Blacksmith vs. the System 76-80

— Chapter 76

When I arrived at the first floor — as usual carrying a huge cart filled with shells to the brim — everything that was required to move to the second floor was already in place. I saw several carts filled with construction materials, escorted by workers, which meant the second-floor encampment could be built even faster.

I didn’t arrange any of them. It must be Harold who handled it all, which was fortunate. I walked further, only to see Harold talking with someone. His posture suggested that whoever he was talking to, wasn’t pleasant.

“What’s going on,” I said even as I approached.

“Sir. We have a representative from the guilds gracing us with their presence,” Harold said, but his distaste was clear.

“Speak,” I said.

“Honorable guild leader. I’m just here to deliver you a letter,” he said as pulled an envelope.

“From whom?” I asked.

“It’s from a few other guilds that are looking to establish a local chapter in the dungeon, sir,” he said as I opened the letter. I didn’t need to fake a frown as I read the long and meandering letter. On the surface, it was just asking for an informal dinner where the guild masters could meet and discuss strategies, to be hosted in the town in a few days.

However, reading between the lines, there was another message, one that was not particularly hidden. It suggested that I keep the dungeon operation light until we could have a meeting.

While there was no other explicit mention of their plans, the intent was obvious. They wanted to establish a small cartel, one that could pressure the town into giving them a higher share of the profits.

“Tell them that I will attend the meeting,” I said. The nameless messenger smirked while Harold frowned. I turned to him. “Start working. We have to start building the outpost on the second floor. The sooner we start, the sooner we can start making a fortune,” I added loudly.

Just like that, their expressions changed. “Sir,” the messenger started, but froze when I looked at him.

“What, do you want me to give up a fortune just because of a letter,” I said. “I’m not here to make a pittance.”

“I’ll deliver that message, sir,” he said before he turned and left.

Harold said nothing as we watched him move away. I could see him tense, and I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t feeling too different. In a more ideal world, I might have actually accepted their offer and maintained a low-key position.

Unfortunately, at this point, my wagon was firmly hitched to Maria’s side. A part of it was I owed them. Not all of their assistance had been intentional, but without their initial help, my life wouldn’t have been so easy.

Though, even ignoring that, supporting Maria was clearly the better option for me. They not only represented my only source of income, but they provided me unrestricted access to the dungeon, one without many uncomfortable questions being thrown around. Those two advantages were the cornerstone of my incredible development, and I wasn’t ready to give them up.

Unfortunately, this meant that we had made some very determined rivals that would benefit from our failure.

“We should reinforce the security, sir,” Harold said.

“Do that. Feel free to invest eighty percent of the profit back to security. And, purchase anything Eleanor is willing to give up based on credit.”

“Isn’t it a bit daring, sir? If anything goes badly, we might lose most of our income.”

“No risk it, no biscuit,” I replied confidently. Admittedly, it was a significant diversion from my earlier attitude, as I was hoping to get a nice egg’s nest in case, but the latest transformation of my skill had changed my mind.

That qualitative improvement meant that, one way or another, I would make money in a way that wouldn’t be ruined by a new dungeon drop. A few extra golds I would be getting from the dungeon had suddenly turned useless.

It was a nostalgic feeling, one that I had lived through before. Back then, it was a trivial algorithm for a dating app that had unexpectedly given me a fortune that had allowed me to focus on my work rather than pandering to every little boring old man who thought themselves to be geniuses just because the university needed their donations.

And, this time, it was the Forge skill that gave me an opportunity for financial independence, the kind that not only allowed me to not have to worry about my personal income, but also research grants.

The irony was that both options — mathematical sociology as a discipline, and Blacksmith class — had been treated as useless options that could never be used to make a living by society.

Sometimes, stubbornness paid off.

I let my mind linger on the other things as I watched Harold organize the operation. The temporary construction workers were already separated into teams, but, to my surprise, only sixty crossbowmen split from the group. I would have expected him to pick more.

I asked about that when Harold walked to me once again. “They are the ones I preliminary picked for the guild, sir.”

“The reason?” I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

“They are the only ones that show the mixture of initiative and the obedience we need,” he said. “I thought it’s better to expand a bit slowly rather than hiring people that would wash out after a few days.”

A good point, but I was curious about his rationale. “And, you know that, how?”

“I was a marine before the Calamity, sir. A sergeant, to be exact. It helps me to see who will stick out and who won’t.”

“A good point,” I said. ”But, it must be hard to see the country you have fought so hard for disappearing into nothingness.”

