told him that he could back down now. Hellion was facing a predator, running was his doom. In a fluid motion, exerting exquisite speed, he delivered a perfect punch to the skull''s jaw, throwing the dragon off. What he had to do now was attacking and never stopping to do so. He followed up on the punch with a flying knee, straight to the top of the head. In that moment he took hold of the dragon''s right horn and reached the leg over the snout. Using his knee, Hellion mped the dragon maw shut. He pushed off with his right foot, using his whole weight to twist the head. The body followed, bringing them both back to the ground. However, the objective had changed. He wasn''t buying time, but fighting for his life. Partially seated on the head, holding the maw closed with his legs, he held onto the horn with his left and started driving his fist at the base of the dragon skull. Roaring like a madman, over and over, with speed and power like a steam hammer he attacked the beast. So what if it nullified 80% of his attack? He just has to hit it five times more often then! The sound of the bronze fist pounding the dragon''s skull and neck echoed across the mountain range and was heard as loud in Delta as it was at the ce where Natina stood. The heavy strikes became the beat of the changing battlefield. ... Things aren''t looking too swell. Are you sure it isn''t time to go, yet? Cromwel asked concerned. The huge number of undead had appeared, storming toward Delta, all d in the same purple glow. If they joined the current siege... ... it is not time, yet. the golem repeated, though he seemed a little less certain about it. Cromwel noticed that the golem knight quickly stepped away, to report the situation to Minas Mar. Chapter 1196: Subordinate. Friend? Pet. Chapter 1196: Subordinate. Friend? Pet. Another one to see the full extent of the change in the battle was Ceres, who returned to a mountain engulfed in purple light. Natina Durnham had finally stepped up personally. It wasn''t just the big guns that had received the purple light. All the undead surrounding the walls of Delta were torches of purple fire. All the undead in the air were burning in their masters power and frantically tried to enter a hole in the barrier. That wasn''t all. From the foot of the mountain came a sea of purple flooding up the slopes. It was one of the few instances where the elemental saw the need to report back the situation, as it was slowly getting out of hand. Especially those that had kept the legend at bay barely managed to hold on- Ceres, are you still there? Mary questioned as the Parrot of Doom had suddenly fallen silent. Ceres was high up in the air when he spotted Blotches and fell silent. Deep in its mind something clicked, seeing the big green oaf towering over his dying...subordinate. Friend? Pet. Ceres...? it came from themlink, but the question was unable to reach the elemental. As emotions churned under the glittering surface of the lighting eagle, so did the clouds above as a storm was brewing. Thunder shook the mountains, as the sky roared in reaction to Ceres'' displeasure. Thunder rolled across the Central Mountain and the clouds had grown dark and heavy above the district. The early day had darkened under the dark heaven, cracking with lightning. Staring at the scene of the battlefield, pictures yed in his mind. The eagle remembered the scenes of the past when Blotches had just be his pet and started following it everywhere, how they yed, the fun they had. Maybe the memories were a little skewed by Ceres own psychotic perspective, but they were real to him, nheless. Death. This creature had to die. Unconsciously, energy gathered above the elemental. The dark clouds were pulled into a vortex of raging winds, iparably stronger than the small storm the golem created before. It was as if the heavens themselves pointed a ck finger at the ground to crush the filthy beast that had touched Blotches.The orc shaman, covered in all kinds of shy light, seeded in creating a barrier, but he could only stare in shock at his impending doom. The barrier stood no chance against the bird covered in lightning, rushing down the index finger of death. Finger of God. Charged Ceres ws easily crushed the haphazard shield and tore into the orcs shoulders. With an ear-shattering cry, the eagle opened his wings wide to the sky, calling the lightning. The next moment, the dark finger of clouds and wind, became a pir of light, as Ceres drew all the power from the clouds above, channeling lightning into UzRoc. This story has been uwfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Like an answer to her interference, a pir of lightning, thick as a city, descended right beside the central volcano, taking her vision away for several seconds. A sudden wave of pain and fear flooded back to her through her connection to UzRoc. Inside the lightning that covered a whole valley, the legends body was burning away under the intense power of the attack. At this rate, his phctery might have be useless, as his very soul may be purified by what looked like a heavenly punishment. UzRoc pain and anxiety flooded her mind and mixed in with her own worries, to create an intense reaction of shock. For the first time, the possibility of losing one of her treasured legends appeared real to her. This was different from the ones with potential like the leopard, or the Arachne. Of course, consciously she knew that there was always the chance that one might be destroyed in a tough battle, but unconsciously she never considered that to be possible. Now it hit her and all the worries apanying this horrid possibility, were added to the chaos. There was no guarantee that a legend would ever be able to recover its status after revival as an undead. The immense amount of work and money put into defeating and raising them again would be lost. Her status in the empire was intrinsically linked to these undead. Losing one of them would be a tragedy the Durnahms may never recover from. With just one of them falling Minas Mar might actually win here. Maybe she would lose even more? Then she would have to return to Spatia as a defeated dog. With the number of soldiers she already lost, if she failed here on top of that? No! She couldnt allow it! Answering the desperate pleas for help and cries of pain, the chosen of Kali focused her mind and supported the orc shaman with her own power to withstand the terrifying attack. When the flood of lightning, burning and tearing at his flesh finally calmed, there was not much left of the orc, apart from his head and a part of his neck and torso without shoulders. At least his soul was not cleansed, everything else could be regenerated with time. If he had that time. When the orc opened his charred eyelids, he stared directly into the mechanical pupil of the lighting eagle. To improve the effectiveness of channeling her power she had also connected to UzRoc, sharing his vision and senses, so she too, looked the devil right in the eyes. Oh, you withstood that? the golem bird asked. Its voice sounded curious on the surface, but it had a hidden edge, that promised that the orc would regret having survived. Heh, just some little sparks, cant kill the legend of the ins! Even if you do this, I will just regenerate. If you kill me, I will simply revive, there is nothing you can do to stop me, the roasted orc boasted with a meekugh. Good. I like my ythingsdurable. What Natina saw next was just darkness. What she received from UzRoc was just the feelings of mind-numbing pain and confusion. The necromancer had no idea what had just happened to her summon, but she couldnt help but block the connection. UzRoc was alive, but he was still taken off the board. Even if she destroyed his vessel remotely, it would take too long for him to regenerate from his phctery alone. Still, the other legends now had the upper hand. It was just a matter of time for the situation to tilt. Did the special op set off? she asked angrily. Yes, mydy. ... ---Delta--- Stop them from entering! Fire! Azulmanded the mage unit of the adventurers who decided not to evacuate. These people who decided to stay and protect Delta had been divided into several units under the members of Minas Mar. A mass of spells of various elements, strengths, and timing hit the flock of flying undead trying to enter Delta''s barrier. For some reason, the hole in the shield was not closing, so only Iego''s energy was standing between them and the city.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It was the sudden purple glow that allowed many more of them to survive Iego and flood inside, only to get finished off by the teams that had rushed over once the Rhino broke through. Although they were able to survive the Iego System, most survived it just barely, so it didn''t take much to finish them off. The situation was not hard to manage...depending on how long this was going to go on. Mana and arrows were finite resources, while this flock of death seemed endless. They would get tired at some point and then- Azul caught a shadow rushing past the cluster of bodies emerging from the hole, directly aiming for a party of mages to her right. Her idle worries broke off as she rushed into action. This... was not an undead. Chapter 1197: Just dont die on me Chapter 1197: Just don''t die on me --Valley of Broken Mountains--- Hellion had hoped to break off its head, with strikes to the base of the skull, but he quickly realized that the only thing about to break was his fist. Meanwhile, he was flung around wildly, being mmed against a mountain cliff, by the dragon who tried to get him off. Finally, he lost his hold when the skeleton hit him against the cliff at a weird angle. His leg slipped and the maw of the dragon opened wild, releasing the breath on the field of crippled mountains. Rocks turned to liquid in the blink of an eye and Hellion instinctively did the only move that got him away from the growing bog of liquid rock. The colossus of Rhodes grabbed the other horn of the dragon, changed his posture, and mounted the beast''s neck., right behind the head. His knees mping onto the the spin, barely evaded the breath of fire, flowing along a non-exiting throat. If they weren''t fighting a life-or-death battle, they would have looked like a small dragon and its rider. As he was mping onto the dragon for dear life, the dragon suddenly jumped up in the air. The skeleton wings burning with purple fire spread out, covering the sky, as the beast took to the air, the colossus still on its back. High up in the air, Hellion was able to see the dome of sparks and the city under it like a snow globe What was the dragon trying to do now? He was stumped for a moment before he realized that he was probably supposed to stop it... but if he started acting now, he would fall... ---Outside Delta--- The 30-meter-long body of a snake crashed against the mountain slope, almost crushing some of the Faer. Heads had lost a head! Despite the shocking turn, Rayki didn''t stop his y just like the ck bat didn''t stop swinging. As if the hydra giant was in a bad spot before, things had bepletely one-sided since the Legendary Hydra gained the purple aura. if it wasn''t for the group of Faer that joined their fight, the golem may have lost more than just one head at this point.Suddenly, the hydra halted for a moment. From beyond the mountain, they all could hear the pping of massive wings. he couldn''t help his jaw dropping, when he saw the massive skeleton dragon rising to the sky, with the colossus helplessly clinging to the beast''s neck. The hydra had stopped moving because its original goal ofing here had changed. Rayki, Heads, and the others did their best to stop it from interfering with Hellion, but now the dragon simply ignored the supermassive golem and flew back to the city, on wings made of purple fire. Rayki heard a loud crash and the sound of metal ripping apart, as the legend ripped off another of the giant''s heads. The fight quickly resumed, just that the Hydra''s destination had changed to Delta at the top of the slope. The ease it took off another head with, made it clear, that this fight hadpletely changed. At this rate, there was no way to stop it from entering the district. Just what would happen then? If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As the bard was about to lose hope, the severed head suddenly started moving again. Like individual snakes, they began acting detached from the main body and attacked the Hydra. As if to say, that this was not over yet, these severed pythons began winding around and constricting the Hydra''s heads and body.N?v(el)B\\jnn There was no telling whether that strategy had a chance to work but heads showed that it was far from losing the will to fight. Who was Rayki, to lose hope then? he quickly started changing gears, supporting Heads and the Faer in stopping the Hydra from reaching the city. ... Various curses were rampaging in its body, hindering its natural regeneration to fix the damage. The green oaf had gotten it good. For the second time in its short time of existence, it was seriously close to death uncertain whether it could make it. Its first time was the encounter with Ceres. The lightning elemental had really brought it close to death back then, but the situations were fundamentally different. Ceres had thoroughly destroyed blotches over and over, deliberately allowing it to heal. Right now it couldn''t even use its magic or skills to heal itself. Blotches could only lie there and try to endure the curses. The chance of survival was slim. At least the dumb oaf had gotten what it deserved. Ceres had returned andpletely destroyed the shaman. Blotches had at least noticed that much. Suddenly, a shadow fell on its face. It could not really open its eyes to see, but it could feel the hot sting of the sun being blocked. The next thing it felt was a cool, refreshing liquid sshing on its body. The terrible pain and rampage of the curses slightly calmed. Was it a potion? Was someone trying to help the questing beast? ~ It''s all I could find blotches. Hold on, I will get more. Just don''t die on me while I''m getting help.~ the storm elemental spoke to it telepathically. The questing beast''s heart jumped in shock and surprise. Who was that? That wasn''t the parrot of doom it knew! The voice sounded almost warm, caring even! Ceres was going to get help? It was hard to believe, but even if it didn''t, it didn''t intend to just die here. The intent was clearly submitted through the telepathic connection. Good, keep that fire burning. I will send help. With that, Blotches felt the shadow move away. At the edge of its consciousness, it could hear the metallic wing p, as the storm elemental left. ... Ceres wasn''t choosy when it came to the people he could get to help blotches. The closest group were Heads and the Faer. The lightning eagle had already seen them from the skies earlier. The golem had just risen to the sky, to see that the situation had considerably worsened. The dragon skeleton was back in the sky. Heads had lost several heads, that were desperately clinking to the hydra in an attempt to stop its advance. The only ones still managing their situation were Puffles and Tatzel. One was proficient in holy power, the other a magic genius. They were able topete with the legendary lich, despite the buffs he received from the purple power. For a moment, Ceres thought of attacking the skeleton dragon. Kalzemir was definitely the greatest danger right now. The beast ignored the weight of the golden colossus and aimed for the dome made up of Iego and the shield that protected Delta. However, the eagle judged Blotches'' situation as more urgent. Heads and the riffraff beside him weren''t able to stand up to the hydra anyway. Ceres decided to steal their mob and waited for his chance. When the Hydra somewhat got out of the entanglement with the serpent-headed giant, it was instantly struck by a lightning bolt, which catapulted it off the giant golem. Ceres?! Rayki eximed at the sudden intervention, spotting the eagle in the air above them. Heads also quickly scrambled to its feet. The hydra giant was missing two of its heads, which were still clinging to the hydra''s body. Pull them back, Heads. I will take the hydra, I need you guys to go and help Blotches, Ceresmanded the junior to retrieve its autonomous heads and leave the situation to the parrot of doom. The remaining head nodded in unison, as the two severed ones detached from the hydra, who was already standing back up. Ceres, you have to be careful. A hydra is already a tricky opponent, but this one is undead on top of that. We have not found a way to permanently harm or even kill it. We should work together and - Rayki warned the elemental and tried to suggest something, but Ceres interrupted him. All I need from you is to go down the mountains and save blotches. Whether I can kill this thing or not, is not important. Even if the hydra was immortal, Ceres would soon make it wish that it wasn''t. He had some pent-up emotions to work out. Alright, then will will hurry and help the questing beast, Rayki quickly gave in. There was no use arguing with Ceres. Heads had also retrieved its missing parts and followed the Faer down the mountain. It was best to get away when the storm elemental was this serious. Immortality was a curse, and Ceres would help the Hydra to realize this. Chapter 1198: Rise of the Guardian Tree Chapter 1198: Rise of the Guardian Tree The Palpatating Spear shed with a pitch-ck shield in mid-air. It looked like a knight in dreadful armor, but Azul could smell the reek of undeath from the creature. Arcs were licking across the shield, but Azul was unable to push the undead knight back. During their trip, the former leader of the Chimeras had managed to step on the path to legends and reached lv.117 before her return. Right now she was lv.125, but she was unable to gain the upper hand after several exchanges. Actually, the knight had the upper hand in meleebat. The shield he was using had to be a legendary item, the durability, and defense matched up to her Palpatating Spear. Even the Item breaking effect didn''t seem to leave any mark.N?v(el)B\\jnn Even when she managed to get off lightning attacks during short pauses, also had little effect. it was like her opponent was specialized in dealing with her. Was she his target all along? Maybe if she could concentrate, they would have been equal, but the situation weighed heavily on her mind. The knight before her wasn''t the only high-level undead that had infiltrated. She could hear the sounds of battle all around and it seemed that without someone of Azul''s level, they were struggling to just stay alive. These people were mostly adventurers who refused to leave and stayed to protect Delta, but they were nowhere near the level needed to survive here with guys like this appearing. Suddenly, a silver whip wrapped around the undead knight''s throat and pulled him back, away from her.It looks like you could need a little help? a hollow voice, with a hint of emotion eximed. At the other end of the whip stood a golem knight, slightly smaller and slimmer, than the regr ones. You are..? the chime eximed. Azul remembered it to be one of the oldest golem knights and one who had recently chosen a name. However, she couldn''t remember. I''m...Trepadora! it answered sounding like it had to remind itself, just before the undead knight managed to free himself from the whip. For a moment, the three stared at each other vigntly, giving Azul the time to check their opponent. Azul also nced at the other battles. The screams had fallen silent, as more named golems had intervened in the battles. She was about to have hopes when the sound of impacts echoed in the district.Looking up, her face fell. The giant dragon, wearing the golden colossus like a ne hadnded on the dome of the city. Its weight pushed on the floating peaks, and its skull hovered above the hole in the shield. Its maw opened wide, but this time there was no bright dragon me churning in its throat. Everyone, evacuate! It''s the breath of decay! Get away from the opening! if you aren''t fast enough, use Home Call! Azul shouted in a hurry. None of the yers here had a chance to survive this kind of attack. Even she herself was not sure whether she could resist it. They had to flee, no matter what. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Despite her Warning, barely anyone had the time to hear her or follow themand. Almost everyone was still where they were when a stream of dark power flooded in through the gap in the shield. This was it, it was over for her, for Delta. Probably not even Evee''s undead could take the effects of this attack. Everyone currently in the city would die. The moment the breath broke forth from the beaming maws of the skeleton dragon, the floor in the center of Delta copsed as a thin trunk shot up toward the sky. ... This was it! Finally, Minas Mar would reveal their final trump card. The progenitor tree that spawned the main defense for their little settlements. With this, Minas Mar would have revealed their full hand, and once she got rid of it, there would be no more hope for the cksmith and his people. Suddenly, it felt as if the world was changing in slow motion. The breath looked like it halted, while the the tree grew in fast motion. At first, it was just a small trunk, no thicker than a hair from this distance, but its growth was not natural. The speed and motion of branches appearing was less a growing and more of an unfolding, like a 3-dimensional flip book. At first, it was just the size of the buildings, but before the breath of the dragon had even passed the hole in the barrier, it had already reached the size of the early saplings that protected the tree stations. Wait... Natina thought, witnessing the spectacle. With this size, the crown covered the central quarter of the central district, but it was obvious that the tree was far from finished. Its growth showed no sign of slowing down. In a fraction of a blink, it rivaled older saplings, like the ones covering Little Sigma, or Little Gamma. Now it covered the central third. Wait! the Chosen of Kali thought in a slight panic. But the tree didn''t wait, it didn''t even notice her gaze. There were still no signs of slowing. The dragon breath had now passed the hole in the barrier. The Guardian Tree had been confined and hidden in the bowels of Minas Mar for months. Karina had given it special care over the past two weeks, constantly nourishing it. It was time to unfold its branches and reveal itself to the world. The Guardian Tree grew further and further, easily dwarfing any other of its offshoots spread across Minas Mar, as the main body saw the light of day. The branches of the crown reached far into the sky, grasping and supporting the floating inds and peaks that made up Iego. What in the world... Natina could not help but watch the abomination created by the horrors of Urth and the cksmith''s abnormal skills. This was far, far outside her expectations. Where the leaves and branches touched and grew into the spreading breath of the dragon, they constantly decayed and regenerated. But their growth was not stopped, only slowed. In exchange, the breath was actually filtered and disarmed by the tree. Before she could react, the crown had also begun swallowing Kalzemir. The skeleton dragon was in the middle of releasing his attack, while the branches grew past it with super speed, grasping its ws and intertwining its legs. Fu... Kalzemir was stuck up to his rib cage in the sea of green leaves, still releasing his breath against the constantly regenerating foliage. The flock of doom, that had scrambled to get in through the gap in the shield and stayed in the vicinity had been caught by the tree. She had instantly lost contact with half of the remaining flying beasts. By the time the growth finally slowed, the of energy and lightning arcs, the Iego system, had be a decoration in the sweeping, emerald crown of the Guardian Tree that covered not just the district at its feet, but had grown beyond. The shadow of the tree covered Delta and the whole side of the volcano. A tree that could cover a whole district with ease. In this state, it outgrew the size of the Hanging Tree, Seth had witnessed at the very beginning of his journey. When it finally stopped growing, Natina heard a dreadful notification. Natina swallowed hard. Time seemed to finally return to normal, but the over two thousand meter high tree that had technically blinked into existence continued to defymon sense. For the first time, Natina felt doubt in her mind. Even if she stepped in herself, together with Kalzemir, would she have a chance to destroy this tree? A big manic grind could be seen on her face. Maybe not with just Kalzemir. Her heart was quivering, but not from fear, but in anticipation. The chosen of Kali was ready to jump into this fight! It was time for her move. Chapter 1199: Diromold Chapter 1199: Diromold Fuck... Cromwel didn''t hold back with his vocabry when the Guardian Tree suddenly blinked into existence and single-handedly stabilized Delta''s defense. The floating peaks had be the tree''s essories and the threatening breath of the Skeleton Dragon had a hard time just damaging the crown. Even the swarm of beasts that was threatening to storm Delta from the sky, had swallowed and dispersed by the growing foliage. The golden giant was also able to get himself to safety, seeking refuge in the crown of the tree, like a golden monkey. Compared to the giant nt, he looked about the size of a gori. No wonder Haa''Skon had told him to wait. There really was no reason to interfere here. Cromwel turned to the side to say something to Haa''Skon, but the golem knight had vanished without him noticing. Where did the knight go? the scientist asked the thindy, who was sitting behind him, staring at the tree that suddenly appeared. Err, he left? I think he said he would give a signal when it was time to attack, she said a little hesitant. Cromwel squinted at her. What reason was there for them to even get involved anymore? The tree had already taken care of every- The sensation was like the pressure of the ocean had descended onto him and Cromwel felt that it was hard to move. it was the first legendary effect that impacted him this much. The culprit was a massive zombie emerging from the portal above Delta. It looked like a giant sea serpent, still smaller than the dragon, but much bigger than Python before her ascension. The head resembled a crocodile with its sharp eyes beingpletely ck, except for the piercing red reptilian pupil, the immortal could see even from this distance. Diromold, d in the purple glow, exuded a menacing aura upon arrival and its pure presence had a huge impact on all the battles in and around Delta. Even though not everyone slowed down by 50% like he did, even Ceres had slowed down, in its battle with the Hydra. In the short moment since the arrival of the new legend, the situation at the walls was also taking a turn, as the undead armies made a push at the same time, their speed apparently rose, not decreased.The Koor Worm himself didn''t just stay still in the air, suppressing the forces of Delta. The giant beast, as if swimming in the clouds, dove down toward the Skeleton Dragon, who was still dispensing his breath, while half its body was bound in the crown of the tree. Cromwel''s heart jumped when he saw what happened next. A magic spell, like a whip of purple light descended from the worms back and cut into the foliage. Half of the vegetation that held onto the dragon quickly aged and withered away, unable to keep the beast trapped. This was not the attack from the Koor Worm! Calibrating his looking ss, Cromwel focused on the figure that had attacked. