Chapter 105: Archery Evaluation [4]
"What the...?!"
"Do, do, do, do, docking?!"
"Are, are, are, are you crazy?!"
"What, what, what is this?! What is this?!"
As if time had resumed, an explosive reaction burst forth.
"What in the world is this?!"
Lana screamed almost in despair.
Elaine couldn't respond to such a reaction from her frid. She was too shocked herself to be in her right mind.
"Ev so, no matter what... This, this, this can't be right?!"
Elaine's extremely flustered cry. It was a very miraculous sce. After all, she was not one to get flustered in the first place.
But these days, such flustered momts were becoming frequt. The common factor was that they all involved Max Celtrine.
"Huff... Huff..."
Soon Elaine seemed to realize she was too excited and calmed herself down.
But still, this was too much.
'That's way too extreme!'
Magic evaluation? If talt and effort are prest, I thought it could be possible because she had done it herself.
Imperial Style 8? Persistt effort might make it possible. It's basic swordsmanship, after all.
Archery? Persistt effort would again be possible. It's basic archery, but... No, no, no!
How can you suddly skip several levels like that? It's like you learn to walk with effort, and suddly you're flying.
Docking? Docking, you say? Through such a tremdous gale? How incredible must your archery skills be to do that?
'Insane talt? Or have you be hiding your true abilities?'
Now, it's confusing. It means I don't understand anything anymore. The problem is Max. It's Max's fault. How can there be such an unpredictable person?!
Smirk.
Elaine saw Max smiling in her direction. Embarrassed, she smiled back and th awkwardly bowed her head.
My face was burning.
This isn't like me at all, but I got caught up in Max's pace without realizing it.
'Ugh, how embarrassing.'
Elaine hit her own head repeatedly in her mind.
But what could she do? You can't turn back time. In the d, what she chose to do was to casually lift her head again and smile once more.
But.
...Max was looking somewhere else.
It was a futile act.
'Relax... relax... rela... ugh, really!'
Elaine decided th that, from next time on, she would sit somewhere away from Max's notice.
***
Professor Lawrce knew better than anyone the strgth and capriciousness of the wind.
There was no archer who could make the wind completely their own and use it perfectly.
That was Professor Lawrce's definitive thought.
Why? Because he had se it countless times before. The archers, full of pretse, confidt they could use the wind perfectly, would shoot pathetic arrows swayed by the wind whever it became a bit stronger and more unpredictable.
Of course, there were certainly some archers who were dect.
But he knew that ev that was just an unstable coexistce with the wind. That was the limit.
The wind is not something that can be tamed.
That's why Professor Lawrce chose a differt path. Not to use, but to overcome. With a huge iron bow and iron arrows that earned him the nickname "Giant Bow," the powerful tsion of the iron bow and the weight of the iron arrows minimized the influce of the wind.
The reputation of the "Giant Bow," piercing through any strong wind and hitting the target with unerring accuracy, was created that way.
Of course, not just anyone could replicate such a method.
Iron bows and arrows were initially weapons designed for lethality and destructive power, not precision.
Firstly, the incredible strgth required to handle the iron bow and arrows. And th, the extreme skill in archery to extract accuracy as well.
Only a few on the contint, like Professor Lawrce, could possibly do it.
That's why his expression turned cold wh Max assumed the posture to shoot the bow in a strong wind.
Such baseless audacity. A wind of that level was not something one could utilize just by having good fundamtals.
In fact, a truly fundamtal archer should not shoot an arrow in such conditions.
But to shoot anyway? It's a false sse of pride from slightly improved skills.
"In the d, that's all it is."
No matter how good a teacher one has, it seems one cannot change the nature of their mtality.
Ping!
Max shot the arrow in the d.
Professor Lawrce frowned.
Trying somehow to ride the wind, but that was it.
Such a strong wind... Huh?
Suddly, a look of agitation appeared in Professor Lawrce's eyes.
Because the arrow, swept by the strong wind, showed no sign of twisting. It meant it had caught the wind's flow properly. An extremely difficult feat, ev for expericed archers.
