Chapter 7: I Want to Master the Bow

Chapter 7:
I Want to Master the Bow

 

THE NEXT MORNING, training started early. As soon as we arrived at the training grounds, we stood out. Not only were we much younger than everyone else, our clothes and mannerisms clearly indicated that we were foreigners. The fact that I was surrounded by pretty girls probably drew attention too.

“Those kids are participating? Will they be okay?”

The soldiers’ unease disappeared as soon as the drills started. They were all shocked by our abilities—not that we completely outclassed them. According to my Discerning Eye, quite a number of them were over Level 100, and many others had powerful skills to make up for it. Of course, no one was stronger than General Stey, but there were a few around Level 200.

As we took a break from working up a sweat, General Stey approached us. He’d been watching me practice for a while.

“Stardia, are you proficient with any other weapons?”

“Not really. I don’t have any swordsmanship skills either, to be honest.”

“Then you should use Get Creative and make some. You might have gotten by with passable skills before, but that won’t work against anything that’s truly strong.”

Ow! Why don’t you say what you mean, Stey?!

I didn’t fight traditionally to begin with, so I hadn’t placed much importance on martial arts. But maybe the general was right.

“If you’re keen,” said Stey, “why don’t you produce an archery skill?”

“Archery?” I asked. “Why?”

“We’re a bit short on archers right now,” he explained. “You may have noticed that a quarter of our forces are beast folk.”

He had a point. There were a lot of beast folk in Honest, and quite a few more in the reinforcements sent from the capital.

“They have a great deal of strength, but they can have trouble with higher dexterity tools and weapons. And not many humans train with the bow from a young age.”

Perfecting your archery skills seemed like a lot more work than melee weapons like swords and spears. Apparently, most of the townsfolk thought close-range weaponry more effective against monsters, so few of them ever picked up a bow. But flying monsters would likely be part of the siege force. They typically ignored the offensive forces at the perimeter and moved right in on the town.

“Of course, we have artillery and magical firearms, but they’re rather scarce and not many soldiers possess the relevant skills to use them. Some people will fire arrows and magic from the watchtowers, but they can only handle so much. So? What do you say? I have a special bow in mind, depending on how your skills develop.”

“General!” cried one of the soldiers nearby. “You can’t seriously be thinking about letting him have the enchanted bow!”

“Silence. This is my responsibility. And besides, getting to the level at which I would consider allowing him to use it won’t be easy.”

I straightened up. “I’ll give it a shot.”

“Then come with me.”

As I followed Stey, I investigated archery skills. Thanks to Lola and Leila, I had 5,700 LP to work with, and I likely had more on the way.

 

Archery (Grade C) — 500 LP

Archery (Grade B) — 900 LP

Archery (Grade A) — 1,700 LP

Archery (Grade S) — 3,500 LP

 

Of course, an S-Grade skill wouldn’t suddenly make me the best in my field. It would improve my natural ability, sure, but there were bigger factors, like your feel for the weapon and how long you had been practicing. That was why you’d sometimes see an inexperienced fighter with S-Rank Swordsmanship outmatched by someone with thirty years of experience and training but no skill to speak of. Having said that, in most cases the skill made a huge difference.

Since I had so little time to prepare, I splurged on the S-Grade variant. By then, the general was introducing me to the woman who would be my coach. I used my Discerning Eye as we exchanged greetings. She was only twenty-eight years old, but she already had a homegrown A-Grade Archery skill. Impressive.

“Lyrica, teach this boy archery. He’s a candidate for the enchanted bow.”

“Is he now? Those are certainly some high expectations, young man.”

“Right now, he’s a total amateur,” said Stey. “Let’s start by seeing what he can do.”

“I’m not sure how much I can teach him in just a few days.”

All the same, Lyrica handed me a wooden bow and told me to fire at a round target across the field. I picked up an arrow and remembered what my father had taught me when I was a child before loosing the arrow.

“Oh my, my, my!”

Lyrica covered her mouth. General Stey glared at me.

“Have you really never practiced with a bow?”

“I haven’t, honest,” I said. “I just gave myself the Archery skill.”

“What grade?”

“S, sir.”

“Unbelievable.”

Stey shook his head and wandered off, leaving me alone with Lyrica. Her eyes glistened as she bombarded me with questions about my abilities. Somehow, I managed to dodge most of them, and we started training. My next arrow missed the target.

“Oh no, that’s no good. You’re shifting when you release.”

“This is harder than it looks.”

“It is, but your form is good. In fact, you have an awe-inspiring talent for it. If you just do as I say, I might even make you my boyfriend!”

I stared at her blankly. Was she being serious? I had no interest in becoming her boyfriend.

“Oh, I know that face!” she complained. “You’re wondering why you should date an old hag like me, aren’t you?”

She turned her bow on me, and I jumped back.

“I am not! Please, knock it off.”

Lyrica put the bow back down. “Relax. It’s a joke.”

Then why are your eyes so serious?!

Despite her fooling around, Lyrica was a good teacher. By the time the sun set, I was hitting the target almost every time.

