"A ranged weapon? What kind?"
Luke stopped at the question. He had only just sold the Godslayer Sniper Rifle—not because he had no need for a ranged weapon, but because firearms were not his specialty.
"A bow. I don’t know whether you have that kind of specialization. If you don’t need one, that’s fine too. You could ask your friends for me."
As Titan spoke, he took a longbow from his storage space. A hint of sorrow appeared on his face. "This was my brother’s bow. He died in our last world and traded it to me before the end. We originally wanted to recruit another Explorer who specialized in ranged physical damage, but most ranged-build Explorers use sniper rifles these days. We have no choice but to sell it."
"Captain... are we really not going to wait any longer?"
The stall owner, Little Wolf, was visibly moved upon seeing the bow, grief crossing his face. Clearly, this bow held special meaning for them.
"No more waiting. Skilled fighters are hard enough to recruit, and we’ve only brought in two snipers so far. I just got them new guns this morning. Hardly anyone uses bows these days."
Titan waved a hand. Based on Little Wolf’s description, he had guessed that Prison Demon was a powerful lone wolf, so he had come over to see whether Luke might be interested.
Bows were difficult to sell as well. They were exceptionally hard to use. Unlike modern firearms, where even an ordinary specialization paired with an aiming system could hit a target, whether a bow could hit anything depended heavily on the user’s skill.
Their adventure group’s former third-in-command, a master archer, had apparently been a three-time Olympic archery champion before entering Endspace. That was why he had wielded a bow with such supernatural proficiency.
"Let me take a look first."
Luke did not refuse. He looked toward the dark brown longbow.
Its design was ancient and rugged, its tips curved like a pair of horns. It carried a weighty sense of power at a glance. This was clearly no bow that could be drawn easily.
[Barbarian King's Bow]
Origin: Native World No. 87123
Quality: Legendary
Equipment Type: Main Weapon—Bow
Durability: 200/200
Enhancement Level: +8
Enhancement Effect—[Divine Speed]: Initial arrow velocity increased by 30%.
Toughness: 45
Effective Range: 10–30 km
Usage Requirement: 40 Strength, 40 Agility, Master-Level Bow and Crossbow Mastery
Details: The Barbarian King's Bow, passed down through generations of the Kabak Tribe. Drawing this bow requires immense strength, and whoever can draw it becomes the tribe’s next Barbarian King. Do not attempt to draw the bow without sufficient strength, or severe injury will result.
Equipment Skill 1: [Arrow of Nature] (Active)
Effect: Ordinary arrows cannot withstand the immense force of the Barbarian King's Bow. Besides using special arrows, the Pioneer may consume a certain amount of Soul Source to activate [Arrow of Nature]. The Barbarian King's Bow will absorb natural energy and form a tangible arrow condensed from highly concentrated energy, possessing high toughness and sharpness.
If the Arrow of Nature hits an enemy and penetrates deeply enough to inflict effective damage, it will explode the instant it enters the body, dealing hybrid damage equal to 400% of the Explorer’s Strength attribute.
Cooldown: None
Equipment Skill 2: [Barbaric Strength] (Passive)
Effect: Arrows fired from the Barbarian King's Bow are empowered by immense brute force and gain powerful piercing properties. If they fail to penetrate their target, they inflict a powerful knockback effect.
Equipment Skill 3: [Enchant] (Active)
Effect: The Pioneer may apply various enchantments to an arrow about to be fired. The enchantment effect remains for one second after the arrow leaves the bowstring.
Equipment Rating: 400+
Evaluation: Take violence to its absolute limit. Pierce the earth with a single strike!
Honestly, Luke was blown away by the bow’s details. He liked it the instant he saw it.
It was not as if he lacked ranged attacks. Kidō, for example, was a decent ranged option. But Kidō leaned more toward magic, and compared to Luke’s normal attacks, most of it was rather underpowered aside from a handful of high-consumption advanced spells.
That was why he rarely used Hadō for ranged attacks in battle. Most of the time, he used the support functions of Binding Spells instead.
The Barbarian King's Bow was a traditional ranged weapon. Its method of attack was simple and direct, yet brutally violent. It perfectly suited Luke’s taste in weapons.
As for its usage requirements, his normal Strength and Agility did not meet the mark. But once he activated his various states, he could easily fulfill them. The specialization requirement was no issue either.
His firearm design specialization was merely ordinary, but his bow and crossbow shooting specialization was genuinely Master-Level.
That was because Gareth had been rather old-fashioned in Luke’s upbringing. Archery was one of the traditional six arts, so of course Gareth had taught it to him. If not for practical circumstances and financial constraints, Gareth had even wanted to teach him mounted archery.
Luke learned martial disciplines exceptionally quickly. Even as a child, he could hit a target through a willow leaf from a hundred paces away. Compared to cold firearms, he found traditional weapons like bows far more natural to use.
This bow could perfectly make up for his medium-range, long-range, and extreme-range striking capability. With it, he would no longer have any combat weaknesses and could adapt to all kinds of mission worlds.
The only problem was that the bow was too good. It was even a main weapon enhanced to +8, so it definitely would not come cheap.
He only had 90,000 Endspace Coins left. He could not spend every last coin, either. Buying a top-tier main weapon like this would be difficult.
"So, Brother Prison Demon, what do you think? Is it to your liking?"
Titan asked with a smile. He might look like a huge, rough brute, but he was actually quite perceptive. He immediately saw that Luke was very interested in the bow.
That surprised Titan. He had only been giving it a casual try and had not expected Luke to be interested. He had merely wanted Luke to spread the word, since some lone wolves traveled alone but knew quite a few powerful people.
