Under the harsh sunlight of the afternoon, Ashe wiped the sweat off her face. The straw hat on her head had blocked off most of the heat from the sun. But even then, the weather was unbearable.
She got used to the woods pretty well and had incorporated her skills into surviving in the woods. Mainly, her tailoring skill.
With the help of Siderius, Ashe was able to find a few types of resilient plants that were suitable for crafting.
The first thing she made were straw hats. Unique straw hats with a thick weaved layer on top of soft fabric. Their brims were broad and extended to provide shade for the wearer.
It had a lot of aesthetics that Siderius took from the east side of his old world. The monks used these types of hat a lot. Their area was much warmer and more sunlight intensive than Siderius’ west part of the old world.
Ashe had also learned how to make basic survival structures. The makeshift triangular shelter. The campfire and even the drying rack. Her structures were still a bit crude and amateurish but Siderius knew that if he did abandon her in the woods alone, she would survive quite well.
The straw hat was perfect to shield Siderius from the harsh weather above, whether it was sunlight or rain. Its thick layer made sure that water wouldn’t seep through it and Ashe’s delicate hands ensured it even more.
Siderius wore his black leather hunter uniform. Even with its unique design, the leather was extremely hot. The straw hat on his head helped cool things off for quite a bit.
They arrived at an area with a dense and thick foliage. The foliage roof was high and blocked off most of the sunlight from above. It was a natural barrier from the sun and the ground was covered with shade.
Ashe felt a release instantly when she went under the foliage.
"Why are we coming here, Master?" Ashe said.
Siderius observed the landscape, determining which path they would continue further.
"We come here to find material. A suitable type of wood."
"To do what, Master?" Ashe sat down under a tree and breathed for a bit. She was tired from the journey. Her shoulders moved up and down because of the breathing.
Siderius placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed it down. "Breathe with your diaphragm, not your chest. Breathing incorrectly will wear you down fast."
Ashe tilted her head a bit, trying to understand what Siderius was saying.
He explained further. "Remember what I taught you about meditation? Use your belly to breathe in."
"Oh!" Ashe pushed the air lower. Her belly moved in and out of her chest. Instantly, her body calmed down and the tiredness subsided greatly.
Siderius nodded. "Your lungs are hungry for air. Breathing with your chest may feel more natural but your body won’t be able to get the air it needs. Belly breathing helps to circulate more air but it requires more control over your muscle.
It is counter intuitive but by only exerting more control that you shall gain more stamina."
"I understand, Master."
"Now. About your other question. We need wood to make our bows."
"Why don’t we use the woods available in our hideout, Master? I saw you have gathered quite a log of wood planks.."
"Those woods aren’t suitable to become our weapon. They are only useful for building and making training tools.
Your weapon is your most intimate ally. You wouldn’t want your ally to be some random piece of wood with the ease of breaking at first contact, do you?"
Ashe nodded in understanding.
"There are many kinds of wood to choose from. But all you need to consider is two things. Its strength and its form.
What you want from the wood is that it must be flexible and can hold a lot of force when bending.
You also need a straight, uniform plank that does not have any knots in it and a fine pattern."
"Knots? Pattern?" Ashe said.
Siderius came to a small pine tree near them. The tree had a lot of branches on either side and small circular holes on its body.
He took one swing of the axe and cut out the outer layer of the tree, revealing its inside.
"Knots are the points where the body of a tree splits out to form branches. Live knots are live branches. Dead knots are dead branches that have fallen off but still leave holes like you see on this trunk here.
These knots weaken the structure of the wood plank and if we are to use it, it is highly likely to be broken, waiting to snap at any moment in the midst of battle.
As for patterns. It is very simple. Wood is created because the tree keeps adding more layers on its body. These layers become the pattern you see on the inside of the woods. We want wood with a straight pattern because they are stronger and more resilient. The traits we want to find in a good piece of plank."
Ashe came close to examine the inside of the pine tree. It was as Siderius said. The inside of the bark had many layers forming it. The big hole on its body disrupted these layers and caused a curved pattern inside its body. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI-Fire.ɴet
"So does this mean this tree is useless for us?" Ashe said.
"Useless for crafting a bow, yes. But it is perfectly fine as firewood."
The pair continued on their path. Siderius was still looking around, trying to identify a suitable tree. Since this was a different world, the trees here were not exactly the same so he had to find new species on the spot for his task.
"There are many ways to categorize trees. For bowcrafts purposes, we will only talk about the shade. There are trees that like shade and trees that thrive in harsh sunlight.
Shade trees usually have a denser body. A dense body can be an indication for good strength and form, which are what we’re looking for. It is also why we needed to travel to this area."
Ashe finally understood the reason they had to hike all the way here. Most of the trees surrounding their hideout preferred sunlight. They wanted to get as high and as big as possible without focusing on their wood. Because of that, only here would they find a strong, resilient wood for bowcrafts.
"Ah. It seems we have found it."