dirk_grey

Blacksmith vs. the System 56

Once I had returned to the fourth floor, the first thing I did was add another layer of trees and kill every beast surrounding the forge. The existence of lure potions scared me. All it would take was for someone to throw one into the center, and my forge would be ruined.

The monsters didn...

Blacksmith vs. the System 55

While I was asked to stay in the dungeon, I didn’t have command over the guards. However, I also went to a secret meeting with Eleanor after the crisis. She left in a hurry and I stayed back. It meant the guards had no idea exactly where I stood.

Thomas running after a confrontation with...

Blacksmith vs. the System 54

“Follow me,” Eleanor said, and we started moving toward the gate.

“What should we do about the body? It belongs to the attacker,” I said.

“Anything incriminating?” she asked.

“Nothing except this,” I said as I showed her the bottle, not trying to hide it.

Blacksmith vs. the System 53

I barely came up with a reasonable method of action once I was done dealing with the swarm, which took more than strictly necessary as I continued to rip their broken shells even as I dealt with the last few monsters.

Technically, that part was not necessary to sell my story, but I didn’t...

Blacksmith vs. the System 52

I watched silently as the group shuffled about. “How should we split?” one of them asked.

“Call me leader, you arrogant swine,” the leader responded, which gave me a clue about the state of their group. They had not been together for a long time. “Just for that, you have to go an...

Blacksmith vs. the System 51

I had a large smile on my face, flipping and playing around with a coin in hand, using Observe to examine it. There wasn’t anything other than perfectly aligned microstructures inside the metal, surrounded by a complicated enchantment I couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

However, this ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 50

“Beautiful,” I repeated as I looked at the forge area, still feeling surprised by the change I was able to achieve in less than four hours. The huge blast furnace was still spitting out fires, but was at its last batch. At the same time, the number of iron shelves I built had reached more tha...

Blacksmith vs. the System 26-30

— Chapter 26

As much as I wanted to spend the next month reading every book Eleanor had brought and carefully learn everything I could, I knew that it wasn’t the best method to go forward. Improving my skills as far as possible by creating mana alloys was the far superior option.

Immortal Freeloader 144

I watched from the shadows as a seventy-year-old man silently surpassed the Connate Realm, his body transforming with the assistance of the Forest Essence I had created.

He was not the first one. He was not even one of the first thousand.

No, currently, he was one of the eleven thou...

Immortal Freeloader 143

The idea of turning Forest Dance into one of the ancient martial arts as an experiment was tempting for multiple reasons. For once, it was already focused on nonlethal force, and I could turn its spiritual conception toward self-defense and pacifism even further.

However, in addition. The ...

Immortal Freeloader 142

“Impressive performance,” I said as I looked at two women who had just finished their duel, one pressing against the throat of the other with a broken spear.

It was not an exaggeration. Their essence was not as strong enough as other martial artists, but their talent meant that watchin...

Blacksmith vs. the System - Royalroad Publishing

Hi, everyone, the story is finally out for the public.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/91908/blacksmith-vs-the-system

Feel free to follow and review it there, a...

Announcement about visuals

Hi everyone,

I'm going through a little copyright dispute about the visuals I had been using for the stories, and as a part of it, I'll have to remove them from my pages for the time being.

The stories will continue as is, and I'll do my best to solve it, or by finding an alternativ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 49

Setting up my new — and hopefully more permanent — forge took half of my available time. However, it was certainly worth it. Three layers of trees surrounded it to give me a perfect vision of my surroundings.

There was even a small farm where the root plants I discovered had been growi...

Blacksmith vs. the System 48

Once I absorbed the Quake Hammer skill, I didn’t immediately start using it. Instead, I sat down, legs crossed, like I was about to meditate, my hammer on my lap, processing the new set of information the skill had brought about.

Just like Hammer of Might, Quake Hammer was an offensive s...

