Supreme Archer: Taking The Game's Weakest Class To The Top

Chapter 76: Fletcher (2)

Jake had indeed received a sudden enlightenment.

It was related to Wukong's arrow.

Since he had already synced two of his summons with his archery, he could draw comparisons and see the differences between Medusa and Wukong's skills.

With Viktor's wisdom about arrows and the game system's messages, Jake could see where the problem was.

It wasn't Wukong's problem, but Jake's.

'Medusa's Venom could take 24% of mana within the arrow to strengthen itself. On the other hand, Wukong only took 13%… I understand why now! It's because of the arrow's build! The stiffness and point don't match Wukong's needs, so his skill can't take as much mana as possible… maybe the wood type also plays a role!

Medusa's Venom took so much because the sharp tip should help inject the poison into our enemies. What Viktor said should be 100% true!' Jake's eyes twinkled as Fletcher Subclass was more impressive than he thought!

If he were to leave crafting arrows to someone else, perhaps he would never come to this conclusion!

It was his luck that he had Viktor on his side!

He was the imperial master of archery, after all!

Jake smiled before awkwardly apologizing, "I'm sorry for drifting off."

"You must have realized something, so that's fine. I'm not wasting my time here," Viktor casually waved his hand and returned to passing his knowledge to Jake.

He talked about feathers and nocks in the arrows. The former helped with an arrow's flight, and the latter was needed to properly nock the arrow on the bowstring.

Since Jake's best arrows used Ender's feathers, he knew how important the quality of this detail was.

At last, Viktor stood up. "Take a saw and mimic me. I'll show you how to make an arrow spine and how to check its stiffness. There are two methods for that. Once you grasp them, you can use your eye alone to see through arrow spines as the gift will analyze them for you."

The gift was the game system in NPCs' language.

Viktor didn't wait for Jake's words.

He selected two types of wood and put them on his workbench before getting to the work.

With a saw, it was so easy to craft an arrow spine that Jake could seamlessly follow Viktor's example.

It would have been an exaggeration to say that Jake's primitive way of creating arrows helped him become proficient and effortless with proper stuff, but it undoubtedly helped him grasp the conveniences the best.

"Wood type aside, there's a simple heating method to work around the stiffness of an arrow spine. But first, here are the two methods to check the stiffness," Viktor grasped one of the arrow spines and raised it up. "Grasp the ends and exert pressure on the middle. Be careful with your strength. The second method is to twang it like an instrument's string. Listen carefully and watch.

Soon, you should get at least a common skill to read the stiffness with the gift."

"I see," Jake nodded.

"Simple?"

"Simple."

It'd take a few more examples to receive the skill Viktor talked about.

At least thirty minutes later, Jake's eyes shone.

[You have received a Fletcher Subclass.]

[You have learned a Fletcher's Instinct(Common)(Passive).]

[Fletcher's Instinct has a high compatibility with a woodman subclass!]

[Fletcher's Instinct has evolved to Unique Grade!]

[Fletcher's Instinct(Unique)(Passive)—a skill to read the stiffness of any wood with eyes alone. A user can read the changes to stiffness during natural or unnatural developments.]

Jake shared the news with Viktor.

The man nodded. "It will be of great help when you reduce stiffness through heating, for example."

"Understood!" Jake smiled.

After that, Jake took a short break. He supplied himself with water and snacks.

Viktor did the same.

That was when an unexpected system message appeared before Jake.

[A player, AAAAAAAA, has sent you a friend request.]

[Would you like to accept?]

'This nickname… isn't she from the Raven Guild? I mean, I haven't met anyone else, really,' Jake didn't want to think about his meeting with the group of archers, so he knew that only someone from the casual quest's day could contact him.

He didn't have his nickname exposed, though.

'So… someone from that group must have read my nickname with a skill. Our privacy is not even safe in the magical world, haha,' Jake laughed, receiving an odd stare from Viktor.

Unaware of the man's judging eyes, Jake accepted the friend request.

The sound of a call rang in his ears.

Jake answered it.

"Hello!" A voice from the other side cheerfully filled his head.

"Ah, hi there," Jake replied a few breaths later, as he hadn't expected her voice to be this excited. He had heard her before, and her voice had been soothing and calm, so such a difference took him off guard.

