Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

They followed Puffles for another two floors during which the pet stomped any mob they came across and gorged itself on their bodies.

~Alright! I'm full. I will return to the pet space now. ~

"What?! Wait! Puffles!?"

Seth couldn't stop the ivicer form suddenly vanishing as it returned to the pet space. The party was left alone in the middle of the floor. They looked around for a moment. The area was still quiet.

"I think this is enough for today," Seth suggested a return. Everyone nodded in somber agreement, only Monique hesitated a little. She was close to a level-up. But she understood that those scorpions were nothing to be trifled with.

Each of the scorpions was at least the rank of a mid-boss and it could get dangerous if they appeared in groups after their healer/tank/mobexterminator had decided to take a break.

In this manner, they made the decisive decision to return and walked back to the last boss room. In these kinds of dungeons, the boss rooms would have teleportation circles to get back to the entrance.

Although they did not get any materials during Puffles advance, the experience was nothing to scoff at. Each of them, except Monique, got another level up.

Seth was now lv. 36 with 24 AP. He couldn't wait and distributed them on their way back, the reason was-

<Ding! Title: "Headstrong" gained. " You have reached 100p of willpower!" +0,5 mental strength per 1p Willpower.>

100 points in willpower! Now he had 22 points left. Should he try to get 100 points in all his attributes? There had to be an achievement for that, right? Seth mused about it but decided against it. He used two points to bring endurance to 70, another two for intelligence to 50, and another six to get agility to 70. This left him with another twelve points he split between strength, dexterity, and willpower bringing each to 104.

At this point, Seth imagined his <Pyrokinesis> to become a secret weapon. As they left the dungeon Seth's face fell. He remembered that he would have to make Jonah's leather armor once they returned.

They decided to take a few days of break to get used to their new levels. Seth decided to just bite the bullet and pull through with Jonah's armor. He chose to see it as a chance to test stuff.

Swamp newts were not known for their strength or their defense. What they were known for was their regeneration ability which even overpowered that of a troll. Unlike a troll, they could even regrow a body from their severed head.

This made their leather valuable and cheap at the same time. A skill full hunter or adventurer could harvest the leather without killing the specimen. They could literally severe its head and run off with the body. It was a shame they could not be bred, as their organs were also very useful for things like health potions.

An armor made from this leather would give a massive increase in health regeneration which was perfect for Jonah who primarily cast his skills using his health as a resource. He could also use it as an experiment.

Ever since he got the gloves from Tored and N?del he had wanted to try something. Seth fathomed that Tored would have taught him this next. Because he had to leave in such a hurry, he was unable to finish his apprenticeship.

The application of leather on the fire gloves gave him an idea of how to use <Reinforcement>. It was a skill that was unlocked from <Energy Circulation> and could strengthen a metal by injecting mana.

One would channel their mana into a material or item and circulate it back and forth. With each circulation, some of the mana would be deposited within the material. Metals like <Dark Steel> and <Magic Steel> originated from a similar but more fundamental process in nature.

This procedure would not just improve the strength of the material, but also slightly increase its conductivity to mana.

When Seth tried it on leather, he found out that that leather would become stiffer and harden under the influence of the deposited mana. This could not just circumvent all the steps to harden the leather but also made it possible to "forge" the completely hardened leather with the hammer's special ability and <Energy Circulation 2>.

Seth could not really control the degree of hardness. It was either soft or hard. He didn't know whether this was just a trait of the skill or caused by the skills low level.

Maybe he would be able to use smithing ballads on leather when the skill level rose? If he could influence the degree of hardness the reinforcement caused, he would never have to sew again in his life!

No matter what it was, it meant he could not dodge sewing the soft leather for now. Reinforcing all the leather would discard one of the advantages of leather which was its flexibility and resulting movability of the wearer.

The new technique didn't change much pertaining to the structure of the armor, but at least it made hardening and attaching the hardened leather a lot easier. Now he could simply "fuse" is to the other leather.

Seth had donned his full equipment. He needed the boosts to keep up with the immense mana consumption all the skills required while crafting.

At least his <Sewing> finally leveled up while he finished the leather cuirass. A pair of bracers, pauldrons, greaves, leg guards, and boots. Before he knew it, it had become dark outside.

Seth was surprised by the time and decided that it was enough for today. He would take care of the soul infusion tomorrow. No! The armor could wait. Tomorrow he would use the day for himself! Why did he have to waste his free time on making stuff for the others? Wasn't he the boss?

"Oh well, it's not like I'm suffering," he mumbled and looked at the experience bar of his smithing skill that was inching oh so slowly towards level three after finishing 10 epic armor parts.

He wanted to improve his skills, now more than ever. He really wanted to unlock those new recipes and blueprints. No one could stop him if he could make a whole set of divine armor or something like that.

No monster could avoid becoming his materials or stop him from mining rare materials! Wait...it felt like his goals had slightly shifted lately. Going around scavenging for materials sounded really dangerous.

No, no. He definitely would not go out of his way to look for death. Seth would open a shop and have others scavenge that stuff for him. He would bring Mina, Fin, and the others over. He could occasionally craft something for money and laze around all day.

Yes, that was his goal. To convince himself and harden his resolve he got a massive meal in the kitchen and went to sleep. But a tiny flame, a minuscule urge in his chest softly whispered

"But wouldn't it be awesome to travel the world unrestrained and see all the changes and wonders?"