This weapon actually has no ‘bow’. To be precise, it does not have the ‘bow’ that people generally imagine.
An arrow sticks to the back of Astemil’s arm. It was a beautiful arrow formed of water.
At the same time, a wavering magic power is coiling around her right arm. That enormous amount of magic power fluctuated so much that it was gushing out, seemingly twisting the air in the surrounding.
Then, quietly– Master twitched the corner of her mouth.
At that moment, something pierced the big tree in front of us. Something that can’t be seen. No, it is made so that it cannot be seen.
Yes, the invisible arrow pierced the center of the big tree, easily creating a cavity in it. There was no sound of shooting, but a hole was created silently.
All that remained were the water droplets clinging between the index and middle fingers of Master, making a noise as it fell to the ground.
“Nil Arrow.”
Then, she smiled.
“There are three benefits of using this. One, by turning your arm into a bow, you do not need to carry a bow. Two, you also don’t need arrows, so you don’t need to carry one. And the third–”
Master then put her index finger in front of her mouth.
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“This arrow can’t be seen and won’t make any noise.”
“… Amazing”
A voice of admiration slipped from my mouth as I nodded.
“Certainly, with this, I can solve the problem of not having enough magic power to use two magic devices…. It also serves as training to use water attribute magic, and there is no need to switch from a sword to a bow… It suits my wish to cover short to medium distances…”
“Fufufu!”
With her arms crossed, Master laughed loudly.
“How is it! Your master is amazing, right, Hiiro! Do you feel like breaking your engagement now! You sure are happy to have such a Master!!”
“No, really, you… I knew you were incredible from the start… Originally, you shouldn’t be the master of someone like Hiiro… If it were those mediocre masters, they would just give me a bow and arrow, and it’s over… But you, you didn’t only completely fulfill my request, but also give me a more amazing suggestion…”
“M-my beloved disciple praised me normally…. S-scary…”
Astemil Klue La Kirlisia. This woman is not just strong. She is also willing to teach her students anything with her very best. Nil Arrow… Considering my situation, certainly, only this move can solve it.
When I asked her to teach me how to use a normal bow, I really meant it. Yes, I really meant to have her teach me how to use a normal bow… despite having the knowledge of the game and knowing the existence of Nil Arrow.
Even so, I’m sure the Master has decided to teach Nil Arrow to me immediately after hearing my request. Because if she was really going to let me use a normal bow, she would have taught me at least the basic posture and how to shoot even if I was still down due to the magic power exhaustion.
What I want to say is, the strength of this woman is complex. She got the position of the strongest with all kinds of elements intertwined.
— someday, I’m sure she will surpass me who has the knowledge of the game.
That’s why I can’t help but think, is there really a day when I could surpass this girl?
“But, Hiiro, this Nil Arrow actually has one big issue. Or rather, because of this issue, you asked me to 『Teach me how to use normal bow.』. Well then, what do you think the issue is?”
“It’s slots.”
Hearing that, Master nodded in satisfaction.
“Kuki Masamune that I have been using only has 3 slots… And to use this Nil Arrow, at least 3 consoles are needed. 『Attribute: water』, 『Generation: Arrow』, and 『Control: Shoot』– To be honest, I also thought about shooting a magic arrow, but it would be fatal if I have to replace my consoles to cover short to medium range battle. That is why I intended to use a normal bow and arrow.”
“You mean to use a magic device for short-range battles and a normal bow for medium-range battles, right?”
I nodded.
“It’s the same reason why Master used the Nameless Tombstone, right?”
“No, in my case, that was just a handicap. I am strong, after all (triumphant).”
Annoying ^_^
“But the fact that Master bothered to teach this Nil Arrow to me means… there is a way to solve the slot problem, right?”
“Correct. But, as expected, I don’t think Hiiro knows about that method–”
“Ammo belt–”
Hearing that, Master slowly opened her eyes in astonishment.
“–That is encircling the bow, which is the starting point of the shooting… In other words, creating Nil Arrows that encircle my arm. This is what I meant by the ammo belt. With this method, I only need two slots, 『Atttribute: water』 and 『Generation: arrow』. And since there is only one slot left, I can still create a non-attribute blade. In battle, when I am making this arrow, I can keep a medium distance and concentrate on defense, and even if the opponent shortened the distance, I can just keep the opponent in check with the non-attribute blade.”
With that as the introduction, I said “This is the first step.”, and lifted my second finger.
