"Raymond, what's wrong?" Arya asked, noticing his distracted expression.
"Huh? Oh, nothing," Raymond replied, quickly shaking off his thoughts. "I was just thinking about sothing."
He cleared his throat and added, "By the way, I'll join you for archery practice in the afternoon, and we'll do so close combat training in the evening."
"Wait, what? You're going to practice archery?" Arya raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But I'm the archer! You're a warrior, why would you need to practice archery?"
When Arya awakened as an Archer, she already possessed master-level archery skills. She could accurately shoot any target within 200 ters without any difficulty, so there was no real need for additional practice.
However, Raymond remained calm and explained, "You can certainly hit stationary targets with ease, but when it cos to moving ones, even though you've mastered the basics, your accuracy isn't quite there yet. That's why you still need more practice."
Arya imdiately recalled the incident yesterday when she shot at the last Red-Eyed Crow. Despite her perfect aim, the bird had dodged the arrow at the last second. It had noticed the arrow coming towards it and quickly changed direction, causing Arya to miss and panic.
Raymond had likely heard about her failure with the crow, so he suggested practicing with moving targets.
"Okay, I'll work hard," Arya nodded, though a bit confused. "But how exactly are we going to do that?"
Raymond smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out when the ti cos."
Later that afternoon...
Raymond instructed Arya to carry her bow and arrows, don her leather armor, and follow him out of Wittes Town through the south gate. They made their way to the outskirts of the town.
Arya looked around, puzzled. "Hmm? Raymond, how are you planning to train ? There's nothing out here except trees!"
She scanned the quiet, tree-filled landscape and glanced back at Raymond, still uncertain.
Raymond, however, was unfazed. "The trees are all we need."
"Ah?" Arya's confusion only deepened. "But… wasn't I supposed to practice with moving targets? Trees don't move!"
"Just shoot at the tree," Raymond said calmly, pointing to a large tree about thirty ters away with a trunk as thick as a man's waist. "It doesn't matter which arrow you use, but I want you to make sure it penetrates the tree trunk by five to six centiters."
Arya still didn't understand Raymond's reasoning, but she didn't question him. She removed her longbow, thought for a mont, and chose an armor-piercing arrow from her quiver.
She nocked the arrow, drew the string back, and took a brief pause, deep in thought. She furrowed her brow, adjusting her stance, then slightly moved the bowstring back before pushing it forward a little. Finally, she pulled the string back a bit more, as if trying to find the right tension.
The reason for this was simple: although she had master-level archery skills, Arya had little knowledge of how to control the force needed to pierce the tree's trunk. She didn't fully understand the hardness or structure of the wood. Raymond had asked her to ensure the arrow penetrated five to six centiters.
In her mind, if she were fighting a monster, she would naturally pull the bowstring with all her strength, aiming to deal the most damage and land a fatal blow. However, this task seed different, and she was unsure of why Raymond wanted such a controlled shot.
Still, she took a deep breath and gently released the bowstring.
Whoosh!
The armor-piercing arrow flew through the air and, with a satisfying thump, sank into the tree trunk.
Arya's gaze imdiately shifted to the arrow, anxiously awaiting Raymond's reaction. Raymond, too, was watching closely. He didn't need to asure; before even glancing at the penetration depth, he shook his head.
Arya looked at the arrow and felt a wave of disappointnt wash over her. As a hunter and archer, she had an innate sense of distance and scale. With just a glance, she knew exactly how far the arrow had sunk into the tree trunk.
Based on her familiarity with the sizes of armor-piercing arrows, heavy arrows, and double-edged barbed arrows, Arya quickly assessed the depth. The arrow had penetrated the tree 8.3 centiters, far more than Raymond had asked.
It might seem like only a small difference of two or three centiters, but for an archer who holds precision in the highest regard, that deviation is substantial.
"Now, shoot the second arrow, again using the armor-piercing arrow. The requirent remains the sa: the arrow must penetrate the tree trunk by five to six centiters!" Raymond instructed.
Arya nodded and imdiately drew another armor-piercing arrow from her quiver. She nocked it, bent the bow, and pulled the string smoothly.
This ti, she didn't hesitate at all. She released the bowstring with confidence.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew through the air and sank into the tree trunk with a satisfying thud. Arya, feeling sure she had nailed it, looked at the arrow, but her confidence quickly turned to shock.
"What? How could this be?!" she exclaid in disbelief.
The armor-piercing arrow had indeed penetrated the tree, but it had only gone 4.2 centiters, far less than the required five to six centiters.
Arya frowned, completely puzzled. She had used less force than the first shot, but the difference in penetration shouldn't have been so large. Her control over the bowstring had improved, and the force she applied this ti was significantly greater than the first attempt.
So why was the arrow's penetration so much less?
The only explanation she could co up with was that the tree trunk had a different structure. But when she checked the positions of both arrows, the first arrow was only a few centiters below the second one. The structure of the tree shouldn't have varied that much in such a short distance.
Raymond spoke slowly, "Although the force you used this ti was smaller than before, your control over that force still isn't precise enough."
Arya looked at him, a little confused. "Raymond, do you want to control my strength more precisely?"
"Exactly," he replied, nodding. "You may think that using your full strength to shoot a monster with the strongest arrow is the best approach, but that's only true when you're dealing with a small number of enemies."
"A small number of enemies?" Arya blinked, not quite understanding.
"Yes," Raymond confird. "Think about it. How many arrows do you think you could shoot if you were going all out with your strength?"
Arya paused, then shook her head. "I… I don't really know. I've never tried to shoot with all my strength."
"Well, let's find out now." Raymond's tone was firm.
"Now?" Arya asked, a little surprised.
Raymond nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Arya swiftly drew a long arrow from her quiver, nocked it, and began to pull the bowstring. This ti, she used every ounce of her strength to pull the string back as far as she could without compromising the accuracy of her shot.
However, even though Arya was using all her strength, she couldn't draw the longbow to its full potential. Not because she lacked the skill, but because the bow was made for soone stronger than she was.
The longbow had originally been used by a Bronze-level archer, whose strength far exceeded that of a newly awakened archer like Arya. While an archer's natural strength may not be enormous, it was supplented by Blessings of Courage and Strength from a Priest, enabling them to pull the bowstring with far more power than an ordinary archer could manage.
Craftsn didn't design bows and arrows based on the strength of average archers; they designed them with the assumption that the archer would be blessed with these magical enhancents. That way, the full potential of the weapon would be realized without wasting the power granted by the blessings.
Bang!
The bowstring snapped, and the arrow shot out with trendous force.
Bang!
The arrow struck the thick tree trunk, piercing it effortlessly. The shaft sunk deep, leaving only the tail feathers visible at the end.
The sheer power behind the shot was evident, and it was clear that Arya's arms were capable of trendous strength. Of course, this was also due to the fact that the arrow was an armor-piercing arrow, designed for high penetration. Even the heavy armor of a warrior would be no match for it when shot with such force by an archer like Arya.
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