Blacksmith vs. the System 32 (Patreon)

Eleanor arrived as I was in the middle of another fight. She walked toward me rather than running, but I could see her freeze for a moment even as I fought against the monster, throwing it around easily.

It was hard to pinpoint the skill level without some direct tests, but a rough guess was far easier. Even a conservative estimate would put that over thirties. I said nothing as she approached, stabbing the monster through its mouth after a fight that lasted about half a minute.

“Wow, incredible performance,” she said. I was surprised, not by her words, but her smile. It was the first time I saw her lips stretching that much. “How did you pull that off?”

I smiled, curious if I could leverage it for another advantage, but in the end, I decided to stick to the familiar excuse. While revealing what was possibly a secret rankled me, I was almost certain that it was common knowledge for people at her level.

There was no way the whole world had missed something that straightforward for three years. “A little luck, a little skill,” I replied.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I’m sure you noticed that a skill improves faster if someone has been more competent if they were familiar with the subject,” I said.

“Of course,” she said as she shifted her stance. “You can’t believe how glad I am for picking fencing as a hobby even before the Cataclysm,” she said, her sword shifting to a familiar stance, yet lacking the smoothness of a skill.

It might be the first real personal information I had from her.

“Exactly, that’s the part of the reason I improved quickly,” I said.

“Really, you did fencing as well?” she said.

“No, but I had visited my fair share of renaissance fairs, jousting and playing fake knight,” I said. She frowned, clearly not finding it reasonable. Not a problem, as that was just there for a later stage, when others failed to copy. “Though, the real benefit had been forging,” I said.

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking confused.

“Swinging a hammer for three years taught me a lot about how to swing heavy objects the best way, especially with my Hammer of Might as a template,” I said even as I used a shield attack. It was an aggressive downward swing, one that was most similar to the movement of a hammer.

“I see, clever,” she said, but I could see her smile fading to a look of boredom. She was not really interested in it. Understandable, as what I had revealed would only be effective for beginning. Three years ago, it would have been extremely valuable, but currently, there were easier ways to increase skills.

Like finding a dungeon that fitted well with the skill before starting to kill, like the insect monsters and the hammer skill.

“Of course, I still managed to raise it to forty-five. Even with the similarities, it should mean that I have a talent for the sword,” I added, curious whether it would make her interested. Her earlier reaction convinced me that it was a safe move.

“Forty-five, in eight hours? Impressive,” she said even as she raised her sword. “Let’s see how good you are. Defend yourself.”

With that, she dashed forward. She was faster than I had expected, but not enough to keep me from pulling down my shield to parry her attack. I drew my sword as well, defending myself under her repeated attacks, getting faster and faster.

I didn’t hold back. I couldn’t, not when I had to act reflexively. She started moving faster, her hits getting harder and harder. “You’re relying on blocking too much,” she said as she moved her sword faster than I had expected.

If she had been aiming for my neck, it would have killed me. Health was useful, but it didn’t cure decapitation. Instead, she aimed for the center of my shield, trying to push me back. She succeeded, and I stumbled back.

“Interesting, you’re better than I had expected,” she muttered, then her eyes widened. “Of course, double Strength. It pairs really well with Stalwart Guard.”

“Probably,” I said. “It’s really good for a blacksmith. With it, I’m confident I can defend myself longer against the next assassination.”

“Good to have confidence, but don’t overestimate yourself, nor underestimate any opponent,” she said even as she attacked again. This time, rather than trying to break my guard, she moved around me. It took three attacks for her to press her sword against my throat.

“Noted,” I said, making a show of gulping in fear. I already knew that she could kill me easily, but showing some fear was not a bad idea if it would make her feel better.

After all, she still controlled my experimental budget.

“Put on your helmet and follow me,” she said. She started walking, and I followed her. “So, did you manage to collect enough for your experiments?”

“Enough for three days, maybe a week if I try to be conservative,” I said.

“Really?” she asked as she looked at the cart, which had been filled with a lot of broken shells.

