Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

939. Testing on a Fieldtrip

The massive fist of the mountain troll slammed against the black golem knight, who blocked the attack with its crossed arms. Despite <Enriched Necron> being among the softer epic materials, there was no deformation when being hit by the full power of a lv.90 massive beast.

They had to travel quite far to find a beast, but the level was another proof that the world outside the district, especially the mountains, had become a lot more dangerous. Seth didn’t know that it was not as bad as he thought. The reason that the first creature they found after searching for so long had such a high level was that only high-level creatures still dared to travel this close to Delta.

Although the material was still better suited for armor than something like <Mad Ithildin> or Urth’s <Ithildin>, Seth had made preparations beforehand. Among the basic attribute strengthening enchantments Cerberus had added to the armor was also the master level Durability enchantment to all of the armor pieces.

Thanks to the network of <Arcane Gold> on the inside. Although there was no soul in this golem, the generic Automaton Core Circuit he worked hard to learn from Cormac Payle was more than able to adeptly manage the power provided by the system of five different cores in the extremities and the network between them.

Even if not all the enchantment could be constantly powered, Seth trusted in the ego circuit developed by the God of craftsmen to control the power in a way that would make it seem like that was the case. After all, items with permanent enchantments were usually a scarce commodity. Normal people had to learn to activate the effects of their items in battle. In that regard, too, the members of Minas Mar were living in luxury.

Trust was good, but proof was always better. This was the reason the dark golem and blacksmith in dark armor had made a quick trip outside, to find some beasts and test its battle readiness. Obviously, the trip took a little longer than they expected.

What became clear quickly was that even a circuit made by Hephaestus needed battle data to be optimized. The lv.85 Death Knight had been fighting for almost an hour now, but not because he couldn’t have won by simply using superior stats.

It was not going all out. Seth did not even need to command the golem to hold back and collect battle data., it did that much on its own. As such, the golem's use of the various enchantments, as well as their combat tactics, rapidly improved.

Even if he couldn’t expect the blueprint of Hephaestus to come with pre-installed combat knowledge, the incredible learning speed showed that even if it had the prefix of “generic”, it was still the work of a god.

Where it had still been struggling to control and manage the energy at the beginning, it was now activating and deactivating enchantments whenever they were needed. After reaching this point, it no longer held back and went on the offense.

The black gauntlets were suddenly exuding a black haze as they grabbed the troll's wrists. With an uncharacteristically cute whimper, the beast tried to pull its arms back, but they were locked in an iron grip.

Or rather, a Necron grip, as the black haze started to eat away and decompose the troll’s skin and flesh like acid. The whimpering quickly became a screaming and squealing as the beast in pain tried to get away from the knight’s corrosive grasp.

But it was already too late because Seth had done it now. As the dark haze ate away at its flesh, black, necrotic veins started covering the creature. The trolls' high regenerative powers could not withstand the power of death and soon it fell silent as the life left its eyes.

However, it did not slump over like a sack of potatoes. A moment after the life was gone, death took its place and an eerie soul fire started shining in its empty eyes. Straightening its back was a new undead servant.

Seth had created a necromancer Golem, just the thing to make Arget Nore’s mouths water. Although the golem had no necromancy skills, it was instinctively able to use the power of the armor and create undead.

Having finished the fight, the Death Knight Golem bowed before him. Obediently, the turned troll behind it fell to its knees and before the grandmaster. It was obvious that the golem ego also had control of the undead it created, despite not having any skill of this kind in its status window.

Made from <Enriched Necron>, the golem was like a born King of Death. All it lacked was data to grow. Although the golem wouldn’t receive experience or aid from the system, since it had no soul and didn't count as an artificial lifeform, Seth was looking forward to how the Madness of the core material would influence it in the future.

“Master, I believe to have adapted to combat,” the golem asserted.

“Hmm, it seems like it. As a reward, I will grant you a name. From now on you will be Haa’Skon. Since you got more accustomed to using your body, you should also train how to use your subordinates,” Seth glanced at the troll in the back, who responded with an empty, clueless look of its own.

“However, I guess this place is emptier than I thought, maybe we should go to a dungeon instead.”

With a silent nod, Haa’Skon accepted his new name and the orders of his master. While the golem and his new subordinate entered Legion, Seth got on Dretjim’s back to fly back to Minas Mar. Puffles and Tatzel were up to their own nefarious activities, so Seth was riding the golem griffin.

They were returning home because Seth didn’t intend to walk the way to the next dungeon. Instead, he used the Tower Ego to teleport to Minas Palan, the moment he got into its range of influence.

The hall of Minas Palan’s teleport formation was buzzing with people. Since it was opened to the public of Minas Mar, there were a lot of adventurers that came here looking for work, or a chance to build a new life in the labyrinth city the Adventurer guild was currently constructing.

At first, Seth was startled to have suddenly appeared in a dense crowd of people and a stuffy feeling grew in his chest, but he had it under control. He was very different from the time when he was stuck in his home, or when he had just fled from Alpha.

For better or worse, he was also a much different man from the child he once was, he thought to himself with a wistful smirk. He just remembered the visions he was shown by the obscure formation the cultivators had used on him.

Although he was much more bound to his home now, than his past self could understand, he also got around a lot further than he could have ever dreamed of. Not to mention his travels on Urth itself, he traveled to Ora to learn his skills, he visited Chrona, and journeyed across Keväti Kuinen during the evaluation. Maybe he had become more adventurous than he thought? ...Nah.

“Tower Master, how can I help you?” the clerk at the branch of the Adventurer guild close to Minas Palan asked him with a trained smile. Although the regular straggler still didn't recognize him, it would have put the Adventurer Guild to shame if their clerks were unable to recognize a VIP.

“I want to book a dungeon. Somewhere between the levels 60 to 80 will be enough, as long as it's free now,” the Tower Master ordered. After all, they wouldn't be able to have Haa'Skon level up, so the level of the dungeon did not really matter.

A lower-level dungeon would be enough for the golem to gather experience in controlling undead subordinates.

…

“Isn't that him?” an adventurer in surprisingly good knight armor suddenly asked his companion, a man in a priest robe. The priest's eyes widened. Had they really gotten lucky for once? For their target to suddenly appear in front of them during an infiltration mission?

“I will contact her holiness immediately,” he said and started a short prayer.

The two watched the man book a dungeon for a moment.

“It seems that he is going to a dungeon. Quickly mark him before we lose track,” the knight hurried the priest before their target entered the crowd and could vanish from their eyes.

“I already have. Her holiness also answered we are to meet with the rest of the squad before pursuing him.”