Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1358. Speed only aircraft could compare

The fusion of technology and magic shot through the repossessed subway tunnel and entered the track leading through the parks and forests once maintained between Y-City and its satellite cities. Wild vegetation had been cut back; monster damages were recovered.

Seth swallowed a little. In the tunnels, he had no indication of how fast they moved. Looking through the three big window fronts, the blacksmith was now able to see the landscape zoom past. Nothing close by even stayed long enough in view to recognize what it was.

Unless he used the power of Theia’s Vision, Seth would have been unable to see anything but the green smudges of trees and bushes. Despite obviously travelling at a speed only aircraft could compare to, Seth felt nothing.

“Surprised what science and magic can accomplish? We have created a vacuum tube along the track, using barrier technology. Together with the low-friction hover rails, this train car is even faster than our original bullet trains,” Baker explained proudly.

“Faster than which ones?” Seth asked for details. Back in the day, there was a range of speeds that bullet trains could reach, from 500 up to even 1000 km/h.

“On these straight lines, we average at 1000 km/h, a little lower if we have to follow curves,” the proud dad bragged about his baby. It would have been a lie if he said that he wasn’t impressed. If the tracks were freed and optimized, someone would be able to travel from Y-City to Delta in 3-4 hours.

It couldn’t compare to the convenience of teleportation, but it was probably more affordable. Not everyone could just zoom back and forth between cities, using the Minas Palan or Dingsbumburn. Either it was incredibly expensive to pay for the energy spent, or Ori humas had to take the risky teleport offered by the System Church.

In the distance, Seth could see the ruins of fallen satellite cities, and the view was as fascinating as it was horrible. Sitting in a comfortable seat, he stared outside, forlorn thoughts invading his mind. Baker stayed silent, leaving the bard to enjoy the show.

The ride was everything Mark Baker promised. Fast, silent, comfortable, unfortunately short. It took barely 15 minutes for the high-speed vehicle to reach their destination, and ridge of smaller foothills of the Central Mountain Range, reaching into Ypselon.

In front of them, he was able to watch the mountains quickly approaching, thanks to the almost 360° view. With a slight shake, the train car entered the tunnel and decelerated to a halt within a couple of seconds. The bard was almost disappointed that it ended this quickly.

The sides of the train car opened, giving way to a station currently under construction. Craftsmen like masons and architects, and technicians were busy reconstructing the pre-existing structure. Seth even found some unfamiliar, yet very dwarf-like faces.

As he watched them work, a memory surfaced from somewhere in the back of his mind. Small of stature with a wide build and beards similar to dwarves, but with grayish skin and hair. Were these members of the gray dwarves, Xiong Peng’s granddaughter had befriended in the northern mountain range?

Seth knew that they had made somewhat of a contact with them back then, but he didn’t know it was to the point that they would be working here.

“Bart is currently clearing the dungeons that have infested and connected the track leading through the Southern Ridge of Ypselon. I already sent a message for him to come meet us here,” Baker informed him, but Seth only perceived him peripherally.

“Are those Gray Dwarves?” he asked the Mayor of Y-City.

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“You recognize them? Yeah, we managed to make a connection with them during a diplomatic ball in Delta,” Baker explained. Right, Seth heard about those once in a while, but it was not something he was interested in. He rather sat at home with the girls, or worked in the workshop, than go to those stiff events.

“I heard of them. Are they good craftsmen?” the blacksmith asked the important questions.

“In general, they are better than us, when it comes to traditional things, but they can’t compare when it comes to engineering or knowledge. Compared to normal dwarves, I think they have a higher talent for magic,” Baker gave a probably honest assessment.

“Tower Master? What are you doing here?” they were interrupted by a voice. Seth was slightly intrigued by the gray dwarves, but his original business here had just shown up. The Chosen of Krios, still wearing the ram helmet, was walking up to them from further down the tunnel.

“Bart, there you are. Get in the car, I have something to give you,” Seth immediately decided to occupy the first comfortable and private place that came to mind.

“But what about inspecting our progress?” Mark asked, surprised and a little lost.

“Afterward, afterward...” the blacksmith said, waiting for Bart to walk up to them. When he arrived at the car, the two men got into the train car, locking Mark Baker out of his own prototype. Bart sat down opposite him and took off his helmet.

“So? What exactly is the reason for suddenly coming all the way here and calling me for a meeting?” the former outlaw leader asked, as he fell back into the well-cushioned seats. He was rough, but not stupid.

“I was bored and made you a legendary dragon item,” the blacksmith threw out there. Bart burst out laughing. “Your jokes are really something. Why would I be the first to get one of those items?”

“Like I said, I needed something to do, and coming up with an idea for an item for you was not hard,” Seth said, shrugging his shoulders.

“You mean, this is true?” the chosen of Krios asked in disbelief. As an answer, Seth placed the Climatic Gloves on the small table between them. The mitten-style gauntlets shone in a grayish blue, like a sky filled with dark clouds.

Bartʼs eyes widened in shock at the sudden answer.

It was the first item made of the sky dragon materials and the first time the effect of the heart scales had been displayed in fixed numbers. The first three effects belonged to the material and came as some surprise to the blacksmith.

“Whoa, what does it do?” Bart asked, mesmerized by the legendary item. It was a shame that only a special Appraiser Skill, or expensive Appraisal Scrolls, were able to make the functions of items visible to anyone. Whether one wanted this or not was another question.

Still, Seth didn’t actually mind the chance to brag about the item he had created. Of course, he had also written it all down, so Bart could read up on it later, but for now, the Blacksmith went over the itemʼs effects for Bart.

“So, there is the expected damage negation,“ the blacksmith started off. Seth had estimated a roughly 50% damage negation, but it was actually split into 60% for magical and 40% for physical damage.

“It actually negates 50% of any incoming damage? No matter how great the damage is?” Bart asked excitedly.

“Well, if you average it out, yeah. That’s why it is legendary. But there is also a secondary effect of the material,” the blacksmith continued, talking about the Sky Dragon Magic, the third effect specific to the dragon species. This was something Sethʼs scales had lost due to age and the decay caused by the dragonʼs curse. The effect granted 1000 mana, lowered spell costs by 15%, and increased magic damage by 50%.

These didn’t seem like much in the legendary scheme of things, but this effect actually stacked with every piece worn. So, Bart wearing two gloves that meant +2000 mana, more than doubling magic damage, and roughly 25% less spell costs.

Just imagining what this effect could do in a full armor set made Seth excited. Especially since they designed the Sky Dragon Armor in a way that would optimize this power. Mages being able to keep firing high-cost spells, with tremendously increased power and lower cost, was a frightening thought for their enemies.

Yet, Bart seemed unconvinced by the draconic power.