A/N: this chapter was inspired by 'Take Aim' by Derivakat. song above

Punz pulled back the string on his bow, pointing the lavender arrow at the target. He didn't bother to hold his breath as he lined up the projectile with the middle of the target. Punz felt his arm trembling as he held the arrow in its place for too long, so he let go, watching the arrow land straight on the bullseye while he marvelled at how that hadn't dented his energy at all.

Punz threw his bow back and clicked it into spot in the clasp on his back that was right next to his quiver of purple arrows. Punz didn't really like the color of the arrows, he preferred gold, but the lavender symbolized his power.

Punz walked up to the target and pulled the arrow out carefully, making sure it wasn't damaged before returning it to his quiver.

As the wind began to pick up on its own, Punz decided to go back to his own base. He entered the black doors of his fort, sitting down at his comfy armchair as he took out a cloth and began to run it down the shining silver of his sword.

Punz stared into the flickering fire of the fireplace in his living room, still running the cloth absentmindedly up and down his sword. Punz used to be a mercenary. His sword was the most important part of his life, because he used it to fight for his allies.

That was, until he was tired of working for Dream. Tommy gave him a good deal, which Punz accepted, but really, that was the moment when he started to question his life as a mercenary. Fighting for other people all the time, even against his own friends.

Punz never had a chance to leave Dream. But when he was thrown into the new world with the hermits, Punz took a run for it. He left everything behind, making everyone believe he was dead, and made himself a house on the outskirts of the main lands. Now, he lived alone in a dark oak forest, far away from everyone and anyone. Here, he could practice his own powers without disturbance, and his powers had indeed increased. Controlling his element no longer drained Punz of his energy as quickly as it did before, and he was more aware of it, as it was aware of him.

Even though his main weapon was a bow now, Punz still had a sword. Sometimes he missed the thrusts and parries of swordplay, so he still kept a sword - not his old one - by his side. Besides, you never know where a sword could be useful.

Punz held up his netherite blade against the weak firelight, admiring how the multiple enchantments gave the metal a purple shine. His new sword was enchanted exactly the way his old one was - Fire Aspect II, Looting III, Mending, Sharpness V, and Unbreaking III. Punz also had a crossbow - Mending, Piercing IV, Quick Charge III, and Unbreaking III, but he found that arrows were easier to control than darts, so he mainly used his bow, which wasn't enchanted yet.

I'll start enchanting tomorrow. Punz decided. He needed more levels anyways. Punz sheathed his sword and put out the fire in the fireplace, flicking the light switch to give light that the fire no longer provided. Hollow echoes sounded beneath his feet as he climbed the wooden staircase up to his bedroom.

Punz hung the sword up on the wall and made sure his bow was safe before he went to bed. As he turned the light switch, Punz kind of wished that there was someone else living with him. It's quite lonely, living alone. He thought. I wish I had some company...

