Tribe Conquest: Harem starts in a tribe!-Chapter 17: To hunt, you need a Weapon

Clink! Clink!

The pouch of silver coins produced a clanging noise, jumping in Buan’s hands. There were a total of fifty silver coins, an amount huge enough to make the spectators turn green with envy.

Most of the general purchase happened in copper coins, and one silver coin was equal to a thousand copper.

One silver could buy rations for a family of five for two months without being stingy on expensive delicacies.

In that sense, fifty silver was an enormous amount, not something Buan should be flaunting so openly.

Currently, he was walking in the middle circle of the tribe, traversing on the path to Hula’s craft shop. If Hula was the best craftsman in the tribe, Buan needed him to make the bow and arrows for him.

As for the silver pouch in his hands, he wasn’t worried.

No one would guess in their wildest dreams that Buan would carry such a hefty amount so openly.

A normal person would try to hide their coins if they possessed fifty silver; however, since Buan was acting so unconventional, most spectators thought he had a pouch of fifty copper.

Moreover, everyone knew Buan was dirt poor and indebted under an enormous loan. No one would suspect that he had taken another loan of fifty silver on top of it.

As for Rokan and his goons, they were staying away from him after the patriarch’s warning, not daring to even come in the same space as him.

Currently, it was afternoon; the sun was shining brightly in the sky, the wind was soothingly cool, and the air was pure to inhale without any pollution. The tribesmen were busy in their everyday works, some carrying logs, some transporting sacks of grains, some leaving to gather herbs in the outer circle’s forest, and some eating at the inn of the middle circle.

He could hear the loud bustling of the tribesmen, trying to earn their keep to feed their children. Not everyone in the tribe was a warrior; only a few could have that honor. Not because it was impossible, just because it was dangerous.

To become a warrior, you needed to hunt a spirit beast, which was almost impossible for common tribesmen.

If you were the son of the vice-patriarch, then it would be different for you, like it had been for Rokan.

The powerful warriors of the tribe had helped Rokan to kill his first spirit beast, making sure he remained safe throughout. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

However, the normal tribesmen were without the support of a powerful backer who would help them hunt safely. It was almost like a dream for them to become a warrior.

There was always the option to join the army of the tribe; however, your freedom will be taken in exchange for strength.

You will need to sacrifice your life for the tribe’s benefit while going out to hunt dangerous animals and spirit beasts for food.

Instead, the normal tribesmen preferred to choose another profession to earn money and survive.

"Oh Buan? Why have you returned? Is something wrong with the wooden leg I made for you?" Buan was only five steps away from Hula’s shop when Hula came out and noticed him.

He was staring at him with a dull expression, not ready to believe the leg he crafted could have any flaw.

Hula was around forty five, a mature man with thick muscles capable of bending metal; towering at 190 cm, he was adorned in almond leather pants with nothing covering his top.

"I want to commission you to craft a weapon for me." He informed politely, shaking the pouch in his hands to let him hear the clamor of coins.

"Come inside." Hula entered his shop.

Buan followed his lead, finding him standing behind the counter already.

"Tell me," Hula said evenly. "What kind of weapon do you want?"

"A bow and a quiver full of arrows."

"What type of bow? A short bow, long bow, recurve, or a war bow?"

Buan would have been clueless about this question if not for already having bought the archery skill from the spell.

"A recurve."

Buan judged the recurve bow appropriate for him, suitable for most situations in the forest. Moreover, its maximum range was three hundred meters, considering his increased strength in this body.

"What about arrows?" Hula asked flatly. "Broadhead, bodkin, barbed, fire, light, heavy, or spirit arrows?"

Buan again thanked the archery skill in his heart before giving him his answer.

"Thirty of each type, and two quivers."

Hula’s eyes visibly widened momentarily; however, he was good at hiding it.

"Then let me measure your arm length."

Afterwards, Hula measured Buan’s arm span and his height before giving him a price.

"Cheap materials would cost you twenty silver, and the best ones would cost you fifty." Hula sent a brief, judging glance at Buan’s pouch of coins before asking. "Do you have enough?"

Buan was relieved and tensed at the same time. Relieved, because the price was equal to the coins he had, and tense, because of the same reason.

He wanted to save some coins for backup in case he needed some time to get better at archery. However, if he were to spend all his coins here, he wouldn’t be able to waste any time.

