Eren was shocked.
He was shocked by Renita's progress in such a short period. He was currently battling against her. It was a mock practice suggested by the ranger at their usual spot.
'Sedated Perception!'
Eren used his go-to time-element spell when he felt he was about to get boxed in. This time the bullets weren't his enemies.
The mana arrows made of the wind element had taken their place.
**********
Renita had another style in her repertoire without discarding her original one. This was thanks to her mentor, Almera who used crossbows in her battle style.
Renita had been gifted an F-Rank 4-star crossbow artefact by Almera when she thought the young ranger could use the same efficiently in her battle style. Turns out the mentor's decision was right all along.
To a non-ranger ranker, mana bullets and crossbows wouldn't seem that different. But they were two different battle styles for rangers. The biggest difference was in the way they were used.
Most bullet-oriented battle styles required rangers to manifest mana guns with their mana before they could start aiming and shooting at their targets. But the use of crossbows and arrows in battle was almost always dependent on the artefact at hand.
The gun-and-bullet style was famous for barrage attacks. It also helped rangers with long-range attacks. Because they would travel faster than the arrows.
But the style also came with its own set of disadvantages. First, since it required rankers to manifest the mana guns first, it would cause delay and waste of mana. Second, it was not all that useful against close-combat experts if they came within striking distance.
The close-combat rankers' reflexes were effective enough to predict the bullets' trajectory, take detours, and launch countermeasures. That's why whenever Eren got close to Renita, it would be a game-over for her.
The crossbow style, by contrast, does not require mana manifested weapons. Rankers were able to shoot out arrows from them as soon as they manifested them. Those who adopted this style were able to remain highly reactive to any sudden ambush while consuming a minimal amount of mana.
But since crossbows were slow to travel in the long-range, not a lot of rangers used them. A ranger's path required them to have a bunch of long-range attacks in their arsenal. And not everybody was interested in working hard to include another battle style at the cost of extra effort and work.
Most rangers rely on guns and bullets. They would let their teammates take care of their vulnerability in mid and close range combat. And it worked out for them for the most part.
But Renita had decided to do more than most rangers. She had been working on the spell and the battle style ever since Almera decided to try it a few months back. She only asked Eren to battle with her using this style when she felt confident to do so.
The Renita of the previous timeline didn't use crossbows and arrows even after she had become famous as a ranger. That's why Eren was shocked when she first showed him her brand-new battle style.
Eren had forgotten that in her eyes there was a certain close-combat expert that influenced her choice of battle style. She wanted not to be helpless against him when he got closer to her.
That's why she worked extra hard to mitigate her vulnerability against close combat experts by adding a new battle style. She hadn't said this to anyone till now. She didn't even use it while completing the first Besanc mission. Because she wasn't sure how it would work in real missions.
But her first Besanc mission made her realize something. It was the fact that she could only see Eren's back and would not follow him as an equal if she didn't change. She had reallized that he was that dominant with or without her help, both on and off the field.
******
Eren thought the mock battle was over since he was within striking range. But he was taken aback when the ranger retrieved a crossbow from her storage and started shooting.
'Sedated Perception.'
Eren relied on his time element spell to effectively dodge the mana arrows targeting his stomach. But that didn't surprise the ranger. She only chuckled when she saw the surprised expressions on her crush's face. For once, she felt like bullying him the way he used to do to her.
Eren tried to keep a safe distance from Renita. But he soon found out that the mana arrows were of the homing type to his utter astonishment.
The five mana arrows followed his retreat. At least two of them would have hit him if he hadn't activated Sedated Perception.
'Wow. This girl is full of surprises.'
Eren thought as he retrieved his katars from his storage. He rarely used his katars anymore for mock battles. Only Ramy could get him to use his weapons these days. But Renita had been added to that list at this point.
Eren turned back and assumed a defensive stance. There was no use running from the arrows when they could just follow him around. Even if they didn't hit him because of his speed, they would just tire him out in the long run.
'Blitz Bolt'
Eren ran his lightning element spell through his weapons and made contact with the first arrow with it. The arrow and the weapon collided. Since the arrow was made from the wind element, it didn't take much on Eren's part to destroy it.
But the arrow's sudden destruction, which had compressed wind as its foundation, led to the sudden emergence of the gale. And that gale pushed Eren's hand back. The same hand which he had used to tackle the arrow with.
Eren's hand was now up to his head while his other hand was not ready to tackle another arrow that was coming for him. The second arrow made contact with his shoulder and destroyed his protective mana layer. Unfortunately, his chainmail armour hadn't covered that region of his body.
The tip of the arrow was lodged deep under his skin and drew blood. The arrow was soon destroyed because Eren's protective mana layer was actively working to do so. But the damage had been done.
'Damn it. This is more annoying than the bullets at close range.'
Eren thought as he resumed his defensive position. He knew by then that he had to use his hands instead.
But this wasn't all he was supposed to do if he wanted to win this mock battle. Otherwise, it would turn into a mockery battle for him.
Eren used his left hand to tackle the arrow, only barely. By that time his right hand had assumed the position he wanted.
'Fuck this shit. Let's get to her.'
Eren thought as he finished defending the last arrow from the barrage. He again tried closing in on the ranger despite knowing full well another barrage was going to get aimed at him.
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AN: Thanks to Hirak_barua for placing so many Golden Tickets on VEH all at once. ;)