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. It was the chosen of Kali herself, that stood on the floating sea serpent''s back, a multitude of arms, made of purple aura raised to the sky. To show this kind of effect against the Guardian Tree, it had to bee a divine skill! With half of his chains gone, Kalzemir used the decaying breath to free itself and join the Koor Worm back in the sky. Delta was safe for the moment, but the situation is the sky had taken a drastic turn. ... It is time for you to die, bug! Natina''s voice echoed through the skies of Delta, for everyone to hear. The left side of Puffles'' three pairs of eyes started twitching in annoyance. He had been perfectly fine, cornering the King of Rats, but even he had to admit that their situation had turned to shit. The Skinny Dragon, the Smelly Snake, and the King of Rats... they were now facing three legends. Even if it was the great him, and Tatzel, they wouldn''t be able to take on all three at once. The Ivicer turned to to look over to the Imugi. Sharing a nce, they came to an agreement in a split second. They had the same thought. Tatzel instantlyyered several support spells on Puffles, while the Nightmare Centipede made a swerve in the sky at an incredible speed. The segments of his carapace collided with unprecedented force, as Puffles rang heaven''s bells once again, striking the Lich, the Zombie Koor Worm, and the Skeleton Dragon, with waves of holy power that were further supported by the quasi-dragon''s magic. Piotr took the hit prepared and managed to block it with slight damage. The golden waves washed over Kalzemir, pushing the dragon back and creating slight veils of smoke. Diromold was protected by a shield cast by Natina, but also stopped in his tracks. Overall, thebined attack of the two pets left barely any damage. However, that wasn''t the point of the attack. ~Fighting a group of cowards is beneath the great me!~ Puffles cried out as he and the Imugi dove into the crown of the Guardian Tree, ignoring the fact that he and Tatzel had been ganging up on the legendary lich, or that they were running away right now, to take cover behind the Guardian Tree. This was their conclusion. The skies were a little too dangerous and it made a lot more sense for them to join the ground troops. The necromancer standing on the smelly snake shot another two light whips that trimmed the tree crown temporarily, but the pets were already gone, despite the decrease in movement speed. Neither Puffles nor Tatzel were targeted by Iego or blocked by the shield. Before Natina even attacked, the two had already passed through the tree''s decoration and entered Delta below its cover. Yet, when they saw the city, it was like jumping out of the fire into the frying pan. ... ---Delta--- Garroun felt the presence of the new legend. Although the necromancer from Minas MAr left a little earlier, leaving the control of her undead to him, things had been going well so far. Since the lightning eagle handled the legendary shaman, they had been able tofortably defend the walls. However, things had been thrown awry by the rapid changes.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Thanks to their fortification, they barely managed to hold in there when the undead suddenly received the purple buffs. He almost had a hard attack when the dragon returned. He had almost no time to enjoy the bnce brought by the appearance of the Guardian tree when the arrival of the Koor Worm threw them in peril once again. The slow effect hit everyone differently. The improved attributes from the shadow of the Guardian Tree mostly offset the effects for him, but it was much worse for the soldiers of lower levels. Anything below lv.80 received a 75% decrease in movement speed. It was less the higher one''s level. On the other hand, the opponent gained speed at the same rate. The moment the worm appeared, a crazy wave of undead was surging against the walls. Even if they kept sessfully killing them, their numbers were only growing. The whole mountain was covered and the army of undead surged toward the city. On their side, many of the undead entrusted to him fell, because they simplycked the skills to help them, as healing and holy magic would just harm them further. How was he going to exin this to the necromancerdy? He had only a short moment to worry about her. This is stupid! This can''t be! Commander! They started piling! The Divine Moat can''t cleanse them quick enough! Shocked, Garroun found that it was true. The Divine Moat was a standard fortification for defensive fortification. It was an area along the walls, enchanted with holy cleansing magic that could cleanse undead and disintegrate their bodies. It was especially meant to stop the necromantic siege strategy of piling low-rank undead to create stairs for the troops to reach the top of the wall. But even if the undead currently surging against their walls couldn''t resist the magic, they were rushing in so quickly, that their bodies were not disposed of quick enough. Gah! They are trying to climb up! Reports came from several parts of the wall. It seemed a battle on the walls was inevitable. Garroun already thought that things stood out badly, but what happened next was a scene of nightmares, even though it happened to the enemy. Chapter 1200: Betrayal from the Off Chapter 1200: Betrayal from the Off When Garroun heard Minas Mar talk about the Guardian Tree, he pictured the World Tree in his mind. A holy nt and an incarnation of the pure life force of nature. It had incredible healing and purification properties. Often it had the ability to create a protective barrier or enchantment around the forest it grew to protect itself and its followers. What he thought was that the Guardian Tree would have a simr defensive power. A shield, and illusion barrier maybe. Maybe a buff and improvement to the people in the area it protects, but not this... From the crown of leaves, that had thrust Delta into twilight just moments ago, descended a curtain of vines delimiting the edge of the crown far past the city boundaries. As if to tell Garroun that offense was the best defense, as if to mock all those inert, unmoving symbols of protection, they began to move. There was no shield, no buffs, no holy magic, only carnage. Moving at terrifying speeds, even though he couldn''t really follow most of the time, the vines attacked the undead horde. Where they passed, beasts were split apart, but it wasn''t the speed or force that struck fear in themander''s heart. Whether it was a giant undead beast, or a small humanoid, once caught by tendrils of doom, there was no escape. Whether zombie or skeleton, the undead visibly dried up, their maws opened in silent screams as the very essence of their being was sucked out of them, turning them into piles of dust that littered the battlefield. The process took maybe a fraction of a second, disregarding the size of the undead, but the hopeless plea for mercy, as the creatures were mercilessly robbed of their existence and erased from the world, was burned into his mind. For not one second, he doubted that this was also his fate if he ever stood on the opposite side of this nt. This was no guardian, this was a meat grinder! It just so happened that it was on their side. After the initial shock of the vines, came the secondary shock. Looking down the slopes of the mountain, whole patches of the purple army vanished in the blink of an eye, dragged to the depths of hell by the roots of the tree. ...N?v(el)B\\jnn ---Outside of Delta---In a battle between legends, it was often a question of how their power matched. Natural advantages such as size and elemental affinities and specialization yed a big role, as much as the defense against them. Legends usually had a few specialties, that were outside of the bounds of causality. Ceres, the Tormentor, could cause pain even to the undead or inanimate objects. The lightning eagle could also call the monsoon and the lightning storm for almost no cost. The Hydra on the other hand had its perceived immortality, extreme regeneration, and poison. The hydra was a nightmare for an opponent that specialized in strength and physicalbat, like the one in its most famous legend. Ceres, however, had no need to sever any heads, or burn stumps. Bolts Lightning, thick like skyscrapers, striking in a rhythmic stato of terror pinned the Hydra down. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Winding in pain, paralyzed by the charge of the attack, it could do nothing but regenerate and endure. The lightning eagle was the worst match-up for the many-headed snake, in many ways, mythical and attribute-wise. Ceres had already expected the tree to make a show entrance, so he wasn''t surprised when the light of the morning sun was blocked by the rapidly expanding foliage. What he had not expected was the visitor who tried to take away his punching back. Ceres! Please, leave it to me! Evee pleaded with the bird. You should go up there! There are three legends in the sky, Puffles, and Tatzel have no chance to stop them. The Parrot of Doom didn''t really see the need to interfere in the situation above. The tree was more than enough to handle it. Since the guardian tree was out, even his punching the hydra until it regretted its immortality, was not really necessary anymore. He just did it to relieve some frustration. After a moment of consideration, the lightning stato of thunder stopped. ~Do whatever you want with it. I will go look for blotches.~ If Rayki and the riffraff fucked up, they were in for a shock. Ceres left, after telling Evee telepathically. ... ---Delta--- This tree is a lot more frightening than expected... he mumbled. looking up at the emerald sky above Delta, which caught itself a growth of floating inds. The estimates predicted something bigger than the offshoots at the other cities, but this kind of growth was beyond good and evil. Do you really think this is a good idea? The Durnhams- his colleague asked concerned. Her worried eyes kept staring at the tree. He understood what she meant, with the kind of legend they were dealing with here, they may invite their own ruin, however- The Durnhams are just a bunch of Upstarts. She was simply lucky. You took Lord Byron''s money, we all did. It''s toote to pull out now. Minas Mar will be stopped here, today. One way or the other. he insisted as vehemently as he could while whispering. During the earlier push, using the distraction of the undead, they and four other elite teams of high-level yers, decked out in legendary equipment had infiltrated Delta to fell the enemy from within. Each team held several siege items they were supposed to install in the city. Originally, the item would have been an artifact that would form a formation to enhance Natina''s Powers, to allow her to kill the Tree with the powers of Kali. This wasn''t going to happen anymore. Even if it wasn''t Lord Byron''s ample benefits, nobody in the elite teams had any confidence in Natina as the Leader of this expedition. The journey here had convinced them further and the giant tree had squashed any guilt they may have had left. In Spatia, it should be the strong andpetent to get to the top, Natina was only strong. His colleague nodded after listening to his inspirational speech. Alright then, let''s hurry and install the gate stones before the stealth magic wears off, he urged them to continue. Lord Byron, the current emperor''s cousin, hat offered them a lot of money to tweak with Natina''s haphazard ns. Their task was simple, they simply had to ce two sets of gate stones in the city of Delta. The royal would do the rest from his side. None of the special ops were privy to the full n, but it was about opening gates to Delta and taking the necromancer''s achievement. Whatever little that was since they entered this world. Natina was lucky, that she couldn''t be demoted as long as she controlled a legend, but even if she managed to defeat Minas Mar, her social life would be dead, once the imperial family finished punishing her and the Durnham Family. Gah! they heard the scream, just before someone crashed into the pavement of the street opposite if them. His body tore arge groove into the street cover before he came to a halt. For just a moment, they thought they were caught! The leader observed the man from a distance and recognized the face. This was a person of interest from Minas Mar. His name was Jace, or something and he was a tank. He just asked himself what the many were fighting, when the Rhino of Destruction entered the crossing,ing from the same direction as Jim. That answered his curiosity. ~We shouldn''t get involved. Take will take a detour and pass their fight with as much distance as-~ His telepathic message fell silent when his thoughts went nk at the sight before them. The Rhino of Destruction, a beast that used to be a legend when it was alive, had suddenly been bound by roots that shot up from the ground below. The beast already looked quite dpidated, covered in burns and wounds. But seeing the creature turning into a lifeless husk in a matter of seconds awakened a primal fear in them. It also showed that its danger was not restricted to the outer perimeter. Wherever they stood and walked in this city, they were in life-threatening danger! ~Maybe you are right with your worries...but it''s not like we have a way back. Let go ~ Nervously, they continued their mission, in the knowledge that imminent death was waiting for them the moment their stealth wore off. Chapter 1201: Whip Tongue Chapter 1201: Whip Tongue Natina used a few more times, before she realized, that she could beat the tree like this. Kalzemir''s decaying breath also showed only a temporary effect. As for Diromold, the Koor Worm couldn''t show his potential unless the barrier fell. Natina''s strategy hinged on two factors. The first was her divine skill. Kali represented death, but unlike other gods of death who reigned over something like a realm of the dead, Kali represented the cycle of life and time. Over time, everything had to do and make space for something new. The skill the necromancer wanted to rely on for her strategy was , which allowed her to rapidly age the opponent. Since the skill was extremely taxing even to just use on a weaker humanoid opponent, she had devised a strategy to strengthen this skill with a formation set up in Delta. However, Trees didn''t age like other living beings. Just time was not enough to kill them. Seeing how quickly the treepped up her army as if to mock her guardian goddess, the tree also wouldn''t die fromck of nutrients if it experienced rapid aging at this moment. This was where Diromold came into y. The skill it had learned when bing an undead legend could literally poison the wells. A single attack could taint the very groundwater itself and make nt life impossible. The skills alone were probably not enough, but together, she could have the tree experience centuries of living in this kind of polluted environment. She couldn''t imagine anything surviving that. The only drawback was that the attack had to hit the ground and the hole in the barrier was blocked by the mass of tree. She could only buy time for the special ops to set up the preparations for her n. Once that was done, Delta would watch this tree shrivel away as quickly as it grew! At least, this was the n until she felt a sudden tuck at the edge of her consciousness. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong with Faffi. ....On the mountain slopes below Delta,id the legendary undead hydra, wrestled to the ground by two dozen colossi. The crypt guards Evee had stolen from the colossal dungeon were a massive power, but one she could barely control, so she could only take out a few at a time, especially while maintaining her troops on Delta''s walls. Each giant humanoid was hard pressed pushing one head to the ground, as Evee was busy preparing a vast spell, by spreading a field of daffodils across the mountain slope. Why was she doing something like this when there was a war raging on above? The Hydra is a beast of Olympian lore. Your guardian Persephone thinks it would look much better as part of your entourage. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Requirement: Steal the Undead Hydra 0/1 Quest Reward: Unlock a new Skill> In the middle of battle, a quest notification had suddenly appeared in her face. The quest was actually the sub-quest of the holy quest Mirror of the Underworld Evee had received during her visit to the temple of Persephone. The main quest was about turning her undead army into a mirror image of Hades, as in the underworld, by collecting undead fitting the beasts and heroes of Olympian lore that found their eternal rest in Hades. As a reward, her death-set would be blessed and she would receive a fitting skill. After getting the quest update, she had leftmand of her undead on the walls to Commander Garroun, before searching the Hydra. Although the immortal witch was not overly confident, she was sure Persephone would not give her an impossible quest. She wasn''t that kind of goddess. After Ceres left, she used the chance while the hydra was paralyzed, to summon the colossi and make sure it stayed down. Intricate patterns created by tufts of ck daffodils formed a massive magic circuit. Evee finally activated her divine skill. At hermand, the lines of flowers started blooming all around the Hydra. Intricate patterns created by the ck daffodils activated the magic circuits. As they opened their blossoms, they shone in a bright blue light, reminiscent of Seth''s spirit me. Matching the flowers covering the mountain slope, the undead hydra also shone in an aura of blue light. was a skill that connected the dead to her own pseudo-Hades, where she could store her troops. This allowed her to take control of corpses, natural undead, or even wrestle away their control of them by cutting the connection to their master. However, the target and its master in this case were special. As the chosen of Persephone, she was the champion of the Queen of the Olympian Underworld. On top of that, she wore the Death-Set, made of and partially blessed by Styx, as well as Acheron''s Finger, a legendary pendant blessed by the Acheron. But her target was a legendary undead Hydra, created by the Chosen of Kali. Evee could only imagine what Natina had done to convert the beast into an undead, but it felt more like a lich than a corpse that was reanimated. A forced lichification? It seemed that the soul of the beast was ripped out of and resealed into its immortal head, bound by powerful ck magic to allow the necromancer to control it. This was not the usually deep connection between a necromancer and their summon, but Evee understood the obvious advantage of this technique. The colossi she controlled were far from being legends, but it took a very high control stat and a lot of mental power to control them properly. A legend had to be several magnitudes above one of them. Based on her expertise as an immortal witch, this lichification technically allowed any specified individual to control the undead, while the necromancer only needed to use a superficial spell to improve the function of the seal. While this made the cost to maintain control over the legend almost non-existent, this also meant that the actual link between the undead and Natina was only superficial. She just needed to neutralize the binding magic weaved in the lich seal, to take control of the Hydra. The exnation of this realization is long, but for Evee this came instinctively thanks to her skills and experience. Following her instinct, he began casting spells to undo the ck magic shackles of the Hydra, while maintaining the to immediately take control once the curse was lifted. Her actions were not without reaction, while the Hydra''s struggle to resist became stronger, the power flowing through the connection between the legend and its master also grew. Natina had noticed that someone was messing with her summon. But could she stop it, just because she noticed? The Chosen of Kali was far away, but Evee was right here. It was easy for her to block the opponent''s attempt to take control with the she had prepared. Halt! Only the hydra''s instinctive thrashing, as Evee started tucking at the strings binding its souls, could get in her way. On thest stretch, when the beats became so violent even the colossi couldn''t resist its might and were about to be thrown around, she used the skill of her legendary pendant. could paralyze any undead that heard her shout. Even the legendary beats could not resist as Evee unwound thest string of the binding spells, momentarily turning the Hydra into a free undead, just before the rushed in to fulfill its original purpose. ! > The requirements to control undead who match the Lore of Hades are lowered by 10%. The stats of undead that match the Lore of Hades are improved by 20%>n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Finally... Evee mumbled before she lost consciousness. Chapter 1202: Stone Gates Chapter 1202: Stone Gates Fafi, nooo! echoed in the sky and momentster the undead manning the walls vanished around Garroun. Only the adventurers and golems sparsely spread were left to defend. Well, and the huge tree that was doing all the work. Themander and his men had been quite useless for the past few minutes since the tree appeared and began to defend the city faster than the hordes of zombies could replenish. However, he was concerned about Evee, the necromancer who originally summoned their undead friendlies. Combined with the shriek in the sky, had something happened to her? He could only hope she didn''t sacrifice herself to take down Fafi. Just as he had the time for some idle thoughts, there was an rm from inside the city. ... Damn it, I told you we should go faster! the archer said, trying to lift thest gate stone together with the tank. Security in Delta was tight. The moment their stealth spell stopped working, they were spotted by golem eye sentries that activated the rm. Isn''t that why we started with the gate instead of- the tank tried toment, but he was interrupted by their leader. Zip it and hurry up! the party leader barked as he drew up thest signs of the magic circle on the ground. They had been a littlete when they finally found a medium-sized za at some distance from the tree that fit to set up their set of gate stones. To make up time, they immediately started with the stone gate, instead of the hell gate. it was the right decision, otherwise, they wouldn''t have been able to finish the gate before the stealth magic ran out. If it wasn''t for the quick rm, they could have still finished the secondary gate. Now the circr square was covered with white chalk markings, while the archer and the tank set thest gate stone to finish the henge at the center of his scribbling. It was a singr stone gate, made up of two vertical and one horizontal gate stone.Gate Stones were extremely precious, as they were a catalyst that could create a gateway between worlds, even with such a simple setup. The meticulous formation surrounding it was just to properly set the coordinates unless it would create a gate to a random ce in a random world. The fact that the individual gate stones could be transported in the inventory made them even more valuable. Quick deployment, and easy transportation, if it wasn''t for the few drawbacks like the scarcity of materials andck of flexibility, they could have reced the usual teleport formation. Of course, this was not the original n. Just like Natina''s n to take down the progenitor tree, this operation was originally not meant to be executed in Delta. This was a n to steal credits once they found Minas Mar''sir, orid siege to Little Sigma. This had changed over the past two weeks, when it became clear, that Minas Mar was going to defend the central district. It was during the journey that they had gotten instructions from lord Byron to change the n and look for a chance to set up the gate stones in an opportune moment. Hijacking Natina''s original n was the best chance to sabotage her and achieve the mission. This tale has been uwfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Once Lord Byron''s troops invaded, the situation here didn''t matter. They would not only deal with the tree but also with Natina. Meanwhile, they would seek refuge in Lord Byron''s Domain once the passage was established. The moment thest gate stone was ced, a pane of light filled the stone gate, just after the rm rang. Once the gate was fully established in a few minutes, they could pass through to safety. Alright, let''s finish up while the gate is forming and get out of here! the party leader said, moments before a massive paw mmed into his side. Carried by the force, he prated the wall of the nearby building and was embedded into the dense mesh of rebar. The giant white tiger''s pupils constricted when he saw the gate at the center of the square, recognizing what it was. He watched as the pane of light in the gate started