"I have something that can turn anyone into a deadly hunter after a few hours of practice."
The Orcs look skeptical at this claim, even after they saw my earlier batch of spears.
But I'm eager to use the secret knowledge I gathered through my years.
Something that seemed useless at the time but I always hoped I could put it into practice one day.
Or rather, this is how I justified the endless hours I spent watching random videos.
My favorite way to waste time was to watch Blacksmithing on YouCube.
The platform offered a variety of channels from medieval to modern smithing.
I learned a lot of useless things, but there was one specific channel that often grabbed my attention.
Rather than smithing, it delved into woodworking in the most fun context.
An old, bulky, bald German pensioner ran it, calling it the Slingshot Channel.
As the name implies, he started with unique slingshots.
He used exotic materials he gathered during his active pensioner days and travels.
This meant everything he made had its story and looked luxurious.
His peculiar style and thick German accent made his videos comedic.
His greeting and catchphrases stuck in my head.
When I got the notification that he had done something, I couldn't wait to check out his newest inventions.
We often watched it together with my little sister too.
I would share the links with my friends until we created our little Slingshot fanbase at home.
In a sense, his videos were idyllic.
He went out to his obscure little shack in the woods, far from the city, and wasted the time on fun projects. He didn't bother about logic that would limit his ideas.
His tools were simple, he had to apply lots of creative thinking and elbow grease to get things done.
The shack deteriorated over time. It bore the holes and damage of his test firing and mistakes, but it only added to the charm.
There was no crowd around him to get in the way and he wasn't concerned about his safety. I was envious of the lifestyle he had as a pensioner.
It was like the introverted dream, do what you want out in the wild while nobody bothers you. Don't care about silly things like, 'Does it make sense', 'Would it sell', or 'Would people judge you'?
He cared about none of that, he only wanted to try out interesting theories and have fun with his time.
Mechanical and medieval things already interested me.
It was the algorithm's fault for getting me hooked. After that, I dreamed of trying these projects out sometime.
It was the perfect occasion now, surrounded by the Orcs who needed something to hunt. The crowd made me nervous, but the System's skill ensured instant success, whatever I tried.
Alexandra only included schematics for the simplest of items. She applied the word crafting to everything from carpentry to smithing, so I had some leeway.
The repertoire included everything from furniture to weapons, but only the basics. Still, I knew everything I needed from the old man's videos.
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While he started with slingshots, he later made replicas of ancient firearms. Modern weapons were the next on his list, — still rubber-powered.
That's where things got interesting. First, he only made them as toys. They looked like the real thing and even packed a punch, despite him retaining his roots.
It meant everything he made was a slingshot at its core, using rubber bands to propel his projectiles.
He applied it to everything, from his experimental rubber-powered rocket launchers. Then he made some unconventional 'legal' self-defense weapons.
After that, he graduated to crossbows. Again he used rubber to fire the bolts, but then he made real ones and kept upgrading them.
From silly toys and replicas, he moved on to some deadly designs.
He invented or reinvented magazine-fed monstrosities or even full auto crossbows. His creativity and tendency for overkill never ceased to amaze me.
Lever-operated and pump-action crossbows. Ones, that he operated with an electric drill. Chainguns. Commercial crossbows. Wood, plastic, metal, you name it.
It was still the Slingshot Channel but he delved deeper into the world of medieval weaponry.
He became a role model of mine, planting a dream to make one of his projects with these hands one day.
Thanks to this weird situation, the Crafting skill and the 18 DEX Alexandra's body had, this is the day.
I only have enough iron left for one crossbow so let's play it safe.
I can ensure it works by sticking to a simple design with no magazines or charging levers.
At least by doing so, I can keep improving on it and amaze the Orcs in the process.
I guess this sounds like I plan on the long term. If all goes well, I'll be gone by tomorrow.
Still, today I'm responsible for the remaining few Orcs under Alexandra's Banner. So let's make sure they have the means to feed themselves.
Picking the sturdiest-looking piece of wood, I carve it into shape. The blocky UI doesn't help without working schematics, but I remember how that bulky German did it.
My Crafting Skill makes the simplest woodworking tools behave like advanced power tools. A gentle nudge with a carving knife is enough if I concentrate on the shape and have the materials.
A glance to the side reveals many wide-eyed Orcs watching the process, making me smirk.
I'd be happier without the growing crowd, but it feels good to show off for once.
I hollow out the stock and whip up a simple rolling trigger mechanism. It only uses a smidge of iron, most of it will go into the prod, — the actual bow part.
Thanks to my Advanced Crafting skills I can skip the complex metallurgy steps. There is no need to make the perfect alloy with the right carbon content.
Once I shape it and put it on the stock, the iron I have smelted earlier becomes perfect. It's the right balance of flexible, strong, and rigid for the job without even sparing a second to think about it.
Having an idea of how complex these steps are in the real world, the skill feels like cheating.