Only three days worth of food was in his house. Without any money he won’t be able to buy any more food.

Feeling a sharp pain in his heart, he nodded and handed him the pouch. "I have."

Hula opened it and peeked inside, confirming the silver coins. His eyes revealed surprise at first, but he was quick to come to terms with it.

Hula nodded at Buan and asked. "Which one do you want? Cheap or best?"

Feeling a pang of loss in his heart, he reluctantly muttered, "Best."

Hula counted the coins and afterwards stated: "It will take three days to craft the bow and arrows. Come and collect it then."

Buan’s heart sank upon hearing that information. He was expecting a lesser crafting time. Moreover, his food stock will end in three days. How will he feed his family?

He immediately asked. "Can you lend me a bow and arrow until then?"

"I can, but it will cost you."

"But I don’t have any money left."

"Then why don’t you reduce the amount of arrows you commissioned?"

Buan agreed with that suggestion. "Alright, leave the spirit arrows. I don’t need them anyway."

Spirit arrows could only be used if you had spirit energy, and only a warrior with spirit tattoos could make use of spirit energy, which Buan obviously wasn’t.

"Alright. That will make up for it. But remember I’m only lending these. If you lose or break anything, that will cost you."

Buan received a wooden bow and a quiver of wooden broadhead arrows. The arrows numbered forty, a razor-sharp alloy of iron, shaped the arrows’ heads, broad enough to cause heavy flesh damage and bleeding.

As Buan was leaving, Hula reminded him from behind: "Remember, these bow and arrows were designed for an average man. They are shorter than what would suit you, so you won’t be able to bring your full strength with them.

"Understood."

Saying so, Buan left the shop with a confident smile.

...

After fifteen minutes, he stood in the middle of the forest in the outer circle.

The shade of the tree fell on him as he stared at the Ashveil Columbidae, a bird resembling a dove from Earth, only a little bigger in size and pale ash-grey in color.

It was, however, much more difficult to hunt, which became the reason for it to still roam the forest carefree.

In the Vila tribe, archery wasn’t looked greatly upon. They preferred strength, using clubs and spears mainly in combat and hunts.

Due to this reason, there were no masters of archery in the tribe, leaving the warriors without a proper teacher to learn from.

They could only follow after their elders, choosing spears or clubs. There was, however, a warrior like Xira Nile who was a dagger master instead.

Still, with no one proficient in archery, these flying birds were free with no hunters behind them.

Other than them, the forest was practically empty.

The dangerous animals were cleared out by the warriors; the remaining were hunted by the tribesmen of the outer and middle circles as food.

Like snakes, which would have been considered dangerous to hunt on earth, were hunted here on a daily basis as food.

So, in summary, the forest was safe, without any dangerous animals. There were only small bugs which would get eaten by birds similar to Ashveil Columbidae.

The Ashveil Columbidae, on which Buan was keeping an eye, was still oblivious to his presence, searching for bugs to eat in the earth without a care.

Currently, it was around forty meters away from Buan, trees in between them working as cover for him.

He could only see the Ashveil Columbidae through the gaps in the multiple trees standing between them.

He cautiously began pulling out an arrow out of his quiver, afraid to make any sound that might alert the bird and make it fly away.

Nocking the arrow on the bowstring, he pulled in a steady motion, using his back muscles to apply the drawing force.

He had to exert himself much more than he had initially imagined, as if he were pulling on 70 kilos.

He never would’ve been able to pull that much if it were his old body; however, Buan, a warrior tribesman of the Vila Tribe, had triple the strength of his old body from Earth, making this feat possible.

Even then, due to the bow being shorter than what suited him, he couldn’t bring the string close to his jaw.

He then closed one eye and took aim, his breath steady, sweat rolling down his temples due to the tense nerves.

He was maintaining a constant draw force at the bow string to not let it make a creaking noise.

He focused, gazing at the pale ash-grey bird through the arrow’s tip, feeling confident in making the hit.

However, just as he was about to let go of the arrow, a step crushing a fallen leaf came from behind.

Crunch.

His ears instantly perked up, sensing the individual behind him. Imagining the worst, he quickly turned out with his bowstring still pulled, ready to shoot the arrow.

However, when his gaze fell on the figure of the beautiful woman in front of him, his alarming mind calmed down.

"Hey, calm down. It’s me! Sira!"

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)