growing, expanding past gate stones. ... Duhu was the closest one by and had turned into his tiger form for speed, so he was the first to arrive. With a curse, the Tijaahk ignored the attacks from the remaining party and fled into a nearby building to turn back to his humanoid form. He had to report back, there were more rms than just this one. Leana, this is Duhu. They are setting up stone gates in the city! he contacted the princess at themand center. These artifacts were a serious strategical resource, as they allowed quick deployment of inter-dimensional gates, even on enemy territory. The biggest problem was that, once they were deployed, they couldn''t be stopped from outside, The connection would be established and could only be broken again afterward. The others had to hurry, if they came toote like him, they would face a dimensional invasion from several ces. Leana? Are you there? Did you hear me? he asked again. He stared at themunication orb in his hands after he shouted into it. There was only silence, nobody answered him. Was the orb broken or something? if they jammed themunication then-n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om We got it, Duhu, Leana finally answered after several moments of nervous silence. Sorry for the silence, but I had to contact Karina to have the Tree act inside the city, the princess exined her silence. The moment she heard about the gates, she acted to react as quickly as possible. As she spoke, roots shot from the ground exploding the pavement in all directions. In the za, the party of people above lv.140 put up a valiant fight against the botanical foe. I can see that... Duhu mumbled after watching the one-sided battle for several moments. As strong and valiant as their attempt was, they could not resist the attack of the roots for long. Ultimately, they were caught by the roots and pulled to the depths below Delta. Give me a moment to check the situation, the princess said, before disconnection the call. Meanwhile, Duhu could only watch the pane of light keep growing. It was half the size of the surrounding skyscrapers when it finally showed signs of slowing. It formed an illusory copy of the gate, several dozen times bigger than the original, framing the pane. It wouldn''t take long for it to stabilize. Duhu didn''t look forward to what woulde through this portal. He was staring at the towering sign of invasion when the orb vibrated. Leana? Bad news. Even with the treeing in, we only managed to stop two of the ces from establishing the stone gate. There are currently six active gates. How is the status on your end? Leana asked concerned, as Duhu''s was probably the first to bepleted. It''s about to open. Are you going to send reinforcements? the Tigerman asked concerned. No, leave it to the tree, you should get out of there. We will reassemble and deploy depending on the situation. Duhu swallowed hard when she said that they would leave it to the tree. The reason the tree was originally only attacking outside, was because it couldn''t really differentiate friend or foe unless Karina controlled it. So he hurried his steps. He had no interest in experiencing the legend''s friendly fire. Turning into a tiger, Duhu sprinted through the empty streets, just in time to evade the flood of rising roots and falling vines that surrounded the gate. ... Leana let out a tired sigh. It was one thing after another, however, this new move didn''t seem to fit with the strategy they had seen so far. Natina Durnham was a Necromancermanding several legends. If their goal was to set up gates inside Delta and call reinforcements directly from the empire, they could have done so from the start, considering they had a stealth technology that could get past their security. Why draw out the battle and call them, only when the Guardian Tree made its appearance? The princess could understand that Natina was feeling them out so far, but now she was just hovering above Delta with three of her legends, not doing anything. Was she really waiting for the reinforcements? If this was her n to deal with the tree, then they couldn''t underestimate what mighte from those gates. She doubted it, but maybe things could be dicey if they didn''t get serious. Seth? Seth are you there? she tried to contact the cksmith to update him on the situation, but there was no answer. Chapter 1203: Lumbering? Chapter 1203: Lumbering? ---Above Delta--- Those damn old bastards! she cursed. Her fists clenched so hard, she could hear the metal of her gauntlets creaking. A slumbering ember, the hidden fire of hatred and ambition red up, far greater than her indignation toward the cksmith. The moment she saw gates growing in ces surrounding the Guardian Tree, Natina knew that she was betrayed. Seeing how they used something as precious as the gate stone, she instinctively knew that it had to be one of the royals of Spatia. One of those decrepit, calcified pieces of shit that had stood in her way long before even the evaluation. To think one of these stumbling rocks had the gall to interfere with her campaign. It just lent itself to concentrate her wrath, umted across her whole journey here. The hardship, the losses, the worries that umted up to this point and these absolute cockgobblers were now trying to take her final prize from her? Good, fine. Did they want to y this game? She raised her fist and all undead surrounding the Delta began retreating into the purple dimension that had opened for them. They wanted to face Minas Mar? Then they were going to do so alone. Relocating to Kalzemir, Diromold and Piotr also retreated. Riding the dragon skeleton, she returned through the portal in the sky, back to the ce where the remaining soldiers were stationed. Natina would bide her time and watch her enemies rip each other apart. And then, when they were all on theirst leg, she would swoop in and get revenge, for herself, for Fafi, and even for Uz''Roc, that disappointment of an orc.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om ... --- World 234Z, Empire of Spatia---Eight armies made up of 15000 High-level yers each, each yer d in at least an epic set of armor and possessing an epic ss were assembled before him. They were his personal troops, iparable to the simple troops shoved onto the little necromancer girl. As if anyone would entrust an upstart like her with such hand-picked elites. His eight armies surrounded a giant eight-sided column, hewn from a small granite mountain. On six of the eight sides, portals had begun to open. This column was the focus anchor set as coordinates for the stone gates. My Lord, it seems that the coborators only managed to deploy six of the eight gates, the advisor mentioned on his side. Byron frowned and rolled his eyes. I can see that. Have two of the armies stay back on standby. We will deploy them depending on the situation on the other side. When the first gate was established they...did nothing at first. Everyone was waiting for the teams that set up the gates toe over and report the situation on the other side. in the meantime, the other gates also opened, but there was also no sign of those who set them up. Following protocol, golem eyes were sent in to find out the situation on the other side. Based on their original information, there was supposed to be a battlefield after all. If the teams didn''t return, it meant they were caught after building the gates. Soon, another adjutant appeared at Byron''s side. My lord, you have to see this, he said and handed him a magic te to watch the video of the golem eye. he couldn''t help but gasp, when he saw the forest of vines, pressing against the cracking barrier surrounding the stone gate. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Through the gaps in the roving flora, he could see the shadow of a giant tree, covering the sky. So it was true that there was a legendary tree under Minas Mar and the Necromancer girl actually managed to tickle it out of them. Very good. However, they had to move quickly now. The barrier of the portal was not meant to resist this kind of attack from a legendary existence. Tell the generals to ready their troops and stay on standby. Tell Jarvan, Soti, Vermar, Krista, and the Bishop to get their parties ready. They will enter first to do some ...lumbering, he chortled at his own little joke. Byron doubted the tree would be able to stand up against five legend and their parties. Jarvan, the Deathw, was a newer legend and attained great fame by killing an orcish legend from Kozdam, during an expedition to a non-system world. He used a pair of legendary obsidian ws that were said to rend space itself. Soti, the Hawk was an elf and legendary archer. She had already served Byron''s family when he wasn''t even born yet. Despite her age, she still looked as young as the first time he saw her. It was said her arrows could darken the sky and would always find their target Vermar, the Wolf, started out as a mercenary on one of the border worlds. They said that nobody he pursued ever escaped, an inevitable hunter. Even Byron didn''t know what weapons the beastman usually used. He was also the only legend under him without a party. Krista the Benign was a legendary healer who went the path of the divine doctor, that could even bring back the dead. She was not only well-versed in healing skills and spells but also had an expansive knowledge of medicine and alchemy. Her party was rumored to be immortal because of her skills. Last in the array of legends that would raze Minas Mar to the ground was Bishop Demus of the Order of Covdite. He was a legendary crusader and leader of a knight order under the Church of Covdite. Byron promised the church exclusive rights to Urth if they sent support and they actually sent the Demus, the Heathenhammer. Not only was Byron confident that they would be able to deal with the legends of Minas Mar, but they were more than capable enough to get rid of Natina and her rotten entourage, too. After the parties were briefed on the situation in Delta, they were ready to bring him victory. ... ---Delta--- To send them to clear of weeds, Vermar was disappointed at first, but right now he was frightened. Right after stepping through the gate, he got to see one of the most fear-inducing sights of his life. he came just in time to witness hundreds of wooden tentacles crush the temporary barrier surrounding the gate. The only reason he was not squashed was his Trait: Ghost of the Woods, which allowed him to be incorporeal and pass through trees and vegetation. Even if it was legendary, it was a tree, so he was able to phase through the vines and roots that came to rip him apart. However, passing through solid matter came at a price, so the wolf beastman had just enough time to pass through the wall of murderous vines and activate his stealth to escape the onught. He specialized in the hunt and singlebat, not in facing such massive attacks. Vermar had to halt for a moment. Although he heard about what Urth was like and what to expect of Delta, seeing the giant structures that made up their cities had him stumped for a moment. The sound of explosions, fire, and the intermittent light of holy beams erupting in other ces of the city brought him back to the moment and reassured him that his colleagues had survived just like him. Finally having the time to determine the situation, he took back his previous thought. This was far from pulling out weeds. In person, the tree was far bigger than it seemed in the video. This wall of wood, spanning several hundred meters and ending in green foliage could hardly be called a tree in his mind. If he used his strongest attack against the trunk, he might be able to block a hole through it, but the foe didn''t look like that would actually harm it. He saw beams of divine power shooting high above the structures of the city and severing dozens of vines and roots, but they just regrew. Yeah, instead of getting himself in trouble with something that would not even bother the local flora he decided to look for another way to help in this situation. He brought some distance between himself and the tree. On the way he took note of the various securitys, before finally finding a spot where he could deactivate his stealth skill. Here, he first contactedmand and reported the current situation and his idea. After he was given the green light, he brought out a small wooden dial, resembling apass. Reveal what I''m seeking, he whispered to the disc before crushing it in his paw. The Seeker disc was a one-use item that could mark the location of anything one knew on their map. This was the restriction, he had to have seen it or them before using the item and they couldn''t be too far away. The next moment, he heard a notification that two points of interest were marked on his . Reactivating his stealth he began his own little solo mission. ... Leana couldn''t help but be even more confused by the current situation. Four legends and their parties had appeared to attack the Guardian Tree, while Natina had actually pulled out. To make things worse, the Tower master himself, still didn''t answer their calls. Mina, can you go look what he is up to? Chapter 1204: Quick Trip Chapter 1204: Quick Trip ---2 days earlier, Minas Mar--- Idyllin Mo, I need you to take me somewhere, the cksmith approached the space magician, he felt a little sorry for the mage, who had been putting his utmost into buying time over the past two weeks, covertly teleporting people, beasts and golems into the way of Spatia. He looked horribly tired, but Seth needed a soul, an equestrian soul to be specific. Sandra Irving, who was running the shop while Tano''Mol was still away, unfortunately, couldn''t offer him the quality he needed. Even though the size was not an issue, she had no horse-type souls that fit what he was looking for. Meaning Seth had to go out and get one himself. There were no dungeons with horse bosses anywhere in Minas Mar, but Seth had one thing in mind. A creature they had met on their journey northeast, a region Idyllin Mo had frequented more often than any of them, to surveil Sigma. Seth was thinking of catching the main body of a Nuckvee. They hade across what revealed itself to be an auxiliary body of one of these monsters during their journey to Hyperborea, the ind of Apollo, to cleanse the dragon scales. If anything was fit to be the soul of the steed of hunger, it had to be this evil fairy creature. Seth had , as well as as an enchantment on his equipment, which would allow him to hunt on and below the water, for the main body of the Nuckvee. He trusted the effects of the Cloak of Hecate to find his target quickly. So I just have to get you there and wait for your return? the mage asked carefully. Yep, I don''t think it will take too long. the cksmith assured him. Fine..And that was how Seth arrived 20 minutester at the shores of Sigma''s Ind Sea, close to the straight that led through the northern mountains. Previously, the air in this ce was filled with flocks of flying creatures, but it had considerably cleared up now. They had siphoned a bunch of them to throw at Spatia on their journey. As an integral part of the deportation efforts, Idyllon knew these coordinates the best, which was why they arrived here. At a nearby cave entrance, Seth could see a finished camp, with a tent, supplies, and remnants of a campfire. This was the ce the space mage stayed during the past efforts. I will stay here, while you hunt for your horse, he said,fortably sitting down on the chair at the entrance of the tent. he ignored Seth and started a fire for himself. Seth was surprised how nonchntly Mo allowed the tower master to get himself in danger, but he also appreciated the ...trust? He decided to judge it as trust and not indifference. Fully decked out in his equipment, Seth stretched a little before pulling the transparent hood over his face and running onto the sea. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. was a passive skill, that could be toggled on and off and allowed him to treat water as a solid surface. Concentrating on his vaguely known target he followed the stars appearing in the hood of his cloak. His original hope was that the cloak would lead him to the location above where the main body of the fearsome monster was hiding in the sea, however, after maybe half an hour of speeding across the water''s surface at maximum speed, he felt solid ground reappearing under his feet. Then the stars stopped guiding him as if he had reached his destination. A little confused, Seth raised the hood to see where he ended up. Looking at the map, the cksmith had crossed a small bulge of the sea and reached a shore closer to the south of the sea. he was kind of the opposite of Idyllon''s camp, and could still see his campfire in the distance, using .N?v(el)B\\jnn Ahh! No! screams could he hear from the close by forest. Seth was still puzzled about why the cloak had led him here when an old man with drenched hair came sprinting out of the forest. He spotted Seth and for a moment his face lit up in delight and then fear. Run! Run! A Nuckvee ising! the old man warned Seth as he charged at it. For a moment he was happy that there was actually a Nuckvee here, but he couldn''t see any sign of it in the forest. Seth cocked his head and looked at the man running over. What did the man think he was doing? if there was really a monster chasing him, why would he charge at a stranger and warn them, instead of running the other way to not involve them? Most important was the appraisal result. It was the first time he heard of such a monster. The cksmith decided to wait and see what the creature was trying to do. What happened next was a little surprising. When the old geezer with the wet hair got close to passing by him, he suddenly showed a malicious grin and suddenly jumped at him. He grabbed onto Seth''s armor and pulled him into the sea with incredible weight and unexpected speed. It felt like the man was literally stuck to him, as they both fell into the water, right behind Seth. The bard felt the pull of eleration, and it felt like being dragged by a train, down into the depths. As they sank into the water, Seth was able to observe the old man change. The hands turned to kelp, stuck to him and his body became that of a ck stag, diving into the water. Light quickly faded, which wasn''t really a problem for Seth. neither was being underwater, thanks to , the enchant on his Earth Beats Ring, which allowed breaking in water and deep mines where oxygen was scarce. Seth reached out his left hand to grab onto one of the antlers, he immediately fell his hand and gauntlet stuck to the creature. Was this its special skill? Its n was obviously to drown him. The n had miserably failed. You are still alive? the beast eximed shocked, surprisingly well articted for speaking underwater. Seth also noticed that his was acting to help him understand the being, so it was not speaking anguage the system auto-tranted for him. ~Yep. ~ Seth said and used the leverage of holding onto its horn, to pull himself into a riding position on its back, which was unexpectedlyfy. ~ What are you going to do now?~ the bard asked curiously using . Since he was not crushed by water pressure and didn''t drown, he was interested in what the beast would do next. The water stag slowed down, but he stayed silent. Seth licked his lip, he knew this awkward silence. The beast had no n for this situation. He could almost taste its nervousness and confusion in the water. ~Could it be, do you not have an active way to deal damage?~ Seth asked amused, a de hidden in his words. He had used the time to examine the creature, speedily traveling in the water. After reverting from looking like an ugly old man, the Water Stag didn''t look too bad. It was very big for a stag. What appeared ck at first actually seemed like a mix of ck and a translucent moss-green like jade. It had a mane of kelp and tufts of seaweed at its hooves and tail. The mane was what held onto him previously. Overall, the shape seemed... equestrian enough. The color was also adequate. Still, Seth couldn''t let go of the idea with the Nuckvee. ~Hey, I''m a bit hard-pressed for time here and you are quite quick underwater. If you can get me to the source of the Nuckvee, I might let you live. Deal?~ the bard asked sweetly, his proposal was supported by a bright de that appeared in his right hand and kissed the stag''s smooth neck gently. The Nuckvee!? Are you crazy? I''m not taking orders from you! I''m not going there. No way! I-! it stopped talking when the Great Sog nibbled on its neck and a small bloom of dark blood stained the water. The stag''s eyes widened in shock. ~If you don''t bring me there you are useless. There is no reason I shouldn''t kill a monster that is going around, drowning innocent bystanders, right?~ "We will reach the destination in just a minute, Sir! No need to be impatient! Chapter 1205: The Source? Chapter 1205: The Source? ---Bottom of the Sigmaen Sea--- ~What is that?~ the cksmith asked the stag, still stuck to his back. T-The source of the Nuckvee, sir! What they were looking at was what looked like the entrance to the shell of a mollusk that stuck out of a rock cliff at the bottom of the sea. Inside the shell was a disturbingly meat-colored entrance, which was currently shut tightly. This had nothing equestrian at all! How was this spitting out creatures that looked like skinless horses and their riders, fused together into a nightmare-inducing monster? This stag was messing with him. He should have- Seth was about to do something drastic when the entrance opened and subjected him to a scene that would be burned into his mind for the rest of his life. The birth of a Nuckvee was one of the worst things Seth had seen in his life, so far. It was also undeniable proof that the stag told the truth. The problem was: He couldn''t use that for the steed, he needed a horse... or something like it. He was pressed for time, though! His eyes fell on the stag again. Equestrian enough. The color was also adequate. But he had given his word... but what was the word given to a monster worth? He also said he MIGHT spare it... Ultimately, Seth stored the sword in his inventory. ~Fine, let me down and you can leave,~ he said. He would at least get the soul of that thing as a constion prize and be on his way. The cloak had brought him on a ride that brought him to the source of the Nuckvee. It was his own fault assuming that the source would be horselike because the auxiliary body was.The stag had once again fallen silent. ~ You CAN let me down, right?~ Seth asked suspiciously. O-Of course, but you have to grab my antlers with both your hands. Then you have the power to order me and release yourself! it assured him. ~Is that your geass?~ Seth asked. If this creature was a being that appeared with the awakening of the realm, the condition didn''t seem as weird. Dig Dimblood had a simr condition about serving the one that caught him. The cksmith grabbed onto the other antler with his right hand. Haha, you fool! Who would have thought you would believe me? Haha, there is no way to release you until you are dead. You will simply stay with me until you die of thirst! Now that both your hands are bound, you can''t use the big scary sword! Hahah! the stag broke outughing, prancing around. This narrative has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. In the end, the cloak didn''t disappoint. It was Seth who made the detour, despite having the goal right in front of him. ~Welp, I gave you the chance, don''t forget that in a moment.~ the bard whispered into its mind. What are you talking about? Are you already delirious? it asked amused, happily prancing through the water, quickly getting away from the entrance and the Nuckvee that had emerged from it. One moment it was prancing in the water, the next itnded on solid, dry ground. Before it towered a huge tree with dark windows and a door. Legion was currently empty as all the golems and Faer were stationed in Delta. While the stag was surprised about suddenly appearing inside Legion''s space, the cksmith''s hand grasped the antlers tightly. Let''s see if your ashes will still stick to me. The tragic squeal of the sticky stag echoed in Legion, as the soggy beast was bathed in a sea of draconic mes. Seth''s whole body was enveloped in fire and so was the beast. Without the water surrounding them, it was easier for the me to show its full potential and the stag had next to no way to defend itself. It was thrashing around, crying in pain, and trying to get him off, but it was no longer in the position to decide when he got off. It tried shape-shifting and magic, but nothing could weaken the cksmith''s grasp. Lastly, it started apologizing and begging, to no avail. Seth held no mercy for the monster, as it turned to ashes under his very hands. When the power began leaving its body, the Spirit cksmith used to rip the soul from the dying body. With its death, his hands and body no longer stuck to it. He got off, leaving the coals to fall apart. The Soul of a Water Stag, a water spirit native to Urth. It retains 94% of its original skill and 82% of its personality. The soul has a high affinity to water and illusion. Trait: Tricky Opportunist > Seth had been ready to augment it with the cultivator souls if it wasn''t too big, but the Water Stag actually gave him a massive soul. It even had a trait, although the trait wasn''t too great. Tricky opportunist improved the power of skills by 20% if it''s involved in fooling someone. The examination of the soul also revealed the beast''s geass. As a beast of water, the Stag was only allowed to leave its home body of water if it brought a sacrifice on its return. On the other hand, the beast was able to gain part of the victim''s power if it was sentient and died in the water itself.