“Nothing I could do, sir,” he said before he started explaining exactly how he picked up the candidates he had chosen.

The ease with which he had dismissed the value of his service and his country was interesting, mostly because it was a widespread phenomenon. I had tried to study that during my first days, but unfortunately, it was more of a psychological study than a sociological one. During the first days, I had just assumed it was the sheer impossibility of the Cataclysm breaking the old world order irrevocably.

But, now that I had discovered the Peace Field affecting every single town, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was any external reason for people so easily abandoning their old-world allegiance and higher concepts.

And, if there was one, whether it was accidental … or intentional.

I sighed even as I shelved that track of thought as yet another topic that I would look into when I had time. Or, as it exceedingly became likely, if I had time. The number of research topics I wanted to explore was getting more and more bloated.

I missed having doctorate students whom I could throw those low-priority questions at. Maybe I should start looking for a similar arrangement now that I had the necessary resources. Maybe I should pay a visit to one of those research institutes that kept rejecting me and poach a few people. Poaching their best members with excessive payment would have been a fitting payback.

However, as much as I wanted to create a recruitment roadmap that doubled as a revenge plan, I had other things to focus on. Things that might not be as important in the grand scheme of things, but were certainly more urgent.

With the decision made, I focused on questioning Harold about the general direction for his recruitment and the security protocols as we walked toward the gate that connected the first and second floors.

And, I added a few twists of my own.

“Really, sir? Don’t you think large silver murals on every wall are a bit excessive? It would take several tons of silvers at the minimum. It won’t be easy.”

“Showing off wealth helps display confidence,” I said. “Not only do I want silver, but also I want you to cover the inner chambers with gold.”

I could see just how bewildered that request made him. I didn’t blame him, trying to make a dungeon fort pretty in such a gauche way was not a good statement. Unfortunately, the real reason was too important to reveal.

My Observe perk could only be used through metal. Silver and gold were much better than iron. Covering the walls with ugly murals would mean that, with little effort, I could establish an impressive scale of security.

Not to mention, having a near-unlimited source of silver and gold around would certainly be useful at some point.

“That’s enough strategizing,” I said even as I stood at the dungeon gate. “It’s time to fight.”

“Shall I go first, sir,” Harold offered.

I thought about letting him do so in order to see his potential, but I decided against it. In a world where individual combat capability was the most important asset, a leader had to lead from the front to have even the slightest hope of fostering loyalty.

Even if the enemy was a bunch of insect monsters I could swat as easily as mosquitos.

*****

— Chapter 77

“[Nurture (Epic) 109 -> 110]

I sighed as I used another concentrated dose of swamp poison to further push Nurture to a higher level, earning twenty more points in the process. However, that was not the only thing I gained. As the proficiency of my Nurture skill passed one hundred, it experienced a qualitative improvement, allowing me to choose between growth and other options like better fruit yield, stronger structure, and other features.

It was not helpful for the task next in line, which was to create a path of trees toward the possible direction of the fifth floor that would also function as a mining path, but eventually, it would be useful.

There was never any harm in more utility.

My process of exploration was direct. First, I created a huge mining cart, and temporarily added a simple lever so I could use it directly. Ultimately, I wanted to add a steam engine to make it easier to pull, but that could be delayed until it was necessary.

Then, I forged a huge number of railway tracks, which was easier to do once I created a casting system similar to the one I had used for the arrows. The Epic grade Forging skill allowed me to handle it even faster thanks to the increased mana control.

A realization hit me. “I don’t actually need to create trees all along the path, do I?” I said excitedly. All I needed was to bury those tracks under the swamp, which would allow me to find it without creating a giant path of trees that would be visible.

That didn’t mean the effort I had put into Nurture was useless, as I still needed the roots of the trees to solidify the ground under the tracks enough that my tracks wouldn’t simply sink down, not to mention keeping the insects away was a critical step while I used the steam engine when I eventually brought the base to its new location.

Not to mention, considering the number of times I had to go back and forth, running without worrying about monsters would be useful.

However, It also meant that, once that was complete, I could cut the trees to prevent the others from easily discovering my new base. It was particularly important since I had managed to turn the other guilds into a potential enemy when I refused their offer to establish a cartel.

Once preparations were done, I finally started moving away from the dungeon gate, laying a new railroad, with two layers of trees on each side of the path, with Epic Nurture allowing me to raise these trees in seconds.

