Blacksmith vs. the System

"You\'re lucky that I already installed the metal platforms," I replied even as I used my spear to deal with the fliers, leaving the giant ones to her. "It\'s not fun to drop deep enough to bury you to waist level."

"Oh, can we remove the platforms before we bring Maria here, please," Eleanor begged. "She hates her clothes getting dirty."

"We\'ll see," I said, both amused and heartened by her attitude at the same time. Amused, as it was a good prank. A touch mean, maybe, but not cruel. However, I was heartened by it for a more obvious reason. If there was one thing Eleanor was obsessed about, it was her protectiveness about Maria. Asking for my cooperation to prank Maria was the true proof that she had accepted me as a part of their little group.

I smiled, happy with the development, and not just because of the practical implications. A plight of growing up skipping classes was that having friends of my own age was more of a fantasy than anything else. It was childish to get excited at the prospect of a prank, but it didn\'t make it wrong.

Though, even I had to admit, planning a prank while buried under a monster swarm was a bit excessive.

"So, how do we go around finding a boss monster," she said. "This place is even more of a mess compared to the fourth floor, and I have no doubt that it\'s huge. Even in a newly discovered dungeon like this, finding one would take hours even if we\'re lucky."

"What if we don\'t find one?" I asked, and she looked surprised. "What if they find us?"

"Explain," she said.

"It\'s a trick I discovered, more out of a coincidence than anything," I said. "Keep the monsters busy for a moment."

"Sure," she said and walked closer to me, dealing with any monster that got near. Even as she fought, I could see her proficiency increasing noticeably, showing the benefits of her improved gear. It had many strategic implications, but I ignored them momentarily, instead focusing on repairing my primitive hydroponic farm setup which had been destroyed by the latest gargantuan monster.

Putting back the pieces took far less than creating a new one, and once it was properly repaired, I looked at her. "I\'ll disappear for a second," I said even as I went through the gate, and returned with a huge branch I turned into a sapling.

[-48 Health]

At this point, growing the trees had no impact on my Nurture skill, which was already above two hundred. "Wow, that\'s some rapid growth," she said even as she watched me grow a tree from nothingness in less than a minute. That allowed it to intimidate the insects somewhat, slowing their attacks.

"Really? You think so?" I asked.

"Yeah. I have never seen a farmer actually grow anything that fast, even with the assistance of the mana wards and alchemical fertilizers."

"That\'s because no one really cares about helping them increase their class skill. Even as an external skill, it has quite a bit of value."

"Really, that\'s just Nurture? Nothing else?" she asked.

"Yes," I said even as I cut a branch, turning it into firewood to feed the steam engine. With that started working, the water of the hydroponic farm started to flow properly, which was enough to counter the decay effect on the tree without me constantly healing it.

"Really?" she added.

"Yes," I said. "Well, Epic Nurture, but it\'s still Nurture," I said.

"Epic Nurture. And, you spent all that time to improve that to a usable level —" she started, her tone surprised, but undecided between angry and fascinated. At least, until it died halfway to her buildup. "Wait, you found a way to cheat somehow, right?"

"Cheat is such an ugly word," I said, unable to keep back a chuckle. "Creative innovation was a much better descriptor," I said.

"How?" she asked. I gave her a summary of what I did, skipping a lot of pertinent details relating to the process. Not because I wanted to keep it a secret, but because I didn\'t think Eleanor would care about the ideal centrifuge design, or how the natural corrosive poison interacted with heat. She frowned once I finished explaining.

"Sounds simple, right?" I said even as I finished linking the crusher with the steam engine, pumping the excess mana into the water. With the proper nutrition and mana balance integrated, the time I required to grow trees dropped to mere seconds, their presence sheer and overwhelming.

"Well, yes," she admitted. "It seems like a simple idea. It makes sense that someone else would also discover it."

"There\'s a simple explanation," I said. "The amount of metal I used in that setup, I could have forged a thousand swords easily, and sold every single one of them for at least ten gold."

