Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth learned a lot, by listening to the music of the contestants. It was similar to watching a more skilled blacksmith work on a great piece. The proficiency of Seth's <Singing> and <Instrument Mastery> rose by a sizable amount, the latter even rising to Journeyman lv.7.

The blacksmith experiences good gains, despite multitasking during the performance. In the private booth of Minas Mar, the bard had his workshop summoned and was meticulously engraving a set of silver bones.

As for the reason he was suddenly trapped with work when he was supposed to enjoy a great event like this lies in what happened a few days prior...

---3 Days before the Pythian Games---

Jonah and Misto arrived at the lobby of Minas Mar shocking everyone present. What shocked them was not the sudden and unannounced return of the two Field Team members, but the state they were in, when they collapsed on the floor at the entrance to the magic tower.

The mist demon was covered in black cuts, oozing dark puss that drenched his robes. But he was still looking fine, compared to Jonah, the swordsman he was holding in his arms. The sanguine swordsman with the beautiful mask gave the onlooker a dreadfully beautiful and tragic scene.

Jonah, clinging to Misto for support was not just covered in similar wounds, was missing his lower right leg! What was bewildering to the people of Minas Mar was, that Jonah's wounds did not heal. The chosen of Munara was easily the person with the greatest health regeneration, backed by his class, skills, and items. Regenerating a limb was a matter of hours at worst.

“I have no idea what this is, I only managed to purify part of it,” Lynri, the Priestess of the Fount said after trying her best using advanced healing magic and purification. She abstained from stating the obvious. It was some kind of poison or curse that was invading the wounds of the two returnees and hindered the healing process.

Despite purifying the black puss, the wounds could not be healed by means of system magic or system-assisted regeneration. During the next two days, they found that the wounds healed naturally and reacted positively to simple medicines. The problem was Jonah's leg, as limbs usually didn't simply grow back for normal people.

“Hmm, I see...” the blacksmith said after having a look at Jonah's slowly healing stump. He knew what he had to do and he was slightly more comfortable with it now than the first time he faced this problem.

Had this been the first time they faced such a weird phenomenon of the system not affecting a wound, they may have been helpless, but they had Evee as a precedent. The girl that lost her arms, just before she was registered with the system.

Seth had no idea how it was done, whether it was a special skill or secret poison or curse, but somehow, Jonah was not suffering the same phenomenon. His soul was not damaged but his leg became “unregistered” from the system and was no longer affected by its powers and rules.

The solution for this back then was creating new bones for Evee's arms and infusing part of her living soul into them. Looking back now, it was the start of how he made Faer, though their souls were ones that died before.

However, knowing a solution and going through with it were two different things. Originally, Seth would not dare mess with a living soul, as he did with Evee's. her soul as an Immortal Witch was special. Even when his skills had improved tremendously since then, he had to explain it all to Jonah first, before he could make a decision.

After all, this was a procedure that involved messing with a man's living soul. If he did anything wrong... After all, there was always the option of a normal prosthetic. With Urth's technology and the system's magic there were ways to create an advanced prosthetic that-

“Thanks for warning me, but I want you to do it, Seth. Just how long would I be out for, if we waited for a prosthetic to be made and then it would still just be a lame excuse for my leg? Seth, if there is a way to get my actual leg back, I want to try it. Even if it is risky, I trust you,” the man covered in wounds said intensely.

There was a fire in his eyes, one that Seth had never expected to burn in Jonah's eyes, especially. This man wanted more than just to be able to walk again and even more than to get back in shape. He had a goal, and he needed the best substitute for his actual leg he could get.

“You still won't tell me what happened?” the blacksmith asked, facing the gaze that clearly sought revenge. Jonah shook his head. His fists clenched and he seemed stressed, remembering something.

“Not yet. I'm not ready. Maybe later,” he pressed out. Seth looked at the man, sitting in his sickbed calmly. What- or whoever did this to him had left a severe trauma that stopped the sanguine swordsman from sharing what happened. However, Misto also kept silent about the enemy they encountered, maybe it was more than a trauma that had them stay silent.

