Mercenaries and Adventurers

In the evening, after telling the Ganna craftsmen about his experience some time ago, Kil drove the carriage back to the hunter's stronghold.

Because of his poor driving skills, Kiel rubbed the truck against the wall on the street many times. The new paint that was originally applied when he bought it rubbed off a lot, which made Kiel very distressed.

After shouting to open the gate, Keir followed a young hunter to guide the carriage to the shed, then removed the reins of the horses and led the horses into the shed.

Patting Kil on the shoulder, the young hunter welcomed Kil to officially join their team of hunters. Keir also thanked the other party for his kindness, then took the bundles of hay from the carriage, broke them off and fed them to his horse.

Some unfrozen Kendal River water was drawn from the well, and Keel carried the bucket and poured it into the wooden trough for feeding the horses. The horse, which had not drank water for most of the day, quickly lowered its head and drank the water. After all, the temperature was not high, and if it was not drunk quickly, the water in the wooden trough would freeze in a short time.

Kiel took out a few pieces of burlap from the truck, simply draped it on the horses, then blocked some air leakage gaps in the shed with firewood, then closed the door of the stable and said goodbye to his horses.

Carrying the things on the truck, Kil walked into the wooden house of the stronghold.

The young hunters who went out during the day have all returned to their base, well, maybe not all of them. Old hunter Tost was roasting several pieces of tubers cut in half by the fireplace, and applying a little salt to the cut surfaces.

"Kiel is back, how is it? Do you want to eat this?" the old hunter asked Kil. The other young hunters were sitting around the fireplace and warming themselves by the fire. While warming themselves, they talked about the several rescued women who had been placed, the relationship development between them, and were very envious of the young hunter who had not returned yet.

"Thank you. I ate before I came back." Kil politely thanked Tost for the invitation, then greeted the other hunters and returned to his house with a lot of things he got today.

He didn't close the windows before leaving the house, so it was very cold at the moment. Only then did Kil remember this and quickly closed the wooden windows tightly. Then he lit the oil lamp holder, packed away all the things he got today, picked up the various parts of the spear, blew out the lamp holder and returned to the lobby on the first floor.

The hunters looked at what Kil was holding and asked what it was for. Kil also told them about the changes he wanted to make to the spear.

Under the firelight of the fireplace, Keel took apart the original wooden double-edged gun, then connected the double-edged gun head with the new iron gun shaft, smashed them together with a heavy object, and then fixed the connection with a strong thin rope. together.

In this way, his double-edged iron gun for combat is completed. He shook it. It weighed about 20 kilograms. It was very heavy. Just holding it in his hand felt like it required strength.

He was very satisfied. Not to mention the power of this new weapon, even if he regularly practiced with it, his physical strength could increase rapidly, especially with the help of some divine power in his body.

The young hunters also borrowed Kiel's new weapon to play with, but as soon as they held it in their hands, they felt it was too heavy and could not carry out attacks such as stabbing, let alone chopping.

Just now, I watched Kiel try to do it twice in the open space on one side of the hall. It didn't look very heavy, but as soon as he took over, he was unable to move due to the weight.

"Kiel, come on, let's see how strong you are," the young hunters rushed around, calling for Kil to come over and show their strength. The two arms of those who shoot bows and arrows are very strong, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people without training.

Keir was also curious about the strength of his hand, so he put aside his other things and walked over.

A young hunter who thought he was very strong in his hands sat on the side of a wooden table. He stood on the table with his thick arms, his elbows touching the table, and his palms opened to signal to Keir.

Keir rolled up his sleeves and sat on the other side of the table. Like the other person, he put his elbows on the table and opened his hands to grasp the other person's hand. Kiel's hands are slightly smaller, but the calluses on his palms and strong arms show that he is not weak.

The old hunter next to him had hot food in his mouth. After eating, the two of them were ready. He threw the charred skin of the food in his hand into the pile of firewood in the fireplace, then clenched his hand into a fist and smashed it on the table: "Start !”

The two palms are clasped together, and the muscles of the two pairs of arms are bulging, wrestling with each other.

