Krewly arrived at the castle in the late afternoon on the day he promised. I happened to be enjoying my break between two training sessions while sitting in the little shade that was available in the courtyard, so I spotted him being escorted by a guard immediately after he entered. The dwarf was carrying a triangular package and had an oddly smug look on his face. I got up and approached them, asking the guard to seek and notify both Liyanne and the king that the weapon is ready and the tests will soon begin. They were both extremely interested in the crossbow, albeit for different reasons, so no matter how the test turns out, I want them to be there to witness it. Worst case scenario, I’ll make up some speech about the issues encountered and how to fix the prototype so that they don’t lose heart a little too quickly. And though I did have trust in Krewly’s prototype, even with his tendencies to significantly overcomplicate the most simple of things, the whole presentation and testing still got me a little nervous. As we headed to the archery range and started setting up the targets, I eventually struck up a conversation with the dwarf:

-You're absolutely sure it works just fine? Have you test fired it yet?

-It works, don't ya worry. But ah left the test fire to ya.

-You know our honour's on the line here, right?

-It'll be fine, it'll be fine. Besides, it’s only yar honour we have to worry about here.

-Ugh, I swear to...

-Sir Edward.

I bolted up and stood at attention as soon as I heard the king's voice behind me... only to realise I was showing him my back and promptly turned around on my hill and saluted again. Both the king and the princess stood there, curiously looking at the still unopened package laying atop one of the tables besides me.

-King Gurthan, princess Liyanne. You got here sooner than expected.

-We both simply happened to be near the main room. Is something amiss?

-No, it's just... We still have to unpack the crossbow and ensure everything’s in order. We should be done in just a moment, though, so please excuse us for a moment.

I let out a sigh as I turned towards the firing range, trying to calm my nerves. I usually wasn't getting this stressed out this easily but I guess trying to impress the king this early into my role as his advisor got to my head a little and caused me to act out of character. So far living in this new world has been a positive experience, except for the very first day, but situations like this one really make me wish I could still be living my old life. Boring for the most part, true, but at least void of surprises and stressful moments.

I composed myself and unpacked the crossbow. It actually looked nicer than I'd expect from a crude prototype. The wood had a nice finish and a bit of darker paint applied to it. Some simple decorative shapes were carved into the tiller for aesthetics. The trigger mechanism has been upgraded to a regular lever-type trigger. Thinking back, I was glad I over-engineered the simplicity of it, prompting the dwarf to, probably, go crazy because of it and still end up trying to make it more impressive, in the end getting the result I wanted. I guess I just found out how to come to terms with that show-off. The prod was also looking pretty nifty, with some runes, which glowed slightly in bright cyan, engraved into the metal. The whole crossbow had a very similar weird feeling I was getting from the swords in the catfolk shop, but I still couldn't quite place it. It sat pretty well in the hand and wasn't too heavy, which was my primary concern. I honestly had a hard time believing I was holding only a prototype, likely the first example of such a weapon in this world, and not a result of centuries of perfecting the intricacies of the design. It truly looked like a high-quality piece. Could Krewly be a genius at this stuff? It all depends on how this weapon will shoot then, I suppose.

-I have to say, Krewly, you did a better job than even I expected. At least visually. Let's see how it fires then, shall we?

I put the crossbow on the ground, pushed my foot into the stirrup and cocked the weapon. It required quite a lot of effort but that should mean it should also pack a punch if all the mechanisms work properly. Glancing over at the people watching me, it quickly became apparent that most of them don't quite seem to be getting the idea of how this crossbow is supposed to operate. I pulled it up and rested it on my shoulder, pointing it up in a way that everyone gathered could easily see it.

-Seems to be working fine. So, a quick explanation. This crossbow is currently cocked, meaning it's ready to fire. This is one of its main advantages over the bow, I can have it at full draw at no cost of my endurance and at all times. Since I don’t have to place the bolt on the tiller and can just leave it drawn like this, even if it misfires, the risk of injury is relatively low.