But Luke’s eyes made one thing clear. Not only was he interested in the Barbarian King's Bow—he even met its requirements.
Titan glanced at the sword hanging at Luke’s waist and became even more convinced that this man called Prison Demon was no simple character. He had Master-Level Bow and Crossbow Mastery, yet his main weapon was a sword. What did that mean?
It meant Luke’s swordsmanship specialization had to be at least Master-Level! Perhaps more than just those two specializations had reached Master-Level!
Was this really a second-tier Explorer?
As expected, lone wolves who thrived were all monsters.
"It’s a fine bow. To be honest, I like it a lot."
Luke withdrew his gaze. "But I probably can’t afford it. What price are you asking, Titan?"
"One hundred thousand."
Titan answered succinctly.
"That’s a shame. In the hands of the right person, it really is worth that price."
Luke shook his head with a sigh. He truly needed this bow, but he did not have enough money. Accounting for last-minute preparations before entering a world and replenishing a few recovery supplies, he needed to keep at least 10,000 Endspace Coins in reserve. That meant he could only use 80,000.
Titan pondered for several seconds before speaking. "How much can you offer, brother?"
"Eighty thousand. I need to keep some money for preparations."
Luke answered frankly.
Titan seemed conflicted at first, but after only a few seconds, he made his decision. "Fine. Eighty thousand it is!"
Luke froze. He had not expected the other man to agree. This was a fully rated Legendary main weapon enhanced to +8.
Luke had Lucky Forging Stones, so enhancing equipment to +8 was not difficult for him. But under normal circumstances, it would take at least 20,000 Endspace Coins to enhance something to that level.
"Are you sure?"
Luke asked in return.
Titan smiled bitterly. "Brother, stop asking me that, or I’ll change my mind."
Of course, he knew he was selling it cheaply. But the problem remained: they could not recruit a member skilled in archery. Conversely, very few Explorers could use this bow. It was excellent, but there were simply too few people who could wield it.
His group would be entering a world next week. They could not let the bow rot in their inventory. Selling it for 80,000 was acceptable, at least if it improved the survival odds of the group’s next members.
Luke said nothing more and directly sent a trade request. Under Endspace’s impartial enforcement, the transaction was completed, and the Barbarian King's Bow was his.
"Brother Prison Demon, let’s add each other as friends. If either of us gets something good in the future, we can contact the other first."
Titan proposed.
Luke did not refuse. There was no harm in knowing more powerful people, and it would make buying and selling much more convenient in the future.
After the transaction, Luke was completely broke. For the rest of the day, he no longer needed to worry about how to spend his money. All he needed to do was train and grow stronger.
After leaving the trade market, Luke headed to the arena. His title had become invalid after his advancement, so he wanted to see whether he could earn another title in the second tier.
............
[The Pioneer has achieved 300 consecutive victories in the arena. Current rank has risen to 29th.]
With the notification, Luke was teleported out of the arena and returned to the waiting room.
For the past two weeks, aside from his daily training, he had spent his time battling in the second-tier arena. Compared to the first-tier arena, the second tier was far more difficult. Once he had broken into the top thirty, every match had become a struggle.
At this bracket, many of the second-tier Explorers he encountered had attributes of 50. At the very least, their primary combat attribute had reached that level. They were all people waiting to complete an advancement mission in their next world and become third-tier Explorers.
With all his states active, Luke’s overall attributes could reach 45. Fighting opponents who completely outclassed him in attributes, reaching this rank had not been easy. He had relied entirely on combat skill—circling his opponents, waiting for an opportunity, then taking them down in one decisive burst.
Still, Luke was not in a hurry. There were about two weeks left before the next world opened. He could feel that, with his training, his attributes were about to rise again. Then he could try to challenge for first place.
After leaving the arena, Luke headed straight for the commercial district. Today was the day he had arranged to pick up his order from the sailor-uniform girl.
After passing through the alley and arriving at the storefront, Luke found the door tightly shut, which confused him.
Just as he was about to contact her by mail and ask what was going on, the door slid open. The sailor-uniform girl stood there looking disheveled and sleep-deprived, gazing at Luke through half-lidded, unfocused eyes.
When she saw his face clearly, her expression changed, becoming extremely unnatural.
"What’s wrong?"
Seeing her expression, Luke felt a sense of unease. Don’t tell me the crafting failed?
The contract meant he would not lose out financially, but he did not have another two weeks to wait for new equipment to be made.
"There’s been a... small problem."
The sailor-uniform girl looked awkward. "Come inside first."
"What do you mean, a small problem?"
Luke frowned. Had he overestimated the sailor-uniform girl? Were her equipment-crafting skills actually only mediocre? Had she put all her skill points into making beds?
The sailor-uniform girl pulled Luke into the shop. At the innermost workbench, she lifted a cloth and said carefully, "The quality of what I made... didn’t quite meet the standard."
"What do you mean, ‘didn’t quite’ meet the standard?"
Luke put heavy emphasis on those two words.
"I mean... I mean... what I made is Purple-grade equipment."
The sailor-uniform girl nervously twisted the hem of her skirt with both hands, looking thoroughly ashamed. "What a disgrace. I used such excellent materials and still made Purple-grade equipment."
Luke felt awful upon hearing that, but he did not immediately cancel the order. Since he was already here, he was curious what exactly she had made.
He looked toward the workbench. On it lay a white-and-blue ring with a translucent, crystalline texture.
One look made him jump. The sailor-uniform girl had not lied. This ring really was Purple-grade equipment.
But this ring was growth-type equipment...
Tomorrow, the story enters a new world: One Piece.
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