82 – The Most Difficult Mission
[Multiple Arrows] didn"t touch upon cultivation of qi, it was not regarded as a qi secret manual, but as a qi move, so knights of any qi attribute could practice it.
It was divided into three levels: double arrows, triple arrows and multiple arrows. Also, it had an ultimate meaning, Multiple Phantom Arrows.
On the horse field, while atop his yellow-grey horse, Marcus carefully displayed [Multiple Arrows] once, then matched every move with an explanation.
“There are five ways to execute double arrows. What I most commonly use is Double Arrows Release, which involves to simply shoot two arrows at the same target. Next is Double Arrows Cross Strike, which uses magic power to guide two arrows shot side by side to strike each other and thus change their trajectories midair. The others, Double Arrows Spiral, Double Arrows Chain, and Double Arrows Burst are not very practical.”
It was very difficult to simultaneously control the mount and double arrows.
Therefore, in Marcus" opinion, as long as one was proficient in Double Arrows Release and Double Arrows Cross Strike, they could already be called a divine archer and would be successful on the battlefield.
The other moves could only be effective while standing on the ground and carefully reckoning.
He continued: “Triple arrows is basically an advanced type of double arrows. Triple Arrows Release, Triple Arrows Spiral, Triple Arrows Chain, and Triple Arrows Scatter Shot, the principle behind these moves is the same, just that they are more demanding in terms of control. The same is true for multiple arrows – Multiple Arrows Release, Spiral Shadow Arrows, Multiple Arrows Chain, Multiple Arrows Scatter Shot, and Multiple Arrows Cross Strike. Similarly, they are even more demanding in terms of control.”
After dismounting, Marcus displayed the moves of triple arrows and multiple arrows one after another.
Marcus shook his head after emptying his quiver. He was dissatisfied with his archery: “I am proficient at triple arrows, but not at multiple arrows, the difficulty is too great. And there is still the ultimate meaning, Multiple Phantom Arrows, which I can only employ with at least a quarter of an hour of preparations.”
With one hand.
Holding an arrow was easy, holding two arrows was not a problem, holding three arrows was also possible as it just so happened that there were three s.p.a.ces between one"s fingers to hold arrows.
However, more than that wouldn"t do. It was very difficult to hold two arrows together between two fingers, let alone a.s.signing magic power to guide each arrow.
Earth Knights didn"t had such a minute control over their qi.
A retainer pulled the arrows out of the targets and returned them to Marcus.
Marcus released a long breath of turbid air, soothing his emotions: “Sir, I am not too proficient at controlling multiple arrows, let alone the the ultimate meaning. Therefore, I broke it down into two shots, with three arrows per shot. Like this, I can barely achieve the effect recorded in [Multiple Arrows].”
He drew three arrows from the quiver: “For the first three arrows, I use less strength so that they fly slower. For the later three arrows, I use more strength so that they fly quicker and strike the first three arrows. Thus, achieving a uniform speed for the six arrows. The disorganized trajectories make them look like phantoms.”
After finishing speaking.
He clenched three arrows between his teeth. Next, he took out another three arrows, nocked them on the bowstring, pulled the bowstring, and then released. In a flash, the arrows flew upwards.
Then, with an incredible speed, he released the three arrows clenched between his teeth into his hand, before once again nocking the arrows on the bowstring, pulling the bowstring, and then releasing it. This time, the bowstring nearly formed a full moon with the body of the bow. The arrows were instantly shot out along with fierce whistling sounds.
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
In midair, the later three arrows with straight trajectories just so happened to strike the former three arrows that were on their descent and in a flash, the six arrows spun in midair.
Looking at them with the naked eye, it seemed like dozens of arrows appeared suddenly, shooting chaotically at three targets.
It took a while to describe, but it had actually happened very quickly. Before Liszt could blink his eyes, the arrows suddenly dissipated, leaving only six arrows striking at the targets. Five arrows directly hit the targets, while one just brushed against the target and flew away.
“I still can"t fully control the trajectories of the six arrows.” Said Marcus with some disappointment.