"And, for ten gold, you can hire a thousand farmers for a day easily," she completed, realizing the scale.

"Exactly. Farmers are the single most common class, and no one cares about their situation. For most city lords, it\'s better to have a pool of employees desperate for work than a small cadre of capable elites."

"Well, that makes sense," she admitted. "You don\'t seem like you agree."

"Yeah, I\'m weird like that," I said, dismissing the topic. As much as I wanted to lash out at her for ignoring the plight of people, I held back. I still didn\'t understand the true source of the cultural shift, but considering that its source was almost certainly supernatural, I didn\'t feel like blaming her.

It was an inevitable fight, but I rather have that discussion with some concrete information under hand. Just as I was thinking about how to change the topic, I noticed the tree leaves trembling. "Be ready. Boss monster will be here in less than a minute."

"Really, are you sure?" she said as she pulled near me.

I nodded even as I switched to my hammer. Its weight felt reassuring in my hand, even as the air grew heavy with the distinct smell of the boss monster, damp and decaying. Beside me, Eleanor tensed, showing the quiet precision of a predator, ready to lash out.

"Join me on top of the boss monster, and focus on the fliers first," I said. Just as she nodded, the gargantuan monster burst into the opening, causing destruction in its wake as it uprooted the trees and crushed the metal container.

However, no matter how big of a terror it was, the moment we arrived on top of it — Eleanor with one smooth Floating Stride, me with several short jumps over other insects — its biggest weapons turned useless.

"Don\'t forget to pass me the shells," I reminded her even as I brought down my hammer, shattering a great portion of the shell.

[-100 Mana]

"Wow, nice hit," she said. "Why didn\'t you use it during the fight?"

"Because we didn\'t need it," I said. "Too early, and we would have alerted them. And, once those … things joined, ballistas were the better option. Sometimes, the best card is one that is yet to be played."

"I don\'t think I could have kept myself back," she said.

"Don\'t sell yourself short. You managed to suppress the temptation to use my sword for a long time."

"I don\'t know what you are about. This is my sword," she responded even as she continued to cut down the fliers. I chuckled, appreciating her presence. With all the advantages I had managed to collect, killing a boss monster was almost completely safe, but considering it took almost an hour, it was boring.

Having someone to chat with was as valuable as her dealing with the constant annoyance of flying insects.

"Feel free to join me," I invited her once the number of flying insects stopped crowding us.

"My pleasure," she said even as she started to add her own slashes. I noted that her vitality attacks were able to penetrate the flesh of the beast more than mine, and the damage it caused lingered more. However, I recognized the dense nature of her vitality, similar to the one provided by my Epic Mana Forge skill. Though, it flew better than I expected.

"Is it an Epic Skill, or a Legendary one?"

She paused for a moment, looking like she wanted to refuse, then answered. "Unfortunately, merely Epic," she answered. "Legendary Skills that fit my particular stat distribution are hard to find," she explained.

"I\'m sure we will be able to figure something out," I responded even as I continued to work on the dull, mottled green carapace. "Feel free to go back to the fourth floor to replenish your Health if you need it, by the way. I can handle it alone."

"That would be excellent," she said as she disappeared, and returned a minute later. When she returned, she attacked with renewed intensity, her attacks cutting the beast hard.

Twice, she had disappeared to replenish her Health, but even with that, it took merely ten minutes for us to take down the boss beast, nowhere near as time-consuming as doing it alone.

When the boss started to topple, I retreated, letting her absorb the energy alone.

"Wow," she said as the glow faded. "That was by far the easiest boss fight I have been a part of. No risk, no hassle. Perfect."

I smiled even as I started repairing the metal. "Production classes can come in handy from time to time."

"True," she said, then smiled back. "Let\'s see if we can take down the next one without letting it destroy everything. I\'ll cut its legs, and you focus on its head. What do you think?"

"Worth the effort," I responded, smiling wide.

I certainly wouldn\'t say no to killing more. Today\'s events had already proven the value of a better range of vision.