As I moved deeper, I was also doing two additional things. Every time I laid a track, I checked the ground for iron ore. I had discovered a few deposits with five percent purity, but I just marked them before moving forward instead of excavating them. I was hoping for a higher purity.

At the same time, after every ten rails, I crushed several shells in the separator, then, released the tainted energy, triggering yet another monster swarm. That way, I was able to check the monster density and direction, which allowed me to adjust the route slightly, always going toward the direction where the monsters were the thickest.

As an added benefit, I was able to test my newest spear. It was amazing. Be it Mana or Health attacks, all flowed smoothly, allowing me to kill even the giant insects from a distance with one blow.

“I need to forge a whole set for myself,” I said. I was thinking of not only weapons, but also a thick full-plate armor set that increased my safety factor significantly. “No, two sets,” I added as I realized that I still needed to wear my old armor outside. I could modify the inner layer of the armor, but the outer layer had to stay the same.

I could probably get away with one sword as long as I made it look identical to the looted sword I carried with me.

***

Just like that, I found myself lost in another routine, and a week passed, where I split my attention between exploring the dungeon deeper, forging myself a new set, and repeatedly visiting the first two floors to keep an eye on my growing guild and make some preparations for some unfortunate eventualities.

The exploration part was a modest success. Since the fourth day, I was getting attacked by the flying insects at an increasing frequency, which gave me the hope that I was going in the right direction. Unfortunately, considering my process of exploration required me to constantly lay down rails, it was slower than I’d have preferred.

For that reason, when I discovered a new iron deposit near the railroad I was creating, I created a simple steam engine to move my old base. The move took less than I expected for a simple reason: While I carried the forging equipment and other sensitive items, I left most of the iron behind.

I used that iron to create an underground chamber filled with various weapons, from iron javelins to a sealed iron tunnel with several half-complete traps that required a touch of Mana to be completed. It was a good mixture of an escape tunnel, a safe house, and an underground fortress that I could use defensively.

Having near-unlimited anti-corrosive steel was useful for more than one purpose.

The concept was nice enough that I built another underground base on the third floor, but kept the entrance buried, just in case I had to deal with assassins again.

Of course, while working on all of that, I had constantly visited the outposts, and even started sleeping at the fort on the second floor. At the surface, it looked like overconfidence, as a dungeon could be a dangerous place, but for me, it was much safer than the town, especially since the first version of the guild building was already complete, and I didn’t have an excuse to sleep at the headquarters without raising some problematic questions.

Not to mention, we didn’t have enough people to defend both locations, so prioritizing the dungeon was the obvious decision.

However, what took the most time was forging my new equipment that was based on the new capabilities of my Epic skill. It took a week for me to create a full set of armor, modify the other one that I was wearing outside, and create three weapons. The hammer, in particular, took a lot of time due to it requiring a lot of metal, but considering how important the hammer was to deliver a devastating amount of damage to any insect I might face on the fifth floor that might be armored enough to shrug off my other attacks, I didn’t want to take a risk.

I liked my new weapons. Unfortunately, while that intense session of forging took almost half of my time, it only contributed five points to my Mana Forge skill, which was absolutely glacial compared to my old progress.

On the other hand, my Epic Nurture was growing leaps and bounds. It was already nearing a hundred and ninety, which was significant progress considering its nature as an Epic skill. The poison distillation setup I had was working well enough.

I was already working on the design of a second one, though this time, I would probably integrate a better filtration mechanism, and a more decent centrifuge, aiming for at least ten thousand RPM.

The last thing I did was to practice the Floating Step despite my distaste for flying, as the deeper I went into the dungeon, the more critical my traveling time was getting. Luckily, I had found a workaround when I was working on my metal safe houses. As long as I practiced it in an enclosed space, the Floating Step kept me from flying upward.

It resulted in some very painful collisions, but that pain was much better than actually floating into the sky like a balloon with a snapped string. I was yet to make as much progress as I had wished, but even with limited gains, I was able to make the Fleeting Step faster.

It was worthwhile as the distance I needed to travel across the fourth floor increased more and more.

“Too many things to do —” I started to complain, only to freeze when I met a very welcome view. A sudden, glowing gate, right into my vision.

The fifth floor.

While it was an exciting prospect, I didn’t rush immediately. I started by surrounding the gate with five rings of trees, just in case there was a nasty surprise waiting for me on the fifth floor.

One that followed me.

However, that was not the extent of my preparation. On the railroad, I had been dragging a large cart that was filled with iron tracks. With my tools, turning the remaining iron into some kind of war wagon that was covered with iron spikes was not a difficult task.

