Way of Overlord-Chapter 267: Archery

The morning came and Aeryon once again went out from his tent, early dawn to hunt.

It has been a few days since Aeryon got the quest that he began riding early out in early dawn

Aeryon is now far away from the settlement of the Brolgadhr and he is riding around what used to be Khulun area.

"Only a few dozen more animals" he mutters to himself. Aeryon has been hunting birds, and any crawling features that he could find when he was roaming around.

Each time he found one, he would snipe it to death

This is one of the trials. One of the requirements to pass is to hunt one hundred animals using his archery skill while being on horseback.

It is good that there is no specific kind of animals that he needs to hunt. As long as it is an animal it would be acknowledged by the system

Aeryon now that he has an objective is very determined to see it through. And it would not be long now before he finished hunting all of the animals needed

However, that is not the only reason that he rides his horse so far away from the settlement. It is not only because he wanted to see more animals he also wanted to finish the second trial

The second task he needs to finish up is to capture ten horses of a different tribe

Since it would not take too long to finish the first task, after that he would raid one of the small tribes nearby.

Near the border of Khulun and Rudya tribe, there is a small tribe. One of his scouts reported that this small tribe did not want to join his tribe and instead is going to the east.

Since Aeryon is here, he decide to kill two birds with one stone. He would raid and capture ten horses of this small tribe and challenge their champion and assimilate this small tribe into the Brolgadhr tribe.

Aeryon hunted all morning.

He got a few Kanchil, a mousedeer like creatures. But it is unlike the mousedeer in his world

It has sharp teeth that could bite people flesh easily.

And from what Aeryon learned, that some of the Steppe people uses the teeth of the Kanchil as a dagger because of how sturdy and sharp it is

If it becomes dull, one just had to burn it and then sharpened it with iron block. He also got a few Tayak. Since Tayak is big, he would just send people to take its meat later

Open quest window" he mutters to himself and the quest window popped out. And then he nodded.

He look at the quest window and his gaze look at the task

[To become a mounted archer, you must embark on a trial]

1] Hunt one hundred animals using your archery skill while being on horseback [Completed]

2] Capture ten horses of a different tribe.

3] Seek the Spirit of the Great Steppe and uses this to enhance your horse.

4] Spend time bonding with your horse to forge trust and understanding.

................................

"One task is finished. Three more to go" Aeryon take a deep breath. He is panting right now. Even though it might seem easy as Aeryon keep using the bow and arrow, there is a state he is entering

The same kind of state when he was practicing his swordsmanship before.

When he loose that one last arrow to fulfill the requirement of having one hundred animals being killed by his arrow, there is some kind of enlightenment that enters his mind.

This is the understanding of arrows and bow, of method of archery.

Be berserk, and draw the bow. At peace, standing still and calm, loose the arrow.

This is an underdosing that suddenly dawns on him when he finished the task

To be "berserk" has to do with the strength required to fully draw the bow. To be "at peace" has to do with calming the mind in order to zero in on the target.

And it is something that Aeryon himself did not realize he was doing. He was doing exactly that

When he draws his bow, there is this feeling of forcefulness and when he loose the bowstring, he felt he was releasing all of that anger and the only thing that is left even before the bow is released, is a sense of peace

And maybe because he select the right now, he could draw the bow to the full potential.

Actually, no.

The bow in the beginning is a bit hard to use.

Not only because Aeryon is not familiar with the bow but also because the bow itself is heavy.

Aeryon choose it because he wanted to train his strength at the same time he is training his archery.

There is a lot of things that I have learned" he thought to himself.

He look at the bow on his hand. He held it up and then as he raise it , he could see a small bird flying in the air.

Aeryon smile took an arrow and he holds the bow and arrow with focus and firmness.

Focusing, he adjust his target.

Firmness, he make sure his grip is steady and sure.

This pose is so natural, this stance is so elegant like he had practices it for a thousand times

And Aeryon also understand something about focus when drawing the bow. The focus is not only simple means focusing on the target.

The real priority of focusing is focusing on the moment

Once the bow has been fully drawn, the mind and body are at the peak of their effort. If you immediately let the arrow go, then whether or not the arrow hits the target will have nothing to do with a conscious decision.

In this moment, he must instead increase his focus in order to calm the tension arising in his mind and stabilize the trembling building up in his body.

Then when he loose the arrow, it is more likely to go straight to the target.

Surprisingly enough, this idea of focus is something he got from Mayeux.

"The highest form of education is to set a virtuous example. To love the people is to guide them to the peak of perfection. Knowing that the ultimate end is benevolence, there is stability. With stability, there is calm. With calm, there is peace. With peace, there is mindfulness. With mindfulness, the objective will be achieved."

And hence this idea of focus is the same as the idea of mindfulness.

Mayeux is a great commander but he is also a great archer.

And in his archery, there is a trace of his philosophy.

Why?

Because Aeryon could feel that energy when he releases an arrow. It is not Mana. It is not internal energy. It is something else.

A will. A kind of spirit.

So, when he consulted Mayeux, he was shocked to know that Mayeux when he shot his arrow, there is this kind of thinking that went into it.

And maybe that is why, there is this kind of weird energy around Mayeux arrows.

He said that "After drawing the bow to the full and before loosing the arrow, there has to be an increase of focus, and then the target can be hit. If you wish to understand the meaning of "focus", ponder "mindfulness""

And this is the meaning of that mindfulness. Aeryon method is a bit similar but not entirely the same

Aeryon right now is on the back of a horse. And he must only draw to no less that ninety percent full

If only seventy or eighty percent, he will undershoot the target.

Aeryon take a deep breath.

He is calm and unhurried.

Because he knows that if he shoot it in haste, even if he manage to hit the target, that is just luck.

And that is not what he is aiming for.

He wanted to also improve his own archery

"Now" he whisper under his breath.

And then he kicks the side of his horse.

His horse began to run and like he could communicate with him, the horse chases the bird, and Aeron ready himself.

His horse race along like the wind, his eyes flashing like lightning.

Suu!

He slowly draws the bow, and in his eyes right now, there is only that bird and his arrow in the world.

Everything seems to slow down.

"Now!’ he thought to himself.

The arrow is loosen.

He do not blink and he did not sit stiffly.

When he release the bow, it was like he was pushing the bow, as though the moon is emerging from his chest.

The bow fly fast and strike true.

Thud!

The birds falls and the horses stopped riding forward.

Aeryon laughed.

"I could feel that my archery skill is even more lethal now" he thought to himself. But then he pants like he is not having enough air in his lung

This tiredness, this fatigue comes suddenly that he could not even expected it.

"Argh!" there is pain on his chest area, deeper inside, like his own lung is struggling to survive

He look at his arms and his hand, and he could see veins popping out.

>>