As I was talking, I was moving the crossbow to different positions, including holding it upside down to present that the string won't just fall out, which was a huge gamble as I wasn’t sure myself if it would hold. Luckily, it did, causing some soldiers to have their eyes wide open at this apparent magic. The royal family seemed more composed but I could clearly see the king smiling under his greying moustache. Finally, I shouldered the crossbow, aiming it down the range and reached inside the package to pick up a bolt. It was crude, nothing more than a small, sharpened piece of wood with quickly attached feathers for some stabilization. It will do, however. At least for now.

-Now, to turn it from a fancy looking pickaxe to a deadly projectile thrower, all you have to do is insert the bolt in the groove of the tiller, just over here, so that it sits just in front of the string, aim at the target and pull on the trigger.

I demonstrated what I said, performing each action slowly to ensure everyone was getting the idea behind my movements and aimed at the shooting target down the range. Once I pulled the trigger, the crossbow released without any issues and, with a fairly satisfying twang sound, the string returned at the speed which would definitely cut my fingertips off if I held it just slightly higher. This resulted in quite a lot of kick, which I wasn’t actually prepared for at all, going right into my shoulder. To not just the surprise of the crowd but also my own, the bolt went right through the hay target and broke upon impacting the stone fencing behind it, not without leaving a mark on it, though. Seeing it, I promptly placed the crossbow back on the table and took a step back, shock clearly painted on my face.

-So, y'all like it?

Hearing Krewly laugh, I managed to gather myself together and started walking down the range to find the bolt. It was completely shattered, the wood splitting into several splinters which ended up flying in all directions. Investigating the point of impact on the target, though, gave me some insight into the effectiveness of the crossbow.

-Well, it certainly possesses way more power than I expected... It's not perfect yet, though. We're gonna have to work a little on its accuracy, the bolt went to the left a bit, but it should be an easy fix, just some better bolts and a little smoother grooving should suffice.

-Aye, sounds easy enough. Would require some test firing to figure out just the right thing, tho. Day of work, probably. Two at most.

I stood up and started walking back, when I noticed that Liyanne walked up to the table and was thoroughly investigating  the crossbow, although without touching it.

-Mister Dwarf Inventor...

-Krewly's fine, lass.

-Krewly, is this crossbow magical in nature?

-Aye. The... How did ya call it again, lad, the prod? The metal bow thingy. It has some wind magical enhancement on it to help accelerate the bolt a little more.

-Are you capable of engraving magical runes?

-Nah. Just know a man who can. Can't say more to you, lass, ah'm sorry. They ain’t taking orders.

Figuring out who Krewly meant, and sensing where this could be going, I decided to butt into the conversation and tried to steer it to some other topic.

-Hey, you guys think this magical enhancement could be affecting the direction the bolt flies at, too?

-Possibly.

I smirked hearing them both reply at the same time.

-Krewly, have your friend prepare one prod without enhancements as well for future testing. In the meantime, we'll work on fine tuning this one and getting some more sturdy bolts. I want a whole bag of them, if possible.

-Aye.

-My king, what do you think so far about this new weapon?

-I think it is definitely worth investing in. I would like to see some more tests with it, though, but that can wait until you have a properly tuned prototype. However, it should still be possible to start training our soldiers on this one, correct?

-Of course. Like I said, the accuracy is still subpar to the standard I was hoping to achieve but that should have no impact on training if we focus on handling of the weapon first. We should have a proper prototype by the time the soldiers all learn how to tackle this thing proficiently and can proceed with accuracy training from that point.

-Good. Mr Krewly, do you require further funds to develop this crossbow?

-Nah. What Edward paid me so far is still covering it. The second crossbow's going to be cutting it close but ah'll just nag the kid about the money once the costs exceed the current sponsorship. Ah wouldn't want to trouble the king with such a thing.

-I see, that is fine. Edward, notify me as soon as you are satisfied with the crossbow prototype. We will consider how many units of this new weapon to order after the next testing session.

-Of course, my king.

With that, Gurthan turned around and headed back to the castle. Somehow, even from behind, he seemed to be in a very good mood. Seems like the presentation was a full success, then. Meanwhile, all of the soldiers present quickly assembled in a line to get a chance to fire this mysterious new weapon. Liyanne was given the first place, even though she was originally around tenth in the queue. Not wanting to use her as an example, I picked up the crossbow again and went through all the safety concerns, stances, and everything else that came to my mind. Surprisingly, the soldiers listened fairly intently this time around, unlike how they usually do during the more regular training sessions.

