While Ryan never built anything as big as a ballista, he knew more or less what he should do. Essentially, they were just massive crossbows, after all. Besides, Ryan felt better doing something practical, just thinking of a crazy strategy to defeat the bosses while keeping his head in the right place.

"Are you sure this is going to be fine?" Femradiel asked. "You just have two more weeks before the fifth dungeon break… you are betting a lot on this time-consuming plan."

"You don't have to worry about it," Ryan said. "As you can see, I am the type who does many insane things, but I already lost a hand before trying to face an enemy stronger than me, and I learned something thanks to that."

"Which is?" Femradiel asked.

"Preparation is the key," Ryan replied. "Humans are naturally weak, so we need some external help to defeat certain types of foes. Potions won't help me this time; summoned monsters won't be of any use as well. So, this is the best solution I can think of."

Ryan was transforming earth into steel and then creating the first ballista parts he wanted to make. Since he wasn't a designer and he didn't have a blueprint, he ended up making a lot of mistakes, but little by little, his prototype was getting in shape.

"How do you plan to reload this in the middle of a fight?" Femradiel asked.

"I will think about that mechanism once the prototype is complete and I ran some tests," Ryan said. "Hopefully, you will see something pretty interesting even with the tests."

Once Ryan got the hang of the proportions of his weapon, things proceeded fairly fast. He just had to make sure the ballista would fire powerful projectiles and not break while it was at it, after all. The last problem Ryan had to deal with was how to make a malleable string. In the end, he somehow succeeded in making some flexible steel strings. Since he put several of them together, Ryan was confident that it wouldn't break easily. Even better, Ryan had a pleasant surprise when he finished the weapon.

Steel Ballista

Effect: Capable of creating powerful massive bolts that can pierce even steel walls.

Dexterity + 250

Cost: 150 mana per bolt

Durability: 300/300

"What the heck," Ryan frowned in shock. "Why did it turn like a proper item of the system?

"What were you expecting?" Femradiel asked. "You made everything with such care that it is obvious that it would become an item. As for the other times you failed, it was probably because the quality of the items was questionable."

That explanation seemed a bit off. If that were the case, why the weapons he created still could become magic items when he used Seal? Maybe the skill forcefully transformed Ryan's items into magic items… Now that he thought about it, he never cared about proportion or the balance of the items he created in the past.

"Well… let's see this bad boy in action," Ryan smirked.

Moving a weapon like that would be highly impractical, but Ryan didn't have to do much since he had created the ballista underground. Ryan opened the path to outside again and levitated the weapon with Telekinesis. The weapon was hidden within the storm. It was even behind the perimeters he had set with the battle machines. However, not even that was a problem. Ryan knew perfectly where his target would be.

After adjusting the aim, Ryan held the trigger, but instead of pushing it, he activated Power Shot. Femradiel understood what he was planning… while it wasn't a bad idea, it was clear that it wasn't a weapon that had enough firepower by its own to kill in one shot the bosses. Ryan will have to attack with Power Shot many times… to defeat all of them, and there is the chance that he might be find out.

After charging Power Shot for a full minute, Ryan pulled the level and fired the gigantic bolt. The projectile flew so fast that the hissing sound made Ryan dizzy for a moment. Not only that, the bolt opened a hole in the storm that made Ryan see its trajectory. Not that had been necessary.

You obtained 30.000 coins.

The ice crystal hit by Ryan's attack didn't even have the chance to react. The projectile hit it right in the middle, breaking the creature into pieces while at the same time, the massive steel bolt bent quite a lot to the left side.

In a hurry, Ryan returned to the hole and took the ballista with him. At the same time, he covered the place with dirt and snow. It didn't take long for Ryan to feel the monsters thanks to his Radar, but they never found him underground. Probably because they didn't have proper tracking skills, and the snow of the ice was so rich in mana that it worked like a magic barrier for Ryan.

"Perfect, this might take a while, but I certainly decrease by a lot the amount of time I will use to deal with them," Ryan said.

"Are you satisfied with that?" Femradiel asked. "You would feel much prouder of yourself if you fight them using your main crossbow."

"I am already proud as I am," Ryan said. "I can't let my feelings control my actions all that much. That is why I decided to compromise and use a weapon like this. I reached an outcome that I wanted, and I also found a way to help this continent more efficiently."

Ryan could understand why Femradiel seemed unsatisfied or uninterested in such a method to defeat certain foes. Still, it was only because she was a dragon, a being who was born with massive power and vitality. Ryan knew what being weak was, so he would never let his pride get in his way. Not at again, at least…

Regardless, while the monsters were looking for Ryan, he began to work on the creation of his second ballista. He could use Power Shot and use two of them at the same time, so there was no reason as to why he should kill two bosses at the same time.