Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) by Daniel Schinhofen (best black authors .TXT) 📗

holding several wooden slats over his shoulder. “I have them, but,” he tossed Gregory a key, “come around the side and open up the other door.”

Catching the key, Gregory did as he was asked. The door he opened led into a workshop— once Bryn had made it inside, he closed the door behind them and followed the crafter. Bryn crossed the room and deposited the wooden slats into a bin.

“We’ll be starting on a composite bow, and then the string,” Bryn said, taking the key back. “I have a few in various stages of assembly, so you’ll get an overview of how they progress into different stages. The one you start today will not be finished by the time you leave, but I expect it to be up to my standards.”

“I will do my best, sir.”

“I believe you. I’ll also be showing you the most obvious flaws you should be aware of when purchasing a bow or crossbow. This will help you spot poorly-made ones.”

“You bring the wood in,” Gregory said. “Does the carpenter make them for you?”

“I could make all the pieces myself and have before, but having the base materials made by others gives me more time to work on the product itself. I have a deal with one of the carpenters to make me a set number of materials. I have a contract in place with him if I get a large order and need more than I normally get from him. I only have to use that if war breaks out and the empire needs me to produce a large number of crossbows.”

“Thank you, sir. Where do we start?”

Seeing Gregory’s eagerness, Bryn chuckled. “We’ll start at the beginning— shaping.”

~*~*~

Gregory followed the instructions Bryn gave him. He was wearing a smile on his face as he finished the first step. The wooden slats adhered together in the mold to make them take on the correct shape.

With that done, Bryn showed him what each next step would include, then had Gregory repeat back the entire step once he’d finished explaining it. Gregory was glad he’d been training his mind, as some of the steps were complex. He doubted he’d have been able to recall them if he hadn’t.

The bell from the front had Bryan stop his instruction on the last step. “Excuse me a moment,” Bryn said, looking displeased.

A couple of minutes later, Bryn returned. “Where was I?”

“The proper way to string a composite bow, as doing it wrong can prove painful and injurious.”

“Ah, right. After we finish this, I’m going to show you how to make the bow string.”

“Yes, sir.”

~*~*~

Gregory flexed his fingers as he walked back to the inn— making the string was finger work and time consuming. Bryn had explained each step and Gregory had understood them, but the process was tedious.

“At least tomorrow, we start on self bows,” Gregory muttered to himself.

“Dearest, what are you talking about?” Yukiko asked from behind him.

Gregory inhaled sharply before exhaling. “Shadow leapt behind me?”

“You were well ahead of me, and this was the fastest way to catch up. It’s also good practice.”

Gregory gave her a smile. “Fair points. I was talking about what I would be doing tomorrow. I worked on a composite bow today and the string for it. Tomorrow is going to be a self or simple bow.”

“Ah, yes... recurves take time because of the drying required, if I recall from the book I read. They’re normally only used for the cavalry units due to the time, cost, and other drawbacks.”

“Yes, but they’re very interesting to make.”

“Wait up!” Jenn yelled, causing Yukiko and Gregory to stop.

Jenn came running up to them, a large grin plastered on her face. “Today was so much fun!”

“What did you do?” Yukiko asked as they started walking again.

“She let me begin work on a sword,” Jenn replied, her face glowing with happiness. “I’m making my own blade! It’ll be terrible, but it’ll be mine.”

“It won’t be terrible,” Gregory said.

“It will be. Every first piece is,” Jenn laughed. “My father is a great smith. He still has his first dagger and it’s awful. It won’t matter if it’s horrible because it’ll be mine.”

Yukiko patted her on the back. “That’s wonderful, but I think it’ll be better than horrible.”

“I’ll be working more on it tomorrow,” Jenn said. “What about you two?”

“Well, I was working on recurve bows,” Gregory said before launching into what he’d been doing. By the time he finished, the inn was in sight. “I’ll be working on a self bow tomorrow.”

“I was learning how to work with boiled leather to make chestguards, and he also showed me ways to tell if a piece was badly done. It took him a little while to dig out the pieces he kept for training aids.”

“I had a lot of fun, but I’m not sure it qualified for the mind path,” Jenn said. “Empire’s Gambit should help with that, though.”

“I felt like it was last night,” Gregory said. “Getting a handle on the differences has been interesting.”

“That’s after dinner, and Dia said we’re having a feast tonight,” Yukiko reminded them. “I was so happy for her this morning.”

“Greg, did you do that?” Jenn asked, glancing around as they approached the inn.

“No, but Darkness might have. I don’t have any conscious control over it.”

“Let’s get clean and go enjoy the feast,” Yukiko said. “I wonder what Gordon has made for us?”

~*~*~

Yukiko and Jenn were chatting about what food they thought they might be getting, stripping down as they did. Gregory was facing the other way, hoping that seeing them less might keep his libido under control for a while, at least. As soon as he finished, he headed for the bath chamber.

“See you both inside,” Gregory said.

“We’ll be right there,”