Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth soon started groaning. One and a half of the seven dragon scales were used on the materials for the shield. The difference in the ratio became immediately clear when he tried to forge the metal plates alone.

The blacksmith had not expected such a huge difference, since he had not felt any problems previously. He had used two of the scales on the cuirass, but it was also more material overall. The blacksmith didn’t plan to make a huge shield.

Since the rest of his body was already covered in almost invincible armor and he preferred maneuverability because of his class combination, he decided to make a sizable buckler shield. He had already made this decision before the skills of the cuirass and boots became clear. The puzzle pieces simply fell into place, because of his overall preferences.

The smaller size meant the concentration of dragon material in the shield was higher than in the rest of his armor. Obviously, the blacksmith also hoped that he would get a stronger effect, with the higher concentration.

It also meant he needed to put in even more effort and mana to make the tough material move into the shape he wanted. All the while carefully controlling his breathing so he wouldn’t mess up the forging ballad.

Tirelessly, he swung Charon’s Obol to slowly but surely manipulate the shape of the big plate he had previously prepared with the dwarfs. He planned to make the whole shield from one piece of material.

Using the same attachments he used for the helmet, he first worked out the boss, the dome of the buckler that would fit his fist. He had to work out the sphere, all the while keeping in mind not to work the material too thin. Once he made sure that it fit his hand, he transitioned to working on the rim. Naturally, he had not chosen to make a simple round buckler.

The system had many blueprints of shields and bucklers. Seth had found one, that has been immediately pleasing to his eye. It had an elongated diamond shape, with curves and points at the rim, as if serrated. The lowest point was longer, turning into a semi-spike. Ridges gave the shield rigidity and reminded of webbed feet or dragon wings. Or a really feisty turtle.

On top of all that, there was also a row of short spiked that were meant to catch blades when blocking with the shield. Especially these smaller spiked were a pain for Seth, as he had to make the individual and weld them to the surface of the shield.

Making a hole and peening the spike in place was an almost impossible effort, based on his mana. His method was also hard, but a lot more doable. With the shield in shape, he added a handle on the backside of the boss, so he could wield the shield with one hand.

And then- He took a break. It was already midday. He would only return to the workshop after a good meal. Sitting at the dining table, he realized the silence. Lately, the canteen had become a little emptier.

Many of Delta’s guilds and organizations were pulling out of the guard duty among the refugees. They had already lost too many members or were afraid to lose any, to care about their image. As the only ones not afraid of a sudden death by an invisible hand, more and more members of the Oathguard joined the effort to protect and pacify the people.

There were only a few days left before they would make their plan public and try to siphon away as many people as they could. No matter what the puppeteers planned, they were going to make things as hard as possible for them, and squeeze out some gains on the way.

Things would slowly start moving once he finished the shield today. Karina had already informed him, that she finished her preparations and was ready to show him. And there was another person he would have to meet before his speech on Friday, to make sure they got the script.

Seth sighed. There was so much to do, even when he just wanted to enjoy a meal in quiet, his thoughts would rotate about the things to come. He simply couldn’t enjoy his leisure, sometimes. All he wanted to do, was stay in bed for a week and he would definitely do so, once he was done.

Even if the Age of Gods came and the world was embroiled in chaos, he was going to assimilate with his blanket and maybe watch movies or something. He finished his meal, stretched, and returned to the workshop.

The physical form of the shield was finished, the next step was enchanting it. There was only one aspect of Apollo left. His most prominent one, the god of sunlight. Now that he looked at it, the shield also resembled a little sun or a star.

Similar to purity, there were not many demons associated with light powers. However, there was one very prominent one, the bards called the Bearer of Insights. Or the Light Bearer. This demon was so ancient, that its true name was lost to time. At least the college didn’t have any records of it.

He had even asked some of the teachers, but nobody knew the true name. Well, true name or not, there was still a collection of work dedicated to the Bearer of Insights, that could grant powers associated with light.

Seth chose the light property for the shield because he wanted to make up for the crowd control the Wyvern Shield offered. The Bearer of Insights could give people insight into many things, even themselves.

The light reflected by the item enchanted with the etching Seth chose, had the ability to show an opponent their greatest horrors. There were no costs attached to this etching. Because the bearer was so ancient, it was speculated that he lost his ego, making it possible to draw on his power for free.

In exchange, the power of demons always came with a catch. The effect couldn’t be used at will, but as stated, one had to either make the opponent look into the shield and see his own mirror image, or reflect light in their eyes using the shield.

The boon was, that the enemy’s level did not matter. No matter how strong they were, even transcended enemies would see their greatest fears and horrors. At that point, only the target’s personality and willpower would make a difference. A mentally strong person might not be affected at all, someone weaker may become an idiot for life.

He put in the effort to arrange the letters of the test in a pleasing way along the edge of the shield, only to find his efforts wasted. Once finished, the demonic power soaked into the shield, and the runes vanished. In exchange, the surface of the shield became a clear, reflective mirror polish. The originally dark reddish color was almost impossible to make out at this point.

The shield was so reflective that it was almost like a chameleon effect. With this, Seth’s hope of being able to use the demonic effect rose. Seeing this, Seth did not dare to engrave anything on the flawless surface.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to. The second enchantment he chose could also be engraved don’t the inside of the shield. It was an advanced version of Size-Adjustment, the enchantment that could tailor armor to the wearer’s size.

This enchantment would allow Seth to grow the shield from the size of a buckler, to the size of a full-fletched shield that could cover most of his body. With the enchantments done, he started to work on the soul armament.

Looking at the soul he had prepared, he could only think that it was a shame that he had been unable to find the soul of a creature with a light attribute. Just like demons have little to do with the light, few people go around slaughtering being of the light elemental as they are fundamentally good-natured.

And those who did? Well, they were no friends of Tano’Mol. As such the goat did not sell any souls of the light element. The blacksmith could have looked for one somewhere else, but he had to agree with the demon. There had to be a line somewhere.

Instead, he chose the soul of a Crystal Turtle. A kind of reptile living in subterranean oceans. As the name suggested, it was a turtle that grew gemstones on its shield as a defense. It was pretty obvious why people would hunt and farm this creature.

Going with the theme of light, the Olympian enchantment he chose was the Blessing of Hyperion, the titan of the sun. This was a funny thing. While Apollo was the god of sunlight, Hyperion was the personification of the sun.

This became especially clear when Seth started engraving the Sigil of a stylized sun on top of the boss. Despite being a kin of fire, he could feel his back burning up in the heat of the presence watching him work. The sweat was pouring down his face and he didn’t have the leisure to wipe it away. It was thanks to that was granted by Forgeright, that he could keep working despite sweat constantly running in his eyes.

When he finally finished the Sigil, the soul buckler was covered in flame patterns, radiating from the shield boss and it was infused with the power of Hyperion. Drenched from head to toe. With the sudden absence of the sun titan, Seth felt cold for the first time in his workshop.

He took a moment to rest and get back his bearing before he infused the soul shield of the sun into the buckler he prepared and quenched the item in the waters of Styx to truly fuse them together.