Chapter 99

Chapter 99. The Talent of Knowing When to Give Up (2)

Anis chose to dodge Jairo’s “Aura Flight” by jumping. In doing so, he lost the initiative in the offensive.

Seeing Keter leap up, Anis frowned. Wasn’t that the same choice he had made?

But it wasn’t.

Keter didn’t just jump lightly. He made a big leap, created an Aura foothold, and used it as a springboard to soar nearly 8 meters into the air.

Keter, who had shot up into the sky, nocked an arrow and shouted.

“An arrow should fundamentally carry two essences: power and speed. The combination of these two, the ‘Strong and Fast,’ is the basic form that archery should pursue.”

Twang!

Keter released the bowstring.

The arrow disappeared before Anis’s eyes.

Anis couldn’t follow the trajectory of Keter’s arrow with his eyes.

Boom!

The loud noise from the side made him turn his head belatedly. Jairo, who had been charging forward, had stopped. Jairo, who had blocked the arrow with the broad side of his greatsword, whistled.

Anis’s mouth hung open. Not only him, but Luke and Taragon were also stunned.

The power of the arrow Keter had just shot was that of the Lion Constellation, and its speed was that of the Yaksha Constellation.

Fast yet powerful.

Was that even possible?

Moreover, it wasn’t just one shot. Keter fired five arrows in rapid succession as he descended from the air.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of gunpowder exploding in a chain echoed loudly. Who would believe that this sound was from arrows being blocked?

Anis felt as if lightning had struck his mind. Keter’s arrows carried destructive power while being incredibly fast.

Why had he been trying to use those two separately until now?

‘It was preconception. I was trapped in the idea that only one form could be applied to a single arrow.’

But could he immediately achieve the power of the Lion Constellation with the speed of the Yaksha Constellation?

Anis shook his head firmly.

‘If it were that easy, I would have thought of it too.’

Aura has properties.

Hardness, destruction, sharpness, eruption… These various properties are imbued into weapons to enhance their destructive power.

Increasing the speed of an arrow is also possible with Aura. By coating the entire arrow with Aura, the Aura takes on the air resistance, allowing the arrow to fly faster.

Moreover, ejecting Aura from the tip of the arrow can provide propulsion. This way, the arrow can be sent flying even faster.

These property infusions are achieved through practice. Aura doesn’t naturally determine properties. It’s the user who decides.

For example, if Anis wants to use the Lion Constellation, he imbues the entire arrow with destructive and sharp properties. Technically, he adds rotation to compensate for the lack of speed and increase penetration.

Conversely, the fastest archery, the Yaksha Constellation, focuses Aura at the tip of the arrow and ejects it for propulsion. This isn’t a property infusion. It’s imbuing Aura with intent.

Simultaneously infusing properties and intent.

Everyone thought it was impossible.

But Keter showed that it was possible.

Just using properties and intent simultaneously opens a new realm in archery, but this battle wasn’t over yet.

As Keter descended from the air, he bent his knees deeply, almost squatting. In that position, he laid the bow horizontally and fired.

Perhaps because it was fired hastily, it was significantly slower compared to the previous arrows. The trajectory aimed for the head, but the destructive power carried by the arrow was minimal.

Perhaps because of that, while the arrows Keter fired from the air were fast and powerful, they ultimately couldn’t pierce Jairo’s greatsword.

But this attack was much slower and less powerful. It was clearly a meaningless attack. However, as if mocking Anis’s thoughts, an anomaly occurred.

Thud!

‘Thud?’

It wasn’t an explosion.

It sounded like a knife piercing leather. Why did such a sound occur?

Then, Jairo suddenly spoke, dripping with sweat.

“Hmm. I didn’t know such archery existed in this world.”

His voice was filled with confusion and a strong sense of competitiveness.

Why?

Luke, Anis, and Taragon were frustrated, unable to understand what was happening.

Jairo moved his greatsword aside for the trio. Then, a shocking scene greeted them.

“Ah, what?!”

“How did that happen?!”

It was stuck. Keter’s arrow.

It was half-embedded in Jairo’s right calf, dangling. He smiled bitterly and said to Keter.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I felt pain. If you keep going, I might get excited. Shall we continue?”

“That’s enough. Just showing this much is sufficient for now.”

Keter approached Jairo. Then, he pulled the arrow out of his calf in one swift motion.

Drip, drip, drip.

He poured a low-grade Elixir into the hole in the calf. Simultaneously, he used Mana Stitching to sew up the hole, and the wound quickly healed.

