Chapter 367 Archery Training

A man slowly made his way toward a church in the vicinity of Metropolis-D, heading to the LoA's lair. 

After the drinking party, Josh had left his inebriated pet behind. Something about a loud-mouthed orc didn't really fit with assassins. Ah, maybe the lack of subtlety... 

As soon as he arrived in front of the entrance gate, he crossed his hands behind his back as he began nonchalantly walking forward. His whole demeanor oozed with confidence with his head held high. 

He began emitting pure killing intent, with the doors opening by themselves on his passage. He felt like a goddamn magician performing a cool trick. 

It turned out that a few members of the LoA had assisted to this feat. They stood near the entrance with their mouth gaping. How?! No matter how they racked their brains, they could figure out an explanation.

"E-elder?! H-how did you do this?!" 

"Do what?" Josh played dumb, enjoying their shocked gazes. 

"N-nothing!" 

"W-what are you here for today, elder?"

"Will you be taking a mission on the killing board?!" 

They excitedly chirped. What kind of assassins talked so much?! They were like puppies excitedly welcoming their master. He could almost see them waving their tails. 

"Board? No." He shook his head. "Bring me to the Matriarch instead." He waves toward them, adopting a commanding tone. 

"Y-yes, elder!" 

As they went deeper into the lair, they kept throwing glances his way. They were dying to know more, but they knew not to insist. After all, it was so easy for an elder to kill any of them on a whim. 

His curious guide brought him to a training room. Inside were various metallic dummies all around and a woman brutalizing them. Her daggers drew silver arcs in the air, slashing straight at the vitals (?) on the mannequins. 

What was peculiar was that no sounds were echoing at all. Instead of a training room, this could have been a meditation chamber with none the wiser. This was the result of her magic, right? 

After bashing her lifeless opponents a few times, she turned his way: 

"Clean this up and— W-what?! What are you doing here!" She stammered as she noticed him. She couldn't take her eyes off him. Why him? Why now? She looked akin to a deer in headlights, utterly confused. 

Her dark hair was messy from the sweat, her face red, and her body still covered by the same black plate armor. She looked…lively, perhaps even too much for her position. 

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Josh teased her with a warm smile. 

That's when a thousand thoughts seemed to go through her mind, with her even blushing at times. Was she still thinking about her previous failure to control him? Either way, it didn't matter.

"Let's make a deal." Josh proposed. 

"What kind of deal?" By now, she had managed to calm herself.

She was already inwardly scheming. She had to convince him to teach her how to use killing intent. After all, his was so thick, so powerful, and could extend so much! She would be crazy not to want to play with such an amazing thing!  <br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

"How much do you know about archery?" He asked calmly. 

"Only the basics. Why?!" 

"I want to learn some real skills." He shrugged. 

There was something he desired? How could she trap him? This was a great opportunity: she could exploit this! Her eyes began the shimmer with greed as her pulse accelerated. 

"How about I—" She opened her mouth, only to lose her voice. 

Josh has suddenly stepped toward her, quickly yet still incredibly relaxed. As he did so, he began emitting that incredibly pure killing intent of his that made her entire body shiver.

She blanked completely. 

Before she could get a hold of her chaotic thoughts, he was already in front of her, a tyrant's grin on his face. He ever so slowly approached his hand from her face, caressing her cheek delicately. 

She could feel the warmth of his hand, sense his piercing gaze sizing her, all the while basking in his aura. Without even realizing it, she held her breath, waiting for his next words. He leaned closer and she could feel his hot breath in her ear: 

"Teach me all you know without holding anything back, and I'll reward you." She felt her entire body jolt as if pierced by a lightning current. 

The Matriarch of the Metropolis-D LoA stopped thinking entirely at this moment. In her mind, there was only his sweet promise. Without waiting, she used her magic for voice amplification: 

"All of the archers in the LoA, come to my private training room at once!" As meek and confused as she had been a second ago, her voice was now confident and imperial. 

Hearing this decree, assassins came in dove. Anyone remotely capable of using a bow showed up. Why? Because they knew the elder had just arrived. Would this be a mission alongside him? Perhaps training? 

