Blacksmith vs. the System

"So, do we have any idea about the identity of the arriving parties," I asked Harold as we moved down the mountain, riding one of the primitive trains. It was good to see the mountain housing multiple railroads, each leading to one of the six towns on the outskirts — which I eventually planned to turn into a giant mana trap, assuming I solved some of the technical challenges.

At this point, only two of those rail lines had been completed enough to allow movement, and we were riding one of them down.

"Until now, we are only able to identify the flag of the Asterion City, sir," Harold replied as he looked down. "Their culture is what you'll call … regressive," he said. "Things are different between frontier towns like you have been living and true cities. Unlike the towns, they had embraced the transformation radically."

That didn't surprise me. I had already determined that the cultural assimilation effect from the System is dependent on levels, so the cultural drift was something I had predicted. However, that didn't mean I had the details.

"Give me a summary of what you know," I asked. I was annoyed at the naming sense. It was another sign of abandoning our culture wholeheartedly to adapt to some kind of medieval fantasy, and not even one that reflected our own medieval times.

"They are built deeper inland. The main city is built in a valley surrounded by a mountain range. There are multiple famous dungeons around them, but that's all I know, as no one but people that they deemed to be of noble rank are even allowed to approach."

"How about their military?"

"They are famous for their knight legion, but whether it's a Class or just a social rank, I don't know. The opinions are split. I had previously believed it was just a rank, but…"

"Go on."

"Considering what I had learned about class transformations and other opportunities, it's likely that it's about Class. There were rumors of them recruiting certain classes, but only if the target was sufficiently low-leveled."

"Anything else?"

"I know that their outer city is not a fun place to live for anyone, regardless of class, but that's all I know. If I may, I have a question of my own." I nodded, allowing him to speak. "Are you determined to host them in a tent away from the towns? It'll be taken as an insult."

"Likely so," I replied. "But, I can't have a bunch of fighter classes walk around and ruin all the progress I had made about the System-indoctrination. Our Farmers are finally feeling confident enough to show initiative. I don't want to ruin it."

"As you wish, sir," he replied. He looked unconvinced, but he didn't repeat his argument. Which was good, as it was one point I wasn't willing to budge on. While I had no intention of maintaining such a separation forever, I could until I had the time to analyze the phenomenon more.

And, I could certainly pick better candidates than a group of medieval knights known for their classist attitude.

We rode the train to the town, ignoring the landscape. The lizard remains were gone, collected, and stored in large warehouses for future projects, but the devastation that they had left behind was still there. The landscape was still covered with the ashy remains of the endless fires they had triggered with their aura, and the tainted aura still clung around the mountain like a dark cloud despite my aggressive consumption to maintain the dungeon.

It was also one of the reasons why I was traveling with a train rather than running down myself after talking with Harold. Standing still, I was able to activate my Meditation, which allowed me to absorb and transform tainted energy — which went significantly faster with my increased Wisdom and improved skill.

"The construction is going well," I said as the train stopped outside the walls, and we stepped off.

"It's going better than expected," Harold said. "With the third industrial furnace in operation, we have an abundance of metal, and all the farmers with Rare skills means our lumber resources are even more abundant."

"True," I said as I looked at the town, which was already more complete than the previous town that had been destroyed by the monster horde after evacuation. A part of it was the level difference, but not the biggest one.

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No, that honor went to the enthusiasm of the people. Every single person who stayed had just put their best against an overwhelming monster horde, still riding the high of their success. Moreover, they were aware that they weren't constructing just another frontier town just there to fund the expensive items of a few spoiled nobles. No, they were building a home.

There was no better source of enthusiasm.

"Should we move to the tent, sir? That way, you can check the preparations before the envoys' arrival."

"Maybe we can cover the ground with metal plates —"

"Already done, sir," Harold said.

"Good thinking," I said. "And, is the central room I asked for ready?"

"Yes, sir. Those, I supervised myself."

"Good work," I said. "Why don't you check the security around the tent while I make a small change there."

