"Wow, they are burning better than I had expected," I said as I settled a crude crucible on top of the hearth that held the fire, the iron it held had already turned into a white hot liquid, ready to be purified. Nearby, there was an anvil that was cooling down.

I was so happy that I could cheat with mana, as otherwise, I would have had to work hard to set up a proper blast furnace. I still might if I wanted to increase my production rate, but for the moment, this was sufficient.

"Now, let's gear up," I said and used the available metal to make myself a full set of gear, including full body armor, a large tower shield with sharp edges and a spike that I could drive into the beasts, a war hammer made of pure metal, and a thick, stout sword that was designed to work perfectly with Stalwart Guard technique.

According to the information my skill had provided, all of them were perfectly immune to corrosion.

A small part of me couldn't help but feel disappointed. Letting everything be handled by a skill was very underwhelming, but considering the potential benefits, I was more than ready to ignore that detail.

It had been merely three hours, which was an incredibly short amount of time; but then, having my Mana Forge skill that high had provided me with many benefits. It would have been even faster, but …

I lacked water to quench the metal, which meant I needed to use mana to compensate for it, slowing the process. Luckily, with my increased Meditation, I was able to refill my mana far faster, allowing me to bypass my biggest problem.

At least, for the moment. For the future, I needed to find a reason to bring some more water inside. Maybe I could set up a small garden on the first floor, arguably to test whether I could create a sustainable setup for myself to get some extra Health.

It wasn't a novel idea. The current dungeon was hardly the biggest one imaginable. There were other, bigger dungeons, and for some of them, it was more efficient to set up gardens to provide food rather than transport them from outside.

I doubted that it was the case for our dungeon, considering the desert environment surrounding it, but I just needed an excuse. Between that, and going to the fourth floor just to bring some water, a fake garden was clearly the better option … once I had others in my guild that could handle that.

My new, nameless guild.

"Actually, it might be easier to test the fourth floor first," I said even as I put my finishing touches to the set. After all, the whole point was to stay hidden. It would probably avoid attention for a while, but sooner or later, people would start poking around.

Still, I didn't need to hurry up. Actually, it wasn't even certain that I would be able to find the way to the fourth floor. Not with the way my sight was blocked.

"I'm trying to handle too many projects," I said even as I started moving. I collected my tools, and left my equipment buried, but left the forge uncovered. I wanted to see if the monsters would attack and destroy it.

They shouldn't, but it was better safe than sorry. It wouldn't bother me if my current setup had been destroyed, but it wouldn't be the same if they attacked equipment I had worked harder to put together.

"But first, let's see if I can get a renewable source of wood," I said. The plants I used didn't have any seeds, but trying to grow plants using saplings should have been sustainable.

It worked … after a fashion.

[-280 Health]

[Nurture (Uncommon) 3 - 5]

"Nice jump in skill level," I muttered. It was a nice surprise, but maybe the damage to the plant had affected the skill development, just as the quality of the weapon affected Repair. However, I didn't start experimenting immediately.

I was not exactly happy with the amount of Health it took, and the resulting limited impact. But then, I was trying to force growth in a dead land, lacking any kind of water. Hardly an efficient method. While some interesting ideas popped into my mind, I ignored them.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Nurturing Nurture is not a priority," I said, then groaned, glad that I was alone. It was not a pun I was proud of.

I moved away from the forge, letting the monsters gather around it again, to see if they would attack it. Luckily, it stayed untouched even when I deliberately drew a small-sized swarm near it. It was excellent news, as this meant that my plans to create a new forge on the fourth floor were viable.

As long as I confirmed the anti-corrosive Mana alloy worked as well as my skill suggested. I spent an hour cleaning the immediate surroundings of the forge, collecting skills, other dungeon materials, and various samples, but the real aim was to test the anti-corrosive Mana alloy under repeated stress.

