Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

“Catch,” the Tower Master called out and the buff man he called out to, caught a brown shield aiming for his head. Bement and the rest of Jonah’s team had just returned from the Abyss, where they had been busy helping the rest of their members and some others, like Seth’s other vassal the Oni General, to reach lv.100. This was why he wanted to hurry, so it would be ready when the team got back.

The front of the smooth shield had a complicated pattern of foreign runes. Bement couldn’t read them, but they were in a pattern that looked like the face of a lion. Seth had etched them like this into Azzo’s soul and the etchings had somehow surfaced like tattoos on the final shield.

Seth didn’t quite know how that happened, but his guess had to do with Alison’s Alchemy skill improving. It was most likely the effect of a better acid which led to the power in the soul to bleed through a little. It was only visual and didn’t add any effects, unfortunately.

“Is this...for me?” Bement asked as he stared at the shield in his hands.

“You have been waiting long enough for your own legendary item. I hope you get along with Azzo.”

~I’m sure we can get along. I like buff guys. ~ Azzo exclaimed telepathically.

“What was that Voice?” the veteran adventurer asked a little shocked.

“Your new shield. It’s an ego item. Her name is Azzo,”

Bement’s eyes widened as he looked at the shield in his hands in wonder. They were shining like those of a little boy who just got the toy he had been wishing for, for a whole year, or maybe a whole life?

“Nice to meet you, Azzo, I hope we will be getting along from now on,”

~Yes, let's do that. ~ the demoness said, seemingly satisfied with her new partner.

“Jonah, it’s good that you are back. How was it?” Seth asked the Vampiric Swordsman once he separated from his woman, the researcher they had picked up in Beta. The beautiful mask looked his way as Jonah turned around.

“Seth, it’s been a while,” he greeted the Tower Master reserved. He was still a little peeved about the way he had stabbed Jonah in the back by giving him such a delicate mask. It was barely better than outright showing his face and completely didn’t fit the image the once very manly man wished for.

One could argue that the blacksmith had gotten quite far with his social competence, especially since he inherited the skills of a bard. He actually managed to get the hint and could only speak with a wry smile.

“Come on, you can’t deny that it works a lot better than the old one and fits perfectly well with your skills and power as a chosen one.” Seth's argument was only met by a harumph from Jonah, who couldn’t deny it, even though he didn’t like it.

“So, how was it in the Holy Land?” Seth asked the team leader. The blacksmith had not been back since their expedition to the Abyss, but he had heard the news that the place was becoming more and more crowded with people.

The Adventurer Guild was busy constructing their own base, closer to the center of the canyon, and were giving out quests like crazy. The massive lightning bolt-shaped canyon had truly become the holy land for adventurers, since the quests did not just pay well, but also allowed them to level as much as they liked.

For a people who had been partly denied going to the dungeons and increasing their strength, the current situation was like offering a lake to a man dying of thirst and even paying him for it. Okay, it was not that dire, but many people quickly jumped at the chance, crowding to the Holy Land.

There were not as many people, as there were during the rush to reclaim the No Man’s Land, which resulted in the area of the unclaimed mountains, but a good number of people were already seeking residency in the yet-to-be-finished city of the adventurer guild.

“Though nobody really dares to make trouble at Minas Palan, it’s actually quite rowdy at the place of the Adventurer Guild. There are a bunch of new organizations and religions trying to gather power and profit from the lack of supervision by the guild. Some act no better than bandits,” Jonah stated with a sigh.

“Let’s talk about it over a meal later,” the Tower Master suggested. All of them were obviously tired and Seth didn’t want to force them to go eat with him in this state. Everyone nodded and agreed, before scuttling away to their rooms.

Later on, during the meal, Jonah went into more detail about what was going on in the growing dungeon city. First of all, it was more like a tent settlement, since the Adventurer Guild had been focused on staking off their claim, building walls, and setting up a city barrier before even building a city.

The only facilities currently finished were a branch of the Adventurer Guild, a few dorms for their members, and, of course, a branch of the System Church, which had also already found a way to place its foot in the door.

From what Seth remembered, Mary was also in talks with the guild, to set up a building for them to house a shop and places for their members to stay. Then they could choose between staying and teleporting in from Minas Palan to the dungeon city every morning.

Anyway, this was why the inside of the finished city walls was filled with tents from the various adventurers that had flocked to the Holy Land. In this tent city public order was barely enforced and there were various factions vying for power.

To Seth’s surprise the “Gamma Resistance” was the biggest faction currently recruiting. They were the organization founded by two chosen formerly from Gamma, who wished to gather forces and rescue their fellow people, still stuck under the rule of the undead. They were the same people behind the protests against the ambassadors from Arget Nore.

It seemed like they were quite skilled in accumulating and training members in the Holy Land, being even more numerous than the various churches that had popped up during the Berserker Pellet incidents.

Apart from the religious followers, there were quite a few private guilds, founded around freshly chosen champions and backed by rich people. Although the credits of Urth had quickly lost their meaning, in the face of the system gold and its various uses, but one should not underestimate the rich.

They always had their way to stay in power, one way or the other. Despite suffering a lot of damage, there were many that had thrived in these troubled times using the head start their original wealth gave them, to collect new riches. Even the current climate in Delta couldn’t harm them too much.

Their only setback was the initial expedition to the Holy Land, where the guilds of Delta lost most of their people. Afterward, they had to reform and took the Boulder Guild as an example to center their guild around chosen ones. This loss was the only reason, they were still a smaller faction than the various religions.

Neither of these groups was averse to using force to get what they wanted or force people to join them. With their own goals and obsessions, every one of them turned the place into a dog-eat-dog world.

“But you didn’t face any problems, right?” Seth asked, hearing how chaotic the place had become. From Jonah’s description, he could imagine the struggle people would face to survive and thrive in that place. If the city was already like this, he couldn’t imagine that the land outside, fraught with monsters and dangers, would be any better. It was probably worse.

“We came across some bandits, but they quickly lost their heads,” the swordsman said, not as a figure of speech. They had shown no mercy to such people. They could only blame themselves for being unable to assess their victim’s power. “It was nothing big.”

“I see,” Seth mumbled nodding.

Currently, the dungeon city seemed almost like a meat grinder, a place sometimes described in s. Not a good place, but one of danger, tragedy, but also opportunity. It was not his place to interfere, so he could only hope it would improve as the Adventurer guild proceeded to build the city.

“Oh, yeah! Now that we talked about it, we were approached by a messenger from the Gamma Resistance. They gave me a letter for you.”

After saying so, Jonah pulled a small envelope from his inventory and handed it to Seth, who took it slightly puzzled. What would those guys want from him? With this question in mind, he checked the letter with <Theia’s Discerning Eyes> to make sure it was safe, before opening and reading it.