After a couple of them took their first shot, Krewly decided to head back to his workshop and start working on the order. I was forced to stay up and supervise the soldiers until late evening. We added a few more stacks of hay behind the targets to try and catch the bolts but pulling them out was a real pain, plus a lot of soldiers were missing their shots. This caused us to start running out of ammunition at an alarming pace. Seeing that, and realising this would mean the end of fun, the soldiers managed to find a way to get some cheap replacements using very particularly prepared pieces of wood that had been stored in the back of the warehouse for some field measurement work. When you need them to tell you where something is, they can never be bothered to remember anything about it but if they want to find something, everything's suddenly logged down and everyone knows exactly where it is, those clever bastards. They really are unbelievable at times. The replacements they found were, after all, just quickly sharpened pieces of wood, without any fletching to speak of, so they flew even worse than before but they kind of did their job for now.

Once it got late, and I grew way too bored watching grown men play with a wooden toy, excited like little kids for christmas, I grabbed the crossbow, called it a day and carried it to my room. Wrapping the day with a cold supper and a hot bath, although I'd prefer some warm food and a cold shower instead, I managed to fall asleep almost immediately after hitting the bed.

The next day started with more soldiers asking me to shoot the crossbow but I instead ordered them to do some regular exercises, much to their dissatisfaction. When I had a longer break from the 'classes', I headed to Krewly's workshop with the prototype. He was hard at work on carving the tillers for another four crossbows, even though he was only supposed to do one extra. According to him, he had the time to spare waiting for the prod, so he got ahead with work. Plus it was a good practice for him, as he put it. Five functioning crossbows was still way less than I would like to have for the attack on the hideout but they were still better than having none, especially with their overall performance being superior to my expectations. It’s not like we have the manpower to create a proper crossbowmen unit anyway. Currently, they were meant more as a trump card, in case the enemy is equipped with some armour that regular bows may have a hard time dealing with or is in a spot where a flatter firing arc is more optimal. I also explained to Krewly some of the physics behind arrows and armour and presented the bodkin arrowhead design. Being extremely easy to manufacture and greatly effective against both mail and plate, while also not falling behind in terms or raw flesh damage, they just seemed to be the best option we had going for us at this time. In essence, the long, needle-like arrowhead allowed for a much greater concentration of force on a single point, helping with penetrative power. At this point, however, we started running into a different problem. Namely: our supply of feathers was running thin. Since bows were rarely ever used for combat, the stock of arrows didn't need to be that big and was never really properly replenished, meaning there weren't many quality feathers for fletching stored or even possible to buy on the market. And hunters probably wouldn’t be particularly interested in parting with their personal stocks, so we just straight up gave up on that idea.

-So, how can we get more? If locals and merchants don’t have them, waiting for a peddler seems like the only option but even then I doubt he will have any.

-Aye, that ain't happening. Tho there is another way. Perfect for testing that little crossbow of yars too. Once we make it more accurate, that is.

-...you're not suggesting we go out and shoot chickens, are you?

-Chick’ns? Dunno what's that but there's a bird-like monster type roaming the plains south of here. You can often find whole herds of 'em there. They're not extremely aggressive, so hunting 'em should be a rather safe sport.

-I guess that's an idea. I’ll see what can be done about it.

With the prospect of properly field-testing the crossbow, Krewly got around to improving the grooving for a smoother leading of the bolt while I got around to the forge in the backyard to get some bodkin arrowheads ready. Forging them wasn't difficult, it was essentially just heating up a small ingot of iron and smashing it into a pyramid shape. For the best effect, you wanted a small base and a long, sharp point, which, in essence, just meant more hammering. I got the rhythm of it somewhat quickly and managed to get a couple arrowheads ready in the next few hours. I might have skipped leading a training session or two because of that but the soldiers knew what I expected from them at this point so I felt comfortable letting them do a self-study session once in a while. Although I was sure that they have likely decided to go and spar instead. Everyone was hyped up for the raid on the bandit headquarters, so they were eager to train and improve as much as they could before it happened. They weren't as concerned with surviving the clash, they only wanted to see the bandits decimated as quickly as possible. At this point I lived enough in this world to just accept that kind of logic as normal but it still felt wrong to even consider it as such. But if it gave them the motivation to keep going and fighting, who am I to take it away?

