Chapter 2164: Chapter 2164

Originally, the power of Jenkins's [World Tree Seedling] was limited to controlling life force. But now, channeling the lightning, he suddenly realized that nature was more than just life, and the World Tree's strength was not confined to life alone.

A sliver of gold appeared within the lightning's flash. The golem, forced onto the defensive, collided with the electrified blade. When the smoke cleared, the golem's two heads were gone, and of its four arms, only the one still gripping the scimitar remained intact. The clothes covering its metal torso had been shredded into rags. With every step it took, residual electricity sparked across its body.

Jenkins himself was astonished by the force of that single strike, and he instantly regretted not having learned more abilities related to the natural elements. He had already used [Ice Solidification] in the lava-themed Mysterious Realm, and he had no other abilities that could actively generate elemental power.

In truth, abilities like Fireball and Wind Blade had been quite common in past eras. But in the modern age, a bullet could inflict the same kind of damage as a fireball. Consequently, contemporary Enchanters tended to favor abilities that bullets couldn't replicate, which was why basic elemental damage abilities had fallen out of fashion.

But having no ability didn't mean he had no other options. The golem itself was durable, and from the way it wielded its scimitar with one hand, it was likely a master of cold weapons. However, its elemental resistance, especially to the lightning he had just used, seemed remarkably low. So, as he watched the enemy slowly advance on him, Jenkins reached into his pocket with his left hand, pulled out two identical metal talismans, and placed them in the palm of his right hand before gripping his sword again.

This grip prevented direct skin contact with the hilt, but it allowed Jenkins to channel the power within the talismans into the blade upon activation.

The two talismans were lightning talismans, belonging to the same category as the explosive talismans he most frequently used. In fact, the creation process for both was nearly identical, differing only in the core materials and the runes inscribed upon them.

They were meant to be thrown to harm an enemy, but activating them in his own palm sent stray currents dancing across his skin, making Jenkins slightly uncomfortable. Yet the full activation of [Four Seasons] had nurtured the World Tree's growth, and the growing World Tree had, in turn, completed Jenkins's mastery over the forces of nature.

He walked forward to meet the golem. After a few dozen steps, they were both within striking range. His sparking sword lunged forward in a piercing thrust. The scimitar parried, but the lightning immediately snaked up the golem's arm.

The golem's movements faltered for an instant. That was all Jenkins needed. His sword broke through the scimitar's defense and plunged deep into the golem's chest.

Through his Eye of Reality, he saw the blade pierce the white, glowing energy core inside the golem's chest. The ring-shaped white light flared brightly, as if about to explode, then abruptly went dark.

The golem attempted one last, desperate struggle, lurching toward Jenkins and dropping its scimitar to grab for his neck. Jenkins stomped his foot hard on the ground, turned sideways, and met the charge with his shoulder, slamming into the golem's chest to evade its iron grasp. With both hands on the hilt, he twisted the blade violently, completely destroying the energy core.

The golem's movements slowed, and after a few seconds, it stopped completely, frozen in place like a metal statue.

Jenkins let out a long breath. He didn't look at the fiery red doorframe that was forming, but instead stopped to rest.

"Incredible. If I hadn't happened to find the golem's weakness, and if I were fighting a human of equal strength, I'm not sure I would have won."

He wasn't particularly accustomed to these kinds of direct, head-on battles where he couldn't rely on sneak attacks. His talent was undeniable, but he had only been an Enchanter for a year. There were many fundamental aspects he still hadn't fully grasped, let alone the skills needed to face a lifelong warrior in a straightforward fight.

"That was a second-difficulty enemy. The highest-difficulty enemies are probably going to be truly troublesome."

He couldn't substitute quantity for quality to reignite the dying furnace. Of course, the man in hunting gear before the forge had said that defeating two of the highest-difficulty enemies would be enough for Jenkins to leave the Mysterious Realm. In theory, Jenkins could use second-difficulty enemies to make up the numbers, but that would only fill the furnace halfway. He had to defeat at least one first-difficulty enemy.

Stepping through the doorframe, he returned from the town square to the front of the forge. This time, the flames blazed high enough to properly illuminate the surroundings. Considering the time it took for the forge to go out, the effective duration of this Mysterious Realm, and the size of the flames, the safest option now was to defeat two more second-difficulty enemies and one highest-difficulty enemy to pass this trial.