“You’re obviously a serious outlier, Noir,” she teased, making exaggerated, girlish gestures. “I’ve taught a ton of people and no one’s picked it up as fast as you. Your skill is just too powerful, I guess! I’m sooo jealous!”

I didn’t know how to react. Was she joking again? Fortunately, she quickly snapped back to strict teacher mode.

“Don’t let it go to your head. The real test will be hitting a moving target.”

That made sense. I mean, those flying monsters weren’t exactly going to sit around and wait for me to pick them off.

“I’m upping the difficulty next time,” said Lyrica. “So you better be prepared.”

I bowed my head. “Thank you for being so patient with me.”

“Ahh, look at how earnest you are! I lost that look so long ago…”

She ruffled my hair, and I straightened up again. Something about her reminded me of Olivia.

At any rate, my training was over for the day. Heading back to the inn, I went to my room and started thinking about the skills the others had and how I could improve them.

Emma was around Level 50 and mostly fought with daggers and wind magic. She had a B-Grade Dual Wielding ability and could use magic to attack and increase her speed. She was a close- to mid-range fighter.

Luna was about Level 60 and used a magical firearm. Her ability with the gun was B-Grade, and she could use it to attack and to heal. She was a mid-to-ranged fighter.

Lola was only Level 15, but she had S-Grade Superhuman Strength. She had almost no combat experience.

Leila was the real standout of the group and the only one of them who probably didn’t need the boost.

Lately, Emma had been improving spectacularly, and Luna had also gotten stronger since I met her. Therefore, my first priority was to give Lola a skill that would keep her alive. After that, I’d improve Emma and Luna’s strengths even more. I noted it all down on some paper and sat down in bed. Just as I did, there was a knock on the door.

“It’s Luna. Can I come in?”

“Perfect timing. Go ahead.”

I wanted to discuss her skills, but that wasn’t what she had in mind. She came into my room wearing only a bath towel.

“Why are you…”

“I thought I’d clean your ears, but Lola said that wasn’t ‘stimulating’ enough on its own, so…” Luna came inside, fidgeting awkwardly before sitting down on the bed next to me. “I brought a proper ear cleaning tool.”

“Well, uh, all right, I’ll give it a shot.”

“Good, no holding back.”

I could see steam rising off her body, which got me all dizzy and thinking. I laid my head on her thighs. She was so warm! We didn’t talk, we were both too nervous, but Luna turned out to be pretty good at cleaning ears. Soon, I started to relax.

“So, I’m actually not wearing any…I mean…”

What the?! I’d finally started to calm down, but my heart was pounding again. She wasn’t wearing any panties…?

“Nothing on top either,” she said. “I’m totally naked under this towel. Kinda funny, don’t you think?”

“Y-y-y-your skin is very pale, isn’t it?” I stammered.

I was just trying to avoid saying “yes.” Somehow, that was the first thing that came out of my mouth. As the heavy silence continued, Luna gradually got more aggressive in her cleaning.

“Sir Noir, is that something you’d like to…see?”

“I, uh, can’t say I don’t, but…”

“I don’t mind, you know. I am a little worried about what might happen after, though.”

I was worried too! It was a whole new world to me. Luna lifted my head off her lap, stood up, and put a finger under her towel.

“I want you to earn LP without feeling guilty about it. I feel no shame.”

She took a deep breath, tensed her trembling finger, and…

Bam! Bam! Came a knock on the wall.

“Oh, Mr. Noooir!” Lola called through. “Did you get your LP yet? Did Luna clean your ears properly?”

“I did! She did! Everything’s fine!”

I bowed formally toward the wall, even though they couldn’t see me. They must’ve been listening to our conversation.

“Well, that’s it for me,” Luna said, standing up.

She kept a tight grip on her towel as she left. All the same, when I checked, I’d earned 2,300 LP!

I was also pretty exhausted. I rolled over in bed and fell into a deep sleep…

Until, late that night, I was woken by a sudden scream.

“Nooooir! Noir, please, save me! I’m gonna die! Save m—”

The sound cut off abruptly. I was the only person in the room. When I looked around to see where the sound had come from, I found myself looking at the communication ring my brother had given me.

“That must have been Gillan.”

It could only be used once, and the plan had been for me to use it if I faced a monster I couldn’t defeat. Now that plan was out the window.

What was happening? Had Gillan been attacked by a monster on his way home? Where was he? I couldn’t just charge out blindly looking for him.

Great Sage, where is my brother, Gillan Stardia?

<He is in the town of Tonnelles, approximately twenty-five miles to the north-northeast.>

What?! That was the complete opposite direction of home. Though that town name sounded familiar. Wasn’t that where the great hero Gaien had been born?

“I should wake everyone up… No, wait.”

Everyone was exhausted from training. Maybe it would be better go to alone.

I scribbled a note about where I was going on my desk and quietly left the inn. Maybe Gillan had been ambushed by robbers in the forest or attacked by the monsters invading the area. Whatever it was, I hoped he could stay safe until I got there.