When Zach promised the helper an extra hour of rest afterward, the short-haired youth quickly jogged over.
"Morning, Leo!"
His face beamed with an overly eager grin as he nodded and bowed like a sycophant.
Leo felt slightly embarrassed by the warm welcome—especially since they were roughly the same age. He quickly waved his hand and said, "No need to be so formal. Just call me Leo. And you are?"
"Name's Warren. You know, like War-ren? Warring plains?" Warren chuckled at his own lame pun.
"Enough grinning like an idiot. Hurry up and get started," Zach said gruffly from the side. "You saw what I did earlier. Just copy that."
"Right! Got it, Uncle Zach. Leave it to me."
"Appreciate the help," Leo added with gratitude. After all, this was costing someone else time and energy.
But without this help, progressing his skill would take much longer. In times like this, every second counted.
'Once I level up Basic Archery and hunt something real, I'll repay them properly,' he promised himself silently.
"No worries," Warren grinned again. "You're Uncle Grant's son. If it weren't for him taking us in, I'd be monster food by now. Helping you is the least I can—uh, anyway..."
Realizing he was rambling, Warren abruptly cut himself off and picked up a target, standing where Zach had stood before. "Alright, Leo, here we go!"
Leo inhaled slowly, nodded, and slipped into focus.
Their coordination was clumsy at first, but improved steadily. As the morning wore on, Leo's [Basic Archery] proficiency climbed.
Over an hour passed.
"Warren, that's enough. Take a break," Leo said as the guy launched a shaky toss and practically collapsed. Leo lowered his bow with a grateful smile.
"Sorry, Leo. I just can't keep going," Warren wheezed, his arms heavy as lead.
Zach was about to take over again, though his arms weren't fully recovered either. Whether he'd last another hour was uncertain.
"I can take a turn."
A tall, gaunt youth who'd been resting stood up. At least 6 feet tall, but skin and bones.
Everyone paused.
Zach frowned. "Zhao... your spearwork's the cleanest out of all of them. You should keep practicing. Time and energy aren't free."
Warren looked like he wanted to cry. So I got picked... just because my spear form sucked?
"It's alright, Uncle Zach. I'll treat this like a break," Zhao said with a calm smile before turning to Leo. "Warren's right. If it weren't for Uncle Grant, my mom and I wouldn't even be alive. This is nothing."
Zach didn't argue. He simply nodded.
And so another few hours passed.
During that time, besides Zach, Warren, and Zhao, one or two other youths stepped up to help. Partly to repay Grant's years of protection, partly because they recognized Leo's talent.
With the Wells brothers gone, the camp had lost its best archers. They needed to raise another as fast as possible. Spears? They had plenty.
Meanwhile, Leo noticed a pattern.
The faster the target moved, the more proficiency he gained from hitting it—up to 3%. Of course, if it moved too fast, he missed entirely.
Likewise, if it was too slow, it was basically a stationary target and gave minimal gains.
Thwip!
An arrow tore through the air, striking the target again.
Immediately, a warm wave surged through his body, washing away fatigue.
'Hmmm, level up?'
Just as that thought hit, he felt something shift inside.
"Incoming!" Zach called, hurling another disc.
Leo narrowed his eyes. This time, the flying target seemed to slow down—as if the world had hit slow motion.
'What the hell?'
He didn't have time to dwell on it. His body reacted on muscle memory alone—pull, aim, release.
Thud!
Direct hit. Dead center.
"Nice one!"
Zach actually clapped. Then quickly coughed, wiped the grin off his face, and muttered, "Lucky shot. Even a blind dog finds a bone sometimes."
Leo chuckled.
He opened his Status Panel.
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Level: 3 (0/4)
Physique: 78
Strength: 57
Skill: Basic Archery – Lv.3 (1%)
— Trait: Reinforce Body Lv.3
— Trait: Iron Arm Lv.3
— Trait: Slowfire Lv.3
— Trait: Mounted Aim Lv.1
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Trait: Mounted Aim – Increases accuracy against moving targets by 30% per level.
----------------------
'That explains it.'
No wonder that flying disc had looked like it was moving in slow motion—Mounted Aim was already kicking in.
And as expected, the other traits had all leveled up too. Slowfire now gave him a 90% hit rate on stationary targets—nearly perfect.
'With this, I should be ready to hunt…'
Yes, if he could get Basic Archery to Lv.5, Mounted Aim would reach Lv.3—90% accuracy on moving targets. But even with today's gains, he'd need to hit 100 moving targets just to hit Lv.4. Lv.5? That would take at least two full days.
Two days? It was a luxury he couldn't afford.
He still remembered the second day after he crossed over—three men had died in one afternoon. If he wasted another day, the next could be his father.
And more beast meat meant more Stat Points.
'It's a risk… but survival always is.'
Even the grown men in this camp—physically stronger than Leo—still ventured out daily, risking death.
But if he could reach Lv.4 by tonight, his odds of surviving—and succeeding—would skyrocket.
"What's got you spacing out now?" Zach snapped. "This isn't the time to daydream."
"Uncle Zach, do you think… I should switch to a powerful bow?"
Leo grinned.