Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Please. Accept me as your disciple, Master!" the middle-aged man suddenly cried out, after the result of their duel was announced.

Seth stepped back in surprise, and he wasn't the only one. Even the referee jumped in shock when the man suddenly bowed and cried out for his opponent to be his master.

"No!" Seth gave the obvious response.

"Please, I am also ready to join Minas Mar and pay the tuition fee. Please take me as your disciple, great master!"

This time the man didn't just bow, but he kneeled down and slammed his forehead on the floor. What in tarnation was wrong with this man?! However, when he thought about the man's words, Seth started to ponder.

Originally, only people who were judged to have the right character had been invited to Minas Mar. But recently, Seth had dealt a lot with Soul Contracts, his had even reached lv. 4 after making contracts with the 300 new Faer.

Level 4 had opened more options to be included into the contracts. It wasn't out of question to have someone join, even just temporarily, after making a soul contract. All other sections had grown quite a bit, only Seth's crafting division lacked people.

Orry was at the level of an early Journeyman, not too far off from Hoen and Wedan. If he took him in as a disciple and grew him with Minas Mar's resources, he could make jewelry for the Turquoise Anvil.

"Do you have the skill?"

"Ye-Yes, I do. But it is only at the beginner level," he admitted embarrassed.

"Fine, let's talk about this somewhere else."

Seth didn't want the referee to listen to their conversation, so they changed places to a cafe outside the stadium.

"Why do you want to become my disciple?" Seth asked once he and the middle-aged man were seated and had each a drink in their hand.

" The sight of your work enraptured me and I see no other way to grow my own skills on my own at this point. "

"So you want to become my disciple to help with your stagnating skills?"

"That, too. But I also admire your workmanship. I don't think I would regret being under someone like you," Orry said seriously. He looked Seth in the eyes, his gaze was clear and honest.

Although it felt really awkward for Seth, to be looked at like this by a man almost double his age, the message came across. They kept talking for a while longer, about what Orry expected from working at Minas Mar.

"I will not take you as my disciple, but I can take you in as a student, the way I learned from my Tutor." Seth finally made the decision.

Depending on this conversation, Seth also decided to use the soul contract only as a kind of nondisclosure agreement. Even if Orry at any point decided to leave Minas Mar, he would be unable to share any secrets or do anything that would harm them.

They decided to meet another day to finish the admission before the man finally left happily. The blacksmith finally got the chance to take a look at his gain. Rank 5 on the Goldsmith Leaderboard gave Seth a 35% proficiency bonus.

Unfortunately, it did not stack with the one from Rank 1 Blacksmith. They were just added together to a 335% proficiency bonus. It was a bummer, but he wasn't going to complain about a free bonus. In the end, maybe Orry Abell was the bigger gain for Minas Mar, than his rank on the leaderboard.

A slight consolation, for exposing himself on the Goldsmith leaderboard. When Seth returned to the workshop, he started to prepare the things for the Ritual of the Tutor. How long had it been since he himself had been a student?

Who would have thought that only roughly two years later, it would be him, standing in the place of the Tutor to teach someone else? It filled his head with nostalgic thoughts of his time at Tored's workshop.

…

Despite finally possessing some legendary material, Seth did not immediately start on making items with it. The blacksmith wanted to reach the master rank before he began making equipment for his friends.

With the proficiency bonus, he could see the light. It wouldn't take months to reach the master ranks. This was why he decided not to use the material right away and concentrate on the equipment for the Oathguard first.

However, there was another thought had occupied his mind after the duel with Orry Abell. A thought that had made him visit the Bard College more frequently in the following days.

Thinking of becoming a tutor, Seth had to think back on his time with Tored and his failed attempts at ballads. Equipped with greater experience and knowledge he noticed something weird. Name the items like the Cursed Dagger that could give the opponent a runny nose, the few items he succeeded in making back then.

Now that he knew more about ballads and more about demons, he could recognize that this was actually a very unusual occurrence. He had paid no price for the enchantment back then, and neither had he used the demon language or any other related skill.

