“Things beca a lot calr in the village,” Mina told him over dinner.
“Really?” Seth asked surprised. Although he did make an example of the croaking Cricket, or whatever his na was, he didn't expect the cultivators to tone it down. Master Mountain had told him that they were usually very stubborn. With the many different factions now mingling on Urth, it was hard to believe they were able to hold back.
“I exchange, the mountain range outside of our influence seems to have beco pretty rowdy,” Bulko added, sipping on his cocktail. Seth raised an eyebrow, it was always a spectacle seeing the massive man with a liking for special drinks, sipping from colorful cocktail glasses.
“Although it's not perfect, isn't it better when they take care of their business outside? If they want to kill each other, who are we to stop them?” the blacksmith asked, also taking a sip.
“If it was only that. We are having more and more reports about rchant caravans being attacked,” Mina sighed.
“Not just that, they are blatantly blaming it on people of “the dark faction” or “the fiend path” or whatever. Like, do they think we are stupid? They are clearly the criminals, but they act like there is so ominous evil force that is to bla for everything...” Lyxiss ranted, clearly intoxicated.
“Are you sure?” Seth asked a little confused as to why soone would act like that.
“Yeah! They bla people who have clear witnesses for being sowhere else and don't even bother hiding the blood on their swords, so to speak. They even try to sell the stolen goods!” the elf exclaid, slamming her fist on the table.
“Pff, yeah, they call us Savages, but they don't even have an idea that all the stuff traded on Urth has ticulous records and serial numbers that identify it,” Ray added, shaking his head.
“How are the people with recomndations faring?” Seth asked for the natives from the worlds of the Pathworks. After all, they would have to face a similar culture shock, yet he heard little about problems with them.
“Quite well actually. Although the adventurers are a little rowdy sotis, Bryce is keeping a tight grip on who he actually gives the pass to. Sa with the System Church. They know it's them losing trust if they let troublemakers in,” Mina answered.
“That's good to hear. And the others? Are the cultivators also attacking them?”
Minas Mar advertised the tournant everywhere, but that didn't an they would let just anyone into the city. In general, people from other worlds would arrive through the the System Church, as its branches were usually located in the middle of a Tree Station, they had to make sure to sohow regulate the people that were allowed to enter the city from there. That was the recomndation system.
There were different rules for the Pythian Village. Since they also expected a lot of spectators and participants, almost everyone was allowed to take residence in the Pythian Village. However, they would have to get there through the land route, mostly traveling from Delta to Little Gamma.
Ray clicked his tongue.
“Not that we would know. They leave the group under the banner of Minas Mar alone, but we have no idea about the others since there are little to no records. Even if we find out that a group of visitors vanished, there is no telling whether it's monsters or people that got them,” he said depressed.
“How far are baker and his people?” Maybe we could make an extra station for the Tree Express, to make sure people from Delta can reach the Pythian Village?” Although this would require so more planning, maybe this was the safer option. It wasn't like they could start patrolling the mountains. That would just spread out their people, making them prone to be picked off.
“I don't know, but it's a good thought. You should call Mary or Leana for stuff like that,” Ray answered. Grabbing his communication orb, as Ray ntioned it, Seth found that he actually had a missed call from Hoen.
Excusing himself, he called the dwarf back. Hoen was currently making preparations using the Seth had created before setting off for Y-City. He just hoped that the dwarf had not t any problems.
“Seth? You called back quickly!” Hoen answered the call surprised.
“Hey Hoen. Why did you call? Did you et a problem sowhere?” Seth asked worried.
“No, on the contrary. I called you to let you know that I finished all the stuff you asked for. Everything is ready for the next step,” The dwarf told him with a laugh.
“What, you really...?” “Yep, the warehouse is full of crates now. The guys are already complaining to , so it would be good if you returned soon and took care of it.”
“I see, alright. I think I can return in a few days. I only have Mike's swords left to make. When the quest is finished, I will return.”
With a smile, Seth returned to the restaurant. As exciting as it was to follow an exotic blueprint and learn sothing new, it couldn't compare to seeing one's own creations co into reality. With his new experiences from the Slaughterer's Set, he also had a few ideas to refine his previous design.
“You are beaming, was it a good call?” Fin asked, erging from a cake.
“Yep, it has to do with my plans when I return to Minas Mar,” he said with a smile.
“Are you going to return soon? You can't go already, you just ca!” Fin exclaid crestfallen.
“Don't worry. I will be here for a few more days and I will be back once I'm done with the project,” he assured her.
Apart from the ongoing two, Seth currently had no other pressing projects. The golems in Y-City could also do without him. Nothing spoke against taking a vacation afterward. Mina's and Fin's moods rose, hearing that Seth was going to spend the ti up to the Pythian Gas with them.
…
When Seth returned the next day, it was finally ti to forge the slaughterer's blades. From the 12 bars Seth originally cast, only two remained. The amount of materials Mike had gotten perfectly fit the required amount, as long as the blacksmith didn't fail the production.
Before he could get to the forge, his communication orb started vibrating. Soone called him this early in the- Looking at the clock, it wasn't early anymore by any ans. Unable to be reasonably upset about the call, Seth took it.
“Seth.” “Leana? What can I do for you?”
“I just called to ask when you will return,” the princess answered calmly.
“Errm, it will be a few more days, why did you ask?” he estimated roughly.
“Don't worry, it's nothing pressing. I just wanted to inform you to co to the embassy before vanishing in the workshop again. There is soone who wants to surprise you,” she explained.
“Surprise , who?” the blacksmith asked curiously.
“If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. Just rember to co to the embassy first.”
“Alright?” “Good, don't forget,” she said and ended the call. A little puzzled, Seth put the orb back in his pocket. A surprise, huh? He was curious but didn't think too deeply, since the tasks at hand needed his full attention.
Heating the bars in the forge, Seth grasped Charon's Obol. The Slaughter blades were pretty straightforward. Once the tal was up to heat, the blacksmith started driving the first bar into length and width.
Under his practiced hands, a single-edged shortsword took shape. It only had a slight curve, but a very wide-bellied blade. One could stab with it, but it was obvious that this blade was made for hacking and slashing.
After the blade, ca the handle. No scales, no binding, no crossbar, the Slaughter Blades were one continuous piece of . After the first blade was shaped, he created the second as its mirror image. Then he ground them. The design had no bevels, the whole blade was all edge. When the shaping was done, he started engraving.
Unlike the other items, the blades were not embellished at all, they were spartan in their decoration, and brutal in their design. The engraving for the blades was very fine, complinting each other. They concentrated on the handles, with only one small strand of illegible characters flowing across the wide blade, from the handle to the tip.
Seth was forced to use magnifying glasses to properly engrave the fine yet dense symbols.
Shocked, he heard the last two notifications. It had been so long, he had stopped paying attention to their progress! More shocking was that both rose at the sa ti. When had caught up? Curiously he checked , which had also made a big jump, reaching 80% of lv.1.
He was intrigued to hear about new enchantnts, but he decided to have a look at the Slaughter Blades first.
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