A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor-Chapter 820: Looking For Weakness - Part 5

At this distance, Oliver's aim wasn't exactly something that he trusted in. He'd worked with Professor Yoreholder on his archery skills for a while, but he'd never proved himself capable enough to practise shooting at a range as large as this. Nevertheless, the arrow flew true. There were plenty of people to hit atop the fort's walls, and Oliver's arrow seemed quite inclined to catch one of them.

Just before it landed home, though, the man ducked. Oliver had sent the projectile too high, and even with his delayed reaction, the man was easily enough able to get out of its way, though the close call had certainly put a good amount of fear into him.

"Tsch," Oliver tutted.

"Close, my Lord," Verdant said.

"Not good enough, though," Nila replied mercilessly. "If Oliver is struggling to make the shot, then this range isn't going to prove that promising for the other archers."

"They're just going to hide behind the wall as well," Karesh said. "There's no way we can hit them. We've lost the element of surprise."

"Hm? No, I wouldn't say that's a problem. You'd only need to change the angle of your bow a little – like this," Nila said. The enemy was just about to fire their next shot, but Nila boldly stepped out regardless.

Instead of aiming her arrow at them head-on, she angled it upwards, intending to give it a steep parabola. It was a daring shot to make. It almost looked as if she was trying to send an arrow through one of the faintly glimmering stars that were just about to make its appearance as the blue of the sky faded to black.

The enemy released their arrows at nearly the same time as Nila. She all but dove back in behind cover. It would have been hard to accuse the girl of being anything but daring.

They were busy weathering the storm, making it increasingly difficult to track where Nila's arrow had gone. The cloud of enemy arrows adding to the confusion certainly didn't help.

After they'd fired, as Karesh had predicted, the enemy now had the sense to quickly duck down behind the fort wall, not wishing to lose another man to something as simple as a stray arrow.

"GAGGGGHHH!" A cry rang out in the darkening night, as Nila's arrow hit home once again, despite the wall that stood in its way.

It was hard to even praise such a shot. It was more frightening than anything else. The girl's mastery over the bow exceeded understanding.

"…You're suggesting that we all make that exact same shot?" Blackthorn asked. She'd joined them before the last volley, seeming to think that this was a discussion that she ought to be part of.

"Yeah, why not? I'm sure if you had the angle consistent, set by a Sergeant or something, you could land home with a fair amount of accuracy," Nila said.

Silence ensued. As with many gifted people, Nila didn't seem to understand just how difficult it was for the ordinary person to emulate what she'd done. For them, it was the equivalent of threading an especially small needle for a distance. It wasn't something that they could rely on in the heart of combat.

"As convincing as that is, Nila, I do not think we need to attempt to emulate what you can do with a bow," Oliver said, pointing a finger at the pile of still-unused shields. "After all, we have a good few shields left. Why not get a bit closer?"

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A mischievous smile sat on Oliver's lips as he said that. A touch of Ingolsol's cunning. He was well aware that the shields would not grant him victory, or anything even close to the sort. But, he was also just as acutely aware of how frustrating it would be for the archers, having to sit and wait, unable to do anything as Oliver's men built a path all the way to their gates.

Bit by bit, Oliver attempted to do just that. With the setting of the sun, and the full blossoming of dark, they lit their torches, and went to work as though they were construction workers working out in the rain – only this rain was an arrow rain, of a considerably more dangerous sort than the usual watery stuff.

He drafted in the rest of the soldiers – those that weren't looking after the horses – and quickly enough, they gained ground. After the first wall, he placed another to the right of it, and ten steps closer to the wall. Then, to the left of that, another ten steps forward, he had another wall set up.

The process was the same for the building of each – march forward with shields high and endure the arrows, then simply stake them into the ground. There wasn't a hint of complexity to any of it. It pleased Oliver to see just how quickly it was working.

When one was besieging the walls of a castle or fort, Volguard always said, if you didn't have a ladder, then one of the first tasks would be to build one. Even if that ladder only functioned as a threat, it was always worth having on hand.

Well, Oliver had ended up building a ladder of a different sort. Each wooden barricade that he set up had another foot in it.

The archers, after a time, gave up wasting their arrows trying to stop them. It was a pointless endeavour. Not a single one got through. They gave up shooting, but they didn't give up watching. They were like angry hawks, waiting for their opportunity. Now, Oliver felt, was the most dangerous time.

He eyed the gate of the fort. There was one move that the enemy General could pull if he had a mind to – he could simply send a force of men crashing down on them, ruining whatever fortifications that they'd built.

Even if that happened, though, Oliver felt he had the upper hand. For one, his men could flee, but they also all had their bows with them. They could get a few waves of fire off on any enemy before they reached them, giving them an opportunity to cull their numbers.