SSS Awakening: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God
Chapter 158: Where the metal meets magic

Chapter 158: Where the metal meets magic

"Ah... ah... I don’t... Nothing like that..." The old man fumbled but after a while, he wiped his eyes and started talking slowly. "He... he was always fond of riddles," he murmured. "Said no one would find his secrets unless they understood how he thought. He always told me, ’Father, the heart of creation lies where the metal meets the magic.’"

"The heart of creation lies where the metal meets the magic," Damon repeated under his breath. "Sure, very useful and not at all vague." He lifted the mechanical sphere again and examined it carefully.

"Metal and magic," Damon mused, his mind jumping to the basics of crafting, materials and mana circuits, things he had no idea about.

In his previous life, he had spent all his time researching and learning about vampires and trying to find out hidden clues about the legendary item of the vampire race. He had absolutely ignored all of the professions and only paid a little attention to alchemy.

Now that he thought about it, this sort of mech tech was not really popular in his last life. Sure, some players chose engineering as their profession skill and their secondary class. They had tried their hands at it but nothing came out of it.

Engineering was also one of the more pricier professions and had even bankrupted many so much so that some straight up rage quit the game and left.

Damon stared at the sphere for a good ten minutes. "Yup, my only option is to brute force the shit out of this." He narrowed his eyes at the mechanical ball, rolling it around in his palm.

"Well, let’s see how you tick," he muttered. Then without any hesitation, he channeled a hefty pulse of mana directly into the sphere, fully expecting some hidden mechanism to click or maybe a small panel to slide open.

Instead, the thing gave a high-pitched whine, brightened to a piercing white, and then, BOOM!

It exploded right in his face.

Reflexes faster than thought, Damon threw up a mana barrier, the explosion bouncing off his shield like rain on a windowpane. Even so, his hair was left smoking, and his eyebrows were singed at the tips.

"What the hell?!" he sputtered.

The old man barreled in from the back room, eyes blazing. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON’S TOYS?!" he bellowed, voice hoarse with rage. His wrinkled hands trembled with anger. "GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Damon had no choice but to bolt for the door, dodging a surprisingly swift swipe from the old man’s cane. The city had clearly forgotten all about how he was the city hero and Damon knew better than to argue or reason with a drunkard.

Once outside, he leaned against a cracked wall, wiping a hand across his scorched face. He waited there, hidden in a shadowed alley, until the old man’s drunken rants and cries faded. Minutes turned to an hour as the old man’s voice cracked, his energy spent.

Damon heard a heavy thud, probably the old man collapsing onto his bed, exhausted. Damon waited a minute longer, then quietly slipped back inside.

He searched every inch of the tiny house, every loose board and hidden corner. Nothing. No trapdoors, no hidden notes, not even a scribble on the walls. Just broken memories and too many empty bottles.

With a frustrated sigh, Damon left the house behind. "The heart of creation lies where the metal meets the magic, huh," he mumbled, recalling the old man’s words. "Could be anywhere in these godsforsaken mountains." It looked like he had a busy day ahead of him.

Damon hated these types of quests the most. He had spent many weeks and even months in his last life following dead end quests like this.

Combing through a city was not really a big deal but combing through the whole wilderness in the biting cold was going to be a pain in the ass. At least his ice affinity resistance was better these days which would make the process slightly less annoying.

Damon decided to first walk around the city and get a better idea about engineers in the region. Maybe one of them might give him another clue. His reputation helped and everyone was happy to answer his questions. The only problem was that none of the answers were useful.

"Engineers? Why would any of those mad fellas come all the way out here to Trendelan?"

"What do you mean Engineers? Are you looking for alchemists maybe?"

"Son, I’ve been pounding steel in this city for over twenty years, and I haven’t seen an engineer worth the name since the old trade guild fell apart." A blacksmith laughed.

"Trade guild?" Damon’s ears perked up. "What happened to them?"

The blacksmith’s smile faded. "Most of them either left for the capital or gave up. Too expensive, too complicated. Trendelan’s not exactly the place for high-tech tinkerers. We’re all about hammer, anvil, and a decent mug of ale here."

Damon nodded, filing that away. "Anyone still around who might know something?"

"Hmm..." The blacksmith scratched his beard thoughtfully. "Sorry hero. You are really looking in the wrong place. You should take the teleportation portal and visit Grenthalin city. The famous mad Tinkerer Malakai resides there. But be careful, that man usually keeps blowing up parts of the city in the name of research."

Damon nodded. It was useful information but he doubted if it would help him in this particular quest. Also, he too was aware of the mad master Malakai. That man would probably not be helpful in the least.

Damon thought about it for a while. A tinkerer related quest in a city with almost no tinkerers. This quest would probably be a dead end or extreme time sink for most players but he already had another clue with him.

It looked like it was time for him to collect from the Ice Queen!

The Ice Queen had some sort of quest related to a space ship and he had a quest related to a missing tinkerer. Considering both of these were in the same territory, what were the chances that the two of them were related?

"Should be 100%!" Damon felt confident. A quest that led to something important like a spaceship probably had more than one breadcrumbs leading to it. He must have caught onto the second quest thread leading to the same end point.

"Guess it’s time to pay the Ice Queen a visit. She owes me more than one favor anyway."

Damon checked the time and it would be a while before the rest of them could actually log in. He decided to spend the rest of the time doing something useful like grinding ice affinity beasts in the area.

Every little bit helped when it came to getting past that sixth break point in the black pool. While this little side quest was important, his main priority was still the legacy or whatever it was that waited for him at the bottom of those abyssal waters. He did not want to waste his time.

Damon dashed out of the city borders and did not bother holding back this time. There was no one around and there was no need to hide.

He ran across the snowy terrain at full speed towards the first lifeform he sensed. A level 55 arctic fox walking back to its den.

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