It passed perfectly, even when I deliberately hacked at a giant bug multiple times to push it to its limits. It not only resisted the effects of the smaller insects but also the giant ones', which had been far easier to deal with without worrying about the destruction of the weapons. It meant that I could slowly hack them to death using my sword and shield combo, the stronger enemy once again speeding up the growth of Stalwart Guard, finally passing the fifty proficiency mark.

My attempts to figure out the mana attack, on the other hand, didn't work as well.

A talk with Eleanor seemed to be necessary to push it to the limit as I had done with the hammer skill. But, that required an opportunity. Maybe after Maria had returned, during another dinner... Assuming, of course, they would continue to invite me.

However, even as I tested those advantages and made plans, I couldn't help but wonder about why the dungeons existed. More importantly, why were they so convenient? The biggest challenge the current dungeon provided was the corrosion effect, and it had all the materials needed to solve that.

And, the recipe it required was conveniently included in a Rare skill, a classification that was supposed to be easy to attain for other classes according to Maria's ramblings, mentioning categories such as Legendary casually.

"Maybe I should keep a lid on this anti-corrosive material a bit," I decided. My success was making me a little nervous. It wasn't always good to be too successful.

Ironically, that immediately changed my plans in an interesting way. While I hadn't promised Eleanor that I could invent anti-corrosive material and openly warned her that it might fail, I was very much aware that she took that as a certainty.

Meaning, I needed to preemptively counter any loss of goodwill she might get from it. The most obvious way … improving my abilities with the sword.

"A little trip upstairs is in order," I said even as I cut the trip a little short, even suppressing the temptation to test the shells I took from the giant monsters. It was frustrating because I was looking forward to discovering the differences between the two, curious whether there were any differences other than their mana density.

I wanted to change the carts and get more metal, and not just because I wanted to prepare for the future. No, I wanted to forge swords of different shapes and sizes and see if they would work. At the same time, as I climbed up, I was examining the Sharpness enchantment on the sword, wondering if it would give me a clue.

The mana blow from the forging was more like a thick, confusing web that reminded me of a complicated knitting pattern, but the details were a mystery.

Mana was essentially still a black box for me.

As I climbed up, I tried to channel the Mana discharge in multiple thin lines, trying to replicate sharpness enchantment in some way.

I refilled my mana almost ten times during the long trip between the third floor and the first floor, only to fail at every single attempt. It didn't even give me a new skill point in anything. Not even in Meditation.

It was the flip side of forcing skills to grow unnaturally. There was no easy benefit to be gained from the routine activities.

"I'm so lucky that I don't have to ration my Mana," I muttered even as I arrived at my broken cart, and filled it with mostly random garbage. I dragged it out of its hiding spot, dragging it back to the main area.

"Hey," I said as I waved at a familiar guard.

"It looks like your trip has been a little unlucky," he said.

"Unfortunately," I replied even as a couple of workers arrived to pack them to be delivered to the town. Another service I could use for a limited time. "Why don't I get a new cart for the second trip."

"Sure, but I can't waive the penalty," he said. "It doesn't matter that you brought the cart back. You still need to pay five silver."

"Doesn't matter," I said as I looked around, only to notice a stall nearby. "What's that?" I asked.

"A few people trying to sell the skills they got from the dungeon. A total ripoff," he said.

"Well, it's better than going back to town," I replied. "Is there anything useful?"

"Maybe if you want to change your sword style for more efficient hunting, but I don't think a Common skill is worth it," he said as he pointed at my bulky shield. It wasn't as big as the tower shield I forged, but it was still big.

"No. It's not like I'm going to spend my days killing monsters. I'm here to laze around and watch others make money for me."

"That's the dream," the guard replied. However, even as we chatted, I went to the skill rack. Everything they were trying to sell was common and basic. Understandable. While I was able to get uncommon skills, I had to kill a lot of monsters at the same time for it.

However, it did give me a sad confirmation. I wasn't able to learn anything above basic when it came to magic skills. The lack of Intelligence stumped me once more. I still spent ten silver there, purchasing one of every skill.

Including one that I had been trying to get all day.

[Skill Stone: Fire Bolt (Basic)]