Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1389. Flintcoat

Back in the workshop, he found that Cerberus had already finished polishing the breast- and backplate, and prepared the parts of the engraving. And Faenys was also here. Seth had contacted her before meeting Leana.

“I really like it,” she greeted the blacksmith by praising his work.

“Thanks. Try it on. I want to see whether it fits before I continue with the enchantment.”

“Okay!” Faenys said, visibly excited. Over the past days, she had watched her very own, legendary set taking shape, and the cuirass was a huge step. Afterward, only the shoulders and arms would be missing.

The mountain brigand usually wore her padding and a fine mail shirt under her armor, so she wore those first. Although they would be upgraded in the near future, they didnʼt intend to change that, and it was accommodated for in the measurements of the armor.

“Oh wow, it fits almost as well as the armor that sizes automatically,” Faenys praised; however, the blacksmith squinted.

“Almost? Where does it not fit?” he immediately went into craftsman mode and made Faenys regret her words. The next hour was spent reworking and fitting the armor perfectly to the Chosen of Phobos until she was able to assure him believable, that everything fit perfectly.

Since she was already present, they transitioned to talk about any decorations she wished to add before the blacksmith continued working on the armor. This went exponentially quicker than the fitting process, and Faenys fled the workshop 20 minutes later, leaving behind a blacksmith who now knew everything he needed to finish the cuirass.

Finally, Seth gave the armor another polish before he began enchanting it. As mentioned, Seth intended for the cuirass to specialize in defense, and he chose the enchantment considering the soul he managed to procure from TanoʼMol.

The blacksmith started engraving the legendary enchantment of durability onto the armor, which would also grant strength and endurance to Faenys. However, the reason he chose it this time was the increase in durability of the item.

Although TanoʼMol was fighting with his suppliers to deliver, it didnʼt mean that the stock was all he had left. The demon had been diligently collecting souls during his adventure in the Unclaimed Mountains.

This meant that he not only had fresh souls upon his return, but also a handful of exotic ones, belonging to creatures he had never even heard of. Although him not having heard of a monster was not that special, the trait of this one was quite outlandish.

...

--A couple of days ago, TanoʼMolʼs temporary shop---

Seth had described his plan for the armor and the cuirass and asked the goat demon for a soul that could maximize defense while still conforming to the needs and wishes of Faenys. The goat had thought about it for a moment before he brought a soul vessel with a medium-sized soul floating inside.

“We met it during the second expedition back to Thres, while escorting a large group of refugees,” the demon started explaining. “The monster it belonged to is called a Flintcoat,” the demon revealed.

“A Flintcoat?” Seth asked little confused. He had never heard of such a beast. He sounded a little like the shellcoat he had hunted in Y-City, but that was a beast native to Urth. If the Flintcoat was also a beast emerging on Urth, how would the demon know about it?

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“Right, they are man-eating monsters resembling stone trolls. However, they donʼt share their resilience and healing factor. It is just that they have a peculiar trait that will make them look similar on the surface, at least in most cases,” the demon explained more.

The only property Seth could see on the medium-sized soul was the Trait: “Echo Skin”, which the demon promptly explained to him.

“ These beasts have a trait that covers their skin in scales that “echo” the most durable item worn or carried by the beast. As flint was one of the hardest, common materials to be found in nature, these creatures often carry a flint on their body for defense and take on the appearance of a human covered in flint stones.

That was the case with this one, as it was just a juvenile. Older ones often have the chance to find better stuff, creating variations. In some cases, they get their hands on something harder, like magical items or ores, then they will look more like a golem than a troll,” the goat bleated on.

“So the scales take on the properties of the hardest material they carry?” Seth asked, excited about the possibilities. He could manipulate the durability of an item to a certain extent, but was it even necessary? If Faenys could be completely covered in dragon scale, she wouldnʼt even need the armor-

“ Are you serious? If it could copy the effects of any material and cover your whole body in it, do you think I would sell this to you? That would make this a nigh legendary trait. It only copies the outward look of the material, while the defense of the scales is based on the durability of the item,” TanoʼMol squashed his fantasies with logic.

Right, if it was that good, Seth would probably have heard of it. Just imagining a man-eating troll covered in skin equal to an epic or even legendary material would not go unnoticed. The whole species would be a terrifying menace.

Although it didnʼt come with the magic effects, creating a full-body suit of scale skin for protection was good enough. Especially since it didnʼt seem like it would get in the way of movement. However, when it was based on durability...?

“What about ?” the blacksmith asked. If the defense of the scales was based on durability, then wasnʼt the hardest and toughest metal the perfect fit? Since he intended to use some mail on the armor, would Faenys suddenly become a superhero made of silver metal?

“No! It is still exactly the same problem. We just established that the trait has its limits. How is a non-legendary trait going to scale with a legendary property?“ TanoʼMol shot down his dreams when he shared his idea.

“Look, you are by far not the first that tried to weaponize this trait. There have been many people who tried taming these things and strengthening them by shoving high-grade materials onto them. Magical effects, legendary effects, none work, just believe me on this one. “

...

And this was why Seth opted to increase the durability of the cuirass. Neither Seth nor the goat knew how much defense exactly it would generate based on the durability, but it was clear that more durability was better. Even when dragon scales already had great durability, again, more durability was better. It just couldnʼt be legendary durability.

Now, when things calmed down a little, Seth couldnʼt help his thoughts wander back to Leanaʼs request. As the engraving tool cut into the polished surface, he thought about Cade. His opinion of her was ambitious.

They remotely knew each other, as they had taken part in the Evaluation. Their relationship was friendly, but they had never been close; he technically didnʼt know her at all. In front of Leana, he said he didnʼt have a problem making an armor for her as long as everyone agreed.

But wasnʼt the fairness just an excuse? Now that he could think about it calmly, he found that he was still hesitant even if Leana managed to get everyone to agree. But why? Was it because he didnʼt know her well enough?

...No, he had made armors and items for people he had known for a shorter time. Cade was even a great help in the past... He put down the engraver for a moment and leaned back in his chair to think. However, he couldnʼt put into words why he felt like that.

For a moment, he even considered that it was his acting up; however, the few times he could identify when it acted up, he didnʼt notice it in the moment. It couldnʼt be that.

Just sitting in the workshop didnʼt get him any closer to a solution, so he ultimately decided to shove it aside. If Leana actually managed to make everyone agree, he would find a moment to sit down and talk with Cade. That was probably the only way to solve the issue, if it could be solved.