To be honest, he was quite nervous when he approached the Lord to talk about this, as he did not have much confidence in taking up archery again.

Nevertheless, upon learning of his intention, the Lord expressed support, encouraged him to give it a try, and even personally explained a sentence.

"The reason I chose you is not because the Honor Guard needs a spearman, but because of your unwavering determination, the indomitable spirit that resists desperately against adversity. This is why the Honor Guard is called the 'Heart of Steel'."

Lance prioritized willpower when selecting his trusted aides because he can Bless and Strengthen anyone's capabilities—even a pig could be turned into Marshal Tianpeng.

But as the core Honor Guard, they must ensure absolute loyalty to him.

Moreover, their formation was specifically to deal with those demons and monsters, so their will, courage, and conviction must be as hard as steel.

Otherwise, no matter how strong one is, without a sufficiently strong heart, they might weaken before even facing those creatures and collapse upon confrontation.

Then the Lord talked about some of his situations; Xize was surprised that the Lord was so aware of the highlights of a small figure like him.

"Of course, I am constantly watching over you all."

Finally, the Lord imparted a sentence to him.

"I believe in you; you must also believe in yourself."

Encouraged by the Lord, Xize naturally took up archery again. It turned out he had some talent, but not a lot.

However, after Lance spurred him on, this straightforward young man plunged into fierce dedication as if possessed, striving to make up for the gap in talent with hard work.

It turns out being an archer is not for the average person. Pulling the bowstring requires strength, not as simple as squeezing a trigger. An ordinary person might exhaust after just a few pulls, let alone shooting intensively.

Every day his fingers were bloody during rest, and the next day he could barely lift his arms.

Yet this hardcore and ruthless person was even harsher on himself and didn't reason, stubbornly overcoming physical limitations with willpower; muscular limits didn't define his limits. If one hand couldn't do, he'd use the other, and if his fingers were blistered, he'd just wrap them and continue shooting.

It wasn't just people; even the bows couldn't withstand his frantic training, as he broke several. Although these were all salvaged from the bandit raids, it still demonstrated Xize's training intensity.

Don't assume training is that simple; it isn't just about your own effort.

Training consumes resources; even if bows and arrows can be reused, they have limits too.

Xize was quite aware that without My Lord's full support, he couldn't achieve what he had.

This situation even attracted Lance's attention because Xize had dragged the entire Honor Guard into a frenzy. This kind of obsessive training wasn't necessarily good, as overly taut nerves might not rebound once slackened.

Lance called a halt to the increasingly skewed atmosphere, but still aided Xize in adjusting his state with counseling.

The magic lay in that after ending the intensive training, exhausted, he fell into slumber; upon awakening the next day, his body felt completely relieved, his arms no longer sore.

As he picked up the bow again, he sensed his body surging with power, his senses keen, and could almost perceive the arrow's trajectory before it was released.

Sure enough, an arrow shot straight into the bullseye!

From then on, it was as if a critical point was reached, and his skills advanced by leaps and bounds.

The reason for this transformation was simple.

Because Lance discovered that his body was showing signs of deterioration from the intense training—arms swollen, muscles partially dissolving, inflammation spreading throughout the body.

Luckily, these issues were small to Lance; under Flesh Reconstruction, he easily healed his pains and simultaneously Blessed and Strengthened him.

The enhancement of basic physique led to overall improvement, naturally making it easier to control his power.

As for the nickname "One-Eye," it bore significance for Xize.

The root was due to the Heretics' unique body structure; the simplest way to kill them was to destroy the brain.

For this, Xize had even specially requested to use the Heretics' helmets as targets in his rigorous archery practice, aiming to shoot into the eyes.

Nowadays, those Heretics lying on the ground with Feather Arrows in their eyes said it all.

As the Honor Guard continuously arrived, Geralt and the others swiftly thwarted the Heretics' counterattack, holding the third target.

Everyone knew it was just temporary, and due to the recent battle, most people's conditions were not so good.

Geralt, Tadiff, and others armored and were wounded to varying degrees, not to mention everyone else.

"Hiss! I'm fine…" Barrett endured the pain; even taking off the armor made him gasp for air.

Barrett survived the attack of the Heretics, but it wasn't easy; he wore only a chest plate protecting crucial areas to facilitate reloading and shooting, not full heavy armor.

During the Heretics' attack, his back got clawed, and had the chest plate not blocked much of the damage, he might have been torn apart; nonetheless, several gashes rolled across his flesh.

Blood had soaked the inner lining long ago, and Barrett's pale complexion evidenced his frail state.

Generally, a medic would first clean the wounds, suture to stop bleeding, then medicate and bandage.

In emergencies, medication and bandages could be directly applied; stop bleeding to preserve life, and further treatment would occur later.