Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Today he would take a break for his soul. Some time to really relax and have fun. Like a king that wanted to take a look at the life of a peasant, he disguised himself.

Among the loot from the dungeon was a "Cloak of disguise". This was a fairly common item even in Y-City. It could be found in most dungeons as the effects could be generated even in weaker dungeons for very little energy. At least that was what he heard in Ora.

<Cloak of Disguise

Common

Durability 30/30

1. Makes it hard to recognize the wearer

"The man, that just passed? I couldn't really see his face in the shadow of his hood.">

Most peddlers running street stalls would wear such a cloak or similar item, especially when they sold shady items. In this new modern society, he would not attract attention by wearing a cloak, as many people did.

Solo or independent Adventurers would use cloaks to hide their equipment from prying eyes. Today Seth would play the mysterious merchant and change some young people's lives!

He had gotten this idea the last time he had walked the streets of Y-City. Normally in fantasy stories wouldn't there be stalls with products that looked like garbage, but hidden among them would be that one special mythical item that helped the protagonist grow?

Or some mystical store with wondrous items that would suddenly vanish before the protagonist returned to look for it again?

He had seen nothing like this in the city. He could see through all the items he came across with his <Blacksmith's eyes>, as long they were something that theoretically fit his class. There was nothing interesting or surprising among the things those random peddlers and adventurers sold.

That spawned the idea in him. Be the change you want to see in the world, isn't that what they always say? Seth would be this mysterious peddler. He had bought all kinds of trinkets and acquired that jewelry for this day.

After enchanting them, he would open a stall with junk and just a few genuine pieces and see who got lucky or could recognize the genuine articles.

He came to a big plaza where it was allowed to spontaneously set up a small stall after paying a small fee. Seth had found this place the last time he was strolling around. Even so, these were all more or less improvised stalls, everyone had a complete set-up. Propper tables, tents, and chairs. The inventory really made life easy.

His own table was soon filled with and a handful of nick-nacks. Among these unassuming items, he hid a few genuine accessories. There was nothing breathtaking from Seth's perspective. They were rings or pendants with a single simple enchantment. Most of them had effects of increasing attributes by 10-15 points for a specific time.

The reason for this was the limitation of the material itself. Regular precious metals could not take too much magic input. If the enchantment was too strong the items would heat up and hurt the user, or break in the worst case.

Still, these items were quite good compared to the general item situation in the city. And there were also some items that Seth had put some effort into.

He had used them to practice using the precious stones as the magic nucleus. They were items that had no immediate cost but needed to be charged to show a "permanent" effect.

Among them were also those that could gather mana from the surroundings and increase the wielder's mana regeneration. This was a complex enchantment and only a few pieces of the jewelry he had found were able to support it.

These were the true gems in his little mysterious shop, as items like this for casters were much scarcer in general and highly sought after. Just imagining selling an item like this to an unsuspecting customer felt quite thrilling.

This was not about making money. Seth just wanted to make this city a little more interesting. Wouldn't it be nice if there were not just catastrophes for the regular people, while only the special ones got the wonders? He wanted to bring some wonder to the lives of those currently at the bottom.

And who knows? Maybe some among them would be able to use the chance and grow to be someone special. Some of the novels he used to read would have called this "sowing karma".

All these items bore his name in the description, so it was also an advertisement. He would leave Y-City soon after and Baker knew of him anyway. Now was the time to cause some chaos!

His prices were a random mix. Some good things were cheap and some mediocre stuff was expensive. Most of the stuff was average. He had observed the stalls around and deliberately chose this. All he needed to do now was to wait.

Seth did not doubt that customers would come. He was selling accessories after all. It was hard to get accessories, especially good ones, from random dungeon drops. While waiting he took out another ordinary ring and started engraving it as if he was whittling some piece of wood.

At this point, he didn't need any crafting station for a basic enchantment like the one he was working on.

Some people came and some left. Some stay and watched him whittling an enchantment as if it was a kind of attraction. Suddenly someone spoke to him.

"Sir, did you enchant all of these items?" an interested youth asked. He looked about 16. His armor was worn down and his black hair was encrusted with dirt. He really looked down on his luck.

"Me? No. I'm but a humble merchant. These are the works of Master Smith. I merely dabble a little in engraving while selling his wares."

"M-master?!" the boy suddenly looked intimidated.

"Calm down boy. How can I help you?"

"N-No. I think I'm good. I-I'm actually looking for something from a dungeon."

Seth lifted an eyebrow as the boy hurriedly walked away. Seth shrugged it off. One can't force fortune onto people.

"Oh wow, look at all this jewelry!" a girl called out looking toward her companion. She wore a white priestess robe, probably a dungeon drop. The man beside her wore are simple dark leather set and two daggers behind his waist.

He only nodded silently and looked at Seth's table.

"Are all of these magical?" the blonde woman asked excitedly.

"Yes, all of them have at least one effect. Most of them increase a specific attribute." Seth explained.

"Wow! Where did you farm all of these?"

"They are not farmed. They were enchanted by Master Smith."

"Crafted?"

The girl suddenly made a complicated face and looked toward her companion.

Again? Why did people react so weirdly to items being crafted? Maybe he simply shouldn't tell them. But anyone with an appraisal skill could tell them that these were crafted, so why would he lie?

"You are the second person that reacted weirdly when I mentioned they were crafted. Why?"

"You don't know?"

It was the silent companion of the girl that stepped forward and spoke in a serious tone. His posture seemed tense as if he was holding back.

"I'm a traveling merchant from Delta. I just arrived in Y-City yesterday. How would I know?" Seth answered relaxed.

The man calmed down a little before explaining in an emotionless voice.

"There have been cases of forged items lately. People would buy a seemingly great weapon or item from a merchant and sometime later it would simply vanish. From their inventory, when they were not looking or even in the middle of battle it would vanish from as they were still gripping it.

No appraiser can differentiate them, the only common is that they are crafted by someone nameless."

"Hmm, well I can assure you that these items were not crafted by someone nameless. The maker's name is written in the flavor text."

This occurrence did not cross him outright, since his items had his name, but it still left a bitter aftertaste in Seth's mouth. Somebody was ruining the crafter's business. And not only that, a weapon suddenly disappearing in a fight could mean death.

Although adventurers would not permanently die, the loss of items, experience, and the pain could have severe aftereffects.. It was not nice dying, even if you could resurrect.