It had a high price, but the sorceress kept her word. She taught and explained to him the demonic ballads she knew. Tored was wary at first, but when Seth explained everything to him, he helped Seth learn and train the new forging ballads. It was finally time that forging weapons was also included in his curriculum again. Having changed to demonic ballads also gave a chance to shine, even so the songs themself were nothing one would listen to for enjoyment.

His days were packed with grinding, making jewelry and accessories, weapons with forging ballads, and sparring with the dwarf. Time flew by and one day his age turned to 24. How long had it been since he left home? How far had he come?

"Status!"

(no items equipped)

Name: Seth Smith

Mark of Ivicer

Title: "Faster than the Thought"

Level: 27

Exp: 2%

Race: Ori Huma

Sex: Male

Age:24

Class: Spirit Blacksmith (Unique)

Affiliation: System Church

Health: 1000/1000

Mana: 380

Strength:73

Dexterity:71

Agility: 53

Intelligence:38

Willpower:58

Endurance:58

Personality:17

Luck:21

Free AP (Attribute points): 0

Free SP (Skill points): 1

Defense:

Physical: 224 (174+50) (ENDx3)

Magical: 141(116+25) (WILx2)

Fire Immunity

Poison Resistance (15%)

"Skill Window."

Blacksmith (Adept) lv.9 (23%)

Enchantment (Adept) lv8 (24%)

Goldsmith (Adept) lv.7(17%)

Blacksmith's Eyes lv.5

Blueprint (Adept) lv.3

Soul Infusion lv.3

Spirit Smithy lv.5

Spirit Capture lv.4

Spirit Forging (Adept) lv.1

Orpheus Voice (Passive) lv.3

Weapon Mastery (Expert) lv.3 (2%)

Calm Reaction (Passive) lv.7

Fear Resistance (Passive) lv.8

Poison Resistance (Passive)lv.3

Fire Affection (Passive) lv.6

Pyrokinesis (Ability)lv.2

Map lv.4

Observation lv.4

Concealment lv.4

Energy Circulation lv.9

Sewing (Beginner)lv.6 (45%)

Universal Translation lv. max

had grown a little faster because he trained it with weapons and jewelry now, but all his skills were getting close to the next rank. Everything was slowly rising, except for the skills he could hardly grind in safety.

Seth had lost the urge to leave the workshop lately. Fin and the party still had not returned and Ora was slowly suffocating under the flood of refugees. The times he went out, he stayed in the halls of stone to eat and drink with Puffles and Al. Seth had managed to appease the starved sorceress with other joys of life, like food. This meant he would have a huge food bill once every week. It was the price to keep her robe from slipping.

Today was his birthday and he wanted to go out. He even invited Tored to come along and the reclusive dwarf decided to accompany him. Tored told him that he knew a very good restaurant in Ora and Seth had not heard of it yet. The dwarven master led them out of the halls of stone and to the commercial district. He also tried to invite Vathon and Marn, but could not find either of them.

The human district had changed tremendously. The alleys apart from the main roads were filled with homeless people and refugees. It was less bustling with life and more beggars filled the streets. Apparently, the human territories were on a losing streak and refugees kept flooding south. The situation was so bad, that the guards at the gates had the order to keep those out.

They heard that a kind of slum city had grown outside the city walls. Thousands of people living in tents and makeshift shacks strangled the trade routes and merchants avoided the cities hit hardest by this development.

He followed the dwarven master off the main streets and into the alleys. The restaurant he brought Seth to was on the smaller side and off the busy places, similar to Seth's shop.

Tored had assured him that this was one of the best restaurants he knew in Ora. That was why Seth didn't judge yet and stayed open for a surprise. And he did well in doing so. The restaurant had a small and comfortable feel to it and offered private booths for customers. Seth, Puffles, and Tored sat down there and looked at the menu.

The restaurant served traditional dwarven cuisine, which meant everything was very hearty, savory, and served in big quantities. It was perfect for the trio of heavy eaters. It was the first incident of a chef not despairing upon seeing Seth and Puffle enter the feeding frenzy. The dwarf in the open kitchen saw them devouring his and accepted their challenge.

The blacksmith, the master, and the caterpillar stocked for a moment when they felt the aura of a predator. As if a sleeping dragon had awoken, they felt the might of the dwarven chef oozing from the kitchen. With experienced movements and skilled hands, the chef ramped up his cooking speed. The three could barely follow his hand speed as he cut, cooked, and seasoned his ingredients.

They acknowledged the chef's caliber and appreciated his efforts by eating even faster. Now it was the chef's turn to feel pressured. Seeing the food vanish the moment the waiter put the dish on their table, it felt like a magic trick! Did they really eat the food or did they teleport it straight into their stomachs?

