Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 299: Soul Armaments (2)

These three had been a no-brainer as their effects were understandable from the short description in the enchantment catalog. They also aligned with his goal to reach the usage requirement of the Helm of Hades.

The others were often too vague or did not necessarily seem fit to be used on armor.

As he kept looking through them one by one and tried to understand the sigils, he noticed a tab that had not been there the last time.

A completely new list of enchantments opened when he selected it. It didn’t take long for him to understand what was going on.

Unlike before, when the locked enchantments were blacked out, he could now see all the enchantments he would be able to acquire during the craftsman rank and the corresponding level to unlock them.

As one would expect from the Chthonian Enchantments which were associated with the underworld, some of them were based on the hellish punishments.

For example Menoitios Punishment or Pirithous’s Punishment. Their effects seemed to correspond with the destiny that waited for them in the underworld or the way they died.

There were still a few blacked-out enchantments that Seth guessed could only be unlocked when he ranked up to master in enchantment. For now, he could look through the whole list of available enchantments he could get in the future.

At level 2 he could unlock enchantments like <Blessing of Hekate> which increased intelligence and magic damage or <Blessing of Hades> which could boost his luck!

Level 3 was okay but Level 4 held some great goodies like <Blessing of Pyriphlegeton> which seemed to increase fire damage and affinity. A similar enchantment was <Fire of Phlegeton> but this was a weapon enchantment.

Seth checked his skills. With some surprise, he found that the 4 soul armaments had actually increased his <Enchantment> to 70% proficiency. Divine enchantments were a lot more powerful than he expected!

If he could make just a few more he could unlock those on level two, too!

There were two more enchantments he could use, that were fit for gear.

<Blessing of Persephone

The Queen of the Underworld has an eye for beauty and art. Her blessing will bring charm and shape>

and the other was

<Blessing of Charon

Charon spends his days ferrying the souls across the Styx. He has not much but his blessing will make you fit to be a ferryman like him.>

Seth inferred that the first would increase his Personality. As for the second, it sounded like a passive power-up, but he wasn’t too sure.

He decided to make an ornate necklace for <Persephone’s Blessing>. He had a Deja Vu when he started engraving the sigil of the queen.

It was the same as when he made the Helm of Hades, he could feel a presence looking over his shoulder. It just wasn’t the serious and heavy pressure but something softer. Like a sweet smell with a mischievous smile.

As he cut the last grooves of the sigil, he could actually feel a pair of soft hands touch his shoulder. A breath touched his ear and an amused but sly female voice spoke to him.

“Only this once. It’s beautiful and I appreciate that you will wear it so close to your very soul. But I prefer something that is seen by others so everyone can appreciate the beauty.”

A soft breeze passed through the room and Seth had finished the pendant. It felt like a hallucination until he saw the item’s description.

<Persephone’s Necklace (Weakened)

Mag. Def.: 76

1. + 40 Personality

A soul necklace created by Craftsman Smith with the halfhearted blessing of a goddess. >

The presence had been Hades’ Wife herself! His heart started pumping. He looked at all the enchantments that started with “Blessing of…”. Would each of them summon a god or divine being to look over his shoulder?

Another matter was the obvious difference in strength. This was a weakened blessing but it was more than the fury set did without any strengthening. And this was weakened because Persephone didn’t like it being a soul armament.

Where he had needed 10+ medium-sized souls to get the furies to their current strength, he only needed to spend 5 for Persephone’s Necklace.

<Persephone’s Necklace (Weakened)

Mag. Def.: 386

1. + 100 Personality

2. Others find you slightly more agreeable and tend to get less angry around you.

3. You will look more appealing to others

A special necklace created by Craftsman Smith with the halfhearted blessing of a goddess. >

Although the latter two options were kind of vague, they were nothing bad and Seth was satisfied with this for now. The necklace had brought his proficiency to between 80 and 90%. The next item could already bring the level up.

He had struggled so much, but it became so easy with these divine enchantments. Was this how champions felt? No, not really. Seth knew that champions had it even better! But he couldn’t complain, he was very well off compared to most others.

He didn’t bother looking at the daytime. He ate and drank something and focused his attention on the next item. He would gain lv. 2. No matter what.

Since he didn’t know what exactly the <Blessing of Charon> would do, he chose to put it on something small like a bangle. Most effects were fitting for accessories like this, it just wasn’t that he wanted to end up with something like “Faster rowing” on a pair of trousers.

He also chose a bangle in the shape of a strip of metal because of the look of the sigil. The sigil resembled a skiff or a boat. It would look really good on the bangle. Not that it mattered, as only Seth could see the soul armament he wore.

Again, as he engraved the sigil there appeared a presence in the room. But nothing else happened. It only stood there and watched Seth working on its insignia and vanished when he finished inscribing it.

<Charon’s Physique

Mag. Def.: 76

1. 20% Resistance to Diseases

2. 10% Poison Resistance

A special bangle created by Craftsman Smith with the stoic approval of a divine being. >

Seth was stumped. He had not thought it would be flat resistances. These were not like those on his usual items where the result was based on your original base stat.

These were directly added to his status like the resistance gains through skills like <Poison Resistance>!

He immediately started to strengthening the bangle. 100% disease and poison resistance were worth a lot in his book!

———–Somewhere else———

A ravishingly beautiful young woman with dark hair entered the cinema dimension. Several of the present figures ogled her curves revealed by her tight-fitting but elegant outfit as she walked past the rows of seats to the VIP space.

With a big sigh, she inelegantly flopped down on the seat beside the big seriously looking God with a thick black beard. She sat leisurely at his side as her hand touched his arm lovingly.

“Hady, I just visited your champion~” she chuckled. “Do you want to know why?” she teased.

Hades like to play the big cold ice block but she knew he was actually very caring. It was the perfect chance to tease him a little in front of his friends.

“Oh, why did you?” Hades asked with a small smile in his eyes.

“He asked for my blessing. He asked for mine first! His craftsmanship is quite good, but he is still inexperienced. He almost lost it when I pranked him a little.” she bragged.

Persephone just finished speaking when she noticed the smiles on the faces of Hephaistos and others around.

“What?

Hades coughed a little and looked over to his wife. “We already knew what happened.”

“What!?” she asked shocked

“It was live.” He answered and pointed at the big screen with a small smile.

“And you let me keep talking! Meanie!” she punched the humongous god in the shoulder and turned her back to him pouting. Her ears had turned a scarlet red in embarrassment.

“Ah! Uhm… Pers! D-Don’t be like that…I-I’m sorry, okay?”

It was the first time his stoic mask crumbled as Hades had a hard time handling his wife’s whims. Held back laughs and light chuckles filled the room and even the ruler of the underworld’s face became slightly red.

“Are you really?”

“Y-Yes. I am.”

“I will forgive you. And you guys better stop chuckling or I tell YOUR Wifes where you have been hiding!”

Dead silence filled the room.

Only the quiet crunching of the system god who kept eating popcorn could be heard.