Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth didn’t dawdle and got himself presentable before he hurried to the elevator to the embassy. A staff member already waited for the blacksmith and guided him to one of the guest rooms on the upper floors.

He was looking forward to meeting Master Mountain, not just because they had become quite friendly with each other, but also because he was their best source for information on this breed of people called cultivators.

Most important was the news, because of their last meeting with him. Seth had decided to tell him everything about the System God, after which Yu had set off in a hurry, to prevent the worst. They could only hope he returned with good news.

Seated in a warmly decorated living room, Seth found Leana, Mary, and Luf, sitting with Master Mountain and another man dressed in the typical robes of the Voracious Cloud Continent. This had to be the friend, the messenger mentioned earlier.

“Seth, my friend,” the old man rose from the ground to welcome him.

“Yu! It’s great to see you. It’s been a while,” Seth greeted him with a short hug and the ladies with a nod, before looking at Yu’s friend expectantly.

“This is my old friend Xiong Peng, the Soaring Eagle and sect master of the Snow Falcon Sect I met him on the way here and I brought him along because he needs your help,” he explained, seeing Seth’s look.

“Our help?” Seth asked curiously. Although the blacksmith had not the best opinion of cultivators, Yu was a good example of the circumstance, that not all of them were bad. Someone introduced by him was probably worth knowing. It was always good to have some trustworthy relationships, disregarding their origin.

After Seth and Master Mountains sat back down, Xiong Peng started reiterating, what he had already told the ladies while they were waiting for Seth. It was a story about his Granddaughter and a group of Inner Disciples vanishing in the Northeastern Mountains.

“The northeastern mountains? Close to the Sigma’s sea?” Seth asked with a frown. Leana had a similar face. Although that direction was objectively safer than the rest, there were things one had to be careful of.

Past the Mountains were the remains of Sigma, which still held a connection to the Abyss and its Ethnarchs. The mountains themselves were infested with flying beasts, especially surrounding the sea. It was also in that direction, that they had met creatures like the Nuckelavee, a terrifying and virtually immortal creature.

On another note, further east was also the place where Seth met Chrysopras, the mountain giant. It was also the general direction where he killed the Zarkist Saint. There was a possibility that there were still remaining Zarkists, mindlessly roaming the mountains. But hey, it was still better than that accursed forest, or the damned undead and their plague.

Seth didn’t voice out all the dangers he suddenly remembered one by one and simply listened to the story.

“I already asked my other disciples to look for them, but they couldn’t find a trace of them. They are just too few to cover such a vast area. Yu said that you might be able to help. If you have a possibility to find them, I am ready to pay the price,” he ended with a plea.

“hmm, any price?” Seth asked calmly, but his voice cut the atmosphere like a cold gust. Xiong Peng clenched his fists in determination as he looked the Tower Master in the eyes.

“As a Sect leader, I was often forced to neglect my role as a grandfather. But right now, I will not hold back or any chance to repair my relationship with Qiao Ya will be gone forever. I’m ready to pay any price.”

Seth had asked because he had a very specific idea as he was reminiscing his past.

“I want <Meteoric Iron> as much as possible. At least…15 bars this size,” Seth said, and a bar of <Tempest Ore> the size of a brick appeared in his hand. Xiong Peng looked shocked when he heard the amount and saw the size.

“What would you need so much earth-grade material for?” he asked short of breath. Seth understood that he asked out of shock, not because he tried to lower the price.

“Well, once I refined it, the first thing would be a new suit of armor for one of my subordinates...” Seth answered the question leisurely.

That was right, it was his first thought when he heard that the sect master was willing to pay. He wanted to secure more <Meteoric Iron> because it was already proven that it could be refined to special <Bones of Seth>.

The blacksmith could not think of a better material to substitute the <Blood of Maahes> in the slaughterer's set. As long as he could secure enough base material, Ortega would soon be fitted with a worthy set of armor.

In Seth's imagination, the dark gray of the <Bones of Seth> would perfectly fit with the venomous pair of Khopesh. Using the <Meteoric Iron> would also increase the chance for the items to develop an ego. If Ortega's Slaughterer's Set had an ego, it might become even better than the original. Especially, if he was lucky with the random effects of the bones. With an excited smile, he stroked the finished Lucky Trinket.

