PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Having been left alone in the laboratory, Desmond decided not to waste time and place the bowstring left by Sasha on his new and improved weapon; When he took the rope out of the case in which it was delivered, Desmond could see that it seemed to be made of some material similar to the cartilage or tendon of a beast and associating it with what Sasha said, he assumed that it must have been part of the joints that allowed the Dark-edged creeper tiger executes those ridiculous movements with its tail.

Having both bows and strings in hand, Desmond noticed that due to the subtle changes in structure that the bow had undergone, it no longer had a suitable part to place the bowstring; for the now dark and solidified flowers at both ends of it were in the way of this work.

In the course of considering how the heck to fix his current problem, Desmond brought one of the ends of the bowstring close to the end of the bow where the solidified flower was located and watched with great surprise as the bow began to move.

The upper end of the arch that still looked like a black fox tail with a flower in it, separated as if it were formed by a large number of extremely thin vines leaving only a thick vine where the flower perched, these vines were slowly twisting constantly showing a certain degree of vitality; Guided by nothing but a hunch Desmond put the bowstring inside these vines and watched as they tangled together again as they held the bowstring. At the end of this strange and highly disturbing event, the upper end of the bow reverted to its original appearance now with a bowstring coming out from within it.

′′ Damn, that took me by surprise, point for weapons with spirituality I suppose; but. . . It couldn’t have been the least bit less gross, I mean that was like watching hundreds of worms wrap themselves over something. ′′

Fun fact, Desmond could be quite fussy even when he was getting unexpected benefits like the one he just had and it is not that he has a phobia of worms as he does with spiders; it is simply that to his liking it is not something one wants to observe if they have the opportunity to choose.

Without further ado, Desmond proceeded to repeat the process with both ends of both the bow and the string, without any surprise Desmond was able to witness a replica of what happened the first time he did such a thing; so enduring slight nausea caused by the sight, he proceeded to leave the laboratory completely excited with the idea of ??testing his bow.

But on the way out of the cabin he remembered that due to the time Sasha spent working on the preparations for the improvement of the bow and the process itself, the poor girl did not have a decent meal in all day; So as much as Desmond wanted to run out into the yard to practice with his bow like a kid with a new toy, he still had the conscience to pause in the kitchen for a few moments while he prepared a relatively lush meal for the red-haired girl that has made so much for him.

.....

′′ Sasha leave some food in the dining room, make sure you eat something in which I practice with the bow out′′

Not waiting for an answer, Desmond in the rush of the wind went out the front door directly to the place where he had placed a small array of targets for archery practice, after which, wanting to play it safe, Desmond placed himself at a distance of relative close to the target and began his already well-practiced shooting technique.

It didn’t take long for Desmond to notice that after going through his upgrade the bow was certainly heavier than it was in the past so it took him a little time to readjust his center of balance, Desmond could only thank the fact that his physical body had been strengthened to a considerable extent by the time a star arrived at the class so the weight of the bow was not too much of a problem for an experienced marksman like him.

Just seconds later any inner gratitude that Desmond had been forgotten when he tried to tighten the bowstring. . . when he began to pull it back he could feel all the muscles in his arms, forearms, and his entire back tightening strongly; by the time he finished pulling the bowstring into a proper firing position (without finishing stretching the string to its actual limit), Desmond felt that the muscles in his entire upper torso and arms were barely able to maintain that degree of effort and tension.

′′ Well, maybe I should have eaten all my vegetables when I was little because this time I am falling short in strength, I’m sorry mom you were right all this time. ′′

Adding salt to the wounds in Desmond’s ego, when he released the tension generated in the bow and released the arrow so that it took flight; he only heard a powerful sound of something piercing the wind and no arrows stuck in his target to be seen.

It was obvious to Desmond that he had epically missed his shot, not wanting to give up easily Desmond proceeded to fire several practice shots in a row to try to get used to the new characteristics of his bow.

It took him almost ten shots to finally hit his target, but this did not change Desmond’s mood for the better, as for why, well this was due to two small details that did not make the poor hunter happy.

The first was that after just ten shots Desmond could already feel the muscles in his arms and torso throbbing with pain and exhaustion; which worried the hunter at the prospect of having to use the bow to deal with many enemies, after all, it was clear that with his current physical strength he did not have enough stamina to make many shots.

The second issue that had Desmond upset was that when he finally managed to hit his target with a shot, the target was completely pulverized by the arrow leaving nothing but scraps behind him; so Desmond had temporarily run out of practice target. . . Not that it mattered much since it was unlikely that he would be able to practice for much longer.

But as stubborn as Desmond could be on certain occasions, he still wanted to stay and train a little longer with his bow, but he ended up changing his mind when, taking another arrow and placing it on his bow, he could see in the corner of his gaze that there was a beautiful girl with intense raspberry eyes looking at him through the window with an intense gaze and something. . . glowing?

Thinking of some things that he would like to discuss with the alchemist, Desmond didn’t think long before proceeding to call her; of course, he wouldn’t be called Desmond Astryd if he didn’t take the opportunity to piss off the poor girl a bit.

′′ Are you going to watch all day or do you prefer to come and play a bit? ′′

Unfortunately for the always carefree and playful Desmond, the alchemist reacted by fleeing directly, leaving him alone in the courtyard with a pending conversation and a lot of physical pain.

′′ Hell, I didn’t think he would run straight out. . . I guess next time I’ll have to corner her in a corner before teasing her. ′′ Exclaimed the most shameless hunter on this side of the cosmos.