I Shall Devour Everything

The days passed by, and as two weeks went by, Arion and Shun had exceeded Old Zi's expectations by mastering hand-to-hand combat faster than the timeframe he had in his mind.

Before, Arion and Shun were unable to even exchange a move with Old Zi. But after a day, they were able to exchange a single move which turned into three, six, ten, twenty, and so on as days passed.

Of course, Old Zi only used his bare hands and held back his strength while sparring with them, but still, he didn't hold back his fighting skills at all.

After getting lots of tips and guidance from Old Zi, Arion felt as if his earlier street fighting skills were no different than a baby who knew some tricks.

He felt as if he entered a whole new world of fighting arts where he could employ a number of moves according to different situations and also make better use of his senses.

It was already night when Old Zi decided to stop for today and said in an appreciative tone,

"Good. You two are doing well so far. Tomorrow we will take a break so that you two can use this break to properly rest and be ready for weapons training the day after."

Arion, who was wondering when he would get to learn his new weapon, became quite zealous after hearing his words.

But then he remembered that he barely had any time to practice his bow and arrow after coming here and felt that tomorrow morning, he should ask Mei if she could start teaching him.

The night soon passed, and as planned, Mei got up along with Arion in the early morning since she was ready to teach him.

"So, where are we going?" Arion curiously asked as Mei asked him to follow her outside.

"To hunt for some wild beasts. After all, it's best to teach you on the field. But we won't go too far since there could be Dreadlings if we go too down," Mei answered.

"Alright. Sounds good," Arion happily said as he strapped his bow and quiver over his shoulders as he followed her.

Arion then asked a question that was on the back of his mind, "How are there wild animals here when Dreadlings lay hidden here? Won't they kill all of the animals here? Or wouldn't the animals be afraid to linger around in these areas?"

Mei nodded, "True, but on the other side of this hill, there is a wide expanse of a forest where all sorts of animals live in that place, and since it's close to a human settlement, Dreadlings are not present there. And sometimes, these wild beasts come out of their forests for a lot of reasons and wander onto the hills where they probably would be able to return back alive since the Dreadlings on these hills don't always attack. What happened to us was just an unlucky event."

Arion nodded in understanding, but at the same time, thinking about the Baneteeths and the powerful Hell Wraith attacking their party made him feel that it all might have happened because of him.

The two went down the hills by about a few hundred meters and stopped upon seeing a number of crowded trees before them.

"There is a three-eyed deer ahead. Ready your bow and arrow," Mei said in a low voice as she spotted a deer munching on the leaves a few dozen meters away.

Arion looked in the direction of her gaze and spotted a strange three-eyed deer with luminous brown fur.

He felt it a bit weird to see a deer with three eyes but knowing that this world didn't make sense by normal standards, he easily accepted it.

With the lightest of movements, he drew his bow and aimed in the direction of the deer.

Mei came behind him and gently held his arms, making his expression become a bit relaxing, basking in her pleasant fragrance.

"Keep your head up straight. You have to draw the string to your chest and then line up your aim," Mei whispered as she held his hand and pulled the string till it reached his chest.

"Keep your shoulders low, and the string should be aligned with your nose and chin," Mei instructed as she helped him adjust his body posture.

"No need to tense your muscles too much. Calm your mind, and the more relaxed you are during your shot, the more successful you will be in landing your shot. And this goes even when you are up against Dreadlings. Never panic when fighting even the worst of them and keep your mind steady since a trembling hand is no different than having no weapon at all," Mei said in a soft voice as her words melted into Arion's mind, taking in each and every word of hers seriously as he perfectly understood them.

He never thought that she could be this good of a teacher by telling him all the important pointers that could already make him an archer with some skills.

He already started feeling that he had a better grasp of using the bow and arrow, including better control over his weapon and posture.

Mei backed up a bit, seeing that his posture and positioning of the bow and arrow was good, and said, "Now let go of the string. Let it slide out as you pull your hand back."

Arion nodded as he let go of the string, letting the arrow shoot forward and…

*Whizzz*

The air streaked through the air, and within a few moments, it found its mark…

*Sstpk!*

The deer immediately went down as the arrow punctured through its neck, killing it within a few moments.

Arion's eyes lit up, seeing that he landed his first perfect shot at such a distance, and ran over to the deer to see his kill.

He took out the arrow and inspected the carcass of the deer, keenly observing how this animal looked different from the ones he knew.

Mei followed him and stood behind him as she said, "Nice shot. Now each and every time you fire an arrow, you have to keep the points I told you in mind. And the tricky and difficult part is, in a fight, be it Dreadlings or anyone else, you have to learn to constantly fire arrows without a break while making sure you make use of the pointers I told you. Before you had enough time to draw your bow, correct your posture and aim. But in a tense situation where time is a luxury, you can't afford to take even more than one second to prepare yourself to fire an arrow."

Arion turned around and realized that he still had a long way to go since he knew how much time he took to land this perfect shot. 

Mei continued seeing his thoughtful expression, "And this is not the end. You have yet to try your hand at shooting moving targets, especially ones moving at a ridiculous speed. Once you master that as well, then you would even be able to down a horde of Dreadlings who specializes in attacking in mass numbers and has powerful limbs to run fast as well. But of course, this is considering that you master rapid-firing as well."

Arion sighed as he looked at his bow, "Whew, I guess nothing comes easy. It seems like I have a lot to learn. But how do I practice shooting moving targets?"

Mei smiled and said, "How about we practice for real by killing Dreadlings?"

Arion raised his brows, "Dreadlings? In these hills? Like the Baneteeths?"

Mei nodded and said, "Yes. I can stand beside you and kill if any one of them gets too close to you. We can also let Aunt Yaro tag along, and I am sure powerful Dreadlings like the Hell Wraith won't show up again since Old Zi has taken extra precautions to warn us in case he gets a whiff of Dreadlings like Hell Wraith making their way over here."

Arion remembered how scary and terrifying the Hell Wraith was, especially how useless his bow and arrow were and the fact that it took all three of them to take it down. 

However, he didn't forget about the blunder he made by trying to attack it by coming out forward. He couldn't understand why he did something so stupid and suicidal. It was only because of Mei he avoided an agonizing death.

But hearing that they would get a warning the next time a Dreadling like that appears, Arion felt at ease and said, "Of course. I can't wait to kill more of those ugly creatures."

Mei nodded and gestured to Arion to follow her, "Very well. Then, for now, let's practice rapid firing. Do you see those fruits on the trees? I want you to take down five fruits within ten seconds and…"

Mei continued to instruct Arion as he enthusiastically continued to train for the rest of the day.