I Became the 101st Hero – Chapter 128

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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The competition ended just like that.

Most of the Heroes gathered from all over the world dispersed, and some of the candidates who had been chosen for succession followed them after completing their graduation procedures early.

Those who remained at the academy were those whose succession process hadn’t been completed yet, or the candidates who hadn’t received a succession.

‘Once the succession period is over, the distribution of sacred relics from the church will begin.’

Elsie, who hadn’t received a succession this time, would likely be given a sacred relic from the church.

And so would I, if I couldn’t properly handle this bow.

“Your bow grip is still slow.”

Lyudmila’s sharp criticism flew at me.

I had nothing to say to that, as it was true that I was slow compared to Wilhelm.

Speaking of which, Wilhelm hadn’t been seen since the graduation competition.

‘He must have decided to inherit the Rosemound family bow.’

He probably returned to the Rosemound mansion with his father.

So, what I needed to focus on now was my own bow.

Or rather, Lyudmila’s bow, for now.

‘4-star Sacred Relic, Resonance.’

That was the name of the bow currently in my hand. It had a surprisingly thin limb, unbefitting of its 4-star status. It was light enough that even my meager strength could fully draw it.

But there was something else more peculiar.

‘There are multiple bowstrings.’

A normal bow would have a single string, but Resonance had a total of thirteen.

It looked more like a musical instrument than a bow.

And the item description of the bow explained the reason.

It was originally a musical instrument.

But due to some external force, it now had thirteen strings and the distinct form of a bow.

Still, with thirteen strings, I wasn’t sure how to use it.

“But why do you say it would suit my abilities?”

I couldn’t see any connection between this weapon and the authority of the wind.

So, only Lyudmila, the original owner of this weapon, would know.

As expected, Lyudmila answered my question.

“There’s a story that the God of Music, who had the minstrel as a follower, was also a follower of the God of Wind.”

The God of Music was a follower of the God of Wind…

If her story was true, it was highly likely that the external force that transformed the harp into this form was the God of Wind.

The God of Wind had been involved in the creation of various weapons, including the Breeze Bringer.

“Even so, how should I utilize the wind…?”

Lyudmila suddenly asked,

“What do you think is the difference between a bow and a harp?”

It was a rather unexpected question.

But it surely had some hidden meaning.

‘The difference between a bow and a harp…’

There wasn’t any hidden meaning that immediately came to mind.

If I had to think about it, it would be the difference in their use as a weapon and a musical instrument, but that couldn’t be the simple answer she was looking for.

Then, the most plausible answer was this.

“The number of strings?”

“Well, that’s part of it.”

She pretended to draw a bowstring with her arm and said,

“Why don’t you try shooting it? That would be faster.”

As she suggested, I lifted the bow.

And as I habitually reached for my arrows from the quiver, she suddenly offered me one of her arrows.

“Shoot with this.”

I accepted the arrow.

It was a crudely made arrow, as if carved from bamboo.

It didn’t seem particularly special.

“This is…”

“It’s not a special sacred relic, just a custom-made arrow I ordered. I still have a pile of them in my storage.”

“But which string should I nock it on?”

“The longest one, of course.”

I nocked the arrow.

And swallowed hard.

‘Can I really use this bow?’

I was a little nervous.

I still didn’t understand this bow, and Lyudmila had only spoken in riddles.

So, the most important thing would be whether I could even draw the string.

“Then…”

I calmly started to draw the bowstring.

This was my first time handling a 4-star Sacred Relic.

Furthermore, I didn’t have any information about how Allen Blake had handled this bow.

‘Please let me be able to use it.’

Despite my nervousness, the string gradually drew back.

Surprisingly, I felt no resistance.

Rather, because of the thin limb, it felt easier to draw than the bows I had used before.

‘Is this right?’

I had never even touched a sacred relic above 4-star, so I didn’t know how the resistance would manifest.

But right now, I definitely felt no resistance.

So, I released the fully drawn string.

Whoosh

The arrow flew through the air and struck the target accurately.

