Chapter 107: King’s Bow

Ping!

Rino quickly checked the progress of his daily quest and smirked invisibly. It was finally done.

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Daily Quest #11 (Complete)

Objective: Craft Basic Hunting Tools

10/10 Long Bows

15/10 Short Bows

300/300 Arrows

25/20 Quivers

Time Limit: 10 Days.

Tutorial here.

Reward: Basic Fletching Skills

Claim your reward here.

Penalty: Deduct 24 hours of sleep upon failure and [Curse of Overtime] until quest is forcefully completed.

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Rino did not hesitate to claim his new skill as a reward. He had one more day to spare but thankfully, the daily quest counter did not force him to complete a new quest. He still had one more day from this chain quest event. The gods must be in a really good mood lately.

With one extra day and night, Rino decided to spend it enchanting everyone's bows and carving rune writings onto the arrows to bind them to the archers who owned the respective bows. The bows were bound to the archer's souls, and Rino knew that his minion's soul would be decimated if the weapon was destroyed. He let the archers know the risks of carrying an enchanted bow but also promised them that the enchantments Rino was casting on every bow will protect them as long as they remain faithful to Rino and do not pick a fight with a god.

Needless to say, Rino's subordinates jumped at the chance to own a powerful weapon. It didn't really matter if their souls died. It already belonged to Rino, so they were doomed for an eternity of servitude. Having a weapon from the kin was an official recognition and reward for their efforts. It could also be seen as a form of status in the ever-growing community of minions and faes.

Just for precaution, Rino also enchanted those quivers, so that arrow theft was impossible, and an arrow that was fired would automatically return to the quiver that was paired with the bow.

At the same time, Rino took this chance to address some new security arrangements. He wanted to pair fairies or sylphs with patrolling guards. The two will form one unit, and Rino explained the necessity.

"Undead shadow minions cannot die. However, fairies are vulnerable to many things. Most of my shadow army cannot use magic, and the bow has a unique tracking function."

Hearing that the powerful bow had a special ace move that required teamwork to pull off, Fowler put aside his pride and tried to get along with his assigned fairy companion. Secretly amused, Rino wondered if this forced arrangement would do this lesser vampire good or bad. He had to say, Fowler was taking this quite well.

The night passed quickly, and it was day again, prompting Rino to dismiss the sluggish shadow summons and undead to retreat underground where it was closer to the underworld. He drew the curtains close completely and took a long nap to avoid the powerful sun.

When he woke up, it was finally time to work on his bow.

Aiden made this bow well, and Rino placed the same enchantments he did with the other bows. Now, the bow was strong enough to parry steel without a scratch. The bowstring was extremely durable and reinforced, packed with enough force to kill that monster serpent that ate a king toad. Rino made sure they could take down such a threat in a single hit just in case there were more terrifying monsters lurking. He wanted his small militia to be well prepared to guard the base before he returned.

However, for a king, this level of enchanting wasn't enough. He did not need returning arrows or a quiver, but Rino needed a bow strong enough to blast through a mountain. Only such a weapon was worthy of having a name. It wasn't legendary yet, but Rino had a feeling it came close.

That trick shot where a skilled archer fired multiple arrows simultaneously, Rino wanted that flashy move. However, he did not want to remove the aiming guide he had on his bow. Instead, he thought of another method to match such a move.

Regular archers who drew their arrows from the quiver on their backs could reload a new arrow to fire three shots in a second. Rino witnessed that himself. However, three per second was still a little too underwhelming for Rino. He wanted ten or twenty just to scare his opponents even if they had reduced power.

The volley of arrows raining from the sky would surely take out small fries and offer protection for his subordinates through suppressive fire. It might not kill his enemies spamming mana arrows, but it would most certainly wound them enough for them to want to reconsider attacking head-on.

With such a stormy personality in mind, Rino added his additional enchantments and carved his rune spells on the bow. Normally, spells were written in grimoires for a magician to easily access and replicate complicated spells on the battlefield. Rino never needed it because of his superior magic control.

However, he had to admit that this time, his magic control would not be sufficient. He needed his bow to act as a grimoire so that he could fire arrow after arrow without needing to think.

Rino managed to squeeze all his spells onto the bow's body in carving from lightning bolts to forest-fire flaming arrows. Now, all that was left to convert this magical weapon into an artefact was a name.

Honestly, Rino never named any of his creations in the previous world simply because he did not want the items he created to serve as weapons for the empire. Artefacts have a very special property from magical tools and items. Artefacts possess souls and consciences of their own. These items often choose their owners, and depending on their uses, it could save the world in disastrous times or cause thousands of deaths when they were angered.

Artefacts were whimsical children gifted with tremendous power, and Rino was slightly afraid of naming his bow. Yet, it had to be done. This was the only way he could ever call his bow the King's bow, setting it apart from everyone else's that was cheaply produced.

Thinking until the sun rose, Rino looked at the weapon in his hand. A weapon was also similar to a wife. Having one lasted for a long time until death did the weapon and owner part.

For Rino, who was immortal, this was more important than anything else.

"Libitina is your name," Rino decided. "Protectress of the dead, please serve Solitude well."

Back in his previous world, Libitina was a goddess who protected the peace of the dead. Her statue was often seen in graveyards and many stories about the statue coming to life at night kept grave disturbances away. Back then, Rino thought nothing of this legend. Now, there wasn't a more suitable name for his weapon.

Libitina glowed and accepted her role, greeted Rino warmly with a pulse. The artefact was safely tucked away in Rino's Shadow Sack not long after its awakening. The lich looked at the approaching day and sighed. He could already feel Libitina's bond tugging at him in curiosity about the world.

Thankfully, he had all day to do this.