Vol 3 Chapter 36

"Yes."

Ignoring Kran's expression that seemed to say 'What are they going to do?', Kapros stepped back. Rashin Jin gestured for them to move back further. Only after they had retreated about 200 meters did Rashin Jin nod and call Un-o.

"That's enough, come here."

At first, Un-o frowned, his state of deep concentration broken, but soon he noticed their peculiar situation and furrowed his brow.

"What is this?"

"Well... If you've practiced that much, you should be warmed up by now. How long were you planning to continue? I was going to give you a different test initially, but I've changed my mind."

At Rashin Jin's leisurely words, Un-o's eyes widened. Kran did the same, and even Kapros looked at Rashin Jin with slight surprise.

"Pick up your bow. Your target is that person."

"What did you say?"

"Wait, Kran."

Kran tried to run to Kapros in surprise, but Kapros was quicker in raising his hand to stop him.

"Kap! Didn't you hear? He said you're the target!"

"You said you'd show me the answer to my question, but do you intend to use me as a test paper instead?"

Kapros asked Rashin Jin seriously, turning away from Kran. Rashin Jin nodded just as seriously.

"As you can see, I don't have a bow. So, since this is also the final test for this boy who has been learning from me until now, isn't it better to kill two birds with one stone?"

"Then is there any risk of me getting hurt?"

At Kapros's question, Kran's expression emphasized that this was exactly what he wanted to say.

"Haha... If there was such a possibility, how could I be living peacefully as a member of the elf race?"

Rashin Jin put a full stop to Kapros's worries with a hearty laugh. Kapros finally nodded and straightened his posture.

"Then that's fine. Let's do it."

Un-o, who had been listening to the conversation between Kapros and Rashin Jin, spoke with a distorted expression.

"It's too..."

"Hm?"

"He said there's no risk of injury, but there's still a tiny possibility. I could make a mistake. But for you to agree so easily... Aren't you scared?"

"They said there's no need to be scared."

Un-o, who had been mumbling, let out a breath that sounded like a sigh.

'Why is he acting like this?'

Seeing Un-o hesitate in a way that was unlike his usual self, who would have started immediately without expression, Kapros felt rather puzzled.

'Could it be...'

Was this guy scared because an actual person had become the target? Kapros momentarily recalled an old memory.

Come to think of it, when he first started serious one-on-one sparring, moving beyond solo practice as a child, he had been very scared too. He was afraid of getting hit and feeling pain, but more than that, he was scared of accidentally hitting his opponent too hard.

What his master had told him then was...

"Just do as you've been doing. If you make a mistake, I'll deal with you. Finish it in one go!"

"..."

Kapros thought he had said it well, only slightly modifying what his master had told him due to the slightly different situation, but strangely, Un-o's expression stiffened slightly, and Kran's expression changed to something indescribably weird.

"Well then, I'll explain first, and then we'll conduct the test."

As Rashin Jin raised his hand, Un-o instantly nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring. It was an incredibly fast speed.

"First, the 'visible' arrow. Fix your target, Un-o."

As soon as Rashin Jin finished speaking, Kapros felt Un-o's eyes slowly scanning him. His gaze had already cooled and settled.

"..."

His gaze briefly rested on the head, chest, stomach, and legs, then moved back up and finally stopped at...

'The right shoulder... I see.'

From the moment it started, Kapros could immediately tell where Un-o was looking. He felt an itchy, tingling sensation where the gaze touched. When the gaze that had been scanning here and there finally stopped on his right shoulder, that part now felt not just tingly but almost freezing.

"Ugh..."

Feeling the sensation as cool as if being pricked by a needle, Kapros barely managed to lower his left hand that had unconsciously tried to cover his right shoulder, and clenched his fist. The sharply honed gaze staring motionlessly from the front and the silver arrowhead aimed straight at him. Is this how prey feels?

"Can you feel it?"

Rashin Jin, who had been watching this scene, finally spoke.

"That's the energy focused on a single point. Usually, it's not this slow, so it would be correct to think that you'd be pierced immediately as you feel it."

At Rashin Jin's gaze, Un-o released the bowstring in the blink of an eye.

The moment Kapros thought 'He released it', he blinked several times at the arrow that passed dangerously close over his right shoulder, then turned around. He saw the arrow deeply embedded about halfway into the tree behind him.

"Hah..."

As the gaze he had felt on his shoulder was withdrawn, a small sigh escaped involuntarily.

"Are you alright?"

Un-o shouted from the other side. Kapros nodded to indicate he was fine and turned his gaze to Rashin Jin.

"I understand. If this is the visible arrow, what is the arrow that 'goes beyond what's visible'?"

As Kapros asked while rubbing his shoulder, Rashin Jin looked at Un-o again and asked.

"Can you do it?"

"Since you said you won't let it slide if I make a mistake, I guess I have to."

Un-o's expression as he looked at Kapros was no longer as stiff as before.

"...Begin."

At Rashin Jin's words, spoken somewhat cautiously, Un-o instantly nocked an arrow and slowly drew the bowstring. Then, as he looked at Kapros, it should have been to find the target area... but?

'Hm?'

His eyes were clearly sharp, and Kapros could tell he was aiming at something. But he couldn't feel the itching or coolness he had felt earlier. After standing there for a moment, facing Un-o who seemed to have lost all presence, Kapros blinked and lost sight of him for an instant.

He saw an arrow shooting straight towards the center of his chest.

"Kap!"

Kran cried out in surprise, and the arrow that should have passed in the blink of an eye was visibly approaching. As Kapros was conflicted about which magic to use in his mind...