“Slightly off.”

Not exactly accurate, then.

In any case, I had successfully launched it.

Though I wasn’t entirely sure.

“Did I succeed just now?”

Lyudmila shook her head and handed me another arrow.

“Succeed? Shoot another one.”

I received the arrow from her.

This arrow was identical to the previous one.

I nocked it on the string and fired.

I felt no resistance.

“Did I succeed this…”

“One more.”

She handed me a new arrow every time I shot one.

This continued until I had shot about nine arrows.

Then, I finally noticed.

‘The arrows…’

Were gradually getting shorter.

Since she was handing them to me one by one, I hadn’t noticed, but as it repeated, I could clearly see that the tenth arrow was shorter than the first one I received.

However, since I still didn’t understand her intention, I silently fired that arrow as well.

I fired two more arrows.

‘This is the thirteenth.’

After I fired the thirteenth arrow, she stopped handing me arrows.

And then she spoke.

It probably didn’t mean I had succeeded.

“So, do you understand the difference now?”

It was related to the question she had asked earlier.

The difference between a bow and a harp.

However, perhaps because I hadn’t had much experience with musical instruments, I still couldn’t come up with a plausible answer.

“I’m sorry, but could you give me one more hint?”

Lyudmila shook her head as if she couldn’t help it and showed me her palm.

“Here’s a hint. This should be enough for an archer.”

No, I still didn’t understand.

There weren’t any words written on her hand.

Her hand was just a bare hand.

Except that she had more calluses on her fingers than others…

‘Calluses?’

Of course, having calluses was natural for an archer.

Even I, whose archery experience wasn’t that long, had calluses.

But the calluses she and I had were somehow different.

‘The location is strange.’

At first glance, they might seem to be in similar locations, but they were distinctly different.

Apart from the typical archer’s calluses, she had one more.

That callus felt even thicker.

‘That’s…’

I think I finally understood.

What that callus was.

And the difference between a bow and a harp.

“With a bow, the limb mainly bends, while with a harp, the strings vibrate to produce sound, not the limb.”

Some people mistakenly believe that arrows are propelled by the elasticity of the string.

I had also thought that way until I saw someone actually using a bow.

But a bow was a weapon that utilized the elasticity of the limb.

‘Whereas a harp only uses the movement of the strings.’

Lyudmila finally nodded and said,

“Correct. I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t figured it out after all those hints.”

She extended her hand towards me.

“Now, hand me Resonance. I’ll show you how to really use it.”

The real way to use it.

It seemed like what I had been doing so far was nothing.

I obediently returned Resonance to her.

“Watch closely.”

After receiving Resonance, she hooked her finger onto the longest string.

But it was quite different from the grip used when drawing the bowstring.

She placed her finger on the string as if plucking a harp string and made a serious expression.

‘What is it?’

It was the most serious expression I had ever seen on Lyudmila’s face.

Well, I had never seen her properly use her bow, so it was only natural.

She wasn’t the temporary instructor Lyudmila, but Lyudmila the high-ranking Hero and archer.

Her finger plucked the bowstring.

The bow’s string was plucked like a harp, without the limb bending at all.

But it didn’t produce a sound like a harp.

The sound came from somewhere else entirely.

-Thwang

I turned my head at the sound.

I saw the longest arrow rolling on the ground.

And the target where the arrow had been lodged was completely shattered.

‘What the…’

Just by plucking the bowstring, the spot where the arrow had been embedded was destroyed.

Moreover, only one of the thirteen embedded arrows had reacted to the plucking.

‘Is it some kind of remote mine?’

She then plucked the second and third longest strings.

Likewise, the second and third longest arrows also caused shockwaves, shattering the targets.

Then I realized.

‘The arrows are resonating according to the length of the strings.’

The name of the bow, ‘Resonance,’ finally started to make sense.

This bow was fundamentally based on ‘resonance.’

That must be why the arrows were all different lengths.

‘Is each arrow assigned a specific string length to resonate with?’