They quickly formed a line, trying to look as valiant and worthy as possible. One guy was even missing an arm!? How would he use a bow? With his mouth, perhaps? 

"Sadly, they are all we have as far as archers go. I can request people from another branch. If you so desire—" She proposed. 

"No need. You did well." Josh barely praised her, and yet it brought her joy. "Now, which one of you can teach me about archery?" He candidly asked. What about face? He wouldn't care about something so silly! 

Their eyes enlarged in shock for a second, but then their brains worked at lightning sped to rationalize this situation. They then gave him a knowing look as they "understood" what this was: The elder was testing them! 

This made perfect sense! Why else would an amazing character like him request help from their lowly-selves? It had to be a test! That's how they anxiously answered his very basic request with all the seriousness they could muster. 

They even competed with one another: 

"Elder, let me show you my Piercing Arrow Archery technique!" 

"Sir, I can show you how to calculate the perfect arrow trajectory!" 

"Elder, I can teach you how to draw the bow with nothing but one hand!" 

"Sir, how about I teach you? I come from a family of archers! I'll show you how to create homing projectiles!" 

After that last one, many had given up. How were they to compete with that?! They waited with bated breathe for Josh to announce his preference. Who would he learn under?

"Alright….I will learn—" Josh casually commented. With who?! "— learn all of your techniques." He happily declared. 

The ones that knew archery instantly cheered. They were creating a connection with the super expert! As for the ignorant ones, they were promptly driven away, to their utmost dismay. Some even seemed to be tearing up. 

"Alright. Let's do this!" Josh announced the beginning of the training session with determination. 

How long would it take him to learn it all?! Well, he quickly managed to master inserting mana into an arrow. But there came an issue afterward: the projectile would become utterly incontrollable whenever he did so. 

Overall, his progress was pretty good on the training dummies, but when it came to live targets….it sucked a bit. It was as if the arrow would gain a mind of its own. This, in turn, made targeting very freaking hard. 

At this moment, his archery trainers were all lining on the side with wounds of various sizes. They also had arrows sticking out of their bodies (everywhere). The worst was that it had all been an accident. 

Could this be considered a success? Josh was very good to hit the target— just not the ones he was aiming for. This was the strange part because, in essence, it shouldn't have been that hard. 

It was just combining mana with his normal regular human archery skills that were pretty damn good. He was far from an expert, but he was at least able to hit a few birds flying in the sky with one arrow— well, normal ones. 

This whole thing was a huge pain. But, even with the trouble that it gave him, he kept going, for he wasn't one to give up. 

That is how the scene soon became one of carnage. There was blood everywhere as all the trainers now looked like hedgehogs. Yet, even after all this suffering, they didn't utter a single complaint. 

In their minds, they were actively getting closer to the famed expert. What was a flesh wound compared to hierarchy? Nothing! They could easily endure it. 

That is how he finally managed to learn a few tricks. This included shooting a magic arrow (without his magic bow), slightly altering the course of an arrow's trajectory, and even increasing the piercing power of his shots. 

How effective would all this be? Well, he had at least tripled his archery power— then again, this was only because of how weak it had been earlier. 

The wounded assassins were escorted outside, having valiantly bled for the cause. This left only Josh and the Matriarch in the training room.

Her expression was quite comical. On the one hand, she was breathing heavily as she finally expected her reward, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but find it shocking how bad Josh had been with a bow. 

"Alright, I'll teach you a bit of—"He sighed, only for her to gesture him to stop. 

She then bolted away, disappearing into a hidden passage. What for?! But as she came back, he couldn't help but stare. 

"?!?" What the heck was all this?! 

For some reason, she was now carrying a fluffy white sheep under her left arm and an ancient-looking book in her right hand. 

No, rectification, this wasn't a book but a grimoire. Not only did it radiate the scent of death, but the material was utterly odd. Human skin?! 

"I'm ready to start!" She uttered as eager as a puppy yet with an incredible lust for power.

What the hell?! Did she need this to learn killing intent?! What...