First Shot

The hurried clang of bells rang out. Abel was startled, grabbed his compound bow and quiver, and hurried toward the castle gate. As he passed through the square, the townspeople there were all somewhat panicked, not knowing what had happened.

He climbed the side stairs beside the parapet and saw Knight Marshall already standing there in armor, with more than twenty guards holding spears beside him.

Seeing Abel arrive, Knight Marshall said worriedly, "Abel, why did you come up here? It's dangerous. Go back to the castle."

Abel stuck his head out and glanced beyond the parapet. The moment he did, an arrow shot toward him. He quickly pulled his head back, narrowly avoiding the flying arrow.

However, in that brief glance, Abel had already seen more than twenty orcs outside the parapet. Some were Wolf Riders, while others were Minotaurs riding Blazing Bulls.

"How did orcs appear here?" Abel asked in surprise.

"There are nearly two or three squads of orcs here. With these numbers, they have the strength to attack the castle." Knight Marshall sneered before continuing, "They're underestimating Hari Castle."

"What about the archers? Are we just going to let them show off outside?" Abel, who had just been shot at, was somewhat irritated.

"Hari Castle only has five archers. Their archery skills are far inferior, and two of them have already been injured. They're no match for these Wolf Riders, who have used bows and arrows for years. I've already ordered them not to return fire." Knight Marshall pointed at the two guards lying beside the parapet, then said with a mocking expression, "Hari Castle's walls aren't something these fellows can break through. They chose the wrong place."

"Is that a bow in your hands?" Knight Marshall only now noticed the compound bow Abel was holding. Looking at its strange shape, he asked doubtfully.

"It was just completed. Its power is pretty good." Abel somewhat proudly raised the compound bow in his hand. In this technologically backward era, he had spent countless hours and put immense effort into creating this ranged weapon that surpassed its time. Since he could not explain it to anyone, Knight Marshall's question made him want to show off properly. However, he merely gave a reserved, nonchalant response.

Knight Marshall took the compound bow. His years of experience with weapons allowed him to figure out how to use it after only one look.

He took an arrow from Abel's quiver and placed it on the arrow rest. Looking at the release mechanism, he could not help smiling as he said to Abel, "This design of yours is excellent. It doesn't use the strength of your fingers, but the strength of your wrist. You can draw the bowstring with almost no training at all." Then he noticed the small trigger on it and examined it closely. "No wonder you became a master blacksmith. This tiny design lets you fire arrows easily without injuring your fingers."

The reason archers were so difficult to train was that each archer could only shoot thirty to forty arrows before needing a rest. An archer's fingers were also the easiest part to injure. Once injured, they could no longer use a bow. People with a talent for archery were difficult to find as well, so although the castle had many guards, archers were extremely scarce.

Knight Marshall strapped the release mechanism to his wrist and pulled hard on the bowstring. On the first pull, the string opened only slightly. Then white battle aura flashed over Knight Marshall's body, and the bow was drawn completely.

Knight Marshall could not help being startled by the bow's draw weight. When he exerted himself just now, he had thought it would be easy to draw, so he had only used eighty percent of his strength. Who would have thought that after drawing it slightly, he would be unable to continue? Fortunately, he had released his battle aura. Otherwise, he would have made a huge fool of himself in front of his adopted son. An Intermediate Knight unable to draw even a bow—if Bennett found out, he would mock him for the rest of his life.

Then Knight Marshall discovered another thing that surprised him. Once drawn, the bow could be held in position for a long time with very little strength. He widened his eyes and asked Abel, "How is this bow...?"

For a moment, Knight Marshall did not know how to ask. Everything about this bow had shattered his understanding of bows. Then he remembered the many targets outside and thought he could first test the bow's power.

Knight Marshall flashed out from behind the parapet's crenellation, aimed the bow at a Wolf Rider, and pulled the trigger. The arrow flew over the Wolf Rider's head.

