Archery Training and Unexpected Growth

Without any information about the traps, descending carelessly early on is a sure way to fall to your death. If your level is mediocre, you won’t even die instantly, but instead be torn apart by demons below, which is an even more sickening prospect.

“The open cylindrical staircases are designed to collapse midway. If you descend carelessly, you’ll plummet non-stop straight to the bottom where the demons lurk. As for the blocked sections, arrows might shoot out, or boulders could come tumbling down… but I’ll show you those later. It doesn’t seem like we have any here.”

“How did you figure all that out, one by one? How…?”

“Easily. You see it when you observe enough. Here, take these.”

I handed them three mithril bows and mithril quivers, then demonstrated how to use them.

“Hold the bow like this, nock the arrow as if resting it on your fingers. Then, extend your arm straight, pulling the hand holding the arrow all the way back to your chin. Don’t worry, it won’t break, just pull.”

It seemed to be their first time handling one. Jack and Faust were already shaky just trying to draw the string. Nocturne, at least, managed to strike a fairly decent pose.

“Aren’t these arrows incredibly expensive?”

“They’re mithril. One gold coin each.”

“Good heavens, this is an extravagant display of wealth!”

“Ordinary iron arrows won’t work. You’ll need at least silver or mithril. If things get truly dire, you can use consecrated glass shards dipped in holy water. If resources allow, diamond and orichalcum, imbued with the holy water and sacred blood of the Morning Star Goddess, are the best.”

Nocturne fumbled a few times but quickly began to hit his marks with fair accuracy. The other two, however, were still flinging arrows haphazardly into the air.

“Those diamond and orichal… how much do those cost?”

“Twenty gold coins per arrow. A quiver holds twenty, so that’s 400 gold per quiver. If you were to use them, you’d probably need to empty at least fifty quivers to take anything down. And that’s just a theoretical estimate; in reality, assuming you could even shoot without dying, you’d need around two hundred quivers.”

At my words, all three stopped firing their arrows. Nocturne, especially, shrieked at me in horror.

“That’s insane! Can they even be recovered?”

“At your current level, you’d go bankrupt before you even caught a demon. I have no need for such extravagance, so it’s meaningless to me.”

I casually remarked, shooting an arrow into the head of a demon that was about to leap across the broken bridge, sending it plummeting.

“Bows are excellent as auxiliary weapons. You don’t need to be an expert, but you should achieve a basic level of proficiency. They’re useful for disarming traps and keeping enemies at bay. I don’t expect you to take down a boss-level demon, at least not yet. If not now, then when will you practice? Don’t be stingy; just fire away.”

“Cheap arrows are difficult to control and will only hinder your practice. You need to use good ones to properly grasp the feel from the start. And by the time I can no longer support you, there won’t be any demons left anyway, so there’s no need to worry.”

Jack, by the way, was truly terrible. While Faust, after depleting about half a quiver, was starting to get the hang of his posture, Jack was still flailing uselessly even after emptying an entire quiver.

After refilling their quivers, I walked over and stood close behind Jack.

“If you’re not getting the feel for it, just say so. Don’t waste expensive arrows.”

Then, I placed my hand over Jack’s, gripping the bow and arrow to adjust his stance. He yelped and struggled, but perhaps due to his low stats, he couldn’t even escape my grasp.

“Wh-why are you doing this? Wh-what’s wrong!”

“Stop making such a fuss and learn it with your body. Hold the bow slightly below the center, and nock the arrow perfectly in the middle.”

“If you hold your hand in the center, the arrow’s tip will rise, causing it to wobble in flight.”

“And when you draw, don’t tremble with fear like that; pull it all at once. I can see you’re afraid of getting hit by the bowstring. Honestly, you’re such a coward. I wonder how you even manage to use a sword.”

‘I couldn’t understand why he was trembling so violently.’ Though his considerable bulk made it hard to see clearly, I roughly adjusted his draw by feel.

“Align the arrow horizontally with your line of sight. If you aim at the tip of the arrow, it will fly upwards.”

