After talking to Jeff for a while he learned that near the hunter village was a series of farming and hunting villages which all traded with each other. The closest village was actually only around 2 hours away by walking distance because it needed to be close for easier trade and in case they needed assistance from the hunting village. The farming villages were all situated in what were known as safe zones were not even slimes would spawn so they were the safest places to settle down and build their farms. The hunting villages encapsulated them like guardians providing both protection and meat. The farmers in turn offered grain and cotton.
Revising his plans, Kai decided his first line of action would be to improve the strength of the villages by doing exactly what the Goddess said and improving the level of civilisation. He had quite a lot of information stored in his head from documentaries and personal experience since he worked in the army all his life. He knew how to build bridges, water wheels and other things from his missions of guarding engineers in third world countries while they built for the benefit of the poor. He also had an in-depth knowledge of guns and knives because of his training so with his blacksmithing part of his system he should be able to increase the peoples strength greatly.
Finishing breakfast with Jeff, he left the house and headed to the village map which was erected in the centre of the village. It wasn't really a map but more of a large stone with carving on it that resembled a map but as he looked over it, Kai's |MAP| function immediately lit up as a few notifications appeared before him.
[Map of basic hunters' village acquired. |MAP| function has been unlocked.]
[Illustrated map required to initiate mapping. Details can be implemented by exploring the mapped area]
Reading carefully, Kai came to a basic understanding as he looked at the rough map displayed in the system interface that looked like a child had drawn it. Touring around the village casually, the map became hyper-realistically in depth in the places he passed through and saw with his own eyes. Kai came to the understanding that the map needed a drawn map to be started but after that he could just look around and fill it out himself. He also assumed that he couldn't expand beyond the hunters' village map without finding another map for that area.
As he toured through the village and watched the people getting on with their days. He saw a lot of young men preparing to go out to hunt but realised that all of them only held stone headed spears. Putting this to the front of his priorities he made his way to the village craftsman's workshop. Arriving within a few minutes since the village was quite small, he heard the faint sound of scraping as he walked around the house and to the backyard where an old man was sat there, carving a spear body.
"Hello, my name is Kai. I've come to craft some things with you." Kai promptly said with a respectful tone as he walked over.
"Is that so? Show me proof you're a crafter." the old man spoke without prejudice even though Kai was far too young to be considered a craftsman.
Craftsman were usually retired hunters who had lost a limb or two and so had taken to making weapons for the more able younger men to hunt with. In this case, the old man was missing a leg and had a deep scar over one of his eyes, looking quite scary.
"Sure, this is my crafting knife that I made myself. Although it's not the best, I only made it this morning, haha." Kai laughed as he showed the old man his stone carving knife.
"Hmm, this is pretty good for a youngling like you. Alright, you can work with me. You know how to make spears?" the old man nodded after glancing at the knife for a few seconds before asking what Kai planned to do.
"Actually, I was wondering if that was the only thing you could make. What about bows? Wouldn't they be more helpful than spears for hunting?" Kai asked as he entered the workshop which was basically just a bunch of tools and wood pieces scattered on large tables.
"A bow? What's that?" the old man asked, confused.
"Ahh, you don't know. Then allow me to make one for you to see. Although I may not make it that well since it will be my first time." Kai spoke as he looked around the workshop to find the right materials.
He was able to find a bendy yet strong piece of wood easily but the material for the bow string was a lot harder as he had to improvise with foreign materials from this world. After analysing a bunch of things lying around, he noticed a certain vine in a basket in the corner.
[Spiky vine: can be used for a variety of things. Can be cooked and squeezed to make oil. Can be cooked and stripped into string like material.]
"Old man, what do you usually do with this spiky vine?" Kai asked as he pulled a few out.
"We boil it for half an hour and then when we chop it up into pieces and stew it with tougher meat. It makes it more tender and flavourful. Why, does it have another use?" the old man responded with a curious look.
"Yes, for now though, can you boil this for me while I work the wood." Kai asked as he handed the spiky vine over before returning to the piece of wood and began carving away.
The bow was able to be made easily since all he had to do was make it symmetrical and balanced which was no longer a difficult job for someone with his dexterity and skill level. The old man had brought over a bucket of water and boiled the spiky vine and then got back to work, only glancing at Kai's carving technique. Soon the bow was made and the spiky vines were cooked so Kai took them out and let them dry and cool for a few minutes before stripping them down with his carving knife into long thread like lines. One of the vines was able to give him around 20 threads so he skinned three and then began working on the second stage. Weaving.
He weaved the threads together to create a tight string and then extended it to the right size for the bow. The string required quite a while to make since it was his first time doing it and he had to wrap his head around how to do it properly. There were a few breakages but in the end the string was made, and he attached it to the bow. He had made two holes, one each in the bottom and top ends of the bow which he put the string through and tied it firmly. The string was a greenish white which was in stark contrast to the brown wood but it did the trick. The old man had been staring at Kai through the whole weaving process as he concentrated on this new method to use the spiky vine.
"Is that it then? That's a bow? Isn't it too weak and flimsy to be able to hurt anything?" the old man asked sceptically as he looked at the bendy bow.
"Haha, this is indeed a bow, but it's not meant to be used to attack things. It needs another thing to be useful. Let me make one to show you real quick." Kai explained as he quickly made an arrow by carving down a small piece of wood.
He didn't have any feathers for fletching so he just made a small cut on the back end the size of the string so it could be slotted into it. The old man was intrigued by how such small and fragile weapons could inflict much damage, but he wasn't arrogant or prejudiced. He knew that if Kai was right, it would be great help to the village so he didn't want to piss him off.
"This is an arrow; the bow and arrow go together as a set and can be used to attack from a distance. For hunting it's a really useful tool as you can attack and kill your prey before they even see you. Let me demonstrate." Kai got up after it was all done as he walked over to a tree.
Kai got into the right stance, pulled the arrow back on the string and aimed it at the tree. He concentrated for a second before letting go as the arrow flew through the small distance to the tree and imbedded itself into the thick trunk. The arrow was quite bent and didn't end up where he wanted it to but that could be chocked up to his non-existent archery skill and since it was his first attempt at making one. It was good that it could even hit the tree at all!
The old man's eyes widened as he walked over and judged the depth to which the arrow went into the tree as he pulled it out and gauged the hole. The old man was astounded as he looked at the small arrow in his hand and the bow in Kai's hand that had penetrated through a tree with the same amount of force that the strongest young hunter would need all his strength to pierce into with his spear.
"Youngling, this is amazing! This bow and arrow you've made is so powerful and you didn't even have to use your body! Please, teach me how to make this!" the old man walked over and grabbed Kai's hand with a excited expression on his face.
"Of course, old man, I'll teach you how to make it. But remember that this was only the first one I've made. The next ones will be even better, plus when we make the arrow heads out of stone and add some fletching, they will be more powerful and be able to travel longer distances." Kai explained the possibilities to the old man, brightening his face even more.
"Haha, Kai, you can call me Gardran! Come with me, we should show your creation to Jeff and start training the men in the way of the bow." Gardran laughed out loud as he walked to Jeff's house while supporting himself with a similar rough stick that Jeff was using before.
"Of course, elder Gardran!" Kai responded absent-mindedly as he looked at the notifications from the system.