In the end, I spent one week on my borrowed atelier making bows. At least fifteen of them per day. That granted me a nice boost of safe experience where I didn’t have to risk my neck, but not enough to increase my dexterity even once. Still, I got used to the craft with that time and earned some money as well.

‘I can basically double my mana regeneration and thus my production of rare quality bows by the same rate. Then I can use the rest of the time to do other things, like just uncommon bows. I also need to buy more magic ink to use my tattoos and make them improve my parameters even more as they level up…’

I wanted to do some experiments with the tattoos as well, the issue is that they consume mana. Should I slow down my production of rare quality bows in order to improve those other skills, or should just I focus on one of them for now? The smart thing to do would be to focus on what was already working, but crafting bow skills won’t help me when it comes to fighting, at least not directly. It was a tough call to make…

Name: Regulus Dawnshield

Race: Dhampir

Health: 70/70

Regen: 0.1 per hour

Mana: 70/70

Regen: 0.9 per minute (0/1000)

Stamina: 70/70 (0/800)

Regen: 1.0 per minute (0/1100)

Dexterity: 39 (0/3600) 1.1x

Spirit: 05 (0/600)

Traits: Minor Weakness to Sunlight, Minor Sensitivity to Holy Magic, Minor Aversion to Silver

Classes: Archer, Explorer, Scribe, Fletcher, Tattoo Master, Bowyer,

Aptitudes: Precision Training, Master of Exploration, Master of Record Keeping, Master of Archery Craft, Ink Master, Master of Bowcraft,

Experience: 18

It was indeed a tough decision to make, and I decided to take the chance after taking a look around the city and see if there was something that I wanted to buy. Something that would help me with work and fighting as well.

Still, I wasn’t planning to head to a dungeon anytime soon, or a guild for that matter since I knew that my poster could be on those for a while. I confirmed that Ovelia and Orland had no reason to head to either of those places, so if someone put a poster with my face on it, they wouldn’t see it.

It was snowing, so I had a good reason to keep my hood all the time and hide most of my face. Still, Orland almost stopped me when I prepared to leave.

“Where are you going? Sister is counting on your bows today to enchant them tomorrow, you know.”

“They are already in my room, the eight that the contract demands. I am just taking a breather outside.”

Orland didn’t say anything after that… but he looked suspicious. He was probably wondering if I was going to the other shops and looking for a better deal. I wasn’t planning to do that for now, I was planning to wait until Ovelia decided to show how she was willing to invest in me.

All the bows that I made and she went to enchant them were sold on the same day, and some of them even had been reserved for some clients. They were selling well… in any case, I learned that enchanted weapons and runic weapons don’t last forever. Unless the wood is magical or from some monster, the enchantments and runes would decrease the durability of bows after a while. It made sense…

I checked the shops available for the public in the city, but all of them weren’t selling things that I needed to improve my working speed. I probably could use them to make something, but I didn’t want to make anything for myself while I was working for others. In the end, I returned to the shop while deep in thought. The sun had already set and Ovelia had already returned.

“You shouldn’t spend so much time outside… the harpies can attack at any moment and when that happens, all hell breaks loose.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“What would you do? The red light district isn’t open during the day.”

I raised my eyebrows, I was too young for that and I didn’t have time to think about whores… I saw some of the ladies of the night over the last few weeks since I began to work as an adventurer and they didn’t look that appealing to me. Too much makeup, and I was also scared of sexual magic diseases, that certainly would be a thing in this world.

“I was just looking for something interesting to buy.”

“Such as? If you want something, I can ask for you and sell to you with 20% off.”

“Can you sell everything here at 20% off too?”

“... Yes, I think so.”

I could tell that she was doing some math in her head. She knew that I didn’t have even a single Aqua coin, so if she sold the things below that price range, she wouldn’t lose any money. It was a worthy investment in order to make me work for her.

“I want some magic implement that will improve my mana regeneration. That way, I will increase the rate of creation of rare quality bows.”

“Why didn’t you say that before? I can help you with that! Let’s see what kind of magic implement you can use…”

I almost saw the eyes of Ovelia turning into dollar signs… she was quite greedy, but she didn’t seem like a bad person. She went silent for a bit and soon she had an idea.

