dirk_grey

Mage's Cultivation Journey 41

Once she declared her readiness, I gestured to her to sit down in front of me. She did so, looking tense. “Are you sure you want to do it right now?” I asked.

“Earlier, I was nothing more than a burden. A burden that almost killed him. It was just like —” she started, only to cut...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 40

Watching Elder Kai and Hun Chu walk away, carrying the bodies, I couldn’t help but wonder if mentioning the potential inside job was a good call.

Not because I was afraid of that judgment being wrong. The whole setup had been suspicious, and the execution of the last guard had been defin...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 39

Hun Chu had never been a fan of staying in the headquarters of Iron Mountain. A part of it was the boring monotony of the headquarters. He found it unsettling, especially when the outer branches were under constant pressure.

“Well, today is the exception,” he muttered as he looked at t...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 38

The door opened, and one of the invaders stepped in, the other three waiting in the corridor. He tried to hide it, but his internal energy was churning, ready to retreat back to the corridor the moment I made a hostile move, afraid of getting closer.

It was good to see that my performance ...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 37

I stood up immediately, but didn’t rush out to check the sound. This time, it wasn’t about maintaining my role, but true caution.

The explosion at the gate was loud, and likely devastating, but, for a night raid, it wasn’t the best choice … especially since I suspected it wouldn’...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 36

After Elder Kai had left, I expected him to return with an immediate request for help. To my surprise, that did not arrive. Instead, I had received a delivery of material. It was mostly books and scrolls, though there was more than one painting.

The content was even more varied. Some of th...

Blacksmith vs. the System 285

Observing dungeons was not a simple affair. How could it be, considering their miraculous nature, one that people ignored because of their commonality?

But, when one stopped to think, dungeons were truly a marvel of existence, one shrouded in mystery. The simplest issue was their existence...

Blacksmith vs. the System 284

The decision to start expanding toward the East Coast was a monumental one, one that shifted our whole paradigm of operation, one that required us to bet the future of our city. But, they had to do that without their king.

I was busy with another experiment.

It wasn’t just a selfi...

Blacksmith vs. the System 283

“… And, that’s when they decided to cut their losses and retreat, and I returned to the city,” I said, finishing the tale of my battle. We were in the council room, which followed a quick celebration as I returned to the city, with several guards quickly recruited to spread a sanitized ta...

Blacksmith vs. the System 282

The Drakkan force was surprised by my sudden burst of movement. Not for long, just for ten seconds or so before they realized their mistake.

But, it was enough for me to change my path and start going directly toward the swamp, which had the nearest gate. The faster my mana recovered, the ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 281

It was fascinating just how much time could stretch when under pressure. And, the sight of five Ascended warriors flying toward Maria, exhausted and disoriented, while the other five moved to block my path, I was under enough pressure. The presence of another seventeen just behind me, didn’t ma...

Blacksmith vs. the System 280

There was a way to understand their true objective. I changed my path slightly, trying to cut directly to the city. However, I didn’t display my full speed, instead, I kept it similar to what I had displayed during my last battle against Drakka, just somewhat higher to be explained by my class ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 279

The moment I noticed the size of the team targeting us, I was tempted to act, whether to move to support Maria, or to alert the city.

In the end, I did neither. My presence was already suspicious enough, and if I moved the moment they moved out of their camp, I would alert them further. I ...

Little info about the delay

Hi Everyone,

I failed to update the stories on time due to a little issue forcing me to travel without my computer. However, it's dealt with an I'm back.

So, as a little gift, I have also posted this week's update early. So, there will be no additional update at first of August. 2025-07-30 11:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Blacksmith vs. the System 278

“No,” Rosie simply replied. “No way! Simply out of question.”

“Why?” I asked. “I have already sneaked out of the city without letting them know, and unless you have a way to get Maria from her patrol without alerting them, you don’t have any other option to go through the w...

Blacksmith vs. the System 277

Despite their sparring against me meeting an ignoble end, I didn’t lose my confidence in my students. On the contrary, watching them throw themselves into training with a renewed passion made me trust them even more.

Their Ascension meant that, unlike before, they couldn’t fight for ho...

Blacksmith vs. the System 276

After the meeting with a surprising nautical conclusion, things fell into another routine, a very beneficial one. A week passed, with the growth of our town showing no sign of stopping, and the population already surpassing a quarter of a million.

The corrupting might have been localized, ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 275

Silence in the meeting room lingered after Harold made the suggestion of using ships to collect mana. Soon, he started shuffling. “Sorry if I said something silly. I was just trying to be helpful,” he added.

“No,” I responded. “It was a good suggestion. It makes a lot of sense. W...

Blacksmith vs. the System 274

After the development of the crystal, I wondered if the same process could be replicated with germanium, another element belonging to the same category as silicon and carbon, closer to metals. But, instead of trying it, I added it to notes, to be passed back to the team.

While it was inter...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 35

When I went out, I found Elder Kai sitting near the pond, watching the fish dance in the clear water. Su Mi must have invited him to sit, but even then, he had been careful enough to sit in the farthest part of the pond. His intention to avoid even looking like he had been trying to spy on what w...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 34

“I … I still can’t believe it,” Yu Xing muttered once he returned from his bath, wearing new clothes. Clothes that had been provided by our host, far more expensive than anything we had provided.

Wearing them, Yu Xing truly looked like a young master from a martial arts family; the...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 33

When I summoned Yu Xing, Su Mi arrived with him. I thought about sending her away, but after some consideration, I decided otherwise. It would be helpful to watch.

“Good morning, steward,” Yu Xing greeted me, his attitude tense and confrontational. Also, very fake.

“You can sp...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 32

I knew that the show at the training field had impressed them, but knowing that didn’t prepare me for the surprise waiting for me. One of the rooms in the guest house was a small library, but I suspected most of the books and scrolls on the shelves had been added recently.

Particularly, ...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 31

We didn’t walk in immediately. Instead, Hun Chu stepped forward, and talked with the guards. “I have returned home, bringing exalted guests with me,” he declared. It was clearly a ceremonial display — or at least, a poor attempt to be one — as unless they were utterly incompetent, our a...

Blacksmith vs. the System 273

After helping Rebecca and Jessica kill the boss, which, amusingly, had no impact on their ongoing spat, I wanted to return to my research.

Unfortunately, life got in the way. Terry made a comment about how the arrival of the boss monster was just perfect for my daily walk around the city. ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 272

I arrived at the fifth floor, only to find it surprisingly crowded, with all my students — well, all that stayed around instead of mysteriously disappearing — in the small fortress we had built away from the other outposts.

The presence of some of them was not a surprise, as the plan w...

Blacksmith vs. the System 271

I would have loved to have Spencer’s direct assistance while experimenting with the crystal, as he was the one who had used the material the most, even awakening his new class variant through it. But, since he was busy preparing for his upcoming ascension, I decided not to disturb him.

E...

Blacksmith vs. the System 270

As much as I wanted to start working on my new mana-resistant material, I decided to focus on something different. Another skill that I had received during my most recent class upgrade.

[Identify (Common) - 1]

If things went as planned, Identify would be a critical part of my future...

Blacksmith vs. the System 269

“That’s a lot of Charisma,” she muttered once she finished processing the surprise, which took a minute. “I hadn’t even known that stats went up that high. I had always assumed ten was the limit.”

I shrugged. “You know me. Always with that one surprise.”

“Isn’t t...

Mage's Cultivation Journey 30

After the sudden and mysterious death of a Bone Forging expert, no one attempted to stand in front of us. The talk of searching us disappeared just as quickly.

I expected that result. After observing the locals for so long, I had long deduced that martial prowess was a currency of its own,...