We headed to the boss chamber while following Vincent’s lead. Everyone looked pretty confident in his strength, so they treated that part of the agreement just as a minor action they had to do. Even without seeing his parameters, I was able to tell that he was strong. He didn’t have the same aura as Rayner, but it was the aura of someone who had fought a lot.
As for my part, I kept my hand crossbow ready to be used. I didn’t know many details about the final boss of the dungeon, but I knew that it was another Frost Lizard. One bigger and stronger, but I had the tools to take it down. They were electric and poison bolts. One of them would keep the beast locked in place and the other would keep wounding the beast until death.
The boss chamber was a bit larger than the previous one. It didn’t have any obstacles either. That surprised me since I figured that the Frost Lizard boss would be able to run around with ease. They were pretty fast, after all.
The boss was in the middle of the chamber, in a resting position and covered in frost, but soon the monster began to tremble as if it had awakened of a nap that lasted years. Before long, a powerful screeching sound echoed in the chamber.
The creature was four meters tall and its scales made it look like it was armored. They were thick and made of ice crystal or something similar. There were some spots that I could target, but they wouldn’t be easy to hit. They were the joints, and they were pretty thin, after all.
The beast charged with insane speed despite its size… it was at least fifty percent faster than the ordinary Frost Lizards. At the same time, it summoned and fired ice arrows in front of its mouth. Still, Vincent didn’t even flinch. He just walked toward the monster and blocked the attacks with his fists covered in chains.
‘Won’t he get frostbites with them? Hell, he should have already that by keeping it in this environment…’
The sound of ice arrows shattering echoed like rain in the area. Eventually, he and the boss were in front of each other and the creature slashed its claws at him with fury… Still, he blocked them with ease. When the beast impatiently went for full swing, Vincent stepped to the side and then avoided the claws of the monster and punched the face of the monster.
The monster took several steps backward, but soon a barrage of punches followed it… with each impact, more and more blood fell from the monster’s mouth. Vincent had a pair of bone knives, so I wondered why he didn’t use them. He was confident, but using them would be more efficient.
Eventually, the monster began to wobble around since its head was sent from one side to the other thanks to the punches. Thanks to that, Vincent had the chance to take his time preparing for his next attack. He raised his hands together and swung them down like a hammer and smashed the head of the monster.
‘Damn… and I was thinking that I had gotten strong. Compared to that, I am basically an insect.’
I felt a shiver run down my spine… if someone that strong could be enslaved, what would happen to me if I were caught? This world was no joke… if I were to ask someone what human rights were, they would ask me back if it was something that could be eaten… This world wasn’t a nice place for the weak and those who had to fight to protect themselves and to survive on a daily basis.
It was abundantly clear now that I needed a bit of a sense of urgency to become stronger. I had to head to this new dungeon to get as many combat classes as possible, and before, it became even harder to not stand out.
You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Weaponsmith, Cook, and Seer.
You obtained the Weaponsmith class.
You improved the Strength parameter.
You unlocked the Aptitude: Master of Blades
You unlocked the skill: Rapid Assembly.
You unlocked the skill: Weapon Bonding.
Master of Blades: Gain additional bonus experience when crafting and enhancing weapons based on the level of their quality.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
ACTIVE SKILLS: RAPID ASSEMBLY - SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASE THE TIME REQUIRED TO CRAFT WEAPONS WITHOUT COMPROMISING QUALITY. THIS SKILL ALLOWS YOU TO EFFICIENTLY ASSEMBLE WEAPONS, ENABLING YOU TO PRODUCE HIGH-QUALITY ITEMS QUICKLY, WHICH IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL DURING URGENT SITUATIONS OR HIGH-DEMAND SCENARIOS. COST: 10 MANA PER MINUTE
Weapon Bonding: Create a deep connection between a weapon and its wielder, enhancing the weapon's effectiveness based on the user's skills and abilities. This skill allows the weapon to respond better to the wielder’s commands, improving accuracy and damage output in combat. Cost: 40 Mana
The knowledge of the class and skills began to be absorbed by my brain. Soon enough, I confirmed everything I knew about it and a bit more… I obtained this class to improve my creations since I would start making things that would use harder materials as the base. That was why I only increased my strength recently.
In any case, it looked like Nimir was still adapting to his new class. Before long, he turned around and looked at me and Vincent before tilting his head…
“I can see your auras… it is a bit weird, though.”
