Invincible
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#93
🕑 Added 2024-08-29 12:10:58 +0000 UTCThe Archer (2)
The mansion of the Delsi family was located in the remote coastal village.
A humble location with no shipping routes, where fishing was the only livelihood in such a poor land.
However, the head of the Delsi family was a remarkable man.
With exceptional stamina, he cherished his territory enough to work as a fisherman himself, earning the deep trust of the villagers. His business acumen was so outstanding that he made it easier for people to live, even in that poor land.
On the other hand, his son Limberton...
"Tsk tsk, if only he had inherited even half of his father's traits."
"Seeing as how he has no luck with children, maybe the name Delsi is cursed?"
He was small and weak, lacking courage. He would cry at the barking of passing dogs and, despite being a noble, was always ostracized by the village children.
He was often regarded as a fool for his flirtatious attempts with women and looked down upon for showing pathetic behavior when he tried to follow his father onto the boat.
Because of this, his mother, Lulen, always overprotected him.
"Hunting again? Didn’t I tell you not to go?"
"But I need to do something."
"Even so, look at your arms. Wild dogs would chew them up like bones."
"Look at these arms. They've become sturdier since I started learning archery."
"They look thinner than my fingers."
Of course, this was a bit exaggerated, but they were thinner than the plump wrists of his mother.
"But archery is safe. I can shoot from afar and run away if things go wrong."
"Your skin is softer than calfskin. What if you cut yourself handling arrows?"
And every time he received such overprotection, Limberton would complain about his younger sibling.
"Mom, you let Selberton go to the back mountain without a word. Why are you only like this to me?"
He always heard the same response...
"Your brother takes after your father."
Limberton’s younger brother was tall and had a good personality.
He was also handsome enough to receive letters from women frequently.
While Limberton was proud of his brother, it also hurt his self-esteem as an older brother.
"...I think I’ll go crazy if I stay here."
"I feel the same, brother. It’s tiresome when father drags me onto the boat. But at least there's good news."
"What is it?"
"I'm leaving here. You’ll definitely become the head of the family."
The brothers often had a subtle rivalry about inheriting the poor land, but the younger brother had a clear vision for the future.
He planned to graduate from the academy and get a government position, which would make their father agree to let him go without any complaints.
"...Did you get accepted? To the academy?"
"Yes, to Valiant, my first choice."
Limberton could never forget the shock of seeing his brother’s acceptance letter.
"And what’s that? Did you apply elsewhere?"
"Oh, this? It's an invitation letter to Frost Heart Academy... It looked suspicious, so I kept it to use as kindling."
"Throw it away? If it's useless, give it to me. I'll go."
This required a guardian's signature, and Limberton’s father was hesitant.
"...Frost Heart? What kind of place is that? Never heard of it."
"I don't know either, but it’s an academy. Please let me go. Please?"
"How can I manage your mother if you go?"
"But if I stay here, my future is clear. If I don’t leave and find a girlfriend, I'll die alone and lonely."
"If it's a wife you want..."
"The last marriage proposal was rejected as soon as they heard my name. No woman here wants to meet me!"
"Hmph. Fine. If that's what you truly want."
This was how Limberton got into Frost Heart.
Compared to others, his reason for attending was light and pathetic.
***
Limberton somewhat regretted his decision.
Although he appeared calm, he was inwardly terrified.
'Now that I think about it, on the day of the third exam, I planned to beg the Lethe guys for my life.'
If Aslay hadn’t been there, he would have done just that.
Yet, why did he act so bravely?
He must have been influenced a lot over the past few months.
The delinquent, who seemed unlikely to change, had become impressive and achieved successive accomplishments.
Aslay played his role with tremendous strength and even scored better than Limberton on the written exam despite not knowing the imperial language initially.
For some reason, he felt he was the only one standing still while others moved forward.
Limberton disliked this.
He hated resigning himself with a ‘this is how it is for someone like me’ attitude and crawling to keep up with them.
Perhaps these thoughts arose after hearing this statement.
- Limberton? I think you’re a cool guy. Even when you seem pathetic, you always do what’s necessary at the crucial moment.
It was the first time he heard from someone else that he had such a positive trait.
And now was the time to do what was necessary.
"But you know, you guys are really bad at handling women. So, how about some advice?"
Limberton spoke to the two guys holding Silla.
"Think of women as dragonflies. If you stay still, they’ll come to you."
Limberton drew his bow.
Luon removed the sack from the leader’s head.
The tri-headed wolf squinted at the sudden burst of light.
At that moment, Limberton’s eyes widened.
"What?"
His hand weakened, and his body stiffened.
Whizz!
The arrow flew off aimlessly.
Luon approached and spoke.
"Hmm, judging by your reaction, you didn’t know."
Limberton forced out his voice.
"Wh-why is my body...?"
"When you make eye contact, you get paralyzed. But it’s interesting, isn’t it? An archer against an unseen monster. It’s rare to see.”
Limberton quickly closed his eyes.
His body began to move again.
Then he scoffed.
"Paralyzed by eye contact?"
Then he just needed to avoid looking at the eyes.
But the wolf's left head lowered, using its glowing eyes as a shield.
Whizz!
The second arrow flew uselessly.
Luon opened his previously closed eyes and spoke.
"Two chances left."
The wolf, which had been slowly approaching, growled and charged.
As a leader, it was much faster than ordinary tri-headed wolves.
Thud!
