Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

Chapter 103: A month of time! Caelus’s Plan and Blacksmith Profession’s advancement

Bzzt!

’Where am I?’ That was the first thought that pierced Caelus’s heavy head as his eyes snapped open.

He looked around, disoriented for a fraction of a second. He was currently in his own bed, safe inside his mansion. Then, just as quickly, he sat up straight, his chest heaving as he breathed heavily. The fragmented memories of what had just transpired came rushing back to him in a violent wave.

"Marco." Caelus’s expression turned ice-cold.

Indeed, he had been completely one-shotted by Marco Ashborn.

He still vividly remembered it: a ruthless fist that tore straight through his ribs. If not for Chairman Welt arriving in the nick of time, his only remaining option would have been to forcefully trigger his Undying Token, his last resort.

Just then, his phone on the side table lit up with a notification.

He opened it to find a secure voice message from Chairman Welt.

"It is me. The fact that you are reading this right now means that you have recovered well and woken up.

About the things that went on in the estate... do not worry too much about it right now.

You should have an inkling of what happened, but the High Constable of the Solaris Kingdom, someone with immense status in the royal family, came through with the Guild Master of the Black Lightning Guild, Victor, to aggressively appease the situation.

Lloyd Ashborn has been taken into custody. However, the same could not be said for the two brothers that attacked you. They were let off completely thanks to their sons being in the Royal Guards.

And at the same time, I feel like Lloyd Ashborn will not be behind bars for long. The Black Lightning Guild is heavily pulling strings with the High Constable to keep the Royal Court off their backs.

Caelus. I will try my absolute best to pressure the royal family. I have some connections.

Such blatant injustice... even I cannot turn a blind eye to it. They are clearly all working together to bury this.

In the meantime, I want you to focus entirely on the Origin Domain. That is the answer to all your current problems.

You have managed to reach the Bronze rank in just 14 days. That achievement... no one on the Azure origin planet has ever managed to do so.

At the same time, now that others know that you are at the Bronze rank, I want you to be extra careful. Be wise with your decisions and grow faster. That is the only way to dismember the Solaris Kingdom’s grip.

The Emperor of the Solaris Kingdom is a Gold I. I believe in you.

Go ahead and level up."

With that, the voice message cut out.

"Level up? Huh." Caelus nodded. "That was my original intention anyway."

Caelus smiled coldly.

From today’s situation, he thoroughly understood one absolute truth: there was no fundamental right or wrong in this world. Only the strong dictated the truth.

If he wanted to get the things he desired and protect what was his, he needed raw, undeniable power. He had some connections, but the Ashborn family had an even bigger, more corrupt network. The man who had almost killed him today still walked free, entirely unbothered by the laws or rules of the kingdom. In fact, he was probably sharing a laugh with that High Constable right now.

But in the end, it didn’t matter.

"I will reach Gold myself and put everything into its proper order."

Gold. That was one of the major, defining thresholds of this world. The majority of the powerful factions stopped at the Gold rank. If he wanted a definitive say here, he needed to reach that peak, and he planned on doing it soon. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"The Domain was open for 13 days, but for me, it has only been 7 days due to us going to the Middle Expanse prior to the planet’s ascension."

"It only took Sylvia and me 7 days to reach Bronze." Caelus grinned sharply.

A month.

He would reach Gold in a single month.

"There is no one faster than us in the Domain except a few chosen ones like Mia, who has a master heavily backing her."

"I will overthrow the Solaris Kingdom and the Black Lightning Guild in a month." Caelus’s mind burned with absolute determination.

He was never the type to just swallow an injustice. If not for his Mod: Golden Light, perhaps he would have actually died. Of course, he had the Undying Token, but he didn’t count on it; that item was heavily scaled for the Iron rank, not for Bronze. Its lifegiving effect would only be half as potent now.

Then, the bedroom door creaked open, and Sylvia rushed into the room, her face full of worry.

"You are awake!" Sylvia grabbed Caelus and pulled him into a tight, desperate hug.

"Are you all fine now?" Sylvia asked, her crimson eyes scanning him for lingering injuries.

"Of course. Who do you think I am?" Caelus chuckled softly, patting her back.

"Do not worry, Caelus," Sylvia spoke in a chilling, murderous tone. "I will not let the people that hurt you go unpunished."

"I have already contacted my brother. He said he will come down whenever he is free. He will right what is wrong."

"My brother is very strong. Even the Emperor of this kingdom has to bow his head before him."

"I do not doubt that," Caelus smiled. "However, Sylvia, you are forgetting something very important."