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Considering how strong the stag already was, Seth seriously questioned what sentient being it had found to sacrifice up here. His first thought was the dwarfs they had found in these northern mountains, but from what Seth heard they never left their mines. Although he was curious, this wasn''t the time to dawdle. he had a soul that roughly fit his criteria, it was time to return. After leaving Legion, he threw ast look at the bizarre origin of the Nuckvee. If it wasn''t for the Stag, he might have fought it. Probably for hours. Right now, he decided not to. Seeing how he was now stuck at the bottom of the Sigmaen Sea, without a water taxi to bring him back up Seth decided to use Home Call on this rare asion and directly return to the entrance hall of Minas Mar. Dripping sea water everywhere, Seth contacted Idyllin Mo, who he had already returned, before returning to his workshop. Getting the soul was just the first step. While he started working on the next step, he put the stag soul into the Soul Refinery. The geass was not something that would be helpful as Hunger''s mount, and neither was its personality. ~Shall we have a little talk?~ Seth used to contact the souls. An intact ego was important for what he intended to do. ~Ah! It''s you! What have you done to me? What is this ce?~ the stag''s voice came back, full of panic. ~Oh? You died, don''t you remember?~ The soul stayed silent for a while after Seth''''s question, but the cksmith didn''t feel like giving it the time to sort out its trauma of burning alive. ~It doesn''t matter right now. I have your soul in my grasp and you have a choice to make. Shall I erase your ego, or will you be obedient and make a deal with me?~ the demonic bard presented the options with a friendly business smile. ~That doesn''t really sound like a choice...~ the stag mumbled. ~You have options, It''s a choice.~ The demonic bard insisted. Chapter 1206: Ready Chapter 1206: Ready ---Minas Mar-- For hours Seth had worked on a formation and he was just putting the finishing touches to the carving at the center of a workshop-adjacent room. With a strained sigh, he lifted the engraving tool to wipe away his sweat and look at his work when the door flew open and a hectic cat girl stormed in. M-Mina?! Why are you almost breaking my door? the cksmith cried out in surprise. The thought of the amount of work that could have been ruined, had she done that just a moment early, froze the blood in his veins. I don''t care, things are getting serious outside and you wouldn''t pick up your orb or answer the phone! she eximed in a hurry. Feeling slight guilt, he nced at themunication orb and his phone, both buried under a bunch of blueprints and papers on a workbench. In his concentration, he had not noticed theirmotion. Okay, okay, it''s my fault. Calm down and exin what is going on, the cksmith quickly gave in and asked her to exin what was happening outside. He frowned when Mina exined what happened so far and how they had to release the tree. The cksmith had been quite confident in their preparations, to the point that he even doubted that they would have to release the tree on the enemy. To think Natina had managed to amass this many legends. Maybe it would have been better to call in the guardians and Python, there was enough time in the past two weeks. However, his frown turned into confusion, when she exined what happened after the tree was released. Of course, the tree went on a one-sided ughter, as expected of a hanging tree, but the enemy''s actions were weird. So Natina pulled out her undead when the portals opened and four parties led by legend came out to attack the tree? For a moment he tried to make sense of their actions. Was this all their n from the start? Make them show all their cards, before infiltrating Delta with a new set of legends to raid the Tree and then pulling out her undead to take away the tree''s source of food? Especially the fact that Natina also pulled back. Even if they low-tier undead were no help, if she used used her undead legends to work together with the parties they would have had a better chance. Not that Seth was worried for the tree. Not in the slightest. Even if there were several legends raiding it, Seth couldn''t believe they had a chance to destroy it. Especially since its core root was still in Minas Mar. If they were really strong, they could destroy the main body, but the tree would regrow given time and resources. All of this seemed overly convoluted for a strategy, however, there was one exnation that fit the current situation quite well. Spatia was not as united as they expected and the two groups were not actually allies. Looks like someone fucked with Natina''s ns. I will finish soon, just leave the Legends to the tree until then. Really? This fast? Mina asked, having experienced when Seth needed almost a week of non-stop work to finish a single mount. Well, whether this works or not is still questionable, but I will definitely finish soon. I can only hope the tree won''t finish them off without me, he added jokingly. I''m sure it will seed. Let''s call Leana and tell her. --- World 234Z, Empire of Spatia--- The tree had taken action at 8 ces within Delta, six of them turned out to be gates to a different world. Before it could break the barrier on four of them, legends appeared to protect them. However, this left two portals unprotected. As it guarded those gates in anticipation of food. that would substitute the undead army that suddenly ran away, a single, curious vine made, and crown-blowing discovery. The gates went both ways. If we enforce the power here and here, we might be able to reinstate the barrier on the other side without passing over... and couple of hex-technicians were inspecting the giant gate, talking about ways to keep it out. What insolence! It had just made this discovery, it couldn''t allow this. With a touch of the vine, the technicians turned to dust and the nutrition was sent back to the trunk, together with an idea. ... Close the goddamn gates! I told you to close them! Byron hollered from his seat, overlooking the great column. In anger, fueled by anxiety, he looked at the ring of gates. Two of the eight gates were overgrown by vines and roots. The thick vines rushing out of the portal pressed against the defensive shield on this side of the gateway. The inter-dimensional gate could barely be seen through the giant thicket that tried to invade their world. W-We already cut the mana input and rerouted it to the shield! The problem is those vines, they are supplying the gate with power to keep it open! one of the hex-technicians shrieked, fearing for his life. Reinforce the barrier further, do it for all of them. The troops will help. I don''t want that thing toe through those gat-! his speech was interrupted by a shattering sound that almost blew out his ears. The barrier had exploded under the pressure of the vines! Go! Stop those things! Don''t let it take root on mynd! Byronmanded his generals and the armies jumped into battle. .... ---Delta--- The rm has been triggered at the Tower Barrier! one of the operators suddenly eximed to overpower the bustle of themand center. Cursing inside, the princessmanded the man to put it on the big screen. In the past two weeks, Minas Mar did their best to evacuate the citizens of Delta, but there was no way to deport tens of millions in a matter of weeks, not to mention that there was not enough space where they could be brought. This led to Delta being split into two parts. Three quarters of the city werepletely abandoned at this pointed. Although it was best to avoid battle in the city, if it had to be, this was the designated area to do so. The rest was the district was protected by the magic towers'' own barrier, which existed as a secondary barrier below Delta''s main barrier. Although it is called secondary, it was actually the main defense, as all people that could be evacuated, were moved here. The Tower barrier was thest line of defense. If anything got past it, they would have to expect civilian casualties. On the big screen, the scenes of the two ces appeared and showed two more gates that had beenpleted before they could notice them. The enemy had put two gates right at their doorstep. They had just started taking shape, but there was nothing that could be done to stop them, once the gate stones were activated. Get everyone to prepare, we will attack what and whoever wille out from those gates. Leana gave hermands to rearrange the troops they had kept in Delta and called back when the Guardian tree stepped in. The named Golems, the members of the Field teams, the ordinary golems, and the locals, as well as the elites under Rich, the vemancer. Suddenly, Leana''s personalmunication orb vibrated. Seth? the princess asked surprised, angry, and a little relieved. Hey, Leana! How''s the situation? I''m ready for the party. N?v(el)B\\jnn Chapter 1207: Half-assed Echo Chapter 1207: Half-assed Echo ---15 Minutes earlier--- To Improve Forgebrand''s Golem Formation was not a sudden idea. Seth had actually worked off and on on it, whenever he had time. The first step had been the Faer Formation, the circle that was able to create a living body for a deceased soul, given a foundation. However, this was the result he had worked on and off on since around the time he began selling Golems to Arget Nore. The problem with the Faer was that the creation of a body was almost impossible unless the soul regained enough information to form its own ego. Using the knowledge he gained learning the generic Automaton Ego of Hephaestus from Cormac Payl and his own experience, he had tried to create a simr formation that worked closer to the original version. But even with Al''Zalsar''s help, creating that would have taken a long time, if it wasn''t for a different change. When his reached level 3, the Spirit cksmith had not only unlocked thing connected to his blessings but also the enchantments his predecessor had created with . And this one small list contained what he had been trying to make, an already improved version of the original Golem Formation. It was quite simr to Seth''s Faer Formation. Like Seth''s take, it was a fixed magic circle, which built the body and imprinted Forgebrand''s own golem ego formation onto the soul used as a seed. It was part of a blueprint for an item, that could automatically deploy this enchantment on the ground, which probably started out as a carved tform that would be carried in the inventory and used when needed. This was his new starting point, for this idea. With the knowledge gathered in his own attempt to improve it, it wasn''t hard for Seth to understand Forgebrand''s work and in what ces he could inject his own experience and skills. His predecessor''s work was focused on the quick deployment of autonomic golems, simr to how a necromancer would operate, just that he would turn collected souls into intelligent golems, with whatever material was in reach, while Necromancer mostly needed corpses for their work.What Seth injected was the customization of the resulting golem, based on the soul used. This came at the cost of time but improved the power of the resulting creation significantly. In theory, in reality, the formation he just finished was his half-assed prototype he threw together because he didn''t have the time to properly manufacture thest steed. At the center of the intricate carving was a pile of materials. , legendary , , , and dwarven , only the best of the best, intended for the steed of Hunger. This was Seth''s way of trying to bnce the fact that he was not properly crafting it. He didn''t know whether that even had an impact on the quest itself, but taking into ount that he was technically not forging it, and the end result would probably look more like a stag, than a horse... It couldn''t hurt to use a bunch of materials, that were objectively of higher quality than the previous two mounts. The first Leg he had started with was also on the pile. All that was left was- ~Your turn, little guy. You know the deal.~ Seth spoke to the soul of the Water Stag, which he had acquired not too long ago. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The terms of the soul contract it agreed to were quite simple, absolute obedience to the cksmith and the rider he chooses, otherwise its ego would be wiped out and control would go to the golem ego that will be engraved during the production process. ~...Yes.~ ~Good, just listen to the music, don''t resist.~ The bard instructed the soul before cing it in the center of the formation. Seth sat on the chair nearby, taking out Oz, the demon lyre. His hand started touching the string, ying a simple melody. ... The soul had no ears, but the music struck a chord deep inside. The stag could hear it and the calm start of the song slowly led him him into a slumbering trance. Before its inner eyes appeared a vast sea and an unspeakable sorrow filled it, a dread that it could never return. It tried to think of something else, but his mind was empty, there was only fear, as if it was hunting him down. But why couldn''t he think of anything else? he tried his best to capture his memories and remember himself in this frontier of loss. Suddenly they came flooding back, like ripped sequences, seen by a third party and not like he was the one doing it. The urge to see thend, despite knowing the price. The regret slowly twisted into fun. The horrible price that had to be paid, became a perverted game. Visitingnd not for the freedom, but for the fun of paying the price. Fooling others to take a seat, to touch it, and then drag them to their watery grave. Seeing the memory that returned, he was terrified. He was appalled, no, that wasn''t him! Born of a broken beast, but not a broken beast. Born of a broken beast, never a broken beast Words floated through his mind, disrupting the spiral of horror with unprecedented power, jumbling up everything. Born of a broken beast, but not a broken beast. Born of a broken beast, never a broken beast The words came hard, with force. Yet, as they disrupted the vicious cycle, they brought new order to his mind. Right, this wasn''t him! It couldn''t be. He would never be like that. The sense of fear and guilt fell from him like leaves in fall. It was like the image of himself shattered somewhere within and he was able to distance himself. His chaotic thoughts which were like moths trapped under ampshade in his mind, burned away until only clear darkness remained. Born of a broken beast, but not a broken beast. Born of a broken beast, never a broken beast With force, they came again, but they only strengthened his new enlightenment. Yes, he was free from the beast he once was. The creature thaty awake forever, shaking and starving for the next prey in the darkness, unable to escape his fate. Born of a broken beast, but not a broken beast. Born of a broken beast, never a broken beast. ... Several minutes after starting to y, the formation sprang into action. The cksmith had already gotten nervous, but now the soul floating in the center had taken an incorporeal shape and the enchantment was running at full power. As Seth performed the song, he also supplied mana and heat to the formation, he watched the new golem take shape. It didn''t follow any of the principles that were needed when engineering a golem by hand, but it followed the fundamentals of a body. The first thing that took shape from molten and , was a core surrounding the nucleus of the soul. These were the core memories and traits that made up the ego. The bard had tried to slightly curate these, with the choice of his song. From there, the rest of the and the took the shape of a skeleton, resembling that of a stag. Key parts like the skull, antlers, and some of the leg bones were made of or covered by a thinyer of . The rest was formed from the ck . Growing from the core, along the bones were veins of , most likely serving a simr purpose as iys Seth would use for the movement enchantments on a golem, to submit magic power and signals.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Starting from the skeleton covered in veins, which had taken the center of the soul''s shape, the started building up like flesh, leaving indentations and grooves that would allow smooth movement of the limbs and partster on. It grew until itpletely filled the outlines of the soul, looking like a stag, carved from ck crystal and fashioned with silver antlers. Now, walk through the Water of Styx to be truly reborn the cksmith ordered it and summoned the Waters of Styx as a big sphere of water. The stag looked at him for a moment, before he nodded and turned to walk through the water. Strix, this is your steed, Echo. Treat him well, said with anticipation. He had chosen the name Echo for several reasons. The golem was an echo of the Water Stag, not a rebirth. It was the name of a woman with obsessive love in Olympian myth, fitting the stags sticky attitude. Lastly, because the original Striges were known for the sound, the echo, they created in the night. Chapter 1208: Unexpected Situation Chapter 1208: Unexpected Situation ---Delta--- Vermar observed his work from a safe distance, standing on the rooftop of one of the giant blocky buildings. It still felt a little crazy to him, that cities could look like this, but he had to concentrate on his work. The two portals he had set up, using the sets of gate stones the previous teams failed to use, were almost ready. Originally, they, the teams of legends, were supposed to secure thending zone for the armies on this side, but things went awry, with the other four teams fighting the giant tree. Vermar could hardly look at the disy of powerful skills and spells raining against the tree''s giant trunk. The hunter was unsure whether there even was any progress. Looking at it from the outside, the fight was a stalemate, maybe.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Jarvan, Soti, Demus, Krista, and the people they brought were too strong to be defeated by the onught of roots and vines. Inparison, the tree was suffering visible damage. The de winds of Jarvan''s Deathw ripped into the trunk. Soti, who was specialized in archery was even able to take whole chunks out of the trunk by sending massive swarms of magic arrows against it. Krista''s party was even more effective, as the mages were able to calmly chant high-power spells under the protection of her shield. Demus'' and his Order of Covdite used sword aura and holy magic to cut and burn parts of the tree, but the resulting wounds were little more than superficial. From their perspective, they made progress. One side was quickly ruing damage while the other didn''t. It was clear who had the upper hand. Unlike Vermar, they didn''t see the whole picture. To them, the scars and wounds on the tree were gigantic, but the world saw it from a distance. He had a much bigger view of the Guardian Tree. And he had to say, they hardly dealt any decisive damage. The huge wounds were a jokepared to the beast''s supermassive size. Not only were they not severe, but they also quickly healed without constant fire. Maybe the legends would have been able to sever the trunk and fell the tree if they got serious and worked together, but the current situation was a war of attrition that would take ages without a clear winner in sight.Seeing they wouldn''t be able to secure thending zones any time soon, he intended to get the invasion force to this side quicker. They could get rid of Minas Mar and then raid the tree with the whole army. Once it was constantly sted by strategic ss magic in addition to the attacks of legends, the tree wouldn''t be able to resist anymore. Vermar snickered when the gates stabilized and finally opened. With this, everything would end soon. He watched the gates in anticipation for the orderly rows of the elite army to march in. Of course, they would first follow procedures and check with a golem eye before- Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The wolf''s sharp eyes caught a sudden movement at the gate. A person came running through the gate. Shortly after passing through the gate, they stumbled and fell. They hectically got up and looked back at the gate. His confusion grew as he saw more and more people exiting from the gate. He recognized the army of Lord Byron by the colors of the armor, but there were no orderly rows, no signs of military discipline. It was a crowd of soldiers simply running at full speed. For a moment he had the illusion that he had heard the sound of music, but it vanished so quickly, that he wasn''t sure it was real in the first ce. Just what was going on? ... Vermar was too far away, unlike the security golems of Minas Mar. The scenes transmitted to the screen in themand center showed a crowd of soldier, their faces twisted in fear and many screaming at the top of their lungs. They areing! I don''t want to turn to dust! Just why did we have to update our home call!? Don''t run too far, you bastards! Get back in line! manding officers could be heard among the screams of terror Not only Vermar was confused by the scene, but the members of Minas Mar also had a hard time understanding the situation. They were preparing for a simr asion as the wolf expected, but instead, they got apletely dissolved army, escaping from something on the other side of the gate. Just what are they running from? Leana mumbled, but her question was quickly answered. As the streams of people finally slowed to a trickle, some of them began messing with the portal barrier, moments before the source of fear emerged from the gate. Thick, green vines came from inside the portal, catching some of the stragglers that were blocked by the changed barrier and turning them into mummies. The culprit was clear, seeing the botanical beast smash against the inside of the barrier. I didn''t expect that the tree would turn their own gates on them, despite fighting four legends at the same time... someone mentioned, staring at the screen, standing right beside Leana. Seth? she eximed surprised. Why are you here? Didn''t you want to go outside? the princess asked inadvertently. I was, but does this scene look like I need to take action? It is as I feared. The Guardian tree already stole my show! Let''s save the performance for Natina. I''m sure she is still lurking out there, the cksmith asserted, looking at the screen. A great number of soldiers had made it through before the gates were closed off. There were maybe 15-20000 soldiers clogging the empty streets outside the tower''s barrier. It was hard to estimate, with how many soldiers had spread through the streets. But only a fraction of those that made it through were actually organized. The small group was gathered at the two gates, reinforcing the barrier under themand of their officers. Seeing how the rest were still running, or trying to hide, Seth found it weird that they had fled to enemy territory instead of using Home Call. let''s try to use Operation Sandman and leave the stragglers to the golems to capture, Seth suggested after a moment of thought. Although these guys were on another levelpared to the demons, they were disorganized and did not seem in a condition to fight or resist the magic. Capture them? Why would you want to take them alive? Leana asked, surprised by Seth''s sudden leniency toward the enemy. After all, these were elites of Spatia, trained to ruthlessly kill and subdue natives of other worlds. To save myself the work. Once they are knocked out, the golems can strip them of their equipment and we can use them as prisoners of war to get more money from Spatia, Seth said nonchntly. It only took the cksmith a cursory nce to see the soldiers as a resource with 15-20,000 sets of epic equipment walking around on his streets. Putting them to sleep, meant not to fight them, which meant the equipment wouldn''t be damaged and he and his crafting department wouldn''t have to repair it either. After that, it felt a little overboard to simply kill people in their sleep, after robbing them. Seth''s next best thought was that they could probably get a pretty penny if they captured them. Although they were almost helpless in front of the Guardian Tree, none of the soldiers seemed weak. losing such soldiers was a great loss, maybe great enough to get some ransom. We should also help the tree, Leana mentioned, bringing his attention back to the four legends and their teams that were trying to destroy Delta''s tree. Any suggestions? the cksmith asked, the princess. She knew the situation better than him. Leana nodded immediately. It seemed that she already had a n. Yes, let''s... Chapter 1209: Legends Unite Chapter 1209: Legends Unite ---Outside Delta--- Hey, Ceres? Are you still fighting the Hydra? were the first wordsing from themunication orb, leaving the parrot of doom a little confused. Wasn''t Seth supposed to be working or something? The eagle was currently with Rayki and the Faer, who, fortunately for them, managed to reach Blotches in time to save the questing beast''s life. It wasn''tpletely safe, yet, but with the constant support of magic, music, and potions, Blotches was able to ovee theplicated curses and slowly heal its wounds. The necromancer girl took over. I thought she came on your instructions? the eagle asked back without much care in his voice. It wasn''t the elemental''s job to fact-check every stupid decision others made. Shit, so that''s why all the undead vanished on the walls. Ceres, can you go look for her and make sure she is okay? Leana''s worried voice could be heard from behind the cksmith. Evee is immortal, the worst thing that can happen to her is bing incapacitated, Seth, mentioned to soothe her worries. Ceres we need you here. Can you return to Delta and look for Evee on the way back? And tell heads to return, too. its maker asked. The elemental cocked its head from side to side, as if thinking about the task, before nodding defeated. he was able toe to look after Blotches because of Evee, so he probably owed her for that. Fine~, it said disinterested, and cut the connection. You guys better protect Blotches with your lives The parrot of doom left a final warning before he set off into the sky to look for the Chosen of Persephone. ...---Delta--- One by one, soldiers slowed down or fell over. Even the ones he managed to gather around him had empty expressions. Themander could also feel it. His eyelids were heavy and his mind was clouded. He bit his tongue in frustration and to clear his mind. Just how had thingse to this? Lord Byron''s n was perfect, they even had a group of legends assembled to attack. This abominable tree, he thought looking at the roots that had grasped the edges of the portal, and further at the center of the city, the source of this horror. His fingernail dug into his palms, thinking of the scenes at W-234Z. He had seen men get pierced by the vines and turned into mummies that crumbled to dust within seconds. When the barrier broke and hundreds of valiant soldiers were washed away by these things. They stood no chance, they couldn''t even evacuate as they had registered the world column as their home for home call... Themander could only feel sorry for those who were left behind to fight these things. They stood no chance, they were just cutting offshoots of this thing. A being even four legends had trouble stacking damage on.