Chapter 12: A Hundred Shots, A Hundred Hits

After Wang Liang promised to let him rest for two more hours later, the young man with a buzz cut named Li Yang ran over with a look of anticipation on his face.

"Good day, Brother Yu!" A warm smile bloomed on Li Yang's face; his attitude was intimate and carried a hint of fawning as he laughed and scratched his head.

Lu Yu felt a bit uncomfortable with his enthusiasm. Being of similar age, he hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Don't be so formal, just call me Lu Yu. By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Li Yang, Li as in 'plum tree', Yang as in 'sunlight'," Li Yang replied with a chuckle.

"Don't dawdle, start quickly," Wang Liang urged from the side, his face showing a touch of impatience. "You saw what I did just now, just do the same."

"Alright, Uncle Wang, don't you worry, I guarantee I'll get the job done!" Li Yang patted his chest in assurance, then turned to Lu Yu and said, "Brother Yu, leave this little task to me."

"Sorry to trouble you," Lu Yu said sincerely, his heart full of gratitude.

After all, he was taking up the man's time and energy, but if he didn't do this, the proficiency of his Basic Archery would improve much slower; at such a critical time, every minute and every second was incredibly important.

He thought silently to himself that once his Archery was accomplished and he went out to hunt prey, he would definitely thank Li Yang properly.

"It's nothing, Brother Yu. You are Uncle Guohao's son. If it weren't for Uncle Guohao taking us in back then, my parents and I would have been killed by the Fierce Beasts outside long ago; how could we still be alive today? This little favor is nothing at all."

As Li Yang spoke, he seemed to realize he was talking too much, so he quickly stopped, bent down to pick up the target, and stood in Wang Liang's previous position. "Brother Yu, I'm starting now."

Lu Yu took a deep breath, nodded, and quickly entered a state of focus.

At the beginning, the two were still a bit clumsy in their coordination; either the angle and speed of Li Yang's toss were off, or Lu Yu didn't grasp the timing of his shot well.

But as they tried again and again, their tacit understanding gradually improved, and the proficiency of 【Basic Archery】 also grew steadily.

Over an hour passed.

"Li Yang, thank you for your hard work." Seeing that Li Yang was clearly struggling when tossing the target, Lu Yu slowly lowered his bow-holding hand and said with deep gratitude.

"Brother Yu, I'm really sorry, I just can't hold on anymore; these two arms feel like they don't belong to me," Li Yang responded with a wry smile, his face full of exhaustion.

Seeing this, Wang Liang prepared to take over for Li Yang. Although his own arms had recovered some strength, he wasn't sure if he could hold out for another hour.

"Let me do it."

Just then, the young man who had been sitting on the side resting stood up.

This person was tall, a full one meter eighty-five, yet his build was very thin, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, feeling somewhat surprised.

Wang Liang also looked at this tall young man and said, "Liu Kai, your marksmanship is the most standard among the few of us. Time and energy are limited, you should continue practicing your marksmanship."

Li Yang felt a wave of depression; was he brought in to help just because his marksmanship wasn't good enough?

"Uncle Wang, it's fine, just consider it a change of pace to rest my brain."

Liu Kai wore a gentle smile on his face, then looked at Lu Yu. "Li Yang is right, if it weren't for Uncle Guohao, my mother and I wouldn't be able to live here in peace."

Hearing him say this, Wang Liang didn't stop him again and nodded slightly.

Just like that, another two or three hours passed. During this time, besides Wang Liang, Li Yang, and Liu Kai, one or two other young people also took the initiative to come and help.

On one hand, they were repaying Lu Guohao for his long-term care; on the other hand, they also saw that Lu Yu truly had a natural talent for Archery.

After the Liu Jia Xiong Di left, the Zhai's strength was greatly reduced, and there was an urgent need to cultivate an excellent archer; by comparison, there was no shortage of one or two people who used guns.

During the practice process, Lu Yu also figured out some patterns.

When Aiming at a moving target, the faster the target moved, the more proficiency was gained upon hitting it, reaching up to 3% at most. Of course, if the speed was too fast, it was also very difficult for him to hit it.

Conversely, if the speed was too slow, it was similar to a fixed target, and the proficiency gained after hitting it was minimal.

"Whoosh!"

An arrow shot out at high speed, piercing the air and hitting the target once again.

In an instant, Lu Yu felt a warm current surge from the bottom of his heart, quickly spreading throughout his body, and the fatigue he had accumulated previously dissipated by more than half.

"Could it be that Basic Archery has leveled up?" Lu Yu felt a surge of joy, and at the same time, a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

"Here it comes!" Wang Liang shouted and threw the target again.

Lu Yu narrowed his eyes. This time, he felt that the target moving in a parabolic arc not far away seemed to have its speed slowed down, as slow as slow-motion in a movie, at least twice as slow as usual.

"What is going on?" Lu Yu was full of confusion, but his hand movements did not pause at all; drawing the bowstring to the full and releasing the arrow happened in one go, entirely driven by muscle memory.

"Bang!" With a crisp sound, the arrow hit the bullseye steadily.

"That's beautiful!" Such a beautiful and clean shot made even Wang Liang unable to help but praise him loudly.

But the next second, he seemed to realize he had lost his composure, immediately withdrew his smile, deliberately pulled a long face, and snorted, "This time, it might just be that you, brat, were lucky and guessed it right."

Lu Yu just smiled and did not refute. At this moment, he had already seen that 【Basic Archery】 had indeed leveled up, and it had also unlocked a fourth characteristic.

Level: 3

Constitution: 12.78

Strength: 11.57

【Basic Archery: lv3, characteristics: Body Strengthening level 3, Arm Strength Mastery level 3, Steady Shot level 3, Rapid Shot level 1】

【Rapid Shot: Each level increased, shooting speed increases by 30%, and the decrease in hit rate during continuous shooting is reduced by 10%】

"So that's how it is." Lu Yu suddenly realized; no wonder he felt the target's moving speed had slowed down—it was the Rapid Shot characteristic taking effect! Not only that, the previous three characteristics had also reached level three, just as he had expected.

Especially the Steady Shot characteristic; when Aiming at a stationary target, the hit rate was as high as 90%, almost hitting the mark every single time.

"With my current strength, should it be enough to support me going out to hunt?" Lu Yu pondered to himself.

Of course, if he could raise 【Basic Archery】 to lv5, the Rapid Shot characteristic could reach level 3, and the hit rate would also increase to 90%, which would make him more confident.

But he also noticed that although that arrow just now hit the bullseye, it only increased his proficiency by 1%. It would take one hundred hits on a moving target to reach lv4, and the difficulty of increasing from lv4 to lv5 would certainly be even greater; he estimated it would take at least two days.

There was no time to wait!

Lu Yu recalled the tragic scene on the second day after he crossed over, when three people died in the Zhai all at once; that image was still vivid in his mind.

If he delayed for another day, the Hunting Team might lose one more person, and he dared not imagine if that person would be his father.

Moreover, he was in urgent need of enough Fierce Beast Meat to convert into Potential Points to strengthen his body.

Although there were risks in going out to hunt, how could one survive without taking risks? Just like the adult men in the Zhai, their physical fitness wasn't much better than his, yet didn't they go out to hunt every day?

Of course, if he could raise 【Basic Archery】 from LV3 to LV4 between this afternoon and evening, both his own safety and his confidence in capturing prey would be greatly improved.

"What are you thinking about, kid?" Just then, Wang Liang's dissatisfied voice came over, "At a time like this, you're actually spacing out?"

"Wang Liang, I'm pondering whether I should switch to a bow with greater power." Lu Yu grinned and spoke his thoughts.