"Hey, Sweetie, did Amelia kick you out?" I ask the dejected-looking pixie when she drifts in after lunch.

"Maybe." She settles onto my head with a sigh. "Can I get another of those mana stone suckers?"

"Sure, but you have to tell me which of her friends you groped." I hand over the lollipop with a smile.

"It wasn't even on purpose." The tiny thing huffs out. "My wings just got a little close is all."

"Hahaha, sure they did." I laugh, and then again, even harder because of the knowing look on my latest patient's face. "I was going to work on my enchanting some more, but I'm running low on supplies again. So, I thought I might try making one of those powerful bows I told you about the other day. You're good to go now, sir, have a good day."

"Yeah, that might be fun." She perks up a little. "What brought this on?"

"Oh, I was talking to Erick about that spider web I collected yesterday." I explain. "He said that the army uses it for bowstrings. I tried feeding Blackie some, but he didn't want any. The little butthead ended up eating all of my silk instead. All done, send in the next one, please."

"Can you make this one a bit lighter? Not everyone is as strong as a beastkin after all." She adds in a teasing tone.

"I had actually planned to make the body from aluminum for you." I bring one of the ingots out from storage and start shaping it into a rifle stock fit for her. I also add some place-holder bow limbs to let her see what the finished product will look like. "I was going to try a reverse draw like this, that will put more of the weight towards the middle of the crossbow, making it easier to hold. Your knee shouldn't bother you anymore, sir, help yourself to a sucker on the way out."

"Close the flap for a second, I want to shift so I can play with it." I do and it doesn't take her more than a second to slip on a dress after becoming human-sized again. "Oh, this is much nicer."

"I'm going to integrate a windlass into the stock for you too. You can come on in now, Ma'am, she was just getting changed." I say to the confused looking patient stalled just outside the tent. "I hope you don't plan to wave the finished product around like that, I have enough healing to do today without you putting holes in people."

"I'm just getting a feel for it." Apricot says with the cutest little evil smile. "Now, hurry up, I want to fire the real thing."

"It's going to take me a bit of work to get it to... well, work." I laugh at myself. "It's a lot more complex than a regular crossbow. All done, send in the next one, please."

"I hear you talking, but I don't see you working, get to it." Apricot orders as the next patient takes a seat. "The sooner you make this, sooner you can get started on that ballista you promised me."

I just roll my eyes and start building the bow limbs, everything else factors on getting these right. I think this spider web should work well if I capture it inside some magically modified wood. If not, I can always try to make some fiberglass.

"No, Blackie! Argh!" I let out a groan when my stupid staff decides to eat the first one I make. "So, you didn't like the spider webs before, but now you're fine with them? Stupid staff!"

"You know, my dog is always doing that to me." My current patient speaks up, the humor clear in their voice. "You just need to give it a good bop on the nose."

"Yeah, Sorrel, just give it a bop on the nose." Apricot breaks into giggles.

"I think I'll take away his treats instead." I threaten my staff. "Yeah, you heard me, no more cocoa wood for a week if you keep this up."

With the staff suitably quelled, I get back to work on the bow staves. The crossbow needs four of these, each about half a meter long. The pulley cams will sit in between them on each side of the bow.

"Sir, we have the wax you asked for." Two guards show up at the tent, each carrying a couple large boxes full of beeswax. Much more than I need. "Is there anything else you need? Baron Pepi has said to fulfill any requests you might have."

"Oh, I hate to be a bother, but is there any chance I could get a few spider web bowstrings? I'm not sure I have quite enough to finish this." I could probably get away with using something else for the cables, but I'd rather not risk it.

"Yes, sir." The man hesitates for a moment after setting his cargo down. "May I ask what you need it for?" He's been staring at the crossbow in Apricot's hands, but can't seem to puzzle it out.

"Oh, just a crossbow." I reply off-handedly. "This one wants to be able to out-shoot me, but the last one I made for her was too heavy."

"Yes, sir." He nods with a smile playing on his lips. "We'll get you those strings as soon as possible."

I want to reply with 'No rush' but, they've already left. So, I just move on to making the cams. Aside from the aluminum, I was able to pull a couple of dozen kilos of titanium from the stone. It's lightweight and tough enough that it should be perfect for all of the moving parts. At least until Ed works out the alloys for some high-grade steel, then I will be able to switch out the ball bearing and trigger assembly.

"Nng, Edsel wasn't kidding about these ball-bearings being a pain to create." I grouse. "Next patient, please. And, it doesn't help that the ones I need for this are even smaller than what's needed for the bicycles."

"Less grousing, more working. I want my bow." Apricot starts giggling when I stick my tongue out at her.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there. Oh, hello Colonel." I greet Hollen Baca when he pops his head into the tent. "I hope my asking for bowstrings wasn't out of line, or anything."

"Not at all, Sorrel." The military man shakes his head with a smile. "I just happened to be walking past the quartermaster when Private Wallace was requisitioning the bowstrings for you. After seeing that arrow you made, I had to get a look at this crossbow."

