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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Seo Yoo Rang.”
In the competition arena, surrounded by countless heroes, Wilhelm, facing me, called my name.
“What is it?”
“Aren’t you nervous?”
“Nervous…”
I looked around. It was certainly understandable to be nervous fighting in front of so many heroes.
‘If this were me three years ago, I probably wouldn’t even be able to stand properly.’
No, just not fainting would have been a relief. Back then, I would freeze in front of a dying wolf, unable to do anything without Absolute Obedience.
But I wasn’t the same person anymore. I had come too far to be nervous about something like this.
“I’m not really the type to get nervous.”
But there was no need to reveal that here.
“Is that so? I envy you.”
Wilhelm said, then nocked an arrow.
Silence.
Then, the countdown began.
[Three, two, one…]
Wilhelm and I raised our bows, aiming at each other.
Unlike swordsmanship, where one could control their strength, archery was a competition where a released arrow couldn’t be retrieved.
Because of this, barriers were placed over our vital points for safety. The victory condition was to inflict a certain level of damage to the barrier protecting those vital points.
So, my aim was his vital point, specifically his head, which had the largest surface area.
[Start!]
-Twang!
A loud sound, almost like a gunshot. Simultaneously, my arrow left the bowstring, whizzing through the air towards Wilhelm.
It was the same for Wilhelm; his arrow was also flying towards me. And it…
-Crack.
Collided with my arrow mid-flight and shattered.
Our first shots canceled each other out. It wasn’t that I hit his arrow; rather, Wilhelm hit mine.
‘Aiming direction, line of sight, and prediction based on analysis of me, huh?’
It was certainly impressive. But I didn’t have the confidence to replicate it. Intercepting an arrow with another arrow was close to a miracle.
‘As expected of Archery (S-).’
There was no time to relax. I pulled several arrows from the quiver, nocked one, and held the rest between my fingers.
Since the first shot missed, I had to compete with speed rather than accuracy from now on.
The sound of something cutting through the air. It was Wilhelm, again. He fired before I could even finish aiming.
But there was no problem.
‘Wind Authority.’
I used Wind Authority to deflect his arrow while staying in place. At the same time, my arrow also left the bowstring. At this distance, I didn’t even need Wind Authority to aim.
‘However…’
It missed. It wasn’t that I had shot poorly. It was because Wilhelm rolled to the side simultaneously with his shot.
He didn’t have a defensive ability like Wind Authority. Therefore, the only way for him to avoid my arrow was to actively move.
So, normally, he would be too preoccupied with dodging to attack.
But he was different. Even while rolling, he fired an arrow at me. It flew straight towards my vital point.
‘Wind Authority.’
I deflected it again and fired back. But Wilhelm anticipated it and dodged once more. He simultaneously fired another shot.
‘He’s reading my movements just by looking at my line of sight and aim.’
I deflected his arrow again with Wind Authority and thought,
‘Indeed, I also became able to read my opponent’s sword path after reaching Swordsmanship (S-).’
I could easily read someone with Swordsmanship (A-) or lower. Similarly, to Wilhelm, with Archery (S-), I, with Archery (A-), was only at that level.
That’s why he could dodge all my arrows even without something like Wind Authority.
‘I lack experience in archery duels.’
During mock battles, I had mainly focused on protecting mages from enemy archers. I usually left dealing with enemy archers to the vanguard, who had a clear advantage in terms of compatibility.
And now, that lack of experience was showing.
‘It would have been nice if I knew how to deceive with my shots.’
Of course, it wasn’t that I couldn’t think of any methods. But it was too late to apply them now. I had to be satisfied with just identifying areas for improvement.
‘Then…’
There was only one thing I could aim for. There would definitely be a gap in Wilhelm’s actions. The time it took to use up the arrows in his hand and retrieve new ones.
‘Now!’
This was my chance, now that the last arrow in his hand was gone.
I focused all my nerves on my hand and arm. Even if I shot now, he could still predict the trajectory and dodge.