Although Liszt clapped: “Teacher Marcus, your archery is already quite amazing. Let"s quickly get started. I can"t wait to release Multiple Phantom Arrows.” But in fact, he felt a bit bitter inside, Marcus" archery was simply incredible.
He originally believed it just to be a standard method of shooting arrows in pairs of two and three that he could easily learn without caring for proficiency.
But now he discovered that before being proficient at double arrows and triple arrows, he might have no chance at learning multiple arrows, let alone the ultimate meaning, Multiple Phantom Arrows.
“This might be the most difficult smoke mission I have ever encountered…”
Now, he was unsure whether he could learn [Multiple Arrows] before the beginning of August. Despite the difficulty, he still would do what he was supposed to. He decided to empty his head and concentrate on learning archery. There was bound to come a day when he would grasp the tedious [Multiple Arrows].
Precisely as the count had said during the Going-out-to-the-sea Festival – “Don"t worry, time is on your side.”
He was only sixteen years old.
And still had a long life ahead of him.
The Flower Town was getting more and more prosperous and there was no crisis that couldn"t be dealt with, so he could easily lead a happy life. Being impatient would not help him realize his dream of riding a dragon.
……
In the blink of an eye.
August had arrived.
For more than half a month, Liszt had been madly learning archery. He had already succeeded in grasping triple arrows and had begun to advance towards multiple arrows. The mares on the horse field had all been impregnated and Blackdragon had visibly slimmed down from exerting itself nonstop. Due to the dragon bloodline, it couldn"t hold back.
“Master, the utility of the horse field"s alfalfa had already reached a critical point. At present, there is a total of fifteen horses, five stallions and ten mares, all of which graze at the horse field. Apart from the three old mares that had lost their fertility, the other seven, including Firedragon, have been impregnated.”
One-Eyed Barton continued: “There are too many pregnant mares and Blackdragon had also strained itself. Therefore, they need large quant.i.ties of nutrients. Merely horse field"s pasture definitely won"t do.”
“If it is for the sake of properly keeping the horses, then feel free to state what you think is needed.” Liszt was very concerned with the horses.
“For the sake of their health and nutrition, they require fodder of better quality. The best would be oats, barley and wheat bran, while peanuts and peas would also be quite good.”
This fodder was no worse than the food of commoners, and might even be better, in quant.i.ty at least. A horse"s daily rations equaled to that of three people.
Liszt immediately promised One-Eyed Barton: “Alright.”
He had the confidence to make this promise because the road through the Thorns Ridge was cleared and the Flower Town"s caravan could freely trade with the outside world.
At present, it mainly sold seafood, taking the first step into the market. The Tulip Castle was the main buyer, purchasing half a gold coin worth of seafood every three days. The Coral City"s residents also began to enjoy the delicious seafood, also buying half a gold coin worth of seafood every three days.
Additionally, the many lesser aristocrats residing in the Coral City as well as the aristocrats and commoners of the city nearest to the Flower Town, the Northvalley City, added up to a gold coin every three days.
In other words, the Flower Town"s caravan could earn two gold coins every three days.
On average, with sixty six silver coins a day as profit, the costs of seafood and transportation were almost negligible. Of course, every time the caravan earned a bit of money, it would immediately be spent on goods, like condiment, cloth, soap, beer, and other, that the castle was in need.
There was still the pig pancreas.
He let the caravan purchase ten piglets and gave them to the barley settlement"s serf to raise and then slaughter in the future! Chicklings and ducklings could temporarily not be purchased as it was not their season. Foals, calves, and lambs were too expensive, so they also were not purchased. For the time being, the fief had to rely on its own production for animal husbandry.
“This time the caravan brought back…” After finishing the transfer of finances with old Grandet, Carter returned to the castle to report to Liszt.
“Mr. Carter, I have a question.” Liszt was not interested in the c.u.mbersome account. While holding a cup of milk tea, he frowned and started pondering, “Why does it feel like the milk tea that Mrs. Mawson brews for me tastes better with each pa.s.sing day?”