That evening on the square.
Matthew finished his spar with Fabian for the day. Sweat soaked his coarse cloth shirt, and his chest rose and fell slightly. He summoned his status panel, his gaze landing on the 【Basic Swordsmanship】 column.
【Basic Swordsmanship: Basic (22/200)】
“Four points...” Matthew muttered to himself, his brow furrowing slightly. His sparring session with Fabian had lasted about the same amount of time as usual, but this time his proficiency had only increased by four points.
This speed was indeed much faster than a few days ago when he did not have the 【Filthy Bone Chain】, almost returning to the high efficiency of their first few sparring sessions.
However, Matthew felt little joy in his heart. Instead, a faint trace of worry welled up.
Because he had discovered a much more efficient method: real combat!
With just those few slashes at the goblins, his proficiency had skyrocketed!
This also allowed him to analyze the three tiers of training efficiency. From fastest to slowest, they were: real combat, sparring, and swinging at the air.
“No wonder wealthy young masters find sparring partners to feed them moves...” Matthew felt a bit helpless. It was impossible for him to enter the forest alone to look for goblins.
And Instructor Calm's patrol frequency into the forest was twice a week. The next one would be in three days.
Matthew did not want to waste his time every day.
Furthermore!
He turned his gaze to another item in his skill column.
【Basic Archery: Novice (96/100)】
“My archery is decent enough now.”
But new troubles came with it. Archery was not like swordsmanship; he could not easily find someone to hold a shield or use other weapons for confrontational practice.
There were not many people in the village who knew archery to begin with. If they sparred, it would just be Matthew feeding them moves, which would not achieve the purpose of sparring.
“Once my archery reaches the 'Basic' level, how can I continue to improve it quickly?” Matthew looked up at the stars on the horizon, falling into deep thought.
“Hey, Matthew.” Fabian strode over, clapping a thick palm onto Matthew's shoulder with a grin. “What are you thinking about?”
Matthew snapped out of it. Seeing it was Fabian, he shook his head with a bitter smile. “Brother Fabian, it is not that I am dissatisfied. It is just...”
He paused and said honestly,
“I am thinking about what kind of method would be both safe and simulate real archery combat.”
“Archery, huh...” Fabian scratched his spiky short hair, looking thoughtful. He did not know archery, but having spent years roaming the mountains and forests, he still had the eye for tracking and reading situations.
“If you cannot find a sparring partner, then... why not just switch to a live target?”
He suggested casually.
Matthew's heart stirred. “A live target? A moving target?”
“Birds!” Fabian pointed toward the night sky with his chin. “Have you not heard the village elders say? Years ago, when there were plenty of birds in the forest, some hunters trained their accuracy by shooting at them.”
“Those things are much harder to shoot than wooden stumps. They fly high and low, fast and slow. If it is foggy or evening, they are even harder to aim at.”
These words were like a ray of sunlight piercing through the clouds, instantly lighting up Matthew's train of thought.
In his past life, shooting practice also involved moving targets. If one wanted to get more advanced, it even required breath control...
Although he did not have the conditions to set up moving targets now, flying birds were the most natural and perfect "live targets"!
“Brother Fabian, that is a great idea!”
“Heh, as long as it helps. But shooting birds wastes a lot of arrows, so pace yourself.”
“I understand!” Matthew nodded vigorously. “Are you rested enough?”
However, upon hearing this, the smile on Fabian's face stiffened. A clear look of hesitation and... resistance flashed across his face.
He instinctively rubbed his still sore arms and shoulders, saying in a muffled voice:
“I have swung my sword enough today. Let's practice tomorrow.”
In truth, Fabian could not be blamed. Ever since the two of them started sparring a few days ago, Matthew's rate of progress had been monstrous.
At first, they could go back and forth, and Fabian could even suppress Matthew by relying on his strength advantage.
But how many days had it been?
Not only had Matthew's strength grown visibly, but his force and technique had also become much more profound!
Fabian was truly struggling to hold his ground.
Seeing Fabian's "no thank you" expression, Matthew spoke a bit more before they agreed to rest for a while longer before sparring again.
At the same time.
Under the slightly secluded eaves on the other side of the square, Instructor Calm stood with his arms crossed, his calm gaze sweeping over the entire training ground.
Uncle Byrne had walked up to Calm's side at some point. Following Calm's gaze, he also saw the young man focused on swinging his sword.
Byrne fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a low voice:
“Matthew is a hard-working boy.”
Calm let out a barely perceptible grunt of agreement.
“His current strength is already among the top in the village. It is a bit of a pity for him to still stay at the mill.”
“You are right, which is why I took him to the forest outskirts today. He performed well.”
He paused.
“However, when the village needs combat strength, we can call on him.”
“With his current skills, dealing with three to five ordinary goblins or a lone wild beast is more than enough.”
Byrne was slightly surprised. Not many people received such high praise from Calm.
“I understand,” Byrne said. “In the future, if the patrol team is temporarily short-handed, or if there is any trouble in the village that requires force, we can call him.”
“Mhm,” Instructor Calm responded curtly, saying no more.
...
Early the next morning, before dawn, the morning mist still lingered in the forest.
Matthew had already finished checking all the traps. Compared to the first time he had seen goblin footprints, he was now actually looking forward to fighting goblins.
Of course, a one-on-one fight would be best, rather than getting ganged up on...
Unfortunately, there were no goblins near any of the traps today, and there were not even any footprints.
Matthew put the single wild rabbit into his pouch, feeling little disappointment.
The harvest from traps naturally fluctuated; being able to get anything at all was already a stroke of luck.
He did not leave the forest edge immediately. Instead, he gathered materials on the spot and began crafting simple arrows.
Training by shooting birds would inevitably consume a massive number of arrows. The standard arrows in the village were precious, so he had to find a way to be self-sufficient.
He selected several straight, tough thin branches from the bushes, using his shortsword to shave off the side branches and knots, roughly shaping them into arrow shafts.
Lacking professional fletching, he found some wider, slightly stiffer leaves nearby, carefully tore them into strips, and bound them to the tail of the shafts with thin vine fibers to act as crude stabilizing fletching.
He could not make arrowheads for now, so he could only leave them blunt, using them to practice aiming and trajectories rather than dealing actual damage.
If he wanted real arrows, he would have to spend copper coins to buy them.
This process took him nearly an hour, eventually yielding over twenty crude practice arrows.
Having finished this, he looked up at the sky. The morning mist had dispersed, and the sky was growing bright—it was just the time when birds began to be active.
Instead of returning to the village, he carried his bow, slung the newly made arrows over his back, and turned to walk toward another area outside the village—the wheat fields.
Rate on N.U.
