Blacksmith vs. the System

They were happy to keep me separated from Eleanor.

That left the question: why bother setting things like that in the first place? Couldn\'t they have just ambushed Eleanor when she was alone?

I didn\'t waste too much time thinking about that, and instead focused on my first problem. How to ditch the cloaked scout, who was constantly updating the rest on my location. Then, I turned my gaze toward a nearby cliff.

At this point, I was familiar with Quake Hammer enough to create the same effect with a punch. It shattered the cliff, which came tumbling down.

That had two advantages. First, it was very loud, enough to confuse the scout who relied on his hearing. More importantly, the destruction of the dungeon fixture released the tainted energy that was captured in the dungeon, which pulled the nearby beasts toward me.

The scouts were able to prevent the monsters from attacking them by using some kind of item — which was another suspicious point, as I had no doubt such an item was extremely expensive, or it would have been a common gear for the dungeon guards — but the armored ones didn\'t have it.

This meant that, with the swarm between me and them, I was free to retreat.

The scout tried to follow me, but I didn\'t let him succeed. He was fast, but nowhere as fast as my modified version of Fleeting Step, which incorporated some principles from Floating Stride. Still, I made sure not to show that fully as I retreated back, bringing down two more cliffs on the way.

Then, I circled the whole area, moving at full speed, doing my best to calculate Eleanor\'s current position.

A minute later, I was looking at Eleanor, still chasing the two scouts. There was no threat there, so I moved forward, wondering what kind of trap was awaiting her.

I moved forward, hoping that the commotion Eleanor was creating to conceal my approach. Though, I didn\'t have to move too far. Following the path the scouts had been drawing Eleanor, I had found a relatively deep canyon. On both sides, there were two ballistas, ready to be launched.

Of course, that was not the full extent of the ambush. I could see almost a hundred people, their blades ready. I was able to recognize most of them as members of the various guilds, including a few leaders.

Seeing their identity, their ploy had turned apparent.

They wanted to kill Eleanor, and blame me for it. After all, Eleanor had publicly visited me before we left for the dungeon.

I had to admit, if they were trying that, it was a good ploy. It would not only weaken Maria\'s support significantly, but also force her to distance herself from her biggest supporter, forcing her to rely on the other guilds.

Assuming, of course, Maria was able to handle the loss of her best friend. Knowing her, abandoning the dungeon to her family while she left to harrow in her depression was a much likelier option.

However, while the plan offered a lot of benefits, trying to target both me and Eleanor at the same time made the plan unnecessarily dangerous. From the perspective of the guilds, safely dealing with Eleanor was safer than the alternative. Refusing their offer to collaborate wasn\'t that big of an insult.

Then, there were the resources that they had committed to the attack. The team I fought against before had been equipped to defend against me, which was a significant level of financial commitment.

I suddenly had a hunch as I circled the group, trying to see the face of a figure who seemed to be in charge.

A bodyguard of Thomas.

I had no intention of directly attacking the group. The existence of six ballistas alone was enough to make the position unassailable, let alone the forty extra fighters ready to intervene.

I reversed the direction, using Fleeting Step to cut the path of the two that had been pulling Eleanor into an ambush, and managed to cut their path about four hundred yards away from the ambush spot. I rushed with the full speed of the Fleeting Step, and cut their path from the opposite direction.

They were fast enough that I couldn\'t take them down easily, but I didn\'t need to do that. I just needed to slow them down. Eleanor caught up with them, her blade glowing with vitality, and a few slashes were all it took to kill them.

"What\'s going on?" she asked. "How are you this fast?"

"I also learned an Uncommon spear skill to surprise you during our spars," I said, quick to explain and give an excuse even as I focused on killing the swarm around us. "But, the ambush forced me to reveal my hand."

"I know. They are not as subtle as they think they are," she said.

"And, you\'re moving toward it regardless," I said, unable to suppress my shock.

"Well, yes. How else would I deal with them?"

"And, you\'re not afraid they have a force that\'s overwhelming enough to take you down?" She snorted dismissively. "Even if they have siege weapons?" I asked.

That made her eyes widen. "No, that\'s impossible. How do you know?"

"One of my attackers slipped it as I was retreating, trying to taunt me," I said, inventing a credible source to what I had seen.

"Your attackers?"

"Yes. My attackers. The moment you left me behind, ten more warriors appeared to cut my path, geared specifically so I couldn\'t support you."

"Still, I\'m sure that together —"

"No," I cut her off. She looked frustrated, ready to refuse. Her attitude was radiating confidence to the point of recklessness. The fact that she was killing the monsters around us with incredible ease just reinforced the image.

I had to admit, her arrogance was not entirely unjustified, but the ambush that was waiting for her was too significant, particularly with the ballistas in place. But, I didn\'t know how I would convince her without telling her I had already seen it.

I was afraid that I had to reveal I had already killed a few dungeon bosses to convince her. It was not something I wanted to reveal, but it was better than letting her walk into a deadly ambush. My secrets were important, but not to the point of letting her walk to her certain death.

I would reveal it if I had to. But, before that, I had one more thing to try. "Please," I continued. "If you follow my lead, I promise that I\'ll spar with you every day for a week."

Bribery worked where honesty and common sense failed. "Alright. Don\'t forget it. Even if Maria wants to play chess, sparring takes priority."

"Deal," I said, doing my best to ignore the two bodies that we had left behind. "Now, follow me."

With that, I led her back to the initial ambush location. The squad was not there, but finding them hadn\'t been too difficult. Their scout had tried to bring them away, which was a valiant, but ultimately useless effort. My range of vision meant that I was able to see them even when they were trying to hide.

I still made a show of searching for them by going in the wrong direction first before switching. "Good instincts," Eleanor said as she dashed forward. "Take the scout while I deal with the armored ones."

I had no problem with that assignment. The scout split from the group, while the armored ones gathered together.

The moment I got out of Eleanor\'s range of vision, I sped up even further and caught up with the scout. I hurried up, because their actions made it clear that they were using a method to communicate with each other.

They acted like they had been promised reinforcements. Technically, it could be a lie, but I wouldn\'t bet on it. The enemy had invested too much into their ploy to turn back immediately.

I attacked the scout, using my Strength advantage to the limit, his lack of metal armor putting him in an even more disadvantageous position. The skill difference between us was stark enough that I could just rely on the skill to deal with him, which meant I could split my attention between my fight and Eleanor\'s massacre.

She was good. Intimidatingly so. I was aware that she had been holding back during our spars, but I clearly underestimated the extent of it. Her blade danced with an alacrity that I could never imagine matching.

I wondered if her Dexterity was that high, or if it was a difference due to the perks. Either way, she danced around the nine armored figures, making sure that their presence was more of a restriction to each other than actual benefit.

One of them had already fallen, and two others looked in critical condition.

Since she seemed to be in control, I once again rushed forward.

I needed to see what the main group was doing.