Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth experimented a little more and guessed that he needed 10 to 20 small souls to change one into <Soul(medium)>. What did not change was the rating! Even these medium souls were rated as common. This meant he probably could not make uncommon souls from common ones.

He could think about it all day and get nowhere, so he just tested around and soon found a clear answer. He remembered that the vengeful Soul in his bow had been small, so he simply started infusing souls into the bow. He could feel the energy in the bow grow, but only after 13 souls did the description change!

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Vengeful Hunter Bow

Unique

Damage: 180

Durability:1000

1. Arrows shot with this bow show malice and will correct their trajectory to hit vital points.

2. Inflicted wounds will hurt more, heal worse, and have a high chance to get infected.

A frightening weapon made by an aspiring blacksmith. A bow possessed by a malicious will to hurt its benefactors' enemies.

Usage Condition: Seth Smith>

13! About the number, it would have needed to make it a medium-sized soul! The "slightly" in the correction of the trajectory was missing and the damage had made a leap!

This was when Seth realized that he actually needed to hunt more and bigger prey! It would take ages to get enough souls if he wanted to keep upgrading his equipment. He would need another hundred small souls if it took the same number of medium souls to make it a big soul. And this was only his bow!

And this also meant that he needed other uncommon souls if he wanted to increase the rating. He could not fathom the number of souls he would need in the future...

But it also meant infinite potential! Not only could he mix methods of enchantment! He could also add the effects of souls. And this didn´t even account for the stuff he would be able to do with <Soul Forging>!

He kept dreaming of the future for a little longer and then got back to work. He had not much time left and there was still a lot to do. 50 spears and 30 simple armor sets would be a crunch to make in just a week. Good thing he did not have to make the spear shafts himself! He had ordered 60 at a local carpenter. An extra 10 in case something went wrong. He never made spears before, so he was careful.

Hee had talked with the lord about the spears and the spike he had seen on the market. The lord had explained, that these spears actually two tips. One was a leaf-shaped spear-tip and a spike to balance it out. Seth liked the Idea and did exactly that. He made 50 spikes on the first day and 50 spear tips in the next two. The sockets off spear tips were harder than Seth had expected and cost him some time. He finished the 50 spears on the fourth day and reached lv.9 in blacksmith!

The cocoon had actually slept this whole time, except for putting it out in the sun for an hour a day. Seth actually didn't know, that the little Ivicer had also spent some time observing him intensely working in the smithy.

It was very impressed as it watched the metal changing its shape under the hits of his hammer as if it was clay! It was an almost magical sight. Unknowingly the intimacy had climbed to 60% and the loyalty to 40%. It had taken a liking to him.

Now Seth looked a little down. He had miscalculated the time he would need. His unplanned trip into the basement and the days they spent at the dungeon had not really helped either. An encouraging feeling suddenly entered his mind and a golden ball fell out of the air in front of him. The small Ivicer actually tried to cheer him up.

Seth smiled. At first, this connection had been a little strange, but he also took a liking to the fluff ball. Yeah, so what if he did not finish the armor in time? He had not really set a deadline for when the stuff should be finished. A big weight fell off his heart. He could just finish the armor sets later and send them here via the church!

At least that was his idea. He would have to talk it over with the lord. But the lord had been very accommodating until now.

The lord actually had a big smile, when he heard that Seth managed to finish the weapons in such a short time! And his face lit up even more when Seth told him that he had to leave soon, but promised to make the armor sets and send them over later!

"That sounds like a good idea! Do not worry, the armors of our guards will still hold for some time, the weapons were the important ones! I can´t thank you enough, please travel with a clear conscience!", the lord assured. Finally, this blacksmith left!

The food expenses had shot into the sky since Seth stayed at the palace. It was a heaven send news, that Seth would leave and make the armor sets somewhere else and stop emptying their pantries!

After he settled the matter with the Lord, Seth felt a lot more relaxed. Fin had been very bored in the last week, but she still preferred this, to dealing with her people and duties! She happily flew around Seth when he found her in the palace gardens. It was a lot earlier than when he normally stopped working.

Seth told her what he had decided and spoken over with the Lord. And Fin was glad he had not forgotten their deadline! Seth decision meant they would be able to set off soon. Fin had already taken care of their traveling preparations

"There is still one thing we need to do, though.", Seth said ominously.

"What?", fin asked interested. She hoped it was something fun and not Seth locking himself in the armory again to make an item!

"Get the rest of my payment, of course!"

The fairy had a bright smile. Something fun!

The guild still had not made a decision concerning the dungeon under the palace and no adventurers were allowed to go there. Was it illegal to enter the basement dungeon? Maybe.

But Seth still had the keys! So, technically, who could stop him? One fairy and a blacksmith simply passed through the servant quarters as if they owned the place. The place was a lot livelier without some evil creature feeding the people to a dungeon! The party came before the basement door. There were no guards or anything. Seth simply unlocked the door as if it was his home and they entered the basement.

Nothing really had changed from the first time he entered. This meant the doors had actually regenerated since then! Maybe the traps, too? Seth would gladly take on another donation of material from the dungeon!

Fins light easily illuminated the long corridor with many doors before them.

"So, this was your first dungeon?", Fin looked around interestedly. Since dungeons could grow literally everywhere most of them were quite unique. Seth had told her what had happened before.

The first few rooms they checked were the same as the ones Seth found the first time. Rotten food, old furniture. The rooms with the broken weapon were empty. These were probably the rooms of the original basement.

As they went on, there was a distinct difference between Seth´s first experience and now. The path was a lot shorter. There was no almost unending hallway with doors that turned into an earthen tunnel at some point. There were a lot fewer doors, the rooms were empty and there were also no traps. That had all been the doing of the dungeon! As it was dormant now, they had no problems at all and soon stepped into what had been the boss room.

The wide earthen cave with roots hanging from the low ceiling was still the same. In the middle was a small pale glowing bead, the dungeon core. The corpses had vanished, the dungeon master had vanished. There were also no old weapons. It was completely empty, except for the dungeon core.

"What now? We found neither the weapons nor the money Russlan supposedly might have hidden here.", Seth spoke out his thoughts.

"haha, do not worry! Leave it to Fin!"

The little fairy flew towards the dungeon core and... struck it. Then it put one arm around it and poked it with a finger.

"Listen here, ya lil´ shit! We cleared this dungeon fair ´n square. You OWE us. You better rake over the dungeon reward we deserve. You don´t wanna know what I will do to ya, if ya don´t. You heard me, right?"

Was she...mugging the dungeon core? Would this even-

"Last warning!"

With a bright light, several wooden boxes and a small chest appeared around the dungeon core.

"There we go! Wasn´t that hard, right?"

There were 8 boxes filled to the brim with old, but intact weapons, 3 boxes of armor, and 45 gold in the small chest.

The two stashed away their rich booty and ran off, leaving the broke dungeon core behind.