He immediately went back to his house. The trip he made today only made him confirm his expectations of the Blacktooth Gang. It was better if he just killed all of them.
He took out the pouch that he took from the stronger of the two. It was a black pouch with a skull embroidered onto it. The skull was all gold except one tooth which blended into the black pouch.
He emptied the contents of the pouch onto his bed. It was a lot of money. He took out the crumpled notes and coins and started counting them all. They totaled 30000 Star coins.
Other than the money, there was also a token. It was the token representing the person’s position in the Blacktooth Gang. He held it in his hands for a second before throwing it back into the pouch.
The token wouldn’t be too useful to him because the Blacktooth gang wasn’t that huge. He wouldn’t be able to impersonate someone because they would know that he didn’t belong there immediately.
A couple of days passed without any trouble. Leo and Daphne both didn’t even step out of their rooms. Since they were a Mage and Aura Knight respectively, they didn’t need as much food as normal people. They still came out to eat, but less often.
After dedicating all her time to training, Daphne finally saw some minor success. She was able to make her Aura turn icy and was able to make it stick to an arrowhead for long enough. It was only a few seconds, but it was the longest she was able to do till then.
After she did that, she immediately went to Leo’s room to tell him about her progress. She knocked on his door.
“Come in,” he said.
She came in and showed her progress. In her hands was an arrow whose tip was glowing a light blue color.
“I can hold it for long enough. Can we go to test it?” She asked.
Leo nodded. “Yes, we can go tomorrow.” He was also excited to try hunting with Daphne.
He went back to training while Daphne went back to her room to try and keep the aura on to the arrow for longer. The rest of the day passed uneventfully.
The next day, both of them got ready to go to the forest. While they were walking into the forest, Daphne was humming along the way. Leo looked at her optimism and chuckled.
“Don’t think this is a leisure trip. You have to be careful. The Outer Forest is no longer just Pseudo 1st Circle Magical Beasts. It is filled with real Magical Beasts. You have to be incredibly careful.” He warned her.
She stopped humming and her face turned downcast. She walked a lot less energetically. This wasn’t what he was going for, but he needed to give her a sense of reality.
He suddenly heard a small noise. He immediately signaled Daphne to get ready.
“There could be an animal nearby. Aim your bow.” He said to her.
She nocked an arrow to the bow and got ready for Leo’s command. She couldn’t see any animal yet, but she trusted his word. She suddenly saw a movement in the bush and aimed at the source of the movement. She didn’t shoot yet though.
Slowly, out of the bush, a rabbit wandered out.
“Shoot,” Leo said.
Daphne looked at him with shock.
“But-“
“Shoot,” he said again.
She looked at the rabbit and winced. She unwillingly released the arrow. The arrow flew toward the rabbit but missed it by a foot. She turned to him. She wasn’t trying to miss but she was happy she did.
“Sorry, I missed.” She said.
“I knew you were going to miss,” he said. He walked up to the arrow in the ground. The rabbit ran away after seeing the arrow.
“You need practice not only for using aura but for using a bow and arrow as well. It’s not as simple as you would assume,” he added.
Daphne nodded. “Then what should I do?” She asked.
He walked to a tree. He took out a chalk and drew a few concentric circles on it. He walked away and sat on a rock nearby.
“Shoot at that. If you miss, you will have to bring back the arrows, so don’t miss,” he said.
She looked at the target. The tree was thicker than a normal trunk, but it didn’t make a difference. It was still a hard target to hit, even if it was stationary. It was also pretty far away.
She closed the distance between herself and the trunk first. She knew she had to start small to avoid walking a long way to get the arrows back. She nocked the arrow into the bow and started firing arrows.
At first, she only used a little strength to get the hang of it. She used so less strength that the arrows didn’t even stick to the tree. Eventually, when she felt she wasn’t missing as much, she increased the amount of force she used.
For the rest of the day, she only shot arrows from a close distance while Leo was sitting at the side, training his magic. They weren’t even in the Outer Forest and only in the outskirts so they weren’t bothered by any animals or adventurers. The entire day passed like this.
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