The orcs below the wall saw an arrow shoot toward them and prepared to dodge, but the arrow was too fast. Before they could react, it had already flown past. However, it had not hit any of them—it had merely passed over one Wolf Rider's head.

"Aw~ aw~ aw~!" The orcs outside the parapet howled and pointed at Knight Marshall, laughing loudly. A Minotaur threw a flying axe at Knight Marshall, but he caught it with one hand.

Knight Marshall tossed the caught axe to the ground, turned to Abel, and said, "Why didn't this bow hit?"

Abel stepped forward and pointed at the sight on the bow's body. "This bow was just made, and we only tested it at a distance of fifty meters. Within fifty meters, this bow fires in a straight line."

Knight Marshall immediately understood why he had missed. Based on his past experience, he had aimed slightly above the target, since arrows usually flew in a parabola and would then strike the enemy. But this bow fired in a straight line within a certain distance, so his aim just now had naturally missed completely.

He took another arrow from the quiver and drew the bow. Listening to the laughter outside, he leaned out from the crenellation once more and aimed at the Minotaur laughing the loudest. The instant he pulled the trigger, an arrow appeared above the Minotaur's head almost the moment Knight Marshall released the string. The Minotaur's head burst like a smashed watermelon, and the tremendous penetrating force punched a fist-sized hole through it. The arrow did not stop, instead flying into the chest of a Wolf Rider behind him and sinking deeply inside.

The orcs fell into a panic. No one had expected the archer who had just missed to kill two with one arrow this time.

"Arrow!" Knight Marshall held out his hand toward Abel.

Abel hurriedly took an arrow from the quiver and handed it to Knight Marshall.

Knight Marshall drew the bow again. The orcs were all roughly fifty to sixty meters from the parapet. He practically only needed to hold the bow level and align the sight to hit them. Knight Marshall pulled the trigger once more, and another orc fell to the ground.

Without saying anything, Abel immediately took out another arrow and placed it in Knight Marshall's hand. Knight Marshall then fired three arrows in succession. Six orcs now lay outside the castle, while the remaining orcs were completely terrified and quickly turned to flee.

Knight Marshall did not let them escape. He took another arrow from Abel. The Minotaurs' mounts had less explosive power than the Wolf Riders' wolves, so the Minotaurs were now at the back of the group. Knight Marshall aimed at the last Minotaur. By then, it had already run ten meters away. At a distance of seventy meters, Knight Marshall calculated that he should still aim horizontally rather than account for a parabola. He thought that even if he hit lower, he would still strike the mount and leave the Minotaur behind. A Minotaur without a mount could not outrun the bow in his hands.

At seventy meters, the arrow struck the Minotaur in the head, and it fell to the ground.

He nocked an arrow, took aim, and fired at a distance of eighty meters. The Minotaur fell.

He nocked another arrow, took aim, and fired at a distance of ninety meters. The Minotaur fell.

He nocked another arrow, took aim, and fired at a distance of one hundred meters. Another Minotaur fell.

The last Minotaur had already reached a distance of roughly one hundred and ten meters. Knight Marshall nocked another arrow and pulled the trigger. This time, the arrow struck the Minotaur's neck. Knight Marshall glanced at the scale on the sight. At this distance, he needed to use the sight's next mark for aiming.

All the Minotaurs had been killed, while even the slowest Wolf Rider had already reached a distance of one hundred and fifty meters. Knight Marshall placed another arrow on the arrow rest, aligned the second mark of the sight with a Wolf Rider, and pulled the trigger. The arrow struck the Wolf Rider in the head, and the tremendous impact sent him flying directly off his dire wolf and crashing to the ground.

The Wolf Riders had long since realized how terrifying the archer was. They had already begun dodging, curling up against one side of their dire wolves and letting the animals completely shield their bodies. At this moment, the dire wolves that were unconditionally loyal to them had become shields against the enemy's arrows.

Knight Marshall lowered the bow. For a knight, deliberately killing an opponent's mount on the battlefield was something done only when there was no other choice. Now, Knight Marshall was more than satisfied with the results he had achieved.