“This is what they call ‘giving medicine after giving poison.’ If you had such archery, you should have told me earlier. I would have defended with Aura Armor.”

“If I told you earlier, the already thin practicality would disappear even more. And if it feels staged, it won’t resonate properly with those guys either.”

“You’re not even going to apologize.”

“Choose: receive 500 gold as compensation or get an apology.”

“You can shoot me again. Make me your target. Hahaha!”

“Don’t laugh. You’ll spit.”

“Yes.”

Keter, who was standing far from Jairo, shouted at the trio.

“Number 2. Tell me how I was able to shoot such a strong and fast arrow.”

Anis, who had been itching to answer, replied immediately.

“You simultaneously infused properties and intent into the Aura.”

“Number 3, what about you?”

“It seems like you used an enormous amount of Aura.”

“Both are half-right answers.”

Keter held an arrow and infused it with Aura.

“What properties do you think I infused into this arrow’s Aura? Number 2.”

“The property of strength, symbolizing destruction.”

“Wrong. That’s not all. It also contains the property of speed.”

“That can’t be. The property of speed also increases the arrow’s speed, but it can’t break the speed limit. The arrow you showed clearly broke the speed limit. It must have used the same principle as the 7th form of the Yellow Path Twelve Constellations, the Yaksha Constellation.”

“You’re right. I broke the speed limit of the arrow through intent infusion. But why would I give up the property of speed?”

“Because even without the property of speed, there’s no difference in maximum speed.”

“Correct. There’s no difference in maximum speed. But the time it takes to reach maximum speed is shortened.”

“…What does that mean… Ah!”

A second bolt of lightning struck Anis’s mind. It felt like his brain was cooking. It was more pleasurable than painful.

This was the pleasure of enlightenment.

‘Instant acceleration. Using the property of speed allows for instant acceleration. Simply imbuing intent to accelerate means reaching maximum speed halfway through the flight. But starting with the property of speed means flying at maximum speed from the start. That’s why the opponent doesn’t have time to react to the maximum speed!’

Anis plopped down. His hands, gripping the ground, trembled violently. It was the first time in his life he had experienced such a profound enlightenment.

Luke and Taragon didn’t understand Keter’s words as well as Anis did. They only vaguely felt that there was something extraordinary about it.

While Anis was in shock, Keter continued speaking.

“That’s not all. You guys aren’t putting your heart into each arrow. You shoot as if it’s okay whether it hits or not. It’s sloppy. It makes me want to beat you up. Put the will to definitely kill your opponent into each shot. Pull the bowstring to the brink of breaking. Shoot each arrow as if you’ll die if you don’t kill the enemy.”

At Keter’s words, Taragon raised his hand to ask a question.

“If you pull the bowstring to its limit, there are several problems. The speed of shooting slows down, and the bow will break quickly. How do you handle that?”

“Of course, I have much more Aura than you guys. But that’s not all. I use Aura more actively. You should too. Why does the speed of shooting slow down? Don’t just pull the bowstring with physical strength. Use Aura to pull it. Protect the bow by coating it with Aura. Then, no matter how roughly you handle it, it won’t break.”

“Ah…!”

“Finally, how did my arrow hit Jairo’s calf? Simple. I layered intent infusion. Easy, right?”

This time, no one understood.

Keter didn’t elaborate further. There’s a downside to explaining things intuitively. It kills the target’s imagination. That’s not the growth Keter wanted.

‘I don’t intend to take responsibility for you guys until the end.’

If he explained everything from A to Z, it was clear that they would rely on him for everything later, which would be annoying. So, he decided to stop here.

And now was the perfect timing to introduce the “item” to the trio.

“Trainees. One hour break. Each of you, review the fight between me and Jairo. After the break, you’ll fight Jairo again. Dismissed!”

* * *

The trio scattered as if they had made a pact. They saw each other not as comrades but as rivals to compete against.

“Sigh… I kind of get the feeling.”

Taragon, who had settled behind the armory in the training ground, let out a deep sigh.

He couldn’t fully understand the principle Keter was talking about, but he grasped the general idea.

“I need to apply three types of Aura to this one arrow. Strength, speed. And the intent infusion of eruption. The intent infusion of eruption can be done using the Yaksha Constellation’s method, but the problem is how to apply all of them.”

Keter didn’t explain how to do it. Taragon felt regretful but also understood.

‘It must be Keter’s secret, right? There must be some reason he can’t tell us.’

Taragon was increasingly seeing Keter as a good person.

“Ugh.”

Taragon held an arrow in his right hand and tried infusing Aura. He attempted to infuse all three attributes as a test.

