Blacksmith vs. the System

A step through the gate brought me to the fifth floor, yet had it not been for the distinct feeling I had received from the dungeon, I would have questioned whether I was in the right location, or if I accidentally arrived somewhere else.

My surroundings had changed significantly. For one, there was no thick aura of decay, threatening to erode anything into an easily digestible slop. Nor was there a cloud of bad-smelling vapor blocking my view, replaced by a raging, hot gust of wind, one that I suspected was responsible for changing the weather.

The constant dry wind seemed to be the only change in the environment, as it was otherwise covered with waist-deep muddy water.

However, there were other, more important changes, like a stampede of dungeon monsters, from the smallest insect to gargantuan boss beasts, each moving in the same direction at their full speed.

[-63 Mana]

A flare of mana was enough to turn the metal platform under my feet into a tower, which I hastily climbed to see where they were going. With the fog gone, I had the chance to see … a move that was necessary due to the overwhelming size of the fifth floor.

From the vantage point I created, I finally saw where the beasts had been rushing toward. Every floor of the dungeon, including the fifth one, was supposed to be surrounded by a thick cliff, but when I looked in the direction monsters were rushing, I wasn't able to see that cliff.

Instead, I saw a thick cloud of dungeon mist, spreading as a rolling cloud, something that was supposed to be no longer a barrier to my vision, but it clearly only applied to the mist of my own dungeon. As for the source of the new mist, it was apparent due to the number of lizards that were spilling from it.

Ahead of the breach, there was a horde of mutated men, easily in the hundreds — though it was hard to get an accurate count as they went in and out of the mist as they fought against the insects.

There was only one silver liningÇ The monsters spilling didn't have any boss monsters included. Though, I didn't know whether it was about the size of the breach not allowing them to arrive, or whether it was about Thomas already mobilizing all of them was a mystery. One that needed to stay unanswered with the battle going on outside.

I needed to respond rapidly.

I opened a gate for quick travel and stepped through, only to frown. My target had been the immediate edge of the mist, but the gate appeared almost a mile away. Not a difficult distance to cross, but still frustrating.

As I ran, however, my senses prickled, feeling an alien sensation. I was in my dungeon … yet I was not. The area I was running through felt like contested ground. However, once I got close enough to see through the fire dungeon's mist, I realized it was more literal than I had first thought. Under the new mist, there was no water or mud, replaced by a raised obsidian platform, gleaming with an unwelcoming heat, ready to cook any insect that stepped over.

Not that the insects had the chance with the mutated men ripping through their ranks. Even with their speed, along with the haze that surrounded them, it was easy to see their transformation had progressed even further than the ones I previously faced.

No wonder there was none on the surface.

I had to admit, it was a good plan. It was clear that the breach between dungeons had many restrictions — at least in the form I had been dealing with — which made the allocation of troops reasonable.

As long as they dealt with the existing boss monsters, the other lizards could spill and overwhelm the dungeon, especially since my dungeon was struggling to deal with the breach.

My pulse soared as I rushed forward, brandishing my spear, which gave me superior mobility as I prepared to deal with the mutated fighters. One that I had to be careful against, as I didn't have endless mana to replenish my reserves, whether from the dungeon, or from the cloud of tainted energy.

I approached the mutated enemy, their transformation even worse than the others, their eyes flickering with madness and frenzy.

As I speared the first one right through the head, the others were already circling around me, pouring from every direction. Once I pulled the spear back, I noticed he was yet to die.

"Inconvenient," I decided, covering my spear with Mana, ready to dip into my suddenly-precious reserves.

[-150 Mana]

The second stab was enough to finally kill it, though only because I had reforged my weapons with boss monster material, designed to be effective against the lizard monsters. Without the correct armament, the battle would have been far more difficult to deal with.

As they attacked from every direction, I focused on killing them at the cost of receiving damage, trusting my armor to handle the most. I just focused on not being grappled, which would end badly. However, soon I realized that with the spear, things would last too long.

