Blacksmith vs. the System-Chapter 202

Despite the urgency to work on my newly acquired piercing ability, I didn’t immediately go back to my workshop after my talk with Rebecca, instead paying a brief visit to every floor of the dungeon to check the mana situation on all of them — the fifth was the only other floor that had some mana, but not as dense as the third — after which I went outside, and started absorbing the tainted energy from all around the mountain.

It was still an important task from my to-do list, so I wasn’t exactly playing hooky irresponsibly, but after that heavy talk, doing something that didn’t require my focus was certainly appreciated.

The talk with Rebecca had been short, but heavy, making me remember things that I much rather ignore. The world had always been a merciless place, but the Cataclysm certainly hadn’t helped.

All around the world, how many farmers were there consigned to oblivion as they worked in conditions barely above a slave? How many other production classes were being ignored all around the world, doing only the worst of the tasks, the ones that didn’t deserve a few seconds from a mage?

Hell, how many of the ones that were ‘lucky’ enough to get a more ordinary combat class were dying every day due to the secrets of the System that were being kept from them?

And, I didn’t know what to do about it. So, in lieu of action, I moved around the mountain, targeting the largest pockets of tainted energy remaining.

On the practical side, I was glad for the unique nature of tainted energy, gaining some kind of viscosity once the amount had gathered sufficiently rather than evaporating, making it possible to recover the dungeon.

Of course, that meant, that once I absorbed a certain amount, the rest would evaporate, but that was not something I could find a solution to, at least not yet. Even if it stayed static, gathering all of it would have required more time than I could dedicate to it, no matter how much I needed some mindless labor.

If I had the time, I would have loved to calculate the nature of that viscosity change, and the exact rules of its operation, which would have allowed me to maximize the amount I gathered. Instead, I just targeted the largest concentrations of energy, from the locations where the boss monsters had fallen, even though it caused the rest to lose its cohesion, and the edges started to evaporate.

If worse came to worst, we still had all the monster parts stored in the warehouses, ready to be converted.

The speed of my absorption was faster than I had expected, which was a benefit of my improving stat-skill combination. Both my Wisdom and my Meditation skills had improved by leaps and bounds during the battle, and the increased absorption speed was only one of the benefits.

[Meditation of Decay (Mythic) 141 -> 142]

I continued to move through the largest spots of tainted energy, and soon, the dungeon had reached its earlier reserves. But, unlike in the past, it didn’t provide me with a subtle resistance, warning me about its limits. Instead, it continued absorbing the mana I provided freely.

“Maybe it’ll trigger another change,” I wondered idly. Since it absorbed far more mana than it was previously capable of, it might start weakening the borders. It was a mixed bag, but I was happy with the development. While it made the dungeon easier to breach from outside — according to Rosie’s explanation — it could also give me stronger abilities.

And, strategically, potentially facing the forces a city would commit against us, keeping the dungeon safe from incursions wasn’t as critical as my abilities outside. I didn’t expect Drakkan forces to replicate Thomas’ blind tactics.

And, the bigger my hammer was, the easier I could push them back.

“What happens if I lose,” I muttered. I didn’t know if I would be killed or not. Drakka’s unyielding attitude was likely about making a move for the dungeon and the skill stones, but I didn’t know whether they wanted to monopolize or destroy it. If it was the first case, they might have chosen to imprison me rather than kill me.

Stolen story; please report.

Either way, it would mean my ambition to help the people suffering would be gone. All the tricks I had discovered that could help the masses would be suppressed forever … or at least, until the objectives of Horizon and other mysterious organizations had been completed, whatever those may be.

“I can’t allow that,” I said as I pulled some paper, and started writing down every single trick I had discovered, not holding back even for a second. The tricks to improve the skills rapidly, including the restriction conditions and likely dangers; skill upgrades, including how to resonate and develop mana variants, and possible pitfalls; all the principles of dungeon operations, how to extract mana from monsters, and deal with tainted energy.

I even added a large portion on how the System and peace wards affect the minds of everyone and force us into some kind of feudal mess, and what needed to be done to fight it — my experience with Harold, farmers, and the other guards giving me some good ideas to handle it.

Well, not every trick, I corrected myself once I finished writing it. I avoided mentioning how to bond with a dungeon, because even now, I actually knew very little about it. I survived mostly by chance, and that was with Maria helping me. If I put that method in the manual, thousands would try to replicate it.

I wanted to help people, not sabotage them.

Once I was done with it, I went to find Rosie. She was in a field office, which was a fancy term for a semi-open tent. Surprisingly, she was with Liam, standing in front of an … infernal contraption that sent shivers through me even by looking.

Some kind of metallic glider.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

“Sir,” Liam greeted me happily once I appeared. “Are you here to examine our latest invention?”

“I’m here for another thing, but it looks fascinating,” I replied, not wanting to take my sudden fear out on him. Somehow, I could fight giant monsters, but the idea of flying still gave me shivers. “Is it a steam engine?”

“Not exactly. Putting one makes it too big. It’s muscle-powered, but we’re putting some compressed air canisters for emergencies. The mana alloys are holding a shocking amount of pressure with ease.”

“Good work,” I said as I put my hand on the glider, examining it. “Why don’t you take a five-minute break.”

“Yes, sir,” he said and walked away, leaving me alone with Rosie.

“Still can’t handle the idea of flying?”

“I can handle it somewhat if I get some time to prepare, but coming face to face with a flimsy glider with no warning…” I explained, letting my voice linger. “Anyway, I’m here for something more important,” I said as I passed her the booklet.

She took it, only for her eyes to widen further with each page. I waited silently as she finished it. “This is … valuable,” she said. “We might even convince a few towns to support us.”

“That’s not what I want,” I replied. “I want you to distribute it.”

Even when Drakka declared war on us, she hadn’t shown such an intense surprise. “You are afraid that we will lose,” she declared after a pause.

“How could I not?” I said. “We’re about to face an enemy that eclipses us completely, where only true hope of victory lies on the amount of force they commit. And, if they win, the world will stay the same.”

“But, to distribute all this information for free? You realize how much the guilds and other organizations would pay for it as long as you disseminate it slowly.”

“Maybe,” I replied. “But, at what cost? It’s better to let the information disseminate freely.”

She paused. “Have you considered all possibilities?” she asked.

“Not even close,” I replied. “I know it's a hasty move. But, the alternative is to watch the world collapse into some kind of feudal disaster. One that, once solidified, would be impossible to break out of.”

It was not an idle thought. I had a lifetime of studying human societies to reinforce that. Feudalism, for all its faults, could be an extremely stable way of ruling as long as the ruling class could monopolize the military and economy.

Which was almost trivial thanks to the combination of System and System Shops.

“I have contacts I can distribute it to,” she said. “I couldn’t have trusted them to keep it hidden, but since we want to distribute it…”

I was about to nod when I paused. “Actually, do you mind adding a section yourself,” I said.

“About what?” she said.

“Anything about how to operate in secret,” I said. “Especially ways to survive in mana-dead locations and how to avoid the attention of the cities and other large powers. The more tools they have, the better.”

“That can be done, but are you sure?” she asked seriously. “We have no idea what the implications would be. It might backfire spectacularly. There might be a good reason that the cities don't distribute such information.”

“Maybe,” I said, my mind rife with the possibilities. But, compared to the world falling into a neo-feudal nightmare where the weak are treated like slaves, there were not many that weren’t preferable. “But, sometimes, life doesn’t give us many choices.”

“It’s final?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “Let’s cross the Rubicon.”