Blacksmith vs. the System

"It's fascinating how much can change in a day," I whispered as I watched several different teams operate in the previously barren land of the third floor.

I didn't have the chance to help Rebecca after she was assigned her task once we completed her initial set of experiments, forged the necessary equipment, and approved the assignment of the workforce under her command. It would have been fun, but I had more critical tasks, like actually working on my own skills. With the availability of boss-grade material, I was able to focus on both Reformation and Shaper, gaining quite a few points in both.

[Reformation of Quintessence (Legendary) - 44

Shaper of Quintessence (Legendary) - 57]

And, as an added benefit, it had expanded our reserves of high quality weapons significantly.

I started examining the operation more in detail. The first teams operated steam-powered farming trucks, digging deep holes every ten yards, while following tankers filled them with water, which they brought from outside the dungeon. Together, they had prepared the land for farming, where a third, more crowded team followed with steam carts, each filled with two-foot tall cacti, each radiating an impressive aura of decay. All the while, a fourth team circled around the whole operation, making sure there was no beast swarm causing trouble.

Smart allocation. While every single worker was armed and armored, there was no point risking lives. The last thing we needed was the sudden appearance of a swarm attacking them.

Altogether, there were almost five hundred farmers toiling the land, a dark, sickly green spreading through the previously barren land, a growth that was as beautiful as it was dangerous. Already, I could feel the spread of the concept of decay that surpassed the fourth floor. It had not yet reached the fifth floor's standards, but I could sense that it was not too far off.

Too bad five hundred people were all I could allocate for the operation.

I wished there were more workers to help with our experiment, but the situation didn't allow for it. Outside the dungeon, the relocation efforts were already going on, as well as the construction of six different settlements at the outskirts of the mountain, as well as the web of railroads that connected them — with plans to further connect them through dungeon gates, which increased their security significantly.

It was another project that was progressing well without the slightest intervention from me.

Technically, I could have allocated more, but ultimately, it didn't seem critical to assign such a force to the third floor, not when it was still an experiment.

And, for the fifth floor, we had a different plan. Speaking of it, I changed my direction toward the large building right next to the gate leading to the second floor. It was time to see if the material necessary for my plan was ready.

Covering the distance didn't take long, and soon, I was in the prototype plant nursery, which currently only had one main hall, where Rebecca and sixteen other farmers were working on two plant beds, one large, the other small.

Just as the tools they had used, the metal beds were perfected after working together with Terry and Rebecca for another four hours, creating a workable path for different plants.

For cacti, the best path was for me to imbue a large batch of seeds at once. It didn't result in the strongest plants due to the limitations of the project, but it allowed me to check out the process after imbuing a huge batch.

The rest had been handled in two steps. A small group, under the leadership of Rebecca, focused on growing the cacti to a certain size carefully, and then a second team took over their planting.

It would have been better to do it in one step, but there, we had hit a snag. The number of Farmers that were capable of handling the first step was surprisingly low. Admittedly, it wasn't a surprise, as I had long ago realized that most people weren't capable of selectively ignoring the suggestions from their skills, which was partially about their inherent strength, but mostly about their way of thinking.

It was why we split the operation into many steps, complicating it needlessly.

This time, Rebecca wasn't working with cacti. Instead, she was standing in front of several large, healthy saplings that were taller than a yard, alternating between pushing her mana to it and Meditating.

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"It looks like progress," I said, interrupting her thoughts. She just flinched in surprise, while the other members of the team took a step back, giving a hasty bow in the process. I just nodded at their exaggerated display, knowing that speaking wouldn't help.

"Professor, you're here just in time. I was going to send you a message."

"Good news, I hope," I said. I didn't have any doubt about it, not with the way she had been shivering with excitement.

"Yes, professor," she declared. "I think I have cracked the changes that are needed for mangrove trees," she said as she pointed at the large tree. "Well, pseudo-mangrove is a better name, properly, as I started with a willow tree before modifying it to work better in a swamp."

"Sounds good," I said. "But, I'm guessing that's not the only change you have made, or it wouldn't have worked. What other surprises do you have for me?"

