Two days have passed since Kazuki started training on his [Scribe Mastery] and so far, he has made some decent progress. And this is during the last few days of our school before the winter break along with the amount of homework for us to finish. I’ve also made some progress on my end as I’ve managed to learn some cool blacksmithing techniques from Ol' Wally in the game to make some unique arrowheads for some new arrows. I know I’m not interested in this stuff, but I won't lie that I wasn’t having fun learning more about the world of blacksmithing from Wallaby. Still, we only have about one-and-a-half weeks so we can not only get our revenge on those smug ants, but we might be able to unlock the secrets of Kazu's mysterious book.

Eventually, another class has gone by and I'm hoping I can pick Kazuki up on time so we can continue our training. But then, I feel someone grabbing my shoulder and I turn to see Zac and Damon glaring at me with the widest frowns I have ever seen. Then again, I might have deserved those death glares along with a day of silent treatment considering I kind of abandoned them to take that dreaded library [Quest] that day. Regardless, I sigh in dismay that they're still mad at me.

"Look, I get that you're still angry at me. But please don't beat a dead horse. I already said I'm sorry!"

"You better be. Thanks to that [Quest], I can never see words in any paper or book ever again!"

Geez, Zac? Isn't that a bit exaggerated? Sure, I also suffered, but I survived regardless.

"As much as I want to criticize Zac's dramatics, it has left me with a bit of trouble sleeping from that librarian's demeanor," Damon says. "Action speaks louder than words, Palmer. If you want to make it up to us, then I suggest you start by helping us get some new gear for the dungeon and invite us to your house before your brother's birthday. It's Zac's idea, though."

Fair point. I can do Arthur's sword, but Razul's? I think that might be Kazuki or Star's department. As for the invite, I'll see if my parents will approve of it.

"I understand. Just give me some materials for them and I'll see what I can do."

"Great! That makes me feel better. Oh! And speaking of birthdays..."

Zac starts to rummage around in his bag as Damon and I watch him in confusion. But when he takes something out, I gasp in shock at what I see.

"Z-Zac, i-is that..." I start.

"Hehe... Surprised? You can do anything with the power of express delivery!" Zac declares. "Don't worry, your Dad paid it through a bank transfer once we found it. Of course, I had to send it to my house with my Jungle account."

Good move, Dad! Kazuki can be a little too curious for his own good. For his past five birthdays in a row, he has managed to find every hiding spot we know whenever we order something online for him and it was so bad that we’ve had to resort to delivering in Zac or Damon's house as a last resort. And considering this will be the biggest birthday gift we'll ever give to him, it's imperative we need to be extra careful this year.

"Nice! I'll inform Dad that it arrived. Just keep it with you until Kaz’s birthday and you can give it to me before the party. And of course..."

"I get it. I'll make sure not to mess up the gift wrapping this time. You do realize you have to pay for the wrapping. You did suggest this beforehand."

"Yeah. For now, I'll pick him up alone while you guys head home immediately. We'll meet back in [Isekai] once we do."

"10-4, Captain Hayate."

We leave the school afterward and as discussed, we split up as planned.

A few hours later, Kazuki and I are back home and we finish dinner as usual. After that, we quickly log into the game and we head off to the where I let Kazu do his own thing upstairs while I continue working on my current project: the special arrowheads.

I’ve learned a lot from Wallaby's teachings for a couple of days now and thanks to him, I’ve learned some new smithing techniques that translate well into [Isekai]. So far, I’ve made a few ones I originally envisioned could counter the [Link Ants'] hard shell. One of them seems to be a bit... unusual.

[x7 Blunt Arrowheads]

[An iron arrowhead with its tip flattened.

Quality: 13]

[x4 Spiral Arrowheads]

[An iron arrowhead that was twisted into a spiral.

Quality: 14]

[x6 Wide Arrowheads]

[An iron arrowhead with its tip flattened to create a widened blade.

