Episode 94 - Destined Friendship 3 ‘Making an Arcus‘

[Warning: Might be a boring episode! You can skim through the part where they make the bow and arrow!]

“Now then..” Kal tugged his lips as he walked over to Ario.

“The reason why thirteen of you are here today is to interchange training methods between Zene’s knights, and Xenperia’s military. This is to also improve the relationship between both countries by having knights train and learn together.”

“You might already know, but I will be training the thirteen of you today. We will switch training every day. One day with Zene, and the other with Xenperia. This means you will be training with Duke Rodriguez and/or Duke Marleigh tomorrow. This is to ensure that you guys get the most out of this week’s program, so work hard, and make sure that you learn as much as you possibly can.” Kal explained in a strict, yet friendly manner.

“Because today is the first day of this interchange, we will start day one-off relatively easy. If you manage to complete 2/3 sets of training without a ‘single’ one of you failing, everyone can leave early. Whatever you want to do after that is your business, however! If a single one of you fails…” Kal looked at each and everyone in the eye.

With his eyes slanted, he threatened.“We will train until your arms become unusable.” His tone gave goosebumps down everyone’s back.

“......” Everyone gulped their dry throats.

With a gesture for everyone to follow him, they head on over to the midfield, leaving Duke Marleigh, Duke Rodriguez, and Ario.

The field was like their paladin field, but wider and huge. The field looked endless, except for the one building to their right. Unlike the military training field, knight’s fields are covered in short grass. The only tree in sight was the tree Duke Marleigh, Duke Rodriguez, and Ario stood under.

“You are Dea and Arie, am I right?” Kal gently asked whilst taking out a piece of paper.

“YES!” The two answered in unison, standing as straight as a pillar.

Kal handed Dea the paper he took out from who knows where and said. “Set up the archery field and follow us later.”

“Yes sir!”

“Today’s training is divided into 3 parts. Building, Shooting, and Swimming.” Kal began as he stood tall, towering over the eleven children.

‘Swi.. swim?’ Eugene stared speechlessly. She could tell the rest was just as surprised.

“Arcus is a very important instrument in our lives, and in Zene’s culture so, today’s first training will be to learn how to make an arcus from scratch.”

‘Arcus?’ Eugene glanced around, unable to comprehend what the word means.

Noticing the confusion from Xenepria’s side, Kal then quickly explained.

“Arcus is a word we use in Zene for Bow. So yes, we will be making bows and arrows today as a part of our first training. Our second training will be to shoot the bows and arrows you made. You must not score lower than 7 to mass the archery test. As for our last training, we will be learning how to swim.”

“.....” Everyone glanced at each other.

‘... Seems quite easy?’ Eugene blinked. ‘Archery was a part of the Veria studies. It was something she, Aernest, and Euria practiced quite often. Making a bow from scratch doesn’t sound too bad. And also, shouldn’t everyone know how to... swim?’ Eugene soon realized something was off the more she looked around.

Some people were constantly muttering, swim, swim, swim, over and over again. Some broke out in a sweat, and some had dark faces.

‘ah..... no one knows how to … swim?’

“Your answer?” Kal tilted his head as smiled, devilishly.

“Yes … sir!”

“Now then, let’s head on over to make our bow and arrow!” Kal gestured for everyone besides Dea and Arie to follow him again.

They went inside a white building that was empty of anything. The only thing noticeable in the building was a white stairway, white pillars to hold the building, and white flooring.

They didn’t stop walking, however, and exited the building.

Outside the building was a small fenced space. Very typical looking workshop space for DIY builders. Here, five long tables stood on top of maintained grass, taking up half of the entire space.

On top of the tables are piles of different wood species and knives for carving. Some woods are incredibly long and some shorter.

Dea and Arie soon joined in.

“Gather around and listen carefully.” Zal motioned for the children to sit on one side of the table, whilst he stood solo on the opposite side.

“There may be situations in the future where you have no weapons on hand and require one.

Making this instrument from scratch is what Zene’s knight is first taught. First-timers normally take 30 to 60 minutes to finish. However with time and familiarity, one can easily make one in just five minutes. That is of course with prepared supplies. Without prepared supplies, it would take around 15 minutes.” Zal began explaining.

“Oh! Some knights are even able to create this instrument with their eyes closed.” He added. He soon chuckled from stunned reactions from the thirteen children.

Picking up two different types of wood he then began to explain,

“Choosing the right wood can decide your fate. Your weapon working well is dependent on whether you choose the right type of wood.

If your choice of wood is wrong, your arrow might be sent elsewhere but your target. Not to mention, the possibility of your bow breaking or your arrow snapping is relatively high.

So look carefully at these characteristics of good wood.” Zal pointed at the two kinds of wood.

“Flexible wood, like Juniper and Mulberry are what you want to look for, although bamboo is fine too. Make sure to avoid softwood like pine wood.” Kal then picked up a pine wood that looked slightly thicker than the rest of the woods.

“However, if there is no Juniper, mulberry, or bamboo, and your only choice is pine. You must look for the hardest and heaviest section of the tree, and carve it out bigger or thicker than your normal bow. This is to avoid it snapping and becoming useless.”

The woods he showed them are vertically sliced from a tree. He then explained that a 20 cm tree can give them 7 good bows.

Already, Aernest and Euria had cold sweat dripping down from their forehead. Although they can digest and remember what the commander is saying, they didn’t know how the 4 trees looked like.

Watching the two nervous kids, Eugene elbowed Aernest to tell him not to worry and that she will explain it to him later. It was only then that he felt relieved, and patted Euria on her back to convey that everything will be fine.

