Seth left the search for a gorgon to Monique, while he started planning her armor. He already had a design in mind before the sudden change of material, but he had to redo and rethink a lot of the choices he had previously decided on.
After taking her measurement and ordering a pair of gloves from Nädel's workshop, he sat down to set up a new blueprint for her armor. Apart from her measurement, which had not changed much during her journey, he could completely scrap the design.
At least it was interesting, since he could study the blueprint of the Aegis, which turned out to fit all the legends he had read about it. It was actually an armor automaton created by Hephaestus that was able to change into three different modes, depending on the wearer's needs and commands.
The standard mode was that of a golden cloak, which could turn into a breastplate or a shield, exhibiting powers unique to the three shapes. What stayed the same, no matter the mode, was the protective power it offered the wearer.
Seth was fascinated by the modular design of the god of blacksmiths and felt inspired to fulfill the prompt of making an armor set more or less centered around the aegis. It was mostly going to affect the cuirass and shield, while gloves, boots, and cuisses would be less affected.
Yes, despite being given a blueprint of a genuine Olympian artifact, Seth had no intention to stray from plate armor. Monique was no immortal goddess; she needed all the protection possible. Where Seth intended to stray from the traditional plate was the helmet.
Instead of a knight's helmet, he intended to make a hoplite helmet like the ones Athena used to be depicted with. Overall, he imagined the armor as a mix of a more modern plate armor and Athena's traditional outfit.
The change of materials had its advantages and disadvantages.
A big advantage was the enchantments that were opened to him, as every piece of the armor was going to be made of a type of
He also wouldn't need to perform
Putting the blueprint aside, Seth stood up. Following a sudden idea, the blacksmith appeared in the storage. The one animal mostly associated with Athena was the owl, and he remembered that it had not been so long since they had to deal with giant owl-like beasts.
The Unclaimed Mountains had been marred and gutted by the giant cybernetically enhanced owls that had killed and kidnapped people. If Seth remembered correctly, Mike and the others did bring back some of the materials apart from the energy core, whose technology they had managed to assimilate for golem power like in Hellion.
"Feleth? Hey, Feleth? If you are going to man the storage, you should at least use a sobering potion instead of sleeping at the counter..." Seth complained jokingly when he found the old man snoring and drooling on the job.
"W-What? Oh, Tower Master! Sorry, how can I help you this time?" he snapped to attention and quickly asked to perform his duty.
" Feleth, do you remember when Mike and the others returned from the Unclaimed Mountains some time ago? Didn't they bring some materials from the giant bird they defeated? Do we still have those?" he asked vaguely.
"Hmm, give me a moment," Feleth said as his eidetic memory kicked into overdrive and he began looking for the documentation of the materials Seth mentioned. Although the blacksmith himself only had a vague memory and asked just to make sure, the appraiser immediately knew what he was talking about. he soon produced a part documenting the storage location.
"Hmm, two boxes of rare feathers, a handful of epic reinforced feathers, mechanical parts, a bale of leather, reinforced claws. It's still all there. You are lucky, it seems nobody touched it yet, "Felet reported.
"What is the rating of the leather?" Seth asked, slightly excited.
"Epic leather of the Giant Blizzard Owl, probably grants agility, has affinities with ice and storm elements. Is that what you are looking for?" Feleth asked, reciting the summary of the materials' status.
"Perfect, I'm taking the bail. Ah, just to make sure, we don't have any other leather of owl monster, right?" The blacksmith was happy, but had to ask a follow-up question.
"Hmm, we have Owlwolf leather, Shadow Owl Leather, and Spirit Owl-no, that's no leather. We have the first two," he said after checking his registers.
Faced with the three options he had, he found that the Giant Blizzard Owl leather was actually the best fit to go along with Athena's powers. Although Athena had little to do with the cold, she was known as Subduer of Winds, while the storm also fit in with the powers of the aegis.
"By the way, what was the last one you wanted to name? Interesting. I'm taking that one, too."
Once he had decided on the leather to use, he returned to the workshop. Overall, it took Seth a few hours to transfer his original designs and fresh thoughts, and inspirations to a new blueprint once he had the substitute leather. By the time he finished, he heard the ding of an unexpected notification.
With the blueprint for the armor finished for now, the blacksmith paid a visit to the tailor workshops. He wasn't going to make the boots and gloves himself when he had two master tailors at hand.
Upon arrival, he intended to look for Nädel, when Neeco suddenly appeared before him.
"How did you know I was experimenting with the threats of light?" the tailor asked, his arms crossed.
"Did you really think you could hide harvesting them from the Lich's body? I also saw you testing around when visiting Nädel," he said with a shrug. " Why do you suddenly ask?" the bard asked.
"Paolo was here not long ago to talk about a robe for him. He asked about it and told me that you mentioned something about it," Tailor said grumpily.
"So, why are you so sour? Did something with the new fabric not work out?" Seth asked, a little puzzled.
"It's not that! Tsk, I wanted to surprise everyone with my new, legendary fabrics," he grumbled. Seth pricked his ears.
"Legendary fabrics?" he asked, his interest was piqued.
"Yes, using the
"I only mentioned something in front of Paolo, the one advertising everything openly like a pitchman is you right now..." the bard countered, unimpressed by the tailor's attitude. Boos opened his mouth, but the words got stuck in his throat.
"Anyway, I have business with Nädel, if you will excuse me," the bard said and slid by the silenced tailor.