Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"What is going on?"

He had already somewhat expected it, but the shady people Lydia wanted to introduce him to look for someone were the someone he was looking for. They were all leisurely sitting on the sofas in the VIP lounge as if it was their living room and had an assortment of alcohol on the table before them.

"Seth!" the fairy brute tackled his face throwing him off his feet. On the ground, Fin realized that she had not held back and ruined the emotional reunion she had imagined.

"I-Fin is sorry! Seth are you okay?" she asked in a panic and squishing his face with teary eyes.

"Ihmm ok-hey, ples stup squishy ma face"

"Oh, oh sorry," she said embarrassed and let off of him while Mike helped him up.

"It\'s good to see you again." Mike greeted him as he pulled him up from the ground.

"Yeah, I\'m glad you guys are okay, too. Since when are you in Delta?"

"2 or 3 weeks." said a Mina that had sneaked up on his side. She pulled him into an embrace and kissed his cheek. Bulko greeted him wordlessly with a wave. He was not a man of many words. Lixiss also waved with a complicated expression. They were not that close, so she didn\'t know how exactly to greet him in a situation, where he was already surrounded by people.

The fairy sparkling like a diamond in a dress set with rhinestones had promptly changed her seat from Bulko\'s shoulder to his, while the others motion him to sit among them. Lydia was unable to interject at all in this atmosphere. She could only watch with a confused look.

"Lydia why are you standing there. Come on, sit down too!" Mike finally saved her from the awkwardness, and he also sat down with them.

Seth tried to ask them what they were doing in Delta, but Fin promptly changed the Topic to him. The others joined in and thus he was forced to recount how he was forced to return prematurely and his adventured since returning to Urth.

Even with Lydia sitting among them, he didn\'t hold back. The fact that this party trusted her was proof that he did not have to be vigilant of her. In a sense, this fact made her more trustworthy as a partner in the cooperation with the Willis family, than the day they had spent in town together.

It was deep in the night and quite a few drinks later when he finally finished recounting his own experiences- Now, he got the chance to ask them what had happened to them.

They were all quite drunk and kept intercepting each other, even Bulko became a little wordier. The biggest surprise was Lixiss. The elf had a strong reaction to earth alcohol. Especially the cocktails with tiny pink umbrellas. She turned into a total extrovert and lead the conversation.

From what Seth could garner and remember later the party had put a lot of effort into leveling up after he had left. It was Fin\'s idea to become super strong and surprise him. In that matter, the war with the demon worshippers in Namia was a blessing in disguise.

Nothing gave such ample chance to level up like a war with strong enemies. All of them had reached lv. 70 and became A-Rank adventurers. This would not have been enough to stay on Urth where their Level was practically halved. It was thanks to Simon and their contribution in the war that they were able to join a diplomatic dispatch and got a blessing that boosted all their stats while on Urth.

With this blessing their lv. 70 was comparable to lv.65 on Urth. It made them into one of the powerhouses in Delta. The average level of Delta was 35-40, almost double that of Y-City.

As such, they had a good time in Delta. They could enter almost untouched high-level dungeons and make a lot of money by selling materials and information directly to the continent\'s main branch of the adventurer guild.

It was obvious from their outfit, but they kept raving about how they enjoyed this modern lifestyle of Urth. Technology was working just fine in Delta, and they told him about all the awesome technology he grew up with like they were religious fanatics.

In the end, it became a really fun party and they kept talking and drinking until deep into the morning. When Lixiss was the first one to puke, which prompted Mike and Lydia to follow suit, they took it as a sign. All of them were getting tired at this point and finally decided to meet on the next day after all of them had a good day of sleep.

Seth had to support Lydia on the way back. He used his <Map> to find the Way.

"Wow, she really overdid it again, huh?" someone said sarcastically.

When they came back to the Willis Building there was already someone waiting for them It was Harold, the young intelligent-looking fellow with a nasty temperament. H stood between to elevator door and them.

"That\'s also good. I wanted to talk to you. Give up on the tower."

"Pff, no. Good conversation. Now step aside."

"I think you didn\'t understand me. You may not be afraid but what about your friends? Did you really think you would be able to party this much without us finding out?"

"Are you really threatening me with the lives of my friends?"

"Erm, yes?"

"You are seriously threatening people that are part of a diplomatic delegation of the Chrona Empire?"

"I-If you say it like that..."

"Yeah, thought so. No balls." he simply walked past Harold and the elevator door opened automatically. He put Lydia in the elevator and turned back to the stumped Harold.

"But for the attempt..."

In a flash, he was completely geared up and swung Seth\'s scepter at Harold\'s waist. The magician hurriedly erected a magic shield to block the attack. The staff crashed into the shield which immediately caved in under the blunt force and gave way for the attack.

Harold had a high level but was obviously not very experienced in fighting melee battles. He could only shut his eyes tightly and wait for what was about to happen. Seth\'s attack stopped only millimeters before crushing the caster\'s waist.

"Take that as a lesson. You can\'t touch me, but don\'t think I won\'t get rid of you if you become a hindrance."

With that, he entered the elevator and closed the doors.

~Hey, don\'t put me away every time you go out to have fun! I also wanted to see the city. ~ the lich complained. He had put away the token with most of his other stuff when he accompanied Lydia.

~ But how am I supposed to have fun, if you are around? ~ he poked.

~Ouch. Very funny. Summon me and I will show you some fun. ~ the sorceress answered provocatively.

~ Ah, ermm. No, I know, I might need you as a trump card any time soon. Right? Yeah. ~

~ Wimp. ~

~Nympho. ~

They kept bickering until they reached the tower.

"Tower, can you put her in a guest room?" he asked when they reached the floor with his personal quarters.

"Affirmative. Also, your companion woke up, Master."

Lydia vanished and the tower informed him that Evee had woken up.

"A group of intruders is nearing through one of the maintenance tunnels."

"Oh, that should be the caravan, can you show me footage?"

A screen opened before him and showed his party and the Tijaahk traveling along the tunnel.

"Those are not intruders. Register them as guests and let them enter. Send me and Evee to the control room."

"Seth?!" Evee called out when they both appeared in the control room. She was still wearing her cute pajamas and looked a little sleepy. She was awake but enjoyed the softness of the bed a little longer.

"Hi, Evee. I returned. I found a way to Delta above and the caravan will arrive soon. I also brought in a guest. Can you stay here and keep an eye on the situation? I really need to catch a wink of sleep right now."

"Oh, sure. Recover soon."

Seth conferred her temporary operator rights and went to the private quarters to take a nap.

He felt like shit when the Tower notified him of the caravan\'s arrival a few hours later. He chugged a stamina potion to wake up and ported to the lobby to receive the people.

"Send the guys over once they are in range for teleportation."