Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"The scenic Lovers' Cave"

"A must-visit for any nature lover"

"Home of the Twin Rocks"

Seth was barely able to read some of the rusted signs as he made his way past the overgrown shrubbery. It reminded him of a time when people were still spread around Urth when the districts were just being built and people still "traveled"

Of course, this was long before his birth and he only knew it from old movies or movies and games set in such a time period. In his time, people only traveled between the districts using the advanced highways and tunnels that cut straight through any obstacles.

This was also the reason why most of their modern highways and train connections had turned into massive dungeons...

Seeing these vestiges of the past with his own eyes, he felt almost disconnected. As if he had traveled to a different time. It would have been a little creepy if he had to follow these kinds of signs like a trail of hints to find his way. Fortunately, the advance party of chimeras had cut a path all the way to the cave, so the blacksmith had no trouble finding the way.

Why were they making a campsite in the middle of nowhere close to a rundown and not a very interesting tourist attraction? The same reason why Seth even showed interest in the first place. Because the dungeon that grew in this place had over 50 floors with beasts ranging from lv. 45 all the way to lv.80.

Up until the chimeras came by, this dungeon was able to freely grow and erupt over and over, turning the once "scenic Lover's Cave" into a vast network of caves and caverns. It had been a few weeks since the advance party came by this place which meant it had most likely recovered to a certain extent.

The entrance to the cave was a gaping maw at the side of the mountain. The ruins of something that might have been a souvenir shop could be seen among the shrubbery in front of the entrance. Unlike with dungeons that grew in the remnants of civilizations, this one kept the structure of a natural cave.

Unsuspecting wanderers would not think this was a monster-spewing calamity hole, intent on killing anything and anyone that walked into it and absorbing them for sustenance. Or something like that.

Before entering the unknown dark deep down, Seth brought out his Golem Knights. These were decked out in epic armor and wielding the sanguine silver weapons he made over the past weeks.

Seth liked to call them bone knights in his mind.

He used that name internally because he created these humanoid golems from non-humanoid bones. The blacksmith had found the incomplete skeletons of big monsters in the storage and used them to carve parts, while he used to make up for the gaps.

Making them roughly human-sized had a big advantage in that they were able to effectively use his equipment and he didn't have to adapt to make giant items only the golems could use. This also doubled as a test to see, if his new weapons could also help the golems to further grow, as their leveling speed was quite slow.

Surrounded by the guard of golems, Seth entered the dungeon in his full equipment. He woe an improved version of the Sun shirt and cloud pants, together with his Golden Fleece, the Wyvern Cuirass... he was a singing knight in overpowered armor.

Despite being the strongest in the party, Seth left it to the golems to take care of the critters in the cave. The monsters they came across fit the subterranean terrain of the dungeon. The 50 floors of the dungeons were separated into 6 sections.

Floors 1-10 could be said to hold powerful versions of normal cave dwellers. Giant bats, snakes, massive scorpions, and spiders. They all ranged between lv. 45 to 55 and were not a problem for the golem.

Although the dungeon followed the style of a natural cave, it was much less labyrinthine than one would have thought, especially with the skill. If Seth had to mention something, then the special difficulty of the dungeon would be the darkness.

Many dungeons used magic to illuminate themselves and allow the adventurers to see. This one didn't. This may pose a big hurdle to others, but not Seth, The blacksmith wore the eye of Argus which granted him night vision, among others.

Something similar was true for the Golems. Usually, golems would see with magic, similar to light, everything was giving off a magic aura. Not the ones Seth made. Since they sported a soul in an otherwise inanimate body, they were closer to undead and saw in a similar fashion.

They could see the aura of vitality any living thing gave off. The darkness could do nothing to blind the golems. Like most hunters in the dark used ambushes, they had become easy prey after they were unable to hide.

The Golems were able to intercept most attackers before they could even pose a danger. They were able to quickly proceed through the first section. With the golems having the base stats of an lv. 60 player and equipped with his items, only bigger beasts would be able to slow them.

On these floors, only the stairs between floors and the gate that separated the boss rooms from the ordinary dungeon differentiated the dungeon from an ordinary natural cave. These mobs could have the natural cave fauna just as much as being dungeon dwellers.

Section one and two with smaller and some medium-sized monsters up to lv. 70 barely slowed the party down. With over ten levels difference and almost no one to share with, Seth was earning a good amount of experience.

He finally heard the level-up notification. His team of golem knights had just slain the boss of the 20th floor, a kind of giant mutant spider. Seth was glad that he did not have to personally go bear it. With his team of tanks, he was able to leisurely cast spells from the back.

The blacksmith was less occupied with the actual raid than with observing the growth of the golems. The sanguine silver weapons worked on the golems and they were able to gain stats as they started fighting monsters with higher base stats.

But it was not just the gain in attributes that pleased Seth, but also the improvements of their fighting, as they gained more combat experience. Some of them were relatively new, unlike the golems he used against the undead army in Keväti Kuinen.

He sat down in the boss's room and took a break, eating and drinking something. It had already been a few hours since he entered the dungeon. This wasn't even the strongest dungeon he planned to run and he only allocated about a day for it.

After gorging on some of his rations he continued on towards the depths of the dungeon. The next section had a slight jump in difficulty. The level did not increase by a lot as the monsters reached up to level 75, however, the medium-sized monster became more numerous.

Vampire Bats bigger than a person, Shadowbeasts that fell from the ceiling or attacked from innocent-looking puddles. The beasts became also more intelligent and crafty. Still, they couldn't stand up to the golem force.

Finally, after descending another ten floors filled with stronger monsters, they met their first hurdle. The boss of the 30th floor was a giant demonic millipede. Or what could have been their first hurdle.

Before the golems or Seth could act, Puffles suddenly charged out from the pet space and started hacking away at the opponent with a vengeance.

He did not say anything, but his actions spoke for him. The centipede attacked with an unasked for ferocity, as if the millipede's existence itself was an insult to him.

The boss had no chance to resist at all, Puffles strength was far detached from any kind of level now and he ripped apart the many-footed foe with ease. Seth could only watch in bafflement.

"...What was that?" Seth asked flabbergasted after the ivicer took apart the floor boss.

~Nothing. ~

"Puffles?"

~ Do not question the great me, any further... I don't want to talk about it.~ he said huffily and returned to the pet space.