“I can find one for you of low quality that can last a week. If you guarantee eight of those rare ranked bows per day during that week, then you won’t have to pay for it.”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“All right, I will get it for you tomorrow.”

She wasn’t joking when she said that she was willing to invest in me. The ring that she brought the next day increased my mana regeneration by 1.0 point and I could create a bow of that quality without having to stop in the middle of the process. I just took a short ten-minute break to relax my mind a bit.

She gave me the ring for three consecutive weeks, until the end of the contract, but at the end of the second week, I had a pleasant surprise.

(The skill Expert Bowcraft has leveled up. You received 100 experience points.)

Expert Bowcraft Lv 02- Enhance your ability to craft bows with superior materials and designs. This skill allows you to create bows that have increased draw weight, improved accuracy, and enhanced durability. Cost: 4.1 Mana per minute.

The cost increased a bit as well, but after activating the skill, I also noticed that I got a bit faster and more skilled. Such effects weren’t mentioned in the skill, but they were real. Creating rare bows every day increased my experience gain by quite a bit and I was planning to continue that way.

With the rare bows alone, I could gain almost ten thousand points of experience per month, which was a lot more than I obtained while fighting before. Still, I also needed to keep my senses sharp… I needed to fight a few times.

“I heard that this place was attacked often, but it looks like I have been lucky here.”

“What are you talking about, the harpies attacked three times already.”

I was eating at the shop in order to have a change of pace… it was lunchtime, so the clients weren’t coming. In any case, thanks to my comment, Orland looked at me as if I had said something insane.

“I didn’t notice it at all…”

“That is because you never leave your room and the shop is designed to last quite a bit against attacks.”

I couldn't deny that… trying to make the bows as best as possible was quite fun. I wanted to make one even more potent than the Rare ones. The first would be mine of course, but I didn't know when I would have the chance to use it since I wasn't planning on heading to a dungeon.

After one year without finding any clues, I was certain that I would be left alone, but that seemed too much time not to use my fighting skills. Relying on skills and weapons was fine and all, but they were only an extension of my real abilities.

When I finished my meal, the entrance of the shop opened and Ovelia showed up while carrying some boxes and getting rid of the snow on her cloak. It seemed that a snowstorm was approaching… In any case, she put the boxes down and unpacked the things inside… they were the bows I made and they had been enchanted. It was quite something to see them emitting those magic glows. I wanted to check what they could do, so I decided to make an investment.

“I would like to buy this skill book, Ovelia.”

I grabbed the Identification skill book. I avoided that until now to save money, but that skill also needs to level up, so I couldn't keep postponing that.

“I told you to call me boss, big sis is fine too.”

“You are not my sister.”

“I am still your boss.”

That I couldn't deny, but it still felt off doing that. In any case, Ovelia gave me a forty percent discount for the skill book, so I paid only sixty Terra coins. Working for a shop has its perks.

“Anyway, I don't want to pry too much, though… but it is rare to find a kid with a ring like that. What are you running away from?”

I kept my misinformation ring inside my gloves, but even while doing so, the smart people would be able to tell that I was hiding my real information. They just had to see me daily to realize it when I forgot to update my parameters.

“Yeah, about that… I had this crazy girlfriend at home. She liked to scare me while she sharpened knives, so I decided to run away and fulfill my dream of becoming the best bowyer in the world.”

“Yeah, right… keep underestimating the intelligence of those around you like that.”

Ovelia stopped asking me about that, but she kept studying me while looking at the bows. I wondered if she wanted to force me to keep forging them day and night to improve her gains. Still, she never did that. One month later, the skill Expert Bowcraft reached level three, and two weeks after that, I was able to create my first Epic bow.

You received 80 experience points.

Even with my inexperienced eyes and hands, I could tell that it was a cut above all the others. It felt quite light and insanely comfortable while pulling the string, it almost had a certain aura around it.

Long Wooden Bow (Epic)

Enchantment Slots: 03

Bonus Effects: Eagle Eye - Provides an increase in range and accuracy of 20%, allowing the archer to shoot from great distances with little penalty.

I couldn’t help but smile. Common bows were too weak to get enchantments, they usually broke in the process. Still from the uncommon rank and upward, they can get an extra slot for enchantments and my skill was so good at making that bow, that it came with an enchantment on its own. Still, there was a chance that the materials were good without me knowing it.

‘Let’s try to make a legendary now…’