Chapter 12: Shooting

"Congratulations, little Duke."

"Not bad, not bad. If you have any problems with meditation in the future, come to me."

Card repairers Dylanco and Sanne, upon learning that Duke had opened his spirit sea, expressed friendly messages.

Only the card repairer Best, who Duke had followed before, didn't show any expression upon hearing the news. Instead, he snorted and busied himself with card repairs.

Passing by Duke, he muttered in a vague tone, "Just opened the spirit sea, a druggie. Talents are just like that."

Duke heard the words.

He didn't bother to argue.

A vast extraordinary world had unveiled itself to him, with endless mysteries waiting for him to explore. He had no time or interest in entangling with lower-level cultivators like Best.

Old Sam didn't assign him any work.

He spent the entire morning attempting to repair the energy routes in spirit cards. Occasionally, he sought advice from Dylanco and Sanne, spending most of his time analyzing and summarizing with Xiao Yi.

Time passed quickly, and it was already the end of the workday.

"Bob, I'm leaving."

"Sure, go home and rest early." Bob smiled and waved.

Duke returned to the small courtyard he rented, 237 Second Street, just a short walk through an alley from Little Sam's Card Repair Shop. It was very convenient for commuting.

He didn't rush to cook.

He changed into a pair of sturdy leather boots, slung a tattered canvas bag over his shoulder, and left the house, heading towards the outskirts of the town in the direction of the farms. Once outside the town, he could see many knights patrolling.

These knights mainly rode horses, but the leading knight didn't ride a horse; instead, he rode a tall wolf-like spirit beast.

They weren't wearing armor but leather armor with the emblem of the Black Snake family, indicating that they were a knight patrol escort under the Black Snake family.

Walking on the embankment, Duke didn't attract the knights' attention.

After passing the farm, just before entering the dense bushes, he saw notices posted every few meters along a water channel.

They read: "Patrol area ahead, danger!"

Observing the surroundings, apart from seeing farmers working in the fields, there was no one else around.

He silently materialized a sand falcon, held the unshot One-Ring Arcane Tool in his hand, and silently crossed the ditch, walking towards the bushes.

Humans were never the masters of the wilderness; the residential areas they opened up were only a part of the wilderness.

Therefore, areas far from the town's safe zone and patrol areas harbored unknown dangers. But as long as one didn't venture too deep into the bushes, it would definitely not be more dangerous than the air route.

In fact, many hunters in the town would cross the patrol area to hunt in the dangerous forest.

High-level spirit beasts that were dangerous were eliminated by human firepower in numerous wars, leaving behind only some ordinary spirit beasts.

"Alright."

"We're deep enough here. If I shoot, no one should hear the gunshot. I'll hunt here." Duke climbed a large tree with his hands and feet, "Xiao Yi, pay attention to recording the shooting data of the sand falcon."

"Yes, master."

There were many small animals in the bushes. In less than a quarter of an hour of crouching on the tree, Duke was attracted by a rustling sound. Looking closely, it was a black-haired wild boar, digging for food on the ground and occasionally raising its head to observe the surroundings.

Approximately twenty meters away.

Duke gripped the sand falcon pistol with both hands, aiming at the boar's head.

In the complete unawareness of the black-haired wild boar, he quickly pulled the trigger. Then, there was a "bang" sound, and Duke felt his arms being violently shaken by a huge force, almost losing his grip on the sand falcon.

At the same time.

A splash of blood suddenly burst on the head of the black-haired wild boar.

The next moment, the black-haired wild boar lay on the ground, twitching and groaning. In less than ten seconds, the convulsions stopped, and the black-haired wild boar was completely lifeless.

"Whew!"

Duke exhaled a breath.

Watching the sand falcon in his hand disperse into sparkling lights and disappear, with just one shot, the sand falcon could no longer maintain its materialization. Nearly forty drops of spirit liquid from his spirit sea were depleted with this one shot.

He waited for a moment to make sure there were no other wild animals around before jumping down.

He walked briskly towards the black-haired wild boar.

On the head of the black-haired wild boar, the bullet hole was still bleeding. The sand falcon's bullet had pierced its head directly, and the bullet had also entered the boar's shoulder blade.

"Not bad."

Duke turned the black-haired wild boar over and suddenly discovered that the shoulder blade was also pierced. After a careful search on the ground, he found the bullet traces.

It had penetrated nearly half a meter into the ground.

However, when Duke dug up the soil, he did not find the bullet head. "It should have dissipated; after all, the sand falcon is now a One-Ring Arcane Tool, not a real pistol."

He was very satisfied with this result.

In this way, after the sand falcon hunted, nothing would be left except for the bullet holes.

"By the way, Xiao Yi, what do you think of the power of this shot? Can it kill a zero-ring spirit beast?" Duke used a small knife to cut open the hind leg of the black-haired wild boar. He planned to take one leg back to pickle and eat.

Taking back the entire wild boar would be inconvenient and difficult to explain.

Xiao Yi responded, "Based on existing data, the physical quality of beasts is weaker than that of zero-ring spirit beasts. The sand falcon's consecutive penetration of the black-haired wild boar's body can certainly kill a zero-ring spirit beast. However, the physical quality of a one-ring spirit beast is very strong. It's not easy to kill unless it hits a fatal weak point or deals with a weaker spirit beast."

"What about shooting a one-ring knight?"

"Insufficient data, unable to infer."

"Alright." Duke cut off the boar's hind leg, shook off the blood, and, after a brief inspection, stuffed it into the canvas bag. "The physical toughness of a one-ring knight is hard to say, but if a one-ring arcane mage is not careful and gets hit by 

my sneak attack, their soul would probably be shattered... but it's also uncertain. I heard that one-ring arcane mages can solidify arcane arts. In case they have instant defense arcane arts..."

He had just entered the extraordinary world, and everything was unknown.

Wiping his hands.

Duke carried a wild boar leg, walked briskly towards the direction of Snakehead Town, bathed in the remaining rays of the setting sun. Despite his spirit liquid being depleted and feeling a bit tired, his spirits were still high.

No knights came to check; he returned to town smoothly.

He bought a bag of salt, scraped the hair off the boar's leg, carefully seasoned it, and hung it to air dry in the stairwell. It was already the end of May, and the weather was getting hotter. Without salt and without a refrigerator, it would easily spoil.

After dinner.

He read books until late at night, continuing until he felt a bit tired before washing up and going to sleep.

As he lay in bed, he was still communicating with Xiao Yi. "Xiao Yi, share with me the insights you gained from the book you just read."

"Yes, master. Tonight, you read 'The Ring of Techniques,' which describes the construction of energy circuits for spell modeling. 'Ring' is an interpretation and record of spiritual arcane arts. A qualified ring must first achieve the passage of energy. Only energy that passes through can reveal the endless secrets of spiritual arcane arts..."

(End of this chapter)