Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1307: A better way

What enchantments to give a weapon, that dealt irrecoverable damage? Seth had mulled over what enchantments to use. he would have loved to increase the chance of critical hits, but that was not a magic that existed in the system.

As critical hits were strikes to vital areas, it would need an aim assist like his heart seeker bow that would change the direction of arrows to aim for vital areas. The next best was increasing critical damage. The enchantment would have covered the whole weapon, not leaving any space for anything else, but fortunately, Seth had a better way for that.

It was a shame that the was not fit for magic damage either. The material had horrible magic conductivity, compared to what Seth usually worked with. Ultimately, the enchantments had to follow the material and weapon he chose.

To completely lean into the nature of the weapon, the choice of enchantment was quite simple. Among his Olympian blessings was the Blessing of Perses, the Titan of Destruction. What better enchantment to give a weapon with the aura of destruction?

Seth was not sure what exactly the effects of the blessing would be, but he was convinced that it would come with a huge improvement of damage and maybe effects like Armor Breaking or Weapon Breaking.

The only problem was that he couldnʼt use these directly on weapons not made of , which meant this was the enchantment for the soul of the weapon, not the body. He was still left with the choice of enchantments for the body.

Taking into account, that the blessing may not come with the specific breaking effects, Seth found an alternative. The bard chose a demonic poem, encapsulating the two most important effects, Armor Penetration and Armor Breaking, to be etched along the handle.

It may have been easier to combine the specific magic circuits and engrave them on the weapon, but considering the nature of the material, the forging ballad, and the blessing Seth chose, he was hoping for a synergistic effect between the three. The poem had four lines that roughly translated to:

“Strength is justice. Powerlessness is a crime.

Time flows constantly, it doesnʼt care about the people who are struggling.
Crying for them wonʼt bring the dead back to life.

The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed.”

Seth had to be honest. His poetic talent wasnʼt enough to understand the deeper sense of these lines, but according to the description he read when learning it, this was a poem that appealed to Vine, a demon aligned with destruction, trickery, the soul, and time.

One of his aspect was breaking the through the opponentʼs defense, another was supposedly raising oneʼs own. Based on his what was written in the booklet, this translated to the a single effect that integrated all the effects Seth was looking for and more. As for the price that had to be paid for the enchantment...

In some cases, Seth was able to use souls during the crafting process to offset the need for the user to pay a price in exchange for using the effects of the demonic blessing. This was not one of those cases.

Vine was not one of the demons that could be traded with, so Seth couldnʼt use the usual method. To make it worse, Vine was actually one of the few demons that could just steal someoneʼs soul, so the blacksmith didnʼt really want to mess with him either.

In the end, he didnʼt even try to trade directly with the demon, since the cost actually wasnʼt so bad, that he had to risk offending a patron. In exchange for the power to break the opponentʼs defense and raise your own, the weapon had to take a life when bared, and Vine would claim the victimʼs soul. If no life was taken once the weapon was bared, the user would have to pay part of their soul as a price.

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This sounded like a terrible restriction at first, but it only did so until one realized that the “life” to be taken was not specified. One could just slaughter an animal to pay the price for the enchantment. As for what baring the weapon would mean for a polearm that had no sheath was still to be seen.

Seth trusted the system to properly translate the actual condition for the trade, once he finished the weapon. Repeating the poem in his mind and remembering the corresponding runes, Seth stepped to the shelf of acids.

Although his alchemy proficiency was slowly rising thanks to Neloth, his skill had yet to level up once since he created the alchemy station. This meant he still couldnʼt make custom acids for etching, none that were better than the stock Alison had made for him.

Maybe the growth of his would speed up once he upgraded the alchemy table and gave Neloth its own storage space for ingredients. He had not forgotten about his first addition to the . Upgrading the alchemy table was still a point on his to-do list!

Taking a jar with a semi-potent, epic-rated acid from the shelf, Seth returned to the enchanting table. The material of the Ravenʼs Beak was not overly durable or corrosion resistant, even after Seth reinforced it the best he could.

A stronger acid would bite too deep into the base material, potentially ruining the whole item. This acid in particular had no specific effect, apart from carrying a small curse. Although the quality of the acids played a minor role compared to the contents of the etching, it could have an impact, depending on the poem and demon in play.

Sitting down at the enchantment table, Seth took a deep breath and collected his thoughts- When his communication orb suddenly rang, distracting him from the task at hand. For a moment he considered not taking the call, but ultimately he bend over to grab it from one of his worktables.

“Mike?” he asked, surprised. Minaʼs brother was currently out on a mission to meet with Adam, the governor of the Muir Empire in Thres. The blacksmith had heard that there had been complications because Adm had not been in Thres for quite some time now.

“You want what? Why? I see... I will send him over. When?” Seth checked his skill. “He should be there in two days, I guess? Yeah, I will send him right now,” the blacksmith promised and ended the call with Mike a little perplexed.

Then he used the orb in his hand to call someone else. Staring back from the orb was a metallic beak, covered in lightning. “What is it?” the other asked.

“You have a new job.”...

After explaining the task, Seth ended the call. Sitting at his enchantment desk, he took a moment to clear his head again and refocus on his project, before he dipped the special brush into the acid ink and began writing the first rune. Seth intended to write the four lines along the shaft of the polearm, starting at the head and writing down to the butt with the thorn.

As kicked in, he started feeling the familiar pressure and ominous aura of a demonic entity. This had to be Vine. The presence felt dark and savage, but controlled by a sinister intelligence. When Seth looked him up, his presence was described a cruel, which fit.

What the bard felt didnʼt quite fit was that Vine was described to take the appearance of a lion man, carrying a snake. the presence felt more like a snake in a lion mask. But who was he to criticize the disguises demon gods used to take shape in the world?

Chasing away the unnecessary thoughts, Seth concentrated on the task at hand, etching the poem into the weapon and channeling it to Vine. This was also a performance, just like singing a song, and he had to do it properly to get a proper result.

His hands darted along the handle of the Ravenʼs Beak, leaving behind the runes of the phrase, as he recited it. The more synchronized the recital and the writing were, the better the show. Of course, he could recite it again if he wasnʼt writing quickly enough, but Seth tried to do it properly.

The brush ran up and down the weapon and left behind the glowing runes, as Vineʼs demonic power was infused into the weapon, honoring the bardʼs penmanship. When Seth finished the etching, stopped, and the runes slowly dimmed until only a minor glow remained.

The terrifying enchantment was imbued into the Ravenʼs Beak and Seth was done with the work on the physical body of the weapon. Placing the polearm on the side, the Spirit Blacksmith turned his attention back to the anvil.

Since the body was born, it needed a spirit, and Seth was going to forge it.