Chapter 7

Guild members who had flipped their attitudes like turning over a hand were now fawning over Theo, and Father laughed so hard at the sight that tears streamed down his face. Watching the guild master take such joy in teasing his own members, Theo gave him a pitiful look—then something came to mind.

“The twins are quiet… guess you still haven’t taken their gags off, huh?”

Normally, the two would be the loudest voices in a situation like this. Father wiped at the tears running down his cheeks and nodded.

“They’re noisy. And knowing them, they’re probably rushing over here right now to butt in.”

Theo glanced toward the guild house entrance with a weary expression. Then, as if afraid of being caught, he quickly stood up.

“I’m heading out.”

Without looking back, he left. Instead of a farewell, Father just waved his hand lazily.

Leaving the guild house, Theo pulled up the village map and searched for the address Marco had given him.

“District 3-12… District 3-12.”

It wasn’t far from the central plaza. He instinctively scanned the area—then, worried the twins might come chasing after him, he hurried his steps.

After passing through the wide central plaza and turning into an alley, Theo easily found Marco’s workshop. Normally, a residence would have its door shut tight unless the owner allowed entry. But Marco’s place had the first floor open for smithing, so the door was wide open.

The moment he stepped inside, heat washed over him. A massive furnace and forge, a bellows, an anvil. A water wheel drawing up groundwater, and along the walls, neatly displayed blades gleaming with sharp edges. It was clearly a smithy.

“Marco.”

Theo called as he looked around. From the back of the smithy, someone came rushing forward in a flurry.

“Hyung!”

Marco greeted him warmly and led him upstairs to the second-floor residence. Unlike the hot, stuffy air below, the living quarters were cool and pleasant.

He guided Theo to a table set by the wide open window, where the village plaza stretched out in full view and a gentle breeze drifted in. While Theo was distracted by the scenery, Marco fetched some snacks and drinks from his small storage and set them out—things Theo hadn’t been able to enjoy at all while in the sanctuary.

Their conversation began once Marco took a seat on the sofa across from him.

“So, what kind of bow are we making? Got the materials?”

“First, just make me a bow with the maximum possible attack power using the basic materials you’ve got.”

“Maximum attack? But then accuracy and range will take a hit. For ranged—especially bows—accuracy is way more important than raw attack, you know.”

“It’s fine. Accuracy can be zero for all I care.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t need accuracy or range. Pour everything into attack power.”

“No, seriously… what are you trying to do?”

“I need to see what happens for myself. So just make me one for now.”

Pressed by Theo, Marco reluctantly headed back down to the smithy. He was still confused, but with Theo standing guard behind him like a sentry, he had no choice but to start crafting.

It didn’t take long. Marco made a bow with the maximum possible attack power and handed it over. Theo accepted it and opened the item window.

After scanning the info, Theo seemed lost in thought, then looked around the smithy as if searching for something. His eyes fell on a scarecrow standing in the corner. Most smithies had one for testing weapon damage. Theo walked up to it and swung the bow like a club.

With a dull strike, damage numbers floated above the scarecrow. Pathetic. Clicking his tongue, Theo shot Marco a serious look.

“If we reinforce it with metal, wouldn’t that boost the attack even higher?”

“It’s possible… but it’d be way too heavy.”

“…Then I wouldn’t even be able to swing it, huh.”

“Uh… yeah?”

“You got any gear with Strength on it? If you do, let me borrow it.”

“Strength?”

Marco blinked in confusion. A bow user whose main stat was Dexterity suddenly asking about Strength? First he wanted a bow, then he started swinging it like a melee weapon… Marco’s expression twisted with bewilderment as he asked again,

“What exactly are you trying to do, hyung?”

“I don’t know either. That’s why I have to test it. So, do you have it or not?”

“I’ve got a few pieces… hold on.”

Marco fetched some Strength-infused gear from his small storage and handed it over. Theo checked the item windows. Since Marco’s Class didn’t use Strength as a main stat, the numbers were mediocre. But for Theo’s purpose—just testing whether damage would scale—it was good enough.

Theo equipped the borrowed gear, then swung the bow at the scarecrow again.

“Oh.”

