First Shot

"Clang, clang, clang," the urgent bell sounds rang out. Abel was startled. He grabbed his composite bow and quiver and ran quickly towards the castle gate. As he passed the plaza, the citizens in the plaza were in a state of panic, not knowing what had happened.

He climbed onto the parapet using the side ladder next to the wall and saw the Knight Marshall, clad in armor, already standing there, with more than twenty guards holding spears beside him.

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

Abel poked his head out to look beyond the parapet. Just as he peeked out, an arrow shot towards him. He quickly pulled his head back, dodging the incoming arrow.

However, in that brief glance, Abel had already seen nearly twenty orcs outside the parapet, some of them Wolf Riders, and some Minotaurs riding Blazing Bulls.

"Why would orcs appear here?" Abel asked in surprise.

"There are about two or three squads of orcs here. With this force, they have the strength to attack the castle," the Knight Marshall sneered, then continued, "They've underestimated Hari Castle."

"Where are the archers? Are you just going to let them run wild outside?" Abel, having just been shot at, was a little annoyed.

"The castle only has five archers, and their archery skills are vastly inferior. Two archers are already injured. They're no match for these Wolf Riders who have used bows for years. I've ordered them not to retaliate," the Knight Marshall pointed to two guards lying by the parapet and said with a mocking expression, "The walls of Hari Castle aren't something these guys can break through. They've chosen the wrong place."

"Is that a bow in your hand?" The Knight Marshall finally noticed the composite bow in Abel's hand. Looking at its strange appearance, he asked with some doubt.

"Just finished it, the power is pretty good." Abel picked up the composite bow in his hand with a bit of showmanship. In this technologically backward era, he had spent countless hours creating such a far-reaching weapon that surpassed the times, yet he couldn't explain it to anyone. The Knight Marshall's inquiry at this moment made Abel want to show off, but he merely responded calmly and reservedly.

The Knight Marshall took the composite bow. With his years of experience using weapons, he had a general idea of how to use it after a glance.

He took an arrow from Abel's quiver, placed it on the arrow rest, and looking at the release mechanism, he couldn't help but smile and say to Abel, "Your design is excellent. It doesn't use finger strength but wrist strength, allowing you to draw the bowstring with almost no training." Then he discovered the small trigger. After examining it closely, he said, "No wonder you became a Master Blacksmith. This small design allows for easy shooting without hurting your fingers."

The most difficult part of training archers was that each archer could only shoot thirty to forty arrows before needing a rest, and their fingers were the most easily injured. Once injured, they could no longer use bows and arrows, and finding people with archery talent was extremely difficult. Therefore, while the castle had many guards, archers were very rare.

The Knight Marshall put the release mechanism on his wrist and pulled the bowstring with force. With one pull, the bowstring only drew back a little. Then, a white Battle Qi light flashed on the Knight Marshall's body, and the bow was fully drawn.

The Knight Marshall couldn't help but be surprised by the bow's strength. When he exerted force just now, he thought he would easily draw it, using only eighty percent of his strength. He didn't expect that after pulling it a little, he would have no strength to continue. Fortunately, he had unleashed his Battle Qi, or he would have lost face in front of his adopted son. A mid-level knight unable to draw a bow would be mocked by Bennett for the rest of his life if he found out.

Then, the Knight Marshall discovered something else that surprised him. Once drawn, the bow required very little force to hold in that state for a long time. He stared at Abel with wide eyes and asked, "How is this bow...?"

For a moment, the Knight Marshall didn't know how to ask. Everything about this bow shattered his understanding of bows. At this moment, the Knight thought of the many targets outside and decided to test the bow's power first.

The Knight Marshall ducked behind the battlements, aimed the bow and arrow at a Wolf Rider, and pulled the trigger. The arrow flew past the Wolf Rider's head.

The orcs at the bottom of the parapet saw the arrow coming and were preparing to dodge, but the arrow was too fast. Before they could react, the arrow had already flown past. However, this arrow didn't hit any orcs; it just flew past the head of a Wolf Rider.

"Roar~ Roar~ Roar~" The orcs outside the parapet howled and laughed at the Knight Marshall. A Minotaur threw a throwing axe at the Knight Marshall, but he caught it.

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

Abel stepped forward and pointed to the sight on the bow. "This bow was just made, and it was only test-fired at 50 meters. Within 50 meters, this bow attacks in a straight line."

As soon as the Knight Marshall heard this, he understood why he missed. He had aimed slightly above the target based on his past experience, assuming the arrow would follow a parabolic trajectory to hit the enemy. But this bow and arrow attacked in a straight line within a certain distance, so his previous aim had missed entirely.

He took another arrow from the quiver, drew the bow, and listening to the jeers from outside, he once again peeked over the battlements, aiming at the Minotaur who was laughing the loudest. He pulled the trigger. The arrow appeared above the Minotaur's head almost the instant the Knight Marshall released it. The Minotaur's head exploded like a ripe watermelon, a fist-sized hole opening up in its head from the immense penetrating power. The arrow didn't stop there; it flew on to the chest of another Wolf Rider behind, embedding itself deeply.

The orcs fell into a panic. None of them expected that the archer who had just missed would now achieve a double kill with a single arrow.

"Arrow!" The Knight Marshall held out his hand to Abel.

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

The Knight Marshall drew the bow again. These orcs were all within 50 to 60 meters of the parapet. As long as he held the bow upright and aligned the sight, he could hit them. The Knight Marshall pulled the trigger again, and another orc fell to the ground.

Without saying much, Abel directly took out another arrow and handed it to the Knight Marshall. The Knight Marshall then fired three more arrows in quick succession. Six orcs were already lying on the ground outside the castle. The remaining orcs were terrified and quickly turned to flee.

The Knight Marshall didn't let them go. He took another arrow from Abel. The Minotaurs' mounts had less explosive power than the Wolf Riders'. At this point, those left behind were Minotaurs. The Knight Marshall aimed at the last Minotaur. The Minotaur had already charged about ten meters away. At 70 meters, the Knight Marshall calculated mentally. He aimed the bow horizontally, not calculating the trajectory. He thought that even if it shot low, it would still hit the mount, and he could still take down the Minotaur, as a Minotaur without a mount couldn't outrun this bow.

At 70 meters, it was another headshot. The Minotaur fell to the ground.

Loading an arrow, aiming, at 80 meters, he pulled the trigger, and the Minotaur fell.

Loading another arrow, aiming, at 90 meters, he pulled the trigger, and the Minotaur fell.

Loading another arrow, aiming, at 100 meters, he pulled the trigger, and another Minotaur fell.

The Minotaur running at the very back was already about 110 meters away. He loaded another arrow and pulled the trigger. This time, the arrow hit the Minotaur's neck. The Knight Marshall glanced at the scale on the sight; he would need to use the next mark on the sight for aiming now.

The Minotaurs were all dead. The slowest of the Wolf Riders had already run to 150 meters. The Knight Marshall placed another arrow on the arrow rest, aimed at a Wolf Rider using the second mark on the sight, and pulled the trigger. It was another headshot. The immense impact force directly threw the Wolf Rider off its Direwolf.

By this time, the Wolf Riders had long since discovered the terror of the archer and had already taken evasive action, curling up on one side of their Direwolves, their bodies completely shielded by their mounts. At this moment, their incredibly loyal Direwolves became shields against the enemy's arrows.

The Knight Marshall put down his bow and arrow. For a knight, actively killing an opponent's mount on the battlefield was something done only in desperate situations. The Knight Marshall was already extremely satisfied with the results he had achieved.