Seth frowned a little. Phinene was lv.188, but her leather was still lacking? Where was he supposed to get a legendary gorgon? That was ignoring the fact that legendary gorgons were said to be immortal with impenetrable scales. How was anyone short of a god supposed to kill something like that?
Despite being relic-rated, the leather of the gorgon had a 35% Damage Negation, which came close to the Sky Dragon Heart Scales, which were legendary. Of course, the dragon material could do a little more, but still, that was a powerful effect and showed the quality of his materials!
Although the blacksmith was a little grumpy about the evaluation, he wasn't about the actual effects of the shape-shifting armament. Even when it was only called an imitation, the nature of the item really shone through.
Tripling the power of divine skills alone was already insane, considering the skills a chosen got from their god already were on the broken side. Irrespective of other armor pieces, just the Aegis tripled the power of these skills.
But it was not the only powerful effect the Aegis had to offer. Athena's Divine Protection could temporarily triple the already immense defense of the Aegis. Then there was obviously the Gorgon Head, which could be exposed to petrify enemies if they looked at it.
In addition, the item could not only repair itself over time, but it could not be damaged by mortal means. This meant the enemy would need at least a legendary weapon to lower the durability of the Aegis.
Lastly, there was Transformation. As Seth had suspected, each mode of the Aegis came with its own perk, in addition to these effects. The Aegis, as a cloak, could summon rain and thunderstorms when shaken. Having Monique and Mike together on the battlefield would be an interesting combination.
As a breastplate, the Aegis granted the Thunderstep effect. Every step taken could generate a terrifying thunder to stun, confuse, or outright frighten enemies in the surroundings. While hostiles suffered status effects, allies would receive buffs to raise the morale.
The shield came with an active skill called
The Aegis was an incredible item, yet Seth felt miffed about the flavor text and the "imitation" in brackets. Technically, "imitation" was a good evaluation considering he was imitating the work of a god; however, he felt somehow mocked by it. Maybe it was because it was an imitation of the Aegis for Athena's Chosen and not an imitation of the Aegis of Athena, but it didn't matter.
Spite had shooed away his worries. He wanted to put the soul into the Aegis, now more than ever. Imitation? Let's see how things were going to change when he started customizing it HIS way. Originally, he considered something tame and safe for the enchantment of the soul, but now?
Looking at the soul in his hand, some serious thoughts went through his mind.
The Soul of Phinene, a juvenile gorgon at the edge of maturity. Soul contains 97% of its skills and memories. Trait: Gorgon Physique.>
~Phinene. Can you hear me?- The blacksmith tried to get in contact with the ego.
-Who dis...?~ the answer came after a while of waiting.
~I can offer you a way out of the darkness. Are you interested?- the bard asked seductively.
~You can end this suffering?!- It came back excited. There was no need for her to know that he was also her killer. Seth had learned a little and, knowing the situation most ego souls experienced in soul form, made manipulating them much easier.
~Yes. There are just a couple of rules you have to follow...-
A contract was signed, a deal was done. He immediately started forging the soul. Although there were 210 scales, they were not hard to imitate. The forging part was done quickly, and it was time to get serious.
...
Mind-numbing notes ground away at the shattered valley outside of Delta. Once the place of practice was now the stage for his act of defiance. Maybe he was more peeved about the evaluation of the Aegis than he should have been, but he was going to show the system what's what.
At his side was the Devil's Wheel Fiddle, played through The blacksmith had left his cozy workshop behind and exchanged it for the cracked valley because he didn't want to damage his home. Here in the middle of nowhere, he had set up the station to etch the soul armament of Phinene.
Seth had never used a forging ballad on a soul armament because it didn't work that way. A forging ballad directly imbues the power into an item. It needed a physical existence to latch onto. Normal forging ballads would have no effect, but if this happened with a demonic ballad, the demonic power would immediately try to claim the soul.
Etching worked because the power of the demon was bound to and contained in the runes of the piece. Then why was he playing the song while etching the soul armament? He was hyping up the audience and was counting on Kova's Thunder to be of help.
Furfur was a demon Seth had already dealt with several times. His powers were in a couple of his legendary works, like the Storm of Death or the Palpatating Spear. In the past, he had always made sure to keep the cost of the demonic enchantment at bay. He would choose the ballads wisely or bribe the demons up front.
In this case, he decided that he wanted to see how good Athena's power actually was. The energy of Apollo in his armor had managed to twist and absorb the demonic power, often in synergies that created a better effect.
Would the Dark clouds were collecting in the sky above that had been clear just moments ago. Seth dipped his brush in the soul-dissolving poison used to etch demonic runes into the incorporeal soul armament. When "Where I walk is storm, white fire forms me..." The brush started moving as its demonic power drenched the corrosive ink, black like the clouds above.
"Death in every step, a world of pain that warms me..." Seth could feel the demon's pleasure when he wrote the sentence in flamboyant, demonic runes. As if answering the thundering music in the valley, the clouds above started rumbling.
"When you see my eyes..." The valley was lit up by blazing bright lighting.
"The world is shaking, your bones are breaking. When you see my eyes-"
The thunder in the sky broke through the speeding melody of the Devil's Wheel Fiddle.
"...and soon you're gonna die"
A heavy thunderstorm had risen above the valley. A flood rain was falling, but it couldn't stop the blacksmith from his work. As he got drenched in water, his brush never stopped.
"Among the gods and men, white fire burns ye." Another lightning strike turned the valley into a black and white scene. A heavy wind joined the storm as he wrote the next line.
"Above the cold and pain, thunder, wind, and rain lures me!"
In the twilight of the rain and thunderstorm, Seth could see lights at the edge of his vision. It looked like balls of lightning in the darkness, slowly floating in the valley.
"When you see my eyes..." The whole valley was shaken as a massive thunder rolled over the land, following the bright lightning. If it wasn't for his armor, he felt like he would have broken some bones.
"When you see my eyes, there's thunder in the sky, and soon you're gonna die!"
Lightning struck the valley, and for a moment, the balls of lightning floating in the valley lit up like demonic eyes. However, the text was written. The show was over. The wheel fiddle slowly stopped playing, and what seemed like a supernatural thunderstorm quickly turned into normal rain.
Seth swallowed. This had gone a little further than he would have expected. It was almost like he was summoning the demon, which definitely wasn't his intention. Still, he couldn't doubt the outcome of this gamble.
All that was left was infusing the soul and seeing which power would triumph. The blessing of Athena, or the demonic gift of Furfur. Seth looked at the effect imbued into the writing on the soul and mumbled.
"Let's hope the goddess comes out on top..."