I destroyed the ice on the boulders with ease and as I did that, the monster grew more annoyed. Eventually, it screeched so loudly that the room shook and I had to cover my ears. The plan was working, but not working well enough to completely stop the beast, we were only destroying the many legs that were supporting the power of that beast.
Some stalactites began to fall from the ceiling, and when I got ready to dodge them, Nimir showed up and slashed them away with his daggers.
“I could avoid them just fine, we can't stay in the same direction.”
“I will handle that thing attacks! Just destroy its sources of energy!”
It looked like Nimir had grown confident enough to disobey my orders and think by himself. I wondered if that was worthy of celebration since that showed that he got a bit more independent. In any case, his idea made sense.
I resumed my attacks and soon the monster began to fire more ice spears at us. Nimir used his daggers to block all of them completely… he was fast enough to block them, but each impact pushed him backward a bit. He was pretty light, after all.
‘The pain of each impact will dull his senses… the damage will accumulate as well and he won't be able to react in time soon enough.’
While I was thinking about that, I kept destroying the ice-covered boulders. Soon enough, most of the chamber was pretty clear and with a more open space. Still, I wondered if that was enough… I didn't know how much each boulder could restore the boss' mana, so I also didn't know when it would be enough to focus on the beast.
While I was worrying about that, I sensed the smell of blood and before long, I saw it dripping from Nimir's hands. Just as I had predicted… Some wounds were expected to happen when one faces bosses like that, but it didn't make me feel better thinking logically about it.
‘Fuck… guess I will go all out and worry later about being attacked inside the dungeon by assassins.’
I loaded my hand crossbow with three enchanted bone bolts, but before I could aim and fire them, the atmosphere suddenly changed. I got ready for the enemy to do something, but instead of that, it was Nimir who made a move.
Nimir dropped his knives and then his retracted claws got bigger… before long, he used them to slash ice spears and then the sound of glass shattering echoed in the area.
‘Wait, his arms’
Nimir's arms were covered in fur now, silver and red fur. He looked a bit bigger too. His movements were a lot sharper and more powerful. I could only see him from behind, but I could tell that he was able to transform. I considered that he couldn't since he was half-beatskin, but it looked like I was wrong.
The monster stopped attacking as if it was confused by Nimir’s transformation as well, and I used that chance to use my hand crossbow… the three bone bolts flew fast and then hit the monster’s face before it could react… a large blast of heat spread across the room and for a while, the cold vanished.
For a moment, Nimir stared at the smoke and mist ahead, but soon he charged before seeing the results… I quickly reloaded my hand crossbow and when I aimed again, I saw Nimir at the top of the head of the monster, trying to pull it off its head with his brute strength somehow. The monster’s neck was too thick, so that was impossible. Still, the beast was screeching in pain.
“Kill it!”
Most of the face of the beast was burned, so attacking the head a few more times would do the trick. Still, Nimir would be targeted as well and he still had a low amount of health. Even if the transformation made him a bit tougher…
I changed my mind about the hand crossbow and then used my hand cannon to fire some bullets at the monster. I fired five of them in a row, the impact made the beast shake, but soon it shook a lot more when the bullets began to shock the monster.
While the beast was suffering like that, Nimir suddenly raised his claws and then stabbed the wounded parts of the monster’s head… his claws pierced deeply and blood gushed from the wounds, it was quite the gruesome scene, but eventually, the monster stopped moving.
You received 600 experience points.
You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Smuggler, Bolt Crafter, and Actor.
You obtained the Bolt Crafter class.
You unlocked the Stamina Conservation parameter.
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You unlocked the Aptitude: Precision Engineering
You unlocked the skill: Enhanced Bolts.
You unlocked the skill: Elemental Infusion.
Precision Engineering - Gain bonus experience when crafting bolts. More experience is gained based on the quality and functionality of the bolts created.
Enhanced Bolts - Improve the performance and durability of the bolts you craft. This skill allows you to increase the range, accuracy, and penetration power of your bolts. Higher levels further improve the chance of creating exceptional quality bolts and reduce crafting time. Cost: 03 Mana per minute
Elemental Infusion: Infuse your bolts with elemental properties, such as fire, ice, or lightning with extra power. This skill increases your flexibility in combat, allowing you to craft specialized bolts that deal extra elemental damage. Cost: 10 Mana per bolt
I already knew what class I would pick, so I readily made my choice, and then I went to check Nimir’s condition. I kept my guard up since I had heard that some beastkin goes berserker when they transform, and that is common on their first attempt.