I could use that war wagon as cover, a platform to climb on, or even a safe box if necessary.

I pushed the box, and followed in.

*****

— Chapter 78

The moment I stepped on the fifth floor, I was greeted with pain. It wasn’t sourced from an attack — not for the lack of trying, as every inch of me had been surrounded by monsters. Flying insects, giant monsters, armored ones, crowded enough to cut each other’s path.

No, it was the very breath I had taken that had hurt me, burning my lungs like acid.

[-17 Health]

That wasn’t the only source of pain, as the moment I stepped in, I found myself in waist-deep water, and the amount that slipped burning like acid. Luckily, I was prepared for that, and jumped on the metal wagon I had created. That way, not only did I not have to fight buried in waist-deep water, but I was also safe from the underground attacks.

I appreciated it. While the underground attackers weren’t any stronger than the others, their attacks came from a different vector, forcing me to pay attention to them as well. The situation was complicated enough, with my vision dropping to almost three yards.

Things would have been far more complicated if my armor couldn’t just shrug off all the ranged attacks. I danced with my spear in hand, the improved alloy easily piercing even the armored shells thanks to the blue glow sticking around the weapon.

I stayed on top of the wagon, fought with a speed I had never done before as I pushed my Rare skill to the limit, not even finding a moment to grow a plant. The monsters were simply too many in numbers. Maybe I should return to the fourth floor to replenish my Health, to avoid a dangerous situation. It was difficult to count, but I might be killing a dozen monsters every second.

But, before I could make such a move, I was greeted by a very welcome notification.

[Level 40 -> 41]

[+2 Vitality, +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity]

That was enough reward for the first expedition, I decided as I jumped through the gate, returning to the fourth floor, to adjust my plans.

The first thing I did was to open one of the silver containers to consume a dense nutrition bar, replenishing my Health. The fact that the very air of the dungeon was dealing damage to me was not something I had expected.

I couldn’t help but shiver as I imagined what would have happened if my weapons and armor weren't immune to corrosion. Would have they just melted away and left me defenseless against the monster horde, all the while the very air itself burned my body.

Yet, even as I processed all the ways I had gotten close to the dungeon, one thing was clear. The dungeon was not unlike a puzzle, with each level increasing the difficulty, but one that was easily dealt with as long as one learned the appropriate lessons from the earlier floors.

The only problem was that I wasn’t entirely sure I was learning the ‘right’ lessons. Even as my skills improved, which unlocked new, more complicated recipes, every single one of them had been designed for usage by individual warriors. Not even a siege weapon, let alone anything more complicated. Even the carts and other logistic items were not included.

“No time for such pondering,” I spoke aloud, disrupting my own train of thought even as I stood up, ready to prepare for the second invasion. As much as I wanted to return to the base and create a few plans, I needed to confirm a few more details about the fifth floor.

However, first, I needed a mask. Luckily, I had already experimented on the poison while I was trying to isolate it, and knew two things about it. Silver worked well to neutralize it, and so did heat.

Fashioning a breather based on those two principles wasn't too difficult. The silver part was trivial, and even the heat part was not too difficult. I just made sure to heat up the outer layer and add an insulating layer in between.

I made the silver part detachable as well, so, if needed, I could always use my sole magic skill to heat the mask back up. I didn’t see that coming up, but there was no harm in being prepared.

“Now, the tedious part,” I said even as I went back to the fifth floor, once again resisting the pile-up of the monsters. My breathing was once again uncomfortable, but this time, not every breath resulted in a loss of Health, so I chalked it as a success.

So, I stood on top of the war wagon, fighting against a veritable horde, their corpses piling around before they disappeared periodically. They presumably left skills behind, but I didn’t have the time to check the waters for those.

None of them were able to touch me, but that didn’t make their presence any less intimidating. As I fought against them, I started to understand why dungeon breaks were such a dangerous subject even more viscerally.

Alone and wearing the appropriate gear, the insect monsters were not a threat despite their great number. After all, there was a limit to the number of beasts that could attack me at once, and the disparity in equipment and mobility prevented that from turning into a problem.

Yet, I could easily imagine the same amount of beasts overwhelming the defenses of the town with ease. I sighed even as I continued to fight, dealing with the endless swarm I had triggered. Thrice, I needed to return to the fourth floor to rest, and during one of them. I went back to the second floor to check the dungeon hunting.

I was still afraid of a sabotage attempt from the other guilds.

During the third trip, the numbers in the swarm finally started to lessen, but it wasn’t the only pleasant surprise. Another pleasant notification appeared.

