The particles of the mana core began to fall apart the moment that I unlocked the chain formation that kept them tied together. At first, I didn’t notice any differences, but soon the particles began to fall on each other and then their shape started to get clearer. They assumed a liquid shape.

  ‘I considered that this might break them apart, but I guess I was wrong… this is energy in raw form. It won’t be destroyed, only transformed.’

  Still, the process takes too long… I could unlock each particle with my dexterity and microscope, but that was a waste of time to do it myself. I had to automate the procedure. For now, this knowledge was enough. Pursuing it further wouldn’t help me that much, at least in the short term. With that in mind, I put that aside and then began to draw the scrolls with Chrono Surge.

  It was just an example to make me understand the whole process, but man, it took a long time to make it… even though the cost was that high, it was still insane to think that it cost me one hour to make it and a lot more mana than I would have used by activating the skill itself.

  After the first scroll, I just began to write down the whole thing in my notebook using common ink. Little by little, I improved the design and decreased the size as well. My precision improved thanks to my increased dexterity, but only to the point where the normal scroll was one meter long and wide, and lost around thirty percent of its size. There were too many symbols on it that I couldn’t decrease in size without some assistance from the microscope.

  ‘I guess I need more precision tools… and make a workshop that doesn’t shake too much.’

  Perhaps making one amulet that I could hide under my cloak would be enough… I didn’t need a tone to fit the palm of my hand for now. I just needed one that could make the skill level up faster. Then again, making it level up with amulets would require mana cores, and I was already using them to make the wagon move faster. I guessed that it would be better to make a base close to a dungeon where I can get a lot of these daily.

  For the next three days, I dedicated myself entirely to perfecting the amulet. Every detail, every engraving, and every adjustment was made with focus. The blowtorch proved invaluable, and by the end of the process, I was satisfied with the result. It could fit on my torso and it was thin enough to not stand out.

  Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any trouble during that time. The journey was smooth, with the wagon covering miles of snowy terrain without incident. It gave me the peace of mind to focus completely on my work. I assumed we could maintain this steady pace, heading straight for Felyndor without any interruptions. However, just as I was considering how close we might be, Roswald stopped me.

  “Wait. We can’t just keep going straight.”

  “Why not?”

  “Look ahead.”

  I was too busy with my work to notice any chances in the scenario. When I checked the entrance of the vehicle, I could see some pretty scary looking mountains… They were quite pointy and even from a distance I could see that climbing them with the wagon would be difficult. A single mistake and the wagon would roll down to the base of the mountain.

  “What is that?”

  “The central part of the harpies territory is a massive mountain range that extends for who knows how long. There are a bunch of labyrinths there and since the harpies don’t control them, they should be filled with monsters and wild animals.”

  “What kind of monsters?”

  “Are you really interested in it? Don’t tell me that you want to explore it?”

  “Not now, but it would be a good idea to know what is there and head there when I have the chance.”

  The constant issues in my journey made me realize that I had to start planning my daily schedule with much more caution. My time was becoming a precious resource, stretched thin between crafting, fighting, and survival. However, the most important concern was Alissandra.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  I had almost given up on finding someone to take care of her, at least someone trustworthy enough. Leaving her with strangers wasn’t an option I could consider. That left only one solution: I had to raise her myself, at least for a while, until she could live independently.

  It wasn’t just about keeping her alive. I needed to train her to defend herself as well. The world was unforgiving, and if something ever happened to me, she would need to be prepared. Balancing my own growth to ensure her survival would be no easy feat.

  Alissandra had potential, but she was still just a child. I had to nurture that spark without overwhelming her. From now on, I would have to divide my days carefully: a portion for training, another for crafting and research, and the rest for making sure she was safe and learning what she needed to learn.

  ‘I guess more or less ten years and that will be enough… it is a bit rough to expect that a ten years old kid can fend for herself, but with the right education, it shouldn’t be a problem. In any case, among all the things that I wasn’t expecting to have to worry about in my life, this probably is at the very top.’

  “Uuuuuuhhhh.”

  It seemed that Alissandra noticed my thoughts somehow… I had no idea if she had psychic powers, but maybe she had the potential, given that she already had some powerful classes at her age. In any case, I had to be extra careful with encounters now in order to avoid putting her in danger.

  “If we can’t head in a straight line, where are we going?”

  “We would have to head south at some point anyway. It doesn’t matter that much if it is now. The only problem is that we will have to cross the northern parts of the dwarven territory.”

  That again, huh? Well, we should be able to avoid the war since Roswald had a map, and he studied it now and then. Actually, he had a bunch of them, from several countries. I had to take a peek at them and copy them when I had the chance.

  In any case, now that I was done with the amulets, I decided to make some magic bags of high quality. I had already processed the materials, so only the execution was what needed to be done. Aside from stitching the entrance of the bag with caution, I didn’t know what I could do to improve the quality of the magic bags. Or even the enchantments… It is said that the most famous adventurers only had their enchantments up to the Expert level.

  ‘I shouldn’t think too much about this… I should just make some at the adept level and then start the crafting process of my new bow.’

  As I continued working on the magic bags, I considered the enchantment slots more carefully. I could add more magic storage slots, which would be convenient, but that would come with its own set of problems. In case of an emergency, it would be difficult to get the items I needed quickly if I added too much storage space. Plus, the enchantment materials I had on hand weren’t unlimited, and I didn’t want to risk wasting them with damage in combat.

  Instead, I considered a more practical approach: self-repair. If I used the remaining slots to enchant the bag with a self-repairing ability, it would make the item much more durable in the long run. A magic bag that could mend itself over time would be invaluable, especially on long journeys where wear and tear were inevitable.

  With that in mind, I placed the self-repair enchantment into one of the slots and then carefully set to work on the others. It would take time, but I was confident it would be worth it. I could always make adjustments later, but for now, this was the most efficient use of the enchantment slots.

  I did some experiments, using the mana cores of higher quality and then the smaller ones, but they all came at this rank. Well, at least they were three times better than the previous ones. Now my ability to carry stuff has increased as much… time to resume hunting giant monsters.

  ‘Well now… about the bow… it is time to finally make one at the Mythic level. There is no point in keeping cutting corners by combining them. That helped, but I need to improve their creation as well.’

  “At this rate, we’ll reach Felyndor in three days,”

  Three days wasn’t much time, and I probably shouldn’t rush something as difficult as crafting a Mythic-level bow. Precision was key, and hastily putting it together would only lead to wasted materials and effort. Still, I could use the time to prepare all the tools I’d need for the process.

  For now, I gathered what I had. My toolkit was organized, but a few key items were still missing. I would need to create more specialized precision tools, ones that could handle the fine detailing required for a bow of this caliber.

  With the wagon still rolling steadily through the snowy landscape, I worked on crafting those tools. The steady pace of our journey allowed me to focus entirely on shaping, sharpening, and fine-tuning each instrument. By the time we reached Felyndor, I would have everything ready to begin.