"I decided to go with grafting," she replied. "The main trunk still comes from the modified willow trees, but I had noticed that surgically adding a small sliver from the anti-corrosion to the core significantly strengthens its resistance, so even without enhancing its vitality, it works."

"Sounds interesting. Any problem?"@@novelbin@@

She frowned. "Only that it takes several minutes to prepare each sapling, and it requires Tend to be used at every step. I hope the others can learn, but it's a work in progress."

"Let me test it," I said before dousing one of the saplings with my mana, transforming its nature as we had figured. It started to strongly radiate decay. More importantly, it didn't collapse once I pulled back. "Excellent work," I replied, amused that it was so similar to my own composite work. "Once I confirm that they work as effectively as we hope, I can try crafting some tools to help the others copy the process."

"Until then, I'll focus on creating more saplings, professor," she declared.

"A good idea, but don't neglect improving your abilities in the process. Don't rest on your laurels after one success," I warned her.

"I won't sir," she added proudly. It was good to see her act more confident after her first, admittedly impressive, research project.

As much as I wanted to stay and chat, maybe even figure out the exact details of the grafting process, confirming the validity of the process was more important. I opened a direct gate near the breach, gathered sixty of the saplings, leaving only three behind, and went through the portal.

And, ended up facing the breach.

Things had calmed down since my previous visit. The initial line of trees, repelling the fire mist, was doing their work well enough to give me a direct view of the breach even from a distance. The size of the breach had long stabilized, and the destructive energies at the edge of the breach had been reduced significantly. It was still not large enough to allow the passage of a boss monster, but it was close.

I hoped my new trick would work, because the last thing I needed was the attacks from boss monsters ruining my fragile defensive line. A big problem, especially since, for the last day, there had been no new boss monster generated by my dungeon. Nor had the aura of decay reached its earlier state.

"Hopefully, you'll solve at least one of those problems," I said to the first sapling as I buried it in the swamp. Any other plant would have started to rot the moment it touched the land that was packed with the harmful magical energies of Decay, but I could feel the sapling perk up. Even without my energy, it would have grown to a certain degree.

Not that I had the time to allow that. I closed my eyes, focusing on the method I had practiced with my two students. Both my mana and my Health flowed toward the target, the former to change its nature, and the latter to boost its growth and enhance its vitality.

As the combined energies infused its being, the sapling rapidly turned into a giant tree, one that radiated a strong aura of Decay, enough to create a localized aura of it, stronger than the natural environment.

Significantly so.

[-622 Health]

[-3000 Mana] Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

[Nurture (Legendary) 83 -> 97]

"First step, success," I said and I ate a nutrient bar, glad that my Vitality had reached a point that recovering that much Health didn't take too much time. I didn't even wait to recover it fully before I moved fifty yards away, and buried the second sapling in place.

[-532 Health]

[-3000 Mana]

[Nurture (Legendary) 97 -> 103]

As I had focused on growing the second tree, a group of insects had already circled around the first one. I watched, afraid that they would attack, but instead, the terrestrial insects gathered around it, while the flying ones perched on its branches, similar to how they would react to the presence of a boss monster.

I focused on my work, but before it reached completion, I had to pause. As a long-ingrained habit, I was constantly checking the dungeon entrance remotely, only to see one of the agreed signals. A situation of the highest importance, but not one that needed to be responded to immediately.

I decided to respond to it once I finished growing the tree line.

Once I finished growing all sixty of them, each radiating a thick aura of decay, I examined the breach once more, happily noting that the energy flow between the two dungeons had changed. The flame dungeon was still the superior one, but the difference had been flattened somewhat. My skill improvement was an ever-welcome benefit as well.

[Nurture (Legendary) - 163]

"A thousand such trees should reverse the trend," I said as I examined the flow, making a small adjustment to the plan. I stopped by the forge for a few minutes, forging a new set of equipment that was designed to assist the grafting process.

Only after dropping them off with Rebecca, did I move outside, and saw Harold already waiting for me.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

"We have envoys, sir," he said. "Our scouts report that the closest party will be here in an hour at most."

"Closest party?" I asked.

"As far as we can detect … there are five different groups approaching us, sir."

I sighed. It looked like I would finally be dealing with politics. How distasteful…