Compound Bow

Abel intended to use this time to strengthen his own abilities. First, regarding weapons, with a ranged weapon in this battle, he could attack the werewolf from afar, keep it from getting close, or at the very least, slow it down.

Abel had thought a lot about ranged weapons. He had also researched the bows and arrows of this world, but he wanted to create a 70-pound compound bow that he had used on Earth.

The advantage of this type of compound bow is that at an 80% let-off, when you draw the bow fully, you only need 14 pounds of force to keep it at full draw (70 * (1 - 80%) = 14). The user can then shift their focus away from holding the draw weight and concentrate more on aiming and adjusting their posture.

At a 60% let-off, a 28-pound draw force is needed to maintain full draw. The bow stores more energy, and the arrow is often shot at a higher velocity.

These two modes can be selected on the bow itself, allowing the user to adjust the compound bow's let-off ratio to high or low depending on the situation.

Because of his powerful spiritual power, Abel had a very clear memory of the past. He remembered the components of the compound bow and their dimensions with great clarity.

A compound bow consists of parts such as idler wheels, drive wheels, upper and lower bow limbs, riser, limb pockets, string slider, string suppressor, arrow rest, grip, main string, buss cable, limb dampener, and string stop. With accessories like a quiver mount, arrow rest, sight, release aid, stabilizer, peep sight, and wrist sling, it forms a complete modern compound bow.

Although the current level of this world is limited, the power that people in this world can exert is much greater than that of people on Earth. At the very least, Abel had never heard of anyone in his original world being able to cleave a person and their horse in half with a single sword strike, and that was when the Knight Marshall was only an intermediate knight. Abel could hardly imagine the strength of higher-ranking knights.

Abel's current strength is greater than that of most people on Earth, and he is only 13 years old. Abel estimates his current strength to be above 400 pounds. Back on Earth, as a fitness coach, he could only draw a 70-pound compound bow; he couldn't draw stronger ones.

Therefore, even though the materials for a compound bow cannot be found in this world, because the people of this world are stronger, especially for Abel himself who would be using it, he could completely use stronger materials to replace them without worrying about weight.

Abel drew all the components one by one, marking their dimensions and considering what materials to use.

For the idler and drive wheels, Abel planned to use bearings for rotational support to reduce the coefficient of friction during movement and ensure rotational precision. The two wheels would be made from Hundred Refinements Blank.

Abel did not plan to make the upper and lower bow limbs himself, as it would be too time-consuming. His idea was simple: to dismantle two heavy bows. The construction of heavy bows takes a long time, and the materials are the best. Abel knew there were several 200-pound heavy bows in the warehouse, the strongest bows in the Castle. However, few people used those bows because not many could draw them. Only apprentice Professionals of level four or higher could draw them. But drawing and aiming are two different things. After drawing, one must maintain the same force to aim, so the user's strength would need to be over 300 pounds, or even higher, to ensure they had some leeway when using a heavy bow.

Thus, those heavy bows remained in the warehouse, rarely used, with only the weapon custodian performing routine maintenance. Abel thought that if he dismantled two heavy bows, he would get the bow limbs and two buss cables.

The upper and lower bow limbs would both use parts from the heavy bows, and the limbs from two heavy bows would be glued together to create limbs stronger than those of a heavy bow.

Dampeners, limb dampeners, and string stops would all be made of wood. The riser and arrow rest would be made from Hundred Refinements Blank.

After planning everything, Abel began the construction of the compound bow. He retrieved two heavy bows from the warehouse and found a bowyer. Abel lacked the confidence to make acceptable bow limbs himself, as they are the primary source of power for a compound bow and guarantee its performance when completed. Abel believed that finding a professional would be much better than repeatedly failing on his own.

The bowyer he found reluctantly dismantled the two heavy bows. Then, following Abel's drawings, he cut them to the size Abel required and glued the two bow limbs together with fish skin glue. The final product greatly satisfied Abel.

As for the dampeners, limb dampeners, and string stops, Abel found a carpenter. Under Abel's guidance, they also met his requirements.

Slowly, most of the accessories were prepared. The bearings could only be made by Abel himself.

It could be said that bearings are the most important components of mechanical equipment on Earth, and their production is very difficult. A bearing consists of an inner ring, rolling balls, and an outer ring. There is a raceway between the inner and outer rings, and the rolling balls roll between them.

Abel first made the rolling balls. With the current technology, making rolling balls is very difficult, as there are no industrial machine tools, and everything is made by hand. As a master blacksmith, Abel felt the pressure.

He first made a vernier caliper, then slowly forged small pieces of iron with a hammer into round shapes. He continuously measured them with the caliper, then forged them again. Abel had not expected that a standard spherical rolling ball would take so much time. It took him a whole half-day to make one small rolling ball, which was perfectly spherical according to the caliper's measurement.

After completing the first rolling ball, Abel used a clay wet sand mold method, with clay and an appropriate amount of water as the main binder for the molding sand. He used the first rolling ball to create a sand mold for thirty rolling balls.

Each bearing only requires 12 rolling balls, but Abel prepared to make more for backup. He originally thought the most troublesome part was melting iron with charcoal. After asking Master Bentham, he learned that this world has a special natural fire-boosting additive. To melt iron, one only needs to add these natural fire-boosting additives during heating to easily turn iron into molten iron.

Abel poured the molten iron into the thirty rolling ball sand molds. After waiting for them to cool and be removed, and after some polishing, he obtained perfect rolling balls.

Based on the size of the rolling balls, Abel calculated the size of the inner and outer rings, as well as the depth of the raceway. These fine forgings were successfully completed with the help of Abel's spiritual power.

Next was to combine the inner ring, outer ring, and rolling balls. This is explained in many physics lectures and documentaries. Abel took some ice from the ice cellar and placed the inner ring in it, then placed the outer ring in the furnace. After a while, due to the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, the inner ring, rolling balls, and outer ring could be fitted together in order. Once the temperature normalized, the bearing Abel wanted was made.

Next, he fixed the bearings to the prepared idler and drive wheels and assembled them step by step. Finally, Abel created the first compound bow in this world.

Since this type of compound bow cannot be dry-fired, and it was now evening, Abel put the compound bow away.

The next morning, after playing with Black Wind for a while, Abel took fifty arrows from the warehouse and went to the archery range to test the new bow. Because this compound bow was so strange, Abel cleared the archery range.

He took out the first arrow and nocked it on the arrow rest. He pulled the release aid with force. Abel had never expected this bow to require so much strength. The combined force of the two heavy bows was definitely over 400 pounds. Abel used almost all his strength to barely draw the bow. Once fully drawn, he felt an immediate release of effort; it only took less than 100 pounds of force to maintain the drawn position.

Abel aimed the sight's reticle at the 50-meter target. He lightly pressed the trigger on the release aid. With a soft twang of the bowstring, the arrow flew out. The 50-meter distance was a straight shot through the air, hitting the bullseye. After creating a circular hole in the bullseye, it continued its flight, hitting the 30-meter-distant protective wall behind it before falling to the ground.

The 50-meter target was already the farthest target within the Castle. Although Abel tested that the compound bow's shooting and aiming were without issue, he had not tested its maximum range.

Abel held the compound bow, looking at the circular hole in the center of the target. Arrows flying straight for at least 50 meters were unheard of to Abel. This compound bow was already the most technologically advanced bow in this world.