Chapter 343: The Midnight Archer

Luke and Allison arrived at the second fortress, traveling by the quickest route, the river. The moment they stepped ashore, it became painfully clear why Allison preferred staying with him in the cavern. Within minutes, people were approaching from every direction, offering gifts, food, or words of gratitude. To them, she was practically a celebrity.

While she handled the crowd with her usual calm composure, Luke slipped away, only to see someone cutting through the sea of people, waving at him. Mason.

“Hey, Luke! Been looking for you for days,” Mason called out. “I need your opinion on something. It’s about your new bow.”

Luke followed him toward the open field. Nearby, the rhythmic clang of hammer against steel echoed in the air. Ronan, hard at work forging a sword.

“Well, look who decided to show up,” a familiar female voice teased.

Eleanor sat at a nearby table, a monocle perched on her eye as she examined several arrowheads. The sharp glint of metal caught the light with every turn of her hand.

“I’ve been in the same place as always. You guys are the ones who’ve been busy,” Luke replied.

“Someone’s got to keep things running,” she said with a small laugh, adjusting her monocle. Or rather, her hair adjusted it, thin strands shifting on their own, pushing it back into place.

“Interesting trick,” Luke noted.

“It helps,” she said, brushing a stray lock behind her ear. “When I’m working on delicate fletching or carving an arrowhead, the strands act like extra hands. I can grip, twist, or hold small tools without putting anything down.”

Mason appeared again, pulling something from a storage ring, a blur of weapons and materials spilling out as he organized them.

“Here, Luke,” Eleanor said, handing him a set of arrows.

[Minotaur Tooth Arrow (Uncommon)]: An arrow with a reinforced shaft and a tip carved from the tooth of a slain minotaur. The dense, jagged material retains traces of the creature’s raw strength, delivering crushing impact and savage precision against armored foes.

Then another.

[Reinforced Iron Arrow (Uncommon)]: A shaft of durable wood tipped with reinforced iron, built to pierce armor and endure heavy impacts. Reliable, balanced, and brutally effective against enemies with strong defenses.

From her own storage item, Eleanor pulled out dozens more, neatly stacked and gleaming.

“I’ve been working like a madwoman making arrows all day,” she said, exhaling. “And on top of that, I’ve got to train half the camp on how to actually shoot them.”

“You made all these?” Luke asked, genuinely impressed.

“Almost,” she said with a proud grin. “I need blacksmiths to forge the special tips, iron, enchanted cores, things like that. Then I need artisans to shape materials like monster teeth. And artificers to handle enchantments. I just pull it all together at the end. Otherwise, the best I could do would be wood or stone-tipped arrows.”

It was remarkable how smoothly they were all working in sync now.

Across the way, Ronan activated his Epic blacksmithing skill, his skin taking on a metallic sheen. He pulled something red-hot from the forge with bare hands and dunked it into a barrel of water. Steam hissed violently.

“A cannonball?” Luke asked.

“One of many,” Ronan replied with a grin. “The cannonball was made using the power of a fire salamander’s core.”

He gestured toward a wooden barrel filled with water, several glowing cannonballs resting inside.

“He’s been at it day and night,” Eleanor added.

“And thanks to you,” Ronan said, glancing up from his work. “The map of the capital’s caves led us to a ton of ore deposits.”

Mason returned, wiping sweat from his forehead. “And the monsters too. It’s been a perfect cycle. Treasurers harvest the corpses for materials and earn profession points. Artisans refine hides and furs, artificers enchant them, and blacksmiths turn it all into weapons. Everyone earns experience in their own craft. We’re building a real production chain here, maximizing every bit of progress we can.”

“Alright, system nerd, that’s enough,” Eleanor said, rubbing her temple. “Just hearing about all that gives me a headache.”

Everything had to be handled with precision. No one could simply cut open a monster and take whatever they wanted. Every step needed to be calculated so that as many people as possible could gain profession experience from it.

Mason handed Luke two bows. They were slightly larger than his old one, sturdier too, solid but with a smooth, controlled flex. One was a deep forest green, the other jet black.

Luke used Identify.

[Orc Forest Bow (Rare)]:
Crafted from the sturdy wood of trees torn from the Orc Lord’s territory. The material is remarkably resilient, able to withstand and channel magical energy with greater stability. Its deep green hue serves as a constant reminder of the forest it came from, and the monsters that once roamed beneath its canopy.

[Lightweight (Common)]: Though forged from dense and rugged wood, a special enchantment makes the bow significantly lighter and easier to handle.

[Heavyweight (Uncommon)]: Arrows fired from this bow gain increased mass, striking with greater impact and delivering heavier damage.

Luke let out a low whistle. It was clear this wasn’t just craftsmanship, it was alchemy through collaboration. They had taken the raw essence of the material itself and shaped it into something that channeled magic through design, just as Luke did when brewing potions.

He inspected the second bow.

[Midnight Forest Bow (Rare)]:

This bow was crafted from a rare wood taken from the dark trees that grow within the forest surrounding the Capital of the Midnight Kingdom. These ancient trees stood for millennia, and now, at last, they find purpose in the hands of a skilled archer.

[Midnight’s Blessing (Rare)]: Midnight marks the peak of the night, and arrows fired from this bow grow stronger under its darkness.

[Guiding Breeze (Common)]: Arrows released from this bow travel farther than normal, as if carried by a breeze of their own making.

All three of them waited, watching Luke as he examined both weapons in silence.

“You sure I can’t take both?” he asked, half-joking.

“If only,” Mason replied. “These took a ridiculous amount of resources. We burned through multiple beast cores just to get these two right. We made others of the same model, but only these came out with that perfect combination of enchantments. Most of the rest just have the base Rare-tier bonus and nothing else.”

Luke understood. These were the best of the batch, too valuable to hoard. It would make more sense for another archer to wield the spare during the war.

“I’ll take the Midnight Bow,” he said.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I knew it,” Eleanor said, smirking. “I win the bet.”

Ronan sighed. “I figured he’d go with the orc one.”

“Please,” Eleanor scoffed. “Black has style.”

Luke handed the green bow back to Mason. “Actually, it’s symbolic. I plan to use this one to kill the Midnight King.”

The three of them exchanged glances.

“In that case,” Mason said, grinning, “I win the other bet.”

Luke frowned. “And what exactly did you win?”

“Gold, obviously.”

They all burst into laughter, except Luke, who was still lost.

“When it happens, you’ll get it,” Eleanor said.

Luke slung the new bow across his back, feeling its weight settle comfortably. He hadn’t even stored it yet, it just felt right there.

“The bowstring’s reinforced too,” Mason added. “Won’t snap, even under full charge.”

As they walked, Luke noticed Mason storing the orc bow inside the pocket dimension of his ring.