Chapter 30: Archery Training
Chapter 30: Archery Training
After dinner, Anna, feeling a bit shy, spoke to Rayn, "Rayn, can you come to the room?"
Having spent the day at Rayn's house, Anna still felt a bit uneasy, not because Rayn's family treated her poorly, but because they were overly enthusiastic.
The two went upstairs to the second-floor room.
"Rayn, I...I want to go back to my own home," Anna said, looking down, her hands clasped together, tightly gripping her skirt.
For some reason, even though Rayn was her savior, every time she faced him, Anna felt a bit flustered, her heart pounding fiercely.
"This...I'm afraid not!" Rayn shook his head in refusal.
"Huh?! What...why?" Anna looked at Rayn with a mix of confusion and astonishment. Her mind was in disarray, and this answer was not what she had expected. Was it because... Just as Anna's thoughts were flying, Rayn spoke with a solemn expression, "According to Sheriff Hamilton, the black-bearded man I killed was the younger brother of the leader of the Jackal Gang in the Capital City. I'm worried that they might send someone to investigate his brother's disappearance!"
"So, it's better for you to stay here for a while instead of going back."
After a moment of thought, Rayn's goal became clear. He returned to the smithy and rekindled his enthusiasm, continuing to learn horseshoe forging from Smith Boris.
After an afternoon of continued learning, Rayn's horseshoe forging skills improved, and Smith Boris had less work to do.
This meant that the already scarce skill points became even more stretched.
Rayn frowned slightly, as he had always learned swordsmanship, and now he might have to find a hammer-related battle technique to study.
"But...I think Jack the Drunkard is off somewhere else!"
"Don't worry, I'll join the Night Watch Squad soon," Rayn said, sharing a part of his conversation with Sheriff Hamilton to calm Anna's fears.
Rayn looked at the remaining 1 skill point on his panel and hesitated, ultimately deciding not to use it.
Archery and swordsmanship were both mandatory subjects for the Habsburg Estate's guard examination.
This caused Humbert, who had high expectations for Rayn, to feel a hint of disappointment.
Profession: Blacksmith lv1 (1/100) / Militia lv3 (328/500)
Constitution: 9 Strength: 9 Agility: 8 Mental: 8 Remaining Attribute Points: 0 Remaining Skill Points: 1
The small words below the two core skills indicated that they could be upgraded, as they were marked with 'lv'.
After returning to the servant's dormitory, Rayn had a brief chat with George before falling into a deep sleep.
Rayn waved his hand and said, "If you have time, you can spend more time with Mint. She's usually alone at home, and she'll be happy to have your company."
"That's enough. Don't worry, things will get better!"
"Today, we'll be training in archery. Everyone, go to the rain shelter and get a bow that suits your strength and an arrow bag," Instructor Humbert said, his voice deep as he carried a two-handed bow on his back.
[Hammer Mastery lv1 (Passive): When the host uses any hammer-type weapon, damage is slightly increased.]
In the afternoon, on his way to the smithy, Rayn checked the other core skill of the blacksmith, 'Hammer Mastery', which had an icon of a flat-headed hammer placed diagonally.
"Ah!" Anna's face turned pale.
Read the flawless version at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+Book_Bar First Release.
"Because something similar happened before. This bastard earned money and then spent half a month with a widow, until he was kicked out after his last penny was spent."
Rayn also chose a longbow, but he intentionally picked one with slightly weaker poundage, around the medium range.
After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and mastering archery required a lot of practice.
Name: Rayn Carlan
"I originally planned to wait until I reached Bear Breath Technique Level 3 and then directly add points to reach Level 4. The advancement in the breath technique can bring about a comprehensive improvement in physical qualities, which is very cost-effective."
Anna looked at Rayn's determined expression and nodded heavily.
"As for the solution..."
Rayn was also eager to learn archery, but he couldn't afford to invest his precious skill points in it at the moment.
As the instructor finished speaking, the servants swarmed towards the shelter, beginning their selection.
It seemed that this project did not immediately enhance his combat power.
"Either find a way to trigger more occupations, but this is highly uncertain at the moment. I thought the week-long training with Lindy's Dog would unlock new occupation panels like Dog Trainer or Beast Trainer, but it didn't happen in the end." "So, it seems that the only thing I can control right now is to continue improving my Blacksmith or Militia occupation levels."
However, Rain noticed that there was no experience bar indicated by the bracket below, which highly suggested that the core skills could not be upgraded through practice but only through skill points.
"That's no problem. Mint is cute and well-behaved." When Anna mentioned Mint, her eyes narrowed like a crescent moon.
Rain took a closer look and found shortbows, longbows, and greatbows over five feet long inside.
As dusk approached, Rain left the smithy and headed towards the Habsburg Estate.
A group of servants arrived at the northwest corner of the Habsburg Outpost, where ten archery targets were neatly arranged, and various training bows of different poundages were stored in the nearby shelter.
"The Mammoth Breath Technique is currently at the second move, and the progress isn't slow. But when it comes to the third move, the required time will be much longer."
"Alright, then! I'll help with what I can."
Most of the servants, limited by their strength, chose the shortbows.
The next morning, as part of the new week's training, the servants were to undergo archery training led by the estate's senior guard, Humbert.
"But now, there's a core skill that can't be improved through practice. That's quite a headache."
Although he was only a few months older than her, he gave her a sense of reliability. She trusted Rain's words!
Unfortunately, after an afternoon of 'struggle,' Rain's Blacksmith occupation level only increased by 5 points, currently at Blacksmith lv1 (5/100).
It seemed like he remembered that unpleasant brawl.
Prominent Brow scowled and shook his head, feeling deeply regretful for having paid in full for Jack the Drunkard in advance! That bastard was so unreliable!
However, he didn't ridicule Rain but instead turned and left with a sullen expression.
Prominent Brow glanced at Rain and noticed that he had chosen a longbow with a higher poundage than his own, causing him to scoff inwardly, thinking, "That's not right. Rain's strength should be weaker than mine!"
It seemed that after advancing to Blacksmith, the experience gained from some of the previous forging outputs had gradually decreased.
This made Boris look at Rain with newfound respect. He never expected Rain to have such excellent blacksmithing talent!
According to Rain's actual strength, he could have chosen the highest-poundage longbow.
"Moreover, judging by this trend, the skill point gap might widen in the future."
So, despite Rain's dedication throughout the day, his archery skills showed little improvement. The only change was the addition of a Basic Archery lv1 (8/100) icon on his Militia panel.
This caused Rain's eyebrows to furrow slightly.
Recalling the brawl, Prominent Brow felt his stomach churn again, cursing inwardly, "Damn it! What the hell is Jack up to? It's been a week, and he's still nowhere to be found."
Rain flipped to the first page of his panel.
After Anna's explanation, she felt slightly relieved, her expression becoming more composed. She nodded and said:
However, this promotion to Blacksmith, whether it was the increase in strength or the emergence of active skills, already made Rain very content, especially with 'Smith's Might.'
But many of the second-generation children were tall and strong, so they chose the regular-sized longbows.
However, this made Prominent Brow, who had been anxious initially, extremely happy.
Since archery was one of the mandatory tests for guards, Rain's poor archery skills would significantly drag down his overall score during the guard assessment.
In comparison, his second-ranked swordsmanship combined with his top-ranked archery would undoubtedly surpass Rain's total score.
This was a sure win!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