‘But I can definitely disrupt his timing.’
I wouldn’t give him time to retrieve new arrows. For that, I needed to maximize the rapid-fire technique I had practiced.
Just as I pulled the bowstring, an arrow appeared at his fingertips, out of thin air. The inventory.
‘He knew how to use it.’
I hadn’t seen him use the inventory during his practice sessions. I had hoped he hadn’t thought of using it in archery yet, but it seemed he had just been hiding it from me.
‘This makes it more difficult than I thought.’
He started firing arrows relentlessly, without delay, using the inventory.
I had no choice but to abandon rapid-fire and focus more on Wind Authority. His firing rate had increased even further.
‘However…’
Judging from the current situation, I wasn’t that disadvantaged.
After all, I was blocking all his arrows with Wind Authority, while he was relying on prediction to dodge mine. If this situation continued, I would gain the advantage.
‘Unless he finds a way to overcome my Wind Authority.’
But as if reading my thoughts, Wilhelm quickly found a solution.
‘What’s this?’
Wind Authority was more sensitive than physical senses like sight. So I relied entirely on it to detect and block arrows.
This time, too, I tried to sense his arrow using Wind Authority.
But…
‘Why is the arrow coming from behind…?’
The arrow, clearly shot from the front, was sensed by Wind Authority as coming from behind. If the detection itself was wrong, it was impossible to manipulate the arrow as I intended.
“Ugh!”
I managed to deflect the arrow with an improvised maneuver. And fortunately, it missed my body and flew in another direction.
But the next arrow followed immediately.
‘There’s a strange spin on the arrow.’
That was what was deceiving my Wind Authority. The spin was also quite irregular, making it impossible to learn.
‘Wind Authority.’
In the end, I chose to dodge rather than block the arrows. I channeled Wind Authority to my feet and quickly stepped aside. Thanks to that, the arrow aimed at me grazed past.
‘Damn it.’
I had dodged the immediate arrow. But that was as good as revealing my weakness to Wilhelm.
As if to prove it, Wilhelm started firing spin-enhanced arrows at me in succession.
‘What should I do?’
I didn’t have the ability to dodge and fire accurately like Wilhelm. Then there was only one option left.
‘Close combat.’
Of course, I didn’t mean I would get close and hit him with my bow. There were too many people watching for that, unlike in mock battles.
I meant to close the distance to a range where I could launch effective attacks while dodging his.
‘The problem is…’
Wilhelm was anticipating that as well. He started to increase the distance as I tried to close it. He even mixed in arrows aimed at my predicted movement path.
‘It’s a feeling I haven’t felt in a while.’
It was a feeling I could no longer experience with swordsmanship. I would probably only feel it against someone like Gwen.
But I could clearly feel it with archery.
‘A wall.’
Wilhelm’s accumulated archery skills felt like a wall. Perhaps it was only natural, considering the difference in our talent and the time we had spent honing our archery skills.
‘Until now, I was just barely compensating for it with Wind Authority.’
But the moment he overcame my Wind Authority, that wall rose again. I was merely standing on tiptoes in front of it.
‘Can I overcome it?’
Well, if I had a few hundred years to train under a good teacher in the trial space, like with swordsmanship, it might be possible.
But such an opportunity wouldn’t come easily, and more importantly, it was meaningless now.
However…
‘Maybe I can at least make a hole in the wall.’
Even though Wilhelm was maximizing the distance, the gap between us was steadily closing due to the accelerating nature of my Wind Authority.
If I continued to close the distance like this, Wilhelm might eventually enter my attack range.
‘Be careful.’
If I got careless and my vital point was hit by Wilhelm’s arrow, it would be over. So I needed to approach him carefully, even if it took some time.
In the end, it was a battle of whether I could reach him before he hit my vital point.
‘Is it left this time? No, is it a feint?’
No, that look in Wilhelm’s eyes was a real attack disguised as a feint. Having observed him for a while, I could read him to some extent.