“Can you see our movements?”
I approached and tried to pinch his nose, but he backed away. It was hard to say if that was his instincts or the skills working. Regardless, he didn’t look confused as much as puzzled.
“You are probably confused because of the difference in our auras. I am a beastkin and he is a half-human. Aside from that, you should be able to see that there aren’t many variations when it comes to reading our auras.”
Vincent had a point… aside from the shape of our auras, the nature of our bodies would make things a bit more challenging, but it was something he would have to get used to. In any case, I decided to dismantle the body of the monster and get the magic bag. Then Vincent approached to help.
“Do you intend to use these creature’s parts to make the weapons?”
“No, I want the leather to try to make a magic bag. I am going to give it to Nimir, so you guys would benefit from helping with that. The better the quality, the higher the chances of success.”
“... I think we have someone in the skinning class and the leatherwork class. Let’s leave the body to them.”
Vincent looked a bit surprised since not many people could create that kind of magic implement. I certainly didn’t look like someone who would have all the classes necessary. I only had the stubbornness necessary to try.
“Aren’t those expensive? Couldn’t you make a lot of money by selling a magic bag?”
Nimir looked a bit shocked by that fact. I could only shrug at his words. He had a point, though. Still, not everything in the world was about money. I only wanted money as long as it could help give me peace of mind to reach my goals.
“Consider a farewell gift. You have been a bit more useful than I had expected. Just a little. Don’t make this more awkward than it has to be.”
I stabbed slightly Nimir’s left side with my fingers when he started to make an emotional expression, just enough for him to groan a little. After that was done, then I would do my own things without worries. Then, I would have the chance to become stronger and go on a quest to dominate the world, then obtain all the power, and then use all the power to obtain even more power… what a wonderful life!
Putting such stupid thoughts aside. I decided to check my skills. First of all, I tried to use Weapon Bonding with my hand crossbow. The skill was activated and my mana was drained, but I didn’t notice any differences. Still, when I tried to aim, I noticed that my aim was steadier than usual and when I tried to change the bolts, I did it a bit faster than before as well.
“Very nice.”
While my mana regeneration wasn’t good enough to last that long, it was better than nothing. Besides, all the time bought would be welcome. It was better to level up the skill when the best moments arrived like this one as well.
Thanks to the new skill, I was able to finish things half a day faster. Even though I had estimated that I would need around thirty-six hours. I also enchanted all the weapons… that was good since if we stayed there for too long, people would assume that we died and they might come to check for loot.
“We finished the bags. We sped up the process a bit and skipped some steps, but soon they will be completely ready.”
The bags looked ready already… but pretty smelly. They were also white and blue thanks to the color of the boss. In any case, it looked like Vincent was counting the chickens before the eggs hatch. There were five bags of rare quality in front of me… I was planning to give Nimir one and another to Vincent for help, and then U would make other magic bags for myself to use or sell if the necessity arose.
“What are your plans once this is over?”
“Nimir said that there is only one guard left behind. We will knock them out and then head to the border to Talimor. From there, we will work with some people in the underworld to return home. I figure that one extra magic bag will help us pay for those services.”
“I see… I was thinking that I might need to give a hand, but I guess that won’t be necessary.”
“Don’t worry, Nimir will be in good hands. As for our plan, we will split into two groups, one that will draw their pursuers until the others cross the border. We can transform, so we can easily out pace them.”
I didn’t know if things would go that well, but it was something beyond my hands. I could only hope that it would be fine. In any case, I began to work on learning the enchantment of the magic bag. For starters, I began to focus as much as possible, until nothing was on my mind.
As soon as I activated Arcane Transference, I felt like something was pounding against my head… and from inside. No wonder I was trying to learn something way above my current skill level as an enchanter, after all.
Still, my focus allowed me to focus on the process and trying to understand the effects of the enchantment. Ten minutes later, I felt like I was about to faint… but at least the skill worked as intended.
You received 320 experience points.
It was an insane amount of experience, but it wasn’t surprising since I understand the basics of the effect. I understood that compressed mana could expand and create a magic space inside a magic bag… it was the only thing I learned in the process.
After recovering my mana, I used the skill once more on another bag… mine was only on the uncommon rank, so I decided to use the new ones. In the end, I did that countless times over the course of a full day… I even fainted a couple of times and blood began to fall from my nose. As expected, I was overtaxing my brain with all that knowledge, but little by little I was learning how it worked…