It took around six hours, but eventually, I completed the crossbow. It was in front of me in three separate parts. The base, the shooting part, and the firing system.

The base looked like a bracelet that easily could be equipped in my left hand. The shooting part I had to attach above it and then rotate it a bit to be perfectly connected to the base and then the firing system was connected to the back of the shooting part. I also had to rotate it a bit to be perfectly connected, but mounting the crossbow didn't take even twenty seconds.

It was a bit heavy, even though bones weren't supposed to be that heavy. Still, it was perfect since I could hide inside the thick sleeves of a cloak.

Freeze Hand Crossbow (Rare)

Enchantment Slots: Windy - Increases the attack speed and flying speed of projectiles by thirty percent.

Windy - Increases the attack speed and flying speed of projectiles by thirty percent.

Bonus Effects: Eagle Eye - Provides an increase in range and accuracy of 20%, allowing the archer to shoot from great distances with little penalty.

Silencer: Makes your bolts fly without making any sound.

The base was sturdy featuring a slight curvature for better ergonomics. Its surface was smooth. At the back, there’s a place for the forearm stock, designed for comfort during aiming and shooting. There was a small compartment underneath that housed spare bolts.

The shooting part was sleek and aerodynamic. The arms of the crossbow extend outward in a graceful arc, holding a taut string that glimmers in the light. The bowstring was thick and appeared remarkably strong, ready to deliver bolts with impressive force. A set of notches along the arms indicated different settings for power adjustment, allowing for versatility in shooting range and impact.

The firing system featured a compact trigger mechanism housed in a polished casing. A sturdy trigger and tensioning device connect to the shooting part, ensuring precise control. The trigger was ergonomically designed for quick response, with an adjustable safety latch to prevent accidental firing. Integrated lenses sit atop the firing system, providing a clear line of sight for accurate aiming. I had those in reserve since I also had a scope.

Each part was enchanted separately with two effects to make the whole thing become as powerful as possible. Even the base had a cylindrical path that connected to the firing system and shooting parts. All the enchantments were of the wind type and they all worked together to make the projectiles fly faster and in complete silence.

The shooting part also had three slots for bolts, so three of them could be fired at the same time or separately. I was planning to add another part to make the firing system reload faster with common bolts, but that could wait. We wasted too much time here.

“Sorry for the wait, we can proceed now.”

“You haven't eaten yet, are you going to keep fighting on an empty stomach.”

“... I guess you have a point.”

It was already night and the debuffs of my race had vanished. But it was better to eat something just to be sure since I was planning to keep advancing for a while. Fortunately, enchantments could work in a lot of things… I added a flame enchantment on a pot and then the water inside would eventually bubble. I could add the water enchantment in the same pot and then make water appear slowly… since the enchantments couldn't be stopped, the pot wouldn't last for more than a day. I have enough pots, though.

Although we had to ration the food until we cleared the last section of the dungeon, Nimir finished his meal and then kept looking at his empty bowl, so I made a bit more. I was confident in my new weapon, so it was fine. If the worst comes to the worst, we can always eat the lesser ice salamanders.

“... I am sorry.”

“It is fine. Adventurers can save on a lot of things, but we can't save on food since it is basically our fuel.”

I watched Nimir eating his second portion. He wasn't skinny, but it felt like his stomach wasn't supposed to be that big. Regardless, eating a lot never made him slow in battle, and thanks to his senses, we saved a lot of time looking for mana cores, so he deserved that much at least. Thanks to that, I considered working with him for a while longer, he had the skills for him to carry his own weight, but I didn't want to join anyone and risk their lives when I already had so much on my plate.

Regardless, I noticed that his bangs were getting in his eyes. That wasn't a real problem since he depended on other senses and he kept them closed. Still, the other parts of his hair were already long. He kept them hidden all the time, though thanks to the cloak and hood. It wasn't really my place to tell him to cut unless something happened.

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While he was eating, the next lesser ice salamander emerged from the ice, but as soon as it was formed, it had its head pierced by my hand crossbow. I only used an ordinary bolt, the piercing power was more than enough… The bolt was destroyed, though.

“It will lose a bit of speed, but I should enchant some of them with the earth enchantment to make them more durable.”

I gathered the ice scales from the monsters and Nimir kept looking at me with his mouth hanging open. It seemed that he was a bit shocked by the fact that the monster didn't have time to do anything. It wasn't like Nimir himself had a hard time with them, but he still couldn't one-shot them like that.

“You are amazing…”

“I have my moments… I spent two years making bows, something of this level is to be expected from a person who did that. Work that hard and then you will be able to do the same.”

