Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"I´m staying at "The Lucky Miner"

They had just finished their meal, with everyone being close to falling into a food coma. Before they left and split up again, the conversation led to their plans for tomorrow, where to meet. As Seth was still new to Ora, he suggested meeting at the inn he was staying at.

"The Lucky Miner!? Isn´t that the expensive inn at the elven square?" Lixiss exclaimed. She had a rather cold attitude until now but it suddenly changed now.

"Expensive? Well, it´s not cheap. But I would not call it expensive." Seth pondered. The night at The Lucky Miner cost 10 silver coins. That included 3 tasty meals and a private bathroom. Seth didn´t perceive it as expensive. But Seth was rich, how would he know what the poor deem expensive?

Lixiss´s eyes became gold doubloons. For C-Rank adventurers like them, 10 silver for a single day was very expensive. A normal citizen would think adventurers made loads of money with their quests and in the dungeons, but they also had huge expenditures. They did not just need to buy food, they also paid for a place to stay, weapons, armor, and to maintain them. They also had to pay a lot of money for single-use items like potions. In the end, unless you became a successful B-Rank adventurer, 10 silver for one night was a huge expenditure. And Lixiss´s new friend just talked about it like it was nothing. The shine of money had thawed the cold beauty's attitude.

They agreed to meet in front of the Lucky Miner on the morning of the next day and split up. Seth held back Mina before she could leave completely.

"Hey. I meant what I said earlier. Would you maybe like to accompany me to my inn?" he whispered in her ear. She blushed a little and pondered and then made a slightly complicated expression.

"Not tonight. Hmm, maybe tomorrow?" she gave him a teasing smile and ran off after her brother.

Seth shrugged and left, with the Ivicer back in the pet space.

The next morning was warm and bright. Seth and Puff and a good breakfast before waiting for the party outside the in. Today they planned to enter the tower's 6th floor that held monsters up to level 35. With "Yulecats Fur" having an average level of 40 they would have some leeway on this floor. Just enough to train and get used to fighting alongside a new member. Soon Bulko and Lixiss came into view, while Mina and mike stayed at the other side of the street, keeping their distance to the inn.

"Hey Seth!" the elvish girl greeted him excitedly. She really became a lot nicer after knowing he had money. Bulko only gave him a nod as a greeting.

"Good Morning you two. What´s up with the kitties?" Seth looked at the siblings who looked almost uncomfortable.

"They...are kind of out of sorts with the owners"

"Oh! Oh, well. Let´s leave then." Was the thing between cats and dogs also a thing between beastmen of the cat and dog tribe?

They were about to leave when a shout disturbed the calm morning air.

"You unfilial children! Don´t think I can´t recognize your teammates! I´m not so blind as to not see you over there!"

James the inn´s owner had rushed out onto the street and was furiously shouting at the cat siblings. Mina and Mike looked conflicted and remorseful. The grown adventurer had turned back to little children being scolded by their father.

"I promised your father to take care of you! We raised you as our own children and you suddenly run off to become adventurers! 3 Years! Not coming back for three years. If Sean did not visit the guild once in a while you could have been dead, without us even knowing. Do you even know how worried I and your mother were!" with this he hugged the two siblings who had their stares fixed to the ground in shame. He hugged them tightly and tears ran down his cheeks.

What had Seth stumbled into here? A full-blown soap drama? James had pretty much explained the whole plot. He and his wife had promised one of his former colleagues to take care of his children when he was in the mines. Their mother had died during the winter a year earlier. He died during a mine collapse leaving the two children to James and his wife.

They raised the two like their own children, but the two were adventurous and reckless. Which led to them running away and becoming adventurers, a dangerous job their adoptive parents would not have accepted. They missed their parents but were also too afraid to come back and be scolded. That's why they had avoided the inn for three whole years, never even getting close. Th had not known, that their parents had actually kept an eye on their career and had become proud of them.

It was quite the heartwarming reunion and stuff like that, but Seth was glad when they could finally set off for their dungeon dive.

The walk to the tower was not long and they soon stood in the entrance hall where you entered the floors.

The tower had a teleportation formation, where you could travel to any floor you had visited before. Seth had not been to the 6th floor before, but as long as he was in Mina´s party he could hitch a ride to the floor with them.

But before they entered the dungeon everyone wore and checked their equipment. The team's eyes bulge when they saw Seth wearing a high-quality armor-set and spear. They could not know the exact rating of the items, but they could tell that they were definitely not ordinary!

Seth understood their reaction when he checked their equipment with <Blacksmith´s Eyes>. Except for Mikes Sword and Lixiss' Staff who were rated uncommon, they wore only common equipment.

Only Mina daggers had a basic enchantment. This was actually very reassuring. It meant they had gotten where they were with their own skills. This didn´t change the fact that all of them were marveled at Seth´s equipment.

"Oh wow! How much did you pay for this?" Lixiss asked with sparkly eyes.

"A lot of time! I made them myself after all." he answered with a laugh.

"You made these!?" Mina exclaimed and suddenly clung to him. "You wouldn't possibly have a pair of daggers for your girlfriend, right?"

"Shameless!" said the half-elvish girl that stated clinging to his arm. Seth wrapped his arm around Mina waste and got really close to her.

"I have nothing for free. Not even for my girlfriend." he whispered in her ear.

"Buh! Cheapskate! You are no fun!" she said and got away from him. The greedy cold beauty also let go of him after knowing that he would not gift them awesome stuff.

Before they entered the floor, Bulko cast group buffs on them all increasing their defense and damage by 15%. Buffed up they entered the teleportation formation.

This place was very different from the floors he had visited before with Puffles. The floors before always looked like human-made structures. The typical dungeons with long maze-like floors and rooms. But this floor was like a small world. Like the portal dungeons that led to a space bubble.

They stood in a dark forest with a dim light shining down from the sky. The trees here were colored in shades from black to purple with grey to pale rose-colored moss and lichen growing on and hanging from them. The leaves were serrated and ranged from black to dark blue. There was no shrubbery and the ground was just wet dark earth. A cold wind was blowing through the forest and howling through the branches above them their breath hung like a white fog in front of their faces.

"Get in formation," Mike said and everyone formed a loose circle around Lixiss and Bulko, he casters. Mike and Bulko had also summoned their pets. One was an armored wolf, which was a monster that looked like a mix of wolf and armadillo. The other was a great snapper, which was a very big and more agile version of a snapping turtle. Both had a balanced attack and defense to reinforce the frontline. Puffles, the Mighty took his place in the center, beside the casters.

The monsters that were supposed to appear on this floor were types of demonic insects. Seth had not met any demons or demonic creatures, yet. But they were a thing in the pathwork. One of the few factions that not just used the pathwork, but was able to hijack other worlds on their own.

"Be careful. These things could hide in any and every shadow around here."

"There are a lot of shadows."

"Yep."

They slowly walked along a rough path. It was only distinguishable because the surrounding trees had a regular distance between them, forming this way.