Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

At the dwarf's innocent question, Seth's eyebrows rose up high. He gave the set of the Necrotic Ruler another once over. His path of a legendary forger was able to copy legendary effects under specific circumstances, such as when he took apart the item.

If he was honest, his path to legends had been pushed to the back of his mind over the past weeks and it was not his first thought. Especially when it was about a set of three items, that could help one of his friends or subordinates a lot.

Seeing the situation now, Wedan's call was correct. Nobody in Minas Mar needed this set, except Evee, who couldn't use it because of her established gear. If he took the Set of the Necrotic Ruler apart and managed to learn the legendary set effect, he might have been able to create an item or set sat not just Evee could sue, but also any other necromancer that may join them in the future.

Or any necromancer that had enough money to buy or exchange for it...But There was a lot to do at the moment and this was far from his top priority.

"Thank you for the reminder, Wedan. If the others have nothing against it, I would try that in the future," he said, looking into the room. Nobody showed any signs of disapproval. Since selling was already an option they considering, using it to strengthen the blacksmith was easily accepted.

"Well, let's set aside this matter for now," Seth said, seeing everyone silently agreeing. There were a handful of other items, that needed the collected minds of the people present here.

There were the two small devices Seth couldn't appraise, the Ledger of Administration, the Sigil of Royalty, and the Traversal Key. He places all of them on the table. He excluded the Travel Keg, the others didn't need to know about that one.

Seth also put out all the relic-rated rings and items Natina and Piotr had on them, in case someone was interested, otherwise they would be put in Minas Mar's guild vault, so members could exchange them.

He had not seen the Sorceress move, but at some point in the seconds since he put down the items, she had appeared at the desk, already holding up one of the devices. It was a smooth dark silver thing the size and shape of a remote control.

As Al'Zalsar turned it in her hand, magical circles, and runes began appearing on its surface, expanding, multiplying, and flying in the air around it, taking the shape of a bubble. Everyone's eyes were glued on the spectacle for the second it was happening before the light show receded back into the little remote.

"Al, do you know what that is?" the bard who stayed silent while the great sorceress was inspecting the new gadget, asked carefully after the magic was gone again. Al looked at the remote for a moment longer before she placed it back on the table.

"It's a trap device," the legend revealed. "When triggered, it will create a temporal bubble around the target, freezing them in time until either the power runs out or the device is deactivated from the outside," the sorceress with experience when it came to cruel traps explained.

"A Stasis Trap?" Idyllon and Leana blurted out at the same time. It seemed like Al's explanation was enough for them to recognize what it was.

"So you know what this is?", Seth asked seriously, in reaction to their concerned voices.

"Yes, but you are saying Natina had this in her inventory?" Idyllon asked slightly upset. A lot of thoughts seemed to shoot through the enchanter's mind at this moment. Seth simply nodded, waiting for either of the two to explain what was going on.

Before saying anything, Idyllon also approached the table to look at the two unidentified devices. While Al'Zalsar had to analyze the one she picked up, it seemed that the space mage recognized them once he saw them up close.

"Truly, a Stasis Trap and Dark Chamber Trap. I hoped I was wrong," Idyllon said with a sigh. " So it's true?" Leana asked him concerned. Seth looked at the two and smacked his lips.

"Look here you two, you played this pronoun game long enough. Explain what this is about," the Tower master prompted them to explain the reason they made such a big thing of this. The old man and the princes shared a glance before Leana nodded.

"Both of these are top-secret items from Chrona and Spatia. The Stasis Trap is a blueprint held and controlled by the imperial family and the same is true for the Dark Chamber in Spatia. these are only owned or given out directly by royals. It implies that Natina does not just have a high standing in Spatia, but also had support from a royal of Chrona."

Well, the imperial seal he got from Natina's inventory already explained the "Dark Chamber". But why was she so serious about the connection with Chrona?

"So? What exactly changed? We already knew that someone in Chrona was working with Spatia and orchestrated the whole shit show in Delta. Whoever is behind this snake oiler of misfortune or whatever his moniker was, right?" the blacksmith asked, confused about their reaction. How did this revelation make their situation any more grave than it was before?

"The Peddler of Ruin moves for many reasons, but this item means that his current backer and the one behind the situation in Delta is someone in the direct line for the throne. The biggest problem is, that we don't know their intention in handing this kind of item to someone from Spatia. Why did she have those two items on her and what was their intended use?" the princess brought up her worries.

"Well, didn't they obviously try to capture someone?" Al gave the obvious conclusion. A time trap that could freeze someone in time and a space trap that could lock one into a pocket dimension. She was right, if this wasn't to capture someone, then what else could it be?

"But who?" the blacksmith mumbled. Who would they want to capture in case Spatia managed to put down a foot on Urth? Seth had an itchy feeling and when he looked up, almost everyone in the room stared at him.

"Me?" he exclaimed perplexed. "But why? I mean, I know I'm quite handsome and maybe I'm a little talented in singing and forging but..." Seth joked a little, but he was serious. he doubted his skills warranted this kind of expenditure.

"Maybe someone leaked your skill?" Fin exclaimed, glaring at the room shiftily as if she expected someone to jump up as if they were exposed by her words. Safe to say, that didn't happen.

"Or they conjectured it themselves," Idyllon threw in. "Spatia isn't stupid. Whatever you want to say about their system, it does bring the capable people to the top. Minas Mar had clashed with Spatia twice now. and Mike was even captured and stripped of his items before.

Maybe they concluded that Seth needed to have some sort of ability to refine legendary materials, based on reports and Mike's equipment," the old mage mused.

To think one of the secrets of his success had been revealed to the enemy was a scary thought, but it ultimately could explain why they would aim to capture him. It had not even been an hour, since he thought of them as a free license to print money, well, for the empires it was the same. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Someone who could pump out legendary materials would lead to the creation of a system that could fuel their armies with legendary items, no different from what Seth was doing right now, but on a much larger scale. not to mention the exponential growth their blacksmiths could experience.

"This means we have to be careful of Chrona, too." the blacksmith concluded with a sigh. It only slowly began to sink in how lucky he had been, with the music choice he made. The song of Puppos the Diseased was able to manipulate the decisions and actions of the opponent, to subtly lead to one's own victory.

Had he not used that, Seth doubted he could have resisted these items. Locked space maybe, but time dilation? He had no effects or skills that could protect him against that kind of stuff. But the blacksmith decided not to dwell on it. He was here and that was all that mattered.

"We should look into how to use this. Our blacksmith was so great even the great empires wanted to kidnap him," Link suggested jokingly, lightening the mood. Making the best of the current situation, was not a bad idea, but there was something else Seth was more interested in.

"Before we keep going on tangents, can anyone appraise this one?" he raised the Ledger of Administration. When Leana saw the book, her eyes began to sparkle. As a competent princess, she had a high-level appraisal skill that was not tied to any crafting skill. Seth also noticed others like Al and Idyllon react, but it was Leana who spoke up.

"It's called "Sokolov's Ledger".