No matter what, he had to face a highest-difficulty enemy; there was no avoiding it. Therefore, Jenkins guessed that behind one of the three highest-difficulty doors, the power of a Beast of Calamity surely awaited. Even a Beast of Calamity had to abide by the rules within a Mysterious Realm, and if its power was presented as a challenge in this realm, it could attack Jenkins legitimately.

"I'll defeat the remaining two second-difficulty enemies first," he thought. "There's no need to choose two of the highest-difficulty ones."

Because the fire in the forge was now burning more vigorously, the man in hunting gear proposed a greater variety of ways to expend the flames.

The fire was remarkably versatile. The options included further enhancing his compass for more precise locating abilities, using the flames to heal wounds and dispel curses, using them to strengthen a specific weapon like his sword, or even consuming a large amount of fire to permanently enhance the challenger's body or convert it into pure spirit for a power boost.

Jenkins didn't need any of it. He was also worried that the flames, having been generated from the golem, might have been tampered with by the Difference Engine, so he declined the chance to try any of the tempting options.

"Tell me," he said, taking advantage of the two-minute rest period to continue his conversation with the man before the gate. "Are you the only one guarding this forge?"

The man grumbled his assent. "The work is simple. I'm all that's needed."

"Don't you get bored? I get it. You're helping it to gain your freedom."

This was an assumption based on his experiences in the previous Mysterious Realms.

"Bored? It's not boring at all. On the contrary, I quite job. So, no, I don't want to leave. Here, I am at my most free."

"Then why are you helping the Difference Engine?"

"If the Difference Engine is that steamy machine, then I cannot tell you the reason right now."

"Because my duties do not include answering that question."

Jenkins raised an eyebrow. "That way of answering questions seems to imply there's some secret between you and it."

"Savior, you should be concerned with yourself right now, not me." Follow current novels on novelFɪre.net

He nodded, selected the items he would need next from his pack, and once he was ready, used the compass to locate the second of the second-difficulty doorframes before stepping through it.

As he stepped through the door, his feet once again landed in water, which still came up just below his ankles. But this time, it wasn't a puddle. The ground was entirely water and mud, resembling a wetland or a swamp.

He was surrounded by low-lying plants that looked like reeds or wild grass, though Jenkins had never seen anything like them in any botanical guide. But that didn't matter. This was a purely natural environment. With every breath he took, Jenkins could feel the upper limit of his spirit increase by a minuscule amount.

After absorbing the power of [Four Seasons] to complete himself, as long as he was alive and in contact with nature, his strength would grow steadily. This only hardened his resolve not to let the "Land of Steel" that the Difference Engine dreamed of become the world's future.

The muddy ground was stained with blood. Following the trail, he found a body lying in a clump of reeds—he decided to just call them reeds. Looking farther ahead, more bodies lay scattered near the reeds, their weapons stuck diagonally in the soft mud, and their unrecognizable banners stained by the grimy water.

The numerous corpses were all clad in armor—and high-quality armor at that, the kind that could be displayed in a nobleman's collection after a bit of cleaning and repair. There were two distinct styles of armor, leading Jenkins to deduce that a war had recently broken out here, a clash between two elite forces that resulted in the current carnage.

"But what kind of power could possibly afford to issue standardized, full-plate metal armor to every single soldier?"

That was an incredible feat. After all, even with the industrial productivity of the 18th Epoch, soldiers charging into a hail of bullets couldn't hope for such "luxurious" equipment.

In Jenkins's view, a common soldier in the age of cold weapons was lucky to have a leather cuirass covering his vital organs. Standard-issue full-plate metal armor signified not only a military's combat effectiveness but also the productive power of its era.

Jenkins waded through the mud, pushed aside a clump of reeds, and knelt to tap the metal plate on a corpse, confirming it was no cheap imitation but a true instrument of war. Then he picked up a longsword lying nearby and found some inscriptions near the pommel.

"I don't recognize these at all. This is bad."

His complete lack of recognition meant this was likely an era before the 12th Epoch, making it impossible to guess what kind of abilities his opponent might possess.

He dropped the longsword and followed the trail of bodies, soon finding a "clearing" where the water was shallower and there were no reeds or weeds. Then, his mouth fell slightly open.

A black dragon, a wounded black dragon, lay in the muddy water. Its chest rose and fell with immense, labored breaths, and sparks flew from its nostrils with every exhale.

It was larger than the red dragon that resided in the Evergreen Forest. One of its eyes was blind, the eyelid bearing the mark of a sharp blade. The muddy water beneath it was already stained red, and he imagined there were more wounds hidden from his view.