dirk_grey

Guardian's Farm 1

Anna adjusted the collar of her formal azure robe in an unsuccessful attempt to get comfortable, doing her best to ignore the blue, magical shimmer of the fabric, wishing that she could wear any other color; something that had been refused whenever she had brought up the idea.

As if they were afraid that people would forget that she was a water mage, but apparently, the council meetings deserved nothing but their best.

How people could say that when half of the meetings had devo...

Blacksmith vs. the System 163

When I stepped outside, Harold was already putting the defense in order. ”What’s going on?” I asked.

“The beast wave is on the move, sir,” Harold said, pointing at the distance.

I frowned. “Wait… That doesn’t make sense. I thought they only attacked at night.”

“It should be the case, sir. It’s when they have the advantage, but…”

“They are still moving. They must have a reason for it,” I said, but I didn’t ask Harold another question ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 162

A quick trip to the surface confirmed that things were in order. The core of the defenses was set, with the first set of steam cannons already up and in place, and the first ring of metal walls and retractable ceiling in place, workers busy with the second wave.

In the same vein, the training of the spear corps was going well, a glance enough to confirm that their proficiency was ranging between seventy and ninety under Harold’s lead.

The only true problem was the beast wave, ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 161

After the initial absorption, I let them get familiar with the skill while I created a simple crusher and mana container setup that would allow them to practice alone.

While staying with them to guide every step was tempting, it was also not possible with everything I needed to do. I prepared to explain to them exactly how I had acquired the skill —

Something rebelled inside me.

It was a deep, visceral feeling, hating the idea of giving up such a valuable piece of infor...

Blacksmith vs. the System 160

“So, how do we start?” Terry asked as every single one of them got seated.

“Sorry, I often get distracted while thinking. You’ll have to get used to it,” I said, which was merely a distraction as I stopped myself from looking at Soren. For some reason, he had volunteered despite having an external skill.

After a momentary consideration, I decided to ignore it. If he was an enemy, he had better options. While information leak was a possibility, I was not exactly in a po...

Blacksmith vs. the System 159

“We’re here, sir,” Terry reported, looking less nervous than the others as he took the lead once more.

“Good,” I said as I looked at him, and the rest. “That's all that’s able to improve your farming skills naturally, right?” I asked, as there were ten more than I had expected.

“Yes, sir. Several people managed to upgrade it through hard work as well,” he said. I nodded, even though I was surprised considering my theories about the hidden variable that affect...

Blacksmith vs. the System 158

Once Harold returned to lead the training, I went back into the dungeon, even if only temporarily. The moment I was out of the view of the others, I immediately opened the weakness I had created earlier under the foundation to move down.

The moment I appeared in the mountain, I closed the gate behind me and started digging, holding my breath as I moved down the mountain. Slowly at first, both to not make any noise that would make people suspicious and to use Nurture to grow some underg...

Blacksmith vs. the System 157

After I had finished dealing with the boss monsters, reinforcing the connection between me and the dungeon further, I faced a plethora of options, ranging from trying to improve my new repair variant to going up to have a talk with Harold, each important in their own way.

“Maybe I should take another trip outside, a secret one,” I muttered, remembering the gate I had created in the cave. Using it, I could sneak out for some extra observation. “Or, maybe not,” I added once I foc...

Blacksmith vs. the System 156

“I hope I got to keep my perks,” I said while I summoned my status screen, examining the line despite the pain that was still radiating through my entire body. Even the prospect of receiving more relevant perks wasn’t tempting, not with the number of critical ways I depended on the existence of Observe.

[Reformation of Quintessence (Legendary) - 1

“Good,” I sighed in relief and dismissed the screen to sit down, breathing hard to process the pain. Experimentation could ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 155

I took a deep breath as I stood in front of the forge once more, looking at the damaged spear in frustration. I had tried dozens of times, but using the Decay in conjunction with repair proved to be more difficult than I had hoped, leaving me with another choice. Either abandoning the project altogether or using it in combination with Forge.

“No risk it, no biscuit,” I said and made a quick decision. I would go forward with the experiment.

It was a quick decision, but not a ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 154

Half an hour later, I was looking at a dozen prototypes, each able to launch a thirty-pound mass by a mile. That distance was far from enough, but that was just a part of it.

