BXBX NOVEL Chapter 3: Making Bow and Arrows
With that, Tia climbed out of Enzo's embrace.
She quickly put on her animal skins and grabbed a wooden spear from the side of the cave, heading towards the exit.
Enzo hastily called out, "Stop, Tia!"
Tia turned around, firm in her resolve. "I'm going to retrieve the black backpack." she said.
Enzo felt somewhat helpless but used his authority as a priest to command Tia, saying, "Tia, I am the new priest of the tribe. Are you going to disobey my orders? And not retrieving the backpack, that's not your fault. On the contrary, you saved me, allowing the tribe to have someone like me who can inherit the role of priest. You saved the entire tribe."
A glimmer of light flashed in Tia's eyes, filled with joy as she asked, "Really?"
Enzo nodded. "Of course it's true."
Having finally persuaded the impulsive Tia, Enzo breathed a sigh of relief.
According to Tia's description, the Big Boar was far from dumb. On the contrary, it was remarkably agile and had keen senses for danger, coupled with a volatile temperament, being a gregarious creature.
Tia's success in bringing him back was purely luck.
Rushing in would only lead to unnecessary losses. How to retrieve the black backpack required careful consideration.
Fortunately, no one from other tribes had ventured into the boar's territory.
There was one crucial point—inside the black backpack were some essential tools for outdoor survival, including a sharp dagger, a nylon rope over ten meters long, and some yams and potatoes dug up from the wild.
All of these were valuable items.
If they were destroyed by the boar, it would be a great loss.
Therefore, retrieving the backpack quickly was imperative.
Enzo formulated a plan in his mind and then walked out of the cave. Under Tia's guidance, he toured the tribal camp, familiarizing himself with the other members and assessing the tribe's situation.
Afterward, he furrowed his eyebrows slightly, sensing something amiss.
The campsite of the Crimson Star tribe is located in a basin, with mountains on three sides.
On the side without mountains, they have inserted large trees into the ground, forming a row to create a tree wall, acting as a barrier to prevent wild beasts from the forest from entering.
On the other three sides, there are excavated small hills.
The soil is soft and reddish-brown, and Enzo can tell at a glance that it is a common ceramic soil.
However, the tribe members have dug caves in such places to serve as dwellings. Once they encounter heavy rain, it could potentially cause the collapse of the caves.
Another point to note is that the tribe members' weapons are too single-minded.
They are all wooden spears.
The tips have not undergone carbonization treatment and are simply polished on stones. The spearheads are neither sharp nor sturdy. While they are sufficient for dealing with ordinary small animals, they would be greatly diminished in effectiveness against larger beasts with hard armored protection.
It seems that changes are necessary.
Since becoming the next priest of the Crimson Star tribe, the tribe has become stronger, and he can also be safer, thus surviving in this primitive age.
Thinking about this, Enzo instructed Tia: "Tia, go and call the few people who make weapons."
Apart from the priest Sovita, Enzo wasn't familiar with the other members of the tribe.
Hearing the command, Tia nodded and quickly ran out.
Before long, she returned with a few older members of the tribe and found Enzo by a campfire in an open space.
One of them stepped forward and asked, "Your Holiness, what orders do you have for us?"
Enzo didn't know them, but they knew Enzo—the next priest of the Crimson Star tribe!
However, due to the priest's authority, the members of the tribe didn't dare to disturb him.
Tia took the opportunity to introduce, "Enzo, Uncle Brian is the most skilled weapon maker in the tribe. The weapons he crafts can easily pierce through the hide of a deer!"
Hearing this, Enzo couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
Could such weapons be considered the work of a weapon master?
But obviously, everyone else approved, including Brian himself.
However, at this moment, Brian sternly criticized Tia, saying, "Tia, Lord Enzo is the future priest of the Crimson Star tribe. How can you directly call the priest by his name?"
Tia retorted defiantly, "The priest himself permitted it."
