CHAPTER 1372: KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Knock knock knock

Seth just started etching the sixth sword when there were knocks on the door of the workshop. Pausing his work, he found Sivri already opening the door. Standing outside was a heavily breathing Faenys, covered in sweat. She finally arrived at the workshop.

“I-I'm sorry for being late. I was training to calm down and somehow forgot the time. I came the moment I saw the clock...” she apologized, embarrassed. Judging by the fact that her hair was still drenched, she barely remembered to change her clothes.

“It's fine. Sit over there, I will finish this and then we can talk,” the blacksmith answered, not pausing his work. Since the Chosen of Phobos was late, it was her turn to wait until he was done. Ten minutes later, he placed the etched sword to the side and turned to Feanys.

“Alright, let's talk...”

Seth had a rough idea of Feanys' powers, but as someone who only saw them once or twice from the side, that wasn't a lot. Originally, Feanys was a Mountain brigand, so some kind of bandit class focused on physical combat. However, since she had become the Chosen of Phobos, she had gained something akin to illusion skills.

“Can you describe your current skills and combat style to me?” the blacksmith asked her to give him a quick description. It may have been rude to ask a customer to reveal their secrets and explain their powers, but they were close enough at this point not to worry about that.

“Well, I already had a number of intimidation and acting skills from my role as Bandit Leader, but it kind of escalated with the sword you gave me. Afterward, I became the god of fear's champion, so...” she began and continued to list a sizable number of skills corresponding to mental status effects.

Apart from using intimidation and fear, she had skills to cause frightening illusions, skills that caused fear paralysis, or raised the chance of it and related status effects, like confusion. But these were actually just support skills, as the main bulk of Faenys' skills were based on dealing more damage to affected targets and simply becoming stronger by frightening enemies.

“My ultimate skill actually allows me to choose to transform into a target's greatest fear and gain the corresponding strength, if that fear is stronger than myself. Although that has a time limit...” she explained.

Apart from these magic-based skills, her foundation was a physical warrior using the Yatagan Mim, which she also relied on heavily to make use of her skills. Seth was not surprised. As a product probably touched by Schalk, the demon of malicious humor, Yatagan Mim was one of his more abstract items.

“I think I get the idea. So, what are you expecting of the armor?” the blacksmith asked. When Seth found that he had a rough understanding of what she could benefit from, their talk changed to the things she needed or wanted from the armor.

This was different from Mina or Fin, where he knew the target's needs and preferences intimately.

Since he was making a full set for her from scratch, he wanted to let her give her opinion on what she preferred to enhance her current fighting style.

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“So I can make a wish?” she asked, her eyes open wide in excitement.

“Yes, technically. But keep in mind, the base stats of the armor are...” he continued to explain what the base armor would already be able to do. The expected set effect, Sky Dragon magic, as well as the damage negation.

He also slightly advocated a little for his favorite option for the forging ballad, but that fell on deaf ears. She wasn't like Seth, who valued the defense over anything. As such, she was not overly interested in the blacksmith's number one go-to: Damage Reflection.

But that didn't mean Seth couldn't appreciate her own perspective. She was confident in not getting hit and preferred an overall boost to her powers. Faenys advocated for passive skills and buffs to raise her stats and damage output.

The blacksmith understood the intent to avoid making the battle too complicated by having to keep in mind various skills granted by equipment in addition to their own. The brigand wanted an armor that would only boost what was already there instead of adding powers she needed to learn and manage. That alone already made the conversation worth it, as Seth knew what kind of enchantments to avoid now.

“Do you have any specific areas in mind you would want to supplement?” the blacksmith asked to get more into detail. He could make her a power armor to boost all areas, but focusing on what she really needed was more effective.

“Well, I'm struggling with my mana and mental power when I don't have proper support items. Other than those, I rely on speed and strength,” Faenys said vaguely, but it was enough for Seth to get a direction.

The Sky Dragon Magic would take care of the magic part, so Seth could focus on the enchantments on speed, attack power, and skill buffs. He could work with that. He was already getting ideas.

“Thank you, Faenys. I think this is enough, I know enough to start planning,” he said, eager to start planning and working out the blueprints.

“Are you sure?” she asked, a little hesitant. They had been talking for maybe half an hour, and that seemed a little short to her.

“Don't worry, now that I have a good idea of what direction we need to go, I can take it from here. You should get back to your room and rest.... and maybe take a shower,” the blacksmith said and slowly guided her out of the workshop.

Faenys blushed, realizing her own situation. Although she wore a set of kinda fresh clothing, she was still drenched in sweat. After she hurried away, Seth started working on the blueprints for the adapted Sky Dragon Armor.

...

---Offices of Minas Mar---

“Wait, what are you saying? I just called to say that I'm done with the repairs and improvements of Diromold, and you want to ship me off?” Joannia Taggart's voice came from the orb in Mary's hand.

“Joannia, you have to listen. I'm not trying to ship you off, it's just that you are the best choice for this kind of exchange,” Mary tried to explain. As a genius who had almost single-handedly managed to make a breakthrough in the combination of magic and engineering, there was no better candidate to send to the Magic College of Perrerian than the fleet commanders of Epsilon.

“What about Baker and his people? They aren't bad either.” Joannia, who was currently enjoying her life as a shut-in researcher, argued back. She was not wrong, Y-City also made great advances in magic engineering, but that was a massive project forced by urgency and backed by a whole District, yet they still couldn't compare to Epsilon.

“It won't be a good showing if we send too big a group and they have no experience with power armors, unlike you. Aren't you even a little interested? They managed to build power armors and giant mechs with common and uncommon materials. The team we sent estimates that they are almost as advanced as Chrona or Spatia. Most importantly, they have crafting stations that allow normal people to build those things,” the chancellor added, maybe the most important piece.

Joannia let out a small gasp, and her expression in the orb was one of slight surprise. Mary knew that she was hooked. Currently, all magic engineering is still dependent on the class. No matter how educated one was, without the skills, one couldn't actually build anything.

But if the machines carried the ability to build the parts, automation was possible.

“...Okay, tell me the details.”