When I approached him, I noticed that his body had a lot of fur and his eyes were wilder than before, there was a certain fury in them. His ears and tail were more obvious to see as well. I frowned when I saw that the cloud in his eyes created by the Hex had vanished, but soon it returned when he began to calm down and those features weakened. Nimir fell on his butt, visibly exhausted.
“We did it…”
“Yeah… pick your class and rest for a while. Transforming consumed a lot of energy, right?”
“Yes, I am so hungry again… Ah, I didn’t notice it, but it looked like I could see when I transformed.”
I nodded. It seemed that the Hex was only powerful enough to hinder him maybe because of his human side. It was hard to be certain… In any case, while Nimir was resting, I decided to take the parts of the boss that we could use. The claws, teeth, ice scales, the limbs for the bones and leather… even with the magic bag, I couldn’t take more than that. In any case, Nimir pointed at where the mana core was. It was the size of a fist… a lot larger than the mana core of the golem I faced, even though both of them were supposed to be of the same rank.
We managed to win without suffering grave wounds, but Nimir’s hands were a bit hurt thanks to the ice shards of the ice spears… the items that he had would help him heal faster, though. For now, we completed the dungeon without suffering much damage, but things were starting to get harder... even with my knowledge, I could make things even only so much when the bosses were that strong... I had to prepare accordingly to the future.
“Let’s return, I will take care of the monsters until your hands are healed. By the way, do you think that you can transform again? It is better to know if you can count on it or not.”
“... I think I can. I recall the feeling.”
“What kind of feeling? Survival? Fear? Anger? All of them?”
“Yes, something like that.”
Those should be easy to control. I heard that anger powers the beastkin during their transformation quite a bit, but it is also prone to make them go berserk.
On the way back to that section, I kept my guard up since it would be the best moment for anyone to attack us. I finished off the lesser salamanders with a speed that surprised even myself. My focus was sky high, so even by myself, four lesser salamanders were disposed of almost instantly.
The next few hours passed rather fast since we moved pretty fast too… in no time, we reached the start of the second section and nothing happened aside from the fights.
“... Better not to think too much about this. I don’t want to jinx us. Anyway, let’s take a break here. You can rest first since I need to make some more bolts.”
“Okay.”
We didn’t stop aside from getting the ice scales on the way back. While my bolts could last for a while, I had already used too much of a bunch of them. While using my new skills and some of the bones of the lesser salamanders, I confirmed the effects of Precision Engineering.
You received 20 experience points.
I used mana during the whole process, but the next bolt came at a Rare rank too. It could get two enchantments. I couldn’t help but smile a bit… with two earth enchantments, it would last even longer.
“I guess one also needs to spend mana to earn mana…”
Even with my mana regeneration, I had to work for three hours to make three of those rare bolts. When I didn’t use Enhanced Bolts, they came at the uncommon rank. Those could be enchanted with the Flames enchantment in order to be disposable, though.
I used the mana cores that I had to enchant them, but despite their rarity rank, their enchantment rank was only on the Apprentice level. Perhaps if I had used the water or ice enchantment, things would have been different.
Speaking of which, water enchantments Deal more blunt or force damage when used offensively. It can also drench enemies, setting them up for follow-up attacks involving electricity or cold.
As for ice enchantments, they deal piercing or cold damage, with a focus on slowing or freezing targets. Ice-based attacks are especially effective against enemies susceptible to cold, but they may be less effective against creatures adapted to freezing environments.
After sleeping for five hours, Nimir woke up and then took my turn watching our surroundings. Only one lesser ice salamander was spawning around us, so it would be fine to relax for a bit. Still, while that was my plan, I kept wondering if we would be attacked by assassins. I tried to rest for three hours, but I barely slept for one.
“I have the feeling that your eyes must be starting to look bloodshot.”
“You are probably… Well, it will be fine once we leave the dungeon.”
Nimir had recovered completely, and he asked me to let him face the wood golem boss alone. He probably wanted to give me the chance to rest more… In any case, he was able to transform again and solo the creature. Still, when the fight was over, he looked even more exhausted than before since the transformation lasted for a bit longer.
“It looks like the boost consumes the same amount of energy as one hour worthy of moderate movement per minute. Maybe it will become more efficient, but that is something that you will have to work on by yourself.”
“...Yes.”
Nimir was breathing roughly while sitting on the ground. Despite being exhausted, he looked to be in a good mood. He was almost glistering… I could understand the feeling, being in charge of your own life was pretty good, after all.
In any case, we crossed the first section of the dungeon in no time as well, and nothing happened either. While frowning, we left the dungeon after an expedition that lasted four days in the dungeon.