Ch. 21
Chapter 21: 33 Points of Proficiency
“And the Guild Master speculated that the recent deterioration of the forest environment stems from certain latent magic radiation points and chaotic currents within the forest.”
“To resolve these nodes, mages will need to step in.”
At this point, Nia’s large eyes cautiously swept around the surroundings.
Only after confirming there was no one nearby did she stand on tiptoe, lean close to Lance’s ear, and whisper while covering her mouth:
“Although there are still a few precious mage-class professionals left in town, their appearance fees are outrageously high, and their energy is limited.”
“So the Guild Master set his sights on those students.”
The girl’s warm breath brushed against his ear, making Lance feel a ticklish sensation.
“To put it bluntly, they think those mages are too expensive. The guild doesn’t want to be the sucker paying that cost, so it’s more convenient to use this group of cheap labor.”
Lance subtly shifted half a step to the side, rubbed his ear, and lowered his voice as well:
“These… were all told to you by your Vice Guild Master uncle?”
Nia’s uncle was the Vice Guild Master of the Adventurers’ Guild, a seasoned veteran who had worked diligently in an administrative position for decades.
However, that uncle had always found fault with Lance.
Simply because he had caught Lance several times sneaking off to play cards with his precious niece, in his eyes, Lance was nothing more than a scoundrel leading a well-behaved girl astray.
So whenever Lance saw that uncle, he would usually take a detour.
“Yep.”
Nia showed no awareness of Lance’s awkwardness and nodded proudly.
“The Guild Master is incredibly shrewd.”
“For these interns, the guild only needs to pay a very small stipend and provide basic food and lodging. There’s no need to pay them an official salary at all.”
“Super cost-effective.”
“He also said that many of the students who can come here for internships come from noble or wealthy merchant backgrounds—they’re not short on money.”
“Bringing them here not only means no wages need to be paid, but in order to impress their crushes or mentors, they’ll even spend their own money lavishly in town.”
“With this back and forth, not only can the forest’s magical hazards be resolved, but it can also stimulate Graystone Town’s economy. They can even use the collaboration with Violet Academy as a name to attract those merchant caravans that were scared away to return.”
After hearing all this, Lance couldn’t help but inhale sharply.
Damn.
That was ruthless.
Wasn’t this exactly the same trick those big corporations in his previous life used when recruiting interns?
Under the banner of “gaining experience” and “providing certification,” they treated college students as cheap—or even free—labor.
Not only did they not pay wages, but they also made the interns feel grateful to the company, thinking they had learned something.
He hadn’t expected that in this other world, the ugly face of capitalists would be so consistently inherited.
“So ruthless…”
Lance couldn’t help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.
Nia nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Exactly, that old man is really something else.”
……
After finishing a day of tedious scribing work,
Lance returned to his residence, hastily finished dinner with a few pieces of dry, hard black bread and cold water, then slipped into the guild’s private training room under the cover of night.
The training room was brightly lit. Several guild-issued practice shortbows hung on the wall, and nearby quivers were filled with white-feathered arrows.
Lance took down a shortbow and tested the tension of the string.
According to his current plan, every day he had to spend an unwavering hour practicing archery first, then devote all remaining energy to swordsmanship.
After all, his swordsmanship had already reached a critical point and could break through at any moment.
“Hu…”
Lance stood at the shooting position, took a deep breath, and his gaze instantly sharpened.
Fifty meters away, the straw target appeared only as a vague silhouette under the dim light.
But he did not hesitate in the slightest.
Nock arrow, draw the bowstring, aim, release.
“Bang!”
The bowstring vibrated.
The arrow turned into an afterimage, striking precisely into the red zone of the straw target.
This was the standard of 【Levin Archery】 at LV2 (Mastery).
At this distance, as long as there was no strong wind interference, his hit rate could already be maintained at a very impressive level.
Thinking back to when he had first started practicing, each arrow had taken him eight to ten seconds just to adjust his posture, and he would hesitate while aiming, often missing the target.
But now—
Lance’s movements flowed like water, without any unnecessary delay.
From drawing the arrow to releasing it, the entire process was consistently compressed to between three and five seconds.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The training room echoed with the monotonous yet rhythmic sound of the bowstring.
As time passed, the distant straw targets were soon filled densely with arrows, resembling hedgehogs.
Lance had to stop, run over to pull out the arrows, clear the targets, and continue.
If a knowledgeable archer witnessed this scene, their jaw would likely drop to the ground in shock.
Although this practice shortbow was not a heavy bow, it still had a draw weight of a full 40 pounds.
An ordinary Adventurer—even a specialized archer—would, while maintaining proper form, begin to experience trembling in their arm muscles after about forty consecutive shots due to lactic acid buildup, causing their movements to deform and their accuracy to collapse.
But inside this training room, a terrifying scene was unfolding.
While mechanically repeating the shooting motion, Lance silently counted in his mind.
“486…”
“631…”
“814…”
“965…”
As the final arrow left his hand, producing another dull impact on the target—
Lance finally lowered his arm.
Sweat dripped from his chin onto the floor, gathering into a small puddle.
He hung the shortbow back on the wall and reached out to touch the bowstring.
After such intense continuous use, the tough sinew string had already loosened noticeably, becoming somewhat slack.
But the one who had wielded it seemed completely unaffected.
Aside from being drenched in sweat, his breathing remained steady and powerful, and there was not the slightest tremor in his arm muscles.
Lance picked up a water flask, took a few gulps, and casually summoned the system panel.
【Levin Archery LV2 (75/240)】
Looking at the number, Lance calculated silently.
An hour of extreme training had increased it by about 33 points of proficiency.
Converted, it meant that roughly every thirty arrows only squeezed out 1 point of proficiency, like toothpaste.
“At this rate, in about five more days, archery should break through to LV3.”
His gaze shifted downward, landing on the nearly filled swordsmanship progress bar.
“If I’m lucky today, swordsmanship should reach LV4.”
Lance wiped the sweat from his face and set a new plan for himself.
“After swordsmanship breaks through, I can slightly adjust the time allocation over the next few days and give an extra hour to archery.”
“Strive to bring archery to level 3 within three days.”
Looking at the steadily increasing numbers, Lance slightly frowned.
“Still a bit slow.”
Fortunately, no one else was present.
If the other Adventurers outside heard these thoughts, they would probably be furious enough to hit someone.
What others calculated in years of training progress, he was planning by the day.
And this insatiable guy—
was actually complaining that it was slow.
They might not be able to resist rushing over to strangle him.