Chapter 149: Chapter 156: New Bow.

Airsidh was an archery prodigy, the absolute best at everything that had to do with bows, of course, that included making them. Well, at least that was what I heard about him from the guards while I was growing up. For some reason though, he stopped making them. The family's income took a massive hit, and his reputation for being eccentric only grew from then on. “Let's see what kind of bow the famous master makes for me after coming out of retirement.” I teased feeling a smile creep across my face.

He lifted his free hand to his face and took his time rubbing it to try and shake off his weariness. Even if his expression posture and speech were all perfect, I didn’t doubt he was tired. “I never retired from making bows, I just don’t make them for people I don’t like… Which happens to be most everyone capable of using the kind I like to make…”

“Oh right, what was the bet the crafters made?”

“Don’t worry about it, one thing at a time.”

We made it out of the stables and into the dojo, quickly opening the wall to shoot down range and setting up for practice. “Why are you dressed for combat?”

“I need to teach someone a lesson. One win doesn’t make you better than your opponent.”

‘So Lu finally won? And now he’s taking her more seriously. Good for her.’ “When you were in the stables it looked like you were–”

“As one of your teachers, I’m going to give you some advice. The more thoughts in your head, the harder it will be to focus, and the harder it is to focus the higher your chances of dying in a dungeon. Keep your mind clear and your senses sharp… It’s best to start practicing that now. If you do want to focus on something, then make that the only thought you have, don’t let your mind run wild.”

“Ok… But my question was based off an observation, which means I was focused right?”

“To an extent, you aren’t wrong I suppose… Ok, what color was the snow between here and the stables.”

‘Uh… what?’ “It was white, snow is always white.”

“It was black from all the mud. When I was in the stables, what were you going to say it looked like I was doing.”

Suddenly everything he said felt like a trick question, making me nervous when I answered. “You were getting your horse ready… I thought maybe you were going to hunt monsters now that Mom needs rest.”

“Except that’s Catherine’s job, and if you were really paying attention you would have noticed I was getting mom's horse ready, not mine. The problem isn’t that you can’t focus, but when you get stressed you tend to have a hard time focusing on anything past what’s right in front of you. It’s like you turn off half of your brain and tune everything else out. If you were anyone else I wouldn’t expect you to notice things like that, but you're not.”

‘Or… I’m just color blind and tired…’ “Isn’t it fine to try and manage my stress like that? Who cares if I tune things out for a while to relax more until we leave.”

“First off, you're not managing it, you hiding and ignoring it. And yes, it’s bad, because you will always default to what you practice, so if you ever run into stress, or in other words exist in a dungeon for any period of time, you will behave the same.”

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“So I have tunnel vision…”

“Just make sure you aren’t narrowing your focus to leave things out, otherwise you might accidentally leave something important out, and that could be fatal.”

It almost felt like he was talking in circles, his words not formulating a proper singular argument. Moving on, I turned back to the case and lifted the hatch to finally get a good look at my… bow. It almost looked more like I was looking at a spider's web. Intricate strings wove back and forth connecting at least six interchangeable parts “Airsidh… What am I looking at?”

He squatted down next to me, pointing at various sections of the design. “Bows are hard to manage properly during combat, much less alternate between using one and a sword. This one shouldn’t have that problem though. Here, look. “He picked it up and assembled it for me. “Depending on how you put the pieces together, it can be a pointed staff, a war bow, a sheath for your sword, or even a small hunting bow.”

“But like, it shoots arrows, right?”

“Let’s see, well, for now just stay still for a moment.” He said, grabbing the handle and moving it over my scabbard, tightening the other pieces together with it until it formed a second sheet around the blade. “I think this is right, so now if you just check this quick, tighten this down, make sure the pressure is locked, and then.” I heard a sharp almost mechanical noise as the bow’s handle snapped up into my hand, but the rest of it remained around the sword’s sheath.

“This thing… Is a bow right?”

“No that’s not right, hold on a second.”

“It’s not?”

I heard another sharp noise as its limbs suddenly snapped up and took the shape of a proper bow.

“Of course it is, you asked for a bow, didn’t you? One that could shoot a greatsword from its limbs and knock out an ogre without cracking.”

“Uhm… But like, it does shoot arrows right?”

He pulled an arrow from a quiver nearby and handed it to me. “Knock one, but don’t draw yet.”

I did as he said, and he continued to inspect the bow. “Right, so in order to adjust the tension you have two methods. For fine-tuning, you can use these latches to tighten the limbs and increase tension on the bow slightly. Just do this, and this, finally this, and this way to make it harder, this way to make it easier.”

I felt like my brain was about to explode. I understood well enough in theory, but… “What happens if I don’t do it right?”

“Then the bow will probably come apart and leave you without a weapon until you put it back together. You shouldn’t be trying to fine-tune the draw weight mid-fight anyway though.”

I went through the steps in my mind and then tried to do them the way he explained. “So, lock this in place, unlock this, move this, and lock everything back… Done?”

“Yea, now do the other side too so it’s balanced.”

After doing it, it seemed a lot simpler than I originally thought, so that was a relief at least, but I was still almost too nervous to actually shoot it.

“The second handle out in front here, using it will change your draw length in case you do need an easier draw mid-fight. The wood we used is unique in that, when you stretch it it has two… Let's call them sticking points. If you power through the first one the power increases dramatically, the second one is basically just a dead stop though, you won’t be able to power through it. We tuned the bow so that drawing from the handle in front will take you to that first point, and drawing from the main handle will take you past it.”

“Ok…” I couldn’t say I understood any of the Science behind it, or even necessarily what he was saying, but “Use the second handle to make it easier,” wasn’t that hard to understand.

‘My own bow…’ I ran my fingers across the limbs, feeling a strange warmth from the smooth wood. It fit my hand perfectly and felt like it was carved with every crease in my palm in mind. The long limbs were engraved with dragons, and my name was etched in on one side. In the center of each limb, there were bright fire Opals ‘The family jewel…’ It almost felt like the bow they had made for me, was more valuable than I was…

“How do I put it back around the sword?”

“It’ll only change shape if there’s no tension on the bowstring, so twist that lever to let the pressure out, and then snap your wrist down.”

I heard the sound of pressure releasing from somewhere in the bazaar contraption and then quickly snapped my wrist. The upper half of the bow instantly folded down and snapped to my scabbard like a magnet. Then the other side followed. “And how do I bring it back?”

“Tighten the lever, hit the button,”

‘They can design something like this, and yet we don’t have running water? There's no way this thing is purely mechanical.’ “It’s not magic, is it? You know I’m trying to not be suspicious right?”

He leaned over and checked it one last time to make sure it jumped into place properly. “No, not magic, dwarven rune smithing was used though. It’s like… I guess it would be more like, he brought your weapon to life. It’s closer to a living creature or plant than it would be to an enchanted weapon.”

“So… It’s magic…” I muttered, but he just ignored me. ‘I mean, as long as it’s ok by their standards it’s fine with me… But it feels pretty cheap to somehow not classify this as magical.