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Crack! The barrier had weakened, as many of the mages around him sumbed to fatigue and the spell. Even he could feel his consciousness slipping, trying to keep up the support for the barrier. Just when he could no longer keep resisting the pressure from inside the barrier, it vanished. Falling to his knees, he realized that the wooden tentacles had frozen and were no longer trying to break through the barrier. After a moment of stillness, they actually pulled by, leaving only the vines that covered the frame of the gate, keeping it active. Oh, looks like some people are still awake; he heard someone mention. With drowsy eyes, he looked back over his shoulder. A group of diverse knights had appeared and at their center stood an attractive woman with green hair. She had an ethereal air to her, a kindness that stood in stark contrast to the brutal-looking knight group. It''s alright, Lady Karina. We will just knock out the ones that are still up, a slender knight said, pulling the whip in their hand taught, to enforce their words. Knock out? He didn''t even have the chance to react when he felt an impact at the back of his head. ... This is not working! We have to work together! Krista eximed, using to reach the whole raid team. She had realized that their individual attacks were not enough to deal lethal damage to the tree. They had tobine their efforts and breakthroughs. I guess you are correct, Demus, the Bishop of Covdite agreed unwillingly using the same skill. I can help coordinate our attacks, Soti, the Hawk eximed using the . As a legendary archer, she had the best skills to see the big picture. Even if they were in different locations, she would be able to coordinate the attacks to align at least partially. We are ready to go along with your n, the priest of Jarvan''s party announced, as Jarvan didn''t have any skills tomunicate with the raid party. They just came up with a raid n, when the situation unexpectedly changed again, as the gates at their back began closing! What is going on? Did something happen on Byron''s side? Demus eximed as he defended against a root the size of a whale, trying to crush his shield. Unlike Soti, Jarvan, and Krista, he was not a subordinate of the royal and couldn''t contact them directly. I can''t get in contact with Lord Byron. Something must have happened on their side. Krista answered. Unlike Vermar, they were too close to the tree, to see what had happened to the gates that were unprotected. Does this mean the mission is aborted? Should we go back, before the gates closepletely? Jarvan''s priest Everyone stayed silent for a moment, as they concentrated on fending off the tree''s attempt to eat them alive. Fuck! Krista, the benign suddenly cursed in the . i think i know what happened on their side. There are tree rootsing in from the gate behind us... she informed the others, They were legends, not idiots, so they quickly understood what this meant and why they didn''t hear from Byron. Although they couldn''t know the extent of damage on the other side, if the tree managed to get over there, where no legend was left to defend, they were pretty much doomed. We should get back and help Byron, Soti suggested. if they returned now, before the gates closed, they may be able to fight the tree back and close the rest of the gates. This way they could prevent more loss of soldiers. Looking at the future, this may have been the better option, however.. No! We are fighting the root of the problem right here. We can end it all by winning here, Demus argued vehemently. We have to strike down this impure creature here and now before it can grow even stronger! he spoke like a true zealot. However, he wasn''t wrong. With more information, their decision may have been a different one, but at this moment it seemed like the best option to stay and strike down the Guardian Tree while they still could. If the tree fell, the situation on W-234Z would also end. Let''s gather and fight together then. Soti voiced the conclusion they had alle to. Together, they would fell this tree! Cutting their way through a forest of vines, the four legends and theirpanions merged into one big party. The legends themselves had a good bnce. Jarvan was a melee attacker, Demus could act as a tank, Soti was long-range physical and magic damage while Krista was a pure support. Their individual party, made up of high-level professionals simrly meshed together, creating a good synergy. They all united under Krista''s shield, which was not only able to withstand the onught of vines but was also located at the only still active gate in the tree''s vicinity. This still left the option of retreat. Chapter 1210: Off with their heads The wolf saw it all happening. His nned reinforcements were apprehended, the gates closed, and the legendary partiesbined. Yet, he couldn''t intervene. At first, he didn''t want to be caught up in a fight against the Tree at one of the two new gates. Seeing how there was nothing he could really do to turn the situation for the troops at the gate, he decided to join his colleagues in raiding the tree. Although he was not specialized in fighting against massive creatures, he could do at least some damage. However, when he turned to leave, he had a sudden visitor that needed his attention. Hello, young friend. It took me a while to find you, but we can finally have a little talk, a friendly old man had appeared behind him. he had a long white beard and a kind smile, as he stood there with his hands behind his back, wearing exotic robes. Who...? You may call me Master Mountain. ... They were in the middle ofing up with a strategy when the hair in Soti''s nape stood up. Centuries of experience warned her a fraction of a second before a bewitching sound entered her sharp ears and the vines pressing against Krista''s barrier slowed. Off with their heads ~ a whisper snuck into everyone''s ears as the music swelled to be heard by everyone. It was anguage she didn''t recognize, but it snuck into her brain and gained meaning. She was sure she had heard something simr before but she couldn''t quite remember. Like her, the other legends looked around, trying to find the source, not really affected. However, party members of lower levels showed various reactions, from looking around shocked and panicked, or outright freezing stiff. This was what she could notice in a fraction of a second before her attention was drawn to signs of movement beyond the wall of vines.Unholy sh! someone hollered and a dark energy de barreled through the forest of vines, crashing into Krista''s Barrier. The defensive membrane that had withstood even the onught of roots trying to crush it, shook. Dark spiderwebs of cracks spread from where the energy de struck the barrier. It didn''t copse, but it also didn''t recover as quickly as before. At a quick nce, a dark energy permeated the cracks in the barrier. judging by the name, was this actually the unholy attribute? Beyond the gap stood a muscr Minotaur, wielding a giant double-headed axe. It was such a typical depiction of the bullheaded monster, that Soti was struck with nostalgia for a moment. She remembered the time when she first started adventuring, centuries ago. Like back then, the beast exuded a menacing aura, like the executioner who hade to deliver their sentence. Dance ''til you''re dead~ The new phrase broke her nostalgia, as her leg suddenly jerked a little to the side. She was an elven scout. She had be a legend decades ago. her body suddenly moving against her will, even if it was just a little jerk, shocked her down to the core. This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Looking around, Demus, Krista, and Jarvan had experienced something simr, while their parties had begun swaying to the music, at various decrees. Many could forcefully resist the lyricalmand, but it was clear that all of them were affected. tsk, where is this musicing from? Demus eximed angrily, looking at the dancing people. It was a small number of the Bishop''s knight order, that was unable to resist because of theirck of level and resistance. As the Order of Covdite was the biggest group among them, they also had the lowest average quality. Still... Heads will roll! the music swelled and she could feel the ground under her feet shaking. As if triggered by the call, something fell from above. A giant, over 300-meter-tall colossus jumped down from the Guardian Tree like a monkey andnded in the city not far from their position. It was a massive figure with glittering golden skin, wearing a golden armor and crown. Even in the shadow of the giant tree, the giant gleamed with brilliance. Looks like Minas Mar won''t just let us raid their tree, huh? Jarvanmented on the situation. They had yet to take action. Heads will roll~ Another? Jarvan asked slightly surprised.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Another massive figure fell from the tree andnded with a great impact, matching the beat of the music and the swaying dance of the party members. Seeing the creature about a third as tall as the golden colossus, but burning in deep red mes, Soti was taken aback once again. Thest time she had seen a Fire Titan was in her childhood. Where had such a creature of old folklore crawled out from, to suddenly appear here? She didn''t have much time to ponder over this question, as the song kept going. Heads will roll! On the floor. Matching with the first two, a third figure, once again slightly smaller than the former,nded in the city close by. This time, Soti was just taken aback, because she had never seen anything like it before. It had the body of a giant and from its shoulders grew several serpent heads. It was grotesque. What is that? Krista couldn''t help but ask at this sight. Members among the raid team became disturbed by the music and the growing number of enemies. Soti shared a nce with the other legends. It wasn''t smart to jump into action right away, so they decided to wait. Ceres on the west streets, Big tree over everything. The fire''s all hot. You''re all done. Soti heard the cry of an eagle above and found the figure of a big bird, covered in lightning had appeared above them. Meanwhile, the music had be so powerful the ground was literally shaking. A legend! There was still a legend Minas Mar could use! Soti swallowed hard, seeing the presence of the eagle, lowering her defenses and resistance. It negated Krista''s presence which raised all of their defenses by 15%, only leaving the improved healing. Past the eagle, she also saw two other figures floating in the airspace above the city, just below the crown of the tree. She recognized the pets of the Tower Master. One was a giant flying centipede, the other a ck imugi, something of a pseudo-dragon. Her focus didn''t stay on them for long. Although they were powerful, they were not legends. Her eyes wandered away. As if drawing her gaze, she discovered a small figure standing on one of the branches. Using her elven eyes, coupled with the skills of a legendary scout, she was able to clearly see the culprit. She finally witnessed that bard singing this song and it matched with her suspicions. A man wearing a dark armor, cranking a weird instrument, singing a demonic song. This was the tower master of Minas Mar. The description they had gotten and the pictures they had matched perfectly. Everything had clicked, when she remembered where she had heard this kind ofnguage before and remembered their info on the demonic bard. Dripping with divinity, Tatzel stop tattling. The table''s all set. You''re all done. It''s the Tower Master, he''s on the branch up there. He''s the one sing- Soti was about to warn her allies, when the song interrupted her, sealing her mouth. The priest cries out- The elf cries out- The warrior cries out- The Saint cries out- Their men cry out- Demus: Oh no. Soti: Oh no. Jarvan: Oh no. Krista: Oh no. Party members: Oh no! As the music became even stronger and the beat prated their bodies they were forced to sing along! The priest cries out- The elf cries out- The warrior cries out- The Saint cries out- Their men cry out- Demus: Oh no. Soti: Oh no. Jarvan: Oh no. Krista: Oh no. Party members: Oh no! Twice. It happened twice. Soti was in a state of shock, as her mouth had moved on its own to go along with the song. Just what kind of instrument was this for someone of that level to manipte them? Chapter 1211: Under Pressure Off, off with their heads~ Dance, dance ''til you''re dead ~ Heads will roll~ Heads will roll~ Heads will roll! On the floor. The sound of drumming echoed, as the roots started attacking the barrier again. They didn''t have the time to be shocked for long, as the song became faster and stronger, prompting the tree to restart its attacks, adding new enemies to the roaster of dangers they had to face. The golden giant, the titan, and the absurdity were rushing at the barrier, giant fists adding to pressure on Krista. Even when the barrier was a legendary skill, there already was a giant legend trying to crush it, they couldn''t afford to let those three giant beasts attack too. Cleave! Unbothered by the roots surrounding the barrier, the Minotaur appeared at the barrier and attacked directly with his giantbrys. The attack didn''tpare to the earlier energy de, but it carried the same unholy attribute, leaving spiderwebs of dark cracks on the barrier that only recovered slowly. Someone stop that dumb bull first! Krista, the Benign, eximed angrily, as she barely managed to stop the damage from the attack and that of the strike to merge. If the cracks connected, she feared the unholy energy may spread. If that ox keeps adding more, I might not be able to keep up the barrier! I''m sorry! We are having a hard time resisting the urge to dance and chant at the same time! the leader of her own mage squad apologized in panic, sweat dripping from his forehead. His whole body was twitching, as he tried to focus and chant the spell. Members of all parties had now started outright dancing, with their limbs flying everywhere in a choreographed dance, like puppets on strings. It was hard to get any kind of organization back into the different squads the legends brought along. Maybe Krista could have done something against the dancing, but she was currently the only one stopping everyone beside them from being devoured by the tree. Sharing nces, Soti and the other legends decided on their next moves in moments. Death w!A transparent shadow was fired from Jarvan''s w weapon, chasing the Minotaur, who had retreated between the roots. The wooden tentacles smashing into the barrier were cut just above the ground, not even slowing down the de''s energy. The bull had nowhere to run! But when the de was about to bisect him, it suddenly crashed into a shield of golden light surrounding the bull-man. Sparks were flying for a moment before the golden barrier was shattered in two steps. the Minotaur was thrown back by the explosion of the doubleyered barrier and escaped the fate of living in two halves. ~Haha, did you think you could kill anyone with the great me and my little brother around?~ a haughty voice boasted over the music still ying. Weren''t they underestimating them a little too much? The elven archer thought with a smirk as her skill finished charging. She let her arrow loose in the middle of the creature''s sentence. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Cooking ass. Make it fast- The music halted when Soti set her arrow loose. It had vanished after leaving the bow and appeared directly before the bard in heavy armor without losing any time traveling the distance. The projectile struck the thin barrier covering his armor, crushed it, and hit his neck. allowed you to dodge the reflected damage.> The arrow had hit the hidden gorget that protected the bard''s neck and disintegrated under the reflected damage it had to take because it couldn''t be reflected onto the attacker. Despite this, she suddenly felt incredibly sick. Her body felt weak and she tumbled. and contracted disease.> A skill effect that affected her? She felt like the world was turning and her head was burning up. One moment to the other she had a high fever, her vision turned blurry, and chills shook her body. Her status window was filled with various ailments. The elf knelt down on the street, afraid to fall from the vertigo. How long had it been since he had felt this sick? Centuries. Never since she became a legend. The music had stopped, but she suffered the price. ... ---Outside of Delta--- Peering through the portal in the sky above Delta, Natina watched the situation unfold. Although she clenched her fist tightly, holding herself back upon seeing the hateful bard finally appear on the scene, she couldn''t help but gloat at other people''s misfortune. She already expected their struggle, knowing that even Kalzemir had struggled to harm the tree with his breath. Without her distracting Minas Mar, they had actually assembled their forces on the legends, just as she expected. Her smile grew even wider at the other situation. Natina had not expected that a hidden figure would manage to set up two more gates, but seeing them fleeing through the gates and being captured by the natives was a wee surprise. When she realized, that the other side beyond the gates, was also struggling to keep the tree from invading THEIR world, she almost cheered for her enemies. After all, if there was someone she hated more than the bard, then it was those conservative royals, especially Byron, that son of a bitch. Natina had no hard time, recognizing some of the legends that appeared, especially Soti was a household name for the Byron Royal Family. That old bastard actually tried to set her up, they only deserved to lose his territory to that tree. He could all go and suck it. it would be best if he just went ahead and died there. She would have a perfect excuse for all the things that went wrong on this expedition. Obviously someone was sabotaging her, so she couldn''t be held fully ountable for the losses she incurred on the way here. Who could prove her wrong? Byron? Who would believe him? His legends were all here, and they were actually struggling. Right now, the legends were locked in a battle against Minas Mar''s creations. Four legends were being besieged by two extremely powerful legends and several super-massive beings. The fire titan also came as a surprise to the Chosen of Kali. She really had not expected to see even more high-caliber monsters toe out of Minas Mar. If she was lucky, the invaders would be able to take down some of them, making her job easier. It was a shame they managed to assemble before Minas Mar attacked. Without Krista''s shield, they wouldn''t havested this long Things became chaotic when the archer''s arrow shut off the music. Although Soti seemed weakened, they started their counterattack with their parties able to move freely again. Krista''s mages pelted the golden giant in powerful magic to keep it at bay. Warriors and tanks of all parties, strengthened by the priests of Covdite and Krista, were defending against and pruning the roots that were attacking the shield, ensuring their survival. Leaving the position to their parties and the Parties to Krista, the other three Legends finally made their move. Natina clicked her tongue, but it was to be expected that just the roots of the tree, were no great danger to the legends themselves. Before, they just had a hard time defending their party and attacking the tree simultaneously.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om While it seemed like Jarvan entered the jungle of roots to kill the bull that kept putting cracks into Krista''s barrier, Demus rose to the sky, stepping on the backs of small golden cupids that appeared below his feet. The bishop went off the offense against the lightning bird. It seemed like Soti, despite her obvious weakness, was also about to attack, but Natina''s attention was crapped by a different part of Delta. If she remembered correctly, this was the demon district, where the demons should have invaded to raze the city. She frowned, thinking of the demonic ipetence. She found two figures fighting in this ce, away from the main attraction. PS. i hope ounts that "sell posts" and are the cause of this stupid setting go fucking bankrupt. Chapter 1212: Calm Mountain, Scary Mountain Young friend, just surrender yourself. I don''t wish to harm you any further, the old man said in a warm friendly voice,pletely contradicting the vicious fighting style he had shown so far. Vermar was looking at him, panting heavily. Blood flowing from a deep cut on his forehead drenched his fur and blocked the vision in his right eye. The only sensation he felt from his right arm was pain. Shivers ran down his spine when he looked at it. The limb waspletely twisted, and his bones werepletely crushed. It was no better than meat hanging off his right shoulder. The worst part was that it had happened in an instant and he didn''t even know how the old man did it. The lycanthrope had attacked him when he realized that his stealth no longer worked on the man. At first, he simply kept dodging his ws, he now realized that he had led him here, into a crater at the edge of the city. When they were here, things changed in an instant. One moment he was executing a skill, the next his arm was left as a piece of minced meat, barely connected to his body. Such a terrifying and brutal attack, performed before he, a legend, could even react. Young friend, I understand your unwillingness, but I am a bad match for you. You should simply surrender. Maybe the man was genuine, but all his words felt condescending to Vermar. Oh really? We will see about that, the lycanthrope growled and chucked a unique healing potion, fixing his arm instantly. Of course, the wolf understood that there were differences even if one seeded on the path to legend. In a fight, a legend focused onbat would have the upper hand,pared to a hunter like him, but he also had his pride! He became a legend on his own. He didn''t have a royal, or organization to sponsor him. He had worked hard, even when his path was not the most prestigious. He knew that he was a legend, focused on preying on the weak, but so what?! I''m a legend, too. Damn it! he eximed, pulling out his only legendary item. The bone awl was an artifact he had found enshrined in a ruin, and it was the secret to how he managed to be a legend without any support.He threw it and the small bone splinter shot off with incredible speed. The old man in white robes evaded it with ease, but the wolf smirked. Red blood was quickly staining the man''s robe, spurting from his shoulder. The bone awl ignored defense and always struck the point the user intended. Of course, using it as a weapon was not its original purpose. An awl was supposed to prepare holes for sewing in materials that were too hard for the needle, like leather. However, Vermar had managed to perfectly adapt his skills and his fighting style to use the awl as the perfect hunting and assassination weapon. He tried to approach things as a realist, but he definitely wasn''t a coward. He would just go down without a fight! ... Aww, shit... Natina eximed under a bated breath. She was paling against her will. Vermar, another legend known to work with Lord Byron had appeared, but just a moment after he became serious, he was leftpletely wasted. Held by the throat by his enemy, the lycanthrope was little more than a piece of misery. