Chapter 191

Chapter 192. The Fundamentals of Archery (2)

The first thing placed on the table was a set of sticks of varying sizes and lengths.

At first glance, it was hard to tell what they were for, but to the archers Keter and Taragon, it was immediately clear.

“Is this… a bow and arrow?”

The thicker stick had wings that folded inward, resembling a bow, while the thin, long stick had a pointed tip at the bottom and feathers at the top.

As Taragon’s eyes sparkled and he reached out to touch what he assumed was the bow, Vulkanus slapped the back of his hand.

“Hey, you brat! I told you not to touch it!”

“Ouch! It’s not like it’ll wear out if I touch it!”

“You look like you’d jinx it, so just look with your eyes.”

“You always pick on me…”

As Taragon grumbled and stepped back, Vulkanus cleared his throat and picked up the folded bow.

“With eyes like yours, you should be able to tell, but this is a bow. However, it’s far more portable than a traditional bow. It’s not just made to fold. There’s a groove in the center so that when folded, the wings fit perfectly. Here, compared to a regular bow, the difference in volume is obvious.”

Vulkanus placed a regular bow next to it for comparison. Side by side, the difference in volume was nearly double.

“You could carry this in your pocket,” Taragon remarked.

Vulkanus frowned at his comment.

“Easy for you to say when you’re not the one making it. Keter, you understand, right? How ignorant Taragon’s comment is.”

“Vulkanus, sir. Just say you don’t like me. Calling me ignorant!”

Taragon didn’t understand why Vulkanus was angry, but Keter, as a fellow creator, nodded in agreement.

“There’s a folding joint, and space was created in the center to reduce volume. That means durability was sacrificed. It’s already weaker, and you want to use lightweight materials? It’ll only get weaker. You might as well make it disposable. Of course, there are metals that are strong, flexible, and lightweight, but they’re incredibly expensive. If it were just for one or two people, maybe… But for someone like you who needs to make tens of thousands, compromising on materials is the realistic approach.”

“Uh, huh?”

As Keter spoke with such expertise, as if he fully understood Vulkanus’s struggles, Taragon looked utterly confused.

Vulkanus ignored Taragon and laughed heartily, clearly pleased with Keter’s insight.

“Hahaha! As expected, Keter, you know everything! As you said, there are metals that are strong, flexible, and lightweight. ‘Quinix’ fits that description perfectly. But making a bow out of Quinix would cost at least 700 gold per piece. And that’s not all. Quinix is one of the most difficult metals to work with, even for skilled blacksmiths. There are probably fewer than 100 blacksmiths in this country who can handle Quinix.”

“That’s why you used ‘Silver Steel’ instead of just regular steel, right?”

“Ha! You even noticed I used Silver Steel? It looks just like regular steel, how did you know?”

“Just like? They’re clearly different. Steel and Silver Steel have different brightness and saturation. If you can’t tell the difference, you’re blind.”

“You madman. Even for craftsmen, distinguishing between steel and Silver Steel by eye is difficult!”

“Guess they’re all fakes then.”

Taragon slowly distanced himself from the conversation. He then turned his gaze to Decameron.

The blue-haired boy Keter had picked up.

Though his story was unknown, he always followed Keter around.

“Hey, do you understand what those two are talking about?”

“……”

Unfortunately, Decameron couldn’t answer. His third memory slot was set to “do nothing but follow Keter.”

Unaware of this, Taragon nodded silently. He was used to being ignored.

Taragon turned his attention back to Vulkanus.

“Now, let me show you how to actually shoot the bow.”

Vulkanus handed the folded bow to a knight who had been sent for the demonstration.

The knight, with a sturdy build, seemed ordinary at first glance, but as soon as he held the bow, the veins in his forearm bulged.

Keter muttered to himself as he watched.

‘A bowstaff made of Silver Steel. Roughly 12 kilograms. Quite high silver content even for Silver Steel.’

Considering that bows made of regular steel weigh between 5 to 7 kilograms on average, this was nearly double the weight.

Of course, for a knight, that weight was manageable, but a bow is a one-handed weapon.

No matter how well the bow’s weight balance is designed, the perceived weight for the user is two to three times the actual weight.

‘As I expected, unfolding it will be quite a challenge.’

Keter’s prediction was spot on. Unfolding the bow’s wings required the knight to exert full strength.

This was a natural consequence. If it were designed to unfold with minimal effort, it would also fold too easily in battle, which would be fatal for an archer.

*Snap!*

As the folded bow fully extended, a crisp sound came from the joint.

‘He designed a locking mechanism so it stays open once fully extended. As expected of the old man.’

Keter praised Vulkanus with his eyes for the double safety measures to keep the bow from folding.

The fully extended foldable bowstaff was 1 meter long, the size of a short bow. Vulkanus cleared his throat and spoke.

“As you can see, the bowstring isn’t attached. It can be folded with the string on, but that would wear out the string during unfolding. So, you attach the string after unfolding. Like this.”

Vulkanus took a bowstring from his pocket and attached it himself. With that, a complete short bow was formed.

“Shoot at the 50-meter target.”

Vulkanus pointed to the prepared target. The holy knight drew an arrow from his quiver and shot as usual.

