Having completed the condensation of the Seed of Life, Green did not return to the castle immediately. Green wanted to test his power, and Old Green naturally would not stop him. However, Green's promotion to knight apprentice was a major event for the entire baron's territory. Old Green drove the carriage back to the castle first to prepare a dinner for Green.
After watching Old Green leave, Green went straight to the warehouse door. Green asked Old Green for the warehouse key.
Opening the warehouse door, Green found some training targets inside. The best way to test strength is by shooting arrows. In any era, archers are the epitome of the elite; without strength, one cannot even draw a bow.
Holding the targets he found in the warehouse, Green set them up at distances of 100, 300, 600, and 1000 paces. Considering that an adult's pace is approximately 75 centimeters, 100 paces is 75 meters, 300 paces is 225 meters, 600 paces is 450 meters, and 1000 paces is 750 meters. Feeling the distances were about right, Green fixed the targets he had found to the ground.
"According to my calculations from my previous life, Lu Bu's shooting range at the gate was probably around 100 to 200 meters. I'm probably equivalent to several Lu Bus now!" Green suddenly thought to himself while setting up the target.
Back at the warehouse entrance, Green picked up the bow and arrows he had prepared beforehand. These were standard guard equipment that Green had brought from the castle before his advancement.
The standard equipment for guards is made of wood. Guards without extraordinary physiques cannot draw bows made of metal and can only use wooden ones. However, even so, in this world where extraordinary powers exist, the physical qualities of guards far surpass those of the king of soldiers in his previous life.
He weighed the bows in his hands; these bows, made of special wood, did have a certain weight, but they felt rather light in Green's hands.
"Let's leave it at that for now. It's just a test of destructive power anyway," Green said thoughtfully.
The Storm Breathing Technique already provided a significant boost to base attributes, and with the chip's intervention, Grimm's physical abilities directly reached the limit for a knight apprentice. The standard bows and arrows used by these guards were already somewhat outdated for Grimm's excessively enhanced stats.
He picked up the quiver next to him, which was filled with 15 arrows.
Holding his breath and concentrating, Green drew his bow and aimed at the distant target.
[Activate Assistance] Green silently recited to himself.
Blue light appeared in Green's eyes. Green adjusted his posture until he matched the blue light in his eyes.
"Whoosh"
In the instant the blue light and shadow overlapped, Green released the bowstring, and the arrow with white fletching flew out.
With a thud, the arrow landed squarely on the target at a distance of 100 paces. But it wasn't over yet. The immense force of the arrow pierced through the entire target, continuing its flight for another ten meters before finally embedding itself firmly in the ground, with half of it embedded in the earth.
Seeing the destructive power of his arrows, Green felt a surge of satisfaction. After so much training, he had finally reaped the rewards, gaining the ability to protect himself in this dangerous world.
Strike while the iron is hot, arrow after arrow flies out, and with the aid of the chip, Green is practically infallible. Every arrow hits the bullseye precisely. Even at a distance of 1000 paces, Green can hit the target with every single arrow.
Just as Green was engrossed in his shooting skills, a slight vibration came, and the chip immediately issued an alarm.
[Unknown heat source detected approaching. Prepare for battle immediately. Combat assistance activated.]
The chip's notification interrupted Green, who was engrossed in his archery. Green, who was already distrustful of the outside world, immediately gripped his bow and arrows tighter.
However, Green didn't immediately take precautions. Analysis from the chip indicated the unknown heat source was in the forest to the right of the warehouse, quite a distance away. A surprise attack was unlikely; the only threat was ranged attacks like arrows.
[It is a humanoid creature, or rather, a human.]
Looking at the images in the chip, it is now the time of spring. The large amount of snow has absorbed heat, and the temperature of the entire forest is relatively low. Under the heat source sensing of the chip, the humanoid creatures in the forest are very conspicuous.
Without making a sound, he touched his quiver; only five arrows remained. As if nothing had happened, Green picked up the longsword beside him and walked towards the target, as if to retrieve the arrows.
Although he remained outwardly calm, Green was already feeling a chill run down his spine, a feeling he had never experienced before welling up inside him.
[An increase in adrenaline was detected, indicating an increase in the body's energy activity.]
Green could feel power surging within his body, his body prepared for a crisis. However, Green still hoped to avoid a fight; his combat experience was insufficient, and he knew little about the enemy. Recklessly engaging in combat would be a risk for him.
In situations like this, it's best to play it safe for now.
[A remotely thrown object has been detected. Please roll forward and crouch to avoid it immediately.]
An unprecedented sense of crisis surged through Green's heart. He felt a frantic warning coming from his temples, as if he were about to be pierced by a sharp sword. Without time to think, Green instinctively lunged forward, following the chip's instructions.
A thud reached Green's ears, like the sound of a blunt object hitting the ground. Green felt the dirt around him being kicked up, some of it even landing on his face.
"Hmm," a voice of confusion came from the person attacking Green in the distance, seemingly surprised that Green had managed to dodge.
Having narrowly escaped death by lying on the ground, Green's adrenaline surged wildly. The fear he had felt was instantly replaced by rage, the rage of impending death overshadowing his primal fear.
