, an ability that made him prepare for a possible future without really knowing what would happen or how it would help. He didn't know whether it was 100% reliable, but it was never wrong so far. Who would have thought it would improve?

What slightly bothered him was the power of existence. 1000 points was ten times what he usually got for a legendary item, but he had not even gotten a notification that Bazalith even was a legend. What could this mean?

“I obey the master,” the hollow voice if the flame knight accepted him as its master and distracted him from the notifications.

Seth looked down at the new golem he had just created with the blessing of Xaphan, the burning Skies. To create a guardian he had blown many of his safety measures into the wind and directly worked closely with Xaphan, one of the demons he knew the longest.

The blacksmith had also paid quite a heavy price. Xaphan had been picky, forcing Seth to offer him the remaining soul fragments of the 24thEthnarch, summing up to 80 big and 200 medium-sized ones. In addition to that, he also took the Soul of the Dire Leopard (Massive, Rare), Seth had received from Tano'Mol.

Still, the bard had deemed this trade acceptable. He had pulled no punches. What he got in exchange was a golem with part of Xaphan's fire elemental powers, further enhanced by Seth's trait Kin of Fire, wielding a flaming sword made of an alloy of and and possessing a core of and .

“Okay, Bazalith. You can rise. As you see, I held word.” Seth commanded the fire knight. Bazalith was the name of the golem, inherited from the soul's ego. The spirit blacksmith directly infused the Soul of the Crowned Blaze Cat (Big, Rare, Ego) into the sword and core of the golem.

“Yes, you have really left my soul intact. I once again swear my allegiance to you,” Bazalith assured once again.

The Crowned Blaze Cat was a demonic beast that usually lived in fiery hellscapes and was close to the demon race. They had a circle of golden horns on their head called a crown and would only develop an ego once their crown fully grew after several centuries. Bazalith was a proud creature, although it had already died, he only offered his cooperation after Seth swore that he would not modify his soul.

Since he wasn't allowed to enchant it, Seth directly melded the soul into the metal of the sword blade, the inlays, and the core, enchanting the first with the Whitehilt circuit and the last with the generic automaton core circuit and made up for the lack of other enchantments, by infusing the whole body with Xaphan's powers.

“Can you control the power of your new body?” Seth asked, curious how the ego soul and the automaton circuits would work together.

As an answer, the golem let go of the blade, which started floating in the air, surrounded by a fiery halo. While the armor started to show of set of various fighting techniques and magic, the sword acted independently, slashing, stabbing, and activating magic in the air.

“Instead of splitting my consciousness, I can move it back and forth, leaving the control of the other part to the enchantment. I also feel barely any discomfort because of the structure of this vessel,” the blaze cat gave its verdict. Seth nodded, he was glad it worked out.

“That only leaves one last test,” Seth said and suddenly rushed forward. Radiant Forgeright glinted as Seth's fight smashed into the chest of the armor golem. Bazalith clatters and stepped back, a deep, fist-shaped dent in its chest, right where the sun crest could be seen.

“Repair yourself,” Seth commanded, shaking his hand, to get rid of the pain. After all, he had just smashed his fist into an alloy of and imported . Since he had not infused the blaze cat's soul only into the sword and the core, he still had to see, whether his other measures were able to make up for this.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The knight nodded. “I will try.”

The dented crest on the chest of the cuirass started lighting up and the fires surrounding the armor were concentrated on itself and brought it to a red-hot glow. Slowly, the metal started moving and the dented chest mended itself.

“Good, but what if I do this?” Seth asked and slashed out with the Draconic Blade, severing the hollow arm. The severed arm didn't even drop to the floor, held in place by the fire of the golem. The gunmetal gray armor heated up at the cut and welded back together like there never was any damage.

“Very good,” Seth praised. This time the repair was not just faster, but it also showed that Bazalith had instinctively understood how to use the power of Xaphan in junction with the soul-filled inlays to detect damages without looking. It was a different, more cost-effective way of repairing itself.

