dirk_grey

Blacksmith vs. the System 239

I stopped half a mile away from the camp, ready to discard the poorly made cart. I didn’t want to drag it with me all the way back. As for the contents, I didn’t expect it to have anything trul...

Blacksmith vs. the System 238

When I saw the settlement again, its situation was much better. It was shocking how different a place could look without a raging horde of beasts trying to raze it to nothingness. 

I app...

Blacksmith vs. the System 237

I started by dragging a large piece of rock to the center of the pool, directly over the strongest spot of bubbling mana. Then, I closed my eyes, focusing on my connection with the dungeon.  2025-04-27 20:49:36 +0000 UTC View Post

Blacksmith vs. the System 236

The target grew in my sight while my gaze darted around, trying to pick the best vector to approach. Killing the gargantuan beast was not too difficult. 

Killing it without revealing my ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 235

The farther I ran away from the town, the more stressed I started to get, which had nothing to do with the beasts I had to cleave through in order to reach my destination. A part of it was the fear...

Blacksmith vs. the System 234

At first, I was hopeful about the situation with the dungeon. After all, despite the increased mysterious energy due to Drakkan tricks, the dungeon had been operating smoothly, and I hadn’t been ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 233

I was still feeling shocked once Maria and Eleanor departed to handle their tasks, leaving me alone in the meeting room. Maria’s decision to abdicate permanently had caught me flatfooted. Up unti...

Blacksmith vs. the System 232

I paused, frozen. There had been many decisions and questions that had been raised by Maria’s return, but I didn’t expect the issue of management of the town to be one of them. I genuinely expe...

Blacksmith vs. the System 231

It was almost noon when the three of us managed to retreat to a private room. It wasn’t just the beast wave that kept us back, but also scouting the landscape to see if there were any nasty surpr...

Cultivating Ink 12

The first thing he did was to reach under his armor and remove the stone from its hiding place — well, the second, thing, the first thing was to look around carefully to make sure there was absol...

Cultivating Ink 11

Alaric waited in the line, his body aching.  

He had already expected his night to be terrible, with most of the ‘volunteers’ targeting him to deal with their frustration. He ha...

Blacksmith vs. the System 230

With Maria’s surprise arrival, the equation had changed significantly. The three ascended and split desperately, trying to escape, but their attempt had been useless. The first attack from Maria ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 229

I paused for a moment, trying to make a decision on how to progress. 

Despite being surrounded and my path being cut by three ascended, I wasn’t afraid. As my earlier duel with the asc...

Blacksmith vs. the System 228

“What’s wrong?” I asked Harold. 

“Three problems. One, we have another Drakkan force approaching us. Then, we have a monster wave approaching us. And, the scouts have detected a ...

Blacksmith vs. the System 227

I spent an hour with Harold and Terry, giving them my opinion about the more practical concerns about the new migration, but I only limited myself to strategic aspects. 

“Maybe you sho...

Blacksmith vs. the System 226

2“Is it…” Rosie asked. 

“Done. I stole the fire dungeon,” I said, feeling giddy at my success. 

Rosie looked impressed at my declaration. “So, what’s next?”&nb...

Cultivating Ink 10

“Break for camp,” a shout arrived, breaking the monotony of the trip once more. 

Alaric followed the order just like everyone else, shouting happily. “It’s hard to believe that i...

Cultivating Ink 9

Alaric wasn’t surprised to see everyone doing their best to repeat the strike again and again, just as he wasn’t surprised by the wide variance in their moves, trying to achieve a miracle throu...

Cultivating Ink 8

“Gather around, it’s time to get armed,” the guard leading the group shouted, and the large group of scouts that Alaric found himself as a part of had stopped. A rough count showed about thre...

Cultivating Ink 7

It was not the night when he returned to the slums, but it was close. He would have preferred to return faster, especially with his sole objective of hiding the glowing rock ending up in a spectacu...

Cultivating Ink 6

Alaric rolled toward the nearest tree before the beast could recover from its earlier rush, ignoring every instinct of his body shouting for him to run away. He had already seen the speed the beast...

Update Schedule

Hi all, sorry about broken update schedule. For this week, I shared a story experiment from my archive.

I promise I'll be back to the regular schedule next Friday. Real life things are almo...

Cultivating Ink 5

It was the first time in his life Alaric felt the true happiness was he returned to the slums, but the sea of shanties and makeshift dwellings told him that he actually succeeded. The smell of food...

Cultivating Ink 4

Alaric's heart hammered in his chest as his fingers tightened around the glowing stone. A warmth spread through his body, like he was holding the very concept of warmth in his hand.

Unfortun...

Cultivating Ink 3

When the sun reached its zenith, casting a bright light over the bustling marketplace of Eldermire, it looked like his wishes about having a good day was rewarded. Once the first merchant received ...

Cultivating Ink 2

When Alaric left the abandoned building two hours later, he had been transformed completely. Gone was the street urchin on the awkward gateway between childhood and adulthood, replaced by a young s...

Cultivating Ink 1

The moon cast a pale glow over the beautiful walls of Eldermire, the gleaming silver adding an incredible beauty that made Alaric’s hands twitch to capture the beauty. The moonlight was gentle en...

Blacksmith vs. the System 225

I took a deep breath as the implications hit. Somehow, I could feel the other dungeon. Just one floor, but it was easy to make the connection between that and the constant dungeon mist that had bee...

Blacksmith vs. the System 224

Dealing with the two ascended had managed to break the will of our enemy. Within minutes, the Drakkan assault lost coherence, with the infantry legion, riddled by shrapnel and constant bombardment,...

Blacksmith vs. the System 223

“We need to retreat! He destroyed my shield!” Carl called as he swung his sword in panic. A glance showed me that his fighting technique was floundering immediately. Not a surprise. His techniq...