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om All four of the wolfman''s limbs were crushed into bloody pulp, his snout was broken and half his head was dented in. Holding him was a tall, muscr man, with a long white beard. At first, he had seemed like a benign old man, but the moment Vermar drew blood with his surprise attack, his robes exploded off his body and before Natina knew what happened, the situation was like this. What really shocked her wasn''t even what happened to the legend, but the view of the benign old man who had turned into a statue of rippling muscles, exposed by his ripped robes, that barely covered the important parts, needed to keep it pg13. This had to be an immortal. It made no sense that she wouldn''t have heard of such a legend. There was someone this strong still hidden in Delta in addition to the tree? She stared at the old man in fascination, when his eyes suddenly moved. Inadvertently, the man had looked up and his piercing eyes seemed to look at her. This was not possible, was it? After a moment of looking her dead in the eye, he turned away, flying toward the tree in the center. ... Seth had stopped ying the devil''s wheel-fiddle after being struck by the arrow. He had not suffered any damage thanks to the armor''s weapon negation, but he wanted to take a moment to look at the situation. The goal was already reached, there was no need to overdo it now. The bard saw no way for the legends and their parties to still turn this around. On the surface, things seemed to be bnced, but this stalemate was just a war of attrition. Jarvan, the man wielding an interesting pair of w weapons, was busy chasing their gate keeper. Asterion managed to survive the pursuit of the legend, thanks to Tatzel and Puffles aiding him with support and cover fire from the sky. Lightning and thunder cracked below the crown of the guardian Tree, whenever the Parrot of Doom and the hammer-wielding bishop shed. Seth couldn''t quite see who had the upper hand there, but he doubted both were going all out, otherwise the city would have suffered more damage. that were two legends busy with something else. That left the elf, who was currently suffering the bacsh of destroying his shield from the , and the priestess who created the barrier that kept therades of the legends alive. Originally, Asterion was supposed to create weak points on the barrier to break it, but they had seen through that. The yer inside the barrier couldn''t be underestimated, their levels were all in the middle andte 100s. If it wasn''t for them defending the barrier, the tree, Hellion, Heads, and the draconic fire titan would have probably crushed it by now. This was good. If they wanted to lure Natina back in, they had to make it look as bnced as possible, only then he could give the Horsemen the entrance they deserved. ? As he was thinking about this, a second figure joined him on the branch he stood on. Seth furrowed his brows for a moment before he recognized who it was., that had appeared holding a mutted torso in their hands. Yu? What are you doing here? Didn''t you return with Xiong Peng? the cksmith asked surprised. Master Mountain had left Urth with the master of the Soaring Eagle Sect to deal with the aftermath of the Sect Alliance''s attack after the Great Tournament. The cultivator had also intended to look for more allies, together with Xiong Peng. Ultimately they intended to create a Pro-Urth faction on the Voracious Cloud Continent, which was why Seth had not expected the old man to return any time soon. His change in appearance, or rather the reveal of a body rippling with muscles, had not helped Seth recognize him at first. I reached Mount Agra yesterday and heard of the situation here, so I hurried over, the cultivator exined with a friendly smile. When I reached Delta and scanned it with my consciousness, I found traces of a powerful being moving while hiding, so i caught this guy first, he exined when he noticed Seth''s gaze at the beaten figure in his hands. Wait, was this guy a legend? Seth asked shocked. having a legend sneaking around Delta was one worrying thing, but the fact that Master Mountain had crushed them without anyone even noticing that there was a fight, meant that Seth had severely underestimated Yu''s power. I don''t quite know. He definitely wasparable to a pseudo-immortal or someone in the early stages. He managed to scratch me when I tried to capture him gently, Yu exined, shocking the cksmith even more. Maybe Yu was a stronger ally than he had expected? By the way, do you know a young blonde girl? She was watching my fight by some weird means through the portal up there. I think I might have frightened the little girl a little, he added. Seth stared at him. Did it look like she would run? the bard asked controlled. I don''t think she will dare to attack with me here, Master Mountain said proudly, straining Seth''s nerves. Why were people constantly ruining the stage?! They had put so much effort in crafting the situation, but allies and enemies kept preventing the perfect moment. Now Natina was even about to run away! Maybe he had put too much effort into this. maybe there was no perfect moment to epically introduce his creations to the world. He was fed up with it. With a sigh, he took out themunication orb. Change of ns it is. Haa''Skon, Contact Cromwel, Seth instructed. It was no use getting frustrated. He could only fix the situation. They couldn''t let her get away. Karina, give Hellion a weapon and please take care of the captive. Let''s go. Leaving these words, he had Master Mountain follow him. The half-dead Vermar was left hanging on the tree. Chapter 1213: The Jungle Soti was finally recovering from the disease status, thanks to the support of the various priests from the raid party. Although she felt ill, she roughly knew the situation. The bard was gone and the massive beasts were currently held back by the parties that regained their ability to act. Demus faced the legendary bird and Jarvan was hunting the Minotaur. The bishop didn''t need help but if she could take down the Minotaur''s support, the flying centipede, and the Imugi, Jarvan would be able to quickly dispatch the beast and return. With Jarvan here, it would be easy to turn this situation around. At this point, Soti knew that this was a fruitless struggle. Just to resist and re-assemble they were exhausting their resources. Once Demus got rid of the eagle, they would have to make a decision. Try to keep fighting the tree, or retreat through the portal the tree kept open. Resisting the vertigo still left of the symptoms, she looked at the sky. Past the golden giant being sted by spells, she could see the two beasts giving Jarvan a hard time. They were floating just below the emerald crown of the tree. One was a ck Imugi, like a giant serpent with a dragon-like head and four stout, strong legs. The other was a creature she had never seen before. Appraisal called it an Ivicer. It looked like a giant centipede, even longer than the pseudo-dragon. Its body was covered in a white carapace, smooth like porcin and covered in golden markings. Its massive golden head resembled a scarab, with the neck shield looking like opened wings. Soti raised her legendary bow and aimed her at one of the six eyes. This one was the biggest obstacle, so she decided to take it out first. She had nocked the arrow and aimed the shot, but she hesitated when the golden colossus suddenly evaded the magic spells and bent over to the wall of wood, the giant tree trunk that covered her left field of viewpletely. It had grabbed onto a branch that the elf had not noticed before. No, she would have remembered if it had been there before. It had appeared there! Pressing his other hand against the trunk he started... pulling the branch out?N?v(el)B\\jnn Her jaw fell open when the branch actually moved. As if unsheathing a sword from the tree, the colossus pulled and the branch became longer and longer! The wood emerging from the trunk was smooth, with sharp edges glinting in the sun.Soti was too busy staring at the colossal wooden sword the giant had just pulled from the trunk, to utter a curse. The colossus took a practiced stance with his new weapon as if dering himself the King of Delta, after pulling the sword from the tree. The wooden sword had a menacing aura, even when it was just held still. The next moment she heard an incredibly loud sound. It was huge amounts of air, screaming as they were cut apart by the giant de. With one, terrifyingly quick move, he had swung the sword and blocked most of the spells shot at him. Her heart sank. The spells were already unable to harm the giant before, only able to push him away from the barrier, but now? The colossus took a stance, unmistakably the stance of swordsmanship! The wooden sword in his hand actually began glowing with sword aura. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The golden colossus was going to use a skill in addition to sword aura. The barrier was already barely holding up, despite their best efforts. Soti looked to Krista, who was staring at the attack, too. her gaze told the elf all she needed to know. If that attacknded, in addition to the tree''s, the fire titan''s, and the abomination''s pressure, it would break. Shit. We have to get away from here! the elf eximed. What are you saying!? Krista asked incredulously. Her pleading gaze turned usatory. J-Just shoot it! Kill the colossus! the support urged her, but Soti couldn''tply with her request. if she could, she would have done so already! But she didn''t have the time to exin why shooting the colossus would not solve their problem. Soti''s was a skill that allowed her to instantly grasp the weaknesses of her opponent and judge the likelihood of a decisive attack. The problem was that she could see no vitals on the colossus. She could see some weak points, but even if she severed a leg and showed the colossus in arrows, nothing could stop that next attack. Under Krista''s and the raid party''s shocked expression, Soti turned away from the colossus and let her arrow loose. Flying through the air, the one arrow began multiplying over and over and the massive barrage that had even taken a chunk out of the tree trunk rained on and into the portal behind them Everyone through the gate, quickly! Aiden, get them through the gate! shemanded the tank of her party directly. What about Jarvan? Our Bishop is still fighting! voices of dissent came from the raid party, but the decision was made... The elf had not thought that she would be forced to make this decision this early, but if they stayed, the raid party would be wiped out. She didn''t really care for the Order of Covdite, or Jarvan, but she was not ready to sacrifice her party in this battle. As thest arrow passed the gate''s horizon, the wooden sword began moving. It was a mighty swing, straight from above, as if the barrier was a watermelon he wanted to split. Seeing this, she knew there was no time for hesitation. Ignoring those who still didn''t move, she grabbed her mage and priest who were still running toward the gate, and passed through herself. ? Before her appeared the familiar in that surrounded the world column. Earlier, eight armies with 15.000 high-level yers each, had stood here in orderly rows to invade Delta once they secured thending zones. Now there were only the people that passed the gate before her in sight. Saying thendscape had changed was an understatement. Soti''s barrage of Arrows had torn a hole into the thicket of roots and vines that covered the in like a jungle. The people before her were staring upward toward the gate behind her. Following their gaze, she had to do a second take, questioning whether they really left Delta, when she saw the same emerald crown covering the sky. Atop the world column stood the same tree they had just run from! Maybe it was a little smaller, but it was a huge fucking tree, sitting right on top of the column hewn from a small mountain! But the tree couldn''tpare to the shock she felt when she looked into the crown. So this was why they called it the Hangingtree... she thought to herself in horror, witnessing hundreds, or thousands of figures, hanging from the branches of the giant vegetation. The sight was especially bad for her because she could see all the details, unlike herpanions. All the people hanging from the branches, with nooses of vines, were still alive, They looked like mummies, struggling, as their life force was slowly and constantly drained, as if they were just some small mana stone used to replenish power. No wonder the tree was endlessly regeneration on their side. Here he had thousands of high-level yers to draw power from, what about other ces? Fighting the guardian tree was worse than fighting a hydra! Who knew how many heads the tree had? How many stomachs were there, supplying it with unending amounts of power...? The realization struck her harder than anything so far. They were just a joke. Them thinking they could beat the tree, was like a bunch of brats believing they could y a real dragon with the funny, little sticks and wooden shields. Now, this thing had a foot in the door, literally. Run, run, RUN! she started shouting over and over, shouting at the people that came to this side. The gap she had created with her skill started closing and the roots surrounding them began stretching for their lives, too. Everyone started running, and the next moment a pdin of Covdite, who judged his life to be worth something, was suddenly struck. The holy shield negated the attack, but he was catapulted forward, rolling across the ground. It''s the vines! Be careful of attacks from above! The elf shouted when she processed what just happened. Looking up and back toward the tree, she saw a few more figures making it through the gate. Several of them were immediately snatched up by the vines. Run, Krista! the elf shouted at the legend who was among the ones that fled. She shot several arrows to cut off the caught members, but couldn''t help all of them. She wanted to give Krista better cover fire, but she also had to get her own people to safety. Leaving it up to the stragglers to follow, they took the lead, to cut a way out of the thicket. Chapter 1214: Not Cromwels Forte Chapter 1214: Not Cromwel''s Forte ---Outside of Delta--- Who would have thought this would be all I end up doing? Cromwel thought in derision, setting up thest part of a wide formation, surrounding a valley in the vicinity of Delta. At the bottom of the valley, the remnants of Spatia''s army were camping, at the edge of a massive gate. This was Natina''s camp, they had set up after their odyssey. With ns constantly changing, Cromwel had not expected they would end up returning here to set up an ambush. Apparently, the probability that Spatia might just retreat was high. Nobody could stop them from running away if they used Home Call. That was if they were able to use the system skill. Although setting up space locks was not Cromwel''s forte, that didn''t mean the researcher had not learned how to use them. It''s done, should I activate it? he contacted the cksmith and asked, after fixing thest focus of the array. Although it was a rough setup, the scientist was confident in its functionality. Activate it. We will be there shortly. ... Natina was hesitant to leave. The old man was just one legend, but her instincts told her that he was bad news. Yet, she couldn''t run. What would the imperial family think if she simply retreated at this point because of a vague feeling? She still had three legends with her and there were still two fighting in the city. Although she had not been able to see much of the fight through the thick foliage at the foot of the tree, she knew that things had taken a turn for the worse.Any other time, she would have felt gratified to be right and see the people who tried to steal her achievements get decimated, but the gaze of that old man had disturbed her. She would have already, left if she didn''t know what people would say. Objectively, this was the perfect time to attack. There were two legends keeping the enemy distracted. The chosen of Kali could take her legends and undead army and raid the enemy''s main base. Even if she didn''t take down the tree, destroying Mina Mar here would be enough of a victory to save her face in the empire. Unable to make a decision, she prepared for either. She told the soldiers to get ready to leave while she kept an eye on the situation in Delta. The old man had vanished under the tree together with Vermar and she had not seen him again. Should she attack and risk it? She doubted the man could win against Kalzemir... but she wasn''t afraid of her undead losing. if she was honest with herself, it was the first time she feared for her own life. If the old man aimed for her instead of the skeleton dragon, she didn''t believe she stood a chance. Not after seeing what happened to the lycanthrope. As she was observing the district with rapt attention the portal suddenly flickered. This tale has been uwfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. her heart dropped straight down to her undergarment, seeing a sign of static in the supermassive portal. This was a pathway created by a legendary artifact given to her by the imperial family! It wasn''t supposed to just flicker out of nowhere! Urgently, she lifted her gaze and hectically looked around, only to realize that all the smaller portals used to send out her troops had closed. All but the legendary gate had vanished. She froze. There was only one possibility for this to happen. Someone had deployed a spatial lock in the area!n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Use ! Hurry! shemanded decisively. Most spatial locking formations couldn''t block the system skill or needed time before they could, however- . The service in your Region is not working. Please try again at ater time. > Just like her own attempt, nobody seeded in using . They were stuck here. As the roughly 3000 soldiers left of her expedition force were in various states of confusion, the ground started vibrating. Covering the hills and valleys, every inch of ground was suddenly covered by a flood of undead meat gushing over the surrounding ridges. Zombies, skeletons, abominations, giant insects, and undead beasts were mindlessly rushing down toward the camp. Hidden in the crowd were also higher-ranking undead like Death Knights and Zombie Warriors. A creature resembling a giant baboon, jumped out from the mass, crashing into the camp''s shield like a meteor. It actually managed to cling to the shield membrane and started bashing its fists against it while letting out psychotic roars. This thing was at least on the level of a doom knight. More beasts jumped at the barrier, covering the dome in bodies that frantically tried to break it. Natina had experienced this often enough to immediately recognize Urth''s weird zombies. However, their numbers were iparable to before. There were thousands, no tens of thousands. Even more than she could ever dream of assembling in her own army. What are you doing! she barked, her voice enhanced with magic. Get in formation and defend the barrier! shemanded the soldiers, as she summoned her liches, to meet the untiring flood with her own. Frustrated, she chose to call out Piotr. Kalzemir could have handled this army with a few breaths, but with the living imperial soldiers at her side, she couldn''t use that. They would die even quicker to the putrid miasma than these infected corpses. Piotr, get rid of this flood, shemanded the lich. People may believe that a lich was not the best candidate to fight undead, as the enemy had a high resistance to necromancy and curses. But this was not necessarily the case. Although Sokolov was a legendary lich now, in his life he was an Elemental Archmage close to reaching the legendary status. He finally became a legend shortly before death but it couldn''t save his life. He turned to dark magic and necromancy because of a disease cutting his life short. Now he not only possessed the battle magic from when he was alive, he also knew most of the enemy''s weak points. The half-skeleton nodded and began casting. Giant, green fireballs kept forming a dropping from the sky in quick session. Where they hit among the undead, they didn''t explode but stter. As if the fire was a viscous liquid, it sttered everywhere and stuck to the corpses rushing toward the bottom of the valley. Green mes quickly started spreading, burning whatever they hit relentlessly. It was a spell specialized to deal with these zombies that were able to regenerate. The fire was cursed and would not stop spreading and burning until nothing was left of the one it hit. The bulk of the enemy army quickly wilted away while they were still charging at the barrier, but not all. The stronger ones just endured it and continued to attack, burning like green torches. Yeah, although they were a little troublesome, once a legend was involved, these zombies were nothing. However, this was just the advance party. They had to get away. If that old man appeared... Natina truly feared for her life. her thought raced, when her eyes fell on the artifact portal. It worked despite the spatial lock. On the other side was the airspace of Delta. The camp was covered in a formation that blocked their escape, but the district wasn''t! If they ran into the gate, they would fall toward Delta, but they would be free to use home calls. Retreat into the gate! Use when you reach the other side! the necromancer cried out, urging the remaining soldiers to flee forward. Advancing on Delta was their only way out! It was at this moment when she heard a faint beat, like the marching of boots echoing in the mountains. Chapter 1215: Get out of here It felt as if everything had halted. The burning zombies stopped attacking, and the soldier, who had run for the gate stood still. Natina''s heard her own ragged breathing. It was as if the world had halted for just a moment, to listen. Down from the sky. Into the fight. a voice erupted into the silence of this still world. it was a quiet voice in anguage Natina didn''t know, yet understood the meaning of. Her gaze trailed to the skies above, in the direction of Delta. Hearts full of rage, full of thunder and glory. The heaven above them actually darkened with clouds, as if a storm front approached from the direction of Delta. The burning meat sacks began moving again, with reignited vigor. Swords in the wind crossing the sky. A group of small figures appeared in the far distance. Natina shook her head. Seeing the undead move again, she forced herself to escape the weird state she was in. It had only been moments since the beat began, but it felt like minutes. What are you all waiting for?! Get out of here, evacuate through the portal. You are just in the way, Natina finally barked hermand, ripping the soldiers out of their stupor. How was she supposed to fight properly, when she had to look out for all this luggage? Lords of doom bring an end to your story. The cry of a melody erupted among the mountain, shaking the very bedrock they stood on, as the figures got closer. The Chosen of Kali could feel her knees weaken under the vibration and suppression of the music. The figures were close enough to make them out. There were five figures in the front, one riding a griffin, three riding horses, and one riding what looked like a horned beast. The moment she managed to get a closer look, she regretted it immediately, as her heart proceeded to drop down her pants. A knight in dull gray armor, carrying a staff and a shield. The armor looked menacing, giving off a feeling of dread. The knight rode a metallic horse covered in almost fluffy-looking frost and left a trail of snow in the sky. A knight bursting with mes, parts of his armor looked ck, but many parts were glowing red and yellow from the heat. He carried the burning de of a sword without a hilt and rode a metallic horse, bursting with pure crimson mes, leaving a trail of fire and smoke in the air.An automaton resembling a knight in heavy armor made of a crimson material with red markings. Compared to the others, it was slimmer and sleek in design, a fusion of armor and golem. In it''s hands it carried a frightening contraption, which resembled a staff, fashioned with a boat hook at one end, and three chains that ended in vicious hooks at the other end. This one rode a stag, which looked like it was carved from ck crystal, except for the silver antlers on its forehead. The stag left a trail of water droplets on its path. Stolen novel; please report. Natina immediately recognized thest one, as she remembered her jealousy for the mount. The fourth horseman rose a pale white Night Mare. It was a night as ck as darkness itself, emitting the aura of death from his armor that looked like ck crystal. He carried no weapon, except the horde of undead surrounding the camp. She immediately felt the effects of the horseman of death. First, she felt sick all of a sudden as her health dropped to 850/1000. Then the threshold of the control stat needed to control her undead rose sharply. It felt like a 20-25% increase in requirement. Natina shivered as the realization hit, that Minas Mar had been hiding four more legends. What would have happened if her original n seeded? At that time she would not only have faced the tree, but these four, too, and maybe the old man on top... She looked around. At hermand, the living members of her army got back in motion, sprinting toward the massive gate. They were just humanoids, but their legendary effects were overwhelming. She needed Kalzemir, if only- They actually had a set effect, as legends?! The Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Natina''s thoughts came to a grinding halt. Puzzle pieces she had not connected before were now falling into ce. The phrase had unlocked a memory like a key. When she became a royal of Spatia, she learned about legends and myths. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was a Myth existing across the Patchworks, just like the dragon myth of whom dragon inherited their legendary properties. However, unlike dragons who could actually be encountered, the four horsemen were more like a rumor. Their existence was doubted and unproven, as no believable witness reports could ever be found. The point was that she was right now staring at something that was not supposed to exist! Born under the sign of the hammer we stand and here you all may die. Shocked she witnessed what was happening below, past the portal. The soldiers of Spatia had jumped through the gate into the skies above Delta, where they intended to use to escape back to their home base. Jump through the gate, fall for a bit and vanish. This was what was supposed to happen, so why was Natina now watching the people fall and fall? As if in slow motion, she watched on as their faces twisted into expressions of panic and horror, as the system skill didn''t activate even past the portal. Their mouths were ripped wide open, screaming cries of panic and fear that could not be heard at this distance, as they vanished into the crown of the tree. Whether the horrific nt devoured them, or their bodies exploded upon hitting the Iego System didn''t matter. Their demise was certain. Blood spilled on the ground, the battle horns sound. Let thy armies die! Over two-thirds of the soldiers had already jumped by the time people at the rim realized that the n was not working. Natina watched over 2000 people jump over the rim of the portal and fall to their deaths like a horde of lemmings. All at hermand. Above the music swelled again. Down from the sky. Into the fight. Hearts full of rage, full of thunder and glory. The four horsemen literally swooped down from the sky, raising their arms. They were finallying to get them! Four legends were diving at the camp. She wanted to summon Kalzemir and Diromold, resist even if it cost her the rest of the soldiers. However. R?? . You are stunned.