.^^ Phylactery White-Wood Bow ^^

— Josef —

Saccharine and the other elves had sat down and made a campfire by the time I finished talking to the Messenger, but finally my eyes cleared and my muscles relaxed. Glancing up, I realized it was close to sunset. "Whoa... I was out for a while..."

Saccharine glanced over. "What Question did you ask?"

"You knew that would happen?" I asked, confused.

"Indeed. What'd you ask?" They pressed.

"I asked... Why I wasn't allowed to die." I answered after a moment of thought.

The twins frowned at me. "Die? Why aren't you allowed to die?"

"I died once, and the god's wouldn't let it be final. I asked why, seeing as no one bothered explaining it to me. I got an answer." I shook my head, and looked at the tree. "So, moving on! What makes an elf-bow better than a regular bow? How is one made?"

Saccharine nodded, accepting that I'd like to not answer the question. "The first step is getting wood from a tree that loves you-"

I raised an eyebrow slowly.

"- and then ask a Roc for a little bit of tendon,-"

The other eyebrow rose.

"And finally building the bow under the light of a full moon!" They nodded seriously.

'Question: is it possible to just... make one of those bows?'

'Answer: No. you can Make one just as good, it just won't be magical in nature. You don't need the assistance of the magic, though; the spells on an Elf Bow just make arrows hit targets more accurately. With an S Rank Bowman skill, it is entirely unnecessary. The only benefit would be its durability, which, while legendary in its own right, is technically able to be Dispelled with 'Dispel Magic', which is annoyingly common. But using both your Skill and the Ceremony of the Moon would create something rather interesting.'

'So if I make my own, it'll be better?'

'Correct. Hint: Use of the wood and crystal within the Home Tree to make a Metallic Composite is quite powerful, and may result in an SS+ Rank Material that is best suited for Bows! Also, tonight is a Full Moon, and Roc tendon is technically optional! You can use any sort of metal, but silver cord will work best and absorb the magic!'

I looked at the Tree above me, and leaned back against it. "Can I have a few branches and some of that crystal for a Bow?"

A few branches fell onto my lap, then a long crystal about the length of a longsword, and finally the tree shivered. 'Take that which you need, Young One. The Elder's position is one of giving, not receiving.'

I flinched, leaping away. "Whoa, Okay, the tree can speak!"

Saccharine raised a thin eyebrow at me. "You have Elder-Speak? Curious. Yes, all magical trees speak. That one's voice is particularly strong, because it was freshly reborn and fed with your mana. I was surprised that you woke up so soon, Truly."

"Oh... so it's normal... good. Sorry, Tree, for freaking out." I patted the wood gently.

'My name is Evagil. I have existed for thousands of years. You have not offended me, just as the wind that rips at my leaves has not offended me. I will sleep now, and this land you have claimed will become as my own limbs and leaves. My roots will spread deep into the bowels of the earth, and I will give unto you command of all that exists within your lands, even the stones themselves...' He trailed off, and the sounds of sand moving sounded beneath us, as his roots began tunneling at an accelerated rate, taking the place of the roots that were there originally.

I shrugged and sat down with the materials he'd given me, activating the Alchemist skill to take a sample for later replication. The wood would need to be cloned, which was possible even in this day and age, (with plants, at least,) but the crystal was a material that could be replicated.

'Identify, please?'

'Crystalline structure is confirmed to be a Crystalline Alloy of Titanium Carbonate. It is a Titanium-infused Diamond.'

I blinked slowly. 'Oh... okay... is it able to be replicated with Alchemist SS?'

'Yes, though it will not have the Mana-Infused quality, resulting in a slightly inferior S Rank Material.'

'But it can be mass produced? Does it bind with Iron like Anthracite?'

'Yes, and the result is an S+ Rank Material known as White Steel. Your previous mixture, Anthracite and Iron, is only vaguely inferior in basic stats. Largest difference is 12 points.'

I nodded slowly, and then grinned. 'What if I used Mage-Smith as I used Alchemy, and filled the crystal with my own Mana, but no Enchantment?'

