Waking up early the next morning, it was time to finish my work. I created a nock for the arrow with a small bead of sky sap. Midway through hardening, it became moldable, allowing me to create a small C-shape, and stick it on the end of the arrow. Sharpening the tip of the shaft to a point and dipping in in sky sap to harden it. Simple, but effective. As for the fletching...to be honest, I'm not really sure what a fletching's purpose on an arrow is. But all arrows seem to have them, so better safe than sorry. Carefully pouring the sap onto a sun-heated rock in the shape of a right triangle. Peeling it off the rock and then reducing the thickness by wiping it down with a wet cloth. After a few hours, I was able to make ten arrows.
Kobold Arrow: Attack: 2
Durability 2/2 Quality: Normal
"Not bad if I do say so myself. With the buff from the bow, each arrow's attack should be as strong as the spear." I MIGHT be able to increase the quality of the arrows to Good if I went all out. But it'd probably take me half a day or even longer to accomplish making this amount. I already skipped yesterday's food by only taking the boar sinews. I don't think I can do that again without it affecting my performance. I basically HAVE to hunt today. But first, a little practice.
Practice Arrow: Attack: 1
Durability 2/2 Quality: Poor
"Alright, here we go." Taking a deep breath, I nocked a practice arrow, aiming at a tree I had carved a five circle target on, about sixty feet away. Taking aim, I released the bowstring. The arrow shot through the air in a small arc. Though the arrow lost momentum part of the way there, missing the target and hitting the base of the tree.
"Hmm, guess that's pretty good for a kobold sized shortbow and 4 strength." Stepping about seven feet forward, I once more nocked an arrow and took aim, firing again. The arrow sailed forward, barely missing the target and landing in the bushes behind the tree.
"You not good with that." said a voice behind me. Turning around I saw a familiar face. Koro stood watching me, her spear slung over her back."
"Yes well, that's what practice is for. It's not like I have experience with this thing..."
"Where you get that weapon?"
"I made it." I answered curtly, turning my back to her, resuming my practice and hoping she took the hint. The next arrow hit the outer most edge of the target.
***************
Archery Lv. 1 has been acquired.
***************
"Yes!" I pumped my fist in the air excitedly. Koro, however, hadn't left and continued to watch me shoot. Unfortunately, hitting the outer most edge seems to have a fluke as the next four shots missed.
"Is shoot bow fun?"
"Sure, now go away." I nocked another arrow which fired off into the bushes once more. Gripping the bow in my hands, I nearly threw it to the ground in frustration. Taking a deep breath, I set it down on the ground and went to retrieve the lost arrows. I came back I finding Koro curiously holding the bow, turning it over in her hands.
When she made eye contact with me, her eyes widened in surprise and she set it back down, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Maybe...Koro try bow?" she asked, refusing to look me in the eye.
"Fine, knock yourself out. I can't seem to use it right now."
"Yes?!" I handed the arrows to the excited kobold before sitting gathering my sky sap and sitting down to craft.
Once more I poured the sap on a rock in the sunlight, this time making a circle. As it began to harden, I took the stone spearhead from before, and carefully carved the semi-hard sap making an X in the circle. This was a rather messy process and the result wasn't pretty.
Sap disc:
Durability 1/1 Quality: Poor
************************
Terrible sap carving:
Durability 1/1 Quality: Poor
This ended up taking several tries. The first couple creations were either accidentally broken, or misshapen. Eventually however, I achieved what I was working toward. Creating a transparent X-shaped lens with a circle around it and a sap line on the outer circle, looking like a bizarrely shaped flat lollipop with an X.
Bow Sights:
Durability 1/1 Quality: Normal
***************
Crafting has increased to Lv. 4
***************
"Phew." I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and looked up. Koro was still shooting at the tree, seeming to be enjoying herself. Most of her shots had missed, but that didn't seem to bother her.
*THUNK
One of her arrows finally struck, hitting the third outer ring, hitting closer to the target than I did. "Yes!" Koro mimicked my action from earlier, making a fist with her left hand and thrusting it in the air.
"...Beginner's luck."
"Thought you no experience with bow?"
"Just...just give it back." the female kobold frowned for a moment before reluctantly handing the weapon to me. I, in turn, handed her the amber lens. "Hold this up to the middle of the bow as I aim, but don't touch the sticky end." Koro looked confused, but complied, holding it next to the weapon. Squinting one eye, I aligned the X to the center of the target and fired. The arrow sailed through the air striking above the target.
"Move it slightly lower." Another arrow hit the third outer ring to the right of Koro's. "Now a little to the left."
*THUNK
This time my shot flew straight and true, hitting the target dead center.
"That shot good..."
"Wait wait! Don't move the lens!" Keeping the position in place, I stuck my new sights onto the bow, carefully holding it in place and blowing on the sticky sap. Cutting off an extra piece off of my tent to tie it in place until the sap hardened, now examining my bow.
************************
Reinforced Kobold Shortbow: Attack: 0
Durability 6/6 Quality: Good
+1 Arrow damage
+ Increased accuracy when aiming down sights
************************
With this, I should have no trouble hunting. "Thank you, Koro." I stuck my arm out for a handshake.
"..." The female Kobold blankly stared at my hand, and then back up at me. "Why hold out hand? Nothing in hand for Koro take."
