We hurriedly went down the stairs, our hearts beating fast. The floor was already scary, but the sheer pressure the hobgoblin was excruciating added to the lot and made us scared to death. I turned to look at my companion and could see both of them trembling.
'Damn why is there such a monster already?'
From what I knew from 'Chilling Embers', such monsters shouldn't appear in the beginning. After all, we were still all beginners, so it didn't make sense to face such strong creatures.
[It is to test your worthiness. While the monster may be strong, you three can surely win the fight if you play your card well.]
'And how is that even possible, huh? The hobgoblin can kill us with a single swing of its arm.'
[It is not my place to advise you on a plan, but you should know that you and your companion have very peculiar abilities. Time is the strongest supportive ability, while telekinesis can be used in various ways. As for nanomancy, you're limiting yourself way too much and should let your imagination go wild. After all, humans managed to live until now thanks to their machinery.]
And with this last sentence, the system stopped talking to me.
Was I too straight in my way of thinking?
I didn't think so. I was sure that I as using my ability pretty well. Yet the system told me otherwise.
Or actually not, it just told me that I should be more creative, so it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm bad at using nanobots, just that I should be more open.
"A-august, what should we do?" Roselle asked me in a low, trembling voice, pulling me out of my thought.
"I took a deep breath to calm down my mind. Currently, I couldn't see a plausible way for us to win against such a monster. Even if there was another team of three, I wasn't confident about winning because not everyone adapted the same way. Our group was probably quite the anomaly.
"I-I don't t-think we will be able to fight i-it with our current level."
"Do you mean we should increase our levels first before challenging it?" I liked that Julius was quick to understand. It allowed me to not speak much.
"Yes," I nodded. "I-I know that it'll be h-hard to face more goblins, b-but we will o-only die if we were to face the hobgoblin l-like this."
"I see. Then should we part ways for it to be more efficient?" Roselle asked as she could still feel the pressure coming from above the stairs.
"N-no, we shouldn't play with our li..." I was about to say that it was a bad idea, but I suddenly thought of something. "Are you c-confident in y-your strength?" I asked, waiting for their answers.
They both looked at each other before nodding.
"I feel like I can do more if I were given the chance to. But I'm still a little scared to go alone." It was understandable. The fear of death wasn't something easy to overcome, nor was it something to overcome in the first place.
"I am confident I can hold my ground, but I'm still scared as well even though I was the one who propose to split up."
"T-then it's alright. We w-will still split up nevertheless."
They both looked at me with confused eyes. They clearly told me that they didn't really want to go alone, yet I was telling them that they will have to.
"D-don't worry. M-my nano-c-creatures will go with y-you. Please c-chose the one you w-want to t-take with you."
"Really?" Julius' eyes were shining. He looks happier than I thought.
"Are you sure, August?" Roselle asked. "Won't it be hard for you if you're alone?"
"I w-won't be alone. "I'll s-still have t-two creatures with m-me."
"Ah, that's right. I'm sorry"
"It's okay." I smiled and let them choose.
Unsurprisingly, their choice were those I thought of. Roselle took the nano-dog as she needed something that could hold the foes for a while, while Julius chose the nano-cat because he needed something that could follow up with his speed.
Once we were ready, we parted ways. We agreed to meet again in two hours. Until then, our priority was to kill as many ice-goblin as possible and to survive no matter the cost. If the enemies were too strong, then we needed to flee immediately.
Once I was alone, I hurriedly headed toward the empty room. It would be good to encounter some goblins, but it wasn't my priority.
As scientists, we most of the time followed a certain set of formulas. And those who created weapons followed blueprints. Very detailed blueprint. 'That's probably why I got the skill remembero when I chose my post back then. It allowed me to remember any blueprint I saw if I remember right.'
I entered the empty room and closed the door behind me. The room was dark, but I didn't need light to see what I wanted. I closed my eyes and focused on my ability, nanomancy. My body started to emit a faint green light, and I could feel the nanobots inside me awakening.
I opened my eyes, and the room was now visible to me, even in the darkness. I could see every single particle in the air and every small detail in the room. Nanobots were more useful than I thought.
I took a deep breath and started to search for something.
It took some time, but after rummaging through the room, I managed to find it. It was an old blueprint for a weapon, but it was different from the others I had seen before. The designs were intricate, and there were strange symbols that I couldn't understand. Then, after some more time, I find what it was. A weapon that changed the way people waged war in the early days of Earth.
Yes, it was a gun.
It looked like a gun. I didn't know its name, but the blueprint was enough for me to understand that it was a powerful gun.
And since I had a lot of magic power left thanks to my new items, I decided to make it. I didn't know if I could do it now as I never did such a thing, but I still tried nonetheless.
I took a closer look and tried to make sense of the blueprint. As I studied it, the nanobots in my body worked in unison, scanning the blueprint and recording every detail into my memory.
I focused my nanobots on the blueprint, and they started to replicate the design. The blueprint started to glow, and the symbols on it began to move and rearrange themselves.
In a matter of seconds, the blueprint transformed into a physical object. I reached out and grabbed the gun, feeling its weight in my hands.
It was a beautiful weapon, made of a strange metal that glowed with a soft blue light. The gun was decorated with intricate patterns and symbols that glowed with a faint green aura.
[The ice affinity has been added automatically]
"What?" I asked myself in surprise, and the system replied to me.
[As you stayed in the cold for a long time, your nanobots have adapted to this affinity. And since there aren't any other affinities set, the ice affinity has been automatically added.]
"I see, thank you."
Right at this moment, the door barged open. Three ice goblins came, and my praying mantis came in front of me to protect me.
'Let's see this gun's power.'