'... that action is unadvised. You would have to die to give it the same amount of mana it has now. You have a lot, but not that much. Perhaps if you did it in six separate sessions, one week apart, you could manage.'

'I see... Alright, what if I created it with Alchemy, then enchanted it to absorb magic, then planted it in the ground here for about a month?' I continued.

'... Perhaps it would be filled up about 1/120th? It would require about ten years to mature at that pace. It would be a long-standing crop, but the results would be splendid.'

'Alright, final question, what if I opened up a magic spring, piercing one of those Veins of the Earth the dwarves spoke about, below us, and bathed the crystals in that?'

'... That would be... suitable? It would still take about a month, but that's a much, much quicker method, if you can get a god to give you permission to pierce a Vein of the Earth. Not receiving permission would be incredibly inadvisable. The wrath of a God is nothing to sneer at.'

'Understood, thank you! You're incredibly helpful!!!'

'Oh you!!!' She laughed happily, and I was convinced that she was, in fact, a spirit of some kind, not a system announcer. She just read from a script a lot, which wasn't that bad.

I carefully mixed the crystal and the wood together, making a full war-bow staff, and then looked at my list of metals, in my journal. 'What's stronger and more limber than a Roc's Tendons? Better for bowstrings?'

'Normally, nothing, but the ritual of the moon will make a silver bowstring indestructible and also incredibly well-suited for a bowstring.'

'Ahh, Yes, you said that, my apologies.'

The crystal seeped into the cracks of the wood, slowly disappearing, and entirely changed the shape and structure of the wood, from a horizontal grain, (which I'd been looking forward to working with,) to a long vertical grain.

I bent the wood slowly, creating a silver bowstring and setting it in a small pond. "If we might wait until the moon rises, I would be most appreciative." I said to the others, and then sat in the pool, trailing my fingers over the wood.

'Activate Skill: Wood Craftsman, Blacksmith, and Runecraft?'

'Yes. Make it strong enough to test even my strength. An easy weapon to use is a weapon best avoided, after all.'

'Understood... altering characteristics heavily to favor durability, flexibility, and piercing characteristics over the Speed, accuracy, and light-weight characteristics. Inscribing Runes, that only the worthy might wield the weapon. It will also be light enough for whoever is capable of wielding it, and just heavy and taut enough to make them work for each shot.'

'Dankë, Fruälein.' I smiled.

The bow slowly grew Runes, all along its staff, on each side and along the curves of the wood, then shaped itself into a double-recurve, to allow for distance and acceleration, as well as impact. Secondarily, I enchanted it with a basic ability to absorb Mana from anything impacted with one of the arrows that were shot from it.

It was an effect from the Healing Magic section of my Skills, called 'Mana Drain' and 'Mana Recovery'. A third spell, 'Phylactery', meant I could direct all my extra magic to the bow, and the extra magic from the bow to myself, as well as a third source, and on and on, though a smaller number was more ideal.

I created an amulet of sorts, made of the crystal from the tree without any mana, enchanted with the Phylactery Spell, and stuck that in my Hidden Space, instantly connecting it to my own source of magic, though limiting it to only a small piece of the magic that I recovered, which would slow my magical recovery speed down to almost normal, but would fill it within two weeks, because of its size.

At that point, I would dispel the Phylactery, and use the now-full crystal to make weapons. After all, what use would my works be if I gave all my best materials to the Arcbrands? I'd give them the Anthracite and Titanium Carbonate, but not the mana-filled version.

The bow pulsed again with energy, and then I noticed the sun disappearing beneath the horizon. "A few more minutes..." I nodded, and began making arrows and a quiver, which was important to the bow.

I still had a few dozen arrowheads enchanted with C+ Dismantling, so I placed them on the shafts, crafted from some twigs the tree happily shed for me, and some eagle feathers that were laying around because apparently the eagles roosted up here.

After they were built, I began using Runes and Mage-Smith at the same time to enchant the arrows to return to the quiver and also fix themselves when they break, but nothing else. A simple Enchantment worked best, I was told, so that was fine. Each arrow was connected to the Phylactery, so that everything it gathered transferred immediately.

