The Crafter's Dilemma: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 3) by Jonathan Brooks (english readers txt) 📗

materials almost instantly – and I’m sure you can guess how quickly and powerfully that would send your arrows forward. *

“Uh…what string are you talking about?  There isn’t a string on—”

* …and that should do it!  Okay, this may seem a little strange, but I want you to nock one of your arrows like you normally would. *

Sandra was just talking nonsense now – there was no string to nock it to!  The Gnome copy, sensing her confusion, picked up the bow and handed it to her; she held onto the tube – which she assumed was the grip (and it needs some sort of leather wrapped around it to stop it from slipping from my hands) – and felt silly standing there with it.  Sandra/Violet indicated the quiver at her side and mimicked nocking an arrow with her hands, so as she rolled her eyes – feeling ridiculous – and did what was asked of her.

She noticed that there was a little lip on the tube that she assumed was the arrow rest, so she placed her arrow on it and pretended to “nock” it just to get the silliness over with.  As she placed her hands where she would imagine a string was, however, she felt something…something invisible.  Holding onto the arrow with the fingers wrapped around the grip, she used her free hand to feel the invisible whatever it was, running up and down it until she was pretty sure it was exactly what she thought it was – a string.

“What?  How?”

* The string is made from a thin strand of Spirit elemental energy, so that’s why it’s invisible to you.  You never have to worry about it breaking or getting wet, and it’ll be there as long as the enchantment lasts.  When I learned about this bow and the enchantment associated with it, the enchantment would last for up to 1,000 pulls before having to be replaced.  Holding the pull for longer uses a little more energy, so it could be less.  With the Energy Orbs I placed in there, despite them being the Tiny variety, I estimate that it could be anywhere from 20 to 50 thousand pulls before they’ll need to be replaced, with the Natural one running out first.  Not too bad, huh? *

Echo was barely listening, as she nocked the arrow to the invisible string, pulled it back and took aim at the side of a wooden table on the other side of the room.  She released and immediately lost her grip on the bow; the recoil from the wood and metal snapping back straight was so intense that it shook out of her hand.  As for the arrow, it hit nowhere she had aimed, hitting the far wall so hard that it shattered into a hundred pieces, leaving a small gouge in the stone.

* Sorry about that; I forgot to warn you that you don’t necessarily need to perform a full draw to get it to fly – and that the recoil when you do is quite heavy.  With practice – and forewarning, of course – you’ll get used to it.

 

* You may also notice that it didn’t quite fly where you were likely aiming; that’s because the bow needs to be adjusted – and that’s where you come in.  I have almost no skill in firing one of those things, but you do; you’ll need to pull on it and then use some of the tools in here to start shaving at the thicker outer layers— *

“I know exactly what you’re talking about; it’s how I created my own bow.  It still seems a little odd, but I think I can do it,” Echo said, finally beginning to see how the strange new bow worked.  It was exciting having something so powerful in her grip – it felt like something out of legend, in fact – except she was part of creating that legendary bow.  “When I’m done, what else do you need help with.”

* That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.  You know how my Shapeshifters are going to be involved in the assault on the other dungeon?  Well, I’m not wholly sure that they can perform spells fast or accurate enough, because my connection to them will be limited while they are inside the Undead dungeon.  Reaction times are much slower and the commands I give them cannot be too complicated, but if you’re there…well, I think I can have them copy what you do. *

  That sounded…weird.  “Copy?  What do you mean by that?”

* Exactly what I said – copy.  They will cast their spells wherever you cast…and shoot their bows wherever you shoot. *

“Shoot their bows—are you saying what I think you’re saying?”  Sandra didn’t reply, but the start of a new pile of yew wood and titanium sheets, followed up by a familiar tube was answer enough.

I guess I’m a bowyer now…

Chapter 27

The next five days were a bit of a blur of activity in Sandra’s dungeon; Deep Delvers were constructed with the aid of Felbar and Gerold and then enchanted by Violet; Titanium warhammers were crafted and then enchanted; composite bows were crafted, enchanted, and then fine-tuned for firing by Echo; additional constructs, Rising Phoenixes, Celestial Authorities, and Radiant Pegasi were created; and a very small section of Wheat, Barley, Hops, and even Potatoes were planted with the help of Gerold (who knew a little about it at least, having lived in the village for more than a month).

New Origination Materials found!

Wheat Seed

Barley Seed

Hops Rhizome

Potato Cutting

These materials cannot be directly used as a Monster Seed, nor can they be used in specific applications to create whole new Monster Seeds.

It didn’t seem as though she would eventually be able to just create grown Wheat, Barley, Hops, or Potatoes, but she could at least create as many