Blacksmith vs. the System

For the next hour, Rebecca and Terry took turns using their Mana Tend skill in various ways, allowing me to learn it. Naturally, what I had learned was nowhere near the full capabilities of what the skill offered. Each plant type had a different way of growth, which was then complicated further by the objective.

I learned how to copy some of their tricks at best, and even that was only possible due to the combined assistance of Wisdom-enhanced memory as well as the experiments with my own Legendary Nurtu re.

"I think it's time for a test," I said. "Feel free to correct me for any mistakes."

"As you wish, professor," Terry declared.

I touched the seed that was supposed to grow into a reed.

[-25 Mana]

The reed started to grow from its tiny seed, before a blast of rot spread over its surface, and it collapsed into a sludge.

"Well, it's fair to say that was a failure," I said. "Any idea what happened?" Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

Rebecca approached it first, examining it closely. "The decay was too strong, and it overwhelmed the organic material."

"That's probably the fault of my Wisdom, adding some extra power," I commented even as I repeated the same process, amused that, just a day ago, I was trying to find a way to apply Wisdom, and now I was dealing with the opposite problem.

Three more attempts where I increased the amount of mana I was pushing while reducing the conceptual intensity, and I ended up with a reed that was glowing with a strong aura of decay, no worse than the attack of an ordinary insect. "Success," I celebrated.

One that came with an external reward.

[-125 Mana]

[Nurture (Legendary) 53 -> 55]

I stood and examined the result, scratching my chin thoughtfully. "It's a good preliminary result."

"Sir, that's ten times better than our best work," Rebecca commented. "All we need now is to find a way to transfer those properties to the seed, and we can …"

"No, it's only because of the stat advantage," I commented. "The process is still raw. We have created this in less than an hour. Why not spend a few extra minutes and get a better product before we start propagating it.."

"True," Rebecca admitted.

"Any idea how to progress from here?" I asked.

"Maybe we can heal it as we go along?" Terry suggested. "That way, it can get sufficiently strong before letting things go."

"No," Rebecca cut in. "If we go at it that way, the plant will continuously heal the damage it causes, which will significantly reduce the potential. It would have worked for a small garden, but I think the professor needs it for much larger areas."

"That's true," I responded. "It's more important to have them propagate easily rather than being singularly great."

"Maybe we can layer the decay effect slowly before letting it grow fully, and use the seed to raise the next generation," Rebecca replied.

"Some kind of selective breeding. Excellent idea," I said. For a biologist, even with the fastest-growing species, it would have taken years. For us, it took less than ten minutes.

Unfortunately, the results were not as good as we had hoped.

"No, the changes don't translate to the next generation," Terry admitted in frustration after he examined several tenth-generation products. "No matter how we modify it, the seed is identical to the mother plant."

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"Meaning, all the changes we do are at a surface level," I said. "We might need to find a better way. Maybe we can create a stronger variety with cross-breeding before modifying."

Terry frowned. "That complicates things. We don't know what helps a plant to resist the magical rot," he admitted. "It'll take a lot of time."

"That's the way things go sometimes," I said. "Not all projects have immediate results. We have discovered a quick way to maximize Nurture, which is a Legendary skill, with the potential to adapt to other farmers through various tools. And, once we find how to carry those traits generationally, it'll be another amazing breakthrough."

He smiled. "Yeah, I just need to create an experimental setup like you described in your notes —" he started to admit.

"Wait a minute!" Rebecca cut in. We both turned toward her, surprised by her uncharacteristic burst. She blushed. "Is that really necessary?"

"What do you mean?" Terry asked.

"You have something in mind," I stated instead. "Tell me."

She blushed even more under my attention, but still continued. "Can't we just copy the way you handle the giant furnaces," Rebecca asked. "I have watched how they operate. The other workers handle the critical processes, from mining to melting. You use your mana to transform the molten mixture, and the others handle the final shaping."

"True, but with the modifications not transferring —" I started, only to slap my head for missing the obvious. "I can just transform the seeds en masse, and leave the rest to the farmers," I added, realizing what she was going for.

"Well, either that, or we focus on propagating through cuttings, we just need to create another tree that will function well in the deep swamp," she added. "Isn't it faster than trying to find a way to modify the seeds?"

"True," Terry responded, defeated. "I was just too excited about the idea."

"It happens to every scientist," I said. "Sometimes, the excitement of discovering something is too important. But, you don't need to sound that down. You still need to conduct your research."

"I do?" he asked.

"Of course. It's like how I'm still working on how to create a method that could go without my involvement. Removing critical bottlenecks like that is always a good idea."

"Yes. We can start with a plant nursery —"

"Later," I cut him, chuckling at his enthusiasm. "For the moment, we need to focus on the quick solution to see if it can help the dungeon."@@novelbin@@

"So, what do you have in mind to follow up on your great idea?" Terry asked Rebecca.

She shook her head in panic. "It wasn't that great. I'm sure you would have come up with it eventually."

"No, don't sell yourself short," I replied. "Your intervention was necessary. I have a tendency to get lost in complex ideas, and it looks like Terry does as well. There was every chance that we would have focused on solving the complex issue and missed the quicker solution."

That made her blush even worse. "It wasn't that important."

"It was," I said, realizing her lack of self-confidence was something that needed to be addressed gently. Once again, I was glad for Wisdom, helping me to catch the underlying problem that I could have missed just as easily.

If I had that ability back before the Cataclysm, maybe I might have maintained a better research group. Looking back, I wondered how many problems could have been prevented if I was able to catch these types of problems in time.

Not that it mattered at this point, other than helping Rebecca feel more confident. "You have already identified the similarities between my mass-produced production and this. Just continue on that line of thought."

She paused for a long while before she spoke. "What if I'm wrong?" she added in a soft tone.

"There's no harm in that. That's the point of working together. Just like how I missed the most obvious point earlier, you'll make mistakes. The important part is to accept the mistake, pay attention to the result, and do your best to fix it."

"Alright," she admitted. "We first need to test your power on both a tree, and the reeds, to see if there's a better method to grow the plants. Then, once you modify the seed, we can set up a large plant nursery where a team of farmers will work on rotation, using their Health to enhance the growth until they reach a sufficient size, and another team transplants them to the target location," she said.

"A good start," I said.

"A start?" she asked. "Wouldn't it work?"

"It will, but there are many operational details to be handled. Since Terry will be busy with his project of hereditary transference, you have to be responsible for managing the plant nursery. Do you think you can handle it?"

She was hesitant, but she still nodded. "I can," she declared.

Her attempt to sound confident was an abject failure, but I let that slide. "Do you have any ideas about the structure?" I asked.

"Do we have to focus on swamp plants?" she asked.

"Not necessarily. Why?" I replied.

"Even equipped, the fifth floor will be too dangerous for most of the farmers, but the same isn't true for the first floor. That way, the teams can operate without your supervision as well."

I was about to refuse, but then I stopped. Ultimately, the dungeon floors were not truly independent, and strengthening the other floors could have beneficial effects on the fifth floor as well. And, even if it did not, enhancing the monsters' strength would still help improve the power of my not-so-small army.

A beautiful situation all around.

"Excellent idea, but let's focus on the third floor rather than the first. We don't want to make the entrance too dangerous just in case. Now, let's talk specifics," I said.

This time, Rebecca's smile was more honest.