Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

The first surprise was that he got 100 points of Power of Existence for a unique item. Seth knew that Unique was not bound by the usual rating. A unique item could be worse than something uncommon, or better than something epic... did that mean the Lucky Trinket was now considered to be on the same level as a legendary item?

Inadvertently, his eyes jumped to the ring, that was still floating in the bubble of water and appraised it.

<Lucky Trinket

Unique

1.+80 Luck

2. Wearer is a bit favored by fortune

3. Superior Mining +5

4. The chance of dropping a Soul is increased by 25%

5. Vestiges of Dimblood

6. Feather Fall

7. 75% Curse Resistance

8. Passive Skill: Little Laplace

9. Active Skill: Pot of Gold

A simple-looking ring with a very rare effect made in the cooperation of Master Smith,

the first Master Goldsmith of Urth, and Al'Zalsar, the legendary Sorceress and Dragon Slayer.

The perfect gift for any gambler or a big help to many craftsmen.>

Seth almost dropped his hammer, upon seeing the ring. He forgot all about the effect at the sight of the flavor text.

”Al'Zalsar, the legendary Sorceress and Dragon Slayer”

Al'Zalsar had reached the legendary rank! Not just that, she had actually succeeded in fulfilling her dream of killing a dragon. That was the only way to attain the title of Dragon Slayer. Of course, Seth had never doubted her for even a moment! But he still couldn't help but gawk at the description, as it seemed almost surreal.

The sorceress was still the strongest person Seth could imagine and she was not even a legend during that time. How much stronger would she have become by becoming a Dragon Slayer? Seth had a hard time imagining someone as unfathomable as Al, to become even stronger.

He probably stared at the floating ring for almost half an hour, his thoughts constantly circling and trying to grasp what it meant. He only calmed down after coming to the conclusion, that he would probably never find out. At least not, until Al returned someday.

Calmer now, he focused on the finally finished ring. The first change was that the additional luck and jumped from 50 to 80. The second was that the wording had changed from slightly, to “a bit” favored by fortunes.

The third was pretty glaring, as the Blessing of Hades gave an additional five levels to <Superior Mining>, meaning that the skill was at max lv. when he wore this ring. Another addition of the blessing was the increased chance to drop souls from normal kills, which was very welcome.

The fifth effect of the ring was the effect of the things he left on the soul after refining. Dimblood's vestiges were the remains of the part Seth found useful. The effect improved the performance of leather wares he produced by 15%, which was welcome since he probably made more of them in the future, now that he was working on his <Sewing>.

It also lowered the cost of his enchantments by 5%. This didn't sound like a lot and its use was ambiguous since he usually inserted a soul into items that would bear the cost of these enchantments, making them virtually permanent or free.

However, they still had to be paid, which was why free skills usually had at least a cool down. So apart from lowering the cost of items he made for ordinary people, it would also lower the cooldown on the skill of items, or improve the performance of effects. At least he was sure there was nothing negative about it.

Lastly, Dimblood's vestiges increased the power of curses by 20%. Seth was not a shaman or Dark Magician, but he used a lot of demonic skills through his armor and song. As long as the effects counted as curses, they would be improved, which seemed like a good deal to him.

Finally, on the last spot, was the skill that really mattered, <Pot of Gold>.

<Active Skill: Pot of Gold, No Cool Down, Special Cost

Pot of Gold allows the user to increase their Luck Attribute by 5-20 Minutes in exchange for paying an appropriate price in the shape of sacrificing valuable objects. The value of an item is judged by the demand for it in the world. The greater the value, the greater the improvement and duration.>

Seth frowned a little since there was no way to know what the value was, without trying it first. Why couldn't things be convenient for once and come with the power to see this “value” of items beforehand?

“Hmm, oh, well...” mumbling he pulled out a single copper coin and threw it in the air. Spinning in the air, it started glowing and vanished.

<Ding! Your Attribute: Luck had increased by 0.001 for 5 minutes.>

Making a quick calculation, he pulled out ten silver coins and threw them in the air.

<Ding! Your Attribute: Luck had increased by 1 for 5 minutes.>

Okay, so at least things scaled linearly. This meant a gold coin would-

<Ding! Your Attribute: Luck had increased by 5 for 10 minutes.>

Or not. Instead of raising his luck by 10 for 5 minutes when he sacrificed a gold coin, it was 5 luck but doubled the duration.

“Fine, be like that then!” Seth huffed and puffed. At least it didn't randomly halve. He had enough gold to play this game, or he could try sacrificing some of his products... However, he was pissed for now. He didn't intend to waste any more stuff. He didn't plan to do anything more today. He had achieved his objective, he could test around at another time.

“Have a good night, Sivri.”

“I will. You also have a good night;” she answered, turning back to her jewelry.

Seth vanished from the workshop and speared directly on his bed., He had an eventful day and gratefully fell asleep.

….

Tong tong tong, Tong tong tong

Wild knocking on the door awoke him from his peaceful slumber. How dare they disturb his well-deserved sleep? He would show them what happened to those who- Sleepy thoughts filled his head as he crawled off the bed.

Before he could elaborate on his divine rage on those messing with his beauty sleep, he had to release his Kraken. Which meant, he skedaddled to the toilet, ignoring the intense knocking on the door. It was a little annoying during the release, but the Kraken was in a hurry.

After he unleashed the mythical creature he flushed it into freedom and went to the door, after washing his hands. He was awake enough to remember basic decency, now. The thoughts of divine punishment had also subsided, if they were this persistent, it was probably important.

“What is it?” the blacksmith asked sleepily. The messenger stared in silence, surprised at the door that suddenly opened.

“What is it? Did you knock? The door would open at some point, or why did you keep knocking?” Seth asked in annoyance.

“Ah, sorry, Tower Master. I just didn't expect it anymore. Ladies Mary, Leana, and Luf ask for your immediate presence. Important guests have arrived unexpectedly”

“Unexpected guests?” the bard asked slowly.

“Master Mountain and a friend have come with a request,” he explained with a bow. Seth scratched his head, as the info sank in.

“You should have said so from the start. I will wash up and be there in a hot minute...”

…

---Cinema Dimension---

“He finally used your blessing, aren't you happy, Uncle?” Hephaestus asked Hades jovially. Although the god of craftsmen was of the opinion that there could have been better souls out there, for what the little blacksmith had, it was a very good piece.

“I don't know what you are talking about,” Hades countered with his same stoic expression. Right, this was the serious Hades they knew. However, while the others couldn't read the dark god's face, there was someone who could.

Persephone had a mischievous smile on her face, seeing the truth. Her husband was struggling not to smile. She could see it at the corner of his mouth. His gentle hands suddenly moved and she hugged his arm. He looked over at her and stopped resisting the smile. She had given him an excuse to smile, saving his reputation and earning one of his few bright smiles.

He didn't say anything, but his eyes conveyed his feeling stronger than a thousand words.

“Ugh.”

The gods around could not take the brightness of the moment and turned away. Their attention was drawn away from the couple, when a figure that had been missing for a while, finally returned.

The System God was back.