[Level 41 -> 42]

[+2 Vitality, +2 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Essence]

“Finally,” I cheered when I killed another beast, only for it not to be replaced by another attacker. At least, not a melee one. The ranged attacks continued to rain over my armor, but they were easy to shrug off.

I could have moved to hunt them, but instead, I returned to the fourth floor brought back a large sapling, and used Nurture to grow it.

[-96 Health]

[Nurture (Epic) 96 -> 97]

Soon, I was looking at another towering tree. The additional notification was welcome. However, the moment I pulled back, the tree started to die, which showed that the same tree wasn’t able to resist the corrosion of this level.

“That’s not good news,” I muttered. Exploring the fifth floor without the assistance of the trees was not acceptable.

Luckily, its degradation was not instant. So, I quickly raised six more trees, surrounding the gate with a nice field, which finally expanded my vision. It was a welcome change, as it meant I wasn’t fully blind.

With the expanded vision, dealing with the ranged attackers was easier. The only problem, I had to periodically cure the trees. The expanded vision was worth the trouble, and the occasional points I received from the skill were well worth it.

Unfortunately, there was no chance that the trees would survive in my absence, which was not acceptable. I needed a more permanent solution.

However, before I started that, I made several quick trips between the fourth and the fifth floor, using the excess iron to create a raised metal platform surrounding the gate, not unlike a pier.

Constantly walking through corrosive mud was not my idea of a good time. Only after I had finished setting up the area, I turned my attention back to the trees. I was tempted to try using Epic Nurture to somehow increase the poison resistance of the trees. I knew that was possible, as some of the farmers had that as a Perk.

But, after helplessly trying that for half an hour, I paused, realizing the obvious pitfall I had fallen into, constraining myself to the System because of convenience.

Why not use a technological solution, one that many startups had been trying to implement on the scale before the Cataclysm.

Hydroponic farming.

I created several huge metal boxes, and filled them with soil from the fourth floor. Then, I set up another steam engine to pump water through silver heated filters, weakening the poison considerably.

The anti-corrosive floor meant that the roots of the tree couldn’t grow just as deep, but that deficiency was easy to deal with using Epic Nurture. Which meant, an hour of effort was enough for me to create ten layers of trees, allowing me to set up a base successfully.

Once that was done, I scooped the skills from the water. Every single one of them was Epic, and none of them was currently usable for me.

I stored them back on the fourth floor before returning to the fifth floor, spending most of my time working on my base. After all, with the way things were, trying to explore the fifth floor was not exactly a time-efficient action.

Especially since I couldn’t simply spread the trees.

However, my plans had been disrupted when the dungeon mist had suddenly split into two.

Revealing a gargantuan insect, charging forward!

*****

— Chapter 79

“God damn it,” I growled even as I threw the work hammer to the side, grabbed my spear, and moved aside. The last thing I expected was to be attacked by a gargantuan monster, tall enough to tower over me in a suffocating manner.

A desperate dash was not exactly the ideal way of measuring, but roughly eyeballing it, I measured it to be somewhere around two hundred yards tall, and about forty yards wide. An absurd size, reminding me of a battleship rather than a land animal.

A beast of that size shouldn’t have been possible without being crushed under its own weight, particularly as an insect … but then, I was in a pocket dimension, using magic to hunt giant corrupted monsters.

It was three years too late to talk about what was possible or reasonable.

I turned my attention to more practical concerns, trying to understand its physical capabilities. It was huge, yet, despite its size, it reacted to my escape with shocking speed, adjusting its charge. Without the Fleeting Step, I would have ended up between its mandibles. I was glad I didn’t have to test the durability of my armor in such a way, not with the way the ordinary anti-corrosive iron from the hydroponic garden snapping under its weight.

I didn’t optimize the metal I used on the garden for durability, but even without it, it would have tanked the attack of an ordinary giant insect with limited damage. Yet, against the gargantuan variant, it wasn’t able to resist the slightest.

Worse, as it drifted closer, the air I breathed gained an acrid quality, like I had forgotten to replace my silver air filter after using it for an hour. And, since that bitter smell got more intense the closer the beast got, it was easy to assume that the beast radiated some kind of intense corrosive aura.

The speed at which the distant trees wilted confirmed my theory.

Dodging didn’t mean my problems were over. As I moved away, I was attacked by the other monsters. The burrower variants burst out of the ground, and the fliers fell down, trying to suffocate me, while the giant ones charged. However, there was something unusual in their approach.