Seeing that an argument was about to break out between them, Enzo's tone turned stern. "Brian, Tia is acting under my command. Do you have any objections?"
Brian, fearful, knelt down and shook his head continuously. "Your Excellency the Priest, Brian has no objections."
Seeing this, Enzo nodded and said, "Alright, get up."
The authority of the priest penetrated the hearts of every member of the tribe. Only young people like Tia were not so rigid, but deep down, there was still reverence.
Enzo didn't see anything wrong with it. This was the rule of survival in the primitive age.
And it wasn't a bad thing.At the very least, it made commanding much more convenient.
So, Enzo asked, "Brian, are there any flexible wood nearby?"
Brian tentatively replied, "Your Excellency the Priest, are you referring to redwood?"
Redwood? What's that?
Enzo was completely ignorant of the various species in this world. He said directly, "Is there redwood in the camp? Bring me some to see, and also bring some fine vine ropes."
"Yes!" Brian nodded.
He then returned to his own cave and brought out several wooden sticks and a roll of processed vine ropes, placing them in front of Enzo.
Enzo took them and tried bending the redwood.
It bent almost to ninety degrees, still resilient without breaking. After releasing it, it instantly returned to its original shape, showing excellent elasticity. It was undoubtedly a natural material for making bows and arrows.
Indeed, Enzo planned to make bows and arrows.
Compared to spears, bows had a longer range and greater penetrating power.
With the material for making the bow secured, the next step was to make arrows.
The campsite lacked no materials. They smoothed out long straight branches, charred the tips with flames to increase hardness and sharpness, and bound tail feathers with fine vine ropes at the back to enhance balance.
After spending more than half an hour, a bow and ten arrows were completed.
Enzo handed the bow and arrows to Tia, saying, "Give it a try."
Tia joyfully accepted them. Just as she was about to pull the bowstring to test it, Brian spoke up again, "Your Excellency the Priest, your talent is admirable. Using the power of flames to polish wood is remarkable wisdom. However, these soft tools seem to lack lethality."
Upon hearing this, Enzo didn't argue. Instead, he said to Brian, "Why don't you and Tia have a little competition?"
With those words, an angry expression appeared on Brian's face, seemingly deeply humiliated. Nevertheless, he still maintained respect towards Enzo and said, "Your Excellency the Priest, I was once a warrior of the tribe! The spear in my hand has pierced through the bodies of wild beasts! Tia may not be my match, but since you've spoken, I will faithfully carry out your command!"
Enzo was surprised by Brian's anger.
But he didn't dwell on it.
He believed that the facts would speak for themselves.
So, he walked to a nearby wooden wall, used charred sticks to draw two targets on it, and estimated the range of the bow and arrows. Then he called Tia and Brian over and said, "Both of you, stand here and use the spears and arrows I made for you to attack the two targets on the wall, each with ten chances."
Tia and Brian nodded. Then the contest began.
It had to be admitted that Brian's strength was quite formidable. The spear whistled past, but due to its instability and the relatively rough tip despite carbonization, it bounced off the target after hitting beside it.
In contrast, although Tia's arrows also missed the mark at first, they eventually pierced into the wooden wall.
With some adjustments, she managed to hit the target accurately several times.
While Brian did manage to hit the target a few times, he only left some dents on it.
The results of the contest were hard for Brian to believe.
He looked at Enzo with his mouth agape and said, "High Priest..."
Enzo patted the shoulders of the sturdy man who was much taller than himself and smiled, "Brian, you haven't lost."
After having Tia retrieve the arrows stuck in the wooden wall, Enzo handed the bow and arrows to Brian, saying, "Try it yourself, and you'll understand why I asked you to make bows and arrows."
Brian took the bow and arrows and shot a few arrows.
Afterward, he was completely convinced and couldn't help but say, "High Priest, with these bows and arrows, we can deal with prey more efficiently. Even... we can hunt down those flying birds of prey!"