Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 628: The Pipe

Durability: 9000

1. Blessing of Wind

2. Sock’em!

3. Jump’em!

4. +200% power to Skills and Spells

5. 30% Chance to add a random Curse on Hit

6. Curse of Burden

7. Sleep Paralysis

8. 15% Chance on Hit to cause Silence

9.+85 Endurance

10. Active Skill: Aloads’ Destiny

A true classic reborn by the hands of Craftsman Smith. The weapon of choice for any thug, delinquent, or mobster in its most high-caliber form, yet. Enchanted my the first Master Enchanter of Urth, Master Smith using divine and mysterious means.

A horribly weapon for anyone to face and wield.>

Seth made some test swings with the pipe. It had a good heft and felt very satisfying to swing around. It was pretty good, although the last sentence of the flavor text heavily confused Seth until he read the description of the Curse of Burden. After reading it he couldn’t help but admit that it was the perfect weapon for Tekar.

The trait “Curse of Burden” had taken a slight change from its original form, most likely because of the divine enchantment.

With every successful hit, a unique burden counter is added to the target and the wielder. A counter vanishes after 30 seconds if not stacked. Can be stacked until one party dies.>

A weight that would slow one down and make them sluggish to the point they could die. It didn’t specify how much burden was added per counter, but Seth could see why this was an absolute nightmare for any wielder. That was… any wielder aside from Tekar.

With the man’s unique second class “The Bulwark”, immovability and weight theoretically strengthened his defense, which would turn the Curse of Burden into a blessing, as long as Tekar didn’t go too far.

The two other effects Seth had to wonder about were Sock’em and Jump’em. After analyzing the items for a while he came to the conclusion, that these were the effects of the and a synergy with the enchantments.

Sock’em doubled the physical damage of any blunt force attack and tripled the damage from underhanded attack and attack on vitals. Jump’em was a charged attack, that allowed to jump to a target’s back and smack their skull. The only requirement was for the target to face away.

The Aloads’ Destiny was like Seth expected a guaranteed bind for up to 10 minutes on hit, whereas the duration depend on the strength of the enemy. While bound, enemies would suffer a bleeding effect also based on their strength.

With this many effects, it was safe to say that Tekar would be able to dispense more than one negative status effect with every strike. Even without a dedicated weapon skill, the tank would be able to cause damage that was hard to ignore thanks to Sock’em.

Seeing how the skills came out, he almost regretted that he didn’t use a different ballad. One for conniving and underhanded means would have also fit well with some of the other effects, however, this wasn’t what Tekar needed as a tank. Maybe Seth could make another rendition of this if they ever had a thug or delinquent join them with a fitting class.

“Seth? Are you- Why are you playing around with a pipe?” he suddenly heard Mina’s voice from the door, as he was weighing the pipe in his hand, lost in thought.

“Mina? What brings you here?”

“You, dummy. It’s already so late and you didn’t come to bed…” she said with a pout.

He was wearing a bathrobe, but Seth could see what she was wearing below. He immediately got the hint. It was already past midnight.

” Sorry, I didn’t look at the time.”

” I can see you were quite satisfied playing with your pipe on your own,” she said mischievously.

“Hmhm, you are right. Maybe I should stay and work a little more,” he countered mockingly.

“No! I mean, you shouldn’t overwork yourself. Please, come to bed with me.”

“Oh, it seems like you wish to witness my pipe-wielding skills in private?”

“Pff, yeah. Please, show me your skills with the pipe.”

The two hurriedly scampered back to their quarters, making bad pipe puns along the way.

…

—Delta—

The rain was pouring. The light of the bustling city reflected by the empty streets and desolate buildings formed chaotic swirls of colors in front of her eyes. Water kept soaking into the worn-out shoes as she trudged along the boardwalk. Bitter cold bit her through her drenched clothes as if she wore nothing.

If only she was old enough to get a class, then she would be stronger. Then she could have…All she could do was try to find someone. Her parents- everyone relied on her. By sheer power of will her frozen feet kept moving, towards the bustling light she could see in the distance.

The lights were all she focused on. She had to reach people and then find help. She suddenly felt a hand grab her shoulder and a shadow blocked her light of hope.

” Girl, are you alright?”

She finally heard it. A sift warm voice spoke to her. A soft, warm palm touched her ice-cold cheek. The shadow took shape and she could recognize a person. It was an older woman, she had a wrinkly face with a warm smile. The woman wore a beige colored robe which seemed really bright in the night and a tippet of slightly darker color.

Was she a priest? She had heard of priests before they caught her. They said that priests could help them! She hurried to press sound from her sore throat.

“A-are you a priestess? I need help. We need-“

“Yes, I’m a servant of G-“

A disgusting warmth suddenly splattered on her face and a shiny point was right in front of her eyes. Behind the priestess with wide open eyes and blood spurting from her neck and mouth had appeared another shadow. A shadow she knew.

“What do you think you a doing here, Brat?”

The dagger was pulled back with a shower of blood and the kind old priestess collapsed on the ground, lifeless.

“Look what you made me do. Only because you tried to run away. Who will take responsibility for this?”

Her heart fell as despair and panic took hold of her mind. She couldn’t be caught again. She wasn’t able to get help yet. She couldn’t go back to that place. Everyone was counting on her. Despite her thoughts, she was petrified, as the shadow came closer, towering over her.

A sudden stream of warm energy circulated through her body and cleared her mind the shadow that was about to grab her also suddenly halted. Both looked at the ground, where the dead priestess wasn’t so dead at all. “Run,” she commanded the girl with a raspy voice, as her hand tighten around the shadow’s ankle.

With tears in her eyes, strengthened by the old woman’s buff, she ran. Towards the light, towards help. Before long the girl was gone.

“This doesn’t change anything. She is marked with our demonic scent. You sacrificed your last breaths in vain.” the figure said sadistically. He wanted to see the despair in this meddler’s face.

But when he looked down, he found her face expressionless with black tears running down her cheeks and eyes as dark as the night.

“Kukuku, you thought I was sacrificing myself?”

The grip on his ankle suddenly became strong enough that it would have crushed an ordinary person’s flesh. If he had not reinforced his skin and bones, he may have lost a foot. A quick glint in the night, but the blade with which he tried to cut off the old crone’s arm, was caught by her other hand.

“What are you!?” he exclaimed in shock, seeing his swallow blade caught by a bare hand..

“I am a servant of Gatris, the Goddess of Dark Mercy. The girl is mine.”

With a wicked smile, she stood up. As she pulled on his ankle, he let go of his sword, to use the motion and deliver a kick to her face, without effect.

“I put a lot of effort into my first impression, I could not let you ruin it. How would I catch her later if she saw this?”

The cultivator’s face distorted in unimaginable horror as his screech echoed in the night.