Two days later.
Bell walked across a forest. Orcs to his left. Minotaurs to his right. And hobgoblins behind him.
Monsters surrounded him from all sides.
Level 1 orcs. Level 1 minotaurs. Level 2 hobgoblins.
Bell, along with the Artemis Familia, were here to wipe out these monsters from the surface while on their way to the ruins.
He was taking care of the cleanup of this area.
The monsters exchanged glances and lunged at Bell together, as if it had been decided beforehand.
[Instinct] went ballistic in response. Golden strings tracing across his awareness like an electric grid coming to life.
Victory became a foregone conclusion.
Bell nocked an arrow onto his bow in moments, aiming straight at the mouth of an orc to his left that was charging forward with its jaws wide open.
Swoosh.
Hence... an orc became a skewered orc.
Another hobgoblin jumped at him from behind.
He didn't look back. Instead... he held his bow in reverse and nocked another arrow. Pulling the string taut by pushing forward rather than pulling back.
His bow was aimed across his shoulder... straight at the hobgoblin behind him without ever turning.
Swoosh.
The hobgoblin was pierced through the eye. Dying without even knowing how.
Another arrow was nocked. Another monster was downed.
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
Bell's hand became a mere afterimage as arrow after arrow was released at unprecedented speed, reaping the lives of monsters before they could even close the distance.
Two orcs reached him by using their comrades' dead bodies as cover. One orc was right ahead of the other as they charged.
He soundlessly nocked another arrow and pulled the string to the very limit, bending his bow into a horizontal V shape, and fired without hesitation.
It pierced through the raised hand of the first orc... driving the limb into the face of the second orc right behind it, shattering the second orc's nose and teeth in.
Another arrow was nocked and reached the distracted orcs a moment later, piercing through the first orc's eye and continuing on its way to pierce the eye of the orc behind it, who was clutching its ruined face.
After that.
It was an absolute... one sided slaughter.
[Instinct] alone was enough to fold all these monsters like a doormat.
Bell walked away from the scene. His steps casual. His bow slung over his back.
Only decimation left in his wake.
...
..
.
Artemis Familia.
"Lante, aim right...at that orc." Goddess Artemis instructed from an elevated position. Keeping her gaze on the battlefield, directing her Familia while taking stray shots herself in between.
Lante followed her Goddess' instructions and aimed for the orc to her left.
"Rethusa... to your front." Goddess Artemis' voice resounded again as she warned Rethusa of the minotaur ahead while Rethusa's focus remained on her flanks.
She was a moment late to react, the minotaur closing the distance too fast. Yet... before the beast had a chance, an arrow to the temple from Goddess Artemis sent it on its way.
"All of you... Keep your focus razor sharp." Goddess Artemis warned everyone a moment later.
Bell watched all of that happen while walking back towards Goddess Artemis and her Familia.
[Instinct] whirred a low warning. Golden strings across his vision blinked... and then rewrote themselves.
He raised his bow mid-stride, aiming directly at Goddess Artemis.
Their eyes met.
His eyes carried certainty. Hers held bewilderment at the bow aimed her way.
[Ittou Shura] hummed to full throttle for a moment.
His vitality was sucked dry. His strength oscillating upwards for a single second.
Peak Level 1— Level 2— Level 3— Mid Level 3.
The string of his bow was stretched to its very limits, and then let loose like a released tempest.
BOOOM!
A sonic boom resounded as the sound barrier became obsolete. His arrow reached Goddess Artemis in an instant, curving along its axis.
Lante, Rethusa, and the other Artemis Familia members looked back, feeling their hearts leap into their throats. Everyone froze in shock and outrage.
Yet... The Goddess in question smiled instead of reacting with outrage or betrayal. Her smile more radiant than ever before.
His arrow curved sharply as it reached Goddess Artemis, taking a steep turn at the last moment to flash just beside her ear at supersonic speed.
At some point... a lizardman had snuck up behind Goddess Artemis, hiding in the nearby bushes. It was ready to attack her.
However... the lizardman never got the chance. Bell's arrow curved around Goddess Artemis with absolute precision and pierced straight into its brain.
Goddess Artemis was the strongest archer in 'Tenkai'. If she said she was second, no one else would dare claim first in archery.
So... the moment Bell loosened his arrow, Goddess Artemis knew it was not meant for her.
As for her smile?
She smiled because she had barely taught Bell for a day, and he could already make complex shots that even Rethusa couldn't guarantee hitting.
If this was not talent... then what was?
She was proud of Bell... someone she had taught archery herself.
...
Bell returned her smile with an acknowledging nod. Nocking another arrow onto his bow and aiming it vertically toward the sky.
Golden lines to victory engulfed the world.
String pulled. Aim taken. Arrow fired.
The released arrow shot straight upward.
.
He then closed the distance between him and Artemis Familia, stepping through the corpses of monsters.
Suddenly, another lizardman, feigning death among the monster corpses, rose up. Taking in Bell's unguarded back, it lunged with feral instinct.
Goddess Artemis, Lante, Rethusa, and the other members of the Artemis Familia felt their faces go pale. Each one screaming at Bell to watch out.
Bell heard their voices... and didn't give a damn.
He kept walking towards them. His steps unshaken. His guard unraised. His composure uncracked.
How could I lose?
When I've already won.
Bell continued towards them. The lizardmen already having reached his back.
He did not fight. He did not even focus.
Why would he?
That lizardmen behind him was already dead.
Before the monster could touch him. The arrow he had fired earlier fell back with even more momentum due to gravity.
It landed precisely where the lizardman stood behind him in a split second.
The lizardman was pierced straight through.
Dead.
...
..
.
"Next time... If you dare to show off like earlier, I'll hang you upside down from a tree and treat you as a training dummy for archery." Goddess Artemis spoke with exasperation while pulling Bell's cheek with force.
"Goddessh... How woulld I liffe without akting coool." Bell spoke in broken tone as Goddess Artemis squished his cheek, turning it red.
"Hmph.... Men. Then be ready to be hung upside down whenever you try to act cool in front of me. You should stay back and let me hunt instead of trying to act cool and putting yourself in danger." Goddess Artemis warned with a pout, her hand not leaving his cheek.
Why do all the Goddesses I meet want me to eat soft rice?
I want to be spoiled rotten.
But... not every time and everyday.
Hmph... Whatever. I'll continue to act cool.
Cool is life.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[7 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Author's Thoughts]
I was in the mood. Consider it a bonus chapter if you want.