Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 457: Showing Off Their Skills, Continued
Tauro laughed at Aeris’s teasing encouragement and began walking backward.
He passed the position from which the young hunter had fired and continued increasing the distance.
“How far are you planning to go?”
“Is that not much too far?”
“Can anyone even hit the target from there?”
Tauro finally stopped beyond the square, with a row of houses partly obscuring him from the spectators.
He raised the Bow of Artemis and released an arrow.
It tore through the air in a pale arc and struck the nock of the hunter’s first arrow. The earlier shaft split cleanly, and Tauro’s arrow buried itself in the center of the target.
The spectators gasped. Merely reaching the target from that distance was remarkable, but some still wondered whether the perfect impact had been luck.
A second arrow crossed the village.
It struck the nock of the hunter’s second arrow and split that shaft in precisely the same way.
No one could dismiss the feat as chance any longer.
At that range, hitting the wooden target alone would have been exceptional. Tauro’s precision was astonishing, and the depth of the arrows in the backing tree demonstrated that the shots carried tremendous power as well.
Even the knights guarding the procession, who had initially watched with indulgent smiles, stared in surprise.
Tauro fired a third time.
Light enveloped the arrow and streamed behind it as it flew. The glowing projectile was visible to everyone in the square.
It struck the nock of the hunter’s third arrow, but this time the earlier shaft wasn’t merely split. It was obliterated. Tauro’s [Light Arrow] punched through the target, pierced the tree behind it, and embedded itself deep in a wall beyond.
“What was that?”
“Did it make a hole through the tree?”
“I’ve never seen an arrow do anything like that!”
For a heartbeat, everyone stared in stunned silence.
“Incredible!”
The square erupted in cheers.
Tauro walked back as though the result were perfectly ordinary. Inwardly, he was extremely pleased, but he maintained the calm dignity expected of Count Graunewald’s eldest son.
The display had been anything but fair. [Precision] greatly enhanced Tauro’s dexterity, [Divine Archer] strengthened his archery, and [Heroic Style] raised his basic abilities. The restriction on [Light Spirit Magic] had also been lifted, greatly increasing the power of [Light Arrow].
His equipment added still more advantages. The Bow of Artemis carried his abilities into every shot. Behemoth Leather Armor enhanced several of his attributes, and the Guardian Doll Round Shield secured to his left arm granted a major increase in physical strength.
“That’s the true ability of Tauro, leader of Black-Gold Wings,” Aeris announced proudly when he returned.
“As expected of Lord Tauro,” Zion said, applauding beside her.
Ankh and Ragune began clapping enthusiastically, and the surrounding spectators quickly joined them. The applause became thunderous.
The young hunter had been shown the enormous difference between their levels, but he accepted it honestly and applauded Tauro as well.
The demonstrations continued.
Some participants were discouraged after Tauro’s overwhelming performance, but the chance to display their own abilities remained too important to abandon. Service with a powerful noble house could completely change their lives.
The young woman who had asked Aeris to evaluate her light magic stepped forward.
“I can use [Purification], the spell above [Clean]. For offense, I have also learned the rare intermediate spell [Lightning Arrow].”
She raised her staff and cast the spell. An arrow of crackling electricity shot into the sky and vanished above the village.
“That was truly [Lightning Arrow]!”
“Lightning magic is rare even among talented mages.”
“She may be the most gifted spellcaster in this group.”
The spectators praised her enthusiastically.
“Then it’s my turn,” Aeris said with the same calm confidence Tauro had shown.
She raised the ebony staff Tauro had returned to her.
The staff no longer held its former griffon magic stone. Tauro had replaced it with a smaller, beautifully aquamarine gem.
Aeris didn’t know its exact value. It was a top-quality Water Dragon magic stone, the finest item sold by Dragon’s Breath Armory in the Dragonfolk Village. Its price had been thirty platinum coins – roughly three hundred million yen – but Tauro had purchased it without ceremony and fitted it to her staff as though it were an ordinary replacement.
Aeris pointed the staff toward the sky.
“[Lightning Rain].”
A bolt of lightning on an entirely different scale from the earlier [Lightning Arrow] erupted from the staff.
The discharge roared as it climbed into the heavens. Startled villagers rushed from their homes, believing a sudden thunderstorm had struck.
The young spectators froze. The sound alone was overwhelming, and the violent power of [Lightning Rain] made the previous spell seem tiny by comparison.
For a moment, Aeris herself stood speechless.
Then she recovered, turned a sharp glare on Tauro, and approached him. She leaned close and spoke through the small soundproof barrier around them.
“Tauro… this magic stone must have been extraordinarily expensive. Its power is far too great.”
Even Aeris hadn’t expected the staff to draw out her current magical capacity with such overwhelming force.