Chapter 75: Hunting from the Riverbank
Krag and Grok walked over to Kellar, standing tall and attentive as they looked at the materials piled on the ground.
"What do you need, Shaman Kellar?" said Krag.
"I have an idea. We’re going to build a giant crossbow" said Kellar, glancing toward the turbulent waters of the river. "There are giant fish in there. If we want to feed the entire tribe without relying on foraging through the snow, we need to hunt those beasts right from the shore."
Krag and Grok exchanged surprised glances, but they nodded right away. Kellar opened his interface and invested his points into the new available technology.
[Ding!] [You have unlocked the technology: Basic Bone & Horn Tooling.]
A surge of knowledge regarding the carving, polishing, and assembling of bone and horn flooded straight into Kellar’s mind. Without delay, he pulled out the materials saved from his previous hunts: the thick tendons of the terror birds, the hard plates of the giant lizard, and its long bone limbs.
"Pay close attention, this is how it’s done," said Kellar.
Kellar began by polishing the sturdiest timber to construct a stock and a reinforced front bow frame. With expert hands, he carved a groove straight down the center of the wood to create the guide rail where the projectile would slide. Next, he used the giant lizard’s bone to carve a notched trigger assembly capable of holding the immense tension of the drawstring without snapping.
Then, he took the terror bird tendons. He braided them tightly together, rubbing animal fat into the strands to grant them extreme flexibility and strength, forming a thick, taut drawstring that he secured to both ends of the wooden bow.
For the projectiles, Kellar gathered the terror bird hind legs, which were naturally long and pointed like spears. Using the bone tools, he carved barbed tips onto the ends—ensuring they would bite deep into fish scales without slipping out—and fitted wood to the base of each shaft to balance them into shaped harpoon bolts.
"Incredible... that thing will pierce right through any aquatic beast in a single shot," said Grok impressed by the assembly process.
"Set it up by the water," said Kellar, testing the tension on the trigger mechanism. "Today, we eat giant fish."
"Bring the rest of the hunters," said Kellar. "We’ll need everyone available to pull the tension mechanism and haul the prey out. Also, bring the strongest rope we have to tie to the base of the arrow."
"Understood, I’ll do it right away," said Krag.
While Krag and Grok went to fetch the reinforcements and supplies, Kellar picked up one of the bone projectiles. Using his ceremonial knife, he carefully carved a hole into the base of the arrow, right in the center of the shaft. He made sure to leave the surrounding structure thick and reinforced enough so it wouldn’t snap under the tremendous force of the impact or the pull.
Minutes later, heavy footsteps over the snow announced the group’s arrival. It was the eight hunters from Krag’s team along with the twelve from the team of Mark, his former rival. All twenty men stopped at a respectful distance, forming a semicircle around him.
Mark and his followers stared at the strange apparatus of wood, bone, and tendons with a mix of wariness and curiosity. No one dared to whisper out loud, but everyone waited with bated breath to find out what the new shaman was planning to do with such a creation.
Several men worked together to haul the heavy crossbow right up to the water’s edge. The lake was just a few meters away, where the terrain rose to form a sort of natural cliffside. From that vantage point, everyone could clearly see the massive shapes of giant fish, over five meters long, swimming through the depths of the icy waters.
Kellar positioned himself beside the trigger mechanism, adjusting the rope tied to the base of the bone harpoon while the hunters held their breath.
"Alright, time’s up," said Kellar.
Kellar aimed the structure toward the shadow of one of the largest aquatic beasts passing near the surface. With a firm, decisive movement, he pulled the notched trigger.
The sheer impact of the shot echoed across the entire riverbank. The harpoon launched forward at a terrifying speed; the tremendous tension built up by the terror bird tendon propelled the bone projectile with raw, brutal force. The barbed tip punched straight through the giant fish’s armor, sinking deep into its flesh and causing the water to explode into a violent swirl of foam and red blood.
Feeling the piercing pain in its back, the massive fish thrashed its tail violently, attempting to flee into the depths of the lake.
"The rope! Grab it!" said Krag.
All twenty hunters rushed over to the line tethered to the projectile, gripping it with all their strength. The wild pull of the fish was so fierce it nearly dragged the lead men straight into the icy water. However, despite throwing their full body weight into the struggle, Kellar noticed something off: none of them were channeling the vital energy or aura they usually deployed during combat.
"Why aren’t you activating your skill?" said Kellar.
"Shaman... ever since what happened with the previous leader, we haven’t been able to use that skill," said Krag through gritted teeth, straining with all his might to keep his footing on the ground.
At that moment, Kellar suddenly recalled the message from the interface. When the previous clan structure collapsed and he took command, the old privileges and blessings granted by the old system had been completely wiped away. The tribe had been stripped of their granted combat skills.
Without wasting a second, Kellar opened the system panel in his mind and quickly navigated to the Tribe tab. He scrolled through the management options until he found a freshly unlocked function: Create Skill.
A translucent window flashed before his eyes with a blank text field.
[Enter Skill name for Overlord Tribe]