Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

-------Somewhere in Delta-------------

"I still can't believe they managed to kill Uncle Valen."

"Stop calling that monster uncle already. What are we supposed to do now?"

"I might have an idea. I met a bunch of people during my last journey. They might be able to help us."

"That sounds like a plan."

---------------------------------Bard College-----

The next day after gaining the etching skill Seth visited Trith's shop. A very disheveled demon opened the door.

"What happened to you? You look like you fought a rabid imp..."

"And who's fault is that?!" the moody demon asked aggravated.

"Did your neighbor let loose a rabid Imp or something?"

"No! I had to get that stupid skill scroll for you! I searched through most scribe shops in this city to find one. Here! Go away! I will close shop for today."

Seth didn't expect the demon to be this dedicated. He gladly took the scroll and left him alone. It was not a good idea to absorb the skill right now. Seth returned to Minas Mar to use the scroll.

He sat down on his bed in his private quarters and calmed down to absorb the skill. The feeling of having foreign knowledge crammed into one's skull didn't hurt but was not pleasant either. The user would not want to be at an insecure place when experiencing it.

Strings of foreign vocabulary and characters filled his mind and overwhelmed his brain until they found a neat niche to settle in.

<Ding! You have learned the skill Demon Language (Adept) lv.4!>

Adept lv.4 was the level of a native speaker, and the skill was much neater than learning it himself. When he learned old Alphis, the ancient language of Alpha, in school he often had problems remembering the vocabulary. With the skill, he could smoothly switch between common and demon language.

He could now easily understand demon language as what it was and speak it. The problem was that he now understood demon language and exactly what it meant. Even when one learned another language, it would often still have a mist of ignorance which made especially songs in that language sound better than ones in the native language.

Many of the poems now sounded slightly silly when he read them with his new understanding. The next step would be texting the forging ballads after shutting off <Universal Translation>.

For the test, Seth took a piece of steel and started working it into a simple bracer. A jolt went through his body when he heard the ballad for the first time without the translation skill as an intermediary.

At first glance, the demon language was jarring and dissonant to human ears, but it plugged a string in Seth's heart. Al had once said he had a talent and the teacher had confirmed it. Now Seth found that the demon music also fit his taste.

It was a powerful and hard language that granted energy and might to a song. It could move his heart and tickle a very special spot for him. His motivation grew and his song became more and more empowered.

The dark runes and notes that came with the ballad carried a dark red aura that illuminated the room and fought the bright soul fire for supremacy. Although he was not the greatest Singer, he brought the power while <Orpheus Voice> added the technique.

And like the teacher had said, the resource consumption had drastically reduced. Although he had never had a problem with only the ballads, if he for example added infusing a soul on top of it, he would have a hard time splitting his concentration.

Although the teacher had mentioned that his skill was already helping to get the optimum out of his ballads, the result showed a slight increase in performance.

<Reflective Bracer

Uncommon

Phys. Defense: 150

Durability: 800

1. 17% of the received damage will be reflected to the attacker.

An enchanted Bracer. A practice piece of Journeyman Smith enchanted with radiant fervor. >

Maybe this was the effect of <Orpheus voice>?

Seth was never good at singing and always felt embarrassed when he had to sing. It was different now. Singing with the demonic language invigorated him. Knowing this and realizing that ballads and poetry also had their own ratings Seth decided to put some effort and into it and try to learn singing and songwriting at the bard college.

If his assumption was correct then, the better he sang the ballads the greater could be the effect of <Orpheus Voice>. He could bring out effects greater than what the forging ballads were supposed to achieve. And if he, maybe, added <Voice of Seth> on top?

The ballads were something that convinced some higher demonic beings to grant their unholy blessings. If he could persuade them with the linguistic power of a trickster god... Wouldn't he be able to buff a ballads effect through the roof?

He couldn't help but release a burst of malicious laughter.

"Erm, Boss?..." his diabolical laughter was rudely interrupted by Mary who stood in the door and hid behind her clipboard. She had flourished in the role of a secretary during the last few days. Seth straightened his clothes and played over the fact that he was laughing like a villain seconds ago.

"Ah, sorry. Mary, how can I help you?"

"I didn't want to interrupt. It's an update on the shop location. Jane has scouted a few potential places and asked you to visit them with her once you have time. "

"Is jane here? I can come along right away."

Originally, he was going to go to the college now, but the day was still young. He could go later. Jane was waiting at the common space.

"Hey Jane, I heard you had some places to show me?"

"Yep. I'm glad you had time right away."

They left Minas Mar and the girl started guiding him to different locations for their shop. Two were in buildings above ground while another 3 were on the subterranean levels below the shopping district.

Seth's first shop had been underground, and he really didn't feel like returning there. Even when Urth's sub-levels were partly even better than those above ground. He even played with the thought of buying a whole building.

Or at least a few floors at once. He had more than ten million credits and was intent on using a good chunk of it. Jane brought him to the two locations above ground. The looked okay but Seth wanted to give the subterranean layer a chance.

The shops below ground were in some of the best locations of the district. The whole layer was filled with shops and stores selling equipment and stuff for adventurers. Gear, potions, food, and miscellaneous items. Everything one needed to travel and enter the dungeons could be found here.

He was forced to admit that this place really looked awesome. But what really influenced his decision was the third and last store location. It was also the most expensive one. If he really wanted to buy, he would only be able to buy a single floor of the place.

The reason this was the one, was the surroundings. Opposite the empty storefront glowed his name in bright characters: Neco Boos.

The little sh- The man responsible for the shameful superhero trend. The show window was filled with mannequins wearing hero suits in bodybuilder poses. This was the place for Seth's store. This was the battlefield he chose.

It was not just to show those blinded sheep the true glory of armor. It was also because they didn't share any merchandise. Seth sold weapons, armor, accessories, and potions. Nico Boos was a purist tailor and only sold hero suits capes and cloaks.

If Nico Boos was really as popular as it seemed, then this was a good place to open shop. Superhero suits were cloth armors that could be worn as is. But if someone had the money to look at designer cloth armor, they probably wouldn't skimp on their other gear either.

Armor could be worn on top. Accessories were a no-brainer. And who didn't need a weapon?

Since he could not buy all three stories at once, he told Jane to rent them for now. The first floor would be the uncommon and rare items as well as the potions. The second floor would be reserved for the true gems among the items he was willing to sell.

Only those with a recommendation or the necessary money would be allowed on this floor. The third floor would be a restaurant for recommended guests. Here they could serve the meals Link cooked at the Tower's kitchen.

Thanks to the inventory it did not really matter where food was cooked. The meals could be brought here and served. This way they could also make money with the food link grinded to improve his cooking level.

The gourmet hunter was putting in a lot of energy ever since he found the kitchen. The man couldn't stop gushing about the appliances like a middle-aged man talking about his sportscar. At least this relieved Seth of his duty to make kitchenware for the man.

"I will talk to the owner right away to finish the deal," Jane answered when he told her that this was the place. And when all the paperwork was done it would take some more time to furnish the place.

Shelved and rack for the products, table, and chairs, and decoration for the restaurant. Employees, too. Not just clerks for the shops, but also servers for the restaurant. There was a lot to do, and Seth was glad he could leave it all to his administrative lords.

Yes, his Lords of Administration. He couldn't stop grinning at this label. Maybe he should give the two adjacent bureaus in Minas Mar and put a sign with it above them. Yeah, they should all have monikers like that. It fit the whole game setting of the system and might even bring good luck to their organization.

Who knew?