> Swords in the wind crossing the sky. Lords of doom bring an end to your story. Was this the end? Tsk, to think even my summoner forgot my existence. ... --Delta-- Idylon Mo stared down at the tree crown below where over 2000 people had just vanished, finding their end because of his deeds. Although he knew what he was doing, when he created a spatial lock above Delta, he only quite realized it, when it actually happened.N?v(el)B\\jnn This had been his n. He had theorized that a spatial lock was unable to close this gate, created by a legendary artifact. Maybe it would have been better if he had been wrong... Even when they were soldiers of Spatia, he couldn''t help but feel some burden on his mind. Did they deserve to die like this? Shaking his head, he chased away those thoughts. He could still ponder on his actions at ater time, he had something more important to do now. With a serious look, he approached the supermassive gate above Delta. Chapter 1216: City Deployment "Don''t just disregard me. Piotr, the legendary lich reminded them of his existence, as he stabbed his staff into the ground. Rushing out from the tip of his staff were lines of magic, shining a bright blue. They covered the whole valley, swallowing the undead and surrounding mountains in their light. City Deployment the rotten skeleton eximed, the sparse, long beard hair waving in the wind of his power, as he showed why one should never underestimate a wizard with preparation time. Rising from the magic circle that resembled a giant snowke, was a ghostly city. Incorporeal ancient ruins, made of translucent pale energy covered the valley. In a matter of moments, the lich had erected an ancient necropolis with him being its lord. The camp''s shield strengthened, as power collected on the skeletal torso. Natina found hope again. Although Piotr had shown a sorry state fighting the dragon and the worm in the sky, it was a different case for a battle on the ground. The Lichs legend revolved around his immortal city of undeath, where he reigned over the dead and enved the living. Suddenly, four voices sounded, singing in unison. Today is the day you die in the fight. None shall remain to pass one more night As if to answer their choir, the sky was filled with cursed magic directed at the horsemen and their demonic bard. What doubled resource cost? What increased casting time? In this summoned apparition of Sokolovs home ground none of that matter. The effects of the skill nullified their debuffs. His casting time and cooldowns were nullified here, and he was sucking mana from the city, thend, and its newly acquired residents, the zombies of Urth, which wouldnt die even if he sucked them dry over and over. The only drawback of the legendary skill was that it needed time to deploy and the effectiveness depended on the situation. A barrage of unending spells filled the sky, raining down on the four horsemen, showing that the current location was favorable. Right, this wasnt the time to hesitate. She looked a thest living soldiers left, less than one thousand.It didnt matter anymore now. Whether they lived or died, she would get in trouble anyway. Her life was more important. Relying on the Elder Lich for cover, Natina opened her circle of reincarnation and to bring the skeleton dragon and the koor worm back out. With three legends on her side, one of them being Kalzemir, her chances would be- Choir: Now the World''s calling us- Seth: Immortal! Choir: We are lords of war Seth: Immortal! Choir: We are lords of war Her thought came to a grinding halt as a figure plowed through the sea of offensive magic with incredible speed as if it was an innocent autumn creek. The aura of menace the rider expelled made the curses and spells surrounding him seem harmless. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The horsemen of hunger, wielding his baneful weapon seemed unimpressed by the magic hurled at him. When he reached the barrier over the camp, at the center of the incorporeal city, the automaton mmed the hooked end of its staff against it. It didnt break. There was not even an impact. The mighty bulwark of magical protection just fizzled out. Where the hook touched it, it became paler beforepletely vanishing, creating a hole with soft, thin edges on their shield, like a vite framing the riders arrival. Where Strix passed, the blue city of ancient ruins lost its vigor and color. The ck stag charged at Sokolov, so fast that Natina could only watch, but not react. The horseman swung his staff and the three hooks at the end of the chains struck Sokolovs rib cage, taking hold of the elder Lich. You have been weighed! the rider eximed with a terrifying voice, as he lifted the lich up, using his right hand as the bnce point of his scale. As the legend was hoisted up, the vivid mana flowing through his bones and around his body dimmed, as it was absorbed by the vicious hooks, wed into his torso. Even the ethereal city around them dimmed in this short amount of time. Cursing in her mind, Natina began casting her skill to support Piotr, but she immediately felt the weight of the legendary presence. What used to feel smooth and easy when casting the skill, now felt like a chore, as if she was chewing sand while casting spells. She could only try and cast as fast as possible, while she was forced to watch in the meantime. You have been measured! the horsemen eximed, riding a curve, still pulling Sokolov along. At the peak of the curve, uniting the momentum as well as the power behind swinging the weapon, the hook dislodged. nk nk, with a bell-like, bright sound of chains, the legendary Lich was catapulted into the massive rock face of the valley. The skeleton torso was lodged deeply into the rock of the valley. Natina had a hard time feeling her connection to the undead. She had to hurry... The stag became slower,ing to a halt. And you have been found wanting, the automaton finished, staring at the lich, whocked the strength to move. The horseman had no eyes, but his gaze was filled with an unquenchable thirst. Natina would have never thought that someones hunger could be so palpable. Before she could finish her casting, the skeleton dragon and the undead sea serpent had finally exited her cycle. This was her chance, she had to buy time. The automaton was attempting to pull the lich from the hole in the rock, she had to stop this. Diromold, stop him! shemanded telepathically, oveing her shock. Her instincts finally kicked in. She had to fight for her life, struggle, and w her way out to survive. Her undead army flooded from the purple gates and the undead under her summoned more undead. She threw everything she had into the situation. ?? Seth: Omens, what are you waiting for? Go join them by their side! Let the four horsemen go- For a ride! Choir: Born under the sign of the hammer we ride and here you all may die. Answering the bard, the other three horsemen charged into the valley like a murder of crows. Their blood on the ground, Conquest spoke. Diromold, who had charged at the horseman of hunger to save Piotr, was suddenly struck by a bolt of purple lightning, turning part of the desated skin atop the bones into a dull metal. The sea serpent halted for a fraction of a second, and then the surfaceyer of skin that had turned into metal broke off like brittle stone under the force of its motion. However, this gave the horseman just enough time to evade, riding his ck stag. While the Koor Worm faced the horsemen of Hunger and Conquest, the horsemen of War attacked the skeleton dragon. Enduring the debuffs of their legendary aura, Natina finally managed to finish the casting for her skill , before the next attacks hit. Kalzemir, Diromold, Piotr, the Liches, the Doom Knights, and every undead under her and every undead under them were d in purple mes, significantly increasing their powers, and bringing back some of the vigor they possessed in life, as additional strength. However, it also left the necromancer with less than a third of her mana at the same time. The battle horns sound. War continued. The crimson mes of the horseman of War covered the sky, as he released an attack from his de. The wave of fire washed across Kalzemir, but left no visible damage. Natina clenched her fist in excitement. She had been shocked by four new legends suddenly appearing, but they were all humanoid.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Right, facing Kalzemir was for them,parable to Byron''s legends facing the abominable guardian tree. She still had the upper hand! She- A cold shiver ran down her spine. Acting on pure instinct, she activated the power of Kali. In an instant, six arms made of purple energy, each equipped with a different legendary item, blocked a hand d in glistening ck armor. A ck knight, d in the aura of death, oozing from the armor like a dark fog, had reached out his hand for her. The horseman of Death had approached from behind, without her even noticing that he was missing from the battle. The empty eye slits of the helmet glowed in a fiendish, dim red. Let thy Armies die. Chapter 1217: Auras Galore Chapter 1217: Auras Galore Her confidence was blown away in an instant. The death energy emitted by that hand could have ended her here and now. All her ambitions would have ended just like this. The horseman of death had no weapon because he didn''t need it. Just the touch was enough to kill someone. The hand had been blocked by a legendary shield, but Natina didn''t need to see the item''s durability dropping quickly. She couldn''t face this creature. Although it was not as frightening as the old man, she knew that she would lose in a fight. A scroll appeared in her hand and she crushed it. The scroll of Instant Transmission, allowed her to blink to any ce in a radius of 200m. The location she appeared at was inside Kalzemir. The small pavilion built on the dragon''s back was destroyed during the battle with the colossus, but that was not her destination anyway. Natina took shelter in the dragon''s rib cage. Here, right beside its withered core, they had installed a city-level shield generator, which had already protected the dragon a few times. Although it could shield the whole beast, it was much stronger and safer for her, to limit the shield to the rib cage, where she was. She wanted to give a sigh of relief when a notification popped up. . There is a chance of 15% of insubordination and infighting.> . Irrational Impulses based on outside stimuli are strengthened by 15%.> . Undead have be 20% harder to control.> . your health regeneration is lowered by 20%. Healing is 20% less effective.> Shocked, she looked back at the camp, which was now located below and behind her. The effects on herself she barely noticed but she had not only felt the strain of the increasing requirements for her subordinates, but also the loss of connections to many of them. In dismay, she watched many of her arduously collected undead kneel to the horseman of Death!One out of ten liches and doom knights bowed their heads, and only 1 out of ten followed hermand to attack the ck knight. Beyond that, the effects of war were even more visible among her indirect summons. The horde of summoned undead that used to resist Urth''s zombies was now embroiled in fighting among themselves, as almost a third of the lower undead turned to attack their allies. The aura obviously affected them even stronger than her... . There is a 15% chance for your subordinates to be ovee by an unquenchable hunger. They will fall into a state of hunger and try to devour anything to fill the void.> . All your physical stats are lowered by 10%. There is a 5% chance of falling into a state of hunger.>N?v(el)B\\jnn She suddenly felt sluggish and tired, but the scenes unfolding below kept her awake, as she realized that the auras did not differentiate between friend and foe. On both sides, the lower-ranking minions were fighting, and on both sides were units that began trying to devour theirrades and enemies. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Like sparks shot from a camping fire, undead jumped out from the barrier and into the crowd, wildly biting around and being devoured themselves. It had not even been 2 seconds since the auras were deployed, but the battlefield had devolved intoplete chaos. Although the zombies were burning in Piotr''s green fire and her undead glowed in her purple gloom, the only fights with clear sides now were the waves of fire, constantly rocking her shelter, as War tried to fight Kalzemir, Piotr resisting the horseman of Hunger and Diromold dealing with Conquest. Death was causing more chaos below, stealing control of her undead... Piotr, empowered by her skill, was now barely holding on against the automaton swinging the hooked staff, by blinking around the ghostly cityscape, and mixing in various spells to buy time. Although the sea serpent''s attacks were mostly water, which froze when getting close to the horsemen on his freezing steed, Conquest was on the retreat when facing the massive beast. As the situation unfolded, she realized that she might have overreacted. With the koor worm and the skeleton dragon, the four horsemen might still not be enough to face her. Although it hurt seeing her forces being worn away, as long as she stayed safe in the dragon, she might have a chance of winning. Down from the sky, into the fight. Hearts full of rage, full of thunder and glory! Natina was about to regain confidence when the grinding lyrics returned, she was suddenly thrown forward. The skeleton dragon that was fighting the Horseman of War was suddenly stopped. Reaching up from the portal on the floor of the valley, was what looked like a golden tower at first. A giant arm, over 100m long, had stretched from below and its golden hand grabbed onto the hind leg of the dragon skeleton. How was this possible? The artifact was only supposed to work for people associated with Spatia! What was the giant doing here? Had this been their ploy from the start? Had War kept Kalzemir in ce, close to the gate, to allow the Colossus to grab it like this? Her thoughts were in chaos, suddenly facing this situation. She couldn''t help the myriad of suspicions surfacing in her mind. She had a hard time catching a calm thought since she saw the old man, but the gate being corrupted for enemy purposes was so far outside her expectations, that it felt like the floor was pulled from under her feet. Swords in the wind crossing the sky. A massive ray of light shot up from the gate below, brushing past Kalzemir, while a beam of lightning hit the koor worm. The golden colossus, pulling himself out of the portal like a zombie from its grave, was not the only one joining the battle. Beasts of Cmity bring an end to your story! Carrying a giant wooden stick, the giant centipede and the Imugi appeared from the portal, attacking the skeleton dragon and Diromold. The moment she raised her hopes, she found her advantages being taken away by the power of friendship. The enemy brought reinforcements! Kalzemir! Rise! ... They couldn''t let the Necromancer escape. With Idylon sessfully sabotaging the gate, Seth had brought as much as he could. The space mage had even thrown Hellion into the skies of Delta, from his inventory. The Colossus of Rhodes, covered in and shining with holy aura, held onto the giant dragon burning with purple light as he pulled himself from the hole. Since the battle started, the bard concentrated on ying his music, so he could only watch what was happening now. Today is the day they die in the fight. None shall remain to pass one more night. Holding onto the dragons hind leg with his right hand, Hellion caught the giant branch Puffles and Tatzel brought along. It was the weapon Karina had provided the giant. Driven by biomechanical muscle, the stake was rammed between the lower ribs of the dragon. Using the big stick for leverage, the recreation blessed by Helios pulled himselfpletely out of the portal, climbing the dragon. The colossal golems weight pulled the dragon down, allowing Hellion to get solid ground back under his feet, crushing a bunch of ant-sized undead in the process. The skeleton dragon d in purple mes angrily threw his head around to bite the pesky foe, even trying to st him with a breath, but the attack of the horseman of War disrupted the giant beast''s bnce. Hellion finally let go of the dragon, pulling out the branch he struck thending and took his stance. It was just a giant, straight piece of wood, but as the massive golden knight took an overhead posture, a fine gleam of white aura mixed with holy power formed on the rough woods surface. It was finally Hellions chance to show his true potential after fully inheriting 80% of the skills, knowledge, and experience of a Knight Commander. His movement seemed calm and without haste, despite the speed they were performed. A simple diagonal strike from the upper right to the lower left, across the dragons behind. For the first time, damage was visible. The simple strike left a deep gash across the dragons hip, upper leg bone and tail vertebrae. As they said. A true master could even cut with a stick! Today is the day you die in the fight. None shall remain to pass one more night Chapter 1218: Man’s Big Stick Natina gasped in shock when she registered the damage Kalzemir suffered despite her legion buff. How could that happen? Kalzemir was immune to weapon damage and his bones negated 85% of any iing damage! Unless the image of the weapon the golem used shed in her mind. It was gigantic, but barely more than a crude piece of wood, that grew kind of straight. In that case, even if it was grown from high-quality material, could it be the system did not recognize it as a weapon?! To think there was this kind of workaround, apart from focusing on magic or hand-to-handbat with a dragon. Even if it avoided being negated, there was still so much damage despite being 85% negated. She couldnt let Kalzemir suffer like that!-- To the sky! Quickly! Then we only have to deal with the horseman, shemanded the skeleton dragon, who followed her order in silence, or at least tried to, when a bolt of purple lightning hit his horn, turning the surface to brittle, dull metal. What was the horseman of Conquest doing here?! Ignoring the damage on the rear, she spurred the dragon on to get higher, to escape the golden mans big stick. Feeling the change on the ground, Natina looked back to realize that she had made the wrong decision. While Hellion, Bazalith, and Wolfram had turned to the skeleton dragon, the sea serpent and the elder lich got teamed up on by Puffles, HaaSkon, Strix, and Tatzel. The Death Knight and the Ivicer were ravaging the weakened elder lich who had suffered from the sneak attack of the hungry automaton. The horseman in question had lost interest in the lich after sucking him dry for the most part and changed his target to Diromold, who had been fighting Wolfram so far. In addition to Strix, Tatzel had also joined in bullying the koor worm. Their strategy was simple but didnt need muchmunication between the two. Tatzel kept his distance, using his smaller size and agility to distract the Koor Worm and pepper it with magic attacks. Strix, riding the ck stag, would go for the cheap shots, ripping into the beast with his scale staff.With the only reason the sea serpent was able to fly in the first ce, being magical augmentations to the undead body, Diromold was much more ponderous and clumsy in the sky,pared to the nightmare centipede and the small rider. Seth felt almost sorry for the beast, being bullied like this. But only almost. As for the Lich Strix left behind ~Go away, gloomwart. The rat king is mine.~ Puffles snarled at Haa''Skon, the horseman of death when he attempted to get close to the stunned Piotr. The ivicer still had a debt to settle with the weakened foe, and he wouldn''t let someone else get their hands on him. This tale has been uwfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A massive pir of light descended from the clouds above. It was the same skill that had wiped out two bone dragons and a battalion of undead during the earlier siege. The pir of power descended onto the dpidated-looking lich. Arent you all looking down on this old man a little too much!? ! Piotr Sokolov hollered, activating a skill and exploding with purple energy, that kept spreading across the ghostly cityscape. A shield of the same color blocked Puffles attack with ease. It seemed that Sokolov had been driven to be serious, or desperate. His skill no longer differentiated friend and foe. Lower ranking undead started falling over, dead, the fire of their life and the power of their buff absorbed by the legendary skill. The same happened to those stolen by HaaSkon. Even the zombies of Urth fell to the ground, unable to move as any mana and life force they had and regenerated was whisked away by the elder lich. In turn, the ruins and buildings of his skill grew more and more corporeal. The elder Lich stood proudly, his staff pointed to the sky, as he blocked the Ivicers attack with his shield. Yes, he stood. He was no longer the floating upper body of a skeleton, but the purple glow of the Chosen of Kali had taken the shape of a body. ? While the massive skeleton dragon and the sea serpent only seemed to be engulfed by purple mes with rough shapes, Sokolovs body had a defined outline. He had be a semi-transparent young man in his prime. Although his body was not rippling with muscles, it was trained and far from the decrepit old man''s body one would have expected from the skeleton. ~This changes nothing, rat king!~ Puffles eximed, shooting a concentrated ray of golden light from his mandibles. It broke through therge shield but was ultimately blocked by the dense sphere of power surrounding the city lord. Hahaha! It is time to repay the humiliation I suffered earlier. Now that I reached my prime, I will squash you under my feet, like the bug you are! Sokolov eximed, as huge amounts of mana gathered around him and a flood of senseless sybles left his mouth. Annihtion! he eximed after it looked like he went crazy for a moment. All of the mana surrounding him had condensed into a ck mass, which now burned away, as he fired a pure white matrix of energy toward Puffles. As it flew, it quickly grew in size, leaving the nightmare centipede little chance to dodge.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The ivicer tried to attack it, but his light magic and sun energy were disintegrated the moment they hit the matrix. It seemed like a magic that would not just destroy but eradicate anything in its path. Puffles, for the first time in his life, the ivicer felt a hint of fear. Seth: Now the World''s calling us- A figure appeared in the path of the matrix. Seated on a pale, predatory horse, the ck knight appeared between Piotr and Puffles, and a nova of darkness exploded from his body and steed. The pale annihtion matrix and the pure energy of death met only inches away from the horseman. Seth: Immortal! The spell that eradicated energy and matter fell short when facing the power of death which demanded the end of everything. Energy and matter would find their end, but this end was always death itself. It was impossible to annihte the essence of death, as it would only end in death. Unable to even get close to the ivicer or touch the rider, the mighty spell waned away in contact with HaaSkons nova of death, the horseman of Death had deathinated. Puffles stared at the frightening magic fizzle away in a moment''s time. The great being had a hard timeing to terms with the fact that he not only felt true fear but that he also felt relief and a smidgen of gratitude for the golem he had sent away earlier. There was no way he could show this. A great being felt no fear, no. ~ D-Didnt this one tell you to leave, gloomwart?~ the nightmare centipede snarled to y over the awkwardness he felt. Your wishes hold no meaning to me, HaaSkon said emotionless and proceeded to ignore Puffles. His Night Mare charged at Piotr, who had already recovered from the shock of seeing his magic dispelled and prepared for the next attack. ~Just you wait! This one will definitely kill the rat king first!~ the Ivicer eximed, but did not follow after KaaSkon. For the ivicer, there was no need to close the distance. Considering the Lichs current power, Puffles decided to use the situation and let the knight buy him some time. Chapter 1219: Threads of the Sun st them, Kalzemir! Natina ordered the skeleton dragon. Bending back the neck, the giant skeleton released a pitch-ck breath straight down into the valley. The valley below was pure chaos and apart from the legend, even her own undead would probably suffer. But it was worth it. The soldiers were already as good as gone and the undead could be replenished. She didnt dare to hope to kill one of the horsemen, but the abyss breath should have been enough to take out the three non-legends. That was if it had hit. The billowing smoke of decay was met by a just as big bloom of cursed, crimson fire. The horsemen of War had turned into a giant meteor of half-liquid metal, surrounded by a ball of fire, several kilometers in diameter. War: We are lords of war Hungrily, the unearthly mes fed on the dragons breath, not allowing it to reach the valley below. The chosen of Kali watched in shock. She had not expected the tiny horseman topletely block Kalzemirs gue breath. Seth: Immortal! The song drew her attention back to the bard, the true target of her conquest. Right, seeing all the obstacles, she almost forgot about the original objective. Now she realized that there was nothing between her and the Tower Master, while the horseman of War was busy fighting the dragon breath. Down from the sky, into the fight. Hearts full of rage, full of thunder and glory~ The voice had grown softer, almost mncholic. In the sky, there was only her on the dragon and him, standing on the back of a weird griffin. Right, all the others didnt really matter, as long as she managed to take him out, she would be able to focus on her escape!The tower was not a legend, he was just a bard and a cksmith. Natina was confident that she could take him down in a moments time. Confident enough to leave the safety of the dragons rib cage. Stepping on purple me wheels, Natina charged at the singer standing atop his flying mount. She unleashed all her permanent buffs and skills, using her remaining mana to reach the peak of her power. Swords in the wind, crossing the sky. She heard it before she saw it. It was a terrifying buzzing sound, like a giant storm directly ripping at her ears. Her eyes ripped wide open when she faced the crescent of sword aura that was a fire in the sky, aiming at Kalzemir. It was the golden colossus! She had stopped thinking of it since the skeleton dragon had left its range of attack, but she was wrong! While the dragon was hovering to release his breath, the oversized sword master used the chance to attack. