Apinsig
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Chapter 236 Homesteading in a fantasy world
🕑 Added 2023-06-12 16:24:16 +0000 UTCIt was finally time to start working on the longbow. It was nice to get back to the basics, at least for the start of the crafting. To split the long log in two, I needed to use my abilities to keep the tool from breaking and so it could actually cut through the log. My incredible strength made the job easier, but no normal human could ever even scratch this material.
Not every part of Iron Oak was under first rank, and this particular log was quite strong with excellent properties for a perfect bow. With the log split into two pieces, I put away one part as I would use some of it to make the compound bow.
What I was left with, I needed to split again and after that, it was time to start carving out the general shape. The shaping required a lot of energy. I needed to improve my tools so they would actually work, and I needed to keep up my other ability so I could see better where the bow was inside the wood.
After a full day of work, the general shape was done. It was at this point that the hard work really began. While I could continue to carve out the shape and eventually complete the bow, it would be quite wasteful. I was about to get access to the second-rank energy, so making a first-rank bow seemed meaningless.
To fix that, I purchased some special materials. If I could combine those materials using my abilities and then infuse them with the Iron Oak wood, there would be a possibility that it would be a second-rank weapon.
The concentration and energy required made my previous job look like a walk in the park. It took me three full days, after which it would need to cure for another two at least. By this time, I had gotten the shipment back from the butchers and after inspecting it, I was certain that this horn was good enough. It was actually quite excellent. After a quick sleep, I went back to the smithy so I could begin my work on the composite bow.
For that, I needed to cut out multiple different pieces of wood from different wood types. Unfortunately, they also needed to be imbued. Before I started, I also cut out the horn pieces that I needed. Done with that, I turned around and headed towards the corner of the smithy where I had cabinets and shelves full of unique materials. With the horn pieces in my hands, I started to examine the different materials to find if I had something that could make them even better.
I found a piece of copper that had flame elemental properties and it did seem to fit well with the horn, but unfortunately, it would mess up the overall function of the bow if I added the flame copper.
To my surprise, the answer didn’t lie in metals but instead in an interesting piece of clay. Now, while it wasn't a perfect boost, it would help get the piece of horn closer to rank two, which I was already grateful for.
What followed was two days of grueling work, but luckily there were fewer materials so I was able to finish faster. I left the compound bow pieces to cure while I checked up on the longbow. Already holding it felt powerful. It was already damn close to the 2nd rank, but there was still a lot of work left to be done.
Even before I continued to carve out the longbow, I went and picked up my first rank tool set as my regular tools would no longer work for this material. The only reason I wasn’t using them before was that it would be a waste to use tools beneath their station.
Once again, the work reminded me of the good old days as I couldn’t just bend the bow back with my hands. This made the progress slower, but I had a purpose-built bow testing rig against the smithy wall. The bow emerged from the wood easily. Well, perhaps "easily" is the wrong word as it was incredibly tough work, but the image I had of the bow and what the wood wanted me to carve was quite easy for me to see.
The bow was finally done, and I attached the bowstring. I had to wince a little bit. The bowstring was barely holding, but I was able to fix that temporarily by strengthening the bowstring with my energy. To pull this bow was a different ball game altogether. Giving myself all the boost I could and circulating my energy as fast as I could, I still wasn’t able to make a complete pull.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it was still good enough to test shooting an arrow. The target was destroyed on hit with the arrow. The impact almost sounded like when I was shooting the ballista. While the bowstring survived this shot, it would definitely not survive another one. Currently, I have no idea where to find a bowstring that would fit this bow, but eventually, I will find it.
It was hard not to smile as this was the most powerful weapon that I’ve created. It gave me a ridiculous amount of experience, but I was just shy of leveling up to 20. It also gave me 5 levels in bow making, bringing me up to 15.
An interesting thing that the testing did was allow my advanced body skill to reach level 40, giving me an ability called "Energy Skin". This was also the first skill that reached past the advanced rank, giving me my first master rank skill.
Now it was time to go back to the compound bow. Checking all the materials, they seemed to be cured properly, so it was time to start assembling the basic shape of the bow. Usually, glue was used to combine all the pieces, but I was going to use my abilities to achieve an even better result.
When I was done after a day of merging all the different pieces, the bow was no longer made from different pieces, but it was now a complete whole. Well, technically you could still see the different types of materials, but they were now bonded together so tightly that breaking them apart would be harder than just cutting through all the different materials.
After that, I took a break to sleep properly and also go to the village to give my lecture before returning so I could continue my work. The carving for the compound bow was interesting as without the string, it almost looks like it should shoot the other way around, but the tips of the bow will act like levers when the bowstring is put in place, giving a huge mechanical advantage which made shooting such a powerful bow possible.
I was less familiar with this type of bow, but I still had made a hundred back on Earth and I had also practiced making them here as well. Eventually, these bows would be given to mounted Legionnaires and possibly other military units as well. I have always been tempted to mimic the Mongol army style, but to reach the amount of horses we would need would take hundreds of years, if not more.
A few days later, when I was almost finished, it turned out to be an incredibly gorgeous-looking yet deadly weapon. While one of the reasons I wanted to make this bow was so I could level up, it wasn't the only reason.
Goose was constantly growing and eventually, I would be able to ride him. A longbow would not be able to be used while I was mounted, but this compound bow would be perfect. Do I know if that was going to be necessary? Absolutely not, but you can never be too certain. But honestly, it just sounded amazing.
There were a few days until my birthday, but it was close enough that I could finish this bow and level up. So with a few more final touches with my knife, I felt that the bow was finished and immediately notifications started to bring attention to themselves.
Opening the notifications, the first thing I saw was that my bow-making skill advanced another two levels, but more importantly, my renowned true archer class had leveled up to 20. This gave me triple the amount of stat points a regular level would give me, and that was already enough to bring me one point over the 1500 milestone.
I could already feel energy starting to gather, so I quickly looked through my notifications. I gained 25 free points which was amazing, but I also got an ability called "Imbued Bow". Currently, I didn’t have more time to think about it as I felt an intense energy starting to coalesce. I could feel that I gained access to a higher rank energy that started to flow into my body, upgrading it as it started to circulate.
The power felt so good, but to my surprise, I started to grow. It seems that my giant among men trait wasn't quite done with me yet. I had already grown to seven feet and four inches, but it seems that this wasn't enough.
Energy continued to strengthen my body and everything else that was me. This process took about half an hour, and when it was finished, I was completely spent. I was in a weakened state for about a minute before my body started to flood with strength.
My traits had acclimated to the changes and now started to bring me back to my peak. When I stood up, I felt a bit weird and I stumbled towards the measuring string. With the help of the string and the ruler, I found that I was now 8 feet tall.
I started to do my exercises, but to my relief, I had kept all my flexibility. I was so glad that all that work didn’t go down the drain. Now I was an 8-foot human with perfect proportions while still having my speed and flexibility.
Comments
Apinsig
I actually was not planning on making him any taller.
Bladehawk256
He's probably thinking, damn I remade all my clothes and armor for 7ft4 lmao Can't wait to see what people think when he's 10-12ft tall by the 5th tier!