Kal continued,

“Your wood needs to have a smooth surface and not cracked. A good bow would normally be made from carefully aged wood, however, because we are making a disposable bow and arrow for a situation where you don’t have a weapon at hand, we will be using this freshly cut wood. This of course comes with risk. Your bow may be unstable or may give out if you overuse it. So, if you can, it is best if you can use fire to dry the wood from any moisture before carving it into a bow.” He added.

“After choosing the right type of wood, the next step is to look for the natural curve of the wood. To find the arch, you hold the top of the wood with one hand, whilst using your other hand to lightly press the middle of the wood. If it’s curved towards you that’s backward and if it curved out, it means it's the forward.”

Kal explained as he glanced at the children’s faces from time to time. After making sure they are following him, he then glanced at the youngest three.

“Eugene, Aernest, and Euria are too young to carve so just watch older brothers and sisters make it okay? I have already prepared the bows and arrows for you to use.” Kal smiled at the three who then moved to the side.

‘....’ Eugene blinked at her uselessness.

“Now, take whichever wood you like let’s start carving.” Kal then proceeded on.

After the children chose the wood they like, Kal took the rest and put them away. He then placed a complete arrow and bow in the middle of the table for the children to use as a reference.

“Start by carving the natural curve,” Kal said. He then picked up a knife and started carving from the middle of the wood.

“The thickest part of the wood is the strongest part of the wood. This is called the handhold, which means you hold your bow there. After determining where the handhold is, it is obvious to assume that the other end of the wood will be where the lower hold is.”

“Place the lower hold on the ground between your feet, whilst holding the handhold on top. Now, press the curve of the bow to face you before shaving off any extra un-smooth spots on the wood. Shape it so that the handhold and lower hold is similar to each other. Just like the one on the table.”

“I want to do it too…” Euria softly sighed. The sound of wood being cut was oddly satisfying.

“Well, look at how dirty they got… I think we are lucky.” Aernest replied, to which Eugene nodded.

‘I thank our uselessness.” Eugene moved further away. She watched as Kal carved a perfectly shaped bow in a mere 2 minutes.

“Make sure to not put too much pressure on the wood. Otherwise, you may damage the structure, making it unusable when you need to use it.”

“Yes sir!” Everyone replied as Kal walked around to give pointers.

Eugene, Euria, and Aernest curiously watched as everyone worked seriously. After about 20 minutes, the bows came out beautifully curved.

Kal picked up his bow and pointed to two ends.

“Use your knife to cut 1 notch at each end of the bow. This is to hold the string.”

After everyone made a notch, he then brought over old looking wood.

“Next step is to make the string. You can either tear your clothes apart or, you can make strings from scratch from dead-wood.

To make strings from dead wood, all you need to do is to cut into the core and remove the insides. The insides are your fiber to make your strings.” He explained.

Using the fiber, he began to tie them all up using complicated knotting.

‘Probably the hardest step yet.’ Eugene shook her head. The ten children/teen too had a sour expression from the unexpected difficult step.

Kal used his thumb and forefinger to twist the strand away clockwise. He followed up by using his middle finger of his right hand to clamp the strand of his right forefinger. Rotating his wrist towards him, he then swapped the strands. After making a Y shape, he used his forefinger to keep the strands tight. He repeated the complicated finger movements until his string became incredibly long.

Well, it wasn’t surprising that everyone’s mode dropped to zero. Even Eugene’s face turned dark as Kal’s explanation went in and then out of her ears.

‘I will always wear clothes so… let’s ignore this part for now! Eugene gave herself an excuse to skip learning.

“Hahaha” Zal laughed at the children’s blank look. “Don’t worry! It’ll be easy once you get a hold of it.” He said as he walked around.

Having nothing to do, Eugene, Aernest, and Euria decided to practice making strings from scratch. Surprisingly, only Euria was able to memorize Kal’s finger maneuver after he showed it one time, so she started diligently teaching Eugene and Aernest in Kal’s stead.

“To string your bow, you must tie one loose loop before securing it at the notch you carved out. Be sure to keep the strings tight so that they're powerful when you shoot your arrows.” Kal stringed his tied up string to show the children.

“To make arrows, all you need is leftover wood. Find the straightest leftover and carefully shape it into an arrow shape. You may make a dint at the end of your arrow to add some weight, like a feather, to improve accuracy. For those who can shoot well, this is not necessary. However, for those who are less familiar, this will help a lot when shooting at a target.”

Kal concluded his bow and arrow class. The whole lesson took 60 minutes. 20 minutes to make the bow, 30 minutes to make the strings, and 10 minutes to make the arrow.

“Thanks for listening. You have done a great job for your first time! Remember to practice making bows and arrows whenever you can because this will save you when you find yourself in a situation where you have no weapons. To make this weapon stronger, you can add fire, or poison to make it lethal.” He smiled.

‘Poison and fire? Then isn’t this weapon incredibly strong?!’ Eugene blinked at the unexpected information. Although unexpected, this knowledge has become another insurance for her survival in the future! ‘A basic surviving weapon!’ Eugene bit her lips to hide her smile!

“Yes sir!” Everyone replied, incredibly satisfied with their weapon.

“Ah, did I mention? After you get off today’s training, you thirteen will receive a well-made bow and arrow customized especially for you! They are made from the best material, and Zene’s renowned, world-famous, archery master!” Zal casually mentioned, as if their 60 minutes of hard labor didn’t exist.

“......”