Quality: 12]

Yeah, out of all of these, the [Wide Arrowheads] are not my forte. However, I am surprised that the [Blunt Arrowheads] are much heavier than I imagine. I don't know how it might affect the weight of both the arrows and the bow. But at least I’ve made some progress and it's one step away from turning them into proper arrows. So right now, my focus today is to use [Woodcrafting] not only on the arrows but to try making a new bow to compliment the changes in my gear. Arthur and Razul are still hunting back in the for some materials I need for the latter, so I'll focus on the arrows first.

[x20 Pine Sticks]

[Sticks made from a pine tree log. It can be used to create several items, most notably a wand or an arrow.]

[x30 Gale Feathers]

[Feathers plucked from a [Gale Eagle]. It retains strange mana that gives keen accuracy and sharp blades when thrown like a knife.]

According to Azel, the feathers seem to go well when creating some high-quality arrows. I don't know if I can even replicate the flavor text's claims, but we did work our asses off on killing a bunch of [Gate Eagles] in our hunting sessions. Regardless, I decided to start working with what I got.

First, I carefully cut a few pieces of the feather to act as fletchings to the arrows, their stabilizers when they were shot from the bow. Then I glue them on the end of the stick and wrap the end of the feathers with a black string. I then affix the other end with the [Spiral Arrowhead] and slowly hammer it down to position. Once I make a finishing touch on the nock, my very first handmade arrow is complete!

[Spiral Arrow]

[A special arrow with its head forged into a spiral-like drill. With its ergonomic design, it can pierce through the hardest shell and armor it can hit.

Creator:

Effects: [Pierce], +10 ATK

Quality: 14]

Huh, not bad. Not bad at all. The quality is 14, though. So there's room for improvement despite the simplicity of constructing it. In any case, I then start crafting other arrows with the arrowheads I forged so far.

[Wide Arrow]

[A special arrow with its head's tip widened. It exchanges range with accuracy, perfect or close-quarters combat.

Creator:

Effects: [Slow Velocity], +10 Accuracy

Quality: 15]

[Blunt Arrow]

[A special arrow with its head's tip flattened into a cube-like shape. It exchanges accuracy with brute force, perfect for breaking through an insect's shells or metallic armor.

Creator:

Effects: [Defense Break], +10 ATK, -10 Accuracy

Quality: 13]

Okay, I take that back. The [Wide Arrow] is a small improvement, but I can't say the same for the [Blunt Arrow]. I don't know why, but it may have something to do with the weight of its arrowhead, something that I can feel when picking it up from the table. If so, I might have a new problem in my hands. Sure, oak is a hardwood. But in terms of impact, there is a chance it might not hit hard as I thought. So I may need to change up some things with this arrow.

First, I head to the blacksmithing area and start forging on a small iron rod. After that, I start building a new arrow out of it with the same procedure as before, only I have to use other means to secure the fletching and arrowhead down on the rod. Once I make the final touches, I take a closer look at my new creation.

[Blunt Steel Arrow]

[A special steel arrow with its head's tip flattened into a cube-like shape. It exchanges accuracy with brute force, perfect for breaking through an insect's shells or metallic armor. While it is more effective than its wooden counterpart, this type of arrow may not be compatible with wooden bows.

Creator:

Effects: [Defense Break], +20 ATK, -10 Accuracy

Quality: 15]

I knew it. Even with its weight, this one seems a bit more balanced than the last one. Although, it does create another problem, namely that it cannot be used with my usual bow. Then again, I am planning to build a new bow soon. Maybe it's a sign that I might try making it through [Blacksmithing]? If so, what kind of bow should I build?

I did some research on the different kinds of bows yesterday in preparation for this day. A longbow is out of the picture for me as its size alone can be a bit too cumbersome when it comes to travels and some stealthy takedowns. Flatbows are also not for me for the same reasons and reflex bows are too complicated for me to master. Heck, most of them are hard to master since I'm basically self-taught when it comes to archery.

