Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

---2 days earlier, Minas Mar---

“Idyllin Mo, I need you to take me somewhere, “ the blacksmith approached the space magician, he felt a little sorry for the mage, who had been putting his utmost into buying time over the past two weeks, covertly teleporting people, beasts and golems into the way of Spatia. He looked horribly tired, but Seth needed a soul, an equestrian soul to be specific.

Sandra Irving, who was running the shop while Tano'Mol was still away, unfortunately, couldn't offer him the quality he needed. Even though the size was not an issue, she had no horse-type souls that fit what he was looking for. Meaning Seth had to go out and get one himself.

There were no dungeons with horse bosses anywhere in Minas Mar, but Seth had one thing in mind. A creature they had met on their journey northeast, a region Idyllin Mo had frequented more often than any of them, to surveil Sigma.

Seth was thinking of catching the main body of a Nuckelavee. They had come across what revealed itself to be an auxiliary body of one of these monsters during their journey to Hyperborea, the island of Apollo, to cleanse the dragon scales. If anything was fit to become the soul of the steed of hunger, it had to be this evil fairy creature.

Seth had , as well as as an enchantment on his equipment, which would allow him to hunt on and below the water, for the main body of the Nuckelavee. He trusted the effects of the Cloak of Hecate to find his target quickly.

“So I just have to get you there and wait for your return?” the mage asked carefully.

“Yep, I don't think it will take too long. “ the blacksmith assured him.

“Fine..”

And that was how Seth arrived 20 minutes later at the shores of Sigma's Inland Sea, close to the straight that led through the northern mountains. Previously, the air in this place was filled with flocks of flying creatures, but it had considerably cleared up now.

They had siphoned a bunch of them to throw at Spatia on their journey. As an integral part of the deportation efforts, Idyllon knew these coordinates the best, which was why they arrived here. At a nearby cave entrance, Seth could see a finished camp, with a tent, supplies, and remnants of a campfire. This was the place the space mage stayed during the past efforts.

“I will stay here, while you hunt for your horse,” he said, comfortably sitting down on the chair at the entrance of the tent. he ignored Seth and started a fire for himself.

Seth was surprised how nonchalantly Mo allowed the tower master to get himself in danger, but he also appreciated the ...trust? He decided to judge it as trust and not indifference. Fully decked out in his equipment, Seth stretched a little before pulling the transparent hood over his face and running onto the sea.

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was a passive skill, that could be toggled on and off and allowed him to treat water as a solid surface. Concentrating on his vaguely known target he followed the stars appearing in the hood of his cloak.

His original hope was that the cloak would lead him to the location above where the main body of the fearsome monster was hiding in the sea, however, after maybe half an hour of speeding across the water's surface at maximum speed, he felt solid ground reappearing under his feet.

Then the stars stopped guiding him as if he had reached his destination. A little confused, Seth raised the hood to see where he ended up. Looking at the map, the blacksmith had crossed a small bulge of the sea and reached a shore closer to the south of the sea. he was kind of the opposite of Idyllon's camp, and could still see his campfire in the distance, using .

“Ahh! No!” screams could he hear from the close by forest. Seth was still puzzled about why the cloak had led him here when an old man with drenched hair came sprinting out of the forest. He spotted Seth and for a moment his face lit up in delight and then fear.

“Run! Run! A Nuckelavee is coming!” the old man warned Seth as he charged at it. For a moment he was happy that there was actually a Nuckelavee here, but he couldn't see any sign of it in the forest. Seth cocked his head and looked at the man running over. What did the man think he was doing?

if there was really a monster chasing him, why would he charge at a stranger and warn them, instead of running the other way to not involve them? Most important was the appraisal result. ṛ₳ŊȪＢЕṩ

It was the first time he heard of such a monster. The blacksmith decided to wait and see what the creature was trying to do. What happened next was a little surprising. When the old geezer with the wet hair got close to passing by him, he suddenly showed a malicious grin and suddenly jumped at him.

He grabbed onto Seth's armor and pulled him into the sea with incredible weight and unexpected speed. It felt like the man was literally stuck to him, as they both fell into the water, right behind Seth. The bard felt the pull of acceleration, and it felt like being dragged by a train, down into the depths.

As they sank into the water, Seth was able to observe the old man change. The hands turned to kelp, stuck to him and his body became that of a black stag, diving into the water. Light quickly faded, which wasn't really a problem for Seth. neither was being underwater, thanks to , the enchant on his Earth Beats Ring, which allowed breaking in water and deep mines where oxygen was scarce.

Seth reached out his left hand to grab onto one of the antlers, he immediately fell his hand and gauntlet stuck to the creature. Was this its special skill? Its plan was obviously to drown him. The plan had miserably failed.

“You are still alive?” the beast exclaimed shocked, surprisingly well articulated for speaking underwater. Seth also noticed that his was acting to help him understand the being, so it was not speaking a language the system auto-translated for him.

~Yep. ~ Seth said and used the leverage of holding onto its horn, to pull himself into a riding position on its back, which was unexpectedly comfy. ~ What are you going to do now?~ the bard asked curiously using . Since he was not crushed by water pressure and didn't drown, he was interested in what the beast would do next.

The water stag slowed down, but he stayed silent. Seth licked his lip, he knew this awkward silence. The beast had no plan for this situation. He could almost taste its nervousness and confusion in the water.

~Could it be, do you not have an active way to deal damage?~ Seth asked amused, a blade hidden in his words.

He had used the time to examine the creature, speedily traveling in the water. After reverting from looking like an ugly old man, the Water Stag didn't look too bad. It was very big for a stag. What appeared black at first actually seemed like a mix of black and a translucent moss-green like jade.

It had a mane of kelp and tufts of seaweed at its hooves and tail. The mane was what held onto him previously. Overall, the shape seemed... equestrian enough. The color was also adequate. Still, Seth couldn't let go of the idea with the Nuckelavee.

~Hey, I'm a bit hard-pressed for time here and you are quite quick underwater. If you can get me to the source of the Nuckelavee, I might let you live. Deal?~ the bard asked sweetly, his proposal was supported by a bright blade that appeared in his right hand and kissed the stag's smooth neck gently.

“The Nuckelavee!? Are you crazy? I'm not taking orders from you! I'm not going there. No way! I-!” it stopped talking when the Great Sog nibbled on its neck and a small bloom of dark blood stained the water. The stag's eyes widened in shock.

~If you don't bring me there you are useless. There is no reason I shouldn't kill a monster that is going around, drowning innocent bystanders, right?~

"We will reach the destination in just a minute, Sir! No need to be impatient!”

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