Blacksmith vs. the System 290

When Rosie returned, she was shocked enough to actually skip a step. “Well, that’s not what I expected.”

I chuckled. “I’m not called the Steel King for nothing,” I said, gesturing to the metal fort that spawned around us, complete with several steam cannons and shells against the frost monsters ready to go.

“I didn’t expect a turnkey keep in merely ninety minutes,” she said, looking around.

“Just add water, and microwave for two minutes,” I said with a smug smile.

She matched it, then frowned. “But I don’t see the value. Can we really defend the dungeon from the inside if they overwhelm it?”

That made me smirk. “We can when we have an even better dungeon to take the void overflow and provide it with mana.”

Her eyes widened, anger creeping into her voice. “Don’t tell me you went down to hunt a boss!”

I raised my hands in surrender. “I promise I didn’t. There was no need,” I said. “The hydroponic farm gave me some connection, and the rest was easy to handle from inside. It was like trying to corral a lost pet. A little food, a gentle patting, and it is done.”

“Better,” she said, then looked around again. “What do we do next?”

“Nothing much,” I said. “Just send a message to Harold, and ask him to mobilize our Ascension candidates. Soon, they will have a lot of corrupt bosses to hunt.”

“You’re going to shift all the void energy to the decay dungeon. Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Not any worse than the alternative,” I said. “If worse comes to worst, I could always cut the connection between the two dungeons.”

That made her smile. “Then, it’s genius. We’re going to take over not only the dungeon but also level up our candidates immediately. How many new ascended do you think we’ll get?”

“Somewhere between ten and thirty,” I guessed. “It’s my best guess, but it depends on whether they have a second stash buried in the ground. Even if that overwhelms it, we’ll return to the drawing board. Just don’t let anyone explore the other floors until we deal with the overflow.”

“It’ll cost us some initiative,” she said. “I’m surprised that you’re not suggesting we take over the other dungeon on the way before triggering it.”

“Really?” I asked, offended. “When have you ever seen me risking the lives of my men recklessly?”

I expected an apology from her. Instead, she glared back. “Never. Just with your life,” she added.

While I wished to counter, I could not. She did have a point, particularly after the latest fiasco. “It’s not the time to talk about it,” I deflected instead. Not a good deflection, if her expression was even halfway accurate.

“The plan is simple, then. We use a decay dungeon to handle the void energy overflow, destroy the creatures on the first floor, and establish forward positions. Should we move to the second floor?”

“Not until we’re done with all the void energy threatening to suffocate the dungeon first. Instead, let the team establish a second and a third wall, and use the space to build as many hydroponic towers as possible. Rebecca can handle the rest.”

“Are we going to use the dungeon as a secondary logistic path?” she asked.

“Ideally, but not immediately. The path between the frost dungeon and the city is safe enough. We can probably move more with trains than trying to reload at the dungeon gate. It’ll change once I can open multiple gates outside, but for now, let’s focus on reviving the vegetation.”

“That’s one benefit of a farmer army,” she said. “There's no need to arrange any complicated escorts.”

“Exactly, just let them take turns,” I replied.

When she disappeared, I changed my focus and started building more blast furnaces; but this time, they worked with ordinary fuel rather than mana. For a full army, it would be far more energy-efficient to grow wood and chop it than use pure mana.

Rosie returned five minutes later as promised. I gave her the signal. Rebecca and Spencer arrived first, their weapons drawn, only to stumble badly enough to fall down. They clearly expected to start with an intense battle instead of finding a fort. “Careful,” I called with a chuckle.

“Professor,” Rebecca called.

“Sir,” Spencer greeted, giving her a warning glare.

Technically, Spencer was right. On the battlefield, I was not their teacher but their king, but without anyone else to watch, it mattered little, so I waved it off. “How do you like my surprise?” I asked.

“It’s certainly a surprise,” Spencer said. “I didn’t expect an iron castle.”

“A steel keep,” I responded. “I need to highlight my moniker as the Steel King, don’t I?”

Rebecca was busy examining the hydroponic farms. “Is this a central feeding pool? How does it work?” she asked.

“That’s the spirit,” I said, always happy to see them curious. “I’ll tell once the current crisis is over. Meanwhile, your task is to fill the others,” I said.

“Priority?” she asked.

“The more they could support the dungeon in breaking the void energy, the better,” I said. “That’s the only priority.” She nodded.

They stood next to me, and Rosie returned a moment later, followed by the rest of the army. An army that was unable to decide what was more surprising, my presence or finding a keep for them to defend.

I waited until the last one entered. “Brave soldiers. I trust you to hold steadfast and keep your fellows safe! Show me the Pride of Steel!”

“Yes, sir!” they responded.

“Rosie, you have the command,” I said, and jumped to the wall. I could have explained more, but instead, I swung my hammer.

[-8000 Mana]

The attack spread in a cone, demolishing every single beast in the range. A range that stretched almost half a mile. Technically, it was not necessary, but it was never a bad idea to encourage an army before a potentially devastating battle.

Especially since I was about to disappear from it. The last thing I needed was for their morale to falter, thinking I was afraid to stay.

From there, I jumped to the edge, and let a gate form on the wall, connecting the two dungeons.

The reaction that followed was interesting. The passage, from the frost side was weak and fragile at first, but the same wasn’t true for decay. The excess mana flew to the tunnel, immediately reinforcing the channel, and the void started to drain, while mana reserves replenished.

That didn’t mean the frost dungeon immediately started to destroy void energy. The dungeon mist was even more critical for the process than mana, which was still depleted, meaning, even with all the help, it would take a while for the frost dungeon to start the process.

I passed through the gate. On the other side, Harold and twenty of the selected candidates were waiting for me. The moment they saw me, they shuffled. “Sir,” Harold greeted.

“We’re about to experience an influx of corruption, which means there will be a lot of boss monsters to kill. Who here is ready for a long fight?” I asked. Not exactly a majestic declaration, but considering they would soon join the higher echelons, a little more familiarity wouldn’t be amiss.

They immediately raised their weapons. I opened a gate and led them to the fifth floor, directly to the fort we built for the purpose, holding the necessary armor as well as supporting equipment. The initial plan was to let Terry handle the ascension process, but considering the influx of void energy that we were about to experience, I was a better choice for the leveling.

A good choice, as merely ten minutes after we started, the secondary influx of void energy reached the gate, enough to even challenge the decay dungeon. A challenge we were more than ready to take, luckily. One benefit of helping twenty people to level up rather than two, the damage added up quickly, especially against a suppressed boss. We bounced between different areas of the fifth floor, though I made sure to visit the frost dungeon whenever they had some trouble, occasionally swiping the other floors to get rid of the corrupted bosses.

When the first day was over, we had already leveled up the first twenty candidates to the required level, though only after killing almost a hundred bosses in the process, and I was helping the second group. The influx of void energy surpassed our greatest expectations.

To my great surprise, the second dungeon on our path was taken by the expansion force, led by Terry, Logan, and Jessica, smoothly. That was good news for more than just apparent reasons, as it revealed that Drakka didn’t have an endless supply of crystallized void energy.

I planned to connect it to the other dungeons the moment the void energy overflow from the first dungeon calmed down.

The moment we opened the gates from the second dungeon, we would have secured logistic access to the sea, finally giving us a chance to reach the shoreline.

And, hopefully, stand against Drakka.