"Right..." I might need to teach these guys a little culture later. "Well anyway, thanks again. I'm gonna go hunt now."
"Hunt dangerous alone. Take more."
"Ah sorry..." I waved my hand dismissively. "In this case, taking others with me might actually make things worse. I should go alone."
"Koro not understand..."
"Trust me on this." Collecting the hunting arrows, I gave her a wave. "I'll be fine, good luck with your hunting."
******************************
Alright, so in this forest, hunting can take quite a while to find something. And, even if you find it, there's a chance it might be able to kill you. Following the path from my first hunt with Koro and Rakuta, I ended up back where I was first transported to, by the stream.
"Animals need to secure water, so there's a good chance some will come by if I wait."
Putting my bow in my teeth, I held onto a nearby tree trunk, working to climb it. It took a moment with my stubby arms and legs, but I eventually succeeded. Getting comfy amidst the tree branches, I settled in to wait.
And wait.
And...wait...
I had nearly dozed off to the singing of the creek when I heard thudding footsteps. Looking down, the sight of a large brown muscular furred back greeted me. A bear leisurely strolled up to the water's edge before taking a drink, not a care in the world.
Omnibear: Lv. 23
Hp: 94/94
You have got to be kidding me. There are monster bears here too!? This was the most powerful being I had come across since I had entered this world. With it's immense size and level, there wasn't a single thing that could stand up to it, save for another bear. A veritable king of this section of the forest. While I tried to make myself as least noticeable as possible, the bear stopped, sniffing the air. It turned and around heading for the tree I was on.
Oh no...
With powerful footsteps, it plodded to the base of my tree. Heart beating wildly, I prepared myself to run the second it started to climb. The bear stood up on it's hind legs, it's height reaching nine feet and...
*SCRITCH SCRITCH
Began rubbing it's back on the tree. The bear contentedly scratched it's back using the bark of the tree before plodding back the way that it had come.
"..."
I should be happy nothing happened, but...I kind of feel like a fool now.
Another hour passed, and a deer came up to the stream. This one was at least a bit more cautious, looking around to make sure it was alone before drinking from the water.
Stonehoof Stag: Lv. 13
Hp: 56/56
It stood at five feet, with proud looking antlers rooted to the top of its head. True to it's name, around the bottoms of its hooves were stones patterned together.
Well...I mean it is level 13, but it's a deer. How bad could it be? Besides, I've been waiting in this tree for a while now. Slowly nocking an arrow on my bow to make as little noise as possible, I aimed for one of its hind legs while the creature had it's back turned to me. As I let it loose, the arrow flew, planting itself in the deer's left hind leg, but not piercing completely through. Immediately the creature jolted up and looked around. Its head whirled to look at the arrow sticking out of its leg, bucking it's legs wildly as if the arrow in its leg was a snake.
Stonehoof Stag: Lv. 13
Hp: 53/56
The stag kicked a tree shattering the bark and leaving a hoofprint of the surface. It stomped down on a rock shattering it, and half of the arrow in the process as it went buck wild before quickly running off with the other half of the arrow still in its leg.
"Oh...so that's how strong it could be..."
Boy am I glad I fired from the safety of this tree. If I hadn't... I looked down at the destruction below of torn bushes and broken rocks.
"My head probably would have been paste right about now..."
After two successive failures, I wasn't in the best mood to hunt. My rumbling stomach however kindly dissuaded me from having thoughts of quitting. Thankfully, it wasn't long before another creature came up to the water's edge.
Sickle Badger: Lv. 5
Hp: 24/24
A black and white creature with stubbly legs walked up to the flowing water. The front of its paws held curved razor-sharp looking nails. Finally. Something I have even a REMOTE chance of killing...
Readying an arrow, I waited until the creature began to drink before using the sights to aim at the back of its head and releasing. The arrow struck straight and true, hitting the badger and causing it to collapse.
Sickle Badger: Lv. 5
Hp: 6/24
Are...are you serious? Did I really hurt it that much?
A red tint began to flow into the water around the creature as it lay there making weak chittering noises. Sliding down from my spot from the tree, I carefully approached it. Poking it with my bow, it made an attempt to move, but fell once again.
Now I just feel bad.
"I'm sorry little badger..." I nocked another arrow, aiming at its head once more. "I'll at least make this as painless as possible. And with one more arrow, it's HP bottomed out.
***************
Archery has increased to Lv. 2
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
***************
Since my percentage to the next level was already at 76%, my level shot up by two once more, reaching level 5.
STATUS
Name: Marek Antos
Species: Kobold
Level: 5/20 Progress to level 6: 33%
HP: 10/10 Strength: 6
Agility: 7 Resistance: 6
Endurance: 5 Dexterity: 6
Intelligence: 3 Wisdom: 3
Available points: 2
Element: N/A
Skills: Provoke Lv. 2, Crafting Lv.4, Archery Lv. 2
Abilities: God tongue, Hard scales Lv. 2
With a grunt, I slung the dead badger over my shoulder and made began my journey back to the trbe.
The power difference between Kobold and other monsters is just UNFAIR. Even if I was level 20 right now, there is no way I could face that level 13 stag in a fair fight. I looked down at the bow in my hand, having been so proud of making it and had started to actually feel powerful before today's events. No...maybe this is a good thing. I can't become full of myself. Today's incident showed me just how low I am on the food chain. And I'm gonna need to work hard to change that.