White quality!
Matthew felt a surge of joy.
Fortunately, it wasn't Grey quality; otherwise, with Matthew's current situation, he would have been completely helpless.
After all, he was currently penniless, without even a single copper coin to his name, while a bow would cost at least one silver coin.
One silver coin was enough to exchange for a hundred copper coins!
“How is it?” Byrne's voice rang out, interrupting Matthew's thoughts.
Matthew snapped out of his thoughts. He gripped the rough, loose-stringed wooden shortbow, feeling the subtle connection after binding it to his panel, and nodded seriously. “It's usable, Uncle. Thank you.”
“As long as it's usable.”
Byrne waved his hand. His face was expressionless, but a hint of seriousness appeared in his eyes.
“Remember, when practicing with this bow, don't force a full draw in the beginning, and don't rush to use real arrows. First, I'll teach you the most basic stance, arrow-nocking gesture, and the way to exert force when drawing the bow.”
Afterward, the two went out to the flat, open practice space outside.
Byrne first had Matthew stand still, then taught him the simplest movements.
Such as stance, nocking, hooking the string, raising the bow, drawing, aiming, and so on...
Byrne was indeed an experienced teacher. His strength might not be particularly powerful, but when it came to teaching, his explanations were incredibly simple and easy to understand.
“This morning, you will practice these three things: a stable stance, accurate nocking, and a steady draw.”
Byrne pointed to the other side of the open space.
“Practice against that wall. Every twenty draws, take a short break and feel the sensation in your arms and back. Don't rush to move after releasing; hold the posture for a breath and remember your body's form when the arrow leaves the string. No real arrows allowed—just draw without them to get a feel for it.”
“Yes, Uncle!” Matthew replied, his heart filled with anticipation for the new skill!
Byrne stood to the side with folded arms, watching for a while. He saw that although Matthew's movements were awkward, he performed every step with extreme seriousness, and his progress was incredibly rapid!
“Just practice like this. I'll be inside the house. If anything feels off or your hands hurt badly, come in and ask me.” After saying this, Byrne turned and went back inside; he still had his own chores to attend to this morning.
On the open ground, only Matthew remained, along with the faint creaking sound of the old shortbow being slowly drawn in his hands, and the youth's gradually steady and focused breathing.
More than ten minutes passed.
【You have mastered the training techniques of 【Basic Archery】】
【Basic Archery: Mastered (1/10)】
“That was pretty fast.” He felt the standard movement essentials and force-exerting sensations regarding the basic steps—stance, nocking, hooking, raising, drawing, and aiming—that had newly appeared in his mind.
Although it was still very superficial, merely at the “Mastered” level, it meant he had already crossed the most ignorant stage of groping in the dark and entered the track of formal learning.
“I can't stop. While the feeling is still fresh, I must continue to consolidate it!”
Meanwhile.
Byrne had temporarily finished his morning chores and walked out of the house.
Standing at the doorway, his gaze naturally fell upon the focused figure practicing on the open ground.
He saw Matthew maintaining a standard sideways stance, his left hand steadily supporting the old shortbow, his entire body exerting a slight force. The whole posture was clean and efficient.
Byrne nodded to himself in approval: “This kid's comprehension is indeed quite good.”
As he watched, Matthew slowly returned the bowstring to its original position, let out a long breath, and after a brief rest, did not continue repeating the dry-fire practice.
He reached down and drew a blunt-tipped practice arrow from the simple quiver resting by his feet.
Byrne's brow twitched slightly, but he did not immediately call out to stop him. He wanted to see what the boy's first attempt at nocking an arrow would look like after initially grasping the feeling of exerting force.
Then, Matthew began to practice. One arrow, two arrows, three arrows, four arrows...
As Matthew's arrows flew out one by one, Byrne's astonishment became increasingly visible on his face.
At the very beginning, Matthew couldn't hit anything at all. However, by the second arrow, the situation changed.
The arrow still missed the tree trunk, but its flight trajectory was noticeably much more stable, and its landing point was only a few paces away from the trunk.
