Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Puffles and Seth flew north over the ocean. It had been 45 minutes, but the shuttle was not in sight and Seth started getting worried. Was the injured Puffles too slow to catch up to the shuttle and Ceres?

~Hey! I know what you are thinking! How could the great me be the problem? It has to be something else! ~ the Ivicer said defensively.

~kek~ Tatzel chuckled.

Another reason for worry was Puffles flight time. Although the nightmare pillar grew even stronger, its air time still didn't go past 1 hour and 30 minutes. If they didn't find the shuttle they would have to swim.

~I will not swim.~ Puffles said decisively.

~What? Wait, Puffles?~

~When I'm out of mana, you are on your own.~

The Ivicer mercilessly sentenced him to swim alone in the ocean. The blacksmith looked speechlessly at the back of the giant insectoid's head. This wouldn't be a problem if only he had thought of making an item with water-breathing...

Half an hour later he became really nervous. It was just about swimming in the deep dark ocean. He heard stuff about the changes in the ocean. It was even more dangerous than the land. He didn't wish to end up as fish bait.

~You can calm down, I see land over there.~ the ivicer suddenly commented.

He was right. In the far distance, he was able to see an island on the horizon in the light of dawn.

"The light of dawn? When did it even become night?" he thought to himself perplexed.

~I think we are not on Urth anymore.~ the Imugi stated.

~What makes you say so, Tatzl?~ he asked, although the blacksmith was inclined to believe it.

~I felt a weird feeling, like a slight disruption earlier. I didn't think a lot of it but seeing the weird time jump, it might be possible we were transported.~ the snakelet explained.

~Now that you mentioned it, I felt that too~ Puffles supported this theory.

The conclusion was obvious. Either they randomly changed dimensions or the island up front was Hyperborea, and they were guided here by the quest. Was this what it meant when it said that the island can only be found by heroes and gods?

He didn't expect to be separated from his friends like that. Mina and the other were strong, but Seth still worried about leaving them behind in such a dangerous place. At least Ceres was with them-

"Die! Die! Die" they heard a caw echo through the sky.

So much for that...

They found the lightning bird furiously grilling a lv.80 Griffin. The mix of lion and eagle had made the mistake to cross the mix of elemental and machine. Now it was paying the price.

"Ceres, bring that to me when you are done with that!" Seth called to the elemental.

"M-master! Have you already caught up? I'm sorry, I wasn't able to find the shuttle." it apologized guiltily after coming over with the giant body of the griffin in its claws. Despite being several times the bird's size, the automaton had no problem carrying the body of the beast.

"it's not your fault, I guess. You were probably transported here because you belong to me, or something like that. Just follow me to the Island."

Although it was a worry that his party wouldn't even have the help of Ceres, he was somewhat glad to have another golem able to fly with him. He wouldn't have wanted to hug Wolfram in case Puffles didn't make it to the island.

~You are mocking me again!~ Puffles commented his thoughts disgruntled.

~Not at all. I'm just a realist.~

~Hmph.~ the ivicer huffed but didn't continue the argument.

There were a few more griffins that attacked them in the air around the island, but they were no real hindrances when facing Ceres, Puffles, and Tatzel, who demanded to help. Since the little Imugi needed a harrowing amount of experience point, Seth saw no problem in it letting the snakelet accumulate some on the way.

Out of consideration for Tatzel's experience, he only harvested two of the griffin souls. What surprised him was that they were not "griffin souls"

The soul of a beast that is the fusion of two or more others. Can effectively adapt to different body shapes. Increased proficiency in flight and melee combat.

Chimerism: gains strength by integrating the strengths and memories of various souls. >

It was Seth's first time seeing a soul like this. Especially chimerism was a concept that went against Seth's experience when it came to souls. His previous experience was that strong souls would grow increasingly muddled and have their abilities watered down without proper refinements.

The only exceptions so far were souls he had gained through quests, who somehow possessed a strong trait.

But the chimeric soul was different. If the description was correct, one could call it a self-refining soul. He would have to test it, but it might be even better than his manual refining if it was able to incorporate all experiences and traits of absorbed souls into one coherent amalgamation.

While Seth was still wondering over the newly discovered soul, Puffles and Ceres close the distance to this potentially mystical island. The closer they got, the more they realized how big it really was.

From the side, they were approaching they saw some small cliffs than gently sloped down to a sand beach. The land past that was a hilly land with a mix of meadows, forests, and fields. The biggest change they had experienced during their approach was probably the temperature. The north of Urth was very cold, but even at night, this place was warm and comfortable.

The sun had risen in the meantime and its bright rays warmed the morning air. A cool, refreshing breeze blew from the sea as Seth jumped down onto the sandy beach. They landed beside the mouth of a river where it entered the ocean.

"Why did we land here? Wasn't the city further inland?" Ceres asked perplexed.

Seth had spotted a city from above, but they decided to land on the beach first.

"Yes, but I don't want to approach that city from the sky. Puffles' appearance might shock some of the people there. It won't take long to reach it on foot if we follow the river." Seth explained and apologetically asked Puffles to return to the pet space.

With Ceres circling in the sky above, Seth started walking along the river bank. The water was lined by small groups of trees that gave some shadow. The blacksmith couldn't help but marvel at the scene of wide grasslands and fields that stretched across the hills and dales.

He could even spot herds of sheep and other animals peacefully grazing. How long had it been since he saw peaceful animals? Maybe some during his travels to Ora with Fin. But other than that? Wandering through this kind of landscape was a rare chance and, although the circumstances were urgent and he worried for his friends, he couldn't help but enjoy it for just a moment.

Seth still preferred the sprawling cityscapes where he grew up, but his subsequent travels had helped him appreciate other places, too. He could befriend himself with grasslands, even if he still couldn't say the same about woods.

He almost regretted it when the small town at the banks of the river came into view. Like he had said, it didn't take long to walk the distance, maybe half an hour.

It was not a big place, the town might have been too big a descriptor. The village was a group of nice why brick houses with thatch roofs with a small market in the middle. There were no big walls around it, but there was still someone that looked like a guard standing on the main street that led into the village.

He wore some ancient armor. A leather cuirass, shinguard, bracers, and a helmet with a white tuft on top of it. In his right hand he held a spear, he was also kind of leaning on. He didn't look very focused and didn't bother with Seth until the blacksmith approached him.

"Excuse me, what is the name of this island?" the blacksmith asked friendly.

"A stranger, hmm? Well, this island is called Sicily, and before you ask, yes. This village is called Catania." he answered lazily.

Sicily?! This was not Hyperborea. Seth stared at the guard in shock until the man started laughing.

"Haha, I can read your thoughts from your face. "This is not Hyperborea?!" All of you visitors are so desperate."

After having a good laugh, the guard finally calmed down and said. "But honestly, yes. This is Hyperborea."