Blacksmith vs. the System

The moment we landed, monsters gathered around us like moths to the flame. Then, Maria took action, turning that into a rather unfortunate pun.

While she fought, I tried to feel the mana around us, but failed. I had managed to feel the presence of mana when I had been working, but that was only through a combination of two of my skills. Without activating them, I couldn't sense the mana around me.

I wondered if it would have been different if I spent my time practicing yoga — or other activities that I wrote off as nonsense — instead of working on science, but I didn't really care about it. Too bad I couldn't just get a skill like Meditation without corresponding Stats.

However, even as I moved to the first wounded monster, I was thinking of ways to cheat. Luckily, I had my multipurpose hammer with me along with the warhammer. I looked toward Maria, and saw that she was busy with the next wave of monsters.

It was the best time to experiment. I pulled my multipurpose hammer, and tapped against the surface of my armor, doing my best to activate my Mana Manipulation perk.

As I did that, the head of the hammer worked like a magnet, some mana gathered to its head. I maintained my focus even as I smashed it against the wounded monster. It dispersed before I could kill the monster.

"No matter," I said as I moved to the next wounded creature, repeating the trick again and again. My increased Strength allowed me to kill them with much more ease, though my faithful hammer was struggling under the blows.

Success, however, was fleeting. I was familiar with switching between the effects of the two skills. I had pulled that trick between Forge and Repair many times. Unfortunately, back then, I was pulling that trick between swings, just as a way to check the designs.

Now, I was trying to maintain the mana around the hammer, which was significantly more challenging. Switch too soon, and the mana dispersed. Switch too late, and the System didn't register it as a use of Hammer of Might.

Worse, I was under a time crunch. The first wave of the monsters was the most dangerous one. Distracted by it, she wouldn't notice my trick with the hammer, but that wouldn't be true once the number of attacking monsters dropped to a manageable level.

Just as I was fearing I would have to stop before I could finish my experiments, I managed to switch just in time. The monster died under the blow, and a notification appeared.

[Hammer of Might (Uncommon) 7 - 13]

Success. Well, technically, partial success, as the skill didn't suddenly turn into a mana variant, but what I got instead was one of the reasonable results. The external skills and the class skills were different, so the lack of an upgrade was understandable.

This meant that the best-case scenario was out, but that didn't make the experiment useless. Not only did it confirm the viability of the skill upgrade method for other skills, but also gave me a chance to upgrade my sole combat skill far faster.

Ordinarily, improving combat skills faster required fighting against more dangerous monsters, just like how repairing more valuable weapons improved repair faster. However, it had certain limits, particularly for someone like me with little experience in combat. After all, killing a wounded beast in one blow didn't improve it as much as a deadly fight where one pushed oneself to the limit.

The jump of six skill levels for one blow, when the target was lying helplessly, was incredible enough. It meant that I had a rapid way of increasing my combat skills, which mattered a lot. I might not like fighting, but it was far better to be good with a hammer and not need to use it.

The post-Cataclysm world was filled with dangers by default. Having a better skill was certainly worth it. Every point mattered, particularly for an uncommon skill, which was harder to improve. Improving six points with one blow was incredible indeed.

While Maria was distracted, I killed fifty monsters with mana blows successfully, though I attempted many more. Technically, I could push my luck more, but factoring in diminishing returns and increasing risk of getting caught, I decided against it.

The rewards were rather fascinating.

[Level 22 - 23]

[+2 Vitality, +2 Strength, +1 Dexterity]

[Hammer of Might (Uncommon) 13 - 53]

As much as confirming that external skills not granting any perk even at proficiency level fifty was a bummer, I was very happy with the gains. With an uncommon fighting skill at level fifty, I was actually qualified as a decent fighter, the kind that the expedition groups would try to hire rather than me trying to join them. Combined with my improving Strength, I was actually confident of defeating the monsters that were attacking us.

Well, one by one, with breaks in between. If I dared to come to a location like this without Maria's assistance, I would have been shredded into pieces easily.

Ignoring the dreams of enacting the life of Conan the Barbarian, I shifted back to using the warhammer, and started demolishing the immobile monsters. Not an epic tale of cutting through the wilderness, but the steady effort of a workman, smashing again and again.

"How is it going?" Maria asked as she approached. I felt a sense of mana invading my body, one that disappeared just as quickly. "Level twenty-three, very good," she said.

I realized two things in quick succession. Her identification spell didn't work on skills, just levels, or she would have reacted in a much more extreme manner. And…

I had just experienced a very close call, one of neglect. I never faced it, but it was not impossible for the others to have skills or spells that could see through not only the level but the other details.

"A quick question. How does your Identify skill work?" I asked.

