dirk_grey

Blacksmith vs. the System 56

Once I had returned to the fourth floor, the first thing I did was add another layer of trees and kill every beast surrounding the forge. The existence of lure potions scared me. All it would take was for someone to throw one into the center, and my forge would be ruined.

The monsters didn’t even have to attack directly. Just the existence of giant insects, stampeding wildly, would be enough to ruin my work.

While I doubted that another layer of trees would help, there was no ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 55

While I was asked to stay in the dungeon, I didn’t have command over the guards. However, I also went to a secret meeting with Eleanor after the crisis. She left in a hurry and I stayed back. It meant the guards had no idea exactly where I stood.

Thomas running after a confrontation with me complicated things further.

It was a problem because they didn’t know what they were supposed to do if I gave them an order. Of course, in a fair world, it wouldn’t matter, but life was...

Blacksmith vs. the System 54

“Follow me,” Eleanor said, and we started moving toward the gate.

“What should we do about the body? It belongs to the attacker,” I said.

“Anything incriminating?” she asked.

“Nothing except this,” I said as I showed her the bottle, not trying to hide it.

She frowned even as she opened her hand. “A lure potion,” she said even as she examined it, then put it in her pocket. The pieces of glass were taken by the guard. “Follow me,” she repeated...

Blacksmith vs. the System 53

I barely came up with a reasonable method of action once I was done dealing with the swarm, which took more than strictly necessary as I continued to rip their broken shells even as I dealt with the last few monsters.

Technically, that part was not necessary to sell my story, but I didn’t want to waste the opportunity to bring a lot of forging material back to the guild. While I didn’t need them for my experiments anymore with my new setup, there was no harm in having them.

I...

Blacksmith vs. the System 52

I watched silently as the group shuffled about. “How should we split?” one of them asked.

“Call me leader, you arrogant swine,” the leader responded, which gave me a clue about the state of their group. They had not been together for a long time. “Just for that, you have to go and find him alone.”

“You can’t be serious. You think you’re my owner just because you got hired a day before us?”

“I’m the only one that has an Epic skill,” the leader dec...

Blacksmith vs. the System 51

I had a large smile on my face, flipping and playing around with a coin in hand, using Observe to examine it. There wasn’t anything other than perfectly aligned microstructures inside the metal, surrounded by a complicated enchantment I couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

However, this time, my aim wasn’t to solve anything. I just wanted to push Observe to its limit, to get a better understanding of what was going on. It had been easy to empower the spear attack and the Fleeting S...

Blacksmith vs. the System 50

“Beautiful,” I repeated as I looked at the forge area, still feeling surprised by the change I was able to achieve in less than four hours. The huge blast furnace was still spitting out fires, but was at its last batch. At the same time, the number of iron shelves I built had reached more than a hundred, though the number and sizes of their sections varied.

Some of them even had iron doors in case I wanted to isolate the samples from the environment. It was a poor substitute for a ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 26-30

— Chapter 26

As much as I wanted to spend the next month reading every book Eleanor had brought and carefully learn everything I could, I knew that it wasn’t the best method to go forward. Improving my skills as far as possible by creating mana alloys was the far superior option.

The amount of information skills contained was incredible, and the perks were even more fascinating.

So, I restricted myself to reading material science articles that were relevant to my objec...

Immortal Freeloader 144

I watched from the shadows as a seventy-year-old man silently surpassed the Connate Realm, his body transforming with the assistance of the Forest Essence I had created.

He was not the first one. He was not even one of the first thousand.

No, currently, he was one of the eleven thousand Blood Essence realm martial artists, spread between almost a hundred different enclaves.

It had been a month since I had recruited the first disciple, and the mysterious nameless sect that...

Immortal Freeloader 143

The idea of turning Forest Dance into one of the ancient martial arts as an experiment was tempting for multiple reasons. For once, it was already focused on nonlethal force, and I could turn its spiritual conception toward self-defense and pacifism even further.

However, in addition. The other martial arts were designed as a way to fight. Its combination with supporting aspects was auxiliary at best. That had been even true for the Volcano Hammer and Snow Blossom Apothecary techniques...