I switched to my hammer, relying on overwhelming might, using my Strength to rip through their grip whenever they managed to get a hold over me.

[-163 Health]

[-143 Health]

It was not a perfect defense. Some parts of my armor were inevitably weaker than the others, and some of the attacks inevitably landed on those spots. Things would have been much worse if they had the presence of mind to continue targeting those spots, but luckily, only some landed there, while the rest continued to land on stronger spots.

I accepted the damage as I continued to destroy them with my hammer, using a chance to devour a nutrient bar.

Once I had slain twenty, another notification appeared.

[Level 69 -> 70]

[+5 Vitality, +4 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Essence, +3 Wisdom]

I continued to kill them as I drifted deeper into the mist. It was dangerous, but I didn't have the luxury of safety. I needed to see exactly what was going on.

I walked through the obsidian surface, doing my best to kill the mutated fighters and observe my surroundings, knowing that my bluff wouldn't hold for too long. Things would have been much harder if they had enough sense to actually stay back, forcing me to chase them.

I killed without stopping, until I had reached the cliff, which was supposed to be the border of the dungeon, only to face a large gap at its surface. It didn't look like a natural breach, more like where the space itself got … fuzzy.

I lacked the words to explain the phenomenon I was facing, but the combined force of the rolling mist and the lizards was hard to miss. However, I didn't push through. I didn't dare to.

Not when two forces, decay, and blaze, were fighting at the edge, looking for superiority.

I didn't need any experiment to see whether it was dangerous. As two forces fought, the after-effects were enough to completely demolish any lizard that drifted too close, particularly when it flared.

That wasn't the worst news. That honor went to one simple fact.

My dungeon was losing.

That also explained why I couldn't feel the overwhelming sense of decay, or why my mana supply had been disrupted. I didn't know whether it could be solved by pushing all the mana I could supply to the dungeon, or whether it required something more creative.

Unfortunately, that was a problem for the future. For the moment, I focused on killing all the mutated fighters I could find, and hoped that the dungeon monsters could at least slow down the process somewhat, like some kind of horrifying, eldritch immune system.

I couldn't stay here, not when every second counted. Thomas was a coward, but he wasn't a complete idiot. He must have realized something was wrong once I disappeared for so long. If I return now, I still convince him that my disappearance was about retreating to the main defenses rather than arriving here.

Therefore letting him believe that his plan with the dungeon worked perfectly. Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire

One of the transformed lunged. I deflected with a kick even as I brought down my hammer, removing another threat. Another attacked, landing a hit that would have knocked me back several meters if it wasn't for my Dexterity, and the way it helped me to stay on my feet that defied the rules of physics, something that was only possible thanks to my class upgrade.

A nasty reminder of just how many coincidences were required to keep me safe — even if that safety came in the form of an unfair fight against mutated creatures in an extradimensional space, which I needed to finish to reinforce another defense against literal building-sized monsters.

I pivoted, the hammer dealing with another mutated man.

[Level 70 -> 71]

[+5 Vitality, +4 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Essence, +3 Wisdom]

The sensation of pressure around my soul tightened, then shattered, giving back access to my External skills, and allowing me to move even faster. Weapons worked as proxies well, but they required my full focus.

Meaning, I was able to split my focus and check the dungeon entrance. Deep in the incursion area, the mere act of peering through was harder than I had expected, but I could still observe the situation. Our defensive force was already dealing with attacks from all four directions, meaning my delaying action had already run its course.

The only benefit was the absence of Charisma, indicating that my bluff to keep Thomas in place had worked. As for how long it would hold, that was a different question.

"I need to make a decision," I said while I looked at the dungeon border, where two energies had been fighting desperately to ensure victory in a process I didn't understand. Staying here, trying to decipher it was an option, but that would only risk lives.

Returning was the safer option. "But, not without pulling a trick," I said. I reached into my pouch, and pulled a sapling from the dungeon tree, which I carried habitually.

Wondering if I could establish a perimeter.