Yet, the enchantment was actually quite strong, though not necessarily very effective in combat. While he concentrated on the items for the Oathguard, he also spent time in the library. He was curious about what demon had listened to his botched singing attempts and rewarded him so generously.

If he could replicate it with more controlled results, it would be a viable option to use on the legendary items.

The question became only more intriguing as the blacksmith couldn't find a clue in the library. Ember couldn't help him this time either. She was also just a student at the college, not an expert. This left Seth only the option to look for one of the professors.

To be specific, the professor of Demonology. Seth had only seen him during lessons and never really interacted with him. After his little stunt during the flyting, he had mostly kept his distance from many of the demons at the college.

He visited the professor's office during his visiting times. The professor was one of those demons that looked like an old gentleman. The gray mustache looking like a mop was in stark contrast to his skin's violet tinge. A pair of intelligent eyes observed Seth from behind gold-.rimmed glasses, before greeting him.

The blacksmith was glad that the teacher did not seem to treat him differently from any other student. After explaining his question, the professor asked Seth to closer describe his experiences when creating cursed objects in Ora.

Although it was a little embarrassing to talk about his humble beginning, singing songs so terrible that demons granted him a blessing.

"Hmm, I believe I know who you accidentally entertained."

The professor stood up and turned to the shelf behind his desk. Groaning from the weight, he pulled a massive tome from the shelf and slammed it on the desk. Seth even imagined the desk creaking under the weight.

"It's also no wonder you wouldn't find anything on him in the library," he added while he opened the book.

Flipping through the book, the heavy parchment sounded like blades cutting through the air. Seth listened for a while until the sound suddenly stopped. The page the professor had stopped on showed the picture of a creature that had only a partial physical form.

"This is Schalk, the demon of ill-natured humor. Black humor, jokes, and pranks at the expense of others, best if they go too far. These are the domain of Schalk."

One half of the being in the book was a kind of formless mist, while the other showed a featureless face, with a malicious smile. Seth involuntarily had to think of the comedy mask in theater. It had wide skinny shoulders that made it look as if it wore shoulder pads below its skin. The wiry arms ended in similarly wiry hands with very long fingers.

"Schalk is a powerful demon that only acts for its own entertainment. He can offer very powerful enchantments if the bard can entertain him."

"If it's a powerful demon, why are there no pieces about him in the library?"

"Because Schalk is different from other demons. No piece that has worked on him once, will do so again. He might even punish people that try to pander to him with old works. Our best explanation is that he is bored easily and won't be entertained by the same joke twice.

Making all pieces dedicated to him unique and absolutely worthless for other bards. However, that isn't the reason you won't find anything about him in the library. The reason is, that he is dangerous and unpredictable.

Even if a bard manages to entertain him, the power granted can be both positive and negative. One bard I knew had managed to gain an ability, that allowed him to make others laugh even with the stalest of jokes.

Imagine how scary someone is, who can tell a joke in the middle of the fight, or flyte, and force his opponent into an inevitable laughing fit... But he was lucky. Other people who managed to call upon Schalk were given gifts like the inability to wear clothes, the sensation of burning alive in the presence of peas and beans, and the questionable ability to procreate with any creature..," he paused for a moment.

"And the irresistible urge to copulate with any creature one sees... Let's stop here. I think you get the picture."

Seth could help but stare at the professor.

"Is that really what the book says?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"And did the victim really..?"

"I would like to end that topic here. I think I have answered your question. Just in case this was not enough of a warning, you were lucky not to have had this class back then, or Schalk may have seriously paid his attention to you, instead of playing a prank or two. As your professor, I beseech you not to try and get his attention. For your sake, and ours."

"I promise I will not experiment with it. Okay? Thank you, professor, for entertaining my curiosity."

With that, he said his farewells and left the professor behind. Obviously, Seth had originally planned to try and contact that entity if he really found out its identity. However, his promise was honest. The professor's examples had shown that the possible price was too high.

Otherwise, the blacksmith would have considered using some enchantments of Schalk on the items he wanted to make from the . Now, he did his best to forget about this option and concentrate on what lay before him.