"Uh… mmmm… I don't know how I should begin this conversation…"

Jake chuckled, "Well, you can introduce yourself if you don't want me to call you… AAAAAAAA!"

"Haha! I know it's odd a nickname. I never saw a keyboard in my life, and no one could type this nickname in my stead, so I just held one key during the character creation," she replied, "I'm Maria. Nice to meet you, Archer!"

"Likewise. I'm Archer. How do you know my name?" Jake's smile took a teasing curve, "I don't go around the town with my nickname exposed not to get any judging stares. People look down on archers and find them easy targets. I had no reason to hide it in the forest, but I also had no reason to turn it on… so?"

Maria nodded, "One of my guild members could see through your nickname with her skill. I asked for it because I wanted to thank you."

"I don't think I've done anything special to get your thanks," Jake replied, "Well, if I have, then this short conversation will do as thanks cause there's a man next to me that's seeing me moving my lips with no words coming out, and his usually pissed expression is even more twisted as a reason. It's so funny, so thanks!" Jake glanced at Viktor.

Their eyes met, and the man soon caught on that Jake was talking with another player.

He sighed, shook his head, and left the workplace.

"Are you a bully?" Maria asked, her voice quieter.

Jake raised his eyebrows in surprise before laughing, "I wouldn't consider myself a bully, though my selfishness must have made me like a bully numerous times."

"Oh, I see—Wait! That's wrong! I wanted to thank you for helping us! My elder sister's so protective of me that she asked her guild members to protect me once I got to the mainland! It was so embarrassing to know that I am guarded like some princess that I haven't logged into the game until recently! I'm glad we could avoid some trouble because of you."

"I helped this much?" Jake asked.

"You left the scene, forcing Mary November to run after you. That helped us enough," Maria explained.

"Oh," Jake didn't know what to say.

"I was wondering how to repay you! Maybe you'd like to join me in leveling up? I don't rely on my sister's guild members to level up, but they keep me safe and ensure no player has malicious intent toward me… I'm really safe with them." Maria offered this as thanks.

Jake, however, didn't want any of that.

He could see how many players would love to have this kind of protection and help, but Jake wasn't in this group.

He replied, "That's very nice of you, but just thanks will do. I like grinding skills without the help of the system, and my circumstances don't allow me to level up for now anyway. Thanks for the offer, though! If you don't mind, I will keep you on my friend list, okay?"

"Yes, sure…" Maria replied. "Is it because you're Mary November's brother?"

"But I'm not lying," Jake laughed.

"I don't want to come across as obnoxious… but what circumstances can hold you back from leveling up? I can understand the grind because my sister can spend days on the same dungeon floor while killing monsters for an item drop… but I can't imagine any of the circumstances a low-level player like me can face." Maria explained not to sound so arrogant.

Jake replied, "My bow broke, so I am learning different subclasses to make the perfect bow for myself. I've just learned about a Fletcher Subclass."

"Fletcher?" Maria asked.

"In other words, a crafter of arrows? I guess? Yeah," Jake nodded. "It's so interesting, you know? Like this arrow spine thing and arrow points! I can get…"

And from this point onward, Jake shared his excitement with someone he didn't even know.

Maria, however, listened to him attentively.

After Jake finished his talk, she said, "It's like creating your own magic skills, isn't it?"

"Arrows are different than magic skills. Magic comes from the heart: I put the entirety of myself into my arrows," Jake replied.

Maria widened her eyes and parted her lips upon hearing this remarkable declaration, "Wow! You have my support! That sounds fantastic!"

"I know, right?" Jake proudly replied.

"I understand your circumstances now. Thank you for sharing them with me! I still want to repay you somehow, so how about I send you tickets to my concert?" Maria asked.

"Concert? Wait, what?" Jake blinked.

"Hehe! Surprised?" Maria giggled.

"How many streams?" Jake asked.

"Around forty million," Maria replied, not hiding her pride.

Jake licked his lips, "Uh, you know, I'd probably sell those tickets."

"It's okay! I can share them with you for free, so no big feelings!"

"Perfect! You're an angel in more than just a voice!"

"Haha!"