“While there are times you might need to use a high arc, at this close range, launching it indecisively will prevent it from embedding properly.”

“Uh, uh-huh…”

“Draw the string back as far as possible, until it touches your face.”

“The true aiming point isn’t the tip of the arrowhead, but about a finger’s width from the point where the shaft meets the nock. Think of it as aiming slightly downwards, if anything.”

‘It was awkward not knowing his exact line of sight, but the nameless demons were so slow it likely wouldn’t matter.’ I rested my chin on Jack’s shoulder, looking down as I continued.

“Don’t break your stance, just release the hand holding the string. Like this…”

Then, intertwining my fingers with Jack’s, I made him release the bowstring. He released it with a startled jerk of his arm. Damn it, it wavered slightly. I had intended for it to hit the head, but it dropped lower, striking the demon around its solar plexus instead.

“When you release, don’t jerk your hand away. Just let go in that exact position.”

“If the fletching trembles, the arrow won’t gain speed in flight.”

“C-could you perhaps step back a little now…?”

“I was going to watch you shoot anyway.”

I stepped back again, telling the others to pause for a moment. I wanted to observe Jack alone. Jack kept glancing nervously at me, but after five or six more attempts, he finally shot properly.

“Why do you keep staring at me like that?”

“While I appreciate the instruction… I’d prefer it if you didn’t hug me from behind while wearing that outfit…”

“If you have the presence of mind to worry about my clothes, then practice properly.”

Then, I enchanted an arrow with freezing magic and shot it at the door that marked our next path.

CRACK! With a loud sound, the frozen door rattled, and then, amidst clanging noises, it collapsed entirely.

Normally, one shouldn’t open it this way. You’re supposed to solve a puzzle while avoiding the iron spike traps on the floor. However, if you freeze it with magic and then apply a shock from the inside, it’s designed to break.

Ghoul and skeleton-like undead creatures, waiting in the next room, had gathered near the door, drawn by the commotion in our chamber. This mechanism is designed to shatter the door and unleash the monsters from the next room if magic is recklessly cast from below. If ignorant humans fight desperately here and fail to pace themselves, they’ll quickly fall to those creatures.

As the three saw the torrent of undead pouring out, all color drained from their faces.

“There are so many of them, they might even fill the broken bridge with their bodies and climb up. We’ll have to diligently eliminate them, won’t we?”

‘A certain level of tension is necessary for clearing a dungeon, wouldn’t you agree?’

“When on earth is this going to end?!”

“The second room is quite large. If you consistently hit your marks, it’ll take about twenty to thirty minutes? A little less than an hour, perhaps.”

‘They were complaining despite only shooting arrows from a safe position.’

‘I continued to replenish their stamina with magic, periodically blasting away any monsters that tried to climb up with [Wind Sucker].’

‘Why was I having them practice archery so much? Because using a bow frequently increases strength and speed.’

‘Moreover, bows are incredibly versatile. Since I probably couldn’t teach these guys magic, I figured they should at least learn one ranged auxiliary weapon.’

‘Their levels were too low anyway; once we got past this point, I’d have to step in myself. The damage they were inflicting was only because of the expensive bows and arrows; with their basic weapons, they wouldn’t stand a chance at their current level.’

Perhaps because Nocturne already knew how to use a bow, he now seemed almost excited, landing headshots with decent accuracy. Jack, on the other hand, was still babbling and shooting most terribly, while Faust, though not landing critical hits, at least wasn’t missing entirely.

Their diligence was commendable, but the constant problem was that they kept trying to step half a pace forward, requiring me to pull them back each time.

This time, I again wrapped an arm around Faust, who was attempting to step forward. I pulled him back, drawing him close.

“Be careful. I understand your desire to hit accurately, but if you go down there, you’ll be on the verge of death.”

“Still, if you want to try, should I cast some buffs on you? Want to try it down below?”

“…No, thank you.”

‘Ah, right. I forgot to give them their headbands.’

As I refilled the quivers of the frantically shooting trio, I placed sprout headbands on their heads.

“I felt like something was missing.”

