Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

What would have taken maybe two days on foot, was easily conquered with the cars in about two hours. It was enough time for Seth to get a good look at the city. The buildings became bigger and more imposing the closer they came to Y-City, the center of the district. The great metropolitan area around them was marred with rubble and craters of fights, but still mostly intact.

The magical ATV really attracted attention, as it was the only working car on the streets. Other travelers were mostly going on foot, some rode their mounts or were using repurposed cars as carts pulled by mounts or tame beasts.

The first distinct sign that they had entered the capital was a steel wall, that formed a barrier between Y City and the rest of the territory. Seth could make out several incantations and magic circles on this wall. It had been enchanted and would probably be able to withstand the attacks of weaker monsters. However, Seth was not an expert in this, as it was the domain of enchanters.

Y City, as the center of a huge city association, had the highest number of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. If looked at from the air, the big towers and glass facades looked like a crystal protruding out of the surrounding cityscape.

The car stopped at the feet of one of the medium-sized skyscrapers.

"This is the SDD headquarters. You will have to find your own way from here." the driver said. He pressed a button and the doors sprung open on their own.

Seth and his employees left the car and it drove around the corner, entering an underground garage.

"What now?" Jane turned to Seth and asked. Seth looked at the map.

"Let's go to church."

"Do you want to pray or something?"

"The system church. I need to write some letters."

The system church was quite a bit different from the ones in Namia. They had bought a whole skyscraper that now belonged to them. They entered the lobby. Different from the row of counters, they found a receptionist.

"How may I help you?"

"Hi, I'm a lay member. I need to get in contact with some people abroad."

After touching a crystal for verification, he left the girls in the lobby and entered the elevator. They had a whole floor dedicated to communications.

"Are you Seth?"

He was greeted by another old man in a red robe. He was tall and lanky. His long face was cleanly shaven framed by long white hair. He was like the complete opposite of Simon, except for his aura. He seemed just as kind as Simon when Seth first met him.

"Yeah, that's my name."

"Simon asked us to keep an eye out for you, in case you turn up at one of our locations. Who would have thought you would come to one of our main branches," he said with a smile. At least Simon took a little responsibility for throwing him into some random wormhole.

"I'm glad you are alive. I heard that you wish to contact some people. Come over here. We have a room where you can write your messages in peace. Simon might turn up later."

The room was like a normal small office. The was a table and chairs. Seth sighed and sat down. He started writing letters to Fin, Mina, and Tored, describing what had happened, telling them that he was okay and his current situation. He also tried to come up with plans for the future.

The most immediate thing he wanted to do was obviously to find a quiet place and forge his equipment. Next would be to look for a safe location for a fixed workshop and shop.

If he managed to build a safe place, he hinted that he would not hate if they came over and joined him. Of course, only if they wanted. It would be quite nice if civilization managed to recover and they all could live here together.

When he finished writing the letter, he sealed them with wax. What the people of Urth didn't know was that the way stamp gave a magical seal to the letter, if supplied with mana. If the seal was broken it would mark the letter as read and the receiver would know, that someone had read it.

"Seth! I'm glad you are okay!"

It was Simon that greeted him as he left the office. His counterpart stood beside him with a relaxed smile. Seth still slightly resented Simon for throwing him into that tunnel, but he somewhat understood that it was necessary.

They talked about what Seth had gone through after coming back and then Seth finally got an explanation of what even happened.

"Starta Village, where we met, was attacked and raided by one of our enemies. They follow some really radical war god, the Bringer of Chains. Like the name of the god suggests, they are really into the whole "make people submit"-business and slavery. I think you can guess why they would invade new chaotic worlds."

"But what has that to do with me?"

"Ermm, well. They found out about you from the records in Starta. Now Chrona Empire or more specifically the system church and the theocracy of chains are diametrically opposed to each other. The system god wants ori humas to make free decisions and struggle. But their goal is to forcefully enslave people. In their opinion, you joining us is stealing from them."

He explained that it would not have been a problem, since they would have no way to locate him in the other world. That was until some demon probably sold the info of an ori huma to them and they added one and one together.

"But I'm safe for now, right? It is not like they can find me here among all the other people."

"Well, yeah. Just be careful. Their goal is still to conquer and enslave the people in this world. Although, they will have a hard time moving on Urth..." the old man said with a grin.

Apparently, the only gateway the theocracy could open was close to the location of Starta. Since Starta was gone, the forest would restart its growth and soon devour the rest of the south-eastern corner of the continent.

Simon could not help but grin at the thought that those damn angels would have to deal with stuff like the hanging tree. He had a hard time getting away with his life and built quite a resentment to those messengers of the Bringer of Chains. All the talks of gods made Seth remember something important. He was pretty sure he could trust Simon at this point.

"Hey, Simon," he whispered.

"There is something we need to talk about. Alone would be best," he said and looked at the other priest. He didn't know that guy well enough to trust him.

"oh, sure"

They entered the small office again and Simon was so courteous to cast an isolating barrier.

"All this talk about gods reminded me about something. The girls I met told me about gods choosing champions in our world. What is that about?"

"Oh! Oh, you know... technically god choosing champions is something very normal. It's just that it occurs a lot more often in worlds newly added to the pathworks. I mean, the reason is clear, right? There are many bored gods that just laze around in their eternal life.

Watching mortals is their only pastime. When the system god opens a world, it means that it's an interesting one, so the gods flock to it. Their reasons for choosing a champion, really just depend on the gods."

"I had three notifications of entities watching me since I returned. Are those gods?"

Simon looked surprised at Seth.

"You barely entered the world for a few days and got the attention of several gods? You really are a lucky bastard." Simon said with a grin.

"Don't worry about it. Best case you get a considerable boost in strength. Worst case they will ignore you again.. Just take it as a blessing."