I enchanted the quiver with a simple cleanliness Rune, which would cleanse the bow and arrows, removing any dirt or gore that touched them, and leaving them always pristine.

When the moon came out, I touched the silver coil and the bow, all underwater, then looked up. 'Alright, let's kick this off, what do I need?'

'Only wait a moment. The moon will do everything. It's a natural magic, which channels the moonlight of a full moon into pure Mana, instead of just light. That mana will then fill the tiny spaces in the Silver's atomic structure, and alter it to suit your needs.'

I watched as the silver shimmered for a moment, and then slowly placed it on the bow, bending the wood with a loud growl of effort, which made me smile. The entire bow shimmered, and suddenly the moon went dark, which confused me for a moment, just as a nearly indescribably feeling took me, as if my soul had moved slowly into my bow, then back again.

'Your Soul just tried to Eat the Moon...' The Messenger whispered reverently.

"Well that's... different." Saccharine stated from a few feet behind me.

'Blacksmithing Skill has Ranked up to SS+! Wood Crafting Skill has Ranked up to SS+! Mage Smith Skill has Ranked up to S+! Combined with other crafting skills, Skill has become Mythic Skill 'Master Craftsman'! It will make all created items automatically S+ or higher in Rank, (depending on materials,) and allows for items to now be crafted as far more powerful receptacles of magic, as well as other, currently unknown properties!'

'Unknown as in you won't tell me, and it's something I need to figure out myself, or it's entirely subjective, and you don't actually know until I do it?'

'The latter...' she sighed.

'Cool.' I nodded. 'Anything else?'

'Oh! Yes, there's more!!! I can optimize your skills now that you've got Mythic Skills!!! Skills: Thief, Trickster, Trustworthy Stranger, Detective, Forger, and Investigation have all been combined to create Skill: Thief-Taker S! Skills: Bowman, Warhammer, Longsword, Simple and Martial Weapons have been combined into Skill: Weapons Master A+! Skills: Healing Hands, Medicine, Healer, and Healing Magic have been combined to create Skill: Witch-Doctor SS!' She giggled, apparently having fun messing with my Skills.

'You having fun?' I asked dryly.

'Skills: Mountaineer, Ambush Hunter, Huntsman, Dismantling, Preservation, and Passive Perception, have been combined into Skill: Hound S! Skill: Elf-Blood has been awakened and added to Skill: Hound to create Skill: Bloodhound of the Wild Hunt SS! I can do this all day!!!' She laughed.

'Or can you?' I thought, looking at my dwindling list of skills.

'Skills: Runecraft, Mimicry Magic, Elemental Magic, Rune-Speak, and Elder-Tongue have created Skill: Budding ArchMage A-!!! And Skills: Herculean Effort and Herculean Strength are now Skill: Herculean Legacy!... oh, you're right, that's all I can do for now... but your skills are less cluttered now!!!' She grinned guiltily.

'Ja, this is true, Dankë Fruälein!' I chuckled, and stood up as the eclipse continued in its rise, quickly returning to its full luminosity, like a real eclipse.

"Well, I've got a bow now, that's nice. I'll test it's range and power a bit, while we travel. Twenty miles north, Correct?" I asked, stepping out of the pool and letting the water stream off me, before dressing again. I hadn't considered my company, before stripping and entering the pool, but all three of the elves, (Saccharine especially,) seemed to enjoy the display and the view.

They nodded, and just before we were about to head back down over the side again, I paused, and looked at the Tree. "Wait a minute... Evagil, are there any elevators or shafts that we can traverse, down this arched plateau without going over the side?"

'Shafts?... there are many, but for carrying water and steam and power... many secrets to be found deep in the mountain... but only one entrance to the Cabin from the ground. It rests in the basement of the Arcbrand Forge, which you are familiar with.'

"Huh... Okay, can you open it for me?" A section of rock just outside of the cabin pulled away instantly, revealing a trap door. I pulled the ring attached, and peered down into the tight shaft. "This is going to suck. Isn't there a way to make this a bit bigger?" I grumbled.