Immortal Freeloader 142

“Impressive performance,” I said as I looked at two women who had just finished their duel, one pressing against the throat of the other with a broken spear.

It was not an exaggeration. Their essence was not as strong enough as other martial artists, but their talent meant that watching them fight was watching a show that was a mixture of the best points of ballet and boxing, mixed with superhuman acrobatic performance.

“Thank you, sir,” the winner said with a smile, whi...

Blacksmith vs. the System - Royalroad Publishing

Hi, everyone, the story is finally out for the public.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/91908/blacksmith-vs-the-system

Feel free to follow and review it there, as more popularity can help me spend even more time writing, which can only mean more chapters.

Have fun.

Announcement about visuals

Hi everyone,

I'm going through a little copyright dispute about the visuals I had been using for the stories, and as a part of it, I'll have to remove them from my pages for the time being.

The stories will continue as is, and I'll do my best to solve it, or by finding an alternative method for it.

I'll keep you posted about any changes.

Blacksmith vs. the System 49

Setting up my new — and hopefully more permanent — forge took half of my available time. However, it was certainly worth it. Three layers of trees surrounded it to give me a perfect vision of my surroundings.

There was even a small farm where the root plants I discovered had been growing en masse. I hoped to use them to replenish my Health. However, I was yet to eat despite feeling the intense vitality it contained, because I still needed an expert to confirm that it was edible and...

Blacksmith vs. the System 48

Once I absorbed the Quake Hammer skill, I didn’t immediately start using it. Instead, I sat down, legs crossed, like I was about to meditate, my hammer on my lap, processing the new set of information the skill had brought about.

Just like Hammer of Might, Quake Hammer was an offensive skill that relied greatly on the concept of one deadly blow, but it left its user open to retaliation if the attack failed. That, I was familiar with from Hammer of Might. Assuming they would have a si...

Blacksmith vs. the System 47

When the next morning arrived, I moved down the dungeon with a renewed passion, dragging the cart with me at full speed, not even slowing down by anything but the giant monsters. I left the smaller ones behind.

I didn’t even sleep a wink after my revelation, still trying to process the potential implications of the peace field. A naive part of me was telling me to reveal the truth to the public and trust people. Luckily, that part had been battered even before the Calamity, so it was...

Blacksmith vs. the System 46

“Time to return,” I said to myself serenely, and started walking back.

Of course, I knew it was not true acceptance. However, once the heat from the realization was gone, I was able to put it back into the pile of things I would deal with in the future. It was a big disaster, one that could potentially change the world, but it wasn’t something I could deal with blindly.

And, the first step was to confirm that it was actually the situation. Admittedly, studying it wouldn’...

Blacksmith vs. the System 45

As I followed Eleanor, I did my best to ignore the giant question about having something called calming field over every single town. I failed. Somehow, it nauseated me worse than that horrible flight experience.

I tried to ignore it, but failed. Something was bubbling inside me. For the first time, I wanted to feel like raging. Worse, now that I knew that there was something to look for, I could feel that anger draining out of me slowly. The weaker my anger got, the smoother the drain...

Blacksmith vs. the System 44

When I returned to the town, enthusiastic about testing the limits of the improved core skills, Eleanor was already waiting for me. This time, she didn’t say anything even before she drew her sword and attacked.

“Good evening to you as well,” I called even as I drew mine and countered her attack, even parrying hard enough to push her back.

“I thought that it’s better to check whether you’re slacking,” she said even as she attacked again. I countered her easily. Thi...

Blacksmith vs. the System 43

Forging a completely new set of gear had been an exciting prospect. Even if the skill didn’t give me a better variant of the anti-corrosive alloy with some silver mixed in, the difference between sixty points and a hundred points was incredible enough to make it worth the effort.

After all, such a radical jump didn’t just bring with it more materials, but completely new techniques to use. Some of those techniques revealed new ways to use Mana to manipulate the underlying material, w...

Blacksmith vs. the System 21-25

— Chapter 21

When I woke up, my body was still aching somewhat, reminding me that using Health from the System to heal wasn’t exactly perfect, or painless.