"Well, it' not quite done yet, but you're welcome to watch." I seriously doubt that he was just walking past. But, it's no big deal, the Baron would be a fool not to at least keep an ear out for what I'm up to. "This is a relatively new design from back home; I understand the basic concept, but I've never fired, let alone built one before."

"It certainly is an interesting design." He sits down across from me and watches as I attach the cams to the end of the bow limbs. "May I ask what materials you're using?"

"Of course..." I nod and explain my choices and motivation for each. "...now, I captured the spider webs directly in the wood, but a laminate should work. Next, please."

"Similar to a composite bow then." He nods along. "But, good spring steel should work fine if you aren't worried about weight."

"I suppose." I shrug. "This is only the second crossbow I've ever made, so I'm not exactly an expert." I laugh and attach the cables that I just made from the spider webs he brought me.

"Well, you know more about this type of bow than anyone around here, so I think that does make you the expert." Hollen counters with a laugh.

"Mhm." I just grunt and slowly draw the string back, checking everything with my magic to make sure that nothing is about to break. "Nnh, the timing is off." One of the cams stopped before the other which could affect the aim, but it's an easy enough fix. I just need to shorten one of the cables by giving it a couple of twists. "That's better."

"That is some impressive travel." Hollen is talking about how the string moves the whole length of the bolt it will fire. This keeps it in contact with the bolt for that much longer, allowing it to impart more momentum into it.

"Almost done, Sweetie." I soothe the impatient pixie. She's so excited for her new bow that she's practically vibrating. "I just need to assemble the trigger and windlass, this one is easier to draw than the last, but you'll probably still have trouble."

"Just hurry." She begs.

I don't. It's not like I dawdle, but I don't want it going off by accident either. So, I make sure that everything gets done properly. "Alright, just let me do a quick test fire, and then you can go put holes in stuff." I say after a moment.

"..." The colonel opens his mouth, likely to ask where I'm going to fire it. Only to close it again when I open up a rent into the ground. "That... was fast."

"Yeah, it was alright." The bolt was easily traveling as fast as a small-caliber bullet, though with much more force behind it due to the added weight. "I don't suppose you'd mind letting her use the guards' archery grounds? I'd rather be there when she's playing around, but I'm still kinda busy here."

"Of course." The man agrees instantly. "And, I don't suppose I could commission one of those?"

"Yeah, sure." I answer while smiling at the pixie who is trying to pry the bow out of my hands. "You'll probably need Edsel to make the ball-bearings if you want to duplicate it, but any skilled craftsman should be able to handle the rest." I finally let go of the crossbow and Apricot practically vanishes.

"Thanks, Sorrel. I love you." Comes her echoing call as she races for the training grounds.

...

"Sorrel, it's starting to break." Apricot runs back in about ten minutes later. "I heard this bit here start to creak after pulling back for the last shot." She points out where the staves attach to the body on the left side.

"Nnh. I'm still new to working metal; I probably didn't harden it properly or something." I give the whole thing a good going over with my magic, but don't find any other faults. "Alright, I'll just replace this crossbar with titanium for now. That should give it the strength it needs without adding too much weight."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She starts plastering me with kisses much to the embarrassment of my latest patient. "I love this thing! It's so fun to shoot, and all the army guys are jealous of how powerful it is." It only takes me a moment to replace the part, despite Apricot clinging to me the whole time.

"Here you go, Sweetie." I make like I'm going to hand the crossbow over only to pull her in close for a kiss when she grabs on. "Have fun, and let me know if any more problems crop up." She just grins widely before disappearing again.

Shaking my head at her exuberance, I get back to work on the Colonel's crossbow. I'm making the body of his out of wood, so the problem Apricot had won't be an issue here. After finishing that, which I was nearly done with anyways, I move on to making a regular compound bow just to show that it doesn't need to be in crossbow form.

I get a distinctive annoyed feeling from Blackthorne when I start on the new bow, and even more so when I add metal to it.

"Heheh, don't worry Blackie." I pat the staff on its side. "I'm not going to replace you. But, I do want to see if you can put what you ate earlier to use and see if we can't upgrade your bow mode."

The staff shifts into a bow on its own and I can feel it integrating the absorbed rayon and spider webs into its form. He wants more spider webs but, like a picky child, he won't eat the nasty vegetables unless they're hidden. So, I sandwich the webs between cocoa wood and let him eat his fill.

The finished product doesn't look any different than his previous incarnation, but I can feel the deadly power held within. A test draw proves difficult even with my newly improved muscles, but that doesn't stop the grin on my face as I send an Arrow into the ground at a speed that put even Apricot's new Crossbow to shame.

"You're a bit scarier than the average healer." My next patient stops in the entrance to the tent with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, archery is just an old hobby of mine." I send her a reassuring smile. "I just got access to some new materials and wanted to give the bow an upgrade. Now, that pinched nerve must be painful, why don't you lie down so I can take care of it."

***