'He's amazing...'

It had been a while since we started this spar in this barrier and this was definitely a heavy environment even though we hadn't even started yet.

He was strong and far different from Carla, Rein, or that foolish instructor from the adventurer association.

He was amazing and someone that vaguely reminded me of the times when I used to do these kinds of spars with my grandma back at the tower home.

He didn't move from his place and just stood there at the start and accepted the arrows I shot at him into this imaginary world we had created.

I was using my pure physical archery, so there was no way we would not go into the [ZONE] and use Aura in this match.

Just the start was intense when he blocked my countless arrows and I avoided his countless cuts and thrusts.

He was good and had experience in imagery combat. And it was far better than anything I had faced until now.

Even Rein wasn't this proficient in imagery fights even after her deep experience in actual combat.

The way he avoided my attacks, the way he cut down those enchanted arrows with that saber, and the way he attacked with high speed and proficiency were exceptional.

Our fight lasted long and even though I was using one of my best bows, Tay, just the imagery pushed me to use the actual power of bows and arrows.

And throughout this confrontation, there was a wide smile on his face..

'He's excited. He's not joking around with his power, either.'

He also knows just how powerful I am and just how good I can be with just my physical archery.

I won't actually use magic because I don't want to.

No... definitely not.

If I can, I wanted to use my magic, archery, and maybe runes if needed.

But, he wasn't called iron heart for nothing.

He is good and has a deep understanding of magic and his agility is so much better than mine that if I stuck up to using magic and give him even a point-blank gap, I will have his sharp (level-11) artifact sword on my throat.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

I didn't have to win here. At the very least, don't do things that would disappoint him.

I wanted that clue letter but, I also had to get him to actually acknowledge my abilities if I wanted him for anything at all.

I had to last long and show him some great part of my actual strength.

Something like how I train with Rein and more.

This imaginary confrontation we just had was quick, so I don't know if many of them could actually keep up with the speed we would be fighting at.

This fight that hadn't even started yet... I already know it would be fun.

I was looking into his eyes, and his eyes were locked with mine.

His saber was a good weapon and looking at how he didn't give me any opening in our imagery fight, it was clear that he wouldn't actually give me any chance to start either.

I will have to start this fight, knowing full well he has the upper advantage in almost everything statistically.

My loss was ninety-nine percent guaranteed but, luckily, I had this bow and quiver.

This bow, Tay, was practically made for pure physical archery, and the quiver on my back was something filled with countless normal, special, and super-special arrows.

Just like my main nine bows, I had six main arrow holders like this quiver, and this one was the sixth one among those.

This one had the most diverse variety of arrows. From normal, and some enchanted, some with special enchantments on them, and a few with high enchantments that I don't want to use here.

So, I had a lot of arrows, and a strong bow that won't get destroyed even if I do 'that' thing and go deep or reach the bottom.

So, he was ready; I was ready, and so were the spectators.

The bowstring of this short bow was made of something that would be too unreal to even think about, so I won't say it, but it alone was able to stabilize all the enchantments I put on this small bow with many difficulties.

Ok then...

'Pure physical archery:'

Taking a deep breath, preparing my mind and all the possible scenarios in my mind, aligning the muscles needed for the fight, lifting up my bow and aiming at him, smiling at him for the last time as a signal of start, I prepared my hand and fingers after seeing his sharp eyes and smile. And...

'Friendly battlefield.'

We both vanished from our positions, creating a powerful storm that instantly broke the barriers created by low-tier mages.

***

"Hmm? Nuuu~. Big brother won't even come for lunch~? Did everyone hide their gifts in secret places to confuse big brother?

Hoooooow can you do that?

Didn't mamma and daddy say he will have fun playing this game~?"

Sitting on a pure white bench in the middle of a beautiful greenhouse with a spherical glass ceiling, countless great plants and trees with fresh flowers and fruits, and a big garden on the back side of this bench, a young girl was sitting with an angelic little girl.

Both of them looked amazing, cute, and adorable~!

There were many people sitting on the grass ground just on the other side of this white bench in this greenhouse garden.

Some ladies were having tea with some snacks, some old ones were chatting among themselves with a bright expressions, and some men were talking among themselves with a purple diary placed in the middle of them.

A young boy was drawing a complicated geometrical structure with a small stone tablet as support to his papers, and a young girl with red hair was gracefully swinging her wooden sword, looking marvelous with her every move.

The young girls sitting at a distance on a white bench were adorable and even more so was the older one of them, who was chuckling with a sweet smile at the younger angel's puffed cheeks.

The little girl in a cute outfit was grumpy and angry at the thing that she just heard from the butterfly on the girl's hand and everyone seeing her cute anger laughed at the same time.

There was a crystal blue butterfly on the girl's finger which looked pretty and after what the young girl said, her older sister and best friend couldn't just enjoy the young one's cute anger and started talking.

"Anna~. I know big brother is having fun right now~. Maybe he wants to have lunch with the knights, mages, and others at home.

You know how he is usually busy, but they all still love it when he makes something for them, right?

I think he's having fun there while playing the game.

He will be here before dinner, so let's just wait alright~?

When he comes here, let's surprise him even more~!"

There was a divine smile on her face and as the little one saw her smile like that and felt her genuine feelings, a smile took over that grumpy, cute face.

"Okey~!"

Truly adorable~.

They both had somewhat different appearances, but they were just like an inseparable sister duo.

The four ladies were genuinely delighted at the thoughts of the young girl, agreeing to what she said.

The males had no interest in anything right now as they intensely analyzed the purple diary and deciphered the 'masterfully' written things.

The writing in it was so good that it looked as if written in gold in their eyes, needing this extreme concentration just to properly understand the written part.

They were determined to do it by themselves instead of using any artifact, so this was taking them far longer than any other one that had received the book.

They were the proud male mages, and the eldest of the three was a magic engineer.

They all were admiring their young boy who might be having fun in his treasure hunt right now but, the two old men standing on the far left under a tree had different thoughts in their minds.

"Master Eon will spar with sir Melor."

"I knew he won't be able to resist after seeing his archery~!"

"Master Eon, he is that amazing."

"Indeed."

"But... can he win?"

"Of course... he will lose this time."

"Yes. Of course..."

"Hohoho. He's amazing, right Zhen?"

"Of course. Master Eon is more than amazing."

"Oho~. Even you can't help but compliment him."

"Master Eon... he's more special than he shows, master."

"We all know that already, old man."

"Won't you ask him about his unreal strengths?"

"We already know, don't we? It's mostly thanks to his master and his own talent."

"His master..."

A bitter smile appeared on the old butler's face and he just shook his head with a helpless smile on his face as he looked on the other side... at the older girl with a butterfly on her finger.

'Master Eon has grown a lot. A lot more than I could have ever imagined..

He survived a forbidden zone and came back with an unknown girl that even I can't understand.

He says she's his master's daughter, but... what was his master and what is this girl...?

Haaa...

I hope I can be of help to them in at least some way.

Maybe not young miss Zoe, but... to protect this family I cherish, he surely needs a shadow.

Even after walking the path of a shadow, he will need a shadow to protect his loved ones.

I'm here, young master... so, use this lowly assassin however you like.

Grow stronger so that when the time comes... I can ask for my long-cherished wish.

A wish that may be only you... will be able to fulfill.'