Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Awkwardly, the black skeleton started moving, silently looking at its hand and naked body. As Seth had expected, Luf’s deadly aura of decay had vanished while she was inside the Waters of Styx and now it was completely gone. The leak had been sealed by binding her into a vessel.

Agitatedly, her jaw jumped up and down and she wildly pointed at herself. It seemed like everything was moving accordingly but she had not yet figured out how to use the vessel’s voice box.

~Well, then, shall we work on giving you a fleshly body? ~ Seth asked, using <Telepathy>

“Yes, please!” she said labored, but full of joy. It seemed like she had figured out how to speak in her new body. She was quickly getting used to being just a skeleton, walking and jumping around while Seth was setting up the Faer-formation.

It seemed like she had lost a bigger burden than just the flesh of her soul. The blacksmith couldn’t imagine how great the impact of her aura must have been on her mentality. The way she soon jumped around daintily reminded him of someone around Pip’s age.

Seth on the other hand was busy finding a rock big enough to engrave the formation on. This was the drawback of using the Devil’s Wheel Fiddle to create a Faer. The formation he had set up for Samuel had become broken and unusable during the process. He would have to set up a new formation every time.

“Luf, can you come here and stay in the middle of this circle?” Seth called her over. In the end, he managed to find a large enough slab among the debris of the valley and finished carving the magic circle. The crystal vessel nodded and readily stood in the middle of the circle.

The bard summoned Oz and gleobem to accompany him as he loosened his shoulder. A disharmonious, demonic tune filled the valley and the earth started quaking at the turning of the crank. As he started pressing the keys, the <Voice of Seth> joined the earthquaking music.

"Break from the cage, And step upon the stage

There's only one sure way, To have the body -grown

Follow the strings, Away from cemetery things

With one flat foot, On the devil's wheel~"

The dissonant lyrics barraged Luf's soul. She was conscious the whole time and she would have thought to be revolted by the music, but it whipped up something deep within her. She had thought most of her emotions dead after centuries of loneliness, but now they were rising from deep within her like a stormy sea.

"Listen to me! Sing with me! Grow for me! Living dead girl!

Come to me! Sing with me! Dance for me! Living dead girl! "

She tried to resist at the beginning, but she was quickly swept away by desires and emotions she was not used to. She had clung to her love and sorrow for so long, she had forgotten anything past her obsession but now she started to feel alive. She remembered how it was back then, with Rayki.

As the song kept going and she felt like she was drowning in her desires and memories, veins and muscles started growing, covering the black skeleton. It was a bittersweet experience, as she felt these desires drain away from her and into her new body. It was a relief, but also regretful.

"Come on back, reality distorting hack, The war machine, Creates another fiend, So beautiful~

Her Blood and her skin! Dripping with sin! Do it again! Living dead girl~

Her Blood and her skin! Dripping with sin! Do it again! Living dead girl~

Flesh and fresh rosy skin quickly covered the layer of muscles, giving her a human appearance. Only when the pale, smooth Skin slowly started forming, did Seth realize that they had forgotten something.

The song came slowly to an end and the crumbling mountains were exposed to a new, firm pair of peaks, perking toward the sky. A beautiful fairy was now standing in the center of the broken stone slap that had once been the golem formation.

<Ding! Target has accepted the Title "Pandora". Hephaestus, God of Craftsmen has given her his blessing.>

<Ding! Your Title "Acknowledged by the Gods" has strengthened. All stats +10 -> All stats +20>

<Ding! Your Title "Resurrection of Lore" has strengthened. The chance for your creations to carry the power of vestiges of the past has increased.>

<Ding! Your Trait <Olympian Myths> has strengthened. You have touched upon the legend of Pandora. New Enchantments have been unlocked.>

<Ding! Your Level of Existence has risen slightly.>

Of course, Luf was reborn from scratch without any clothes at all! Seth was a healthy young man, he couldn't help but stare, causing the freshly reborn woman to blush, l but she didn't cover anything. She even posed a little provocatively.

"Are you satisfied with your craftsmanship?" she asked with a smirk.

He couldn't marvel at his great work for long, as Rayki quickly appeared and handed her clothes. Seth wouldn't lie, it was a nice view, but he had a better landscape at home.

"It seems like your assumption was correct," Rayki mentioned to Seth.

"Yes, it seems like her aura was fixed by gaining a body. Aren't you happy? You finally won't dissolve into a puddle every time you get close to your wife."

"Yes, we can finally be together. Thank you, Tower Master."

"You don't have to thank me, after all, you signed this;" Seth said and waved with the soul contract she signed before they began the whole process. From now on, Luf was going to work in the Administration under Mary and be her bodyguard at the same time.

"Don't worry, you can still spend eternity together, during vacations and after work hours!" he joked, laughing diabolically. Now that the decaying aura was gone, Puffles, who had waited in the back, came closer.

"Hop on, I will give you a ride to Minas Mar, I have a room for you two."

""Alright"" they said in sync and Seth brought the couple to Minas Mar.

Once they were in range, Seth used the Tower to teleport right inside. The bard took a moment to show them around and introduce them to a few people before they reached the dorms with empty guest rooms.

“Take a few days for each other. You can look for Mary when you want to start working,” Seth gave his farewells and left Rayki and Luf in their new room.

…

---At the Borders of Beta---

A scene of carnage. Bloody body parts covered in white fur littered the tundra at the base of the mountains. A big snake, a group of beautiful priestesses and a bunch pf mercenaries watch the perpetrators of this massacre slowly walking towards them.

The massive humanoid lion and wolf covered in expensive items were leisurely walking towards them, side by side. They were casually holding their weapons, a flaming sword and a bow with a dark aura, as they talked animatedly.

“You are doing really well with the new White Hilt,” Lydia complimented him.

“Yeah, even a little better than Flaming Fury. It would be great if I could keep it even afterward,” Mike lamented. He had already taken a liking to his new ego sword, despite its personality being a little hyper.

“G-Great Work you two,” Pearl, the head priestess of the group stepped forward and welcomed them back, although her eyelid was twitching a little. Maybe she was a little shocked when the two had suddenly rushed off and took apart the group of Yeti's the moment the scout announced their ambush waiting on the plain. Seeing her expression, they slowly turned back to their human forms.

“Thanks, Pearl. I guess suddenly transforming came as a little shock?” Lydia said a little bashful.

It was the first time since the start of their journey that they had transformed in front of them all.

“It's alright. Let's get back in and continue,” Pearl waved it off and they all got back in the cabins on the big white snake before they continued their journey.

That day they finally left the rough mountains and entered the foothills and tundra. It didn't take long from there, just a day, to reach the border of Beta. In the late morning of the next day, they saw Thres,

Before the apocalypse, it was a moderately sized satellite city of Beta. Since it was at the outskirts of the district, it was least impacted by many of the fights and catastrophes. It had also been the main waypoint for the refugees when the people of Beta evacuated to Ypselon and Y-City.

Now the Muir Empire, under the leadership of Governor Adam, had set up a camp in this place. They were hellbent on getting the city back to working conditions and having the people of Urth move back to Beta.

“Wow, we are almost there, I guess that means our joint journey will soon come to an end,” Lydia mentioned to Pearl, taking in the view of the city, that showed only slight signs of destruction.

“I guess it is...” Mike said almost melancholic.

“I didn't talk to you. Don't think you can get rid of me that easily!” his girlfriend scoffed.