Ancestor Tree

Chapter 37 – Ancestor Tree

Violent swirl echoed the field. The arrows flew into a curved, the speed akin to a gust of wind.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Collisions rang as these arrows nailed into the boulders and to the ground. This time however, most of the arrows landed on the boulders.

All the soldiers had their mouths wide open as they stared at the result.

It was especially the case to the veteran archers. They knew that all these soldiers weren't adept at using bows. At most, they trained a little before.

Yet, after a few pointers from the unknown man, their attacks became synchronized!

Even the one who shot the arrows couldn't believe the spectacle in front of them. Usually, their arrows would clash each other, lessening the accuracy.

"That's more like it!" Jhin clasped his hand and stared at the dumbfounded Saline. "See that? That's how you teach."

Teaching without teaching knowledge was pointless even if you excelled in a profession. What he used earlier was some psychological tricks coupled with the knowledge he assimilated.

The basic level of archery was about shooting a stationary target. To master it, one must have the ability to hit the target within a hundred meter range. Thus, with his knowledge, Jhin was able to play some tricks.

First, he let the soldiers observed their equipment. Making them reflect how to properly hold the bow and arrow. With such knowledge, assuming the optimal stance would be easier. Afterwards, he heightened the tension by telling the stakes. As a result, the soldiers concentration reached a high level.

With heightened concentration, coupled with proper grip, and stance, they were able to shoot in a much precise manner.

"You… How did you do that?" Saline looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

To think that she spent hours after hours of training with only little to no result. Yet, when he followed the man's words, it only took a couple of minutes before the soldiers were able to shoot in sync and hit the target.

"Want to learn?" Jhin stared at her purple eyes. He couldn't help but admit that Saline was beautiful, comparable to Lucy.

Saline blankly nodded her head.

"But I won't teach you. Unless…" Jhin grinned.

"Unless what?"

"You agree to my requests." Jhin smiled. After revealing his value, he finally gets the chance to express his desire.

"What requests?" Saline asked.

"First, I need ten bows and a lot of arrows. Can you provide me with that?" he said. "Also, I want some Death Coins. Perhaps a thousand will do? Consider it as tuition fee. Hehe"

After running lots of mental calculations, Jhin deduced that the safest way to join the raid was to pretend as a summoner.

He could have his ink soldiers armed with bows. Coupled with his assimilated knowledge about archery, Jhin was confident that he could kill a lot of enemies.

As for why he needed Death Coins, he wanted to buy cloaks, gloves, and other equipment to hide the unique feature of the ink soldiers.

Revealing his relation with the ink soldiers to the army would hinder his progress. Not only would the army become wary of him, but they might also restrict his movements upon learning the threat of the ink soldiers. Especially, those people who witnessed the ink soldiers' strength in the shrine. Worst case, they might forbid him from joining the raid and imprison him.

"Fine! I agree! Follow me!" Saline replied without hesitation. She started walking to a corner where a massive tree stood. But after a few steps, she swept his gaze at the soldiers, "All of you, keep practicing! Reflect on what I said earlier."

"Yes sir!"

The soldiers started discussing with each other. The scene that played earlier was so magical. They wanted to get the hang of that feeling.

Meanwhile, as these soldiers discussed, Saline and Jhin arrived in front of the massive tree.

As he looked at the tree, Jhin couldn't suppress the amazement in his eyes. The tree has a crooked body, and from his estimate, it would take twenty grown men to hug the tree. The tree has countless branches and leaves, rustling every now and then.

"What is this tree?" Jhin asked with widened eyes. He had noticed this tree upon his entrance earlier. However, the tree at that time looked tiny. Unlike now, where it appeared massive.

"It's the Ancestor Tree," Saline said, "A tree born from countless bow intent. As long as you obtain the recognition of the tree, the tree will change its size on your vision.

Just like me, in my eyes, the tree looked so massive, at least thirty meters tall. Don't think that the acknowledgment of the tree is useless. The Ancestor Tree was the one in charge of allocating the resources. The bigger the tree appeared on your vision, the more resources you can obtain. Like archery scrolls, equipment, and so on.

Below ten meters, anyone can gain access to archery scrolls within the basic mastery level. Ten to nineteen meters, scrolls of intermediate mastery level. Twenty to twenty-nine meters, scrolls of advanced mastery level. Thirty to thirty-nine meters, scrolls of peak mastery level."

After explaining those, Saline took a step forward then knelt in one knee while bowing her head. "Greetings Ancestor Tree, may I exchange some of my death points for archery equipment?"

Seeing Saline's action, the tree rustled its leave as though it was nodding.

"Hey Saline, just give me four for now," Jhin whispered as he marveled at the sight. From his vision, the tree appeared to be roughly ten meters tall. As it rustled, he could feel a unique sensation sweeping through being.

"Great Ancestor Tree, I want to exchange four set of archery equipment." Saline said as took out a tablet from his pocket.

The tablet was as black as ink while its center has a skull insignia engraved on it. It looks creepy yet cool.

A huge branch of the tree swings. Then, four huge leaves, at least a meter in size fell from it and landed in front of them.

While the leave fell, a dark gas escaped from Saline's tablet and flew into the tree.

"Amazing!" Jhin exclaimed. The leaf on the ground actually contains a bow and a quiver full of arrow!

"You may take them." Saline said as she put her tablet back to her pocket.

"En!" Jhin nodded. He commanded the system to store them while paying close attention to Saline's reaction.

Suddenly, a surprise expression flashed on Saline's face. The four leaves disappeared.

She looked at Jhin before retrieving a small bag from her pocket. "Here's some Death Coins."

Fortunately, each archer set only expend a single slot. Thus, he was able to store all the equipment inside the system inventory.

"Thank you!" Jhin smiled in satisfaction. "Then, for the last request, I want to join the Archery Hall."