Transmigrate to another world

Then I grab the tongs and use them to put an ingot in the forge and watch it heat up. Then I grab the blacksmith's hammer and place the ingot on the anvil and start trying to shape it.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.

- Congratulations, the Blacksmithing skill has advanced to level 3!

√ Blacksmithing

√ Level 3

- Strength +3 Fire resistance +3

- You can transform metal ores into raw items.

My first attempt fails miserably, but I manage to melt it down and turn it into an ingot and try again. My second attempt also fails, but I realize I'm not using enough steel, so I start over with two ingots. Next time I get closer, but I still don't succeed.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩

- Congratulations, the Blacksmithing skill has advanced to level 4!

√ Blacksmithing

√ Level 4

- Strength +4 Fire resistance +4

- You can transform metal ores into raw items.

Well, at least I'm learning how to shape it the way I want to, but I should probably take a break. I go back to camp to eat and then come back and sit on the stone bench and start reading.

It only takes me a couple of hours to finish Diary of an Archmage. Before I start on Magic Theory, I decide to do a meditation of the inner world.

Ruby thinks, "You know that book isn't his real diary right?"

"AHHH! Don't scare me like that!"

Ruby thinks, "Heh heh. It's not my fault you screamed like a little girl."

"No I didn't! And what do you mean it's not her diary?"

Ruby thinks "That book was edited and published by the empire, his real diary was always with him."

"Hmm... I'd love to read his real diary then!"

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩

- New mission available!

- Locate the Archmage

- Objective: Find the remains of the archmage 0/1.

- Reward: 5 stat points.

Do you wish to accept the mission? Y/N

"Yes. Wow! Just talking about it generated a mission to find his remains."

Ruby thinks, "A mission? What do you mean?"

I then tell her about the missions I've done so far and the rewards.

Ruby thinks, "That's weird, I've never heard of anything like that!"

"I have no idea how it works, I just know it works and so far it's been worth doing."

Ruby thinks, "Well, if you can find his remains, it will definitely be worth the effort. He was never going anywhere without his personal dimensional bag."

"Please tell me that's what I think it is - a bag that contains way more than it should?"

Ruby thinks, "Yes, that's exactly what it is!"

"Wow, a bag of containment! That's it, I'm not leaving here without finding its remains!"

Ruby thinks, "Aww, you're so cute, Master. Anyway, I'm going back to sleep now."

I blush and sit down to meditate, but it takes me much longer than usual to clear my mind. Once I finally do and sink into the inner world, I find a strange light that hasn't been here before. When I look at it, I find the cloud of light that is Ruby.

"What are you doing here?"

Ruby says "I don't know! I don't even know where this is! I was sleeping and suddenly I'm here!"

"This is my inner world meditation where I can work on improving my core."

Ruby says, "Oh! Maybe it's because my amulet is connected to your core?"

"Is it? I didn't know that!"

I look at my chest more closely and sure enough, I can see the amulet and the tiny threads that connect it to my core. Since they are much smaller than my mana channels, I suppose they can be called mana veins, and unlike my channels, which carry mana to my core, these allowed mana to pass from my core to the amulet.

"So, my core feeds mana to the amulet and converts it into spiritual power for you to recover?"

Ruby says, "Yes, as far as I know, that's how it works."

'Hmm, I wonder if I can create more mana veins to spread it all over my body.

But if I do that, I'll need more mana coming in, so I should widen my channels first. I start from my core and slowly begin to expand my mana channels. I do it slowly for fear of tearing them.

I often stop to thicken a channel wall if it seems thinner after widening it. I can only do it a little at a time, as I have to stop and meditate normally to regain my mana.

Whenever I work in my inner world, the little cloud of red light is always there beside me, close by and keeping me company, even if it says nothing. The only time I take a break is to go fishing, cooking and eating, and I spend more than a week doing this before all my mana channels open up.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.

- Congratulations, you've obtained the Mana Regeneration skill!

√ Mana regeneration

√ Level: 1

- You regenerate mana constantly. MP +5/Hour

'Yes! Now I can regain mana no matter what I'm doing!'

So I start creating streaks of mana bit by bit, and once I run out of mana, I practice smithing for hours while my mana slowly recovers. During the second day of this, I have my first success with smithing.

"ITEM CREATED"

√ Raw steel pick.

'No! Why is it so rude? After all that, this sucks!'

So I throw the rudimentary pickaxe into the forge to start over. I make a rudimentary pick twice more before regaining enough mana to create more mana streaks.

The first veins of mana that I complete go to my heart. Once the mana is flowing steadily to my heart, I find that I get much less tired and can go longer without resting. After feeling these effects, I decide to connect veins to all my organs first before worrying about the rest of my body.

Then I start connecting veins to my lungs, but I soon run out of mana and return to the smithy to wait for my mana to recover.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩

- Congratulations, the Meditation skill has advanced to level 10!

√ Meditation

√ Level 10 MAX

- Physical +10 Intelligence. +5 Enchanted. +5

- A skill for recovery. HP 50/hour MP 50/hour

"So level ten is the maximum? I guess that's good to know."

As I retry to make a pickaxe, I have to add another ingot, as each time I restart a bit of material is lost. I have to repeat this process several times over the next twelve hours as I reforge the pickaxe over and over again until I finally get it good enough.

"ITEM CREATED"

√ Steel beak.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩

- Congratulations, the Blacksmithing skill has advanced to level 5!

√ Blacksmithing

√ Level 5

- Strength +5 Fire resistance +5

- You can transform metal ores into useful items.

'Finally, it only took eight ingots!'

I carefully set the pickaxe aside, as I would have to make him a handle later. Then, as my mana was full, I returned to the inner world to create more mana veins for my lungs. Once my mana was depleted again, I got up and went back to camp to eat again before returning to work in the smithy.

Now I start working on making steel tool sets for my other crafts, I also want to make some woodworking tools to see if I can use them on the large mushrooms to make useful items.

Ruby thinks, "Why are you so dedicated to all these crafts?"

"Because since I can't level up, my best option for getting stronger are all the stat boosts I get from leveling up my skills. Besides, being able to craft what I need on my own will come in handy once I get out of here and am trapped in a hostile realm."

Ruby says, "Well, you're right there, from what you've told me, once you get out of here you'll have soldiers chasing you, right?"

"Heh, for all I know, I may have a whole army chasing me. What I do know is that this kingdom and its king are definitely on my enemies list."

Ruby thinks "Well, if they're your enemies then they're mine too, anyone who tries to hurt you will burn!"

"I want them to pay for what they did to me and I plan to fight them, but I don't want to obsess about revenge. I want to explore this world and experience all its wonders, not darken my heart with hate and revenge."

Ruby thinks, "Okay, I'll protect your heart for you!"

"Thank you, Ruby, I'm so glad I found you down here, otherwise I would have been lost by now."

As I walk back to the smithy, Ruby is really glad I can't see her face at that moment.