"Nothing too fancy," she replied. "It just shows the level of the target, and nothing else. Unfortunately, a basic one has its limits."

"Are they even harder to find than Production skills," I asked, always happy to learn more.

"Basic ones are, but the better versions are much easier to find," she replied.

"Really?" I asked. "That doesn't make sense."

"It does when you factor in the requirements," she said. "The basic one only requires Essence stat, but the common one needs both Essence and Perception. Not exactly a common combination," she replied.

I nodded, feeling slightly more relaxed. It meant that I wasn't facing the risk of revealing all my secrets immediately. Especially since it was rude to use Identify on people so it shouldn't be too big of a risk.

Still, I made a note not to walk around in the camp. The last thing I needed was to get caught by a spy.

Inconvenient.

"So, are you ready to pass the threshold," she asked.

"Frankly, no. I don't even know what I need to do."

"First, you need to prepare yourself for horrible pain," she said.

"Oh, really?" I asked, chuckling. She wasn't a good liar.

"Yes, when the mana hits, it feels like fire going through your veins. It's the kind of torture you can't imagine," she said. I gasped in fear, acting like I believed her. She started giggling. "Don't worry. You don't need to do anything. It's like getting a new perk. Once it hits, you get a choice."

"Even if I have only one option," I asked.

"Yes. It's probably a safety measure. Once you trigger it, you start absorbing mana from the environment immediately, which can trigger the approach of monsters. Worse, you can trigger it in the middle of a mana-dead environment. It wouldn't be pleasant."

"Is it safe to do it here? Should we go back to town?"

She chuckled. "Don't worry. With me defending you, there's no risk," she guaranteed. "Do you think there's a monster in a ten-mile radius that can threaten me?"

"No, you're amazing," I said, enjoying the way she blushed. For a rude young woman, she was certainly weak to compliments.

"I … shut up and continue working. That's enough for a break."

"As you wish, my lady," I said, giving an exaggerated bow. She smiled. Now that she warmed up to me, she was easy to deal with.

[Level 23 - 24]

[+2 Vitality, +2 Strength,, +1 Dexterity]

"Another level," I called, after another fifteen minutes of steady monster killing. Working in a more dangerous location was paying dividends. Another twenty minutes later, another notification arrived.

[Level 24 - 25]

[+2 Vitality, +2 Strength,, +1 Dexterity]

[Class Upgrade: Blacksmith / Mana Mender / Mana Crafter / Mana Blacksmith]

"Well, that's a surprise," I muttered, once again cursing the necessity of a blind choice. And once again, I was making a choice with little information, solely based on the impressiveness of the name.

Mana Mender felt like a name for a class that focused on repair work. Carrying the indicator of Mana made it seem more impressive, but it was still enough to be eliminated.

Mana Crafter felt like a better option, but the existence of a mender implied that it would focus on the production side. More tempting than turning into a repair expert. The ability to mass produce weapons would have ensured a living for me without revealing myself.

However, ultimately, I chose Mana Blacksmith. The only reason I was able to discover the secrets of the skill upgrade was because I was able to play around with two skills, combining the information they offered. Choosing to prioritize one seemed like a bad idea.

Especially when level fifty didn't seem too far away.

As I chose, another notification appeared in front of me.

[Class upgrade - 01%]

I wasn't able to feel the movement of mana around me, but it must have been intense, as I could actually feel the air reacting with it, slowly circling me. Monsters at a distance started to move more vigorously, only to fall to Maria's flames.

She even maintained enough control to leave them wounded.

"No need to stand still, go kill them," she said. "It'll make the process go faster."

"I would much rather try to feel what's going on with my body," I said. "It's fascinating."

"Sure, but it'll last longer," she warned. I ignored her as I closed my eyes, feeling the mana flow to me. I might not feel it outside my body, but it was a subtle stirring feeling once it reached my body. Merely a tickle and nothing more.

I decided to follow her suggestion and start killing monsters. Mostly because I didn't want to make her suspicious. What if better classes required more time to change? By killing monsters, I could muddy that number more.

By killing monsters, it took ten minutes for class change to complete, and I was barely able to generate an impression of the process. A lost opportunity, but not enough to ruin my mood.

Not with my new class abilities in front of me.

[Mana Blacksmith - Level 25]

[Health 660/750] [Mana 0/120]

[Vitality 50 / Strength 50 / Dexterity 37 / Essence 13]

[Skills (4/9)

Mana Repair (Rare) - 25 [Inspect]

Mana Forge (Rare) - 25 [Intuitive Forging, Mana Manipulation]

Meditation (Common) - 1

Hammer of Might (Uncommon) - 53]