Chapter 1344: Magnificent Offer...?
---Mount Agra---
Strolling around Agra after their meal, Seth found that Cormac Payle's presence in Agra had become unmistakable. The man was living out his dream of making automatons, and the city was full of them, acting as servants, security, or servers in shops and restaurants.
While the Spirit Blacksmith had only focused on golems as high-performance soldiers to protect the Tree Stations in times of a crisis, the Chosen of Hephaestus had expanded on what his automatons were used for, not unlike the god he was blessed by.
The presence of all these de facto robots made Agra look almost futuristic, although the blacksmith didn't quite know whether this was utopian or dystopian. He found that the range of activity and intelligence of the golems was quite broad, making him a little envious, as he was only able to learn the ordinary ego circuit of Hephaestus, while his chosen got the advanced stuff.
On the other hand, Seth's golems were able to develop an ego on their own, thanks to the souls he used, or start off with the ego of the soul... Which came with its own problems, but it was still advantageous.
After strolling around the city and sightseeing a little, Seth and Tatzel turned toward the sacred mountain, where Nas'Korn's shrine was located. Things had changed a little with Agra's growth, and not everyone could simply walk up to the mountain to enter the main shrine anymore.
Seth was sure nobody would stop him when he identified himself as the Tower master of Minas Mar, but he was actually asked to wait. At least they brought him and the little one to a cozy room with cookies and beverages.
“Tower Master! It's really you. I'm really sorry to make you wait,” Taurio, the Chosen of Nas'Korn, greeted him. The man he had met as a tired mess all the way back when Agra needed their help had become quite the picture.
The buff young man wore a well-fitted suit that barely contained his muscles. He wore it with an open collar. Tanned by the mountain sun, he also had a healthy complexion that made him look moderately handsome. However, the combination of both made him look like a low-ranking gangster from a third-grade TV show. It didn't fit him at all.
“Taurio, just the man I wanted to meet. No need to apologize,” he said after some hesitation, as he was not sure how to react to the man's new “style”. Ultimately he decided to try and ignore it.