“I can stretch it further, of course, but it’ll slow down the experiment,” I replied. “Instead of that, why shouldn’t I return tomorrow for another collection.”

“I can’t ferry you with me. I only visit the dungeon once every five days to clean the lower levels to prevent an overrun.”

“You don’t have to. There’s teams moving between the dungeon and the town constantly, right?” I asked.

“Yes, once every four hours,” she said. “It’s mostly to transport the gains.”

“And, would it be suspicious if a guild representative assigned his house while he tested the dungeon? We can even move the forge there,” I said. She looked reluctant. Understandable after the assassination attempt.

Luckily, I had already seen that she wasn’t very happy with Maria spending time with me for some reason. “And, that way, I won’t be living in the same building with Lady Maria. It’s improper,” I said.

“Good point, but I don’t have time to arrange a new residence,” she said. “We’ll say that you’re going to stay as a guest in the main building. I’ll set up a new place before Lady Maria returns.”

“Just make sure that we have an excuse to bring in and out a lot of materials,” I said.

”Don’t be too greedy,” she warned.

“I’m not,” I said. I was being greedy, of course, but it was not a good idea to say it. “But, while the other blacksmiths learn how to repair faster, I might still need to repair swords. If I have a way, your job will be easier,” I said.

“Good point,” she admitted again.

I was tempted to give her some more ideas, but I could see that I had already pushed her to the limit. “If you don’t mind my asking: Why do you have to come here every five days?” I said.

She looked at me, surprised. “You know what a dungeon overrun is,” she said.

“Yes. It’s what happens when a dungeon is left unattended too much, and the gate breaks,” I said.

“It also happens between floors,” she explained. If the bottom floors left to grow, sooner or later, monsters burst out.

“I see. That sounds dangerous,” I said. “But, why don't the guards clean the lower floors? Is it that dangerous?”

“Not particularly,” she said. “It’s just inconvenient.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The second floor is similar to the first, but it has two differences. The vision range is merely forty yards, and there’s a second kind of insect with a ranged attack.”

“Is it deadly?” I asked.

“No. It doesn’t hurt the skin,” said. “However, it damages the weapons and armors significantly. A lot of families tried various combinations, but it’s still unprofitable. The lack of mana makes things too hard,” she said.

My mind already went to the corrosion resistant material I could make based on the Rare recipe. Suddenly, that had turned even more valuable. I decided to keep it a secret.

“How about the other floors?”

“The third one is even worse. The mist is even thicker, and there are occasional giant insects that are even more dangerous.”

“I’m guessing that they are worth more.”

“Yes. They go for a gold, but it doesn’t matter,” she said. “They are not common enough to make their hunting profitable, but still strong enough to kill anyone unprepared. A bad combination.”

“How about the fourth floor?” I asked. “Or are there only three floors?”

“No, there are at least four floors,” she said.

“What do you mean, at least?”

“Because it’s not a desert but a bog, constantly rotting weapons and armor. Even high level weapons would be damaged by it.”

“Really, is there no way to resist?” I asked.

“Not any that makes any financial sense,” she said. “It would have been different if the dungeon granted any rare skill, but it’s not worth it. Rare Nurture would have been useful, but the dungeon is too weak to grant anything above basic in a default state. It’s not worth the effort to get the Rare variant.”

Interesting, I thought. Her words implied that my trick of piling the monsters together was well known trick. That, or they had better methods to do the same. Either way, it didn’t really matter. I decided to ask another question. She was in a good mood after I had displayed my sword skill, and I didn’t want to waste it.

“How about the risk of overrun?” I asked. “What if there are even bigger monsters?”

“Not a risk,” she said. “Even if there are stronger monsters, they would first fill the third and second floors. I would catch them long before they reach the first one,” she explained.

She had just confirmed that no one would go down to the fourth floor because it would be a waste. Not for me, not with my corrosion-immune alloy.

Suddenly, I was glad that I kept my shut about the possibilities.