Chapter 714. The Grind

<Ding! Your Carpentry(Beginner) lv.1 has become Carpentry(Beginner) lv.9!>

<Botched Longbow

Epic

Damage: 350

Durability: 1700

1. +50% Penetration

2. +75% Skill Damage

A waste of good materials. Clearly, the work of a beginner with low accuracy, lacking durability, and a high strength requirement. Nobody would want to use this bow, unless in an emergency situation.

Usage Requirements: 250 STR 100 DEX

Six hours later Seth finished an epic wooden bow, but it was really at the lower end of epic. As the description said, the rating was really only thanks to the material used. The additional penetration and skill damage came from the properties of the wood. The bow itself was lackluster, but maybe someone could use it as a secondary weapon.

It was only thanks to his high dexterity and knowing what it was supposed to look like that it didn't fail and turned into a usable item, instead of junk. Making a bow from scratch using <Carpentry> was really very different from forging wood as he did with the Mind Reaper bow.

He had jumped up nine levels for succeeding in making an epic bow on the first try, but it was not an item he could give anyone to use. Archers relied on dexterity, who of them would have 250 strength to use this thing?

Maybe it was a good idea to bother Bess to give him some tips for the next one since he didn't have the system guidance on this one. After all, he wasn't really a carpenter or bowyer. He also couldn't rely on the support of his crafting stations.

Although they had an unending supply of Hangingtree wood, he might have directly ranked up to apprentice if his performance wasn't so lacking. Seth was sure he could do better with some guidance and he wasn't beneath asking someone else for help.

"Bess? You have a moment?"

The massive woman looked up from the piece she was currently planing and lifted her safety goggles.

"Oh, Seth. What's up?"

A fire started burning in her eyes after he explained to her that he was trying to learn carpentry and wanted her help. A few tips, and some guidance. He had still been stammering a little when Bess already started getting excited.

"Of course! Let's go. I will teach you how to make bows!" she urged eagerly.

She pulled him into her workshop. After he showed her his first attempt she seemed to quickly know what to do Bess brought out a fresh piece of wood and started by explaining the process of making a self-bow first.

A self-bow was simply a wooden bow made from a branch or young tree. It was the easiest bow to make and had low maintenance, even if it wasn't made from special materials. As she explained what was important to keep in mind, she guided him through the steps.

They started off with a rare-rated piece of Hangingtree wood since it was what Bess had most of. She explained everything that had to be kept in mind when shaping the wood. As he learned more, he also understood how lucky he was not to have failed the first attempt.

He felt like wood was a much more finicky material than metal. One had to treat every piece of wood individually. Judge the grain, the shape, and the strengths, and take care not to take away too much. The tillering had to be right, to distribute the strength correctly or it would lack durability.

"Oh, it's a little like tapering a blade, isn't it?" he mumbled as he listened to Bess.

Maybe he only felt wood was more complicated because he had already a lot of experience as a blacksmith and started off with the system's help in that area. Who knew? If he had a carpenter class, he might have found metal hard to work with.

Four hours later, with her guidance, his experience as a blacksmith, and his high dexterity, he managed to make a bow that already showed major improvement compared to his first try.

< Ding! Your Carpentry(Beginner) lv.9 has become Carpentry(Apprentice) lv.2!>

<Mediocre Longbow

Rare

Damage: 570

Durability: 2500

1. +25% Penetration

2. +35% Skill Damage

A simple bow with good performance made from a special wood.

Usage Requirements: 50 STR 50 DEX>

The effects were weaker but the bow itself came out a lot better, despite using lower-rated material. It had a higher damage and a much better durability. Seth was sure that if he added a soul, or enchanted it, it would easily get an epic rating, too.

"This is already a lot better. If you keep practicing like this, you will soon master how to make a self-bow." Bess praised surprised.

This was the perk of already being a high-ranked crafting profession in a different discipline. Especially the high dexterity and experience made it possible to quickly rank up other crafting skills if one was able to learn them.

Was what Seth liked to believe. But one could undersell the perks one had as an ori huma. In addition, there were the effects of his trait Call of the Maestro. The accompanying skills also allowed him to learn and level crafting skills easier.

"Thank, Bess. My <Carpentry> also ranked up to the apprentice tier. Can you also show me how to make composite bows?"

In the end, Seth's goal in learning carpentry was to prepare for making Lydia's divine bow. He was given wood and sinew. Although he had little knowledge of making bows in general, he knew that those materials were usually for composited bows.

Of course, he could have also just made a wooden bow with the timber alone, but he wouldn't want to risk the wrath of Wepwawet. He was sure Lydia was given both materials for a good reason. A reason like composite bows being the better bow in general.

Despite magical materials muddying the waters, mechanical advantages still mattered when the same materials and skills were applied. Only using <Wepwawet's Withered Sidder> to make a bow would result in a less powerful bow, than making a composite bow using <Wepwawet's Sinew>.

"Sure. But how about we do that tomorrow? It's already very late," Bess said with a smile.

Seth realized that it was already late at night. Since he had no buffs that allowed him to quicken the crafting time, making bows was very time intensive.

"Sorry, I didn't want to take up so much of your time."

"No problem at all. Come back tomorrow and I will explain to you the ins and out of a composite bow."

It was almost two in the morning when he returned to the embrace of Mina, Fin, and their bed.

…

After making up for his lateness the other day, Seth was kept in bed until noon. Shortly after he appeared in Bess' wood workshop, still chewing on his breakfast.

The bowyer didn't seem bothered and put aside the bow stave she was working on. At his request, she started to explain to him the fundamentals of a composite bow.

"A traditional composite bow is a composite of several materials that could maximize its mechanical properties. Usually, a Composite Bow is made from wood, horn, and sinew-"

"Horn?" Seth asked confused.

Lydia had not given him any horn to use on the bow. Seth was only given wood, sinew and metal."

"Yes, horn. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's like this..."

And the blacksmith explained to her why he was learning how to make bows and that he was not given any horn to use on the bow.

"Oh, that's why. I wouldn't worry too much about it. As I said the point of a composite bow is to maximize the mechanical properties. Wood, Horn, and Sinew are just the ones usually used.

Usually, you use wood for the framework, horn to store the force of compression at the belly, and sinew at the back. Whereas the belly was the side that faced toward the archer when drawing the bow and the back was the side facing away.

This doesn't mean you are confined to these materials. You can also make a bow with only sinew or wood. You can also use any other materials that fulfill the same requirements to improve the power of the bow.

Maybe you could also use a thin strip of the metal at the belly to store the compression force? After all, you can also make a bow from metal, no?"

hearing her explanation, Seth almost had to laugh. To think that he had been the one to be hung up on the original idea of a composite bow for a moment. Sure, after hearing her explanation it seemed obvious that he didn't need to strictly follow conventions, as long as he ended up with a powerful bow.

With his misunderstanding out of the way, Bess picked up the bow stave she had been working on earlier. She had actually begun to prepare a composite bow to first show him the different steps to making a recurve composite bow.