The stronger the wind, the harder it is to grasp its flow.
And yet, the fledgling Max, who was only starting to build his foundation, had done it.
But.
There was still the most important thing left.
Accuracy.
Ev if you manage to ride the wind's flow, if the arrow hits the wrong spot, it's meaningless.
For an arrow to have meaning, it must be backed by a significant level of accuracy.
Sswek!
The arrow flew through the strong wind.
Professor Lawrce's eyes wavered as he watched its movemt.
He noticed that the arrow was heading toward the cter of the target.
Precisely in the cter.
Crack!
The arrow hit the dead cter without any deviation.
"How can this be possible?"
A deep question arose on Professor Lawrce's face.
The previous eight shots.
That shot was impossible with the level of those eight.
By chance? Impossible.
In such a strong wind, the probability of hitting the dead cter by chance, ev if one shot a thousand arrows, was almost nil.
So what?
Narrowing his eyes, Professor Lawrce fell into thought.
In the meantime, Max notched another arrow.
'Again?'
Professor Lawrce's gaze turned to Max.
He felt the wind's direction had completely reversed. The wind speed had changed, too.
The only similarity was the severe windstorm.
This capriciousness was precisely what tormted archers the most.
A completely differt feeling was required for the next shot.
Would he be able to use this wind as well?
Or wait until it calmed down ough for it to be easy to handle?
But the latter didn't seem to be the case.
The confidt expression alone was ough to tell.
Thud.
Fling.
As the bowstring was released, the arrow flew again.
This time, too, the arrow rode the wind's flow brilliantly.
And it was shot forward ev more powerfully with the wind's force.
And its direction.
'That is...?'
Professor Lawrce noticed first.
The arrow was aiming for a docking shot.
An absurd act.
To aim for docking in such a fierce wind, not wh there's no wind or just a breeze?
It was an act so preposterous that it would be reasonable to severely reprimand him for his arrogance.
But it was differt. This arrow was differt.
It rushed precisely toward the tail of the arrow already stuck in the target.
And it swallowed the tail whole.
Crack!
The arrow was split in two.
And the new arrow lodged itself confidtly.
Thump!
At that momt, Professor Lawrce's composure broke.
----------
I, having succeeded in a perfect docking, stylish lowered my bow.
Wh else would I get the chance to pose if not now?
Honestly, I was a bit excited.
It was the first time I had ever succeeded in docking in an archery evaluation.
No, I had never ev reached the skill level to successfully dock before..
There was a limit to the level of archery skills I could learn from Hiresia.
It was probably a result of the limits of the relationship that couldn't be narrowed.
But this time was differt.
My relationship with her was flowing in a direction I had never expericed before.
That's why I acquired an unexpected technique called 'Focus'.
And this was the result..
The last two arrows that shocked everyone.
'This is me, kids.'
I smiled slyly, joying the astonishmt from those a me.
I could feel my presce rising in real-time.
My gaze turned to the named heroine among the small fry.
Elaine.
She had barely managed to recover from the crazy things Max had done and returned to a normal relationship.
Ev she had an oply astonished expression.
It wasn't an expression I could see easily, so a smile of amusemt spread across my lips.
But that smile must have felt mocking.
For a brief momt, a flash of anger crossed Elaine's face before she looked at me and smiled back.
It seems like she's trying to show that she's not affected. She must have felt some embarrassmt herself, as she soon hung her head low.
'I didn't know she had that side to her.'
I couldn't help but let out a snicker.
To the protagonist, who is a junior, she is an ideal sior both in terms of ability and personality.
Once you get close, she becomes a reliable figure you can depd on.
It was clear to the eye that I was conscious of her in a way that was differt from liking.
The fact that she became flustered and did something cute(?) in response to being teased is a situation the protagonist, as a junior, couldn't ev imagine.
I smirked inwardly and turned my gaze forward.
Another important character.
It was to see Professor Lawrce's reaction.
Of course, not every professor at Saint Lepheria Academy was important.
There were supporting characters and ev extras, so only those who needed to be checked were of concern.
And that character is Professor Lawrce.