"God, the string of this bow is so tough," Jenni said, putting her utmost effort into drawing the string. Considering the fiend it was about to kill, of course, the bow would be tough to handle. She just never practised with sothing like this.
"Lift your right shoulder a little bit more," Gale advised. "No, not that much."
Jenni listened carefully while her eyes stared at the enormous lizard on the path. Although she kept her eyes on the prize and her hands steady, she was not too confident in making the shot.
"Have you had any training in archery before?" he asked, noticing her indecisiveness.
"I had the bare minimum," she admitted. "Ahh, my fingers are getting stiff. I'm gonna shoot..."
"You're going to miss the target at this rate, and the explosion will cause it to flee."
"You are not making it any bit easier," she complained.
Gale couldn't watch as a bystander anymore and supported her hands. He made sure her right shoulder was well-supported and lifted the other elbow just enough to get a straight trajectory.
"Now!" he commanded and withdrew his palm.
Jenni couldn't wait any longer and shot. The golden arrow flashed through the spewing darkness and lodged into the head of the lizard. The next mont, light exploded out of the arrow, splattering the head of the creature instantly.
"I made it!" Jenni lunged into the air in cheer. "That was aweso!"
Gale felt the essence co. A lion's share went to him, just because he charged the arrow with explosive power, while the rest flowed into Jenni, her expression stiffening with the essence of a fiend-rank creature.
"Ohh, I got 2.4 points in strength and 0.4 in spirit," she bead and gave him a quick hug before going to Dawn. "Go, now it's your turn."
She handed Dawn the bow. Unfortunately, the rest of the lizards had fled when one of their companion's heads exploded.
"Don't worry, they will co again," Gale told them, staring at the headless corpse. "Well, considering we have bait right now, they will co quicker than before."
"Shouldn't we collect the core?" Jenni perked her eyebrows. "It is a fiend-rank core, after all. A small fortune to a lower ranker."
"If you want, I can take you there," Gale offered.
Jenni shot a look between the headless corpse and them. "Let's wait till we kill more of them. Then we'll collect them all at once."
The next few targets ca within a few minutes. The sa old colossus lizard, which wasted no breath cannibalising its kin.
Gale imdiately put his radiance essence to work, charging another arrow. Dawn was already prepared with the bow, standing with far more poise than the other girl did. At least she had more experience with archery.
He handed her the charged arrow as Dawn aid. However, when it turned to pulling the string, her fingers went stiff. No matter how much effort she put in, she barely managed to draw the string by a couple of inches, highly inadequate to kill a fiend-rank monster.
"The string, it won't budge," she said.
Gale didn't think her physical prowess would be this poor, considering how high her spirit arts were.
"Try harder," Jenni chid in. "I know it will be worth it."
"I can't," Dawn whined and turned towards him, her face flustered in her incapability.
Gale didn't think the bow would be too much for a silver ranker's strength, but Dawn was clearly unique in the rank.
"Do sothing, they are going to eat the core..." Jenni urged.
"You aim," Gale finally said, moving to stand behind Dawn. "I'll help you."
He had to arch his back a lot to be at her height level as he put his palm over hers and helped her. Her palm was really soft, swollen red under the pressure of the string.
"If you feel pain, tell ," he told her as they aid. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
"I'm fine," she heaved.
"Are you ready for shooting?"
Dawn focused on the monster. "Y-yes!"
"I'll let go on the count of three," Gale said and began the countdown. "One... two... three!"
Like the first ti, the arrow did not miss its target, exploding another head of the fiend. Another colossus body joined the ground, while the rest of its companions fled.
"Thank you," Dawn said ekly, her back pressed to his chest, head bowed.
"Show your fingers," he said. She acted as though she didn't hear him. So he turned her over and clutched her palm. As he feared, the bow was too much for her fingers. It had cut her index finger, sharp enough that the bone was showing.
Thankfully, her regenerative power was better than her physical prowess, as the blood had already stopped oozing out, the wound closing up slowly. Gale boosted the process, pushing a few tendrils of silver radiance essence.
"Thank you," she said softly, head bowed. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink, making her appear even cuter.
He was reminded again of what June had told him about her. Gale had considered talking about it with her, but he was so unsure how to go into it that he never bothered with it yet. But if she continued to have this one-sided...
Well, June didn't seem to mind, the thought crossed his mind, but he shook his head instantly. It wouldn't be enough if just June agreed to it... Dawn would have to have as much say in it.
"Ahem!" Jenni coughed, breaking their trance. "If you guys are finished with your teenage lovey-dovey romance, we have more lizards to kill."
"Jenni!" Dawn raised her voice and broke away from him. Her cheeks couldn't be any more flushed. She didn't et his gaze for most of the rest of the night, and he only had the little girl to bla.
Gale sighed. At least she didn't say no to shooting more of those lizards, even if her fingers hurt.
___________
Sorry for the hiatus... I have been mostly busy chilling around and working on another project. Anyway, 16 chapters will be removed from the privilege tiers, and the tier price would co down to one digit from tomorrow...
Thank you for sticking out to the story...
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