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Fired from the almost 200m long branch, the mighty attack easily pierced theyer of purple fire surrounding the dragon. Unable to evade, deploy the barrier, or receive hermands, Kalzemir received the attack all along his side. Ribs were shattered, the dragons shoulder de was cracked, but worst of all, the main blow of the attack hit the left wing and severed it! Natinas view of reality was shattered, seeing the wing bone shatter under the branch''s attack. The gue breath was cut off as the dragon started tilting in the air. At first, it looked painfully slow, like an airship losing pressure, but ultimately, the magic that was used to keep the dragon in the air failed. After staying in the air like a dwindling balloon for fractions of a second, the skeleton dragon plummeted back down into the valley like a meteor. Using blink, Natin evacuated the falling ship before the dragon impacted directly beside the massive portal, only missing it by a little. Lords of Doom bring an end to your story. The ivicer stared in shock when he saw the giant skeleton suddenly falling from the sky and crashing not far from him. If something that big fell into his valley, there was nowhere that was not close to it. He was even more startled when he almost messed up the cast of his skill, because of the dragons fall. The nightmare centipede was not the only one. The fight between the lich and the rider of death had also halted for a moment, both staring at the dragon. ???? One looking for his master, the other regaining his wits a lot quicker and attacking the lich in an unguarded moment. The ck gauntlet crashed into the almost solid purple sphere that protected the Lich. It held!- For now. Where the aura of death touched the magical barrier, it dimmed and weakened. Even magic decayed, and it was only quickened by HaaSkons presence. Piotr was no idiot, he quickly regained his wits and countered the knight, sting him across the valley, with a ray of pale white light. Puffles had finished his chant and was just waiting for this opportunity. While the barrier was weakened and the Lich showed an opening after countering HaaSkon, the ivicer activated his skill.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The Ivicers golden neck shield shone like the sun, catching the rays of daylight. Created from the blinding light, threads of sunlight started to shoot toward the lich. More and more wereyering on the barrier with light speed, catching Sokolov in a cocoon of light. Thread of the Sun was a buff skill, whereby the ivicer used his inherent ability to create tailor materials and turn his own power and daylight into threads of pure sunlight to bless a person. For a normal person, these threads would burn into their skin and be something like a tattoo. This tattoo became a semi-permanent buff. The power depended on the initial skill of the caster and the amount of sunlight imbued into it. In bright sunlight, the buff would strengthen even further as it drew power from the surroundings. The effect wouldst up to several weeks, depending on the receivers constitution and environment. Of course, this was when it was used on a normal person. When talking about an undead, this was the greatest curse Puffles could bestow on them. They would be marked by the sun, stricken with a constant burning of pure sunlight and holy power. The lich had quickly turned into a ball of golden light and by the time the Ivicer finished his skill, the ball copsed. The barrier that had held against it was dissolved by the holy threads and now the whole bundle struck Piotr. GAHHH! What is this?! the elder lich screamed, as pain he had not felt in centuries surged through his body. To him, it would have felt like being bathed in molten metal. For a short moment, the golden ball turned into the shape of a human, like a string pupped or mummy. Apanied by the skeletons high-pitched screams the threads aplished their purpose. They partially dissipated the lichs semi-transparent body and melded into his very bones, turning the dark, rotten-looking bones a bright silver. For a normal person, there would have only been a few threads. A few silver markings across their skin, looking like a simple tattoo. For Sokolov, Puffles had shown his generosity and poured enough on him to cover the surface of the undeads body several times. Guohh! I will not-When the initial pain was gone, Sokolov regained some of his mind. Purple power bubbled up from the silver bones, but when the clouds above moved just slightly, exposing the lich to more sunlight, the half-skeleton dove into the shadow with a pitiful screech. HaHa what have you done to me!? he cried, panting and enduring the pain. Of course, I offered you the death you deserve the most. Very slow, very painful, the Ivicers six eyes glinted with glee, seeing his n had seeded. The Lich would slowly be purified, suffering terrible pain, until nothing of it was left. Cruel, the people-melting horseman of deathmented monotone. Chapter 1220: Charging Forward Cromwel stared at the scene that just happened in the sky. Maybe he was the only one who truly knew what just urred, apart from the Tower Master. The dragon had actually suffered abined attack which resulted in his downfall. The scientist had no intention to belittle the power of the colossus, but the reason the attack managed to even severe the wind,id in a purple lightning that struck the wing bone only moments before. Since he was outssed on this battlefield, he was probably the only one with the idle time to watch all the fights and notice the movement of Conquest. The dull gray knight on his freezing steed had pulled back from the fight against the sea serpent and joined the fight against the skeleton dragon. However, he did not directly join the fight and waited for a chance to strike, leading to the people on the battlefield forgetting about him. But Cromwel saw it, the actions that seemed too deliberate to be a makeshift strategy. The horseman of Conquest, who had seemingly hidden the true extent of his powers, had actually managed to turn part of the wing bone into brittle, gray metal. Unlike the strong dragon bone, that had resisted most attacks so far, the metal broke almost instantl?y, when it was struck by the attack of the colossus. Having his left wing severed, the dragon lost his power of flight and plummeted into the valley, leaving his master in the sky above. The dragon had fallen, the lich was crawling on the ground, and the serpent... ... Three Hookstched onto the rim of the koor worms eye socket, and pulled the beast from the sky. They had managed to damage and destroy several of the serpent''s hover pads, crippling its speed and maneuverability in the sky. Especially Strix with its well timed attacks forced the undead to lower its altitude just before finally catching its skull with the scale staff. You have been weighed! the automaton eximed and the chain hooks dislodged with a loud chink, as the massive beast was mmed it in the ground. Using the momentum of the move, the horsemen jumped off the back of his ck stag andnded on the undead sea serpent only moments after in crashed in the ground.Ramming the hook at the back of the weapon in the base of the skull, he continued the attack..For the first time, Tatzel was able to witness the horsemans skill up close. With eyes close to those of a dragon, the Imugi could see the mana of the surrounding being sucked into Strix. During that, the weapon worked like a siphon to steal the koor worms mana directly and funnel it into the golem. But not just his mana, Tatzel could feel that even life force and other stats were mixed into the flow of power. Not even the dragon fall happening right beside them could stop the knight golem from devouring the undeads power, no matter what kind of power it was. It felt like an eternity, as Tatzel watched huge amount of energy leave the rotten skeleton and vanish in Strix, like the automaton was a bottomless sea. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. You have been measured, the horsemen said slowly, after finally releasing the hook from the base of the skull. The tone was even calmer than the usual emotionless golem voice, as Strix leapt off the motionless carcass. Diromold was still alive, but the beastcked the energy to even flinch.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om And you have been foundwanting, hunger gave its final verdict, once again leaving the enemy behind, depleted but not dead. The empty eye holes of the helmet looked at the dragon who had plummeted to the ground, but the horsemen didn''t move as if it knew that this was not his opponent. Tatzel suddenly felt the power of legends flow into him. He knew this power. For him, who was born with the potential to reach the legendary status by simply growing, this resource naturally grew within him just like mana. Now, a massive wave swept into his body, forcefully filling him and increasing the concentration of the power in his body. It was a greatly rejuvenating experience after the long morning full of battle. He was immersed in absorbing the power when his focus was interrupted by a notification. So this was how it was, a system reward! Despite only ying a support in this fight, Puffles was notified that the power he absorbed increased his level of existence automatically, while also giving him 3 million points of PoE. Although he had not done it often, he was able to use this power to strengthen his magic attacks, which was quite handy, depending on the situation. Before he could check his current level, another notification popped up. The imugis eyes widened. He had been lv.177 before, which meant that he actually only received 3 of his 5 bonus levels, before hitting that wall! Would he be reimbursed if he had the special means? What special means did he need though? His eyes focused on Diromold, but he instinctively looked at Kalzemir. ... The song had finallye to an end. Natina stared at the ground below. She should have escaped when she saw the old man. Even if it wasn''t that frightening figure that ruined everything. had she run at that time, she may have lost her dignity, but still would have had several legends and an army under her. Now? Not much of the army of undead was left, with the rampage on the ground. The remnants were still locked in battle with the local zombies or had deserted to the other side. Her legends had all fallen. Uz''Roc was missing in action. Fafi was stolen from her. Piotr was struggling as his very existence was slowly dissolving. Diromold was incapacitated and Kalzemir... she was currently witnessing the crippled skeleton dragon struggling in a fight against the colossus, and two horsemen of the apocalypse. Her heart broke, seeing them shatter his bones with the magic Conquest was using, while her only bound legend was merely able to fight like a beast to fend them off. The was full of rage just a moment ago, but now it was pushed aside by regret. It was all because her skill level was too low. If Kalzemir had retained even a fraction of his intelligent form when he was alive, there would have been no way for them to lose like this. If only her skill level had been higher when she bonded with the skeleton dragon... Her belief was not unfounded. Natina''s gaze fell on Diromold, remembering how hard it was to kill the Koor Worm, which had rivaled the Ancient Dragon in life. It had taken the skeleton dragon, the hydra, the orc, and the elder lich to take down the Koor Worm, and now? Her skill was still too low to retain much of its original power, exining its pitiful state. In the end, it was all her fault. If only she had spent more time on improving her skills. if only she had made better decisions. If only she didn''t hold such a grudge. if only she had note to Urth upon hearing he was here. However, when her gaze fell on the bard who had just ended his song, her thoughts changed. How was he so strong? How had this worm managed to gather such an army? If only he wasn''t here! her fault? No, it was his! Right, it was all the bard''s fault. She wouldn''t lose lying down! no, at the very least she would take him with her! Fueled by her own denial and rage, the Chosen of Kali broke out in purple fire. 8 arms wielding 8 legendary artifacts, she charged at the bard, riding wheels of mes. Chapter 1221: Hell Gates ---Delta--- The Bishop and the bird were shing in the airs above Delta. One side crackling with lightning, the other filled with holy vengeance. They had crushed Krista''s Shield. They had overturned the Holy Domain. They had killed the members of his order. Turnus, Cupido, Numitor, Tatius... he had technically raised those boys with his own hands. His fist clenched the shaft of his two-handed mace staff. Yet, after all they did, he was still unable to even overpower this stupid bird, despite his opponent being unable even to go all out! Ugh! No! Demus! Help! the Bishop heard the final screams of Jarvan. now even hisst remaining ally was caught by the Mass of Roots he had been fighting on the ground. He grimaced in sorrow, but he was unable toe to his help. The moment he turned his back, the bird would attack... No! He wouldn''t allow them to take another one. It was toote for his knights or the parties, but if he managed to save Jarvan and at least return, there was still a chance for retribution and redemption. he was ready to burn his life force and have Covdite descent into his body, when- Whoom! Somethingshed at him. The apparitions of little fat baby angels under his feet were crushed, turning into sprays of light with every step, as he was suddenly forced to evade the attacks of vines from above. At the same time, he had to defend against the strikes of the lightning eagle. Was this their n? Now that Jarvan was subdued the tree was going to join the battle in the sky with the vines hanging off its branches? Demus shot a nce at the lightning bird. Although it was even more frustrating, he knew that he had been unable to go all out so far. He had seen some of the attacks on the horizon past the city and this fight. however, it seemed unable to use any kinds of clouds or greater winds in consideration of the crown of the giant tree above. If the tree itself joined now, it was as if he had to fight the whole terrain itself.Everything was over. Even if he sacrificed his life to have an avatar of Covdite descent, he couldn''t win here. It wouldn''t even be enough to take one of these two with him to the grave. The whole operation was a failure and he was thest one able to move freely. This left him only one option. It was cowardly. he himself had spoken up against this kind of contingency n, but now he was the only one left, able to make the decision. A small magic device appeared in his hands.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om As a holy man, he hesitated for just a moment. Was it okay to unleash this nightmare, even if it was on his enemies? The moment''s hesitation allowed a vine to break his holy shield, redirecting his attention to the tree. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. This utterly demonic abomination that had taken away his disciples. No, even if he had to collude with demons and bring untold suffering, this thing could not be allowed to exist! With the pictures of his disciples in his mind, ast tear rolled down his cheek as he activated the Hell Gates. Even if I can''t beat you, I will drag you along with me, in the name of Covdite! the religious zealot eximed. Blocking several vines with the blows of his staff, his holy shield regenerated and he charged at the eagle. The device in his hand was crushed and in the next moment, Delta was covered in an orange glow. Demus rammed his shoulder into the metallic bird and proceeded to grab onto the bird. The metallic feather scraped across his armor and cut his robe, but he didn''t care. Crushing the cupids under his feet to exert force and throw himself, together with the eagle to ward the ground. As they fell, he witnessed the consequences of his actions. At seven ces in the city, surrounding the guardian tree, appeared huge circr portals. They stood above the gates that originally opened, like blood moons. Beyond the horizon of the closest one, was the clear image of a hellscape. Burningva rock and mes shooting into a dark red sky, filled with smoke and reddish light. The gates were a tactical weapon, not an actual means of transportation. The dimensions past these holes belonged to the Abyss. The Abyss, in this case, did not describe a single ce but was short for the Abyss Alliance, a collection world in the Pathworks, thatpletely belonged to various demon factions, united in a loose partnership. These worlds were transformed ording to the preferences of their ruling factions. When used, the gates opened a random channel to one of the main worlds of the abyss, opening the floodgates for hordes of demons to invade the location. The literal hellscape he saw was the mostmon environment the abyss was known for. Unlike something rtively harmless, like making a deal with Bragmomal as the Durnhams did, this was closer to a Scorched Earth tactic, as no side would be able to use the site. Unless one managed to defeat the unending flow of demons and close the gates. But once opened, these gates were continuously fueled by the other side making it almost impossible to close them. This was why he hesitated for a moment, but it was toote to ponder, now. He stared into the mechanical eyes of the bird, as they plunged toward the gray city below. Lightning strikes shook his body, but he grit his teeth and tightened his grip. He would crush the beast on the ground, taking away its maneuverability. Then he could finish it off in melee batt- The bishop felt a sharp pain prating his sides and piercing deep into his stomach and lungs. He felt the strength leaving his grip against his will. Sharp ws ripped away the ragged robe, as the eagle kicked the clergy away from itself, leaving him to tumble toward the ground alone. In disbelief, Demus looked up at the bird, who was rising back up. His eyes were drawn to his body. His whole torso was prated by the bird''s metallic feathers, his arms being almost amputated. No wonder he couldn''t hold onto it.... Seeing the ground quicklying closer, he prayed for the mercy of Covdite and holy power surged in his body. Although he had failed to take down the bird, he wouldn''t just die here from a little fall. The feathers were pushed out from his body as the wound started closing. Demus regained his bearing and caught his fall with his . He looked up at the eagle, arrogantly circling in the air above. Then he looked to the gates. Many were filled with hellscapes, others with eternal night or a dim darkness. It had not even been a minute since they opened, but he could already see demonic beasts pouring from the massive circles in the sky. He threw the bird another nce, but there was nothing he could do. ???????? Demons knew neither friend nor foe. The bishop had to leave unless he wanted to fight the hordes alongside the tree and the bird. As long as he got away from the tree he would survive. It was just a question of time to find a way back home then. He turned around to charge to the outskirts of Delta, aiming to leave the city, but he was suddenly hit in the stomach, by a fist that felt like it would blow apart his body into a cloud of blood. Young friend, why are you already trying to leave? a benign old man, with the fist of the devil asked friendly. Chapter 1222: if you know what I know that I know Seth was momentarily distracted by the notification re in his head. He had already heard this same notification earlier today. Compared to the painful grind of the past weeks, when he arduously waited for the point of Power of Existence to collect until he could raise the level, it was soaring today. In a single day, he had gained 8 levels due to the ascension of the four horsemen as well as them and Ceres defeating legends, bringing him to lv.119. He was a little distracted as he got three bonus levels, even though the skeleton dragon was still fighting. Had something happened somewhere else? A cursed beam of dark powering his way reminded him that this was not the time to muse about other ces. The chosen of Kali wasing at him, they were finally facing each other. Seeing her up close like this, he conjured up some long-buried emotions. He remembered the things that happened during the evaluation. The desperation and even fear caused by this woman''s actions, but the cksmith had never dwelt on these emotions. Early in life, he had be a person who didn''t look back, but this woman had developed a grudge. A grudge that, together with her thirst for power, led to many terrible happenings on Urth. He didn''t know whether Natina was involved from the start, but he couldn''t help but attribute everything caused by Spatia to her. The atrocitiesmitted by the Scene and their attack on Mount Agra, the terrorist attacks on the granaries, the interference in their Pythian Games, and the demon attack on Delta with the obvious intent toy waste to the district. The cksmith may have been slightly inert when it came to bing angry on behalf of others, but even his bottom line was long crossed. ~Let''s go, Oz~ With all these thoughts bubbling up, Seth struck the lyre. The bard had put the Devil''s Wheel Fiddle away. He needed his hands for this song. Things were supposed to go differently, in the best-case scenario they would have never met face to face. But now, it was on him to bring an end to her story. The deep notes of the demonic lyre filled the air. After putting his emotions into the initial chord, he let go of the Lyra just before Natina was upon him. Oz kept on ying as Seth began singing his bad. He was not a ss specialized inbat and even their gear wasparable, all he could do was go all in on battle barding with a song to maximize his odds.It was not just Oz flying beside him. Triggered by the skills of his armor, Seth was apanied by a host of instruments ying themselves as they floated around him, like an unintentional mirror image of Natina''s weapon wheel. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences elsewhere. Define your meaning of war. To me, it''s what we do when we''re bored. I feel the heatin'' off of my ck soul and it makes me want it more. Using , Seth started broadcasting an epic bad without a dedicated receiver into the demonic aether.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om The song of violence spoke to many demons, there was no need to limit the audience. Seth could feel the darkness answer his skill and fill his body with the urge to fight. Heat and power were coursing through his veins as he looked at Natina. The necromancer was charging at him with a crazed look, firing skills from the wheel of weapons in her hands. Because I''m hyped up, out of control. If it''s a fight, I''m ready to go! Following the battle instincts he had developed in training and the inspirations flowing into him from the dark aether, Seth whipped out his trump card. the first weapon he had created when he got his hand on an ample supply of . Blue mes licked up the Was-sceptre, easily deflecting the various attacks. I wouldn''t put my money on the other guy, if you know what I know that I know. Legendary Damage: 4444 Mag. Damage 4444 Durability: 10000 1. Blunt Damage is multiplied by 10x 2. +300% Damage against Gods and the divine 3. Stun opponents 4. +200% Magic Damage to Spells 5. Double allbat stats 6. Increase all magic stats by 50% 7. Active Skill: Strike of Seth A replica of a god''s divine armament created by the hands of Master Smith,the first Master cksmith, Master Enchanter, and Master Goldsmith on Urth with the blessing of the Lord of the Red Land. As an epted replica, the weapon holds half the power of the original and can only be wielded by those chosen by the Lord of the Red Land.> It''s been a long timein'' and the table''s turned around. ''Cause one of us is goin''- One of us is going down! His voice echoed in the valley, drawing all the attention to the fight in the sky. Natina reached the bard standing on the back of the flying golem. Stop singing already and die! she cried, seething. Her arms were made of purple energy swinging a legendary scimitar, a legendary spear, and a legendary sword at him. The told him everything. The sword''s legendary effect was unconditional sleep, the spear''s was to ignore defense, and the scimitar''s to sh wounds that could not heal. I''m not runnin''. It''s a little different now. He was covered in armor that negated weapon damage, making the scimitar and spear useless. Sleep was a mental effect. Laraweg, his helmet, gave him full immunity to mental effects. He ignored all of the attacks and freely swung the scepter in a wave of pale blue soul me. A wicked grin appeared on the bard''s face, as he felt the power in him cheer in tion and it flowed down the staff, together with the various skills Seth activated, such as , and most importantly . Natina''s remaining four energy arms moved to block his attack, while her original arms were doing hand seals to cast a spell. Several barriers appeared around the chosen of Kali, as four legendary artifacts got in the way of the Staff of Seth. The barriers made with the Power of Kali shattered like thin ice, as his damage against the divine was quadrupled by that staff alone, not counting other effects. The legendary tower shield that was raised, was flung away when its unbreakable effect met overwhelming force and the energy arm could no longer hold onto it. Another mace of armor destruction was flung away, a ive of withering was broken and the Axe of Ignoramus was deflected, before the head of the staff, modeled after the set animal, mmed into the necromancer''s side, protected by the legendary Robe of G?nndalf. For a moment it was held back by the damage absorption of the robe before the threshold of the enchantment was reached. Finally, the staff sank deep into her flesh, breaking ribs and crushing organs. Meanwhile, her weapons hit Seth''s armor and, as predicted, the bard suffered no harm. On the contrary. While the scimitar slid off his vambraces and the sword was repelled by his cuisse, the spear struck Sargas, meaning the damage was not only reflected by the 40% Damage Reflection, but also , before the rest was negated. As the cksmith finished his swing, Natina was flung away while suffering 40-70% of the damage of her own attacks, in addition to Seth''s. All the while weapons and armor crashed into each other, Seth was surrounded by a field of cursed fireballs, as the ego of the Smander Skin cast Kagor''s Fire Magic, to attack the faltering Natina. ''Cause one of us is goin''- One of us is going down. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!