“Sivri, what time is it?” he asked the golden dwarf that had kept watching the whole time.

“It's evening now...” “I was working through the whole night?” he asked surprised. “...of the second day now.” Sivri ended her sentence. “WHAT!?” the blacksmith exclaimed shocked. He had been working for two days straight? He didn't feel tired at all, but he had also been surrounded by flames the whole time.

“Didn't anyone come to find me?” he asked confused. Even if he didn't notice because of his stamina recovery, others would have come looking for him!

“Nobody,” Sivri answered, rending his heart. “I-I was just joking. I sent the people that came away and silenced the other things, so they wouldn't disturb your work!” the golem assured him hastily, seeing his depressed look. Seeing her so worried about the little joke gone wrong actually made the bard chuckle, quickly lifting his mood.

“I'm okay, now. Thanks, Sivri. You did well. Are Fin and Mina still in Little Gamma?”

He wanted to find the two quickly. After all, Bazalith was meant for the two as a bodyguard they could take along in their inventory.

“I don't know...” the dwarf pondered. “They were not among the people coming for you and nobody mentioned them, so they are, probably?” she finally said.

“It's okay. I will ask Leana or Mary later. What did the people that came say?” the blacksmith asked curiously while storing Bazalith. Although he would probably hear from the other two later, it was better if he knew what was coming.

“It seems that Gallwell, the guy with the hammer, contacted us and they said something about someone returning. They didn't really explain and left when I told them you were occupied,” she answered with a smile. Although it was not incredibly helpful, it was not her fault.

“Thanks, Sivri. I guess I will go looking for Mary or Leana then. Bye.”

The blacksmith left and connected with the Tower Ego, finding out where Mary and Leana were. The ego also confirmed that the members of Yulecat's Fur were not in the tower. After what Sivri had said, he thought that maybe one of the teams that went off to the other world had returned, but none of them were in the tower, either. Like always, the administrative heads were in the embassy above ground.

“Tower Master! The lady is currently in a meeting. Could you wait for a moment?” the secretary at the reception desk stopped when he attempted to walk directly to Mary's office.

“Who is she meeting with?” Seth asked, since had nothing better to do but wait.

“Errm, let me seer... It's Mr. Evan and Lady Karina. The meeting concerns the completion of the main tunnel for the subway,” she explained after looking through Mary's schedule.

“Oh, so they are finished? Good, I already meant to ask how that project was going.” Seth said and made small talk as they waited for the meeting to conclude.

“Seth?” Evan and Karina exclaimed when they came out of the office.

“Hey guys! I heard you finished the subway tunnels?”

“Finally,” Karina said in a tone that made it clear that she didn't like working with Evan.

“It's on Baker and his engineers now to build the trains, “ Evan added, ignoring the dryad's attitude.

“Good, good, if you would excuse me, I needed Mary for a moment.”

“You finally got out of your workshop and the first thing you do is come here? I don't remember you being that responsible,” Mary teased, leaning in the door frame of her office.

“Ha, ha, sorry.” “It's okay. I'm sure you wanted something, so tell me quickly.”

“I have something I need to give to Mina and Fin and I wanted to ask you about the situation in Little Gamma,” he summed it up.

“Good timing, you can meet with Gallwell at the same time. Gamma Resistance wants to join Adam on his operation in Emerald City,” Mary adeptly added a task to his trip.

“Not that I am against it, but how did he even know about it?” Seth asked a little surprised. Although they published the situation in Emerald City, Adam's actions were only known to the higher-ups for now.

“Apart from his guild, he is part of Little Gamma's government. He requested Minas Mar for support in gear and equipment. I think we should give them some of the good stuff, but I know you don't wanna hand that out without a safety precaution.”

“Oh, I get it. Alright, I will do that, too.” Seth agreed and they spent some more time, talking about the details before Seth made his preparations and set off.