“Then, after I finished creating the ammo belt, I replace the consoles, and set 『Control: Shoot』 in one slot. Which means, as long as I can maintain the magic power, I will be able to shoot Nil Arrows at any time, and since there are 2 slots left, I can also handle short-range battle. Or rather, I can even go into offense in that readied state.”
Hearing my explanation, Master laughed.
“Very good…”
Then she embraced my head and stroked it vigorously.
“That sense!! Exactly, that sense, Hiiro! My beloved disciple!! You truly are my beloved disciple!! Lapis was, of course, a genius. But you are also a genius!! Cute!! You really are cute, Hiiro!!1”
“… Can you please say something like that to Lapis.”
After embracing me tightly with her soft body that also smells nice, making me have to deal with a cuteness that is poison for a man, Master smiled happily.
“I also understand the trick that made the arrow disappear.”
“… Hah?”
After releasing the stunned Master, I insert the console needed for the magic to my magic device.
I then inhaled and exhaled as I tried to form a water arrow– but it wasn’t stable.
Perhaps because the parameter of my water attribute is not enough, the crooked arrow was something that even I couldn’t imagine could fly properly. But even with such a result, my magic power is still sucked in and light still could be seen in front of my eyes.
Consoles are actually nothing more than an aid to the imaginative calculations performed in the magician’s brain. In other words, when the magician insert 『Generation: arrow』 console in their magic devices, what kind of arrow made is left to the imagination of the said magician.
For example, Light is easy to imagine since it was just a light ball. But, an arrow is… something that I am not familiar with, and it’s hard to imagine how it will fly. And since the imagination is half-assed, it is natural that such a child-graffiti-like arrow was completed.
“….!!”
Maybe because the arm that is used to shoot the arrow was also not stable, it’s not well aimed, and the water arrow that I shot went off target.
Yes, off-target. The water arrow on the back of my arm remains there as if I haven’t shot anything, but a shallow hole is made in the big tree that was not my target.
And Master who saw this scene subconsciously said, “…no way.”
“It was completely no good. I will die if I try to use that, for now. I got carried away and said ammo belt, but I don’t think I can use it like that because it is too difficult to stabilize the two arrows. Or rather, in the first place, I don’t think it will hit my opponent–”
“Just once…”
Master looked at me as if she just saw a ghost.
“You understood how to shoot the Nil Arrow…. and even tried it… after just seeing it once…?”
“Eh, un. I don’t know if it’s the same way as Master, though.”
I said while feeling tired, a symptom close to magic power exhaustion.
“It is actually just repeating the generation of the water arrow twice, right? In other words, I just have to generate an arrow on the back of my arm first. Next, I shoot it while injecting my magic power on the trajectory, and cancel the generation of the water arrow…. And if I generated another water arrow when the magic power on the trajectory lands, the trajectory would not be visible to the opponent.”
There is a large amount of magic power… magic operators in the air, and once mixed with that, it would be difficult for someone to follow the traces of magic power that I used. Therefore, my opponent won’t be able to see the trajectory of the said magic power.
And that is, unmistakably, the trick of Nil Arrow.
“But, someone with a good instinct may notice that trick. That’s why, if I create two water arrows in an overlapping manner, with one of them being a decoy that won’t be used and visible, and shoot the other one, my opponent will be confused.”
“…. Fu, fufufu.”
At that moment, a cold feeling assaulted my spine. With her eyes shining, Master was staring at me, breathlessly.
“It is the best… the best material… someone who can become stronger endlessly… a lump of talent… genius… my beloved disciple… smarter, stronger, and cuter than any disciple in the world… fufu… I will make him stronger than ever… more and stronger…”
Then, my shoulders were grabbed by Master.
“A-ano, Master, I’m already out of magic power toda–”
“I won’t let you sleep tonight (sexy male voice).”
“No, ano, it’s still morning, and I have school later… M-master… what’s with those serious eyes… Isn’t the basis of swordsmanship swinging… Wa-wait–”
Ah~ ^_^ (Periodical death)
After being squeezed by Master, I managed to convince her to stop the training, as I need to return to the school.
And when I jumped over the already closed school gate breathlessly, hoping I could be in time for class– I met her.
“Hiiro.”
Perhaps she is waiting for me?
With a serious face which is unlike usual, Lapis whispered–
“Can you come with me for a bit?”
–With the atmosphere that won’t allow me to say no.
“O-ou.”
Thus, dragged by her atmosphere… I followed her back.