River shook her head, exasperated. "Be careful what you wish for, Punz." She said, voice shaking a little as she examined the computer screen in front of her.

~~~

Punz settled down in his enchanting room, watching the strange letters flow from the bookshelves to the obsidian and diamond enchantment table. He placed his polished bow on top of the table, letting go and watching the enchantment table suspend the bow with a mysterious magic.

Punz placed a stack of lapis lazuli onto the enchantment table. The lapis rose and circled around his bow as letters appeared on the book on the table. Punz leaned forwards and read the words on the books.

⚍リʖ∷ᒷᔑꖌ╎リ⊣ III 7

!¡⚍リᓵ⍑ II14

!¡𝙹∴ᒷ∷ V 30

Punz paused and thought for a while. Should I take the risk and go for the third level enchantment? He checked his levels again, seeing the results of his grinds that morning. Yeah, I'm going for it. He decided. I'm only losing two levels, and I can always add enchanted books after.

Punz took a piece of floating lapis and rubbed his finger on it, staining his finger a dark blue. He let the lapis fly back to circle around his bow and pressed his finger to the third box, running his finger over the words and leaving faint lapis specks behind. As Punz watched, the blue specks slowly disappeared, sinking into the book.

Shinvin

Punz didn't flinch as the enchantment table made a sound that was so hard to describe, so physically hard to put in letters that the author of this story just gave up with the sound and wrote something kind of close to the sound, as he was used to the sound. The lapis surrounding his bow all shone strong metallic blue for a second before three pieces of lapis disappeared, and Punz's bow now shone with a purple tint.

Punz took his bow from the enchantment table, tugging it gently away from the upward force that was keeping it afloat. He checked its enchantments, and was delighted with the result.

Punzo Bow

Power V
Flame
Infinity

Punz ran a hand down the shining bow, admiring how the purple gave the bow a powerful look. He stood up and placed an arrow into the slot, pulling back the string and firing. A flaming arrow burst from his bow, landing a couple meters away. At the same time, another arrow appeared in the bow slot, replacing the old one.

Punz fired a few more arrows, the bow using it's magic to generate new arrows everytime he fired one, before putting the bow back onto his back. Punz shoved dirt over the flaming ghost arrows - all generated from the infinity enchantment - to extinguish the fire before it spread to his enchanting bookshelves.

I'll need to add Unbreaking to this. Punz thought as he left the enchanting room to his chests. He opened and searched through his collection of lots of different things until he found the thing he needed. A shining, enchanted book.

Enchanted Book

Unbreaking III
Efficiency III

Punz placed the book and the bow on an anvil. Well, it's a shame that I'll be wasting the efficiency, but I already have a good pick, so it'll be fine.

Enchanting using an enchantment table was one of the most calming and elegant works of upgrading your tools and armor. Using an anvil, on the other hand...

Punz placed the book on the anvil, spreading the book flat onto the metal object. Finding and raising a hammer, Punz brought the heavy tool down onto the book, pounding the material. He repeated the movement over and over again, raising and dropping the hammer, flattening the book.

Once the book was as thin as a piece of paper, Punz took his bow and wrapped the enchanted book around it, placing it on the anvil. He found his pair of safety goggles and placed it over his eyes as he took a blowtorch in his other hand. Tightening the goggles, Punz pointed the blowtorch at the enchanted book-wrapped bow and fired.

As red-blue fire raced over his bow, Punz almost crackled maniacally. He really, really liked to use the blowtorch. Punz ran the fire several times up and down his bow until the enchanted book disappeared. Punz switched off the blowtorch, placing it to the side as he removed his goggles. He picked up his bow and examined the weapon, satisfied as he checked the enchantments and found Unbreaking III amongst the list.

Punz spun the bow around, admiring the purple shine and loading an arrow, about to fire, before he remembered something else. I should put Mending on the bow. He thought. But Infinity and Mending can't be on the same bow, can they? Ugh. I'll see.

Punz searched through his chests again, looking for a Mending book. I don't think I have one. Oh well. I'll go out and find one. Punz closed his chest and headed for the outside, excited to test his bow, but before he got to the door, it sounded.

Punz clicked the bow onto his back and opened the door a crack, peeking out. His heart sank as he recognized the figure. Punz sighed and opened the door fully, stepping outside. "Hello, Dream." Punz said, closing the door behind him.

"Punz, my friend." Dream said.