The damage had definitely gone up. Theo muttered with a satisfied look,

“So damage really does scale with Strength if you’re using the bow as a melee weapon.”

Eternal Tale didn’t have levels. Characters had stats that made them stronger, but since there was no leveling system, you couldn’t gain them by leveling up. Instead, stats dropped as loot from monsters. They could be traded, bought, sold, or enchanted into gear and Actions. A character’s strength depended on their equipment’s tier and how many stats were imbued into their gear.

“I wonder what the max output would be… I’d like to see how strong it gets with fully stacked Strength gear.”

As Theo muttered to himself, Marco, who had been listening quietly, asked in a cautious voice,

“Hyung… are you seriously trying to swing a bow with Strength, like a melee weapon?”

“…”

Theo looked at him. It wasn’t really a secret, so he had no reason to hide it. He didn’t even intend to. He nodded, and Marco’s face twisted into shock.

“That actually works? It registers as damage?”

“I confirmed it. The real question is how much damage it can actually put out.”

“But… why go that far?”

“It’d be a waste, wouldn’t it? If it were you, would you just throw away an Eternal?”

“…”

Marco couldn’t deny it—letting go so easily would be impossible. He was a Hybrid, so if he wanted to, he could just equip another weapon even if it meant sacrificing some damage. But Theo was an Origin. He could only use a single weapon. To take a bow and try to convert it into a melee weapon… Marco couldn’t even imagine it.

And bows were far weaker than other weapons in terms of base damage. Their overall damage only matched other weapons because of the arrows. Trying to use just the bow itself for melee damage? On a common-sense level, it was absurd.

“How’s it going?”

A sudden voice cut in. They turned—and saw Father standing at the entrance. The two of them gave him questioning looks, and Father strolled inside, glancing around the smithy.

“What are you doing here?” Theo asked.

Father shrugged. “The twins barged in making a racket, so I ran away.”

Theo and Marco both made faces like they understood all too well. Looking proud to see their sympathy, Father asked again,

“So? How’s it going?”

“Not yet… Hey, your gear’s maxed out in Strength, right?”

“Huh?”

“Let me borrow it for a sec.”

Theo didn’t even wait for an answer before holding out his hand. Father looked at him, then silently handed over his gear. Every piece was rare, enchanted to maximum Strength—equipment so ridiculously expensive it made you click your tongue. Yet he lent it without hesitation.

Theo stared blankly at Father’s dazzling set of equipment, the kind of stuff he’d never even seen before. He wondered how much it would be worth if converted into cash. But he quickly shoved the thought aside and equipped it all. With every piece on, the bow in his hand felt heavier, almost unnaturally so.

Adjusting his grip to the strange sensation, Theo approached the scarecrow. Then, putting all his strength into it, he swung.

A sharp crack rang out. The bow snapped cleanly in half.

The three of them fell silent, stunned by the sight of the weapon shattering before their eyes.

After a short silence, Father approached with a dazed look, picked up a shard of the broken bow, and muttered,

“Looks like the bow’s durability can’t withstand that much Strength…”

Theo and Marco exchanged a glance. An unexpected new problem had appeared.

The three of them put their heads together in thought.

“If Strength increases physical power anyway, maybe reinforcing the bow with steel would raise its durability?” Theo suggested.

“Then it’ll be too heavy, and the attack speed will drop. With bow damage already so low, slowing it down too? That’ll turn it into a trash build.” Marco shot back.

“…But if you lower the Strength, then the damage won’t be enough either,” Father added, frowning.

No clear solution presented itself. Once again, the three bent their heads in silence, the sound of thoughts grinding filling the air. Finally, Theo let out a long sigh.

“First, we need to figure out the limit.”

“Huh?”

“The limit?”

Marco and Father asked at the same time.

“If I want higher damage, I need Strength. But the bow breaks when it’s too much. We’ve got to find the threshold—the maximum Strength it can handle. After that, I’ll just build around crits to push the damage as high as it’ll go.”

The three looked at each other, then nodded. Soon, they started borrowing Strength-enchanted gear from guildmates and friends in the area. Before long, equipment piled up like a mountain, each with different Strength values. Theo began mixing and matching, testing piece by piece to find the exact threshold where the bow wouldn’t break.