Her face was marked from the stress of the last few days. Leana sat in her office rubbing her temples.

A lot had happened recently, and she had a hard time dealing with everything at the same time. They had just fixed their alliance with Arget Nore and got ready to bring over a Starta Village when the followers of Zarkon suddenly went on a full offense.

Her troops had a hard time holding their position and protecting the refugees. They managed to fight off the beastlike Zarkists with the cooperation of the necromancer's reinforcement.

The moment they got a chance to get a breath she got a message that informed her of what had happened in Delta. While they were on the offensive against a new enemy, an old fell them in the back.

Not just that. An unnerving suspicion kept gnawing at her. How hat the Theocracy of Chains managed to infiltrate Delta? And the timing of the Zarkists' attack...

Had these two powers allied with each other?

It was a whole new worry pressing on her.

--------------------Theocracy of Chains----------------

Seth sat down on the bed. He didn't really know what to make of this. He was locked in a room that didn't seal any of his skills or system rights but where would he go from here?

~The space is still locked so we can't teleport back. ~ the lich mentioned.

~ I demand to know what is going on! ~

Seth nodded and started reiterating what had happened. It also helped him to get his thoughts in order.

His options had actually shrunk despite having more freedom. All ways to contact other people and gather information were cut off. At this point, he couldn't even run off into the woods and teleport away if he just wanted to flee.

The officer mentioned that they would give him materials and a quota. This meant he was supposed to work as a blacksmith here.

There was still the sorceress. It was possible to just break out and run, but he was still unwilling to just leave everyone else behind.

~ There are no surveillance magics. ~ Al assured him of his question.

Seth came to the realization that he was momentarily stuck with his current options. If this was how things were, there was only one thing he could do.

Make the best of the situation. He decided to use the chance to finish the items for the people of Minas Mar. In this way, he hoped to finally rank up his skill and then finish his own gear.

There were many things Seth looked forward to once his skills ranked up. Since his current options were not sufficient to help him solve the situation he counted on those he could unlock.

Like the blueprints and enchantments connected to , or possible perks of his class skills.

The following day he was given and some pieces of wood together with a list of stuff he had to make from it. 2 longswords like the one he had repaired and twin daggers. He was given 10 days to finish these items.

This would barely be enough time for a normal blacksmith to finish such an order. For Seth, it was a lot of time. Even if he used a foreign forge he could finish in half the allotted time. Part of the reason was his high level and stats, the other was that these were generic swords.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

It didn't need enchantments or anything. He had done hundreds of swords like this. If he used the he could finish those in a day. That meant he had 9 days to finish the gear he had planned and hopefully rank up his skills.

Seth wanted to reach the craftsman rank before he started on his own gear. It was good that he had prepared a lot of stuff so he didn't have to worry about the materials for most of the equipment.

And like this started his days of secretly grinding his skills. He would make room by storing the forge and summon his and work on the equipment for the lord of minas mar.

Every day there was a knock at the door and a dish of food and some water would be pushed in through a hatch. Seth was lucky he didn't have to rely on the food provided. He could use his inventory again and had access to his rations.

Seth started with the easier things to get warmed up and finished the adamantium weapons. Although they gave him epic materials, these people were probably not expecting too much of him.

After cutting some corners, it only took a few hours to finish the whole order for the Theocracy of Chains.

~Are you sure about this? ~

Al asked slightly worried. Although Seth did nothing but forge the weapon without any added effects, it was still an epic weapon in the end. Giving something like this to his enemies...

"Don't worry. Even if I give these to them, the will still have its effect. My guess is that these are for the enslaved warriors because he mentioned that these were for the troops. If they have weapons that can't hurt me, it will be much easier to free them, even if they resist."

Seth did not worry too much. He was sure that he could improve his skills in the next 10 days. The best-case scenario was that these would be the first and last weapons he would hand over to these people.

With his hopes set on the future improvement, Seth started with Mike's sword. The Catman had asked for a sword among swords. The essence of the weapon.

It sounded like a complicated thing to ask, but Seth had already mastered this a long time ago. His very first uncommon sword had transcended the limitation of its material because of its perfected design.

But before he started, he needed a forging ballad.

To tie in with the success he had during his duel with Cerberus he also decided to use an original smithing ballad. Most of the ballads and texts used for weapons called on a category of demons called War Devils. They were specialized in raising havoc on battlefields and enjoyed watching warriors fight.

The price for their blessing would normally include them watching the wearer fight and temporarily gaining strength. Among them, Seth found some great demons only a few people dared to call upon for a blessing.

One of these was the Addict of Battle and Violence. This demon came to mind because Mike was a Focus Warrior with his second class. This gave him high willpower and resistance to mind effects. This was important because the price that came with the blessing was a strong corruption depending on the effect.

The effects of the few ballads he found on this demon ranged from a basic improvement of power during battle to going berserk and gaining more and more power on each kill. The stronger the blessing, the harder it was not to become a soulless killing machine.

Seth hoped to find a middle ground that could improve Mike's performance in general, give him a slight boost upon a successful kill but without putting too much stress on his mind.

Referencing the previous ballads written about the Addict of Battle and Violence and using his notes he took several hours to come up with a good ballad using .

He would go back and forth singing it and changing lines that didn't fit right. He wasn't using any magical skill, but the evaluation of the system was a good indicator of the quality of his music. Although it was heart rending.

Common

Ballad

The clumsy attempt of a struggling Apprentice Bard to use his predecessor's songs to make a song of war. Great for singing under the shower, but make sure nobody listens in.

>

Every time he changed something and attempted again; he would get such a shattering evaluation. The he had written last time was rated rare! Was it just a fluke?

The system's most devastating blow came when he expected it the least.

In the end and after many tries his leveled up several times and he managed to create a rare forging ballad. Seth credited his experience with forging ballads, tenacity, and the high level of for this. It was definitely not musical talent.

Rare

Ballad

The result of a hardworking Apprentice Bard, who used a lot of education and references to come up with a good piece. >

Originally his title was Warriors Anthem, but the system seemed to have a different opinion... Anyway, now he could finally start the forging. Using , , and he got ready to sing his new ballad.