"What is that?" Sylvia asked, tilting her head innocently.

"Do you remember exactly how long it took us to reach Bronze?"

"Hm?" Sylvia thought for a moment, and then her eyes widened slightly. "Seven days?"

Even she herself was baffled when she said it out loud.

"Precisely. We reached Bronze in 7 days," Caelus grinned. "If we have the right resources, we will be able to reach Silver and Gold quickly without any trouble at all."

"We will take care of them ourselves. Though, of course, I wouldn’t mind your brother coming as well."

After that, they spoke a bit more to ease the tension. Soon after, Caelus made his way down to his personal forge. There were 4 more hours until the Domain opened again, and he planned on making full use of this downtime to grind his Blacksmith profession to Tier 2.

He swiftly bought a loader chip from the Global Trading Hub and loaded 20,000 Origin Credits onto it. He currently had over 50,000 in liquid capital, so 20,000 was an easy investment. He aggressively bought out shipments of Tier 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4 ores, which corresponded to Iron II, Iron III, and Bronze I respectively.

While waiting for the heavy crates of ore to be teleported in, he decided to clear out his inventory and sell the older weapons still lying around the forge. They were Iron I and Iron II gear.

Iron I Mythicals generally sold for 6,000 Origin Credits; he undercut the market and placed them on the intranet for 5,500 for a quick flip. The Iron II Legendaries he had crafted, he listed for 11,500 Origin Credits, just below the standard 12,000 market price.

While the sales ticked away, he pulled up his status window to review his massive gains.

[Name: Caelus Kross]

[Race: Chaos Perception Dragon (Locked)]

[Lifespan: 130 Years]

[Class: Ender Of Origin, Hollow Inferno Controller]

[Profession: Blacksmith (Tier 1: Iron II) (1,000/25,000 EXP), Engineer (Tier 1: Iron I) (2,000/25,000 EXP), Dungeon Master (Tier 1: Iron I) (0/25,000 EXP)]

[Aspect: Chaos Perception Eyes (Mythical, 2-Star), Soul-Rending Jaw (Rare, 2-Star), Chaos Dragon Brain Matrix (Mythical, 2-Star)]

[Talent: Endless Extraction (SSS-Rank), Body Enhancement (D-Rank), Dexterity (C-Rank), Fire Manipulation (D-Rank), Lightning Domain (Lower B-Rank), Charge (D-Rank), Weapon Light Barrage (D-Rank), Shadow Hand (D-Rank), Projection Frame (Upper A-Rank), First Generation: Spark Ignition (C-Rank), Tremor Authority (Middle B-Rank), Poison Application (E-Rank), Laser Manipulation (Lower B-Rank), Spirit Tether (Lower B-Rank), Matter Assimilation (C-Rank), Frost Monarch (Lower A-Rank), Thermal Vision (E-Rank), Camouflage (D-Rank), Hollow Flames (Upper B-Rank), Darkness Chain (Middle B-Rank)]

[Fighting Spirit: Ancient God Dragon (SS-Rank)]

[Traits: Telekinesis (Epic, 2-Star), Mental Requiem (Rare, 2-Star), Parallel Calculation (Epic, 2-Star), Fighting Spirit Projection (Epic, 2-Star), Holy Ignition (Mythical, 2-Star)]

[Mod: Golden Light]

[HP: 230/230 (Recovery: 5/min)]

[CA: 220/220]

[Mind: 220/220]

[Aura: 35/35 (Recovery: 5/min)]

[Rank: Bronze I]

[Aura Rank: Tier 10 (0/100)]

[Level: 1 (0/200)]

[Combat Score: 47.34 (Bronze I)]

[Affinity: D-Rank]

[Origin Credits: 33,832]

[Reputation: 65]

[Title: Rookie God (Passive Skill), Town Leader of Server 513, Harvester (Rare)]

[Skill: Blood Manipulation (Common, 2-Star), Lightning Singularity (Legendary, 2-Star), Lightning Trail (Common, 2-Star), Tremor (Rare, 2-Star), Thunderclap (Rare, 2-Star), Stream (Epic), Laser Shot (Rare, 2-Star), Point-Defense Grid (Epic, 2-Star), Aura Density, Glacial Prison (Epic, 2-Star), Icicle Spear Impalement (Epic, 2-Star), Holy Disintegration (Mythical, 2-Star).]

