Hearing this, Old Joel's smile widened, wearing an “I knew it” expression.
“Of course I do!”
He picked up a bundle, pulled one out, and handed it to Matthew.
“Take a look. Standard goods straight from the town's blacksmith shop, way better than the crudely made ones the village hands out. The shafts are perfectly straight, made of treated hardwood, and fletched with premium feathers. The arrowheads are genuine forged iron, sharpened nicely.”
Matthew took the arrow, immediately feeling its solid weight.
“A bundle of ten goes for ten copper coins. How many do you want?”
Matthew knew there was a markup, but as Joel had said, if a fresh face like him went to town, the travel and the hassle of trading with merchants would all be costs in themselves.
“I'll take ten bundles,” Matthew decided. One hundred good arrows would last him quite a while.
“Alright!” Old Joel swiftly counted out ten bundles of arrows, completing the trade cleanly.
“Young man, now that you have the arrows, you need the right gear for drawing the bow, don't you? If you keep drawing it barehanded, not only will you blister your fingers, but your accuracy will suffer too.” After putting away the money, Old Joel's eyes ded around as he eagerly leaned in closer.
Matthew raised an eyebrow slightly.
Before long, two items were laid out before him: a pair of half-worn leather gloves with reinforced knuckles, and a thumb ring carefully crafted from some dark hardwood, its surface polished smooth from use.
“Take a look at this. Archery gloves—a bit old, but the leather is thick and protects your hand perfectly. And this thumb ring is an antique. Wearing it to draw the string keeps it steady, saves strength, and won't pinch your fingers.”
Old Joel pushed the two items forward.
“Buy them along with the arrows, and I'll give you a discount. The gloves and the thumb ring, all yours for fifty copper coins.”
Matthew picked up the gloves and tried them on; they fit reasonably well. Slipping the thumb ring onto his thumb, he felt its smooth, warm texture—it was indeed much better than drawing barehanded. He gave it some thought. Since he was flush with cash now, these auxiliary tools, though cheap, would help improve his training comfort and efficiency.
“Alright, I'll take them.”
Paying another fifty copper coins, Matthew put away the gloves and the thumb ring.
He weighed the remaining coins in his hand, and a sudden desire for a Green bow welled up in his heart.
After a brief hesitation, he asked, “Uncle Joel, you travel to town often and have seen a lot. If... if there are any higher-quality bows, something much stronger than the one I have, could you keep an eye out for me? If there's a suitable one, I'd like to upgrade.”
“A good bow? Of course there are. The blacksmith shop in town, or some craftsmen who specialize in making bows and arrows, definitely have good stuff. But, well, that price isn't something you can cover with just the silver coins you have now.”
Matthew was prepared for this, but curiosity still got the better of him, and he pressed, “Roughly how much?”
Old Joel waved five fingers, then feeling it wasn't enough, added two more. “The bows in the village are already decent. If you want something stiffer and more resilient, it'll cost at least one gold coin.”
“If you want even better quality, made of superior wood like treated yew or composite materials, with a steadier frame, more draw weight, and a step up in range and accuracy... you can't even dream of getting one for less than a hundred and fifty silver coins.”
“And if you run into one with special treatment or made by a famous craftsman, two or three gold coins (one gold coin equals one hundred silver coins) wouldn't be surprising at all.”
Hearing this, Matthew quietly took a sharp breath.
He knew a good bow wouldn't be cheap, but he hadn't expected the price gap to be so vast.
He had just obtained nearly twenty silver coins and thought it was a “fortune,” but he hadn't expected it wouldn't even cover a tenth of a decent bow.
“I understand,” Matthew nodded, keeping these prices in mind.
It seemed that upgrading his bow would have to be a long-term plan.
At the same time, he realized he had gotten a massive bargain from Instructor Calm.
Ten silver coins for a Green one-handed sword...
“Alright, I'll keep an eye out for a bow for you,” Old Joel readily agreed. “If there's good stock or a fair price, I'll send word. But you'd better hurry up and save; good things don't wait for anyone.”
“Yes, thank you, Uncle.” Matthew bundled up his newly bought arrows, took the gloves and thumb ring, bade Old Joel farewell, and left the cluttered courtyard.
Walking back under the pleasant sunlight, Matthew began to calculate in his mind.
A good bow cost two or three gold coins, which was nearly ten times his entire current net worth!
Opportunities like hunting wild boars were rare and hard to come by, and saving up copper from rabbit skins using traps was a slow, steady process.
For now, the right path was to stay grounded, make good use of his current resources, and raise his 【Basic Swordsmanship】 as quickly as possible.
...
That evening, the training on the square was drawing to a close.
The eyes of everyone present turned toward the two figures in the middle of the bonfire light.
There stood Matthew and Fabian.
They drew such attention partly because Matthew had just made a name for himself, and partly because the scene tonight left everyone astonished.
By now, the sparring by the bonfire had ended. Matthew sheathed his sword with casual ease, his breathing steady, with only a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
In contrast, Fabian stood opposite him, leaning on his wooden sword and bending over. His chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath, sweat having long since soaked his coarse cloth shirt, leaving dark patches in the firelight.
The contrast between their states was incredibly stark!
Just a few days ago, Fabian and Matthew had still been evenly matched.
Standing with his sword sheathed, Matthew felt the power surging within him and his steady breathing, a trace of surprise crossing his mind.
“I didn't expect... a 1.2-point increase in both Strength and Constitution, along with a slight boost to Agility, to have such a significant effect in actual combat.”
In his eyes, the trajectory of every attack Fabian made was crystal clear, and his speed seemed a beat too slow.
He no longer needed to block head-on. With just a clever deflection or a shift in footwork, he could easily neutralize the attack and instantly exploit the opening left by his opponent's overcommitment.
“This is almost like bullying rookies.”
However, Matthew quickly composed himself.
He knew that his current ease was only because he was sparring with Fabian. Fabian was not a real enemy and would not fight him to the death.
Real combat was far more brutal and unpredictable than sparring.
He walked over to Fabian and extended a hand. “Are you alright, Brother Fabian?”
Gasping for breath, Fabian took Matthew's hand to pull himself up and said with a bitter smile, “I'm fine, just exhausted. Matthew, your progress is absolutely terrifying.”
Matthew smiled, not saying much.
【Basic Swordsmanship: Basic (50/200)】
“My proficiency increased by over ten points in just one night!”
This was much faster than he had anticipated.
Just a few days ago, even with hard training, his daily proficiency from sparring only increased by three or four points.
He couldn't help but glance at the 【Finely Forged One-Handed Sword】 at his waist.
“Is this what it feels like to be a genius?”
The sword's effect of “slightly increasing the training efficiency of Basic Swordsmanship,” combined with the minor boost from the 【Filthy Bone Chain】, had directly multiplied his training efficiency several times over the same amount of time.
Rate on N.U.