“Do we really have to wear these?”

“You’ll grow faster if you wear these, I’m telling you.”

Just then, a faint aura of light shimmered around Nocturne as he landed a headshot. It signified a level-up. Nocturne stopped mid-shot, examining his body with wide, surprised eyes.

“W-wasn’t there just something?”

“It means your level has increased.”

“S-so, what exactly does leveling up mean?”

“It means you’ve grown. You’re not tired at all now, are you?”

Leveling up typically replenishes all stats. At my words, Nocturne clenched and unclenched his hands, marveling.

“Just moments ago, my hands were aching and losing feeling, but now they’re perfectly fine.”

“You’ll probably have gained some strength and speed too. Try shooting.”

With a hesitant expression, Nocturne nocked an arrow and drew the string. The arrow, which had only embedded itself in heads before, now pierced straight through, lodging itself completely.

“It seems your growth efficiency is better than I expected. An arrow that only embedded before doesn’t usually pierce straight through a head just from one level-up.”

“You might even have more potential than Jack or Faust.”

I was quite surprised by this. It was an unexpected outcome. Such a dramatic effect from a single level-up is rare, especially for NPCs. Even with the boosted attack power from the bow and arrows, this was a considerable leap.

“I’ll have you try a few other weapons, and if nothing else suits you, we’ll make the bow your main weapon. I’ll craft a good one for you.”

“This ‘level’ thing feels different from what I imagined.”

“It means the value of your soul is increasing. I hadn’t anticipated such a large increase in your stats.”

I looked at the dumbfounded Jack and Faust and said,

“Once you two level up, I’ll guide you through the rest. Hurry up and clear out the remaining monsters.”

“We’ll take a short break, then I’ll teach you how to hunt a demon boss.”

‘This might turn out even better than I expected.’

After confirming that Jack and Faust had also leveled up, I swept away all the remaining monsters. There was nothing particularly challenging. Too lazy to deal with them, I simply created a sea of flames with [Firewall], incinerating them all.

I then used telekinesis to lower the others down. As for myself, I merely jumped.

“They won’t respawn for three days. We’ll rest for a day, and tomorrow I’ll show you how to hunt a boss-level creature.”

“About that earlier, are you alright after being impaled by the iron spikes?”

“It hurts, but it’s nothing major. It was my own fault for forgetting to disarm the trap.”

‘When descending, I had accidentally stepped directly onto a spike trap. My instep was pierced, and it stung terribly. Damn it, I hadn’t realized how inconvenient pain could be. Since it healed on its own, I didn’t even bother with a potion.’

I gathered the corpses of the dead monsters, using them as kindling to start a bonfire. Undead bodies, being withered and dry, burn quite well. I should have brought a firewood set with me. Now, I only have crafting wood, which I’m reluctant to use for burning.

“Haut, is this how you always hunt demons?”

“No. As I mentioned earlier, the boss here is one of the weaker ones among its kind, which is why the dungeon has this particular structure.”

“Normally, once you cross that black veil, there’s just a waiting area, and the boss is sitting right in front of you. Having these kinds of elaborate setups is a sign of weakness.”

“Of course, even this is still too difficult for you all, so I’ll have to carry you through and just show you the patterns.”

“I’ll let you try actual combat after you’ve taken down a couple more. You’ll need to grow enough to pass through the veil alone to even have a chance.”

The three of them were eating the buff food I had provided. They didn’t really need the buffs immediately since they were about to sleep, but NPCs tend to whine about hunger if they don’t eat.

‘It’s annoying.’

“Sir Haut, why aren’t you eating?”

“I don’t need to eat. You guys are hungry, aren’t you? I don’t experience such things.”

‘That strange look again. It was too much trouble to even argue about it now. I just let it be.’

I pulled a steel greatsword from my inventory, thrust it deep into the ground, and leaned my back against it.

“Eat up and then sleep. Don’t put out the fire.”

Then, I closed my eyes.

‘Ah, damn it. It was only then that I realized the sleep mode timer hadn’t appeared.’