Limberton hastily closed his eyes and aimed his bow, predicting the wolf's movements from his last glimpse.
He released the bowstring.
The sound of the bow was still filled with despair.
Thud!
The third arrow struck a tree.
His arm ached.
Unfortunately, he had brought a bow with strong draw weight, making it hard to even pull the string properly.
'W-what should I do?'
As he pondered, the wolf approached.
Thud thud thud!
Limberton changed his thinking.
The closer the target, the easier to hit.
Even if the power was weaker, it would penetrate at close range.
'Yes, this is the only way.'
Limberton used all his strength to draw the bowstring.
The string was half-pulled when he closed his eyes, trusting his timing.
'Here goes nothing!!'
-How will you hit the heart?
A voice resonated deep in his chest.
And a hand on his eyelids.
Someone opened Limberton’s eyes with their hand.
A man covered in rags.
'Huh?'
His face was hidden in the shadows.
More surprising, the wolf in front of him was frozen as if time had stopped.
Limberton tried to speak, but his lips wouldn’t move.
'Who are you?'
-I don’t feel like answering yet.
It seemed he could communicate with thoughts.
'Is this some kind of mystery or magic?'
Stories often mentioned such phenomena.
They usually involved extraordinary beings like fire-breathing humans, but there were also records of encounters with transcendental beings.
Mystery was a broad term, encompassing such phenomena.
-You make it sound trivial by lumping it together. That doesn’t matter. What is that bow? It's pathetic.
If he could stop time, he wasn’t someone to take lightly.
'You seem powerful, but what’s your purpose?'
-There’s no time for a long talk. I will disappear soon.
The man adjusted Limberton’s posture.
Limberton’s stance was corrected, the bowstring fully drawn, and his grip adjusted.
-This is how you hold a bow. Find the heart yourself.
'What?'
The man closed Limberton’s eyes with his hand.
Limberton saw his orderly upper teeth and heard an excited voice.
-Overcoming fear is good, but don’t be reckless. I look forward to revealing my true name to you.
After the mysterious man disappeared, Limberton’s body moved.
The wolf's heartbeat was loud, indicating it was close.
Time resumed.
Limberton instinctively lowered his left hand holding the bow and released the arrow.
Thud!
The sound of piercing flesh was unmistakable.
However, Limberton was knocked down by the charging wolf.
The wolf’s jaws drooled above him, but its neck went limp.
“Huff... huff..."
Luon flipped the wolf's corpse with one hand.
Limberton stood up, breathing heavily.
If he hadn't received that strange help and hit the heart, he would be dead.
'What was that...?'
There was no time to dwell on the strange occurrence because of Luon.
"Amazing. The arrow pierced through."
"What?"
“Look at the tree. Your final arrow went through the wolf's body."
The arrow was deeply embedded, with only the feathers sticking out.
Luon asked with interest.
"By the way, what’s your name?"
"...Limberton. Limberton Bel Delsi."
"Alright, Limberton, you can go now. I'll make sure she survives and returns."
Limberton's eyes widened.
Letting her go later meant something entirely different.
“Return her? Release her now. This isn’t what we agreed on.”
Luon blinked curiously.
"I intend to keep my promise."
"What do you mean...?"
“I promised to save her, not release her immediately.”
His tone was pure, devoid of malice.
Limberton felt a chill at his incomprehensible demeanor.
He had dealt with many ill-natured people, but this was new.
“Strange. Isn't returning her safely enough?”
When Luon pondered, a man holding Silla approached.
"What’s going on? Is that little guy complaining?"
The man glared threateningly, clenching his fist as if to hit.
“You’re too gentlemanly. Sometimes, you need to show them their place.”
As the punch was about to land,
Slash!
Blood trickled down the man’s cheek.
Luon, who had been pondering, made a sound of realization.
"He doubts I'll keep my promise. Right? Well, that’s understandable. Don’t worry, Limberton. If they try to hurt her, I’ll stop them like this.”
"Ahh!"
Luon grabbed the man's ear, making him bleed.
"I’ll stop them. Of course, you’ll cooperate, right, Arsys?"
"...Yes."
"Then unclench your fist. I told Limberton he could leave anytime."
"Got it."
The man, Arsys, cowered like a frightened puppy.
Luon turned his back to Limberton.
Limberton swallowed his fear.
'...Magic swordsman.'
Slashing without drawing his sword was proof.
Magic swordsmen were feared and revered, capable of cutting through a knight’s aura-clad sword and nullifying a mage’s attack.
Almost all historic figures of immense power were magic swordsmen.
Luon likely single-handedly killed most of the wolves here.
What if he asked Luon to release Silla?
‘Turning his back is a warning not to speak further. Refuse, and I...’
His invisible sword slash would decapitate him.
Limberton felt helpless, unable to move his feet.
When Luon perched on a tree, the two men noticed.
"That idiot is just standing there staring?"
"Ignore him. He’ll leave after watching."
"Mmmp!"
The men continued to strip Silla.
"Hey, Arsys. What’s with your cheek?"
"Huh?"
Arsys touched his cheek, finding blood on the other side.
Only Luon could have done it.
"Luon, did I do something wrong again?"
"...It wasn’t me.”
Luon was looking at a man approaching from afar.
He tapped the back of the frozen Limberton.
"Why are you standing there?"
"...Hersel?"
“More importantly, how’s his face?"
"Heh, what did you do this time..."
"It looked empty, so I gave him some whiskers."