Immediately, the walls widened a little, giving me enough room to slide down the ladder. "Oh! Thanks! Alright, come on, ladies, this is much better than trying to go back down the mountain!"

Saccharine and the twins sighed, but followed me down the shaft, which we slid down fairly quickly. The thousand foot drop was rough on the stomach, but I managed to slow down every hundred feet or so, with the pretense of checking on the others.

The bottom was sudden, but lit up well with a few glowing crystal sconces, so I slid to a stop in time, and looked at the elevator off to the left, currently not in use. "I'll fix that up when I get back, I suppose..." I nodded, and caught one of the twins when they fell off the ladder.

Setting her aside, I lowered my head and crouched low enough to enter the dwarf-sized tunnel, nearly crawling at one point. The stone under us got colder and colder as we were going beneath the water, and then hotter as we approached the Forge.

"So!!! While we're all already incredibly uncomfortable, here's a question! Saccharine, are you a woman or a man or neither or both?" I asked, crawling through a particularly tight spot.

"What?" They asked, apparently more surprised than offended, which was good.

"You have an Adam's Apple, but also breasts, and no balls that I could feel as I did up your climbing harness, and I'd like to quickly assert that I did not mean to pry at all! But I'm confused, and someone told me you were a woman, but you use male pronouns, and they call you Lord, so I'd just like to un-confuse myself, if that's alright with you?" I sighed.

They laughed softly. "So that's why you were alright with being naked in front of us..."

"No, that was a moment of forgetfulness. The Messenger had been talking to me for what seemed like hours and hours, answering The Great Question, and after that answer... my mind is still a little dizzy from all that information. That's what happens when you ask what your purpose in life is, I suppose." I added ruefully.

They hummed. "I see, that is definitely something that would affect your thought capacity... in answer, I am both and also neither. I am a Changeling, as are many elves, meaning I can be whatever I like, though we usually prefer androgynous forms with no clear sex while around humans. I use the Title: Lord, because Lady is not a true noble title, and Noble is a Job, not a Title. I also prefer masculine pronouns, mostly because they are more common in this language, and Men are universally and notoriously respected more than Women, in Human society."

"A tragic, irritating truth." I sighed.

"Indeed. So, if we're asking incredibly rude, disrespectful, massively probing, improper questions of people we are only vaguely acquaintanced with, might I return the favor?" He asked with a chuckle, apparently more amused than his sarcastic response would make him seem.

"I am an open book, and I apologize if my query was rude, I meant only to properly address you in the future, and the best time to ask was in private, and nothing is more private than this, plus I'm incredibly uncomfortable in tight spaces, and I'm trying to distract myself." I answered back earnestly.

A thin hand snatched my ankle, and I accidentally shrieked, then glared under my body at Saccharine.

He grinned. "That was amusing. And my question is this: What are you? Giantkin, Elfborn, Halfling, Beastkin, Werebear?"

"Hmm... a solid question, though you're lucky I didn't kick you in the face, because you would have died." I frowned.

He released my ankle, and shrugged. "That is most likely true."

"And I don't know. I had a Skill, Elf-Blood, but it fused with my Hound Skill and made 'Bloodhound of the Wild Hunt SS', and Kieran, Lord Makanin, called me Elfborn on account of my golden eyes, but he seemed unsure. I honestly don't care, but everyone else seems to." I shrugged, and moved forward again, breathing deeply to center myself.

"Hmm... I see... then you are Elf-Born, a descendant of an elf and something else. Perhaps a Werebear, considering your height and build." He chuckled.

"WereBeasts are a real thing? Like, werewolves, werebears, weretigers?" I grinned, successfully distracted.

He nodded, and began to educate me on the subject of 'The Moon's Children', the umbrella term for the Were-Creatures of the world.

—

When we reached the end of the tunnel, we were met with a short ladder and a single steel panel on the roof, which I took to be a trap door. I banged on it loudly, and waited for an answer.

About five minutes later, the door glowed a little, then slid open, revealing a musket.

"Oh are you fucking kidding me?!?" I groaned as the gun went off.