At the end of the day, I returned with an improved crossbow and a bag of bodkin bolts, fitted by Krewly using some of the last feathers he had stockpiled. Since I managed to return just in time for the supper, I had the opportunity to speak to both Gurthan and Liyanne about the hunt. They confirmed that such monsters usually roam the aforementioned plains and that it could be a good sport for the soldiers, as well as some actual combat experience for me. I also threw in the suggestion we could use it as diversion, to make it seem that all the preparations that could tip off the bandits were about that hunt. I had no clue if it would have any practical effect but that's the beauty of information warfare. Worst case scenario is that they don't buy it and things continue as they do now. Best case, though, they do fall for it and lower their guard completely. Actually, the worst case would be if they pretended to fall for it and place an ambush but... I might grow to regret it later but I somehow doubt they were capable enough to come up with a strategy like this. It also didn’t seem like something the plain and naive minds of this world can really resort to. From what I understood about the warfare system so far, with how the magic and Skills are dominating factors in combat, it usually comes down to power showcase, so eloquent tactics and guerilla type warfare essentially don't exist here. And that was my advantage that I intended to use to the fullest, since that meant people won't expect me setting up traps and won't know how to defend against them and various other strategies, like manoeuvre warfare. This fact was getting me a little excited, truth be told. I wasn’t much of a strategist, I usually sucked at video games requiring excessing battle planning and strategizing, no matter how many hours I’ve spent playing them or watching tutorials so that, at least, if I couldn’t be a decent opponent, then I can at least be an obstacle on my enemy’s way to complete victory. However, the child in me was still excited to be the glorious leader who can turn the tide of battle simply by his superior knowledge and intuition. I think anyone would be, honestly, and with how this world works, the little theoretical knowledge I do possess might actually prove vitally useful.

The following day, after an early breakfast, Liyanne gathered a couple capable soldiers and we all set off South. I managed to quickly prepare a rudimentary sling from a piece of rope and some cloth so that I didn't have to carry the crossbow in my hand the whole way. The morale for the hunting party was fairly high, which wasn't surprising. The soldiers spend most of their time either training or patrolling, they rarely ever had a chance to do anything for entertainment. And while this hunt was a great sport, it would also serve its purpose in presenting how much actual skill the soldiers have and additionally test the crossbow in a more realistic scenario, namely against a moving and living target. On top of that, we're helping secure the region by lowering the number of monsters, even if those were some of the more docile ones out there. And, personal bonus, I have yet to come face to face with a monster. Starting with something of a lower calibre should work great to prepare for more ferocious ones.

The plains we were heading to were just a couple clicks away from the town, so we arrived there in just under three hours. We set up in an undergrowth at the edge of a forest, observing the plain. Indeed, a decently sized herd, maybe twenty, perhaps even thirty monsters, carelessly roamed around it. They were just under a metre tall and looked a little like a mix between a chicken, a turkey and a pigeon. A truly bizarre bird indeed. They walked on two legs with three front fingers and two back ones, all ending with sharp claws. The greyish-blue ball of feathers serving as a torso came in a couple of different shades and patterns but each one bird had the exact same red stripe going across their chest from the base of one wing to another. The head of the bird looked a lot like a rooster's with a wattle coloured like the one seen on your average racing homer, or a common city pigeon. Looking at them, it was hard to imagine those birds could fly given their physique but I did see a couple of them get off the ground with relative ease and glide over to a space several metres over. Then again, hens can do that too, but those monsters somehow made it look even less majestic.

I grabbed the crossbow off my back and cocked it, preparing one of the bolts. Three other soldiers, who had their bows, also prepared to draw. Liyanne and the remaining three soldiers stood back with their swords in case the birds, or some other beasts, came rushing at us. I’m not sure why they didn’t bring spears for that but I didn’t question them when we set off, I shouldn’t be questioning them now. I should have noticed this glaring oversight earlier, now there was nothing we could do about it. Then again, we were all soldiers, not hunters, mistakes were bound to happen. Let’s just hope we won’t suffer too much because of them.

-Alright, lads, each of you pick a target and get ready. We're releasing on my signal. Got them? Okay, get ready. Three, two... One... Fire.

