Hot Spring and Training

The two women spent the morning and afternoon drinking, seemingly a long time, but in reality, they didn't drink much due to their limited tolerance. After having some food and finding a room to rest for a while, Thea suddenly remembered that she had to go to the small forest to find her father for combat training. Realizing she had a bit of a scent of alcohol on her and wasn't mentally focused, she called the bar owner to ask if there was a place to bathe.

'You're treating my place like a resort, aren't you?' Even though the bar owner felt displeased, he couldn't deny Thea's request. Reluctantly, he led her to a small bathhouse in the back that had never been open to the public.

Felicity, originally planning to head home, decided to join in when she heard that the bath was free. The bar owner, unsure of their relationship, didn't dare to stop her since the two of them had been chatting all day.

Upon entering the bathhouse in her robe, Thea discovered that the bar owner had dug out a small hot spring, surrounded it with a low wall, and the pool wasn't large—enough for four people to sit comfortably. Surprisingly, it wasn't meant for single use.

"Oh, Thea, you're so sneaky! We should've come in earlier to enjoy this fantastic place!" Felicity, seeing no one else around, quickly stripped off her clothes and jumped into the pool, savoring the experience.

'Wow, your figure is amazing,' Thea thought to herself, a bit embarrassed. After a while, Felicity noticed Thea still hesitating and, grabbing her hand, said, "What are you looking at? Hurry up and get in!"

"After drinking for three hours, it's said that soaking in a hot spring is bad for the body," said Thea.

"But it's only for people with specific health conditions. We'll be fine for a short dip. Trust me, I read a lot!" With no other choice, Thea reluctantly took off her robe and entered the pool.

"Hey, there's no one else here. Why are you still wearing your underwear?"

"Wow, Thea, your skin is so smooth."

"Hehe, Thea, you really are petite!"

The shameless Felicity fully teased the future female hero. Though Thea blushed, the humid atmosphere and Felicity's lack of glasses, making her a bit nearsighted, meant she didn't notice much. Initially awkward, Thea soon realized that after a little wine, a good night's sleep, and then soaking in the hot spring, it was indeed quite comfortable! Unbeknownst to her, this idea would mark the beginning of the tradition for the female superhero league to have hot spring meetings. Although Thea always reminded the other girls not to drink, Wonder Woman would always say, "We're superheroes, what's there to be afraid of?"

After some ordinary fooling around, without crossing any boundaries, Felicity drove Thea to the dense forest, and they bid each other farewell.

Looking around, Thea noticed Malcolm hadn't arrived yet, and she needed to stabilize her emotions. Finding a large tree, she sat down cross-legged.

Malcolm had been observing her for most of the day. He arrived about five minutes earlier than Thea. He had learned from his previous mistake of being discovered too early, so this time he was more cautious and continuously observed from the periphery to test her perception range.

By comparing various details, he estimated that Thea's effective perception range was nearly a radius of ten meters. In the League of Assassins, even having a five-meter range was considered talented. The world's number one assassin, Lady Shiva, seemed to have a perception range of about twenty meters, but that was developed over years of training. Aside from sniper rifles, Lady Shiva could dodge any cold or hot weapon, making her immune to surprise attacks.

Thea couldn't achieve this yet, but he believed that through training, she could completely dodge mid-range cold weapons like bows and flying knives within her perception range. She could also evade handguns at a distance, showcasing her remarkable talent!

Seeing Thea sitting motionless under a tree, Malcolm gained some understanding of her patience. Intelligent, talented, patient, and resilient—coupled with her youth and good conditions, Malcolm couldn't help feeling a bit envious.

Stepping out from behind the tree with a hoarse voice, he said, "Thea Queen, are you ready to undergo training?"

Thea had noticed him long ago but chose not to speak. Malcolm probably miscalculated; her perception range was approximately a radius of twelve meters. The original Thea 1.0 was just a sidekick hero, with average strength. But when compared to the League of Assassins' grunts, she was undoubtedly much stronger. Now, this 2.0 Enhanced Fusion Edition exhibited extraordinary abilities. It might seem like just a numerical increase, but in reality, it represented a significant leap in strength and potential, akin to the difference between running a 10-second and a 5-second 100-meter dash; although it appears to be a small numerical gap, the disparity is immense.

"I'm ready. Please instruct me. I'm not afraid of hardship."

"Very well, I see your determination. You can call me Dark Archer. I will teach you various combat techniques. What do you want to learn first?" Malcolm asked with a dignified demeanor, hands behind his back.

Thea chuckled inwardly, "I want to learn the Seventy-Two Transformations. Can you teach me?" But she remained serious and said, "Since you're called Dark Archer, let's start with archery. Let me see your skill."

Her words sounded a bit arrogant—here I am, traveling all this way to teach you, and you want to test me? If it were a righteous hero, they might have left in a huff. But since Malcolm was a major villain, he actually liked her bit of attitude. He wouldn't respect someone who was overly submissive.

Taking a set of tennis balls out of his backpack, he handed it to Thea and asked her to randomly throw it into the sky for him to shoot.

Oh, it seems like Oliver Queen also trained this way in the original storyline. You really are following in the same footsteps. Ra's al Ghul taught Malcolm, who is then teaching her. Does that make her a third-generation disciple? Compared to her brother, where Ra's al Ghul taught his daughter Talia, who then passed it to Yao Fei, who in turn taught his daughter—and Oliver and Yao Fei's daughter had a go in the water, and Oliver instantly learned the essence of archery. That makes him a fifth-generation disciple, right?

Luckily, Westerners don't care much about generational issues; otherwise, it would be awkward to greet her biological brother in the future! Ra's al Ghul, who lived for over eight hundred years had students all over the world. As a super villain who couldn't be killed, he had trained numerous superheroes, which was truly a amusing story.

Without dwelling on Ra's al Ghul's story, Thea took out a tennis ball and threw it high and carefully watched Malcolm's feet and movements. With a snap, the black feathered arrow pinned the tennis ball to the tree trunk.

This move was quite challenging, much more than shooting a fixed target on a wall like Oliver did. After all, one would have to calculate the arrow's landing point to ensure it sticks to the tree trunk. Otherwise, it'll fly off too far, which wouldn't look good. No wonder Malcolm was giving Green Arrow a tough time in the first season. He's definitely stronger than Green Arrow!

Next, Thea continuously threw tennis balls high or low, and Malcolm, truly in his peak state as if divinely assisted, after a few string snaps, each arrow maintained pinpoint accuracy, nailing all nine tennis balls to the tree trunk.

"Amazing, I want to learn this!" Thea exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

Malcolm secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, he had been performing slightly above his usual level today. After all, he was in his forties, almost fifty, and he hadn't been training since childhood. To avoid disappointing his daughter, he focused his attention like never before. If Thea had thrown a few more balls, he might not have been able to hit them all. This was the biggest difference between him and Green Arrow—stamina. Malcolm couldn't match the endurance of the younger Green Arrow. In short bursts of concentration, he could beat Green Arrow, but in the long run, he couldn't. Green Arrow, as an ordinary person without any enhancements, had a proven track record of endurance.