Chapter 397: Bow of the Underworld
Aether rushed up the stairs, making his best effort not to fall. He had to be careful, since both he and Sena had taken cover under the tower, where it couldn’t shoot; it might have moved on to something else- who knew where he could be waiting? That was also why he made Sena stay down, just in case it wanted to surprise-attack them.
Plus, it was dark inside the tower; they would have been at a huge disadvantage if she had come with him; there was only little light from the fallen stone bricks. Reaching the top, Aether stopped on the wooden platform, trying his best to watch his step.
The monster turned to face him, already drawing his bow again, but before he could shoot, Aether dashed forward and thrust Voidpiercer into the part of his chest that wasn’t missing. Killing it.
[You have killed a Reader Echo, Underworlder]
’A Reader?... I overdid it-"
[You have gained a new relic]
Aether froze, completely forgetting about the killing message. He slowly turned his head to the Codex relic announcement, checking if it was really real...
"Finally!" He jumped out of happiness.
"How long has it been since I’ve gained a relic from killing? I mean, without counting the material from the stag, was the last time with the Queen?"
He didn’t quite know why he was this happy after all; he knew this was a new relic, but he had no idea what it was, or if it was powerful. And yet he didn’t seem to care, dancing around in happiness.
But at the same time, he had killed way more than the majority of people kill, and yet he had only gotten so few relics, which was absurd, knowing it’s the main way people get them, then of course it’s making them artificially, buying or trading. But killing is the main method.
And yet, suddenly he was brought back to reality to the sound of footsteps coming fast. Gripping his blade, he waited... but it was only Sena, who looked to be worried, sweating. "You scared me; I thought another was coming," Aether said, frowning.
Sena just stared at him with her mouth open, not believing what he had said at all. "I scared you?! I thought this whole thing was going to fall; that’s how much it was shaking. What were you even doing? Was it a powerful monster or something?
...
"Oh," Aether said quickly, blushing a bit, before chuckling, embarrassed. "No, it was just a Reader Echo... but I got a relic... and I was lucky"
Sena’s eyes brightened a bit. "A relic, then it must have been strong to make you have that reaction. What is it?"
...
Aether chuckled before stopping for a good minute... "I have no idea."
He was panicking... after all, Sena looked moments away from wanting to jump on him and beat him up. So he summoned it.
The moment it appeared in his hands, his eyes widened.
"...A bow." His jaw stood wide open, as his eyes started to sparkle.
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
"No way..."
He quickly gripped it with both hands, turning it over again and again, unable to wipe the smile from his face. He had wanted a bow ever since Stormfell; after all, it had been useful, and it was also fun to use, even if he wasn’t the greatest at it.
The bow wasn’t massive, nor was it decorated with jewels or gold. But neither did it need to really; he didn’t understand weapons that were made to look noble. It was the size of any normal bow, built to fit naturally in someone’s hands. Which was better than any jewel.
Its body was carved from dark ash-colored wood, so deep in color that it almost looked as though it had been pulled from a fire instead of shaped from a tree. Yet the surface was perfectly smooth, without a single splinter to be found.
Swiping his hand over the wood, he chuckled to himself like a child, proud that his fingers were fully alive, without anything inside of them.
Bone-white accents followed the elegant curves of the limbs, blending into the wood so naturally that they looked like part of the bow itself rather than something added afterward. The contrast between the pale bone and the dark body gave it a strange beauty, one that didn’t try to impress, yet somehow did. Well, at least it impressed him... but it wasn’t like he was hard to impress when it came to weapons.
Near the grip, faint engravings stretched along the wood.
They weren’t decorative.
They resembled an ancient language, worn just enough that he couldn’t make out a single symbol... did he have any idea what they were saying? Definitely not, but some people got tattoos of things they have no idea what they mean.
"...This thing is amazing."
Aether wrapped his hand around the grip and instinctively pulled the string back.
The movement was unnaturally smooth.
Silent.
Almost too silent.
Way better than the homemade bow he had made when he was in Stormfell.
Even the air seemed unwilling to make a sound around it. Or is that just the normal sound bows are supposed to make, and his didn’t because it was badly crafted.
His smile only grew wider.
"I don’t care if you’re weak..."
He admired the bow one last time before looking toward Sena.
"...You’re staying with me."
But Fate didn’t look impressed. She sighed. "How strong is it?"
[Bow of the Underworld (Replica)]
Category-Weapon
Class- Reader
Knowledge rank-Fragment.
’And it’s... very weak... and again a replica; what’s with me and only getting weapons that are replicas of others?’
Seeing Aether’s face fall, Sena chuckled. "It’s weak, huh?"
Aether nodded, but he didn’t look so upset about it. "It’s fine, at least I have it..."
...
"What about arrows?" Aether’s eyes widened before slapping his face.
Sena burst out laughing, not being able to stop for a good minute, before wiping a tear from her eye. "You’re such a dumbass," She said, before calming herself and getting serious.
...
"But enough jokes... what was that thing...
And more importantly, did we cause it?"