Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Sitting inside a big, regal salon, they faced each other only divided by a small coffee table with sweets and drinks. She took a sip of her coffee and spoke up.

"First of all, I'm glad you did not leave right away. I know it's much to ask since you yourself have returned not too long ago. On the other hand, I expected nothing less after I saw your engagement to help with the situation in Beta"

Seth decided to just listen for now and kept sipping the tea he was offered. He wasn't a coffee person.

"I realize that I cannot ask you to follow out of goodwill. As long as it stays within limits, I can offer you anything you are missing."

What was he missing? Seth felt very satisfied with his current life. He could freely explore the reaches of his class. He did not lack materials. The blacksmith already had a hard time just browsing through all the materials his friends had collected while he was gone.

He had a beautiful girlfriend and reliable friends.

Thinking long and hard about what the Princess had, that he wanted he finally had an idea.

"I want two more of the machines that condense mana and the right to produce as many as I want for my own purposes."

The princess who had been elegantly sipping her coffee and watching him as he deliberated, spit out a fountain in shock.

"Are you crazy!?" she screamed before hurriedly trying to compose herself again.

"No. No, no, no, I can't do that. Do you know what you are asking of me? Even I wouldn't be allowed to just up and do that."

What he was asking was something tremendously dangerous. To freely produce highly condensed energy sources, even if it was "just for his own use". It was one thing if he used some of those Minas Mar produced under the hand, but officially giving him permission to do as he liked was something totally different.

The machines and crystals were under strict control by the empire. The produced crystals could be easily used for nefarious purposes. This ranged from powering machines, illegal experiments up to directly using them to build mana bombs.

Seth had thrown it on the table because it would have been an easy way to power the golems. Sure, it was no self-reloading core like the other options, but as an exchangeable battery, it would have been great for test golems.

Since this did not seem like an option to the princess, he thought of something else.

"How about the production method of <Ithildin>?"

This was a refined version of <Mithril>. Seth had gotten his hands on some <Faulty Ithildin> when he looted the Theocracy's stronghold. Even the faulty version was as good a <Fey Steel> when it came to magic conductivity.

"Ehehe, Let's talk about those magic crystals. I am sure I could find a way to budget a specific amount under your name. We just need a good excuse like..."

"Research?"

"Yes! As long as it gets approved, we are golden. What do you think?"

"Sounds kind of vague. Before I can agree we have to negotiate the amount and make sure it works. And I still have to talk about this with Mina and the others... "

"Please wait moment," she said and left Seth alone with the sweets in the salon.

"How rude." Seth shook his head and made sure, there would be nothing left by the time she returned. Puffles and the Imugi also claimed their share of the sweets.

She returned a while after the last sweet had left the table. She halted for a second when she faced the cleaned plates.

"Here is my offer. I can guarantee you the permission to produce 150 Mana crystals per month for your own use."

"Hmm, I see. Okay, if you would excuse me for a moment?" he stayed seated and stared at her.

"Do you want me to make my private calls in the hallway?"

"Take your time. I will continue to talk with the others." She stood up and left.

Seth first called Mina and told her about what had just happened.

"What? You were chosen for the evaluation!? You have to go!" she exclaimed joyfully.

"Why do you sound so happy?"

"Because we get a free ride to visit the capital of Chrona! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get permission to just enter that city? Also, it's a big chance. The evaluation is normally broadcasted to the most important cities of the empire. You could become a celebrity."

This meant, even though the demon had spilled the beans, he had not spilled all of them.

"Hmm, i see, so you have no problem with me leaving, as long as I bring you along on a vacation?"

"Don't make it sound like I'm selling you. I wanted to go on a vacation together for a long time now! We can visit Chrona, the timeless city, to boot."

After Mina's enthusiastic agreement, Seth called Mary to speak about the business side of things. However, there were no problems with his absence, as long as he left a stockpile of goods for the shop and their deal with Y-City.

With Hoen, Wedan, and Cerberus he was confident to do that before he had to set off three months later.

It seemed that nothing stood in the way of his participation, except for Mina's remark. Everything would be broadcasted. Seth was not sure, whether he was happy about that. He had thought about expanding their business on Urth, but... the empire was a little too much.

This would be a great advertisement for his items if he could show their performance to such a huge audience. However, this was not really what he wanted at the moment.

What would happen if he was successful? There would be a lot of people, most likely many nobles asking for his services and he would become terribly busy. Even if he turned down commissions to make time for his own stuff, it meant offending a bunch of unknown, but probably powerful people in places outside his reach.

They were barely international; it was simply not time yet for Minas Mar to go interdimensional.

After brooding over the problem for a while, Seth had an idea to not only evade the worst case but to even made the adventure a worthwhile journey.

The princess, who had gone for the next interviews came back ten minutes later after a guard informed her that Seth had made his decision.

"I heard you came to a conclusion?"

"Yes, I agree to come along for the evaluation, if Mina and the others can come along for a vacation in Chrona. And the crystal agreement upfront, of course."

"Great! On that note, can I ask you to equip the members of the evaluation?"

"I don't make items for people I don't know or trust. Why are you asking me anyway? You are the princess; shouldn't you be able to supply them with good items?" he asked after seeing her crestfallen expression.

"I can't. The rules of the evaluation state, that the participants cannot be helped by external sources. It's an evaluation of this domain, so anything they take part with has to come from Urth. Equipment, potions, food, everything had to have been made or spawned here."

"You didn't ask me to join this, so you could get free equipment, right? Just for your information. I don't intend to join as a blacksmith." Seth said determinedly.

"N-not as a blacksmith?"

"Nope, I will be joining as a bard, my second class."

The princess broke. Her eyes were empty, and her smile had frozen in time. It made Seth feel a little bad.

"Depending on the team, I could sell them epic items and maybe at a discount." Seth complied.

He really would not mind accommodating Elza and Marcel, maybe even brock since he was their friend. Giving them a discount was no big deal. He might even consider handing them things for free.

Seth still had some qualms about selling his epic equipment but lately, he had come up with a new safety precaution thanks to <Crafty Failsafe> leveling up.

"That would be great. I will organize a party in a few days, so the final members can get to know each other. I'm sure you will find them trustworthy."

"We will see."

As they finalized everything they spoke about, Seth remembered something else.

"Can we add a good music instrument to the rewards?"

Although Seth ultimately would have wanted to make his instruments himself, the <Instrument Maker> skill was very different from his blacksmithing. His high dexterity helped a lot, but ultimately it was a whole different process.

He currently had not the time to hone the skill.

Compared to his previous demands, this was a very light one and the Princess readily agreed for him to choose one from the imperial collection after the evaluation was successful.

After putting everything to paper, Seth signed a contract to join the Team of Urth for the imperial evaluation, three months later.

"There was another thing. Since we are already talking in private. What happened to the sword I gave you? You know, the one made from an angel's arm?"

"Oh, yes. It's still being tested. I'm sure you can get it personally once we arrive in Chrona." she said happily with his contract in her hands.

Seth felt quite satisfied himself, with the permission to use more magic crystals for his experiments. Three months was neither long nor terribly short.. There was a lot to do and prepare until he had to leave.