*Thwack!*

*Whoosh!*

*Thud!*

The sound of the bowstring being drawn, the arrow flying, and hitting the target came almost simultaneously.

The arrow was lodged right in the center of the target.

“Next, shoot at 100 meters, then 300 meters in succession.”

At Vulkanus’s command, the knight shot arrows one after another.

The 100-meter target was slightly off-center, and the 300-meter target hit the outer edge.

Was it simply the holy knight’s lack of skill? Or was it because the short bow was specialized for short distances?

There might be some truth to that, but Taragon knew that wasn’t the real reason.

“The bow seems a bit lacking in elasticity,” Taragon remarked.

“Wrong, you brat. Silver Steel’s elasticity is just fine. The issue is the groove in the center for the folding mechanism. That groove subtly disrupts the bow’s balance.”

Taragon confidently answered but was deflated when told he was wrong.

Seeing him look like a scolded puppy, Keter stepped in to defend him.

“It’s still an elasticity issue, though. The imbalance comes from the subtle difference in elasticity between the grooved center and the ends of the bowstaff.”

“Wow, sticking up for your brother, huh?”

“Just like the bow curves inward, so does my arm.”

“Keter…!”

As Taragon looked touched, Keter smirked.

Seeing that expression, he couldn’t resist teasing him. There was something about Taragon that brought out his sadistic side.

“Of course, my arm can also curve outward.”

Keter calmly bent his arm “outward.”

Taragon was shocked.

“Wha—what! Keter, your arm!”

“Anyway, surely this isn’t the end, old man? The foldable bow is certainly innovative and useful, but it doesn’t seem to use shape-memory alloy technology, does it?”

“Heh heh heh, I was waiting for you to say that.”

Vulkanus chuckled and flicked his finger. At the signal, a knight infused the bow with aura—

*Whoosh!*

The short bow extended on both sides, becoming a long bow with a total length of 1.6 meters.

“Behold! The first portable bow that freely transitions between short and long bows—the ‘Dual Bow’!”

A foldable bow that reduces volume and uses shape-memory alloy technology to freely adjust between short and long bows!

Traditional archers had to carry both short and long bows depending on their needs, but now they don’t have to. With just this one bow.

It was Vulkanus’s masterpiece, born from countless hours of deliberation.

“Durability, production time, and so on. It’s still not ready for actual combat, but with a bit more development, it’ll be ready for the battlefield soon!”

“Hoh… So how long do you think it’ll take to deploy in actual combat?”

At Keter’s innocent and natural question, Vulkanus dodged.

“I’ll show you how to fold the bow. There’s a lock here; just push it to release. Then fold it back, and that’s it.”

“Old man, how long will it take?”

“…I think we’ve seen enough of the bow. Next is the arrow. This one is an even greater masterpiece than the bow…”

Normally, such evasive answers would elicit pity, but Keter wasn’t having it.

*Thump.*

Keter placed a hand on Vulkanus’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.

“How. Long. Will. It. Take.”

“Ugh!”

Vulkanus swung his fist back, but Keter easily dodged and repeated.

“How long—”

“Long! It’ll take a while, you brat! At least six months! The detailed process is incredibly finicky! Making, breaking, making, breaking… Do you know how many times I’ve repeated that?!”

Finally exploding, Vulkanus snapped at Keter, who scratched the back of his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Then shut up and wait!”

“That’s a problem. Waiting six months is too long. Let’s make it two months.”

“Crazy! Two months? For that, I’d need at least ten master-level blacksmiths!”

Vulkanus spoke in frustration, but Keter took it seriously.

“So ten will do?”

“…!”

“I’ll get them for you within a month, so just wait.”

“Wait, hold on. If you’re going to get them… I’ll also need at least 100 assistant blacksmiths.”

“100. Okay, noted.”

“And I’ll need dozens of times more materials than I have now.”

“Of course, I’ll provide that.”

As Keter acted like he could provide everything, a thrilled Vulkanus listed more demands.

“Can you get rare metals like Orichalcon or Quinix?”

“Of course.”

“Even high-grade magic stones that are hard to get even with money?”

“Like eating lukewarm soup.”

“Dragon horns?!”

“That’s going too far.”

As Keter’s expression turned serious, Vulkanus regained his composure.

“Ahem. Dragon horns are out of the question. But the rest is possible, right?”

“Have you ever seen me go back on my word? Who do you think I am? The famed Sephira, Sephira’s Golden Hand, Sephira’s Divine Archer, and now even the Southern Palace title, right?”

“Nothing is more annoying than a show-off boasting about themselves.”

“That’s exactly the reaction I was going for.”

Bored by their bickering, Taragon suddenly interjected.

“Keter. I absolutely don’t find you annoying. I love seeing you. I want to see you every day. Even while eating.”

“……”

“……”

Keter and Vulkanus stared at Taragon. Sweat formed on Taragon’s forehead.

‘Did I… mess up?’

With a swift turn, Vulkanus naturally headed back to the table.

“Next, let me show you this arrow. You can look forward to it. It’s even more refined than the Dual Bow and could be used in combat right away.”

“Hoh, I’ll look forward to it this time?”

Despite the cold response, Taragon pushed his way between them with a nonchalant expression.