Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1342: Already?

~Are we already going home?~ Tatzel asked once Seth snuck back out of the dungeon. The blacksmith was quite happy with today’s haul. Not only did he manage to collect a good number of big souls, but he also got 13 massive ones with egos and Pithra’s.

In addition to that, the dungeon was quite loaded, so Seth was able to make off with roughly 200 gold in a mix of gold and silver coins, as well as a handful of epic- and unique-rated dungeon items. Although Seth had no interest in using them himself, they were good to be put in the guild vault, where members could purchase them.

~Why do you ask? Is there a place you would like to visit while we are here? ~ The blacksmith asked, surprised. He had indeed intended to return now. Since he had finally collected all the materials. Looking at Pithra’s Soul, the blacksmith got all giddy, thinking of the items he would make with it.

The soul of Pithra, a dragonnewt Chieftain on the Path of the Legendary Monk. Her ego and 98% of her original memories and skills have been preserved in the soul. The soul also holds traits: Iron Will, Draconic Heritage>

Pithra was lv.123, when Seth reaped her soul, meaning he had stepped on the Path to Legend herself. Her soul was not as big as Donn’Chad’s or Al’Zalsar’s, but it shared the same size qualifier, which meant that it had at least a mana pool of 100000.

Together with the prayer bead Hubert brought him and the three pearls he chose together with Sivri, he was sure to be able to create something tremendous for the fairy brute. Although he was excited, there was no harm in hearing the giant snakelet out.

~No, but it would be a shame to immediately return. Since we are already out like this, I would like to do something with Mom, but I have no idea what.~ Tatzel gave an unconfident answer. Seth was touched. The Imugi just wanted to spend some more time with him.

~Hmm, let me think,~ he said and started mulling over what other side quests he still had to do, that led him out of his workshop. He thought of it all the way back to the spot where he and Tatzel landed earlier.

“Oh, I know!” he exclaimed shortly after the Imugi took off back to the skies, with him on his back. The view of the mountains reminded him of Mount Agra. The Tree Station and Holy Mountain of Nas’korn had considerably calmed down and were recovering well after the attack of the Scene.

It had been on his mind recently. On one hand, because he wanted to visit Nas’Korn and ask it again about the waking of the slumbering realm. Although they had other god of pre-history on their side, like Sol’Fiam or Samhach, they were not really substantial at their time and only remembered a little themselves.

Nas’korn, on the other hand, had been persevering since the past and would probably be able to tell him more about the changes Urth was currently experiencing. At least the ones concerning the resurgence of the past. He doubted Nas’Korn knew a lot about cybernetic monsters or a zombie virus.

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The other reason Agra was on his mind was the pet egg Seth and the girls had purchased in Spring City. The Mountain King was a kind of troll that selected a mountain as its home and drew strength from it. There were only two very special mountains in Minas Mar.

Mount Robere and Mount Agra. However, none of his closer friends were the type who would always stay in Minas Mar. Even Link, their chef, would occasionally go on adventures to raise his level or forage for ingredients as a Gourmet Hunter.

Since the strength of the Mountain Kind was severely lowered when away from his mountain, it was a pet that didn’t really fit any of them. However, there was someone who had a very similar condition to the mountains.

Taurio, the saint of Nas’Korn. Seth didn’t know the man too well, but he knew that he had a similar condition, where his power was at its peak, as long as he stayed in the vicinity of the Holy Mountain where the main shrine of Nas’Korn was located. This was also why he never joined Minas Mar on any of their missions, despite being comparable in strength to the members of the Field Teams.

The man and the troll were a match made in heaven, so to speak. This was why Seth had the idea to gift… sell the Mountain King egg to Taurio as a bribe for Nas’Korn to tell him about the distant past, so they would be able to better understand what more to expect, especially from Lezzekai, the giant, slumbering beast in Y-City.

“How about we pay Mount Agra a visit?” he suggested. Tatzel didn’t answer. Realizing that his question couldn’t be heard because of the loud wind, he repeated it telepathically.

~Ohh! I haven’t been there in a long time. Yes, let’s visit it!” Tatzel cheered excitedly about the little side quest. Obviously, he would fly there on Puffles, the way was just too long. But they also couldn’t go back to Woeburn, after the scene they made last time.

But that was not a problem, they simply flew to Minas Palan, their magic tower in the Holy Land, and the original teleport hub for all adventurers to come here. It had lost some of its significance since the labyrinth city was finished, but that didn’t mean anything to them.

Flashing his status as the tower Master at the staff stationed at Minas Palan, while Evee was out on a mission, Seth, with Tatzel in his pet space, quickly used the Teleport Hub to move to the branch of the System Church in Agra.

Stepping out of the Church, Seth saw the familiar scene of a massive tree towering over the place and shielding it with its crown, and a mountain towering at the edge of it. But there was something that differentiated this place from other Tree Stations.

The sight of Agra was a little special, as it actually had two massive trees. At the foot of the Holy Mountain, covering the city with its crown was a comparatively small sapling of the Guardian Tree, and not far beside it, creating a straight wooden wall across the city and entangling dead branches with living ones, was its fallen predecessor.

It was during the attack of the Scene, when the Tuatha de from the fog world summoned the literal avatar of a god to crush Mount Agra and NasʼKorn. The tree valiantly defended the city, but ultimately died in its duel with the summoned creature of destruction.

The massive corpse was left as a memorial and had since become a living space for the people of Agra. Much of the city had been destroyed in the battle. Instead of rebuilding all of it, they had carved a whole housing complex into the trunk of the fallen guardian.

As far as Seth knew, they used the wood reclaimed this way in various ways, mostly as building material for even more structures around it. But since it was the wood of the guardian tree, it also found use in bows, weapons, and even armor craft by local craftsmen. Even after its death, it still provided them protection.

“Should we eat something before looking for Taurio and NasʼKorn?” Seth asked Tatzel, who was walking beside him in a minimized form, roughly the size of a pony.

“Yeah!”