Now that I think about it, there is one type of bow that I watched from a TikTok video. This archer from it used a strange bow with pulleys and mechanisms so he could do some sick trick shots. I think he called it a compound bow and it makes me wonder: if I can bring a vending machine into this fantasy world, why not a compound bow too?

However, there are some issues that I want to discuss first...

"I see. So you're planning to use [Blacksmithing] to build a compound bow, huh." Wallaby hums as he puts down his hammer after I ask him about it. "It is possible to consider how you pulled off some craziness with that vending machine. But I'm a blacksmith, not a mechanic. I may give you some parts to build it, but I'm afraid you have to find someone else outside the guild to do some complicated stuff on it."

I sigh in dismay. To be honest, I expected him to give me that answer, but it's still a disappointment. "It's okay. As you said, I built a vending machine based on what I know from some books and videos. I think I can manage with a bow with pulleys and other stuff built into it. Though I don't know if my [Mastery Level] might not be enough for me to build and assemble them."

"Still, are you sure you want to build a compound bow? I don't know you might be ready to wield a complicated weapon like that. Then again, I have never seen anyone using it."

"It won't hurt to try, though. It's not going to replace my usual style since I'm planning to build a new wooden bow for my arrows. And I know if it's hard to build, but I barely learned how to shoot arrows from the internet and in the training hall for three hours and yet, I managed to kill a bear and a huge hidden boss with my friends' help. Anything impossible can happen if I put my mind to it."

Yeah, it's a bit of a risky viewpoint. But if there's anything I’ve learned from Kazu, it’s that I can't give up and must try the impossible even if it kills me. Okay, it might not apply to real life sometimes, but it can be my first step to changing myself for the future.

Heck, I think Wallaby got an idea from this as he shares a big genuine grin with me. "Wise words, kid. Okay, I'll see what I can do with the parts. However, the main problem lies with the mechanisms behind it."

"Is there a [Mastery] revolves around it?"

"Sort of, but you don't really need it. Your vending machine proves that point. However, when it comes to real-life, I don't know if I'm a perfect man for the job..."

"Then maybe I should give someone I know a call."

My eyes widen as I turn around and see Arthur and Razul right beside us.

"He's not much of a mechanic, but he is good with projectile-based weapons," Razul suggested.

"Plus, he's also the one who referred Razul's brother to the game," Arthur added. "If he can maintain a crazy weapon like his guns, then he might try building a steel bow."

Seriously?! And more importantly, Arthur said Razul knew this guy. Don't tell me...

"He's not much of a genius on bows, but I think he'll know the mechanisms of it from inside to outside. He should be available by tomorrow," Razul said. "And if you like, I can log off for a little while to learn more about the compound bow's inner workings."

"In that case, then we should get started on the parts right now. I'm counting on you, guys."

"No problem! Consider it as our nice gift despite you left us alone with those exam papers."

Tch... Seriously...?! I want to shut him up, but they just quickly left before I can do anything.

"By the way, Wind, how is your brother?" Wallaby asked as I turned to see him. "I noticed he seemed to be busy with something."

"Yeah. His encounter with that new guild member rattle him a bit and he's trying to level up some of his [Masteries] to try making a new weapon."

"A new weapon, huh? I'm guessing he's not building another magic staff of sorts."

"Yeah. I gave him the go-ahead. But all I want for Christmas right now is for him to not make things explode again."

It's a bit of an exaggerated promise, but knowing him, I have to prepare for the unexpected and that includes Kazu’s explosions. For now, all I can do is to pray that his hard work will pay off. I hope...

Wind's Masteries

[Archery] Level 19

[Woodcrafting] Level 10

[Swordsmanship] Level 18

[Cooking] Level 9

[Wind] Level 16

[Physical Enhancement] Level 17

[Hunting] Level 15

[Blacksmithing] Level 10

Kazu's Masteries

[Arcana] Level 20

[Thunder] Level 18

[Wind] Level 15

[Alchemy] Level 18

[Magecrafting] Level 11

[Magical Affinity] Level 19

[Scribe] Level 14