“A, a suit of armor? Made from high earth grade materials...” Xiong Peng repeated speechless. Despite their lavish robes and ostentatious get-up, it seemed like a proper suit of armor sounded like lavish excess to these cultivators.

“Yu, what does he mean with earth grade this and earth grade that?” Seth asked, ignoring the floundering eagle.

“Ah... I never mentioned it, since you wouldn't have had any use for our way to rank artifacts and materials,” Yu answered friendly.

While Xiong Peng was still trying to find his calm, Master Mountains explained to Seth how the cultivators categorized their stuff. In general, it was only slightly softer and more complicated than the one the system used.

The grades they used in general were Mortal, Spirit, Earth, and Heaven Grade. Each of these grades were again split into Low, Medium, High, and Peak Ranks, making the differences at the border of the grades flowing.

They roughly corresponded to the system's rating whereas Mortal Grade was common to uncommon items, Spirit Grade was uncommon to rare items, Earth Grade was rare to epic and Heaven Grade was epic/relic to legendary rated. Since cultivators had other priorities their grading would sometimes differ from the system.

The people of the Voracious Cloud Continent saw more worth in powerful and useful traits, so their grading mirrored much better the final use of the thing or material, compared to the system which judged by requirements needed to create or work with it.

“I see, so this would also be an earth-grade material?” Seth asked, waving the <Tempest Copper> around.

“Yes, this is why I didn't see the need to mention it to use. Everything I saw in Minas Mar was high to peak earth grade or even heaven grade. There was no need to mention it...” Yu said a little embarrassed.

“Are you being serious?” Xiong Peng asked after calming down enough to listen in on the conversation.

“Yeah. How much <Meteoric Iron> does your sect have right now?” Yu asked. He knew his friend's conflicts in belief. Their world was very vast, but with many people attaining various degrees of longevity and even immortality, most resources of their land were already scarce.

Getting their hand on high-earth-grade materials was a fortunate encounter or a monetary burden. Yu, for example, had found the <Meteorite Iron> himself, while he had bought the other items he gave to Seth from an auction. Xiong Peng swallowed hard.

“Maybe enough for ten bars of that size?” he answered quietly.

“Don’t worry, I will pitch in for the rest,” Yu assured his friend.

Seeing their reaction, Seth felt a little confused. This was just the start of his demands, but the old men already seemed quite troubled. He had hoped for truckloads of materials. Did he have the wrong impression of the Voracious Cloud Continent?

Seth thought about it for a moment. He had seen this as his chance to get more exotic materials from the Voracious Cloud Continent, but just 10 bars of epic metal seemed like a steep price to them.

“Could I talk with my advisers for a moment?” he asked for the two old men to go to the adjacent rooms, while he asked Mary, Leana, and Luf about their next steps.

“Are you sure you want to go that far?” Mary asked a little worried after he shared his plan.

“Hmm, I think it is a wise choice,” Luf appraised Seth’s idea.

“I really hope, their help is worth it, or this will be a great loss,” Leana said after a moment.

After they talked about the specifics, they called Yu and Xiong Peng back in.

“I see that the Voracious Cloud Continent is not as prosperous as I was led to believe. So, we came up with something else. The <Meteoric Iron> stays unchanged. In addition, I want another of those Demonic Slime cores, or similar materials to craft spatial equipment. Apart from these, we hope for your continued support in the future, especially during the Pythian Games.”

The faltering eagle shook a little when Seth added the spatial material, but he seemed relieved when it ended with the request for an alliance. In the end, the people Yu recommended really didn’t abuse the situation to strip an old man off his last pair of trousers.

“And you will find my daughter in exchange?” he asked hopefully.

“I can’t guarantee that. By all we know she could have fallen through a portal and into another world. However, I can guarantee you that you will find that our efforts will fit the price,” the bard assured him with a sweet voice.

Xiong Peng looked over at Yu again and saw his old friend nod.

“Alright, I agree! Please find my granddaughter!”