Chapter 52

<Chapter 52 - The Professor Is Smiling> Monday, 1st Period (9 AM~11 AM) -Professor Mahabharata (Shapeshifter, Dragon Guardian) (Sophomore Class Dean) -Lecture Name: Advanced Homeroom -Lecture Category: Common, Advanced Class Monday, 2nd Period (11 AM~1 PM) -Professor Estrada Bronze (Outlaw, Human) -Lecture Name: Developing Discernment (1st, 2nd Year) -Lecture Category: Department of Adventure, Elective Lunchtime (1 PM~2 PM) Monday, 3rd Period (2 PM~4 PM) -Professor Weird (Druid, Dryad) -Lecture Name: Basics and Understanding of Mana Usage -Lecture Category: Department of Magic, Elective Filling Monday's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd periods with lectures. It's a natural timetable for academy students who don't drench their weekends in alcohol! "Getting your lectures on just a few days of the week is preferable if you want to enjoy club activities too!" Packing Mondays is the wisest choice. "Oh my. Is Di taking full-time classes till the 4th period on Monday? That's a tough schedule." "Arcadia, you’ve filled up your schedule too." "I'm 17 and Oknodie is 11. This is nothing for a 17-year-old." Arcadia, coming from a different lecture during the same period. The lecture she unexpectedly encountered for her 4th period was the Department of Knights' elective, <Mastery of Long-range Weapons>. Arcadia is a side character infamous for her baseless fashion and equally baseless skill acquisition. Every episode, the skills she possesses are randomly different. -Arcadia had fencing and shooting skills in the previous episodes, but where did her combat skills go? What's with the shopping and why is her dancing skill so high? -LOL, the newbie thought he could get easy benefits with Arcadia but got backstabbed by socialite Arcadia. -Arcadia's main and sub-skills change to her whim every episode. Her high shopping and dance skills might be useful in black market and social events haha. -What does she even do during ship events then? -Perhaps something like a dancer? Sounds about right. -Cheerleader Arcadia LOL -Pom-pom Arcadia LOL When a newbie chooses Arcadia and is baffled by her changed skills, it's almost a tradition for the veterans to collectively tease them – a staple in their regular content. "What can you handle, Arcadia?" "Hehe. Brace yourself for a shock. I can handle 'guns'!" "Oh." Martial artist Arcadia, it is. ...Though it somehow still feels precarious. This person had unusually high affability this season. She's also been acting as a mental support for group A's female students. She might have abilities related to <Politics> or <Leadership>. Thinking she's more of a commander than a martial artist, huh? Are these too many skills for one character? 'More isn’t always better, especially if it's about increasing the quantity.' NPCs' skill totals tend to be fixed. Some start with a total skill experience of 3000, others with 10000. The limit is there, but most can't exceed their predetermined skill experience total. 'Jack-of-all-trades Arcadia is problematic!' Characters who aren't specialized are called fail-characters by experienced players! * * The professor of <Mastery of Long-range Weapons> was a centaur, a creature half-human, half-horse, seemingly born to excel at archery. Unfortunately, not the bipedal Uma Musume but a quadruped centaur. Centaur heroes, famous throughout the history of the continent for producing numerous heroes, are renown as a heroic race, and this professor was no exception, a formidable woman of great stature. Ding-dang-dong Watching the professor, a living legend, entering the classroom with her horse hooves clacking, a student muttered, "How does she even fit into the bathroom with that size?" "!!" Students plunged into deep thought with serious expressions. Oknodie was no exception, lost in her thoughts. 'I never thought about it in games, but now I'm genuinely curious. How does she use the bathroom?' Does she have a special bathroom? "Young talents of the continent, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Professor Evening Shooter, and I'll be teaching you the Mastery of Long-range Weapons course for the next few months." "Really, the bathroom..." "...A stable might be best..." "...Probably needs special equipment..." Despite the professor's greeting, the previous topic was so shocking that the students took a while to recover. Without changing her expression, Professor Evening Shooter grasped her bow and drew the string without an arrow. <Evening Shooter> <Rapid Fire> <Magic Arrow> Thwock thwock thwock! "Ah!" "Eek!" "Ouch!" Students, hit by the magically conjured arrows at incredible speeds, teared up slightly. As my heart raced from narrowly avoiding the onslaught, Professor Evening Shooter shot me a 'you managed to dodge?' look. I was worried she might launch another dozen attacks at me, but fortunately, the satisfaction from hitting other students seemed to suffice, and she put her bow away. "Mastering long-range weapons allows you to reprimand students not paying attention in class, and to utterly surprise and rout an enemy on guard." Once her anger subsided, the professor began the lecture. "In this course, we'll learn how