Chapter 8 - An Unexpected Situation

The Reimagining of the Bow Hero

Chapter 8 – An Unexpected Situation

Night was falling when we returned to the capital. Naofumi and I said our goodbyes as he said he had to purchase some equipment for his companion, Myne.

My party searched for a suitable inn to stay the night. I was quite satisfied at the process I made today. I leveled up eight times, and now I was sitting at a nice and comfortable level 9. Not bad for a complete newbie. However, my companions that were at higher levels did not level up at all.

After the better half of an hour, I saw a sign that read "General's Inn". We walked into the building and asked for their prices.

25 bronze per person, per night. Those prices seemed quite reasonable as the inn seemed nice. The food was cheap as well, 3 copper per person.

After wolfing down the dinner that we bought, we returned to our room. There were four of us, and we all had to share the same room, but we'd work something else. We agreed that Eda and Welst would sleep on the bed, and Rojeel and I would sleep on the floor.

While I was trying to fall asleep, I finally realized that the "Help" menu was just sitting there the whole time in my periphery, and I never noticed. I decided to check it out and see what it contained.

It contained a ton of boring text, and not really anything else of interest for the time being. I did read into a few things though, such as weapon copy, which allowed me to remember any bow that I touched and re-create it later. Other useful information was information about the inventory system, how item drops worked, and some other stuff. One particular thing that did catch my eye, were the "Power Up Methods."

These were apparently ways to make my weapon stronger, and they were:

Rarity Power – Which meant that the rarer a weapon was, the stronger it is.

Ore Equip – Which meant that the power of the bow would be raised by equipping it with mineral ores. Each form of the bow had a limited number of slots to put ores into, and each ore boosts a different stat.

Item Enchantment – Which meant that items that were absorbed into the bow could be converted into energy, which in turn could be used to enchant the bow and would raise its stats. This wasn't guaranteed to work, and it was mostly luck based.

Job Level – Which meant that specific stats could be increased by using energy converted from monster parts or items that were absorbed by the bow, such as the Orange Balloon I killed earlier. Kill enough monsters and the level gauge would be filled, and the desired stat would be raised.

These were pretty cool and could certainly make me very powerful. I would certainly utilize these methods when the time was right. Just needed a way to gain levels fast to collect carcasses to feed to my bow.

After today, according to what the inn owner said, it'd be a good idea for us to go check out the dungeon on the outskirts of the town of Lafan. It wouldn't make us much money, but we could quickly level up. If this world was truly like an RPG, then I knew exactly where to farm. Dungeons are a must, and I should also do lots of quests for money.

After exiting the menu and lying face down on the floor, I shut my eyes and went to sleep, hopefully remembering to wake up early to meet Naofumi in the fields.

The next day, I woke up way before the break of dawn. I sneakily slipped past my slumbering companions, grabbed a small bag filled with food and water, and creaked open the door. I proceeded to quietly shut the door and tiptoe out of the inn.

Through the empty, lifeless streets out into the pitch-black fields, I patiently awaited Naofumi' s arrival.

After quite a long time, with me continuing to cut through balloons at an unbelievable pace, Naofumi finally got here, sweating and panting.

"Good morning, Naofumi!" I greeted.

"Good morning to you as well, Satoshi."

"Do you want to start killing Balloons?"

"Sure!"

I began rapid firing at the balloons, my bow effortlessly piercing through them. Next to me, Naofumi slowly bashed the poor creature, barely whittling its health down every hit.

After mindlessly mowing down countless amounts of balloons, my level only went up by 2. Guess the higher the level, the longer it takes to level up, like in most games.

Naofumi also barely managed to level up, though he was just at level 2.

"Naofumi," I said while annihilating some balloons. "Do you know much about the mechanics of this world?"

"Not at all! In fact, my help menu is super bugged!"

"That's weird. In that case, why don't I tell you everything I know about it."

"Thanks, Satoshi! I don't know what I'd do without you."

I proceeded to explain to Naofumi everything I knew about this world, from the mechanics to everything I read earlier in the help menu. I spend the better half of an hour explaining the most confusing bits the best I could. I briefly explained the inventory system, although I myself was not that familiar with it, and went through what power-up methods were. I found out he didn't have any.

As we were sitting in the grass, talking about our previous lives, a group of furious castle guards stomped towards us, in an oddly aggressive manner.

One of them yanked Naofumi' s arm.

"You will come with us immediately."

"Pardon me," I tried to compose myself. "But for what reason would you need my friend to come with you?"

"The king has summoned him. He requests your audience as well."

"Well," I sighed. "Can you at least unhand my friend and allow him to walk normally? We promise we'll behave ourselves on the way there, and we would like to hear what his Majesty has to say."

Naofumi and I followed the guards to a horse carriage, and we were swiftly transported back to the castle.

Sorry for the late chapter. Chapter 9 out tomorrow!