Four strings were released nearly at the same time. Two of the soldiers managed to strike at their birds but only one managed to actually kill it. The third missed, although by a small margin, as he later claimed. My shot, however, went right through one of the birds and striked a second one behind it. Both were dead before they hit the ground. The flock took a moment to realise some of them had been offed and soon started running towards the trees and even taking off but the soldiers still managed to string another arrow each and fire them at the fleeing birds, striking one out of the sky. I was just a little too slow with my reload to try my luck again. This resulted in two killed by me, and three, after we managed to catch the one still barely alive from the first volley, for the archers. Their success kill rate per shot fired was fifty percent. Mine was two hundred. But I doubt this will be a good indicator of the crossbow’s superiority, even though the fact it pierced through the first bird like nothing did leave a strong impression on the soldiers. What it perfectly indicated, however, was the impact of better constructed bolts and improved grooving for leading them. With this, we knew that there is no need to work on them anymore, although I first fired a couple more shots to ensure it wasn't a fluke. After shooting down a total of five birds, and spending several minutes between each kill on tracking the birds after they kept running off in various directions, I let Liyanne have a go at it too. She missed the first shot but the other two she took went cleanly through her prey.

-So? What do you think?

-It's a deadly weapon. Accurate, fast, easy to handle. Reloading it takes some time, though, and its size is making it a little cumbersome, but I can see its potential.

-That's why, historically, where I came from, crossbowmen usually carried large shields which they secured in the ground. They used them for cover while they reloaded.

-Seems like a dreadful tactic. It's surprising how differently the concepts and tactics of war evolved in our worlds.

-Astonishingly so, even. And trust me, the crossbow may seem dreadful, but that isn't the half of it. Just a couple hundred years later, we already had projectile weapons that caused the crossbows to almost be forgotten about and completely abandoned in warfare. A weapon so powerful that, at the time, there was no armour able to stop it.

Liyanne turned to me with a side look that showed she clearly didn't believe me but after reconsidering it for a moment, she just shook her head.

-Don't even start describing them to me. I'm already scared of what this thing can do. If you people could create weapons even more terrifying…

-Yeah, weapons akin to magic even to normal folks. You wouldn't believe they're real even if you saw them. And you'd question our sanity if you saw the destruction they can leave in their wake.

-That really does sound terrifying. How could you live a normal life in a world like that?

-It wasn't my problem, for the most part. Closest conflict was several days on horseback away from my point of residence. Even with all those advances in weaponry, it was difficult for anyone to just randomly strike at us. We also had systems in place to defend against everything but the most terrifying weapons. Additionally, my country didn't allow regular citizens to simply carry such weapons on them. Even the simple things like blades were regulated to a degree. So it was still a relatively safe place, as long as you didn't stumble onto some drunkards or... well, other trash like that.

I wasn't sure how much the terms like "crackpots” and "asylum escapees" would tell her. Plus there weren't many people like that either. If anything, football fans were probably the most dangerous group of all to encounter, especially during league matches, but she wouldn’t understand any of that either and I didn’t feel like explaining all that.

-I see. It must have been a really strange world you lived in.

-Strange indeed. Anyway, you don't have to worry about any of those weapons. Even with magic, I doubt most of them could be easily recreated. Unless I, or one of the other Heroes, get the brilliant idea of introducing and developing them. You guys just, I don't know, don't seem like the sort that would figure things like that out, not with how reliant on magic you are for everything. Plus, I don't know if you even have the minerals and chemicals needed for creating things like that.

-That's sort of a relief. Are we good to head back?

-Yeah. Let's.

I stood up and gathered the soldiers who were sitting on the ground and resting. We have already collected the birds we shot, so now we tied them up to some long, sturdy sticks for easier carry and started heading back to town. With this many high quality feathers, crafting the bolts won't be a problem for quite a long while. All that is left now is getting the other crossbows produced, training up a squad to use them and, finally, assaulting the bandit hideout. The inevitable was drawing near but I was growing more confident regarding it too. Still, it was just a few days more before the actual fight. That prospect still somewhat terrified me, but I was slowly coming to terms with it. It was still my duty that I had to perform. I couldn’t fail, especially not this early.