Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 401: Running Man

”What do you mean why? I say no, I mean no. Now, go away.”

”You donʼt know who you are talking to!”

”Exactly. Thatʼs why I ask you to leave.”

”Iʼm also part of the evaluation team.”

Seth thought for a moment.

”Are you one of the clowns that kept standing in a corner? You guys are really something. One ambushes me in the toilet and the other follows me into a bar…” he lamented.

The young man blushed.

”You could have just approached me at the banquet.”

”I-I wanted to talk with you in private,” he said slightly embarrassed.

”Then get an appointment at the guild house?”

”I was chosen as the team leader. It seemed inappropriate to ask a subordinate for an appointment.”

”The princess can call you everything she likes, but I am nobodyʼs subordinate.”

Seth started getting annoyed.

”Anyway, I have to talk with you in private,” he said undeterred and sat down at their table

”Can I also have a drink?” he continued.

”Suit yourself. However, Iʼm not paying for people who invite themself.”

He had started browsing the list of drinks, but the moment Seth mentioned paying himself, he quickly paid his attention to the cheaper options.

”Why are even the cheap ones so expensive,” he mumbled.

”Then donʼt buy, if you canʼt pay.” Wedan fired a shot and shrugged his shoulders.

The intruder finally ordered the cheapest drink on the menu.

”H-How about we start over. Iʼm Ben, Ben Harker.” he finally introduced himself.

”And what do you want, Ben?”

Ben eyed Wedan.

”Donʼt squint at my friend like that and state your business,” Seth commented ill-humored.

”I wanted to ask you… Why are you not using your power more? I saw your skills at the party and heard about your status in Delta. You could help so many people with your capabilities.”

”What are you even talking about? Seth already spends quite a lot of resources to help with the evacuation of Beta.”

”But he could do so much more! You could hand out or lower the price of your wares. With better equipment, the people would have an easier time surviving. Your money could help a lot of people. Minas Mar could help pacify the wilderness.

Iʼm sure you could even help me close some of the high-level dungeons out there!”

Wedan took a breath, but Seth stopped him. He took a sip from his drink.

”Why should I?”

”W-Why?” Ben asked perplexed. ”Because it is the right thing to do! As a person! As a human being. We were given such immense power. We have a responsibility to use it for the good of everyone.”

”Given?” Seth asked emotionless but he was boiling under the surface.

”Yes, we were given this power, so we should help where we could.”

Seth took a deep breath. It had been some time since he had felt at work.

”Tell me, what did you do since the world went to shit, to gain power?”

”Of course, I fought! I killed monsters and closed dungeon to protect the people of my city. Thatʼs what brought me the class hero.”

”So, you got a rather strong class to start off, and then kept leveling by fighting and helping people?”

”Yes! I saw it as my duty.”

”Enviable. Do you know my experience right after the apocalypse?”

The hero looked at the blacksmith. He didnʼt know where this was going and just waited for him to continue.

”I got a class I never really wanted. Even when I came to terms with it, I could only run. I ran and ran. I had to work a lot, just to have a chance to survive and choose my fights. Even after I thought I had found a way out, I had to keep running. And I had to keep working hard just to have a bare minimum ability to survive.” he explained coldly.

”I didnʼt-”

”I know a girl who was in the middle of severe depression and lost both her hands right before the system was implemented. She managed to survive under the inhumane circumstances, crawled from the worst shit you could imagine, was forced to watch her companions die and be tortured, and still managed to go on and became powerful today.

And you are trying to tell me that after all that she, or me, or anyone else who went through something similar, have a ”responsibility” to sacrifice our time, or possessions for some vain altruism?”

”No, but-”

”Many people died and suffered, but everyone on Urth was given the chance to grow. Those who grew have worked hard for the change. You have no right to demand sacrifices of them. This conversation is over.”

”But what about the people that are still suffering?”

”I act when I see a need to, not because some hot-air balloon tells me to.”

