15. Archery

Oliver put down his bow and quickly burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! So this is it! This is just the start of the blood of the gods!"

Hearing this, Aiden turned to look at him a little confused, and Oliver quickly explained.

"My skills have improved quite a bit just by awakening my bloodline. Before, I would struggle to fire three of such arrows; now I can fire five without even breaking a sweat!"

Hearing this, Aiden's jaw dropped.

"Is the blood of the gods so powerful?"

Seeing Aiden's shock, Oliver just chuckled and motioned towards Aiden.

"How about it? You have a try and see how much you've improved?"

When Aiden heard this, an awkward look appeared on his face. Oliver quickly rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"I forgot you used to be a complete mortal before all this and have no training."

It wasn't just no training; before this, Aiden had never touched anything that could even be considered a weapon before!

Oliver laughed and patted Aiden on the back.

"Well, now's as good a time as any to start. If it's just basic archery, I can help you get started. Look."

As he spoke, Oliver moved and took up a basic shooting stance for Aiden to watch. Aiden looked for a while before copying him, and that's when Oliver walked around him, using a stick to shift his feet around while moving his back forward.

"The first point I can teach you about archery is stance. If your stance is off, everything you shoot won't work."

Any time Aiden's body tended to drift out, Oliver would quickly try and correct it, but even so, from his eyes, Aiden's stance was still a complete mess. He could only sigh in his mind.

'It's better than nothing, I guess.'

It had taken him years to get his stance up to par; how could Aiden do the same in moments with just a few words? So instead of worrying, he continued his explanation.

"The next part of archery is actually to draw your arrow and shoot, and this is where people get confused. Don't be deceived and focus on appearances. The trick to shooting doesn't focus on the arms; instead, it all stems from your back. Your back is your anchor and your lynchpin. Most of your strength and power originate here. Use your back to control the drawing process."

Aiden did as he was told and drew out an arrow, using his arms and his back to draw the arrow. As he did so, he suddenly heard Oliver's voice.

"Don't be too stiff! There's no such thing as a rigid bow! The more fluid and relaxed the muscles in your back, the easier it is to quickly adjust your aim and redraw your bow. Develop that habit now!"

Aiden adjusted his movements as Oliver kept on speaking.

"Next is the final piece of the puzzle: your breathing. While it might seem trivial, this is the thing that separates the good from the bad. Controlled breathing can help you steady your aim and your body, so don't underestimate it."

Aiden tried controlling his breathing as Oliver guided him from the sidelines.

"Take steady breaths. Feel your bow. Feel the upper and lower limb. Feel the bowstring, even the wind in your surroundings."

Slowly but surely, Aiden started to feel a sense of harmony flow through his entire body.

Soon his eyes narrowed on the target in front of him, and then he fired. His bow let out a yellow sound as the arrow soared through the air.

"Thud!"

Aiden's arrow quickly landed, but to his despair, he not only missed, but he missed horribly! Seeing Aiden's appalled look, Oliver just chuckled.

"That was your first shot; it's normal to miss. Adjust yourself and go again."

Aiden calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and fired again.

"Thud!"

Like his last arrow, Aiden missed, but this time it was much better, with his arrow landing at the foot of the target.

Oliver wanted to encourage Aiden once again, but he quickly found out that there was no need. Aiden calmly redrew.

"Amazing, you hit the target, Aiden!"

"Aiden?"

Oliver called out to Aiden but found his friend was completely unresponsive. He seemed to be in a complete trance-like state, solely focused on the target.

"Bang!"

An arrow was fired out of Aiden's bow with much more power and accuracy than the previous shots, and that wasn't the end.

"Bang!"

Another.

"Bang!"

And another.

"Bang!"

Aiden and his arrows just showed no sign of stopping, each one only becoming more lethal and accurate with the next one fired.

If one looked closely at Aiden, you could see the muscles on his arm and back subtly squirming and shifting with each arrow fired. His body was slowly but constantly adjusting and perfecting itself like some biological autocorrect.

Aiden himself didn't seem to be aware of the strange state his body was in and continued uninterrupted. The fire of arrows continued. It was nowhere near as fast as Oliver's almost instantaneous barrage of arrows, but it was a quick and continuous fire of arrows that did not show any sign of stopping.

Oliver watched on, first puzzled, then amazed, then terrified!

"M...monster!"

As Oliver watched Aiden, his heart dropped.

In just a few short moments, Aiden had shifted from the 20-meter target to the 50-meter target to even the 200-meter target, and yet he was still firing each arrow with deadly accuracy!

If he hadn't been the one to guide Aiden, he wouldn't believe this was the same person that had picked up a bow only mere moments ago!

Such a speed of learning couldn't even be classified as a simple genius anymore; no, this was a monster of a completely different caliber!