Crack!

The arrow shattered in his hand. He had failed to control the Aura.

“Ugh, can’t I divide the Aura into three layers and give each layer a different meaning? The arrow can’t withstand the Aura. Should I try using Aura to protect the arrow too?”

There are plenty of arrows. Taragon tried again.

But this time, he failed again.

“If I do this, the Aura consumption is too high. I’ll use up all my Aura in just five shots.”

Taragon picked up a new arrow but soon gave up. His expression quickly turned gloomy.

With practice, he might find a way. But the problem was that the total amount of Aura he had was pitifully small.

Taragon had started Aura cultivation at the age of eight. And now, 13 years later, the total amount of Aura he had was only equivalent to 16 years.

Compared to other prestigious families, it was embarrassingly small. His peers from prestigious families had at least 30 years’ worth of Aura.

This wasn’t just because Taragon had been lazy with Aura cultivation. The Sephira Aura cultivation method itself wasn’t very efficient.

Moreover, Aura and archery didn’t have good compatibility, so Sephira focused more on improving pure archery skills rather than increasing Aura quantity, making it unavoidable.

Then, a shadow fell at Taragon’s feet.

“Taragon. What are you so worried about?”

“Ah! You scared me. Instructor.”

It was Keter who had appeared silently. Keter waved his hand.

“Break time is free time. You can call me casually.”

“Ah… Got it.”

“Were you practicing?”

Keter nudged the broken arrows on the ground with his foot.

“Yeah. It looked difficult, but trying it myself made it even harder. Keter, where did you learn such archery?”

“I made it.”

“Made… it? You?”

“It’s not entirely new. I referenced a lot from here and there.”

“Ah, I see. That’s amazing. At your age… and with so much Aura…”

“Me? Not that much. Only 22 years’ worth.”

Before going to Requer, he had only 10 years’ worth, but after consuming Elixirs in Requer, he had gained an additional 12 years’ worth of Aura.

“That’s not as much as I thought. But still more than me.”

“You do seem to lack Aura. How many years’ worth do you have?”

“16 years.”

“Are you sure you’re from a prestigious family? Regardless of the cultivation method’s efficiency, it’s a number you’d get without ever consuming an Elixir.”

Many prestigious families independently produce Elixirs. Among the seven prestigious families of the Lilian Kingdom, four produce and consume their own Elixirs.

Of course, producing Elixirs requires astronomical amounts of money and technology, so it’s something Sephira couldn’t even dream of.

“Even if there were Elixirs, I couldn’t consume them. I have three older brothers above me. Even if it were my turn, I would give it to Chebil. That’s the right thing to do.”

“Who’s Chebil?”

“Ah, Keter, you might not know. He’s the youngest in our family, studying abroad in the Empire. He’s a real genius. Maybe even more than you.”

“I’m not interested in someone who’s not here. But Taragon, it seems like it won’t work.”

“What won’t?”

“This was originally meant for Anis…”

Keter, who had approached Taragon closely, looked around and then took out a small glass bottle from his pocket. Inside, a pill as clear as ice sparkled.

Pop!

When Keter opened the lid, a deep and refreshing scent made Taragon’s eyes widen.

“Ke, Keter. Is this what I think it is?”

“Even if you haven’t tried it, you can guess, right? Yes, it’s an Elixir. And a top-grade one!”

“…!”

“Maybe you’ve heard of it. The secret Elixir of the northern Browning Duke House, the Cheongryeonghwan.”

“Che, Cheongryeonghwan? This is that Cheongryeonghwan?”

In an ice cave tens of thousands of years old, thousands of meters underground, a single drop of water condensed from the essence of water and ice falls once a year. This drop is used to make the Cheongryeonghwan.

“Just consuming this one will give you 5 years’ worth of Aura for free, and it will also purify the impurities in your existing Aura. Even the same 1 year’s worth of Aura will have different density and purity.”

Gulp, Taragon’s Adam’s apple moved.

His eyes were already fixed on the Cheongryeonghwan.

“Th, this, you’re giving this to me? Thank you!”

Swish!

True to his nature of coveting Amaranth, Taragon immediately reached out his hand. But it only cut through empty air.

Of course. Keter had pulled his hand back.

Taragon’s body leaned towards it.

Keter pushed Taragon’s body away and said.

“I’ll give it to you. If you buy it.”

“Huh?!”

“What do you mean ‘huh?!’ Did you think I’d give this to you for free?”

Keter made a coin shape with his fingers.

“For sale.”