Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

------------Delta-----------

"Hey James, did you see these flyers?" his good friend Jess showed him a piece of paper. He had seen similar 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 claimed to heal all diseases. These trashy scams would surface occasionally.

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 what common 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 barren land 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 income 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 better common 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 the last set of oath armor. He had worked a lot in the last three months to complete 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 class. Today he would visit the church and choose a second class.

Seth was not the only one who had grown. He was actually the last 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 accompanied 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 planned to take Demon bard as a second class. 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 of completely upgrading the Lords of Minas Mar.

The Oath Armor was the name for the combination of ballad 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 manipulate 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 ballad, and the skill <Crafty Failsafe lv. 6> they were able to create a unique effect.

Similar to the ballad 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 incomplete 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 <Crafty Failsafe>, 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 class 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. <Enchantment (Journeyman)> and <Blacksmith (Journeyman)> had both reached lv 7 while <Goldsmith (Journeyman)> had reached lv. 6.

When <Soul Forging> 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 <Spirit Smithy> 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.

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 rather common, 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 the last piece of the last oath armor, he got himself a good meal to get ready for his visit to the church.