By the fourth arrow, he hit the tree trunk!
Byrne had taught many of the village youths and knew very well what kind of process beginners had to go through.
When holding a bow for the first time, they would either be stiff all over, not even knowing where to put their feet, or their posture would be loose and limp like a noodle.
Just to get them to understand that they needed to “exert force using their back muscles, not just pull with their arms,” he had to break it down and explain it minutely for half a day, and even manually correct them over and over again.
As for nocking and drawing...
These were always the worst areas of struggle.
Matthew's speed of progress could no longer be described as just “good.” It was simply... unbelievable!
Half an hour passed.
Matthew had no idea how many arrows he had shot. The soreness in his arms and back became increasingly distinct, and his breathing grew heavy, but his eyes shone brighter and brighter, and his movements took on a steady, rhythmic quality.
Standing at the doorway, Byrne's astonishment had gradually turned into an indescribable shock.
He watched as Matthew drew the old shortbow once more. His posture was standard, his draw steady. His gaze extended along the arrow shaft, and then... he released.
“Thwack!”
The arrow lodged firmly into the tree trunk. Although it was still off-center, the landing points were already quite concentrated, forming a vague “cluster.”
After shooting this arrow, a violent surge of hunger welled up from deep within Matthew's body!
He quickly took out some dried meat from the pouch at his waist and began to chew.
However, at this moment, he was mostly filled with pleasant surprise!
【You have successfully acquired 【Basic Archery】. Your current 【Basic Archery】 is at the Novice level, and your Strength and Constitution have slightly increased.】
【Basic Archery: Novice (1/100)】
He pulled up his status panel:
【Name: Matthew
...
Strength: 4.6 (+0.2), Agility: 4.5 (+0.1), Constitution: 4.6 (+0.2), Perception: 5, Spirit: 6
Equipment: Worn Standard One-Handed Sword (Bound), Old Wooden Shortbow (Bound)
...】
He was also astonished by his progress in archery; after all, it had been less than an hour in total.
“Am I really a genius?”
As he was thinking, he happened to see Byrne standing at the doorway. He quickly lowered his shortbow and called out respectfully, “Uncle.”
Byrne concealed the shock on his face, nodded, and walked over to Matthew's side.
He first looked at Matthew's slightly trembling yet hard-working arms, then looked at the scattered but already somewhat grouped arrow marks on the distant tree trunk.
“How does it feel?” Byrne asked, his voice a bit warmer than usual.
“It feels good. I'm just wondering what the subsequent training will be?” Matthew replied.
After all, Matthew had not forgotten how his Basic Swordsmanship had been stuck at the Novice level back then. If Instructor Calm hadn't taught him beforehand, he would have been delayed for a long time.
Hearing this, the warm smile on Byrne's face stiffened slightly, followed by an almost imperceptible trace of embarrassment.
He remained silent for a moment, then spoke with honest eyes: “All I can teach you are these most basic things today: how to stand, how to grip, how to nock an arrow, how to draw the bow, and how to use your eyes to ‘feel’ the target.”
“Anything deeper than that, and I don't know it either.”
Matthew listened seriously and nodded.
He understood what Byrne meant.
On second thought, this was only normal.
Stone Mill Village was just a small border village. To have a retired Class-holder adventurer like Instructor Calm was already a rare stroke of luck. If there were also a “Class-holder” archer who had trained his archery to a profound level, that would be truly bizarre.
Resources, legacy, and environment all limited the ceiling of the people here.
“I understand, Uncle,” Matthew said sincerely. “Thank you for your guidance today. I will build a solid foundation.”
“Mm. Take this old bow back with you first and keep it safe. Remember, don't be greedy, and don't get hurt.”
“Yes, Uncle!” Matthew thanked him again, carefully packing away the shortbow and quiver.
Although Byrne couldn't provide deeper guidance, the goal of getting started had been achieved. 【Basic Archery】 had been successfully activated and upgraded to the “Novice” level, which was already a massive harvest.
Rate on N.U.