With that, Seth stood up without another word, paid for his and Wedanʼs drink, and pulled the dwarf out of the bar.

The barkeeper shot a burning gaze at Ben, who had just chased away one of his best customers. The hero awkwardly drank his alcohol and left.

”Tower Master, are you okay?”

”Hmm? Yeah, Iʼm just pissed. I always disliked these kinds of preachers.”

The dwarf nodded pondering.

Seth had always disliked people that wished to push their own morals onto others. Of course, this was more about fictional characters than people. He had never thought to actually run into someone like that. This had been his first time.

If something like this was the leader…Maybe, he should rethink joining the evaluation. Or have a talk with the princess.

That night he was alone in bed. Mina and the other were still in a high-level dungeon. He had a hard time calming down because of , so he decided to enter the workshop.

What should he do?

He sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then started . Concentrating on synchronizing his mana flow and breathing always helped him calm down.

Driven by inspiration, he stood up and began refining . before he had already struggled with refining ordinary silver, but with he was ready to do it with .

Even then, operating the breathing technique of Hephaistos and refining the metal was a task that took his full concentration. With the bars of he had looted from the stronghold, there were almost 200.

After several attempts, he managed to turn 45 bars of into 30 bars of epic .

Looking at the clock, it was just the right time now. The sixth hour of the day. Seth went to the storage room, where he stopped in front of a special shelved. Rows and rows of vials with blood were here.

This was special blood. They were all the blood sampled from jackal- and donkey-type monsters he and his friends had collected in the past months. Because of the randomness, he had not delved back into making .

But he felt different today. He brought the rare blood of the Anubis Jackal, a lv.80 boss monster, and the rare blood of a Golden Jack*ss to the formation for the . Once the grooves of the formation were filled with the blood, he brought out the reason he felt so confident.

The alone was already epic and he had his Lucky trinket ring. There was even a chance for it to become a legendary material!

Unfortunately, the piece of iron given by master mountain was just about big enough to make a knife from, but Seth had another idea. It depended on the effect it would get hereafter.

He placed it inside the formation and started injecting Mana, following the instructions of the blueprint. The consumption was tremendous and during the process, he had to drink several mana potions to keep supplying power.

It had been a long time since had last witnessed the mystic change as the blood of the formation boiled away and the steam started permeating the iron. The which had been black and sparkly before had turned into several shades of crimson red and black.

Seeing the description, the blacksmith could not help doing a fist pump and a little dance. This was perfect.

With the materials prepared, he returned to the Soul Smithy. He had the , the , and lastly, he brought out from his inventory. The core of the stone giant had a metallic property, making it almost indistinguishable from gold, by looks alone.

He started humming the tune of Behemoth and began.

With nine bars of he forged nine long strands he then twisted into a bright-silver shaft.

Using he turned the round core into a flattened tear drop-shape about the length of his hand, but narrower.

From the he forged a spear tip and fused the tear-shaped core into its base. Seth fixed the finished tip to the end of the silver shaft where he entwined it with the ends of the braided silver strands to be securely held in place.

The 10th bar of silver turned into the spears butt cap, ornaments, bolts, and reinforcements along the whole body of the weapon.

He had gotten the idea because of the staff he had made for Alison. Herʼs could also act as a club, so why not make a magic staff that could be used as a spear?

All the time, he had kept singing the tunes of the behemoth and did not stop yet. Next was the enchantment and Seth had chosen ”Pirithous Punishment”.

Pirithous was a hero who came to the underworld to steal the wife of Hades. But when he and his companion sat down on a rock to rest, they were bound to it and unable to move. It sounded like an earth-type snare effect.

Seth had prepared a small plate, where he could engrave the sigil. It was an abstract symbol, that kind of looked like a butt on a stone. A single chain pattern originated from the sigil and stretched from the tip of the spear to its butt.

His eyes widened when he finished the item…and could not see the stats! This meant-