[Class Skills: Ender Passives (???,???), Hollow Inferno Tornado (Epic, 2-Star), Origin Reflection (Mythical, 2-Star), Inferno Point (Epic, 2-Star)]

[Profession Skills: Rainbow Light Forge (Tier 1: Iron II), Herb Gatherer (Tier 1: Iron I), Flash Patterning (Tier 1: Iron I), Golden Miner (Tier 1: Iron I)]

His status had risen significantly. His classes had upgraded to Ender of Origin and Hollow Inferno Controller, respectively. His HP, MP, and Mind power had each surged by 35 points: 5 from the Iron II and Iron III rank-ups, and a massive 25-point bump from crossing the major threshold into the Bronze rank.

Then there was the entirely new Trait section, the newly adjusted skills, and the dedicated section for his terrifying Fighting Spirit.

His status looked incredibly robust.

Soon, the heavy crates of unrefined ores materialized in the corner of his workshop. He began immediately with a batch of Tier 2 ore, as he was still bottlenecked at the Iron II rank of the Blacksmith profession.

His singular goal: Bronze I.

Without a second of hesitation, he threw the raw metal into the roaring Hollow Flames. The sheer heat of his new class skill melted the impurities away in record time. He pulled the glowing ingot out with his tongs, threw it onto the heavy anvil, and raised his hammer.

CLANG!

Rainbow light violently flickered across the superheated surface of the metal as Caelus’s hammer struck down. This was the essence of his Rainbow Light Forge skill. Nodes of concentrated light pulsed across the blade’s form, demanding precise, rhythmic strikes.

There was no time for waiting. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he fell into a trance of heat and steel.

He fiercely brought the hammer down, perfectly intercepting the dancing rainbow lights. The ringing of metal echoed through the mansion as system notifications chimed pleasantly in his mind.

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

Sparks flew like fireworks as he rapidly folded and shaped the metal. He could literally feel the structural integrity of the weapons elevating with every perfectly timed strike. Soon, a batch of brand new weapons was plunged into the quenching trough with a satisfying hiss.

[System: You have successfully forged a Dagger (Legendary, 1-Star) (Iron II).]

[+500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

[System: You have successfully forged a Magic Staff (Legendary, 1-Star) (Iron II).]

[+500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

[System: You have successfully forged a Dagger (Legendary, 1-Star) (Iron II).]

[+500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

[System: You have successfully forged a Magic Staff (Mythical, 1-Star) (Iron II).]

[+2,500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

He continued grinding, his muscles burning with exertion but his mind razor-sharp. The rhythm of the forge took over. Strike. Strike. Quench. Soon, he began reliably forging Mythical-grade weapons, but producing Mythicals at Iron II wasn’t his actual goal. He just needed the sheer volume of EXP.

[Blacksmith Rank: Tier 1: Iron II -> Tier 1: Iron III]

[Blacksmith Rank: Tier 1: Iron III (0/25,000 EXP)]

He breached the Iron III tier without pausing to wipe his brow. He swapped out the lower-grade materials for the tougher, denser Tier 3 ores. The metal fought back against his hammer, requiring more strength and even tighter precision to hit the fleeting Rainbow Light nodes.

Luckily he was a bronze player.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

[System: You have successfully forged a Bow (Legendary, 1-Star) (Iron III).]

[+500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

[System: You have successfully forged a Longsword (Legendary, 1-Star) (Iron III).]

[+500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

[System: You have successfully forged a Bow (Legendary, 1-Star) (Iron III).]

[+500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

[System: You have successfully forged a Longsword (Legendary, 1-Star) (Iron III).]

[+500 Blacksmith EXP]

[Granting True Name...]

Every time a finished weapon cooled, he didn’t even bother admiring the craftsmanship. He directly threw it onto the internet marketplace. He listed the highly sought-after Iron III Legendary weapons for 15,500 Origin Credits, a solid 500 credits below the standard market price.

Because of that slight discount, all the market flippers and desperate players waiting for prices to drop began rapidly buying out his entire stock the exact second they were listed.

His bank account, the one Chairman Welt had securely created for his player expenditures, was now practically overflowing with fresh cash, directly fueling his purchase of more materials to keep the forge burning.

He struck the anvil one last, echoing time. The final blade plunged into the water.

Soon...

[Ding!]

[Profession Rank Up!]

A warm, golden light erupted from Caelus’s body.

[Blacksmith Rank: Tier 1: Iron III -> Tier 2: Bronze I]

[Blacksmith Rank: Tier 2: Bronze I (0/25,000 EXP)]

He exhaled a long breath, staring at his hands. He had successfully reached the Bronze rank.