I returned to my room before lunch and then planned a few things ahead. I decided to use my wooden bow first, but I also decided to make one using the bones of the boss Frost Lizard. If I focus enough and use the skills necessary, I could make it reach an Epic rarity rank. Having more than one spare weapon was never a bad thing. They also would last longer instead of just using one all the time.
While I was carving the bone bow, I wondered what would happen if I added the magic storage effect to it. It would be cool if I added it in a crossbow and made that reload it automatically… I wrote down that idea for later.
‘I can’t customize the enchantments that much, but it might be possible… imagine the faces of people seeing a crossbow that gets bolts out of nowhere. Well, I would have to stockpile a bunch of them inside such a space.’
Crafting those was a pain in the ass, crafting who knows how many of them would be even more annoying. Still, it was better than wasting time reloading in a pinch. Damage overtime that is constant is better than burst damage, in my opinion, since it is a lot less volatile and easier to control. It would also scare the enemy, since they wouldn’t know when the barrage would stop.
It would be nice if I could use that way with a bow as well. It would be even nicer if I could recover the arrows automatically as well. Like bonding the projectiles to the weapons… another idea that I decided to write down. I was on a roll for some reason… I had a lot of ideas while I was at home, but they were limited since my knowledge of the world was limited too and I had other things to consider.
Regardless, since I took my time carving the bone bow with all the skills possible, I only finished it late at night… still, it came better than I expected. I couldn’t help but smile.
You received 80 experience points.
Icicle Bone Bow (Epic)
Enchantment Slots: 03
Bonus effects: Eagle Eye - Provides an increase in range and accuracy of 20%, allowing the archer to shoot from great distances with little penalty.
Cold Hand - Improves the power and effects of ice-enchanted arrows by fifty percent.
Durability: 50/50
I nodded to myself in satisfaction. If soon enough, I would make a legendary now and wondered if they would have three bonus effects. It would be nice if that were the case. Regardless, while I had to do some tests, I was pretty sure I could make one Epic bow every day. Even without enchantments, they were probably worth one Aqua coin. Well, that was only the case because of the materials I had… I used the bones of the boss. I had to consider that a fluke unless I could do the same with the materials of ordinary monsters.
In any case, I added three ice effects to the bow. Now each arrow would decrease the movement speed of the target by thirty percent automatically. They could also ignore the same amount of defense for the targets. It will be useful against thick-skinned enemies. After that, I finally went to bed.
The next morning, I headed to the meeting spot where I found the kids. Fortunately, they were still there, and they were getting ready to leave. No one else was there. As expected, it is hard to start a party in a place like that, when a harder dungeon just emerged… maybe those three didn’t have that many friends that they could convince to become adventurers, even in a big city like that.
“We decided that you can come. Our appointment in the dungeon is in exactly one hour. Still, there are some things that you should be wary of.”
The hammer kid looked a bit more serious than before. He still looked annoyed, but he knew it better than staying angry at me all the time for no reason.
“Our goal is to reach the boss’ chamber and stay there until we defeat the first boss. There is a queue to do it as well, and we will have to stay there for as long as it is necessary.”
I nodded. That was convenient for me since I could get two battle classes in a single run. Still, a queue inside a dungeon… that wasn’t something I expected. No one could keep a certain order inside the dungeon when it comes to that kind of stuff. Some people might try to ignore it and that will end up in a fight.
“Second, you will be in the middle of our formation. Rebecca will be behind you. If you put one arrow in our backs, even by accident, she will get you next.”
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The girl kept her blank expression and then crossed an imaginary line in front of her neck with an arrow. The lack of expression made her gesture a lot less scary. In any case, he said the girl’s name, but it looked like he forgot to introduce himself and his friend.
“Let’s go.”
That was a new experience for me, so I decided to keep an open mind while following those guys. Even if I prefer to fly solo, it is a good idea to know enough about how other adventurers operate, even the newbie ones. Still, they forgot to determine some details about our cooperation. They were carrying some heavy backpacks, but staying for days in a dungeon like that, and we would be out of the room in no time.
“How are we going to split the rewards?”
“If you follow our strategy and don’t hurt us even by accident, then you will get one-fourth of the rewards.”
“What about the materials? Do you have a magic bag to store everything?”
“Of course not, we will only store the mana cores. The rest we will trade with the other adventurers.’