Up until now, during every single encounter I had, the beasts had been attacking me recklessly, always picking the closest path possible with the exclusion of everything else. This time, it was different. The fliers circled around me in confusing patterns, the giant ones attacked in a way that forced me to a certain direction, and the burrowers did their best to block my path as they burst out of the water.

They were showing tactical acumen. It was elementary, but due to the numbers they attacked with, it was still effective. And, as if the situation wasn’t complicated enough, their new tactical awareness meant that they could ignore the fear effect that was spread by the trees. Combined with the rapid destruction of the metal platforms under the mandibles of the gargantuan monster, the defenses I had created for myself were being destroyed with incredible ease.

In response, I drew my sword and released several ranged mana attacks, each attack cutting through several flying bugs before dispersing. As I did that, I jumped on the back of one of the giant monsters, using it as a platform, which prevented the borrowers from tangling with me.

Five ranged attacks were all I could throw out before my Mana drained completely. There, I switched to my spear, one hand slashing with ease. At the same time, I used my feet to roughly crush the mana-dense shells of the slain beasts, using the opportunity to replenish my mana.

Luckily, their tactics were not only elementary, but also rigid. As I jumped between the giant monsters, the attacks of the swarm slowed down, and their movement shuffled in a manner that could be called confused.

The gargantuan one didn’t appreciate it, doing its best to turn to face me.

Luckily, for some reason, the mist around it was gone. It was similar to the effect of the trees in terms of the end result, but the process was clearly the opposite. In practical terms, the trees repulsed the mist, while the gargantuan beast was pulling it toward itself, devouring it, similar to using Meditation in a Mana-dense location.

I circled around it, leveraging its most obvious weakness, which was its turn speed. However, calling it a weakness was a stretch. It rotated remarkably well for a monster that was the size of the warship. Even with my improved Fleeting Step, taking advantage of that required me to stick close to it.

And, the closer I got, the more disgusting the smell started to get, warning me that my filter was reaching its limit.

I couldn’t help but shiver even as I split between circling around the beast and dealing with the swarm, afraid to imagine dealing with the gargantuan beast without my long list of advantages. I stayed away from its attacks even as I focused on thinning the swarm, focusing exclusively on the fliers.

Whenever I filled my reserves, I used Mana attacks to whittle their numbers, or I switched to spear. Reducing the tactical complexity of the situation before I tested the endurance of the titanic insect seemed like a good idea.

However, despite my successful focus on fliers, the swarm showed no change of pattern, suggesting that their new tactical acumen was not only elementary, but also quite rigid. Another welcome change.

Only when the density of fliers reached a point where I could ignore them, I jumped on top of the gargantuan beast. The moment I stepped on its back, my lungs started to ache, its corrosive aura surpassing the limit of my filter.

[-6 Health]

It did not matter. I stabbed its back with the spear, first without covering it with mana. It sank well enough. Unfortunately, the beast was far too large for it to be effective. The sword reacted in a similar manner. Neither result surprised me. I switched to my hammer.

It was time to show it how a Blacksmith fought.

I brought down the hammer, using the mana attack I had designed based on my Quake attacks, depleting all of it in one attack.

[-210 Mana]

A large part of its shell shattered, and for the first time, it let out a sharp sound, one that I recognized as pain. It was good, but the even better part was the burst of mana that spread as I shattered its shell, allowing me to replenish my mana in quick order.

Its mana was far more dense in what I called tainted energy, but my Cleansing Meditation skill allowed me to separate the two efficiently, allowing me to replenish my mana as I delivered another attack … and another.

I had a feeling that the battle against the gargantuan beast was supposed to be an incredibly difficult battle. And, without the gear I had created with my Epic Skill, which allowed me to resist its corrosive aura almost completely, it would have been.

Even the iron I tagged as anti-corrosive proved to be only corrosion resistant, the broken remains of the platforms darkening and rusting at a shocking speed. Instead, it turned into a steady, almost tedious, process, not unlike another forging session. My hammer landed again and again, using its mana against itself.

Its shell recovered from the damage, but not at the same speed I could damage it, slowly weakening under my attack.

Yet, even with all my advantages, an hour after I started, I was still attacking against it. If it wasn’t for the weakening of its corrosive aura as its shell got more and more damaged, I would have to retreat back to the fourth floor to replenish my Health.

Instead, I stayed on top of it, steadily destroying its shell and the flesh underneath, my hammer landing on it again and again … until the beast stopped moving, and burst into a sudden blast of light.

