Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

After unloading most of the stuff on Baker, Seth felt much lighter. But maybe he was just looking forward to seeing Fin and Mina. He arrived at Little Gamma without Problems. Just before he left, he remembered the list of quests he had gotten at Donnchadh's basement.

Send Augur's Set and Wedding Ring to his Wife, Return Wilkin's Sigil Ring and inform Duke Vraccas of the Black Lion's Fate and your deeds, and sacrifice the Nem Movo's head to Ares. He was able to fulfill the first two from home.

The blacksmith wrote two letters and then, like any other customer, he approached one of the counters to manage the shipping. Seth was lucky, that both of the off-world locations were part of the System Church's network.

He bought two boxes for the items and left the rest to the church. Now, he would just have to wait for the packages to reach their destinations and the quests would be finished. Satisfied, he left. Wearing the premium version of a recognition-inhibiting robe, Seth was able to join the crowd on the street without a problem.

Since he did the media-intensive Announcement, that was still running everywhere, he was recognized more often in public. In hindsight, this was something he could have gone without.

Little Gamma had changed quite a bit since the last time he was here. The final announcement of the Pythian Games had drawn in a lot of people from all over Minas Mar and Delta. Otherworlders were also quite numerous, despite needing an organization like the System church, or the Adventurer guild to vouch for them.

This was a simple safety measure to make sure hostile people in general had a harder time smuggling into any of the Tree Stations. And in case a hostile did get in, they would be able to hold the guarantor accountable for any kind of damage incurred.

While the controls to enter were relatively strict, it was quite easy to leave the Tree Station. Except for the crowd, nobody held him up when he passed the connection point where the main barrier and the barrier for the Pythian Village connected.

As far as he knew, Mina and the others were at the venue for the games, guarding and testing them, to make sure they were not too easy. There was still a checkpoint guarded by the Oathguard at the connection of the village and the venue. He didn’t hide his identity when he arrived here, as it easily allowed him to enter. However.

“What brings you here, if I’m allowed to ask, Tower Master?” one of the guards asked him friendly as he was about to pass by.

“I wanted to surprise Mina and Fin,” Seth told him secretively.

“Oh, then you are wrong here. The members of Yulecat’s fur have already finished for today. You can find them at the Frowning Crane Tavern in the village. It was built by some of the travelers from the Cloud Continent. The food is exotic and the liquor is good,” the other guard intervened.

Seth looked at him, slightly surprised. He was too late!

“Well, thanks for the info, guys. Then I will have to take a look at that tavern,” he said with a chuckle and turned back, to find the local.

…

A man in a dark robe entered the Frowning Crane and found a seat on the ground floor. He didn't stick out in the crowd of travelers. According to the customs of the tavern's origin, he ordered a light meal and liquor. The liquor was served in a bottle with a small, ceramic shot glass. This way he could enjoy the alcohol, keeping to himself.

While his actions seemed focused on the table and food in front of him, his eyes kept darting up to the second floor, where a flashy group of people were having a feast. Wearing boisterous equipment, their group was made up of two beautiful girls, a mountain of a man, a sickly-looking guy, and a speck of light that kept diving into the food.

He was not the only one who had his eyes on the funny group of friends, openly showing the prosperity of Minas Mar. As he was watching, there was a young man approaching the group. He was handsome, clad in expensive, high-quality robes, and surrounded a group of sycophants.

His eyes were glued to the beautiful woman. But his gaze made it clear that his intentions were far from pure. After he whispered something to one of his entourage, the crony stepped forward.

“Isn't your company a little unfitting two fairies like yourselves? The young master Zhu Ling, of the ancient Zhu Family would like to invite you to his private room on the third floor.,” he invited her in the name of his master.

One of the ladies gave him a side glance, her cat ears twitched. Placing down her drink, a raunchy smile grew on her lips, as her big eyes focused on the “young master” in expensive robes.

“Oh my! Lyxiss, what do you think of an invitation by a handsome man?” she asked the lady with slightly pointy ears beside her. All the while, throwing the man in question flirtatious looks. Lyxiss chuckled, while the men on the table had an awkward expression.

With sensual steps, the lady with cat ears approached the young master. Zhu Ling welcomed her with open arms as she slowly let her hands wander across the robes and to his shoulder. The fire of lust was visible in his eyes when- It was instantly snuffed out.

The lady grabbed his shoulders with unnatural strength before pulling him down, ramming his handsome face into her rising knee. Staggering back, stunned despite being a cultivator of the golden core soul realm, he couldn't react to what came next, as Mina chained a combo move.

“Starbreaking Kick!”

All men in the restaurant twitched, upon the audible squelch when the kick broke young master Zhu's stars. While young master Zhu was curling up in a fetal position and his cronies rushed forward to protect him, the rest of Yulecat's Fur and Ray jumped up from their table.

“How dare you do this to the young master!” “Do you have any idea who this is?” “You committed a terrible mistake today!” “ You will pay for this!” “The Zhu Family won't let you get away with this!” the sycophants clamored.

“Don't think we don't know who you are, Zhu Ling. We have reports that you already lured more than ten women to your private rooms, where you and your cronies drugged and raped them. As lords of Minas Mar, we will capture and punish you for your crimes,” she announced to the criminal and guests in the tavern.

“So it finally hit old Zhu.” “Serves that little brick right.” “That's what he gets.” Yeah, this isn't his hometown, he should have held back.”... Whispers could be heard in the tavern, suggesting that this wasn't the first time this happened.

On the second floor, Zhu Ling had swallowed a pill during Mina's announcement and was quickly recovering. Whether his broken stars recovered was inconclusive. After the initial shock, a fight broke out as the henchmen and hidden guards pulled out their weapons.

“Kill that wench!” Zhu Ling cried out

The group of cultivators clashed with the group from Minas Mar and darkness descended on the whole restaurant.

Seth, the man in the robe, leisurely kept drinking his booze. Mina and the others were strong, they didn’t need his help. If he stepped in now, it would look like he didn’t trust them with this, whyever they were doing police work right now.

It quickly became evident that the Zhu forces were not part of the cultivators Seth was worried about. Even with superior numbers, trapped in the darkness they couldn't keep up with Mina, Ray, Fin, and the others and worked as a party, using Mina's cover to their advantage. Small-scale Magic and skills rained down on the cultivators who could barely react to the hidden attacks. They held back with their attacks, so as to not completely demolish the tavern.

These guys were barely on the level of the people he fought at their base. The blacksmith felt like he had a feeling to roughly estimate their cultivation base by now. Most of the people from the Voracious Cloud Continent he had met so far were in what they called the Golden Core Realm and the Nascent Soul Realm.

By his estimates, the former corresponded to players between lv.70 and lv.90, with the average being lv.80. The latter started around lv.85 and he couldn't quite tell, where their peak was. Judging by Lydia's experience, there were Cultivators that could keep up lv.100+ players in full relic and legendary gear. Though it could be that they were already on a higher stage, like Master Mountains, or the man Al'Zalsar had defeated back then.

Seth watched as most of the cronies and guards were badly battered, unable to resist. However, in the end, Zhu Ling managed to escape with some of his friends, while the rest were detained. When the fight was over, Seth leisurely left the tavern. He wanted to get groceries, before surprising his friends.