“I can’t believe I was that reckless,” I muttered, my body reminding me of the cost of trying to use a skill without understanding it fully. It was arrogant of me to self-experiment without properly assessing the situation. I had assumed a mere one point of mana wouldn’t be a problem.

At least, instead of a ...

Immortal Freeloader 141

“ … Try again. The concept behind the spear needs to be as merciless as a volcano exploding, yet as unpredictable as a snowflake dancing in the midst of a blizzard —” I shouted as I deflected the spear with a casual palm strike.

I was planning to continue longer, but I had received a message from my formation. Janassa had just submitted her updated recipe for the Foundation Establishment pill.

I had been initially planning to practice with them more, but letting Janassa ...

Immortal Freeloader 140

As I asked for a volunteer, several hands rose, and I picked one that looked the calmest among them. “Walk forward,” I said even as I invited her right in front of the spiritual pillar. I was as tense as them, as I had a feeling that, a mistake here might have disastrous consequences.

As she stood in front of the pillar, I raised my hand, activating the formation to hide us from the view. I didn’t want any of them to start copying what we were doing.

“I’m ready, sir,�...

Immortal Freeloader 139

“Here are the volunteers, sir,” one of the hidden guards said to me as I stood in one of the hidden training rooms under the palace, looking at a hundred young women, each in the Skin Refinement Realm.

I was once again dressed as my apothecary identity, so their reverent gaze was understandable.

“Are you sure you want to volunteer,” I asked. “This is your last chance to refuse the opportunity. If you accept, you’ll be living in isolation for a long time, and there ar...

Blacksmith vs. the System 42

As I walked through the third floor of the dungeon, I felt even more enthusiastic. I wasn’t able to see Eleanor in the morning, but thankfully, she hadn’t forgotten to drop the maps of the first three floors.

She even marked the doors to the fourth floor — with a note warning me to stay away for my safety — which meant I didn’t need to search the entirety of the huge area. And, that area was truly huge. Almost thirty miles in radius. Combined with the limited visibility, it w...

Blacksmith vs. the System 41

“What are you doing?” Eleanor asked the moment she entered the forge, her gaze immediately locking on the device in my hand.

“I’m trying to find a way to get the shells off the beasts faster,” I said.

The moment I said that her interest faded. “Already trying to make your guild more profitable,” she said, but I could sense a hint of disdain in her tone. I didn’t exactly blame her. Hunters were production classes just like Blacksmiths, but, unlike us, they had a r...

Blacksmith vs. the System 40

An hour after I had passed through the gate, after killing almost five hundred giant insect monsters, and even more smaller insects, I finally stopped pushing forward, and started to retreat. I might not be physically exhausted, but it was not true from a mental perspective.

But, being under constant siege by monsters had grown exhausting despite the relative tedium.

I wondered if it was an ordinary problem, or if it was what happened to a dungeon that had been left unattended f...

Blacksmith vs. the System 39

“And, stay down, ugly bastard,” I said even as I pushed my abomination of a spear through the skin of an even uglier giant insect monster, feeling excited and satisfied at the same time.

After all, I had just brought a skill from nothing to its limit in less than half an hour.

[Swift Spear (Uncommon) 98 -> 100]

[Perk Options — Fleeting Step / Charge]

“I wonder if that’s a record,” I said even as I ripped the shell of the giant monster I had taken down...

Blacksmith vs. the System 38

For the second trip, I didn’t destroy the cart completely. While it was a good way to get some extra iron, it would be suspicious if I brought back every single one with significant damage.

Instead, I spent some time reforging the parts. There were several thick metal bands, which I melted and reforged with a stone core. It was too much effort for something that could be purchased for three copper coins, but the opportunity cost was too critical.

Only after I was finished with...

Blacksmith vs. the System 37

“Wow, they are burning better than I had expected,” I said as I settled a crude crucible on top of the hearth that held the fire, the iron it held had already turned into a white hot liquid, ready to be purified. Nearby, there was an anvil that was cooling down.

I was so happy that I could cheat with mana, as otherwise, I would have had to work hard to set up a proper blast furnace. I still might if I wanted to increase my production rate, but for the moment, this was sufficient. 2024-08-03 04:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post