The sudden disappearance of the beast meant I found myself falling down. My limbs clenched in fear as I found myself in free fall, barely able to pay attention to the movement of the light. It gathered into a point, almost like it was about to turn into a skill stone, but when I got near, it turned into light back again, and infused my body.

It was a weird, ephemeral sensation, like there was some kind of connection between me and the land around me. It didn’t last long, but when it faded, it left me with a nice surprise.

My range of vision had just doubled.

“So, it makes the gargantuan beast a dungeon boss,” I said to myself even as I started dealing with the remaining swarm. It wasn’t exactly a big surprise, as the length of the battle, along with all of its abilities, suggested that to be the case.

But, confirmation was always welcome.

I went back to the fourth floor, as I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Not to mention, I needed to replenish my Health.

When I arrived on the fourth floor, I was greeted by a very welcome surprise. My vision range wasn’t increased by three more yards as I had feared but directly doubled. Excited, I returned to the earlier floors, and realized that the same pattern held true.

I gulped, realizing its importance. An expanded range of vision would be useful while exploring the fourth and fifth floors, but it wasn’t what excited me the most.

No, that honor went to the tactical flexibility provided by the ability to see more than the other people in the dungeon. It would solve my biggest fear, which was to be ambushed.

Maybe I should see if I could tempt the attacks from more dungeon bosses before I went back.

*****

— Chapter 80

In the end, I was able to kill three more gargantuan beasts before exhaustion won over me.

To my surprise, finding them had been the easy part. All I needed to do was to grow a lot of trees, and once the number had passed a certain point, a gargantuan beast attacked. While the reason for their hatred was a mystery — the disruption of the mist was my best guess — the effect was not disputable.

It helped me to draw them closer, and my vision expanded significantly in the process.

As I absorbed the resulting light, my vision increased even further. Session one added three more yards to my vision, the third one added almost four, and the last one added slightly more than five, which was more than I had expected.

Compared to that, the excitement from another level up, bringing me to level forty-three, faded in importance.

Initially, even my most optimistic assumption was for it to turn into some kind of additive effect, with each boss monster expanding adding some more to my view, while the more realistic assumption was for its effect to lessen with each consumption.

The quasi-exponential growth it was displaying was certainly welcome.

I was tempted to hunt a couple more, but my need for a nice, long sleep proved to be more important. I was exhausted.

Walking around in the dungeon with a significantly expanded range of vision felt amazing. Even with my skills and armor ensuring my safety, walking around blindly in a monster-filled pocket dimension was not a comfortable feeling.

Especially since I had already dealt with two assassination attempts.

Once I reached the second floor, my range of vision barely surpassed two hundred yards, which was an incredible benefit against any potential assassins. And, that advantage would expand even more as I continued to hunt for the gargantuan beasts.

With every day, the dungeon was starting to feel like home.

Once I reached the outpost, I decided to check the immediate surrounding area, making sure to stay outside the view of the hunter teams, watching the way they operated. I had checked their operation many times, but the benefit of distant observation was valuable.

I immediately caught two problems. The new recruits who had classes other than farmers were bullying the farmers. It wasn’t anything too extreme, mostly slurs, mixed with occasional pushes and shoves, but I decided to nip that in the bud.

I might lack the power to fix that anywhere else, but I wouldn’t allow that to happen in my own guild.

The second thing I noted was several farmer teams, doing their best to steal some of the shells, embezzling from my profit. That, I decided to ignore. It was not ideal, but there was a limit on how much I could pay them before my actions started to be treated as not just stupidly generous, but actually suspicious.

And, I had too many secrets to handle such a suspicion. Letting them steal a few was a good idea. Maybe I should ask Harold to create a semi-official channel so that they weren’t ripped too badly by the other guild members.

Harold was not in the base, so after a quick walk in the base, I returned to my room. “Let’s see,” I muttered even as I put my hand on one of the silver murals that covered my walls, using my Advanced Observe Perk to check every place that was connected to it, checking the existence of various metal seals I had created.

It was not paranoia when I had multiple enemies, with one of them already showing a willingness to kill me.

Then, I moved to the next stage, which was sealing the room. Locks, even the intricate ones that could have been used as a bank vault, were not secure in a world with both Dexterity and Perception. However, as a blacksmith, I had a much easier trick. I welded the door shut.

It was not impossible to breach the reinforced door, but it was impossible to do so without alerting me.