Blacksmith vs. the System 47

When the next morning arrived, I moved down the dungeon with a renewed passion, dragging the cart with me at full speed, not even slowing down by anything but the giant monsters. I left the smaller ones behind.

I didn’t even sleep a wink after my revelation, still trying to process the p...

Blacksmith vs. the System 46

“Time to return,” I said to myself serenely, and started walking back.

Of course, I knew it was not true acceptance. However, once the heat from the realization was gone, I was able to put it back into the pile of things I would deal with in the future. It was a big disaster, one that ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 45

As I followed Eleanor, I did my best to ignore the giant question about having something called calming field over every single town. I failed. Somehow, it nauseated me worse than that horrible flight experience.

I tried to ignore it, but failed. Something was bubbling inside me. For the f...

Blacksmith vs. the System 44

When I returned to the town, enthusiastic about testing the limits of the improved core skills, Eleanor was already waiting for me. This time, she didn’t say anything even before she drew her sword and attacked.

“Good evening to you as well,” I called even as I drew mine and countere...

Blacksmith vs. the System 43

Forging a completely new set of gear had been an exciting prospect. Even if the skill didn’t give me a better variant of the anti-corrosive alloy with some silver mixed in, the difference between sixty points and a hundred points was incredible enough to make it worth the effort.

After al...

Blacksmith vs. the System 21-25

— Chapter 21

When I woke up, my body was still aching somewhat, reminding me that using Health from the System to heal wasn’t exactly perfect, or painless.

“I can’t believe I was that reckless,” I muttered, my body reminding me of the cost of trying to use a skill without u...

Immortal Freeloader 141

“ … Try again. The concept behind the spear needs to be as merciless as a volcano exploding, yet as unpredictable as a snowflake dancing in the midst of a blizzard —” I shouted as I deflected the spear with a casual palm strike.

I was planning to continue longer, but I had received...

Immortal Freeloader 140

As I asked for a volunteer, several hands rose, and I picked one that looked the calmest among them. “Walk forward,” I said even as I invited her right in front of the spiritual pillar. I was as tense as them, as I had a feeling that, a mistake here might have disastrous consequences.

...

Immortal Freeloader 139

“Here are the volunteers, sir,” one of the hidden guards said to me as I stood in one of the hidden training rooms under the palace, looking at a hundred young women, each in the Skin Refinement Realm.

I was once again dressed as my apothecary identity, so their reverent gaze was under...

Blacksmith vs. the System 42

As I walked through the third floor of the dungeon, I felt even more enthusiastic. I wasn’t able to see Eleanor in the morning, but thankfully, she hadn’t forgotten to drop the maps of the first three floors.

She even marked the doors to the fourth floor — with a note warning me to s...

Blacksmith vs. the System 41

“What are you doing?” Eleanor asked the moment she entered the forge, her gaze immediately locking on the device in my hand.

“I’m trying to find a way to get the shells off the beasts faster,” I said.

The moment I said that her interest faded. “Already trying to make you...

Blacksmith vs. the System 40

An hour after I had passed through the gate, after killing almost five hundred giant insect monsters, and even more smaller insects, I finally stopped pushing forward, and started to retreat. I might not be physically exhausted, but it was not true from a mental perspective.

But, being und...

Blacksmith vs. the System 39

“And, stay down, ugly bastard,” I said even as I pushed my abomination of a spear through the skin of an even uglier giant insect monster, feeling excited and satisfied at the same time.

After all, I had just brought a skill from nothing to its limit in less than half an hour.

[...

Blacksmith vs. the System 38

For the second trip, I didn’t destroy the cart completely. While it was a good way to get some extra iron, it would be suspicious if I brought back every single one with significant damage.

Instead, I spent some time reforging the parts. There were several thick metal bands, which I melt...

Blacksmith vs. the System 37

“Wow, they are burning better than I had expected,” I said as I settled a crude crucible on top of the hearth that held the fire, the iron it held had already turned into a white hot liquid, ready to be purified. Nearby, there was an anvil that was cooling down.

I was so happy that I c...