Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 365: The Picture, The Heart

Seth spent the second day carving enchantments into these mechanic bones. Channels for power, arrays for movements. It had been a long time since he spent this much attention purely on carving circuits at his enchantment table.

Lately, Demonic ballads and inscriptions had become the focus of his works thanks to his second class. Now he realized that there were special things that could not be accomplished with those skills.

Demonic skills were rather organic and varied greatly in their potency, but the effects were often very special and strong. These traditional enchantments on the other hand were very technical, they had a predictable effect and a stable output, they were more suited for this kind of work.

For a similar reason, Al'Zalsar's initial manual did not include any smithing ballads. The variation of hos to infuse the soul was also specialized for the super-powerful sorceress.

In the future, it would be on Seth to look for ways to incorporate other techniques for better results. There was a lot of inspiration floating in his head as he worked on refining the metal skeleton. The circuits themself were not very complicated, there was simply a lot which was why it took a lot of time.

It took him a whole day to imprint the rudimentary circuits that would enable a wide range of smooth movement. Otherwise, the result might look like a janky animatronic covered in a layer of flesh.

But they did not take on optimizing and mechanic tasks. There were circuits to lessen the weight and to strengthen the overall power and speed of the vessel. Despite being made from a heavy, unknown metal, the sorceress would feel no difference in her body thanks to the overall augmentation.

Once again, this was only possible because it was Al. The energy cost of all these circuits combined would easily drain a big soul. In the case of the sorceress, it was only a fragment of her natural mana regeneration.

It was another point he would have to keep in mind once he tried to repeat this for other souls.

He finished the step of circuits on the next day when he carved all the channels and control arrays that all lead to one place where they finally combined in the core interface. This was the last step.

Creating and inserting this core, the heart of the vessel, and the refuge of the soul was the last step. It was also the only step that included smithing ballads and inscription. It was to apply the oath restriction onto the core.

"Are you ready, Al?"

~… Yes, let's do this. Wish me luck! ~

With this, Seth removed the lich's soul from the token. The epic ego soul glistened in his hand. This was really the most vulnerable any being could be. Even someone as strong as Al'Zalsar, if Seth had wanted to, he could have squashed the soul and ended her life.

When they first met, she did not really have a choice but to trust him. Now, she herself asked for this. It was an unprecedented amount of trust. One Seth intended to reciprocate.

Of course, he had doubts about giving a super-powerful, ex-lich, and unfettered body. This was probably the reason she herself had added the oath restriction in her own blueprints. It the case that she went against Minas Mar, her core would be ejected, just like the Oath Armor that became unusable.

However, Seth wanted to take this leap of faith. The sorceress had helped him a lot ever since they met. Although Al'Zalsar's original manual involved the oath restriction, Seth planned to leave it out.

Worst case he would have to fight Al'Zalsar. <Crafty Failsafe> gave him the semblance of confidence if it really came to a fight between them. But he hoped that would not happen. He wanted to trust her.

Removing the bone plate from the token, he started reforging it into the refuge of the souls which would then be the main part of the core. It was a very fine work as he turned the bone plate into something resembling a neuron with many connections for the control interfaces.

This neuron was then inserted into and a shell of <Adamantium> to protect it from any harm. It was the only other metal introduced to the vessel. When he inserted this core into the metal skull, he heard a notification.

<Ding! You have finished a divine vessel! Unable to calculate achievements.>

<Ding! Your Skill Blacksmith (Craftsman) lv.1 had become Blacksmith (Craftsman) lv.3!>

<Ding! Your Skill Enchantment (Craftsman) lv.2 had become Enchantment (Craftsman) lv.3!>

He was confused about the first notification. Was it because he had used a material not recognized by the system? The second and third made him happy, body skills had jumped gained a huge amount of experience. <Blacksmith> had already been close to lv. 2, which explained why it directly skipped it.

All that was left now, was inserting Al'Zalsar's soul into the vessel.

This procedure differed from when he created armament, or when he created Evee's hands. From what Seth understood, the soul was usually spread across the body without a specific core. The most natural connection of body and soul was similar to when Seth infused a soul during the forging process and homogenously melded it with the material.

In the case of Al's vessel, there was the core, much similar to a lich's phylactery holding a major part of her soul. When compared to this, Seth spread only a small portion would be spread across the artificial skeleton, directly connecting the core with the control interface and 360 different nodes all across the body.

This could be the foundation for later iterations, but Seth was sure this kind of setup only worked for a tremendously powerful soul like that of the lich. If he wanted to "revive" someone using an ego soul, there was a lot he would need to make differently.

He gained many new insights and learned a lot as he strained his mental energy to shape and connect the brightly glowing soul to its new body before finally inserting her into the core and sealing the skull once and for all.

Then he summoned the Waters of Styx. It was one of the few changes he had noticed. It was hard to overlook. What was one a barrel of cold water to quench weapons in had taken on a much more abstract form.

It was a giant sphere of water that floated just centimeters off the ground. This was the first time he used it, since his class advancement. Seth lifted Al's new body in his arms and stepped to the sphere.

When he got close, it was as if the sphere read his thoughts and stretched out towards the vessel in his arm. Gently, the metal skeleton was sucked into the water without the blacksmith having to do anything.

Looking at it, floating in the middle of the sphere, Seth got a notification.

<Ding! Your Skill Soul Infusion lv.5 had become Soul Infusion lv.6! >

<Ding! Title: "Creator" gained. "You have successfully created an artificial lifeform." +10 to all attributes of your inventions.>

<Ding! You are the first to create artificial Life. Unable to calculate Achievements.>

<Ding! Subject as rejected the effects of Trait: Olympian Myths>

<Ding! The effect of your Skill Crafty Failsafe has been strengthened by the effects of Engineer and Golem Artisan.>

<Ding! Your Skill Crafty Failsafe lv.6 has become Soul Infusion lv.7!>

The sorceress was released from the liquid sphere. She elegantly landed on her feet as flesh grew and covered the metal skeleton at a rapid pace. In a matter of seconds, a spicy sorceress stood before him in the nude.

"Stop staring. There is nothing you don't know." she teased him as she struck poses and stretched. Testing her new body.

"If you stopped flaunting it in front of me, I might be able to look away…" Seth mumbled.

He fetched a set of clothes for her, but when he turned back to her, she had already summoned her standard airy and revealing robe.