“Alright, I will make you that leg and you make sure to get whoever did that before they do it to someone else,” the bard finally assured him with a smile.

...

And so, Seth ended up working on Jonah's new leg and foot bones during the start of the Pythian games. Although the blacksmith had his doubts about the procedure, because he knew exactly what could go wrong, he also had an interest in getting Jonah back in shape as soon as possible.

From the people that returned from the other worlds, Jonah and Misto had actually reached the highest level. The swordsman had reached lv. 162, while the demon was level 157. Level-wise, they were now in the same league as Wolfram. With their relic and legendary load out, they would even be comparable to the dull gray knight.

That was why Seth also had some motivation apart from helping a friend, to get Jonah back into fighting condition. Seth was sure the Pythian Games would not blow over calmly and it was better to have everyone they could on their side.

This was not just about their lives and their survival, but also their business. if something happened during the Pythian games, a lot of people would affected, not just Urthans. They had high-ranking guests from nobility all across the Pathworks in the audience, in addition to the contestants in the artist categories who were all widely known and influential.

Even if something happened, they had to deal with any disturbances in a capable and calm fashion and this was only possible if they had the confidence backed by an overwhelming advantage. Since they didn't know who would try to make trouble, it was best to be present in full force. If that wasn't enough...then they were simply out of luck.

Since he decided to do it, Seth didn't hold back on the materials or craftsmanship. The material was the new <Olympian Silver>. Seth also finally knew was effect the legendary material refined from <Tranquil Silver> did in addition to the improvement of skills and magic.

Apart from doubling the power of skills, Jonah would cast through the leg, the <Olympian Silver> came with the effect “Mind Soothing”. This effect increased Mental Power by 25%, raised Resistance to Mind-related status ailments by 25%, and lowered the Resistance to Sleep by 10%. Mind Soothing came with a slight drawback, but the effects were really good, for a passive improvement.

The blacksmith didn't intend to treat the bones like items and overload them with enchantments, so he simply added one of the enchantments he had unlocked by reaching master lv.2 in <Enchantment>. It was called Minor Olympian Endurance and he hoped it would help Jonah not being such a glass cannon. The Description of the enchantment was said that it would raise basic defense, as well as the endurance attribute.

By the time the finale of the solo singers ended, Seth had finished assembling an enchanting skeletal foot, fibula, and tibia made of pure silver and covered in intricate engravings.

<Ding! You have created a legendary item! +100p of Power of Existence>

<Ding! A Synergy between the situation and your trait Olympian Myths has changed your item and strengthened your trait.>

What Seth had not expected was that his trait would appear at this juncture. What had happened? The answer came when he appraised the lower leg.

<Olympian Leg of Song

Legendary prosthetic

1. Mind Soothing

2. +200% Power on Skills and Spells

3. Aura of Music

A prosthetic created by the hands of Master Smith, the first Master Blacksmith and master Enchanter of Urth. Like Hephaestus who created a shoulder of ivory for Pelops in the wake of a divine festival, Master Smith created this leg in the middle of a great ceremony, allowing the item to absorb some of the powers it was exposed to during its creation.>

Seth had completely forgotten, that Hephaestus also counted as the god of prosthetics with the legend of Pelops' Shoulder as the main example of his works in that direction. The power the leg bones absorbed were of the songs that the musicians and finalists had sung to the audience, granting it the “Aura of Music”.

Aura of Music:

“Where there is dance, music will follow”

Whenever the prosthetic is used in a kind of dance, it will replay some of the music it absorbed during its creation at random with 25-75% of the original song's power, granting the corresponding buff.

Seth didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. Wouldn't Jonah hate this? he already accepting the legendary mask with gritting teeth. What would he say if his leg broke out in song, whenever he danced?

Seth couldn't help the malicious grin on his face, when he thought of that scene.

Whether Jonah liked it or not, he didn't have a choice in this. From now on, he would play his own boss theme.