Without any hesitation, Green flipped over, nocked his bow, and, with the help of the chip, instantly locked onto his opponent.
The arrow shot out, heading straight for its target. Fueled by adrenaline, Green unleashed his full power in this attack, the arrow traveling at incredible speed, leaving his opponent no time to react.
The sound of an arrow piercing flesh came with a hiss.
[Target is injured] Seeing the message transmitted back by the chip, Green did not hesitate to draw his bow again.
With a series of "whoosh" sounds, three arrows were fired by Green. Thanks to the chip's powerful calculations and near-seeing heat source detection, these three arrows completely blocked the opponent's escape route.
"Damn, what kind of monster is this?" Sek cursed under his breath. After being hit by Green's first arrow in the counterattack, Sek was already filled with fear. He hadn't even revealed his position, yet the other party was still able to find him and launch a counterattack so quickly.
Seeing Green's triple shot, Sek was terrified. It was as if he had heard the call of death; he felt a chill run through his body, as if his blood had frozen.
Without the slightest hesitation, Sai Ke reached out and touched a pale green bead in his pocket, then crushed it violently with his hand.
The instant the bead was crushed, a semi-transparent white shield appeared, and Grimm's three arrows struck the shield hard.
The shield lasted only a short time, briefly blocking three of Grimm's arrows before disappearing immediately.
However, for Sek, this was enough time. Clutching his injured left arm with his right hand, he quickly escaped the range of the three arrows and ran into the depths of the Annapurna Mountains without looking back.
Green did not rush to pursue them, lest the other party set up an ambush or have accomplices, and given his lack of combat experience, he might very well lose his life.
Looking at the thermal image on the chip, Green sat down heavily on the ground after confirming that the other party had escaped.
Green's mind went blank for a long time before he slowly came to his senses. Looking at his trembling hands and the exhaustion in his body, Green felt that the swell of power he had previously gained had vanished in that instant.
He slowly propped himself up with his hands, took a few deep breaths, and calmed himself down.
Walking to the ditch beside him, Green looked at the hidden weapon that had ambushed him. It was a huge iron dart with a tail fin to stabilize its trajectory.
Green cut off a corner of his clothes with his longsword, wrapped the dart in it, and then carefully picked it up to examine it.
Green wasn't sure if his opponent had coated the darts with poison, so he was being cautious.
Upon closer inspection of the dart, Green quickly noticed a line of small writing on the tail fin.
[Sek, First Reconnaissance Squad, First Legion of Saladin]
Holy crap, are you that bold? Don't you even bother to disguise it?
Now Green had a clear idea of who had launched the attack; it was perfectly normal for Saladin to attack the people of the Kingdom of Lodin.
Green was clearly a knight's apprentice, and killing him would likely be a significant achievement, which explains why the enemy attacked him directly.
"Damn, how unlucky! I just broke through and this happens." After lamenting his bad luck, Green's expression turned serious. The shadow of war was drawing ever closer; the days of peace probably wouldn't last long.
With the dart tucked into his pocket, Green slowly walked into the forest. In this encounter, Green hadn't seen the opponent's face or figure at all; he had relied entirely on the chip's thermal imaging capabilities. He still needed to investigate how the opponent escaped.
According to the image transmitted back by the chip, the arrow seemed to be blocked by something when it approached the target, giving the target time to escape.
Walking to the edge of the forest, Green used his longsword to cleave through the bushes and headed towards the place where he would launch his attack.
"The attacker's final strike landed on the ground next to me, meaning they launched the attack from a high vantage point," Green analyzed, looking up at the large tree in front of him.
Using his physical abilities, Green easily leaped onto the tree branch. After searching for a while, Green confirmed that the attack was a spur-of-the-moment decision. In the limited space of a tree branch, launching a surprise attack was not a good idea.
It was easy to be counter-killed, just like Green's three consecutive arrows. They almost took the opponent's life.
However, Green still couldn't find any clues as to how the opponent blocked the arrows.
Upon arriving at the location where the enemy launched their attack, Green mimicked their attack and confirmed that his three arrows had locked onto the enemy.
Just as Green was thinking, the chip suddenly made a sound.
[High-energy substance detected. Please collect immediately.]
Upon hearing the chip's notification, Green immediately bent down to search and quickly found the scattered green powder.
[A large amount of life force crystals have been detected. Life force is dissipating. Absorb it immediately.]
[Absorb immediately]
Green was overjoyed at the good news.
As the green powder disappeared, a warm current slowly flowed into Green's body, causing Green to groan involuntarily.
[Green]
[Strength: 2.6]
[Speed: 2.8]
[Constitution: 3.1]
After absorbing the energy from the green powder, all of Grimm's attributes increased by 0.1. This was no small feat, as Grimm's physique had reached the upper limit of what a knight apprentice could achieve. In addition, Grimm's calculation method was a curve-based increase, and with these three 0.1 attribute increases, Grimm was at least 30% stronger than before.
After confirming that there was no more useful information, Green hurried back to the castle to tell Old Green about it.