Both parties did their best in this battle of skill and stomach capacity. The unbelievable outcome was a definitive draw as both sides collapsed. The restaurant closed for the day after the three waddled out with bulging bellies. They had eaten almost all the ingredients the restaurant had prepared for the day.

The trio left the restaurant and Seth re-equipped the sorceress' token. He had found out, that he could make her shut up by putting her in his inventory. She had been constantly nagging and complaining about how they dared to just go and eat without her. "Unfortunately" the summon was still on cooldown.

It was when they stepped on the main street and went on their way back to the Halls that they heard screams and commotion from the direction of the city gate. A crowd of refugees, beggars, and citizens came running in their direction.

From the gates sounded the horns that signaled an attack and the air was filled by the rattling of giant chains as the city gates were completely sealed off. Followed by the impacts of giant bolts that locked the gate and made it as strong, if not stronger than the walls around it.

It didn't end there. After the gates closed, a magic shield rose from the city walls and closed off Ora's airspace as it joined with the tall cliff wall at the back of the city. At first, they wondered why the barrier was raised but soon dark spots appeared in the sky above Ora.

A mix of flying creatures filled the air above Ora. Some were humanoid with batwings and spears, others seemed like completely deformed beasts and birds.

"Just what is this?" Seth could not help but ask. They had found a corner to hide from the panicking crowd.

"How would I know? I bet that guy over there will tell us soon enough." the dwarf said and pointed at an especially big humanoid creature with goat legs and batwings. It looked like a genuine devil. One, ancient priests imagined to scare people.

"Your time has come, dwarven worms!" it bellowed so it could be heard in the whole city.

"Your soft heart has opened us your doors! All the vermin that fled here have turned into our troops! Your pathetic walls cannot stop us!" It let out a high-pitched screech and suddenly a great part of the beggars and refugees that had just rushed into the city started attacking anyone in their sight! It was like a scene from a zombie apocalypse movie as they started to bite people and rip them open with their bare hands.

And here started the distinct difference to a modern scenario. They simply didn't just run away crying for help. The refugees had no way to defend themself, but among them were many adventurers and merchants, or well-off citizens who switched to armor and defensive gear to protect their own life.

In a city like Ora, common armor could often be bought for cheap so many people opted to have at least some kind of life insurance in their inventory. Wealthy traders would sometimes have better equipment than adventurers, despite being non-combatants in general.

The horde of corpse walkers was slowed down by groups of defiant citizens and adventurers on break. Seth and Tored also equipped their gear and jumped into the fray. Unlike the two blacksmiths, that were able to mow down the corpse walkers, the citizens and adventurers were slowly overwhelmed by the refugees that had turned into monsters.

"Haha, you can try to struggle, but you will all become our slaves in the end!" the demon in the air roared and smashed a giant staff against the barrier, trying to break it.

"Shit, there are so many of them!"

Tored, Seth and Puffles were fighting back-to-back with the help of other adventurers.

"It's ok, we just have to buy time for the defenseless to get away. This situation will soon be dealt with." the dwarf answered confidently. Older adventurers and the few dwarfs among the defenders had a similarly confident expression, while the younger ones were becoming nervous.

As if to answer the demons claim, horns sounded from the direction of the gates and were answered by an even louder horn from the golden gates of the halls of stone. The next moment a magic spark shot along the city walls and a shock traveled through the barrier.

Outside the barrier, it created an energy wave that unceremoniously disintegrated the enemy's whole air force only leaving the big demon with horrendous scorch marks behind. Its red skin was blistering and oozing blood.

"Urgh- This will not stop us! We will-"

"Out of my sight, demon scum!"

An enraged roar interrupted the demon and made the city tremble. The next moment a mighty energy beam, originating from the golden gates, penetrated the demon's chest and it exploded. At the gates stood a wizened dwarf. Its bald head reflected the rays of the sun and the smooth white beard reached down to his feet. He wore a majestic magical robe and held a thick staff with a big crystal ball at the tip.

Even the corpse walkers halted at the sight of the giant energy beam that had just illuminated the city.

"Dear citizen, there is no need to panic. I, Mayor Ray, will not let any more harm come to you."

It followed several chantless lightning strikes, that jumped across all the corpse walkers like chain lightning and turned most of them into charred corpses, without the walking part. This was inside the city, outside the city looked like a lightning storm as a myriad of strikes descended around the city.

This was the most flashy and mighty magic Seth had seen so far. The sight rivaled the giant hanging tree covering a whole city with its crown. Just what level was the mayor...