Only after that, I laid down, not removing my armor. Sleeping in armor was not comfortable, even with Health to resolve the worst of my stiff body, but it was another sacrifice I had made for my security. I closed my eyes, letting sleep claim me, my overactive mind replaced by restless dreams that were impossible to remember.

However, even that restless sleep proved to be a luxury, when I had been woken up by the insistent ringing of a bell.

”What’s going on?” I asked.

“L-lady Eleanor is here for an urgent meeting, sir,” the unlucky member said.

“Really, what a bad timing,” I grumbled in frustration. “Just as I was trying to sleep,” I added, and caught a surprised expression, one that he schooled immediately.

“Spill,” I said.

He looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know what you mean, sir,” he said, looking panicked.

“No, you clearly wanted to say something. Speak,” I ordered.

“I … It’s just that I didn’t see you work in your chambers for so long, sir. Ordinarily, you leave the paperwork to Sir Harold.”

It felt weird, before I remembered to ask an important fact. “How long have I been in my room?” I asked.

“About two days, sir,” he said.

“Working on new tactics is time consuming,” I said, throwing out a simple excuse for the situation, one that might not have been entirely believable, but hierarchy had its benefits. People not bothering to ask questions was one of them.

I said nothing else as he led me outside, where Eleanor had been waiting for me. Her expression, more enthusiastic than anything else, suggested that she was here for a spar more than anything.

Luckily, it had been more than ten days since I had received the skill from her, so there was no harm in showing my great progress. Whether to reveal the full extent of it was a different question, which I would decide based on her reaction.

“Follow me,” she said, her impatience clear. From anyone else, that dismissive attitude would have been a grave insult, but I knew that she was obsessed with the art of the sword as much as I was obsessed with my studies, so I understood her frustration.

I would have been equally irritable if I had been distracted by a week of non-stop meetings in the middle of my studies.

I managed to keep my desire to tease her suppressed until we left the outpost behind, knowing that teasing her in front of the guild member would affect the authority we had been reflecting. It had been a fact I had dealt with for a long time.

“So, how was your week,” I asked even as we moved deeper into the dungeon. She groaned in frustration. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

“No, it’s worse,” she said, making a face. “Now that we’re making some money, there’s a lot of purchases that need to be done. More siege weapons, construction material for the town, new skills…”

“Sorry about that. I know it’s all my fault —” I teased her, which she interrupted by throwing a rock at me.

“Don’t be a smartass, or I’ll bring you with me next time.”

I chucked. “Hey, it’s not like I had a better time,” I said. “I spent most of my time forging the arrowheads, which left time for nothing else.”

“Really?” she said, but I could see her disappointment.

However, her disappointment only made me amused. I chuckled even as I drew my sword and attacked her. She drew hers to parry mine, which launched a short yet intense duel where she stayed defensive, letting me show my abilities.

“Impressive,” she said as she shifted from the defense to offense, and I found myself defending, while her attacks escalated more and more, her frown turning into a big smile.

I didn’t hold back, but I didn’t push myself to my full capacity either, and just relied on the sword skill.

A reasonable time had passed since I had received the skill, and even if she had realized that I had reached the limit of the Rare skill she had gifted to me, I could explain it. She already believed that I was some kind of sword genius, and even if she found that unconvincing, I could reveal the existence of the composite swords I designed to make the attacks more reliable.

“Not bad. You have worked hard,” she said even as she started putting in an actual effort. She was nowhere near the real limit of her skill, but it was an actual challenge. In a way, the situation was very similar to the chess games I played with Maria.

I had no chance of victory — as long as we relied on swords only — but unlike Maria, Eleanor didn’t enjoy a one-sided beatdown. Instead, she limited herself in certain ways to make our sparring an actual challenge.

However, just as we fought, I noticed something distressing. Two people, both dressed in black cloaks, approached us silently, paying more attention to the ground than their surroundings. Interestingly, the monsters around them ignored their presence, which I suspected to have something to do with the subtle blue glow surrounding them.

And, once they were about a hundred yards away from us, they stopped, waiting for something. My guess was that they were waiting for us to speak and confirm our identities.

It was not good news. I realized that, without exploring the fifth floor and killing the boss monsters, there was no chance for me to notice them. It was that confidence that made them act like that. “Try not to overemphasize the defenses of your extremities,” Eleanor said even as she attacked from below.

“I don’t want to lose a leg,” I said while I defended and retreated at the same time, but my focus was on the unexpected presence of the two. The moment Eleanor and I spoke, confirming our identities through the mist, they started moving back.

Leaving me with a decision to make.