Jake's First Bow (2)

Chapter 21: Jake's First Bow (2)

Going back to the tough but shaped into the bow's riser wood, Jake spent most of his time curving it into the perfect shape of the long bow. There were some inflexible parts he had to get rid of, too.

It'd be his first weapon, so Jake was even more meticulous than usual.

Once the wood was in shape to his liking, Jake came close to the bonfire and waved his riser above it, which was a primitive method used to strengthen the flexibility of the bow. 

Careful not to burn his hard work, Jake focused as though he was in a battle, thinking only of the flame and his craft.

Finally, the wolf's hide was used in the place of sandpaper to smooth the handle, edges, and rims. At this point, Jake stared at the bow with a soft, delicate smile that correlated to his flow around the bow.

The last touch was him adding the bowstring made from the wolf's boss sinew.

Marking the end of his craft was naturally the game system.

[You have created your first weapon!]

[Would you like to name it?]

Jake smiled from ear to ear, "The Harbinger Of The Archer."

[The Harbinger Of The Archer(Longbow)(Common)(Attack: 51~~81)(Durability: 100/100]

[Unique Passive: In the hands of Archer, the user has a 25% higher chance of delivering a critical strike. Anyone else needs at least the beginner archery proficiency at level VII.]

[Lv. Requirement - 0]

[Would you like to add the description?]

Jake rejected this idea.

It was his first bow, so he wouldn't sell it but store it in his house or special deposit on the mainland. There was a chance he'd lose it in the tutorial island, whether by dying or getting it broken by monsters, which would only make that pointless.

At most, the history behind his first bow would be passed orally, with Jake spending time telling his tale of him investing hours in the first bow because of the tutorial forest's sturdy barks and wood.

"Looks awesome," Jake commented after raising the bow up, putting it on the vista of the sun. Even without this unique and quite obscuring background, the bow would have looked darker.

It was obviously because of the tutorial forest's wood. Its long and dense canopy blanketed the trees in the darkness for years, which made them adapt to this element.

Though it may have been manufactured with flames and smoothed with unique sandpaper, it wasn't entirely dark and was rather closer to the dark bronze shade. 

The bow surely didn't look like it was made from the wood out of the wooden cabin or the tutorial forest, and it would have stood out if other players had been here.

"Well done, Archer," Richard clapped his hands. "It's splendid work. Now that you have experience, other bows of a similar scale will take less time."

Jake belatedly replied as his whole attention had been stolen by the bow. "…yeah, thanks."

He couldn't wait to try his bow tomorrow.

That said, Jake wouldn't go against his schedule and training with Odin. Instead, he'd flex his new weapon to his summon and share his excitement with him.

Which was because he couldn't tease his friends about his legendary summon.

All because of his older sister…

-

Jake logged out of the game.

Sweaty and rusty, he worked on his soreness for a while before sliding to the bathroom. He dealt with his issues quickly, then sneaked into the kitchen to eat something.

It had been long since dinner, which he had missed because of his crafting in the virtual world. His parents often insisted on eating meals together, but they were also used to their children missing them for different reasons.

Everyone was in their rooms, so Jake reheated the supper in the microwave.

As he waited for it to be done, his older sister, Mary, found him in the kitchen.

She had a nose to find people…

"…still mad at me?" Mary asked as Jake only glanced at her before looking away.

Jake sighed, "I just don't understand why I must hide my skills from my friends."

"Cause' you soon might not be friends at all, and then they will remember, 'Right, Jake has legendary skill! Let's hunt him down and steal it from him!' That's why." Mary repeated her words from the day she rebuked Jake for casually telling her about his legendary summon—Odin.

Jake narrowed his eyes, "Just because you often change friends doesn't mean I'm the same. I've been with them in three schools now, and I don't think our contact will worsen after high school when we go our own way. I'm usually off for a long time, and they still manage to find time to talk to me, and there's always something to talk about. I'm not the same as you."

Mary sat at the table and clicked her tongue, "I was told off by my boyfriend and the guild leader, so I am kind of venting off my frustration from that day on you."

Her boyfriend was someone Mary genuinely loved, and the guild leader was her best friend for years—Jake never understood how they could be friends since that woman was responsible and quiet, but perhaps it was because of the exact opposites between her and Mary that they could have been friends for this long.

"That angel of a man scolded you? Wow… so you have that wolf magic, right?" Jake scoffed, "When Richard told me about the person who got it, I had a strong feeling it was you… I'm honestly amazed that you managed to keep it away from me for this long."

Mary hit her table in frustration, "Yeah, that's me! You can't imagine how fed up I was when they told me I couldn't use that wolf magic in parties other than our main one! We're one of the top guilds, so we're targeted, they said. Anything can be stolen in this virtual world cause' it's like a real world, they said! It's so annoying!"

Jake roared with laughter, "Serves you right for driving me angry on that day. Oh, since I can see myself being a solo player, you want me to wear a mask on the mainland, too? My Odin will attract lots of attention with both his adorableness and strength."

"Is he that cute?" Mary asked before coughing up. Indeed, it'd be best for her brother to hide his identity so that he wouldn't get scammed! 

Even though Mary was more liable to being scammed, she really thought like that. She decided not to tell anyone about Jake's legendary skill, so contacting her boyfriend or best friend for advice was off-limits.

In the first place, Mary just didn't want to be the only one to hide her legendary skill…

That said, she believed they would have somehow convinced Jake to wear a mask!

She was so sure of it that Mary thought hard about it.

"Isn't double personality cool?" Mary said, coming up with something she liked in the movies.

Jake interjected before she could say the crap she had made up, "Something like the archer part of me is masked, but the craftsman is not?"

"Yes! Yes!" Mary nodded a few times, quite thrilled by that idea. She would have loved to try it herself and, in fact, could do so as she could turn her wolf magic on and off.

Jake squinted his eyes, "How childish."

"It's so cool! Come on! Do it! Do it for your sister!" Mary insisted, forgetting the motive behind that concept and focusing more on her hype.

When Jake had given in to her loud persuasion, Mary grinned and changed the topic, "You're going to spend all your vacation in the tutorial island for real. You're one of those weirdos, huh? Thought about your future, though?"

"I mean, I don't know much about the mainland. I just crafted my first bow today," Jake shrugged.

Mary corrected herself, "I meant the real life. Will you go to college or take a break from studies and work?"

As someone who had made this choice already, Mary could casually speak about it.

Jake, however, was shocked by it.

Knowing that much time had passed was different from being aware that he had to make an important choice soon. He also didn't know what he wanted to pursue in life. His parents would soon get him to talk about that, and he would be forced to give them a satisfactory answer…

"Dad's strict about that. Remember." Mary passed her advice. "Oh well! Congrats on creating your first bow! I'm off to have some night fun in the game! You, too, don't be such a loner and find someone!"

She winked before running off to her room.

Mary was Mary, and she didn't care much about crafting, even if Jake told her the cool name he had come up with for the bow. It wasn't just that interesting to her than fighting with magic in her unique style.

Her playful advice had also missed Jake as he had fallen in thought about his future.

That was quite problematic, wasn't it?

"I'll speak with Dad soon," Jake sighed.