“When I have the chance, I will look for plants in the wild and try to make potions of them.”

“You do that.”

I didn't think that I was that amazing. I just used the knowledge that others didn't have. My real strength was average, the power that I was showing was produced thanks to my creations. That was still part of me, more or less, I just made sure that my skills were improved further with it.

Still, I was fine with that. I wanted to create a railgun for myself in order to see if any boss would be able to withstand it or if anyone would try to get me for whatever reason.

When we finished the meal, we began to move again. Our speed was pretty good since we could just skate on the ice. The monsters were killed with a single bolt as well, Nimir only had to get the ice scales and the mana cores.

While he was doing that, I had the idea of using bone bolts as well… they would last a lot longer. So soon I began to carve it out… the smell of blood and fat was pretty tiresome, though.

Reaching the third floor was pretty easy with our speed… we barely moved for three hours, but the next one we would have monsters in pairs, so it was better to rest for the night.

Since our clothes were enchanted, the cold wasn't really a problem, or the ice around us for that matter. Still, once again, Nimir was fidgeting instead of falling asleep.

“You can take my turn watching over the area if you want.”

“... All right.”

He looked a bit sad because of that. I didn't feel sorry since having someone sleeping on my lap was just too tiresome. In the end, I slept four hours first and then woke up to find Nimir getting a mana core from a lesser ice salamander. A bunch of them showed up while I was sleeping, but Nimir didn't make any noise during the fights and he also made sure the monsters wouldn't target me.

“All right, my turn.”

This time around, Nimir was tired enough to fall asleep almost immediately. Before the next monster could show up, I finished making the first bone bolt and as expected, it remained fine after piercing the head of the next monster. After using Identification, I confirmed that it could last for ten shots… when it was enchanted with earth magic, it could last for fifty. Without being used, it could last for a day only.

“I guess it is because of the element of the enchantment…”

Bones of earth monsters probably would last for long and the enchantment also would last for a while… In any case, it was pretty convenient to be an enchanter and use those weapons. Enchanting projectiles and missiles weren’t common unless they were of high-quality materials since they wouldn’t last for long otherwise.

When morning came, we soon resumed our exploration after breakfast. Just as expected, when we reached the third floor, we were attacked from two directions. One lesser ice salamander appeared in front and another one from behind. I quickly disposed of the one in the front.

After turning around, I saw Nimir blocking one ice dart and then slashing the other creature furiously to finish off before it could attack again. He did that since he imagined that the dart could hit me. In any case, the monster tried to bite him and slash its tail at him, but he avoided those with quick jumps and followed his attack.

‘Beastkin should be insanely strong with the multipliers of physical parameters. It suits them well…’

We ended the fight without any injuries, but Nimir looked unsatisfied… probably because he had to fight for a few seconds instead of finishing the creature instantly. Maybe I was putting the bar too high. Still, he was a beginner and his parameters could improve a lot on this run and he should confirm that eventually.

“Let’s get the ice scales and then move on.”

While we did that, I realized that I was lacking the enchantments that improve parameters. Those are quite handy, even more so when they are stacked in the hands of the people who haven’t unlocked most of the parameters. Still, people knew how those were good, so they also made sure to be difficult to find… in order to raise their price.

In any case, exploring the next two floors was relatively easy, aside from using a bit more time to fight, we didn’t have any real setbacks. Mapping those floors was easy too since there weren’t many dead ends. However, the fifth floor was ten kilometers long counting on the dead ends… the nineteenth one should be almost twenty kilometers long.

“I guess it is impossible for us to clear this dungeon in less than three days…”

“Do we have to?”

It looked like Nimir didn’t think that we could be ambushed inside the dungeon… I didn’t give him many details of the problem I faced the other time, after all. Or maybe he was considering the distance between us and the closest city in the Talimor kingdom.

“Since we are here to clear the dungeon, it is best if we do it as soon as possible… food will run out sooner or later.”

“That is a problem… what if we use our skills to do that for us? Help head in a straight line to the last part of the room?”

I considered that for a moment… I had the Explorer skill that could me with that, but it cost a ton of mana.

Pathfinding - Enhances your ability to find the best routes through unfamiliar or difficult terrain. This skill enables you to avoid natural hazards, reduce travel time, and discover shortcuts. It helps you when reading natural signs, understanding animal trails, and using environmental clues to determine the right direction toward your destination in mind. Cost: 50 mana.

While I was considering that further thanks to my extra mana regeneration, Nimir decided to trust his instincts. He began to skate on the ice and then we avoided some parts where the path split… in the end, we found the entrance of the sixth floor in no time.