Chapter Twenty-Nine: Soul of Battle, Spirit Bone (Part Two)

"Look, do you think these are enough?" The Yangtze Delta eagerly piled a handful of bones in front of Shooting Sun with a Longbow, unable to wait for an answer.

Shooting Sun with a Longbow nodded with satisfaction and began selecting suitable bones. He weighed one, tapped another, and finally picked out several long bones of similar length and thickness—mostly femurs and humeri.

In my eyes, Shooting Sun with a Longbow was a masterful weaponsmith. He carried an assortment of tools and materials, and his hands moved with practiced confidence as he polished, shaped, cut, and joined the bones together, transforming them into a slender rod.

"What do you think he’s making?" Watching his deft movements, I couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration and whispered to the Yangtze Delta.

"No idea. It looks like he’s making a staff with a long handle..."

Snap—the Yangtze Delta hadn’t finished speaking when a bone broke in half, drastically changing the shape of the assembly. I thought something had gone wrong, but Shooting Sun with a Longbow remained calm, picking up the broken bone and carefully working on the fractured ends—this must have been intentional.

"Maybe he’s making nunchaku..." the Yangtze Delta speculated.

Snap—a second bone suddenly broke in the dwarf priest’s hands. He remained unruffled, gathered up the pieces, and continued working.

"Or maybe a three-section staff. Spellcasters are good with all sorts of sticks..." Yangtze Delta looked expectant.

Snap, snap, snap, snap... I have to say, the half-orc rogue spoke too soon. As soon as the words left his mouth, the bones all broke in Shooting Sun with a Longbow’s hands, forming a neat row of segments on the ground.

"Could it be a nine-section whip..." The Yangtze Delta’s face soured as he guessed uncertainly. I had no idea what a nine-section whip was, but I’d bet anything he was wrong again.

Suddenly, the segmented bones split open along the grain, turning from hollow tubes into jagged fragments. Watching as Shooting Sun with a Longbow kept grinding them down, the Yangtze Delta wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I get it now—he must be making darts or some kind of hidden weapon."

"But... you don’t need to whittle darts down that thin," I said skeptically.

Snap—the final sliver in Shooting Sun with a Longbow’s hand broke in two as well.

We looked at each other in silence.

Not a sound could be heard.

"Sorry... well... it looks like... my experiment failed..." Shooting Sun with a Longbow scratched his head and stood up, a little sheepish, as we police officers were left speechless.

"Are you brainless, or has your brain simply rotted? Do you realize how many bones you just wasted? Seven! A whole seven bones! If we sold them, they’d fetch a pretty sum! Don’t you know virtue lies in thrift, and extravagance is a shame? Heaven help me, let me punish this criminal for his wastefulness..." The half-orc rogue, his hopes dashed, suddenly pounced and seized the dwarf priest by the neck, shaking him so hard it seemed he might throttle him. Judging by the expressions of Crado and Black Aurora, they had no intention of intervening.

"...Wait... stop... I still have... another idea, let me try again..." Near suffocation, Shooting Sun with a Longbow feebly flailed his short arms, struggling weakly.

Finally, after venting his anger and satisfying his urge for violence, the Yangtze Delta let go and dropped the half-dead dwarf priest to the ground.

"Go ahead, do what you want. There’s hardly anything left anyway—knock yourself out..." the half-orc rogue said bitterly.

Now, only two long bones remained before Shooting Sun with a Longbow. These were leftovers from the earlier attempt, rejected due to their odd shapes: both were thick yet short, with abnormally large joints—probably the result of some bone disease the original owner suffered in life.

This time, our weaponsmith seemed to have lost any ambition for fine craftsmanship. He simply drilled a hole through the joint end of each bone, linked them with a short iron chain, spun them in his hand a few times...

Suddenly, a flash of brilliance burst from Shooting Sun with a Longbow’s hands. The two chained bones underwent a subtle transformation: they grew smooth and whole, fused tightly with the chain into an entirely new nunchaku staff; a faint blue aura shimmered over its surface, hinting at the magical power imbued within.

So often is it the case: when you pour all your effort into perfection, you meet with failure, and when you act absentmindedly, unexpected success falls into your lap.

Clearly, this sinister bone nunchaku was leagues beyond what Shooting Sun with a Longbow had been using. It increased physical attack by 9 points, magical effect by 18, granted 150 mana and 70 battle energy (warriors could use staves too), and every twenty minutes could unleash a magical effect that boosted life and mana regeneration by 50%.

This newly-forged weapon was truly a companion for murder and plunder, a partner for charging into battle—especially for Shooting Sun with a Longbow. After all, his signature self-created spell, "Jeet Kune Do," calculated its damage by adding physical and magical attack together. This weapon gave him a whopping 27-point boost in one go, raising his destructive power by nearly two-thirds—beyond what I could imagine a berserk priest could be turned into with such a bonus.

Seeing the attributes of this new weapon, our half-orc rogue was equally amazed, staring with his mouth agape, lost for words. When he finally recovered, he sucked back a drool that had dripped from his lips, and threw himself at Shooting Sun with a Longbow’s feet—even prone, his round belly didn’t make him much shorter. Kneeling, his upturned rear was higher than the standing dwarf’s head; anyone watching would surely find the sight as comical as I did.

"Big bro... Elder... Hero... Please make me a weapon too... I’m still using the ordinary dagger I bought at level twenty, pity me, won’t you..." Seeing him grovel like that, I could hardly believe this was the same fellow who’d just been cursing and throttling Shooting Sun with a Longbow.

"Well..." Shooting Sun with a Longbow stroked his beard with a sly grin and sighed coyly.

"We’re a team—we all benefit if my attack power goes up. For the sake of the nation, Special Agent Longbow, lend your brother a hand..." When begging failed, the Yangtze Delta switched expressions instantly, standing tall and solemn, speaking with righteous fervor.

"That..." The dwarf priest remained unmoved, continuing his act.

"These are the spoils of my labor from that last battle..." The Yangtze Delta’s speed at changing faces was truly admirable. In a flash, he was all smiles, stuffing a handful of gold coins into Shooting Sun with a Longbow’s palm.

Our weaponsmith pocketed the money, finally nodding in satisfaction. But then he said with regret, "It’s not that I don’t want to help, but look—these are just scraps now. Can’t make a hammer, can’t shape a blade. Unless you want me to make you a pair of toothpicks?"

Indeed, the previous attempts had used up all suitable bone material. The leftovers were either too splintered or too misshapen to be fashioned into a decent weapon.

The Yangtze Delta gazed at the pile of bones and shook his head in defeat. Suddenly, he turned back to Shooting Sun with a Longbow.

"Then give me my money back!"

"Well, you forced it on me," he replied.

"That was to pay for the weapon. If you can’t make one, give it back!"

"My money was lost because of you. You should compensate me."

"Cut the nonsense, hand over the money and I won’t kill you!"

"I have no money, only my life!"

"Swindler!"

"Bandit!"

...

As they were about to come to blows over this petty sum, a sudden inspiration struck me—I remembered something...

"Hold on, stop arguing! I have something that might just work..."

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(Emphatically, and with a hint of indignation: TRASH!!!)