WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 70: Portable Crossbow

Ben pulled up the creation interface, his mind already working through the mechanics. His fingers moved, sketching the first outlines of the crossbow’s frame. He used Grimslate as the base material as it was the one he have the most.

The core structure came first. A reinforced grip, seamlessly wrapping around the Krell’s forearm, secured with the mushroom fiber. The trigger mechanism needed to be simple but reliable, allowing for rapid fire without requiring two hands.

Now came the hardest part—the trigger mechanism. Ben mused over the problem, recalling how similar weapons worked in the games he had played. Those had been spring-loaded, compact, designed for quick reloads. He needed something that allowed the Krell to fire efficiently with just one hand—no complex pulling, no wasted motion.

He tapped his fingers against his chin. A standard crossbow required a trigger pull—but the goal here is for the krell to be able to shoot while their hand is still free He needed a system that worked with their natural movements. ’On that game the character seem to make a specific motion everytime he want to shoot, maybe I can do the same?’

After some trial and error, he finally design a pressure-based release. A lever near the wrist that activated when the Krell flexed their hand in a specific motion. No need for a separate pull. Just a twitch of their muscle, and the bolt would fire. Ben Smirked, ’This can work, Now, for the reload mechanism."

A traditional string pull was out of the question. He needed something automatic. His eyes flicked back to the Ravager remains, then walked over, running his fingers along the protruding spines. They weren’t just sharp and flexible—they were designed to bend under stress and snap back with force. If he could integrate that property into the firing chamber, he could create a self-reloading mechanism. When fired, the natural elasticity of the spines would snap back into place, pulling the next bolt into position. "Let me see…" Ben yanked one of the spines from the remains and placed it into his creation system. With a few finger movements, he altered its form into a spring.

[You consumed 25 Mana to transform Savage Spines.]

A transparent spring materialized in his hand. Curious, Ben infused a bit of mana into it, wondering if it would glow. As expected, the moment he pushed mana into the spring, it began to glow brightly. He adjusted the flow, increasing and decreasing the mana input, watching the color shift in response. ’So this is how they communicate. It’s not a bioluminescent organ, but a reaction to mana input.’ Satisfied with the results, he stored the spring in his inventory.

Before returning to his crossbow, another thought crossed his mind. He pulled a white gemstone from his inventory and placed it into the creation screen. He had never tried altering it before, but now seemed like a good time. This wasn’t for him. It was for Elvira.

In combat, Ben barely used mana. When he did, the system consumed white gemstones directly from his inventory, allowing him to focus purely on fighting. But Elvira was different. She had to hold the gemstone, absorbing mana from it manually, which left one of her hands occupied. That was a liability.

Ben thought for a moment. ’A bracelet. Nothing fancy, just a simple design with a diamond-cut texture to improve grip.’

[It will cost 5,000 Mana. Do Host wish to proceed?]

"5,000?" Ben muttered. This time, he didn’t feel like the system was scamming him. It made sense. The gemstone naturally carried mana, meaning altering its form would require more energy. He confirmed the creation, then slipped the bracelet into his pocket. He’d give it to Elvira later to test. If it worked well, he’d make more.

With that done, he turned his focus back to the crossbow. His design so far required a Grimslate block and ingot for the frame, Purple Mushroom fiber for the bowstring, and the modified Ravager spine for the self-reloading mechanism. But there was still something missing—lubrication.

For the mechanism to work smoothly, he needed some kind of grease. Ben ran his fingers along the black blood still dripping from the Ravager remains. It had the thick consistency of oil, but lacked the natural slickness. ’This looks like crude oil, but it doesn’t have the right properties.’ He clicked his tongue. ’Well, not like crude oil alone would be good enough anyway.’

Pushing that problem aside for now, he assembled a test sample of the crossbow. The body came together exactly as he had designed. The spring mechanism fit perfectly, and the self-reloading function seemed solid. With everything in place, he handed it over to one of the Krell Tanks.

"Try shooting," Ben ordered.

The Krell locked its massive hand into the grip, flexed its wrist to activate the trigger—but nothing happened. Ben frowned. Something was wrong. He quickly took the crossbow back, scanning over the mechanism. It didn’t take long to find the issue. The spring was too tightly wound. When the Krell flexed its wrist, it didn’t generate enough force to properly release the bolt. ’Damn it, the tension’s off.’ He adjusted the spring’s coil width, reducing the tension slightly, then handed it back. "Try again."

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This time, the Krell flexed its wrist, and— THWANG!

A Grimslate bolt shot forward, slamming into the stone wall with a sharp crack. Ben smirked. "Much better." But then another problem surfaced. The reloading mechanism felt sluggish. The spring snapped back into place, but not as fast as it should have. Ben narrowed his eyes. ’Grease.’ He needed a proper lubricant to keep the parts moving smoothly. ’Damn, I need to figure this out before I mass-produce them. But the result is not bad.’

Still, there was one more thing he needed to test. Ben crossed his arms, glancing at the Krell Tank. "Shoot again, this time at your own arm."

The Krell didn’t hesitate. It raised the crossbow, aimed directly at its own forearm, and pulled the trigger.

THWANG!!!

The bolt struck dead center. Ben watched closely. The result? A faint scratch on the surface. A slight dent in the Armored Hide, but nothing more. Not even close to piercing through. Ben clicked his tongue. "Tsk. Not good enough."