"What is that?"
"It looks like a bow tied to a stick…"
"Do we really need this my lord?"
The hunters stared at the slate, looking confused by the design. To those who had used basic tools all their life, a sudden change did not sit well with them.
"This is a crossbow, the successor to the regular bow and arrow."
Ash stared at the design curiously. "Are you saying this is better than a bow, my lord?"
Eliron nodded. "In some ways, yes."
"To be honest, it looks strange. But if you say so, I believe you my lord. Shall we get started?" Ash asked confidently.
The other hunters still looked unsure, but seeing Ash's reaction boosted their confidence in the weapon.
Plus, Eliron already had a past feat that was more than enough to show just how capable he was.
Not too long ago, he had come back to the village at night, bathed in blood. But that was not the only thing that got the village talking…
It was the beast of a cart he had brought back, a cart so gargantuan, that calling it one seemed like an understatement.
That was his vote of confidence.
"I agree with Ash," Durin said as he stood up. "We are at your service my lord!"
Eliron smirked. "Good…"
Crossbows were relatively easy to make once you understood the concept. The most basic crossbow was so ordinary, that the elves should have already created it themselves.
But the funny thing about people is that they often fail to see even the simplest things until they are done.
The wheel for example is estimated to have taken humans more than two hundred thousand years to make.
But after making it, the others just went 'oh, I can do that pretty easily!'
So it was no surprise that the wood elves had never even imagined what a crossbow would look like.
Eliron turned to hunters and pointed out five of them that looked particularly strong.
"Go to the hunting hut in the forest and bring me wood but make sure to cut them to these lengths…"
Eliron used a stick to show them how long they needed to be.
But before they left, he called one of them separately and whispered into his ears.
"This is a special mission specifically for you, don't fail me…"
He whispered his instructions into his ears and sent them off.
As they set off, Elrion glanced at his slate to study the design he had made.
Although Crossbows were easier to use, and had greater power at close range, it was not without disadvantages…
Crossbows could be clunky because of their size, as opposed to a regular bow, and harder to maintain.
But funnily enough, that was not the most glaring issue.
The wood elves were expert archers, and a trained elf like Artie could fire up to twelve arrows in the space of a second…
Even less trained archers could fire more per minute than the average crossbow user.
That was what Eliron needed to fix.
'They may not be faster than Artie, but they will be faster than the average archer.'
And that was not all…
The hunting expedition was sure to put them in one on one confrontations with deadly monsters.
A weak shot would fail to even penetrate the skin, talk more of killing the creature.
So their crossbow had to deliver powerful shots strong enough to pierce armour.
Eliron's eyes shone a golden light as he began to improve his sketches, adding various things that had not thought of previously.
He made provisions for an automated firing and reloading mechanism, fixed the issue of impact force and even worked on the durability.
By the time he was done, beautiful was the only word to describe what he had created.
'The shotgun crossbow.'
He turned to Ash. "I need every single piece of scrap metal this village has, also, tell the blacksmith that I'll be visiting his shop."
"Yes my lord!" Ash said before hurrying away.
Then Eliron shifted his gaze trying to locate Yennefer, but the lazy angel was nowhere in sight.
Yennefer had shown remarkable talent for wood crafting back when they designed the carriage.
If he wanted to complete the crossbows on time he would need her help.
"When did she sneak off?" He mused as he glanced around.
He moved deeper into the village, looking for the angel.
Artaris was fraught with activity, the rebuilding of the huts and storages were nearly complete.
As they went about their work, they would greet Eliron as he passed by, while he gave them polite nods in order to save time.
Eliron ended up searching the entire village, before he found her.
Yennefer was lying by the roots of a large tree, little golden rays of light were filtering through the leaves, caressing her spotless skin.
The gentle winds were blowing her clothing and silver-white hair as she slept.
In that very moment, she looked like an angel that had just descended.
Eliron frowned.
'That is… a fallen angel cast down from heaven.'
"How can you be asleep when everyone is hard at work?"
Yennefer grunted slightly in her sleep.
"Come on, wake up or I'm going to pull your cheeks…"
She continued sleeping, without a care in the world.
'Hmm? That is strnage…'
Yennefer was a weird creature, in that even while she slept it was as though she was always awake.
If you spoke to her directly, chances were, she would respond..
"Yen?"
"Yen??"
Eliron bent down to tap her shoulders when she suddenly sprang up, her eyes wide in fear, tears glistening her face.
"N-no!" She screamed, her voice shaky as she latched onto his shirt, squeezing tightly.
On her forehead, barely hidden by her hair was a shimmering red symbol in the shape of a crucifix.
'Did she have a nightmare? Do angels even have dreams?' Eliron thought as he watched her.
"Yen, are you okay?"
She blinked then jolted, suddenly letting go of his shirt and shifting back.
"E-Eliron? W-what are you doing here?"
The shimmering crucifix slowly began to fade until there was no sign it was ever there.
Eliron frowned. "I didn't know angels had nightmares? What did you see, Lucifer offering you an apple?"
Yennefer laughed nervously and scratched her hair. "Oh, it was nothing…"
Eliron narrowed his eyes. It was clearly something, but if she didn't want him to know, then he wouldn't pry.
At least not yet…
He offered Yen his hand and pulled her to her feet.
"I need your help with something, I already have your payment ready." He said bringing out a sack of jerky from his pocket.
Yennefer smiled brightly. "No need, just for today, I'll do it for free!"
For the first time since he had met her, Yennefer seemed genuinely happy to be of help.
But this only made Eliron more worried.
'I guess something did happen…'