Chapter 1 (3): The examination, part 2

Chapter 1 (3): The examination, part 2

"Well, it's time for your test of archery. For that, you are doing it solo, so grab a bow and quiver" (HM)

I moved to the rack, where I examined a few bows, and picked one that was very clearly a bad bow, as well as some semi-decent arrows.

"I figure that it's easier to show the full extent of my skill if I can show you how I can adapt to some, quite frankly, shitty bows and arrows. If you'd like, I could show you what I can do with a good one too" (Ryuu)

"We'll see if we want to see that. I am Aaron, and I'll be watching your performance" (Aaron)

"I would like to take two practice shots first, if that's okay. I'd like to get a feel for the bow, you know?" (Ryuu)

"Any good archer using a new bow would say the same thing. I'll allow it. I'd be fine with five, but since you asked for two, we'll see just how good you are with just that" (Aaron)

I took a breath, put an arrow to the string, and took a shot while aiming at the center of the target. It went wide to the left, and I put another arrow to the string. I shifted the bow in my hands, putting it at what was about a 35 degree angle, and then shot again. This time, the arrow went a bit high, but was dead center when only looking at the horizontal angle. I shifted my aim quite a bit upwards, and Aaron sighed behind me. I inhaled, put an arrow to the string, while holding another in my teeth and a third between the third and fourth fingers of my left hand (the hand gripping the bow) and shot. Once. It went almost straight up. I pulled the arrow from my teeth and shot again. It hit the head of the first arrow, changing the angle. I spun the arrow from between my fingers to be along the normal rest of an arrow, quickly pulled it back, and shot again, hitting both of the other arrows in turn, and they all went to the target. The first arrow went a bit above the center dot, the second hit a bit to the right, and the third hit dead center, as I drew my final arrow from my quiver and shot it, splitting the third arrow and embedding itself in the center as well. I released my held breath, and that sound broke the silence in that was thick enough to cut with a knife. Some fainted, some laughed, a few sobbed, and one screamed... in joy, I think...

"So, how'd I do?" (Ryuu)

"I... I'd like to see what you can do with a good bow..." (Aaron, who was the sobbing kind)

I went to the target, pulled out the arrows, and returned to the rack, put away that bow and the five undamaged arrows, and grabbed the best bow there, as well as some pretty good arrows. Not the best, as I want those to stay intact, which these wouldn't. I walked back to my place, and shot every arrow but one that I had in quick succession. Each and every one split the one before it as it went into the central dot, and then I tossed the quiver up and towards the target while I held the last arrow on the bow. I shot the final shot, and the arrow went through the quiver's strap and split the previous arrow as well.

"S..." (Aaron and HM)

"S?" (Ryuu)

"Your archery is already on par with that of an S rank such as Aaron. We have nothing we could teach you there, in fact, I might ask you to teach an archery class instead... anyways, uh... your next exam is with daggers, I guess" (HM)

"That's my turn. The name's Shino. I'm an A rank specializing in assassination, though I mostly use it for killing magical beasts. I'm good at stealth, in other words, so I'm not as good in a straight fight" (Shino)

"Fair enough. I'll take..." (Ryuu)

I picked four knives... well, kunai, to be precise. I grabbed two spools of thin magic-infused wire from my storage, though I made it look like they came from my belt pouch, and tied them to two of the kunai, the ones that I kept in my hands while the others went into a sheath I had on each arm.

"That's interesting... I look forward to this fight. Maybe I can learn something, who knows?" (Shino)

Shino and I moved to the central area, and I tossed my kunai to either side of her as soon as the match started. Thanks to the magic-infused wires, I could control the kunai as I pleased by changing the mana I was sending through the wires. As soon as they left my hands, I drew the other kunai from their sheaths, and closed the gap. Shino was wary of the kunai and the wires, which she couldn't see due to how fine they were. Her daggers were larger than my kunai, so I was at a disadvantage in terms of reach, however, she couldn't stay too close to me, as I could slice her with the wires given a moment of time to do so. After a while, she was covered in fine cuts, and I sliced through the hilt of one of her daggers, leaving her with a single blade. Soon after, she gave up due to having a kunai pressed against her neck, chest, spine, and the last one locked with her remaining dagger.

"Impressive. A puppet master's wires, thin to the point of being able to cut, attached to and controlling thrown knives. How many could you control at once, given enough wire?" (Shino)

"Uh... my record is twelve, due to a lack of more wire, however, after six, I become unable to fight in close range, and after ten, I can't move around as fast as I feel is safe against a speed-type melee fighter" (Ryuu)

"I... if you'd done six, I would have been screwed. However, it's an unorthodox and, frankly, unreliable style, so I have no way to judge your skill" (Shino)

"If you'd like, we could go again, this time, without those puppet kunai" (Ryuu)

"I think that would be for the best" (Shino)

We did it again, this time, with both of us having large daggers, and, quite frankly, there was too much that happened to put it all here. Suffice to say, I won after about ten minutes of a rapid back-and-forth exchange of blades, and she simply gave up because she felt like she had no win condition, and so, she lost confidence. Soon after, the triplets showed up, so I faced off against them... but first, I grabbed a pair of swords and their sheaths, attached a clip to my ankles, and put some of that wire connecting the base of the sheaths to the clips.