At the same time, I finished the design of not only the ammunition, but also a mechanism that they could use to imbue them with mana using the crushers. It wasn’t as effective as me doing it directly, but considering I couldn’t be everywhere at once, efficiency tradeoffs were more than acceptable.

Howev...

Blacksmith vs. the System 153

As I opened a portal to the third floor, leaving Harold behind to organize the defenses, a part of me resented the need for it. I had just gotten an inkling of how to utilize Wisdom properly, but instead of experimenting with it, I had to deal with creating a whole new set of weapons.

It wasn’t that I had been considering abandoning them to their fate, but it didn’t prevent the necessity from being annoying.

I never liked being interrupted when I had something to focus on. <...

Blacksmith vs. the System 152

His spine straightened as I asked a practical question about the upcoming beast wave, providing a distraction from the self-incrimination he was dealing with.

“We don’t know much about the beast wave other than the usual, sir. We started suspecting its presence late afternoon, when the number of beasts around the mountain experienced a sudden drop, and the ones we could see started to migrate toward a certain direction. I led a team of scouts exploring, only to see a huge gathering...

Blacksmith vs. the System 151

Watching the guards leave the mountain was a bitter feeling, especially since, even as I watched them disappear, I wasn’t sure whether I did the right thing by letting them go. A part of me wanted to imprison them … and a darker part of me wondered if it would have been better to just kill them and be done with it.

I hated those voices.

But, whether I let them go or kept them back didn’t change the nature of my mistake. I had screwed up big time, and without the looming th...

Blacksmith vs. the System 150

It was already dusk before I could start experimenting again, but I couldn’t say that the day was wasted. One reason was that I had forged myself a set of anti-corrosive armor out of dense mana, a chainmail made of anti-flame metal I could put over my armor; and two sets of weapons, one anti-flame, and one anti-corrosive.

I had considered limiting myself to only one set of anti-flame equipment, but I decided against it after testing the performance of the two pieces of equipment. The...

Blacksmith vs. the System 149

“Incredible work. I’m proud of all of you,” I called as I stood in front of the dungeon gate, making sure my armor caught the light of the dawn perfectly, knowing that it would impress them, particularly after a night of fighting where I had killed more than three hundred thousand monsters single-handedly.

An absurd number that was only possible thanks to the wide area mana attacks.

I could feel even the guards looking at me with renewed reverence, showing that my extended...

Blacksmith vs. the System 148

“Sir,” one of the guards spoke as I walked out without Harold. “Will you be leading us tonight?”

To his credit, he tried to hide his distaste, but even without the new emotional sensitivity granted by my Wisdom, he had no chance to succeed. “No, Harold will return in a few hours. Meanwhile, maintain your usual command. I’ll be exploring the mountain for a while,” I replied and walked forward.

The more I interacted with the guards, the more I was bothered by the men...

Blacksmith vs. the System 147

I thought about visiting the fourth floor to experiment until nightfall, but after a momentary consideration, I decided against it. I didn’t have a realistic path to follow. Instead, I moved to the fourth floor, where my condenser lay, to improve my last remaining skill.

Legendary Nurture.

There were two reasons for this. For once, it would be my first Legendary skill. While my Meditation was leveled even higher, considering the way it changed, it had no real value as a benchm...

Blacksmith vs. the System 146

“I’m spending too much time in swamps, wading through knee-deep water,” I said and took a shallow breath. While my connection with the dungeon had allowed me to push away its corrosive aura and keep myself safe, that did nothing to the ugly feeling of breathing swamp fumes. And it certainly didn’t smell like a rose garden.

Nor did it help the ugly sensation of my feet sinking into the mud, the texture enough to annoy me. The fifth-floor swamp was truly an ugly place. However, a...

Blacksmith vs. the System 145

“I should have collected more skills,” I muttered even as I looked at the notifications from my chosen skill stones, which I hadn’t been able to read properly before my Class Upgrade.

[Skill Stone: Hammer of Avalanche (Epic)]

[Skill Stone: Spear of Storms (Epic)]

[Skill Stone: Blade of Bulwark (Epic)]

[Skill Stone: Nurture (Legendary)]

My first disappointment was that there was no Wisdom-based spellcasting. If there were any, with my stats, they would have...

