Blacksmith vs. the System

To my surprise, even as I started cutting large swathes through the lizard army with my ranged blade attacks, there were none of the light attacks to block my external skills. It seemed that my fake shield trick had worked even better than I had expected.

The first boss to catch up with me was a flying one, its humongous body enough to cut down the light of the dawn, replacing it with the red color of its flames. Flames that bounced ineffectively off my armor, once again proving the benefits of the correct armament.

Two swings of my blade were all it took to cut its wings off, letting it fall down like a brick.

[-3150 Mana]

[-3150 Mana]

On top of it, four soldiers attacked, which didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. Only one of them was wearing their restrictive armor, the other three had already turned into some kind of hybrid monster with misshapen wings that didn't seem to give them the ability to fly.

However, they didn't need to, not with the speed at which they closed the distance, their bestial cries indistinguishable from the other monsters.

Knowing I needed to rely on my armor, I switched to my hammer, the head once again glowing with the full might of my reserves. Just as it swung its mutated claw, I brought down my hammer, exchanging blows.

[-3150 Mana]

It was not a fair exchange, as all I received was a bump on my modified armor, while it evaporated completely, bypassing its ability to recover.

[Level 63 -> 64]

[+5 Vitality, +4 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Essence, +3 Wisdom]

The notifications, declaring a level-up, were just confirmation that they deserved to be treated as animals, their mutation enough not to count them as people anymore even by the System.

"Pull back!" the armored figure shouted, but the other two were too far gone to register it, attacking like rabid animals.

And, they were put down as such.

[Level 64 -> 65]

[+5 Vitality, +4 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Essence, +3 Wisdom]

Power spread through my body, but I didn't have the time to enjoy it, nor the speed I leveled up by hunting the transformed variants. Not when the flying lizard had already regrown its wings enough to liftoff, still under the control of the last soldier.

Instead, I raised my left hand, and focused on one concept I was extremely familiar with.

Decay.

[-1400 Mana]

The burst of mana was not as focused as I had wished, but it was enough to corrode the armor in parts, far stronger than my attempts during the previous battle. And, with its armor damaged, so too was its protection. The transformation hit him, and along with it, rage.

The flying boss stayed still for a second, which was all I needed to behead then bisect it, taking it down in seconds.

With my performance, I expected the enemy to retreat and regroup. Instead, the whole army moved toward me, ignoring the defenses behind. The temptation to fight them was there … but before I could make a decision, fear hit me.

I froze for a second, glad that the shells were raining on the army to keep them from swarming me. The fear was familiar, the same one I had felt whenever I tried to fly.

Thomas was in battle.

However, things weren't all bad. The previous time I dealt with him, I wasn't even level fifty, and right now, I was level sixty-five, and the oppressive sensation it triggered was quite different. It was still enough to ruin my focus. In conjunction with an external skill blocker, it might have been truly devastating.

Yet, they didn't use it, and I trusted my Spear of Storms to carry me back. At the same time, my gaze searched for Thomas, and saw him almost a mile away, on top of another flying boss.

I couldn't help but feel impressed by the range at which Charisma could be utilized, while also understanding why we didn't have to fight against it before. He was too cowardly to take the front line.

Things would have been very different if he had not. As I retreated, I sent several attacks, but another blue shield appeared around him, far stronger than the shield he had used for his own army, deflecting them.

Not a surprise.

I had some ideas that could be used against such a shield, but experimenting with them required time, which I lacked. Using decay was easy, and I had a feeling trying to use fire attacks would be relatively smooth as well, but that was once again due to my familiarity with the concept, both from my forge, and all the materials that had been sourced from the lizards.
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Instead, I retreated to the three-mile mark, every step closer to my dungeon allowing my mana to refill faster.

The lizard army moved forward as well, but the artificial fear didn't repeat itself, showing that Thomas chose to stay back.

The mana shield over the army had been replenished a few seconds later, but I went forth and shattered it again. In response, the lizard army spread, attacking our defenses from all directions.

I was tempted to retreat, but I was afraid of the consequences, should Thomas come too close to our defenses. Instead, I stayed ahead, letting the monsters surround me. Behind me, I saw a boss monster fall without a reason — a visible one — showing that Rosie was putting her new blades to good use.

I focused on the boss monsters as well. As my level went up, their effectiveness had dropped significantly. Luckily, Thomas was kind enough to bring a lot of them. They fell by the dozens, creating chaos around them.

[Level 65 -> 66]

[+5 Vitality, +4 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Essence, +3 Wisdom]

[Level 66 -> 67]

[+5 Vitality, +4 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Essence, +3 Wisdom]

However, while the boss monsters repeatedly fell around me, there were no mutated men to accompany them, which meant they were somewhere else. So, I did my best to fight with one eye on the camp, ready to return or open a portal in case of a disaster —

Only to feel an intense pain, one that was enough to make me feel like I was about to spit out blood, yet for some reason, there was no effect on my Health. Nor was there any physical reaction, I realized. I swung my blade again, taking down another boss monster.

It was as if I was injured, yet I was not at the same time. I prepared to ignore it—

Another stab. This time, I caught it better. It was a sharp, visceral sensation, like I was being stabbed by a blade of fire —

Repeatedly, it seemed.

I did my best to ignore the pain, assuming it was some kind of pain spell to keep me distracted. Instead, I killed another boss monster.

[-3200 Mana]

Only to meet another, a less welcome surprise. My mana was being replenished slower than I had expected. Much slower. This close to the dungeon gate, it should have taken a fraction of a second to replenish, yet it took almost two seconds.

Not a devastating problem on its own. The boss monsters Thomas was throwing my way might have turned into a siege if all targeted me, but split between me and the defenses, it was possible to be replenished.

Yet, I felt another stabbing, and the speed at which I was recovering mana slowed down even more. This time, I could discern the location of the attack. It was where my connection with the dungeon lay.

Or, according to the more common way the others called it: my soul.

It was not good news, especially with the effect of slowing down my mana regeneration. Soon, my mana reserves slowed its recovery even more, and stopped.

Whatever it was that was going on, it was ruining my chances of recovering my mana.

It could have been a very devastating strategic blunder. Luckily, at this point, the tainted energy cloud had already turned into a thick cloud around me as an army of lizards fell, giving me a chance to recover.

I activated my Meditation for a second, expecting it to stop the moment it hit its limit. Every other time I used my meditation, it worked that way.

This time, it did not. Instead, it flowed back into the dungeon, just like how it did when I had been helping the dungeon to recover its reserves. My eyes widened even as I created a cloud of mana, one that was a mixture of decay and fire. Perfect for hiding me from view.

Then, despite it being a terrible idea on the battlefield, I needed to close my eyes for a second and focus inward.

I had no other choice. I needed to understand what was going on!