11 Archery

Clyde's footsteps halted. But he soon continued without looking back. The soldiers who stood around the training ground stared at Dan with admiring gazes. Although the young man was quite brash and somewhat arrogant, at least he had the guts to fight against Cylde, whose figure alone, looked like a desert buffalo.

Remembering the assessment that would occur two hours later, they revealed wry smiles. After all, they were familiar with Clyde's capability when it comes to Archery. With his strong arms, core and lower body. He could easily pull a bow with a draw weight of a hundred and fifty kilograms.

Compared to Dan's figure that looked pretty average, they could only shake their heads as they arranged the training grounds into an archery range. Soon, not even an hour passed and Dan could already see the transformations, at the distance, three dummy targets with a circle on their bodies could be seen. Along the path, there were distance markers and looking at it, Dan knew that the distance between the targets and him was three hundred meters.

"Kid, do you wanna have a go at it?"

A middle-aged man soldier approached him, smiling amiably as he handed over a recurve bow. Dan nodded his head, took the bow from the former's hands as he started pulling on its strings. The resistance that he felt, made him knit his eyebrows as he whispered, "System, calculate the draw weight of this bow."

[System Function Initiating; 50%]

[System Function Completed! Results: The draw weight of the bow in the host's hands is a hundred kilograms...]

Dan wryly smiled, with his cultivation, he could pull the strings but his accuracy would surely suffer. But since he wouldn't know until he tried, he asked for an arrow as he aimed the bow towards the dummies. The soldiers noticed his actions as they couldn't help but stare at him with gloating expressions.

"Look! It looks like the brat is trying to pull the Demonic Bow," A soldier pointed, his fellow comrades behind him followed his line of sight and when it landed on Dan, they chuckled, "That kid has kicked an iron plate this time, after all, Clyde is one of the most accurate and strongest among us..."

"He's even pulling the Demonic Bow. Can he even draw it all the way?" A soldier chimed, the Demonic Bow was known to the Fiery Blood Army as the bow with the second to the highest draw weight among the bows that they would use.

Only Clyde and a handful of soldiers could draw the bow and the resulting power, could easily pierce through a three-meter thick tree.

Dan didn't mind the jeering soldiers, his concentration, focused on the training dummy ahead. "System, simulate the aim inclination and strength exertion to effectively hit the target on its torso."

[System Function Initiating: 50%]

[System Function Completed! Results: Aim slightly above the training dummy with an inclination of forty-five degrees. Use all of the host's strength to obtain a hit probability of forty percent.]

'Just forty percent?' Dan inwardly thought, assuming a stance. Dan drew the bow amidst the crowd's surprised gazes. But when they noticed his slightly trembling arm. They returned to their previous jeerings.

"That kid really surprised me. To think that he could even draw the so-called Demonic Bow!"

"But that's still useless, even if he could really draw it, that doesn't mean that it would be accurate..."

"Well, you're right about that..."

A holographic image manifested in the air before Dan. He aimed his bow, according to the System's simulation and with a whistling sound, along with dust flying into the air, he released the arrow as the air itself, screamed.

Peng!

A clear sound echoed, the soldiers hurriedly turned their gazes towards the training dummy and found that its head, actually got pierced by the arrow that Dan, released!

Low hissing sounds resonated, everyone stared at Dan, void of their previous disdaining gazes. After all, they didn't hate him that much. And as long as he can prove his capability. They would accept him as their comrade.

Rubbing his sore arm, Dan revealed a wry smile. Even though he struck the dummy on its head. If his firing rate wouldn't increase. Then his ability would not be that much of use in medium range combat.

He practiced drawing the Demonic Bow until he couldn't feel his arm anymore. Staring at the sun, Dan calculated that at least an hour and a half of time had passed. Sighing, he returned to his temporary quarters, resting his body in preparation for today's assessment.

Laying on his bed, Dan immersed himself about the Assassination System's functions, 'According to the previous usage that I did, it seems like the System can calculate, analyze, and simulate. As long as my imagination allows it, I can use these three functions to exploit the weaknesses of my enemy, and this system will be my strongest bastion when it comes to battles.'

Opening the Modern World Item Shop, Dan stared at the line-up of firearms that he could not buy. Sighing in his heart, he mumbled, "So I need to kill beasts, or someone, without being detected to qualify for those points? How many points will I get in each kill though..."

[The points that the host would acquire, will depend on several factors like the difference of strength between the host and the assassinated enemy...]

"System, what will happen if I killed someone at the Organ Tempering Realm? How many points will I get?"

[It is calculated that the host will acquire, 250 AS Points per kill]

'250?!' Dan's eyes shone in an excited light, 'Which means, if I participate at battles, I can potentially earn an infinite amount of AS points as long as I kill them without being detected?' His lips lifted in an excited smile, 'Since it requires stealth to obtain those points, I will definitely need to enter that job!'

Dan stood up, dusted his robe, he walked outside and headed for the direction of the Archery Range. There, almost everyone from the Fiery Blood Army had gathered. And when he arrived, all of them stared at Dan. Their eyes filled several complicated emotions. But excitement could still be seen within their eyes.

"Two hours had passed and now, The Archery Assessment for Dan Longinus will commence!" Zaramias announced, his words echoed loud and clear throughout the entire area.

"As an Archer, not only one needs an accurate aim, but also a steady rate of fire. Both contestants will be tested with these factors in mind, and I will be the presiding judge of this Assessment." Flicking his wrist, he ordered, "Both of you, take your bows and arrows, now!"

"Yes, sir!"

Dan and Clyde replied as their figures clutched their bows from the army's arsenal. But when Dan took his bow, Zaramias' expression changed. He stared at his son that looked nonchalant as ever. Nodding his head in satisfaction, he didn't say anything as both contestants, aimed their bows towards the distance, ready to release the first shot!