The hammer kid made me recall something that I read a while ago… Some adventurers stay for weeks in a dungeon and when they don’t have magic bags, they usually sell or trade their materials with others inside the dungeon. Naturally, they can’t obtain all the profit like that, but they can get more mana cores to increase their rank a bit faster.
I wondered if I should tell them about my magic bag… it was probably for the best since I would have to reveal it anyway if something happened. Still, that also could bring problems by itself.
“I have a magic bag with me. We can store quite a bit of materials if you want.”
I pointed to the magic bag that was on my right side but under my cloak. Those three looked at me with surprise since those were pretty expensive.
“I have saved money for a while and bought it recently.”
“For a while, huh?”
The hammer kid looked suspicious. For a while, it would mean that I had been working as an adventurer since I was ten. Even so, it was rare to see a silver-rank adventurer with a magic bag. I could tell that they assumed that I had stolen or taken from a body in a dungeon.
“All right, we can earn a bit more that way. More money for you, too.”
Some people would have tried to renegotiate their deals and make themselves more valuable and claim a bigger chunk of the gains, but the money that I could make in the first section of most dungeons paled if compared to the things I could make and enchant.
Regardless, we finally left the city and soon found ourselves surrounded by a lot of trees and greenery. Some people were heading in the same direction, some of them looked pretty serious and others were more relaxed while carrying some goods.
Dungeon diving or labyrinth exploring were profitable businesses, but they also consumed a lot of money. If one wanted to be as efficient as possible, one had to consider a bunch of things and invest a lot of money as well. It was a bit surprising how similar that was to a game… there were clans that were specialized in clearing new and extremely difficult dungeons, but they needed the support of smaller parts that made money and collected materials doing other kinds of jobs. That helped them save time and money as well… some people felt more satisfied doing that kind of support work than fighting monsters.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t understand the feeling of being fine in being part of a group like that. I recalled my high school days… I was part of a guild like that. We had a lot of videos on the internet clearing hard-difficulty raids and dungeons for the first time or in record time. I was more interested in looking for materials and crafting potions while my friends did the rest. I was fine with that since I only used the games to relax and I wasn’t that competitive.
Things couldn’t be like that in this world since my life and future were at stake, so I had to be more proactive and competitive as well. There was also the fact that my family didn’t give me much choice in the matter.
In any case, we eventually reached the dungeon and then found a small settlement there… Instead of a queue, we found people resting under the shade of a tree. A few moments later, a party was called by the heavily armored guards defending the dungeon, and soon they got inside.
We approached the guards and the hammer kid delivered to them a paper with the registration for the party to enter. They nodded and told us to wait until we were called.
We moved away and then I looked around… the entrance of the dungeon was at the base of the mountain. I didn’t see that from a distance, but the terrain around the entrance of the dungeon was drying up… that was common in fire dungeons, but it was still surprising given that there was snow pretty close to us. This area was supposed to be covered in snow if it weren’t for the elves.
‘Fire dungeons are more common close to volcanoes, but it doesn’t look like this is a volcano or has the potential to become one.’
The mountain seemed pretty ordinary, after all. In any case, I recalled what I knew about volcanoes on Earth, even though it might not make sense in this world. Volcanoes can exist in cold regions, but they are less common compared to warmer areas that lie along tectonic plate boundaries, such as the Pacific Ring of Fire. However, they do can exist in cold environments, particularly in places where tectonic activity coincides with cold climates, like Iceland, Alaska, and Antarctica.
There was still a chance that the mountain was a dormant volcano, but I couldn’t say for certain. Dormant volcanoes can be hard to find after they have been inactive for thousands of years because they show little to no outward signs of volcanic activity. Over time, natural processes and human activities can obscure or erode the features that distinguish a volcano, making it difficult to identify.
Over thousands of years, the forces of wind, rain, and ice can erode volcanic structures, making their shapes less distinct. Peaks that once had sharp volcanic cones may become rounded or flattened, and lava flows can be buried under sediment, making the landscape look like any other mountain or hill.
Dormant volcanoes in regions with lush vegetation may become overgrown with forests, grasslands, or other plant life. This vegetation can conceal volcanic features, especially craters and vents, making it difficult to recognize a volcano from visual inspection alone.
While I was thinking along those lines, I realized that there were no elves around. I wanted to think that I got lucky, but I knew it better than that.