to handle long-range weapons in various situations." "Bow, gun, crossbow, sling, blowgun. You'll acquire the skills and wisdom needed for achieving your goals with any sort of weapon." "Those who achieve their objectives will pass the exam. You may leave immediately or stay till the end of the class for further personal practice." In the wide outdoor training field. To prevent accidents during training, several instructors were assigned to assist with Professor Evening Shooter's class. Unfortunately, Arcadia wasn't among the archers to whom I hurried over. "Gahahah! Long-range weapons are all about guns. Can I shoot? Can I shoot them all?" Instead, there was no sign of the mad gunwoman and privateer, Jigoku. Good that I chose a bow. As I was reassuring myself, another student from a different line motioned towards me. "An assassin with a bow? Let's throw knives together!" "...No thanks. I'll stick with the bow." Assassin Jiang, his eyes full of disappointment, looked at me. Hmph. Who are you treating like an assassin? "Archers, hold your bows and step forward into the line. For beginners, there will be a demonstration by an experienced instructor." The basic training covered everything from the stance of holding and aiming the bow, to breathing techniques and methods of targeting. "Trainees who have not mastered the basic stance will continue with basic training, while those who are proficient can equip magical goggles and aim to hit the targets displayed before them." Of course, the archery experience I rapidly improved in the short term at Jonah's training ground was not so mediocre as to be tripped up by the basics. Unlike most students who chose a small or moderately-sized, lightweight bows within the limits of their build and arm strength, I picked up a longbow known as <Great Knight’s Killing Range> with a draw weight of over 45kg, ridiculously heavy and with high tension. "Look at that kid." "She's holding a bow as heavy as her own body weight." "Isn't she lighter than the bow? Keke." The imperial nobles did not hide their open ridicule. To them, having experienced handling bows at hunting competitions almost like annual family events, my actions must have seemed laughable. The instructor, too, was taken aback by my choice and commented. "Oknodie, first-year. There's no need to choose such a heavy bow. The targets this time are not armored knights in full plate." "This is just what I'm used to." Wuuush. As I drew the bow, my arm muscles tensed tightly. Yes, this is it. A bow must have high tension to truly feel right. Fiddling with a tiny shortbow only earns you the sound of shooting arrows. What use is that? Whoosh- Ping- Unlike the toy-like arrows that hit the target and wobbled up and down, the arrow I notched on the string sounded distinctly different as I drew it back. With a creak, as soon as the arrow seemed aimed at the target, I released the bowstring. Swoosh- Thwack- Not only did it hit the target, but it also shattered it. The sight of the upper half of the target bending and breaking away left the imperial noble students, who had been snickering earlier, with their eyes shaking uncontrollably. "What did you say again? I didn't catch it because I was focusing." "Ah, no. You’re good at shooting bows." "Is she a monster...? Really not a half-orc?" Seeing the dumbfounded looks on the students' faces was incredibly satisfying. Heh heh. Mess with me while I'm holding a bow, and you’re asking for trouble. * * "Professor, do you have a ballista by any chance?" "The pride of the ship are its cannons, so why no cannons? I wanted to showcase my cannon-firing skills!" "Gahahaha! Gonna shoot, shoot, shoot!" While the instructors of other groups were tormented by ridiculous requests from students, their expressions souring, The archery instructor, as soon as the shooting session ended and it was time to rest, dashed towards a spot he had had his eye on before. "Wow. What is this? It's completely wrecked." The target stand wasn’t so fragile as to break down from shooting arrows at it. Yet, the upper half of the target was utterly ripped apart. If it had been a real person, the armor would have been pierced in an instant, and the upper half inside the armor would have been torn to shreds. "Professor Evening Shooter, please look at this." "Power shot. I appointed someone to teach the students, and is the instructor practicing on his own?" "It wasn’t me." "Then a student shot this?" "It was a target shot by first-year Oknodie." The evidence on the target shot by a first-year plunged Professor Evening Shooter into deep contemplation. It wasn’t a force to be shown off by just dabbling with a bow in a parent-accompanied hunting competition. "The 981st advanced class seems to have a lot of potential for heroism. Successors of divine archers, masters of swordsmanship, experts in shooting, and now a powerful archer." Professor Evening Shooter smiled with satisfaction. "We can raise the difficulty level for the next lecture. Let’s advance the lecture planned for three weeks later." The difficulty of the lecture soared. It was unfortunate news for students who would suffer, guilty by association with Oknodie.