Of course, that didn’t mean I could hit him with an arrow, but it was enough to dodge.
‘Then I’ll go straight ahead.’
I thought so, but it seemed I was wrong. The arrow flew straight towards me, contrary to my expectations.
I had to redirect my accelerating Wind Authority to defense against the arrow that was flying towards my predicted vital point.
‘I can always accelerate again.’
But this arrow also had a spin. Because of that, even though the arrow curved, it still hit me.
“Ugh…!”
The arrow pierced my right arm. For a moment, the thought that I was in trouble flashed through my mind. An injury to the right arm was fatal for an archer.
‘Damn.’
It didn’t seem to be a fatal wound, though, as I could still feel strength in my arm. I would still be able to draw the bow somehow. But I wasn’t sure about the accuracy.
‘Still, for now…’
Thanks to my frontal charge, I had closed the distance as much as I had intended. But because of the injury, I didn’t think I could hit him accurately even at this distance.
The more likely option was to get even closer.
‘What if I get close and finish him off with the bow itself?’
Hitting Wilhelm’s arrows with my own seemed impossible, no matter how much I thought about it. But I thought I might be able to block at least one of his arrows by swinging my bow.
If I could just manage to get close enough…
‘What am I thinking?’
I couldn’t show myself deflecting arrows with my bow in front of so many people. Besides, I didn’t really want to.
‘Winning isn’t what matters.’
What mattered to me now was the experience of facing the wall that was Wilhelm. Forcefully breaking it down with swordsmanship wouldn’t help me grow any further here.
So, what I needed to focus on was archery.
‘To the side.’
I gave up on charging straight ahead and jumped to the side. Wilhelm’s arrow flew past where I had been. He had anticipated that I would charge at him again.
‘No, I’ll compete with you in archery until the end.’
That was the only way it would be meaningful.
I dodged Wilhelm’s attack and simultaneously drew the arrow I had nocked. A searing pain shot through my right arm.
‘Damn.’
But I had to endure. More than enduring, I had to focus. Focus on hitting Wilhelm’s vital point with this arrow.
‘Now…!’
The moment Wilhelm leaped. Mid-air, his trajectory was fixed.
I released the arrow.
-Twang
A tingling sensation in my arm from the injury. At that moment, I realized.
It missed.
‘Oh dear.’
Wilhelm, on the other hand, remained calm. While I was focused on firing, his arrow had already reached me. It was too late to dodge.
‘Wind Authority.’
I deflected the arrow that was flying towards my head. But the arrow curved in a strange direction… and struck the barrier near my heart.
Thus, the competition ended.
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‘Did I win?’
Wilhelm stared blankly at the arrow in his hand. It was the arrow he had almost fired, just in case Seo Yoo Rang hadn’t been killed by the previous one. But now, its purpose was gone.
“As expected of Wilhelm,”
Seo Yoo Rang said as he received treatment from the support mages who rushed to him.
“I lost in the end. I was expecting it, though.”
Expecting it…
It was the same for Wilhelm. There was that much of a difference between Seo Yoo Rang’s and his own archery skills.
‘Besides, I had prepared a countermeasure.’
He had put a spin on his arrows to deceive the ability Seo Yoo Rang used. It had worked well, and in the end, it had led to his victory.
But he didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment.
‘Why?’
Why didn’t he feel refreshed even though he had won? He looked towards the audience. Everyone was looking at him.
‘Of course, I won.’
But something was lacking in their gazes. It was the same look his father usually gave him.
‘Just what is it…?’
Searching for that missing something, his gaze scanned the audience and finally found it. It wasn’t his father, nor was it anyone he knew.
But that gaze was something he had never received before, something he had longed for.
‘But why…’
A man with dull blonde hair. He was directing that gaze not at him, but at Seo Yoo Rang. He hadn’t received that gaze from anyone, yet Seo Yoo Rang had.
‘Did I… really win?’
He felt a sense of doubt.
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