Being able to freely control the explosion timing of each arrow was certainly better than using arrows filled with explosives.

But there was still something lacking.

‘But it’s a little weak like this, isn’t it?’

Of course, it was strong enough to pierce the hides of weaker Chaos Beasts.

But for a 4-star Sacred Relic, its power was somewhat lacking.

It probably wouldn’t work against stronger Chaos Beasts.

‘Besides, it’s a bit much to borrow a Trial just to test this…’

That’s when it happened.

This time, she frowned and pulled the string.

It was just one string, but the result was different.

As if there were three arrows of the same length, three arrows vibrated simultaneously.

And…

Exploded with a tremendous vibration.

The vibrations from the three arrows began to amplify each other, emitting a powerful shockwave.

If this weren’t a Trial, the building would probably have collapsed.

“Whew…”

Lyudmila, who had created such a spectacle, took a deep breath and lowered her hand from the string.

Blood dripped from her fingertips like rain.

“Lyudmila, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. This much is unavoidable. But since it’s been a while, just plucking three strings at once did this to me…”

She casually handed me the bow, and I accepted it.

As she handed me the bow, she nonchalantly took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood, saying,

“The fifth and sixth strings. Each of them is connected to one arrow. Try it.”

“With my bare hands?”

“No, why would you use your bare hands when you have a more convenient ability?”

She had a point.

I carefully placed my fingers on the strings.

Even if I used the authority of the wind, I felt like I would need some sense of plucking.

‘But this…’

It felt completely different from when I had drawn the string to shoot the arrows earlier.

Even with my fingers on the strings, they didn’t budge.

It felt like I was touching solid iron bars.

‘I guess I have no choice but to use the authority of the wind.’

I wrapped my fingers with the authority of the wind.

And focused all my attention on it.

I felt the strings with the authority of the wind and plucked.

-Thwang.

It worked.

One arrow shattered the target.

As Lyudmila instructed, I plucked the sixth string using the authority of the wind.

-Thwang

It worked again.

Perhaps the combination of the authority of the wind and Resonance was indeed a good one, as she said.

My hand naturally moved to the seventh string.

“There are three there.”

Lyudmila spoke.

The meaning was simple.

Like the fourth string that Lyudmila had pulled earlier, there were three linked arrows.

“Give it a try.”

I was planning to anyway.

I wasn’t confident, having seen Lyudmila struggle with it.

I wrapped the seventh string with the authority of the wind and…plucked.

“Ugh!”

It was no use.

Perhaps because the force I had poured out in an instant had rebounded, I felt a sharp headache.

I barely managed to steady my shaking vision.

‘Damn it.’

This was my first experience with the resistance of a Sacred Relic.

It was fortunate that it was the resistance of a sacred relic with decent compatibility with the authority of the wind. If it were any stronger, I would have been afraid to even touch it.

‘Still…’

The string had vibrated slightly just now.

It wasn’t just my blurry vision.

The three arrows, still vibrating faintly, proved it.

“Hmm.”

Lyudmila, who was watching me with her finger wrapped in a handkerchief, made a strange noise.

She must have noticed it too.

‘As expected, the minor authority of the wind isn’t enough.’

Currently, the authority of the wind in my skill window only displayed proficiency, but the authority of the wind I initially obtained clearly had the label ‘(minor).’

Perhaps that was the limitation.

Then there was only one option left.

‘I have to use what the God of Fate gave me.’

The reward the God of Fate gave me after the third Trial.

If I used that, it might be possible.

And it was already bound to me.

‘Since it’s a skill I obtained a while ago.’

I activated the skill.

I could taste blood in my mouth.

But it was a risk worth taking to obtain this bow.

‘Authority of the Wind’

The authority of the wind had definitely changed.

Although I still felt some resistance, I could pluck the string.

At that moment, the three arrows lodged in the distance resonated and exploded.

I felt fatigue amidst the rushing shockwave.

But I hid it as much as possible and asked her,

“…How about it? Did I do it?”

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