Harold nodded before he moved toward there, while I entered the town. All around me, people bowed and saluted, which was annoying, but I let it slide. My failure with the guards had shown me the risks of careless social management, so I left it alone until I could allocate some proper attention and solve the problem.

Soon, I arrived at the center of the town, where the building I asked for lay. Though, calling it a building was a stretch at best. It was more of a giant safe. "Sir," greeted the guards.

"At ease. I'm just here to check the construction for a moment," I said as I put my hand on the safe, opening the first door. I stepped in, but before I could close it, I felt a familiar presence. "Welcome," I greeted her once I slammed the thick metal door shut, leaving me alone with her.

"You took your time," Rosie said as she appeared without obstruction once more.

"The alert was for non-emergency, so I finished the tasks in hand," I said as I unlocked the second and the third doors.

"Still —" she started, but I gestured to her to stop.

"Give me a second. This is the first time I'm opening a gate so far away from the main one," I said. At this distance, the replenishment rate from the dungeon had dropped below five seconds, which was not ideal considering the risk of the diplomatic encounter not staying entirely peaceful.

I had no idea how the cities would react to my position. If we were going on exact technicalities, there should be no problem. The situation still roughly followed Maria's initial agreement. Unfortunately, I wasn't naive enough to have that hope. The moment stakes had changed, all those nice agreements were null and void.

Yet another problematic aspect of humanity that I couldn't blame the System for. How could I, when the history was filled with such examples, from aggressive business takeovers to actual genocides.

So, I wanted to open a gate as insurance, which could not only be used to evacuate the town if things developed according to the worst case, but it would also supply me with more mana.

I closed my eyes, reaching for the dungeon to create another gate. Just as I expected, greater distance meant it was harder to open a gate. I had to stand still for almost a minute before the comforting blue gate opened, leaving me slightly tired.

But, the reward was worth it. I felt my connection with the dungeon snap back to full force, giving me the confidence that my mana would be replenished in an instant. I touched the floor, pushing out my mana to reinforce the metal walls far above my apprentices could handle. Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

With my Shaper above fifty, I had many new options to reinforce the walls. I had focused on general durability above anything else, planning to melt the doors back into the walls once I left.

"Since I arrived late, you should have already checked all approaching forces. What's the status?"

"We have representatives from four cities approaching, and a fifth force that I've yet to identify," Rosie said, the last part underlined with frustration.

"Who are they, and what's their arrival status, and how much of a problem will they be?"

"The first group is a team of mounted knights from Asterion. They'll arrive in less than an hour, while the rest can range from a few hours to a few days depending on their speed, and whether they will want to join to turn it into a larger diplomatic event, or wait for the results first," she said.

"Is that likely?"

"Yes. Asterion isn't the closest city here, so the fact that they are the first arrival might not be a coincidence."

"The others have positioned themselves close enough to intervene if Asterion made headway, but far enough away that they have a chance to adjust. Why doesn't Asterion do the same? They could have arranged a team from one of the towns, right?"

"Knowing them, they sent a team of spoiled scions with overblown egos that refrain from such tactics."

"Harold already gave me a general breakdown of them, so that doesn't surprise me. They seem to be quite elitist. Wouldn't it be a problem that I'm a blacksmith?"

"Not if you threaten to melt their armor. They value them pretty highly," Rosie guaranteed.

"How about the other teams? What kind of forces have they brought along?"

"Apart from the unknown, we have a full cohort from Drakka, who will be considerably finickier to handle. Vessalia has sent a team of mages with their bodyguards, which is not too big of a problem in a mana-dead location unless they are equipped with expensive mana storage items. And Tristelion … well, that'll be a complete surprise depending on which guilds have the upper hand currently."

"Sounds complicated," I said as I moved to leave the room, gesturing for her to follow. Once she stepped out, I had bathed the doors with my mana, melding them into the walls so that brute force was the only option to breach.

"Do you need a detailed summary of each city?" she asked.

"That will be exceedingly helpful," I replied, ready for a lecture…