In the end, Billy decided to finish the task on the very same day. That would leave an impression on John, so he might hire in the future. Billy also did that because it would give him the chance to practice on that same day.
"You worked hard, kiddo," John said. "Despite your size, you are surprisingly strong, as expected of Drew's son… Anyway, here is your reward and a bonus for finishing faster than I expected."
Aside from the stone bow, John gave Billy some arrows and a target. Billy had forgotten that he would need one to train near his home…
"Thank you very much," Billy said. "If you need help again, I will help."
In exchange for some equipment… Billy didn't say that, but it was obvious. Although he said that, Billy wondered if he would get another job with him. After all, the business wasn't going well… while Billy could help, his interference would be too obvious, and it would be a waste to help and not gain anything in exchange.
While carrying his rewards back home, Billy arrived filled with pride. It was the first time that he was going to fiddle with a bow, so he was looking forward to it. After having dinner with his family, Billy went to practice outside. Thanks to Lily's tips and the occasional training he had with her bow, Billy already was good enough to never miss the bull eyes… when he was three meters away from the target. He didn't know if it was a coincidence or it was an effect of the skill, but Archery was also at level three.
Archery: it increases your precision and damage when using bows and crossbows.
The skill didn't give detailed information, so it was hard to be certain if the skill reached level ten, if Billy would be able to hit his target ten meters away from him. Billy could always make his archery level up without training. However, for the time being, he decided to train it organically and level up himself and the bow to see which types of skills the weapon could get.
Stone Bow - Lv 05
Strength + 2
Dexterity + 1
Durability: 40/40
Status points: 25
Effects:
Skills points: 25
HP Lv 01 - 10 skill points.
MP Lv 01 - 10 skill points.
SP Lv 01 - 10 skill points.
Bonus Accuracy Lv 01 - 25 skill points
Arrow Creation Lv 01 - 25 skill points
After practicing for a week, Billy's skill reached level five, and he also made the bow level up five times. The effects that he could put on his bow still were weak and not impressive. However, it was probably because Billy still didn't know much about that world and its possibilities. In any case, the arrow creation effect seemed interesting… could the bow produce arrows by itself? That wasn't something he had seen so far, so it was strange.
In any case, Billy trained with the bow only at home because the training grounds were the only place he could spar with others. Much to his surprise, Natalie returned with a bruised eye after one week as well.
"What happened to you, Natalie?" Lily asked, visibly worried.
"Hahaha… I got defeated in many spars over the last week," Natalie forced a weak smile. "I did pretty well on the first day, but after that…"
Natalie described what had happened. On the first day, she sparred with some kids that were five years older, and she even managed to land a few hits. That was t surprising since Billy knew that she was close to their level. But once that happened, the other kids began to spar with her several times a day, and her stamina began to suffer thanks to that. One might say that it was just a method to make a difficult child not get carried away with her talent, but Billy knew that it wasn't the case. Over the course of the last two years, the other kids of her tribe never sparred with her. The older ones certainly had more grudges if the kids were like that because of her fighting style.
"In the end, they said that it is too soon for me to join them…" Natalie said.
Despite her bad behavior and pride, Natalie was a good kid. A kid who didn't deserve that kind of treatment from her own people. Billy saw himself getting surprised and angry at the issue. Even though he wasn't directly related to it, he couldn't just ignore the fact that a kid was being bullied just because she wanted to do things differently than the others. However, Billy also couldn't get too involved with that.
"What are your plans now?" Billy asked.
"I will keep training until I obtain the strength to show them that my path isn't wrong…" Natalie said.
"Well said… but since you are a muscle-head, you will need some help," Billy said.
"What did you say?" Natalie said while clenching her teeth.
Billy ignored Natalie's complaints and then began to spar with her. Solving the issue by increasing the strength of her weapon would be too easy. Instead of that, Billy focused on making her overcome her weakness, which was her short temper, and improving her strength which was her natural talent, lack of fear, and eagerness to train.
She had improved a lot when they sparred together. Still, since Billy always focused on counter-attacking, it gave her the bad habit of staying on the offense. Now, he would be the one to stay in the offense and let her learn how to defend herself while changing her posture to attack as fast as possible. As a result of the first day, Natalie ended up hurt in several spots on her arms.. However, after a while, she began to get used to it… at dodging attacks while not losing her momentum and ferocity.