"What do you want, Dream?" Punz asked, voice a combination of weariness and wariness.

"Punz, Punz, Punz." Dream spread out his hands in front of him. "Let's be friendly with each other, shouldn't we?" He asked, a warning tone to his voice. "After all, we are friends, are we not?"

"I think I was less of a friend and more of a servant, but fine." Punz said. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"What else would I want?" Dream stroked his axe as his side. "Your assistance, of course."

"You mean you want me to fight for you." Punz said bluntly.

"Well... yes, you can put it that way." Dream said.

"How did you even find me?" Punz asked. He thought he had disguised his escape well.

Dream laughed. "Punz, I'm the admin in this world. No one escapes my grasp."

"What if I turn down your offer?" Punz asked. "What will you do?"

Dream shrugged. "Nothing. I'm not going to hurt my friend." Punz raised an eyebrow, disbelieving. "But of course, these pieces of netherite will have to find a new owner." Dream took out a piece of shining black ore and spun it between his fingers.

Punz sighed. Payment. Of course. "What do you have to offer?" He asked.

Dream smirked. He obviously knew that Punz had agreed to his terms. "Three pieces of netherite, 15 blocks of diamond." He said.

Punz blinked. "No gold?"

"The hermits have so many farms, gold is basically worthless." Dream said. "But if you'd like, I can throw in a Mending book."

Punz unconsciously touched his bow. Did he know that I wanted to enchant my bow with Mending? Or was it a lucky guess? He shook the thought away. "Deal." Punz said.

Dream smiled. "Very well. Here is your payment." He handed Punz the netherite, the diamonds, and the book. "And I expect you to be at the location of this compass-" He pressed the metal object into Punz's hand. "In three days."

Maybe it wasn't a bad thing that he was going back to society. Maybe Dream had changed while living with the hermits. Or maybe he didn't. Either way, Punz looked lovingly at his mansion as Dream walked away, blending back into the shadows. I'll miss you. He thought when he was inside, touching the smooth blackstone walls. But money calls. Punz sighed and started to sharpen his sword, preparing for what was yet to come.

River sighed. She rubbed her eyes with her hand before sitting back into her chair. She closed her eyes, and for a minute it almost looked like she was asleep, before she sighed again and sat upright. "Alright, Punz, I'll do it." River muttered under her breath. "I'll probably regret it, but who's to blame that you're so helpless?"

River glanced down at her hands. She stood up and went to the door, flicking the lock on before settling back into her seat in front of her laptop. She hesitated once more before slowly taking off her gloves, revealing two hands, both glowing with a blue light. River paused again, taking a deep breath before she started typing on her laptop.

'Punz took out his bow and looked at the anvil hesitantly. He glanced at the enchanted book Dream had given him two days ago. It was almost time...'

River's hands flew quickly across the keyboard. Word by word; sentence by sentence; paragraphs appearing on the document she was writing on. Eventually, she stopped, sat back, and scanned her eyes over what she just wrote. Scrolling up and down and fixing a couple of typos, River pressed the icon on the top of her screen.

Saving... Saving... Saved

River's hands flashed a bright blue as she felt energy rush out of her body. The world shifted in front of her, like the nausea effect. Black dots swam in front of River's eyes, blocking her sight. She felt herself sliding off of her chair, and she reached for her gloves. River struggled to tug on her gloves, her vision dancing in front of her as she felt her energy drain. The room flashed in front of her eyes, and the last thing that River saw before she blacked out were her white gloves, secured tightly on her glowing hands.

word count: 2194 (woooooooo that's a long chapter)

fun fact: this chapter was written when Derivakat had just released 'Take Aim'. i was so inspired i had to write this chapter. also, i play Derivakat's music on loop when i write. Derivakat, if you do happen to see this, your music is awesome.

and another thing. River makes another appearance!!!!! what do you think her role in this is? 

hello everyone, monday echo here, (that was like echo from a month ago or smth idk) and i'm just gonna say, this was written during my archery unit too, and i talked abt that like 15 chapters ago or smth, so this gives y'all a hint of how far ahead of your guys i am ;)

for those of you who don't know (which is all of you except furlona lmao) i'm moving to a different city for the next school year.

on this note, thank you for 7k reads! three more until 10 :DDDDD. this is a perfect last day of school present to me!

hope you have a good rest of your school year and weekend, i'll see you guys again on monday!

'edited' on Jan 23rd 2022