The last piece of the "bear trap" locked into place, the socket closed around the piece and then the rest of the trap snapped into place, forming a shape that looks cylindrical when at rest, a spider web when armed, and wraps around the limb— taking its shape in the process. — once it's been activated.
Normally, the trap is supposed to have enchantments that turn the metal heavier and constantly heats it up after activation but I don't want to cook my own leg so I swapped them all for minor healing, a movement speed boost, and a durability increase.
Weaponizing my traps like this has always fascinated me because it shows just how useful my traps can really get. Using it for attacking is good and all but what if I trap healing magic and then release it when it's needed? What if I make a trap for pain so that I can keep someone from suffering while they're wounded?
Blueprints are coming to me as I list out ideas, none of them were impossible, only expensive. Making traps that kill doesn't show the full potential of my class, and that's a bit sad. Then again, I'm the one who's using it so the blame falls on me.
"Not that—" I groan as the heavy, cylindrical bear trap resists my attempts at carrying it to my leg. I arm the damn thing by pressing a button, then it slowly unfurls, expanding outward until it gets big enough to cover half the floor.
Going invisible is the logical next step but I removed that feature and replaced it with other enchantments.
"— it matters." I finish followed by a sigh of relief, I raise my leg and push it toward the center of the mechanical web, where the activation is.
Once my sole touched the circular trigger, the trap closes in. It was fast enough that I flinched. I also thought that it would chop off my leg. Fortunately, that didn't happen and the trap worked as intended: it wrapped around my leg, taking in its shape, and then activated all the enchantments I placed in it.
For a while now, standing up without my crutch has been impossible, now it's incredibly easy. I haven't done an x-ray on my leg— can I make a trap that specifically captures x rays? Blueprints say yes... — but I'm pretty sure that the bones in my leg have splintered into a million pieces.
I'm being hyperbolic, of course. Honestly though, with how painful it is, this might as well be the case.
Walking around with my new prosthetic was harder than I thought, it's also tedious if I wasn't wearing boots and the height difference between both feet would probably work my legs raw from exhaustion.
Overall though, this thing is pretty good! Being able to walk again makes all the other drawbacks from the prosthetic worth it, at least I can run again.
When my gear gets enchanted, it'd be even better.
Right now, the mundane clothes that I'm wearing aren't enough, settling with them is a compromise I had to make.
I clasp the hooks of my cloak and secure it on my neck, then I take my leave and go back to hunting the monsters roaming this forest. I also scout the area around the Warped on top of it.
The first thing I noticed while doing it is that the Warped doesn't come out unless I'm explicitly seen by it, like almost everything about it, the rest monster's senses are an unknown to me so I don't know if it can "see" me with its mind or if it can sniff me out or some bullshit like that.
No matter, my trap is going to be built faraway from here because I know I can just lead that stupid deer away from the tree.
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Or that's the plan at least, if it doesn't chase me after I take the cloak then that works too! Dismantling the trap is going to be annoying but it's better than wasting hundreds of monster cores in an attempt to kill a Warped.
"Can I even kill it?" The question comes out just as the monster's head pops out from the fog.
An involuntary gulp, swallowing nothing but air, goes down my throat as its eyes go over me. My dry throat further emphasized the pulse of my racing heart.
Just from its size, it's clear that nothing I can throw at it will be able to do damage, and that's not counting the level gap.
"Good thing that my traps aren't limited to levels then." Mist fogs my vision as I speak, I turn away from the Warped and walk out of its range fearlessly. "I just need to figure out a way to outrun you, you stupid deer."
Setting up the trap took me a few days, I had to build a new igloo just to keep up with my workload and I've been sleeping in it lately, I even carried the perpetual soup in my first igloo into it!
Chopping down trees, then thinning them out, and after that, enchanting them before finally making traps out of them would have been impossible if not for my boosted stats and overpowered passives.
Through the days, I've earned a few sub classes:
*Winter Worker
+15 Resistance
+Snow Vision
+Snow Molding
+Snow Building
-Frozen Damage
*Eskimo Hunter
+10 Physical
+5 Dexterity
+Snow Tracking
+Frozen Food Consumption
-Snow Visibility
*Enchanted Seamstress
+10 Magic
+5 Dexterity
+Sewing
+Enchanting
+Stitching
*Tundra Scavenger
+10 Resistance
+Heat Retention
+Winter Food Digestion
+Low Temperature Metabolism
Three of them are related to my work during winter and despite being an element specific sub class, don't have any negative drawbacks when exposed to hotter temperatures. Usually there are perks that provide benefits in winter while becoming drawbacks in summer.
My best guess is that this only applies to stronger classes, so I guess it will be a while before I get to see something like that. It's hard to feel excited about it though, I'd prefer not to have negative perks if I can help it.
Still, with the trap now done, I worked on my gear next. Practicing for so long has made it easier for me to give every piece of armor magical effects. I even made it so that they trap magic relentlessly to make the enchantments more powerful.
Unlike the trap, my gear took me two days to fully complete and with that, I now have a chest plate that protects me— I invested most of its enchantments for protection, now the barrier it produces goes over my entire body. — greaves that increase my dexterity while also being ultra durable, pants that enhance the other enchantments, and boots that increase my speed, run on water, and walk on walls.
The latter two effects for the boots are weak so running on water isn't perfect and there's a good chance I fall down instead of continuing to defy gravity. And yeah, the effects of my pants have already been accounted for, without it, I'm pretty sure my boots would just be useless.
What ifs aside, I'm now ready to try another attempt at taking the mender's cloak for myself.
Getting out of my temporary igloo, one of my legs still wrapped around the prosthetic that's keeping it functional, and my head covered by a thick winter cloak made me feel like some kind of war veteran who's about to fight the deadliest war of their career.
Not gonna lie, it's kind of badass.
And yeah, I'm aware that I'm the only one calling myself this.
"I'm going crazy." I breathe out as I raise my leather mask to my mouth, the next time I talk, mist no longer comes out of my mouth. "Just get on with it."
Words of encouragement or not, I would have forced myself to walk out and confront the Warped. Its size will be its biggest weakness in this fight and while reaching the tree will be difficult, once I'm inside, it won't be able to follow.
There is the possibility that it will break the tree while I'm inside of it but that probably won't happen, if the deer is obsessed with the cloak then it would have already broken into the tree when it had the chance.
So why didn't it? Well the answer is simple: It can't, whatever the reason behind that doesn't matter, only the fact that the deer can't break the tree.
Hell, if I want to, I might even be able to stay in the tree and rest for as long as I want. And I will do that, I need to be on my best physical self when I lead the Warped into my trap.
My footsteps turn eager as I think about the deer finally getting damaged by me. I've been preparing for this for so long and I can't wait to finally get my revenge on the damn thing.
And if I kill it? Then it's even better.
How many levels will I get from something like that? At least 15?
