Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

The request of the goat seemed feasible. According to the soul trader, it was about an old mansion in a city only a few hours away from Delta in one of the cities that were abandoned with the creation of the districts.

"Okay, but I want to choose two more souls from this floor in the future, and I get the souls on the first floor for free."

If everything went well, it was barely a day trip for Seth. However, since the danger was actually unknown and the merchant had shown how important this was to him, he obviously had to raise the price.

The demon paled as if the thought of giving him more free stuff gave him physical pain. He fought with himself, gurgled, and wheezed before he finally agreed. They shook hands to finish the deal. Well, a hand shook a hoof.

"I will pack up the Titan Soul for you, however, the condition still counts for the soul of the blacksmith. You have to convince it to follow you before I can give it to you." the goat said with a smug smile.

Even though it agreed, it didn't mean that the souls Seth wanted would also agree to go with him. Their deal was done, but if the soul didn't agree to follow the customer he could still keep it.

"No need to pack it up, just release it from the container."

Tano'Mol sprigged his shoulder and opened the container with an incantation. He wasn't surprised when the soul simply floated over to Seth where it vanished in his soul space. Maybe many of his customers had a skill similar to that came with it#s own collection space?

But he didn't release the blacksmith's soul. The demon waited to see what Seth would do. The bard had no plans to pull any tricks. Seth used to get into contact with the ego of the soul. To his surprise, the ego was quite muddled.

"The optimal temperature is.... the material is perfect for- Exactly five hits with a force of.!"

Through the connection mostly came the ramblings of a madman as it kept mumbling incoherent information about crafting. Seeing the state the ego was in, Seth had to smile a little. This was why it was a non-seller. How was someone supposed to convince an entity that was trapped in its own thought and couldn't even register someone else's approach?

The bard smiled, because this was actually no problem for him. The had a few mysterious powers. Aside from manipulation and persuasion, it could also drive people to insanity. With this skill, who was easier to manipulate than someone who had already lost their sanity?

Seth didn't even need to manipulate. As he spoke with the divine tongue, he simply told the soul the truth. That it would get to work in a smithy again. That it could take part in creating items again. That it would slave away as they created some of the best items the world had ever seen.

The promise of salvation in the form of eternal labor seeped deep into the muddled mind of the soul and lured the workaholics ego back to the surface. As Seth whispered his sweet nothings to the container, Tano'Mol stared at the soul in shock.

The demon couldn't directly talk to a soul or read its thoughts without some strain, but he could easily feel the state of the souls around him and he could actually feel the change within the soul and its growing wish to follow the blacksmith.

"A ghost that was trapped so deep in its own obsession has actually become clear-minded enough to make a conscious decision. This doesn't happen often.." the goat mumbled exasperated.

"It seems that he wants to come along with me. Could you open the container?"

With a little nod, the goat waved its hoof and the container was unlocked. Quickly, the forger's soul vanished into Seth's soul space.

"Alright, since you managed to collect these two, let's go downstairs to finish the transaction."

The goat led Ember and Seth back down the stair and stepped back bind the counter. After rummaging under the counter for a moment, the demon came back up with three scrolls. They were rolls of animal hide, held closed by a ribbon and a wax seal.

"These two scrolls hold 500 small common souls each, and this one holds 500 medium common souls." the goat explained.

"Do you know how to use these soul contacts or should I release them for you to collect?" the merchant inquired.

"It's alright, I will take them like this," the blacksmith answered with a smile.

Seth already knew everything he needed to know from the . He actually expected that he could gain some proficiency in the skill if he released the souls himself later. Excitedly he put the skills in his inventory.

Although he had not absorbed them yet, he was all giddy as these were the most souls he ever owned at one time, and he could buy even more whenever he wanted. Not to forget that he also had two really special souls already in his soul space.

"I will send my other local associate tomorrow to meet you and bring you to the location," Tano'Mol said after their transaction was finished.

"Where could she pick you up?"

Seth had already been thinking of the things he wanted to do with the souls, when the demon's question reminded him, that he still had something to do. The rescue mission came first. The more time passed, the smaller was the chance to save anyone.

"I will be waiting in front of the business building of Minas Mar. Do you know where that is?"

"Of course, of course. Are you associated with Minas Mar?" the goat asked curiously.

"Oh, you know. I'm just the tower master, " Seth flexed blatantly.

"Just the..."

Quite a few thoughts traveled across the demon's face. Despite it being a goat's face, the expressions were quite vivid. Most prominently was probably regret. The merchant regretted not having asked for more.

It was only an instant, then he smiled exposing his yellowed goat teeth. After all, this was a piece of precious information.

"It's always good to have prominent customers. Working with so capable calms my heart. Maybe you can really still save some of them."

When Seth and Ember finally left the black market it made no difference, as night had already fallen in Delta. The blacksmith accompanied the demoness until they reached the college, before returning to Minas Mar.

…

When Seth came home, he found Mina waiting for him in bed. However, it was not sexy time.

"You seem concerned. Did something happen?" Seth asked as he sat on the bed beside her.

After a short hesitation, she told him about the attack on the guards during the day. His face turned solemn. This was serious.

"Why would anyone attack the guards?" Seth mumbled.

"That's the question I have been mulling over."

The blacksmith also thought about this matter. His approach was always "What were the effects and who stood to gain from this?" But he couldn't really come up with an answer. If someone attacked the guard during the refugee management, the strongest effect he could think of was sowing resentment against the people of Sigma, maybe.

But would someone really attack and kill people in this manner, just to rally people? There were also the attacker themselves. Mina had told them that they had some kind of invisibility cloak, but it stopped working after their death and it didn't work for anyone else who tried.

Seth had no idea who could make such equipment. The best tailor he knew was Neeco Boos, but he definitely couldn't make such clothes. He was occupied with training his skills using Puffles's various threads.

He finally shrugged. They would not find a solution while sitting in bed, it was better to get some sleep. Although Seth was slightly concerned about the incident, it didn't seem like it would be able to harm the people e cared about.

"Let's stop thinking about this and sleep. I will have to go on a short trip tomorrow."

"A quest?" the beastwoman asked surprised.

"Nah, just a business trip. Good night."

"Sleep tight."