Blacksmith vs. the System 144

“Well, this is intense,” I muttered as I stepped onto the fifth floor, only to be hit by the presence of ten boss monsters rushing toward me, fully intent on destruction. Based on the dungeon’s speed of production, their numbers should have been lower, but it seemed that there was a benefit to all that extra mana I had been pumping inside.

A good thing to know.

Their combined presence might have been scary before, but, right now, I was more inclined to treat them as an opp...

Blacksmith vs. the System 143

Once I was on the fourth floor, I was ready to experiment once more. And, my first objective was to figure out a way to use mana offensively.

It didn’t look like the most effective strategy at first glance, but I had seen Maria fight. More importantly, with my class suddenly giving me more Essence than Strength, and with enough Wisdom to match Dexterity, I could actually be an effective mage.

One that is more than merely effective even, considering the amount of mana the dunge...

Blacksmith vs. the System 142

When I arrived on the first floor, I was met with a surprise. Not an unpleasant one. Far from it.

I could see fifty people, a combination of farmers and blacksmiths, led by Terry, working around a new workshop, with endless wooden shelves near them, filled with both bows and crossbows and at least a dozen ballistas.

“Someone has been busy in my absence,” I said. Every worker flinched in surprise.

“Sir,” several gasps rose, shocked by my presence. Not that I blame...

Blacksmith vs. the System 141

“Let’s start with something simple,” I said then closed my eyes, doing nothing. The simplest thing was to test the rawest representation of the Stat. For Strength, it was punching things. For Intelligence, it was calculations.

For Wisdom, it was memory.

I closed my eyes, and focused on the moments from the past.

Ever since I was a child, I have been smart in a conventional sense. A part of it was the ease I had with numbers and complicated concepts, but my memory ha...

Blacksmith vs. the System 140

Lost in excitement and fear in equal amounts, the decision to stay near the dungeon until the sun had risen properly to disperse the energy of the night was easy to make. Only after no lizard waves had been triggered despite releasing multiple blasts of tainted energy — both fire and corrosion — I decided to retreat.

“Good work, everyone,” I called. “Be proud of defending your home against the monsters. Tomorrow will be much easier!”

It was a short speech, but it didn�...

Blacksmith vs. the System 139

The wave of fire lizards climbed the mountain as a devastating tide threatened to drown us. The rain of arrows from the crossbows reduced their numbers somewhat, but they were still abundant enough to send tendrils of fear through defenders.

Thousands of lizards climbing the mountain was a scary sight.

I shifted to my sword, which was the best to deal with the enemies like the lizards. I sent multiple slashes, each.

“Don’t worry,” I called while I slashed my blade d...

Blacksmith vs. the System 138

While Harold sent in the next candidate, I turned my attention to the tainted energy, split between four boxes. Even with the several layers of protection, they were still letting out some, which was dispersed by the dungeon gate with great speed, confirming that leaving the boxes alone to slowly evaporate was a valid strategy in small numbers.

Not exactly the greatest method, but a method nonetheless, which was better than doing nothing.

I cracked open one of the boxes, watchin...

Blacksmith vs. the System 137

Once I arrived at the fourth floor, I didn’t start working immediately. Instead, I closed my eyes and observed what was going on at the main dungeon gate, examining the battle.

Harold was back in the mix, leading the team against the hordes. I noted that he was using a spear rather than his sword, which was likely an attempt to hide his most recent skill improvement. I hadn’t asked him to, but I appreciated the initiative nonetheless.

The last thing I needed was for the othe...

Question about the new story

Hello, everyone.

The previous poll I had about whether to have a new story, or focus on one of the older ones had been decisive enough to show the demand for a new story, which aligns with my own preference as well.

Now, the hard part. I have a few stories that I'm excited to write about in equal amounts, so I want to ask for your opinions, at least about which general concepts feel more appealing.

Blacksmith vs. the System 136

After handing him the key to improve his skill rapidly, I left Harold on the first floor and pulled the cart filled with the claws to the third floor, directly toward the production as I had prepared.

“Sir,” the blacksmiths greeted me excitedly, standing in front of the production line for the ingots I had asked them to prepare.

I said nothing as I touched the devices one by one, using Observe to check the production line. “It’s good work, but you missed several spots,�...