The hunters who were watching were holding messy things in their mouths, shouting and jumping up and down, as if they were competing on the table.

Before starting, Keir took a deep breath. At this time, his cheeks were bulging, and his left hand was holding the side of the wooden table to provide a fulcrum for the other hand.

His right arm was tense and exerting force toward the left side, and the muscles on his forearm were bulging and tight. The elbow made a squeaking sound when it came into contact with the wooden table.

The other side also made the same move, but the young hunter probably didn't breathe well before the competition. After a stalemate with Keir for a while, the young hunter gradually lost his position.

Seeing the other person's face turning red from holding back, Kil stabilized himself again. He knew that the other person's chest was short of breath and he was almost finished.

Sure enough, everyone watching could see that the young hunter's face was red and he looked defeated. Then taunting hisses came from their mouths.

"Hush!"

"Can you do it?"

"Failed, defeated."

Encouraged by his companions, the hunter persisted for a while, but as there was not enough oxygen in his lungs, he could no longer hold it in and had to start breathing heavily.

But as soon as he started to breathe, the energy he had been holding in his body broke. The strength in his hand immediately decreased, and Kil's palm quickly pressed down on the opponent.

boom!

The crushed palm hit the table with a thud, indicating that Keir had won a small victory.

"Hehe! Win! Haha, you're not bad either, you just didn't adjust your breathing before starting." Kil said.

The young hunter opposite scratched his head, and then was squeezed out of the chair by a new opponent: "Let me try too!" This hunter was not as strong as the previous one. It seemed that he had forgotten his own strength after being infected by the atmosphere. How many are there.

Kiel refused to accept anyone who came. After shaking off his hand, he took a few quick breaths, then took another deep breath. After sitting firmly, he stretched out his hand.

The two palms clasped together, and then the old hunter Tost clapped his palms, making a sound and said: "Start!"

Kil smiled confidently, while the hunter opposite him was also confident at first, but gradually his face turned panicked. Kilta felt that these hunters had some strength in their arms, but their explosive power was amazing and their endurance was not so good. As long as you stabilize your arms when you first exert force and don't suffer too much, then you can stabilize your victory by competing with your opponent for endurance and endurance.

As expected, as Kiel expected, the hunter, in addition to slightly pressing past Kiel's side at first, was slowly pushed back bit by bit by Kiel.

Kiel didn't want him to lose too badly, so he pushed back a little but irreversibly.

boom!

Under the last absolute force, the hunter also failed.

Quickly, the other two young hunters came on stage immediately. Keir suggested changing hands to compete, and everyone agreed without objection.

Kil switched to his left hand. This arm was actually stronger than his right arm. After all, it was the arm that held the shield to resist attacks. It not only had to hold the shield for a long time, but also absorbed and mitigated the force of the blow on the shield.

Therefore, Kiel's left arm is stronger than his right arm.

But the hunters don’t know that.

The remaining two young hunters were quickly defeated, which surprised everyone at Kil's strength. Kil looked at the old hunter and suggested: "Tost, why don't you come and compete?"

"Forget it, forget it, I'm too old to compare with you young men." The old hunter still wanted to shirk, but everyone knew that they, experienced old hunters, were no less good than young hunters when it came to setting up bows and arrows. Yes. Especially in complex battle situations, their shooting accuracy is far superior to that of young people.

The young hunters coaxed Tost to try it too. He declined, but still sat down happily.

Kil let his right arm come into play again, his palm connected with the old hunter's old palm, and then he held it tightly. Kil could feel the old hunter's hands were thin but very strong.

It's simply too powerful!

After a start, Keir's palm was almost crushed. He had to use his true strength and exert all his strength to avoid being defeated by Tost's powerful force.

The muscles of Kil's entire right arm bulged, and the power of the God of Agriculture emanated from his chest, relieving the fatigue of his right arm and giving him new strength. Soon, Kiel reversed his defeat. He forced a smile and then controlled his arm seriously.

The old hunter on the opposite side had a look of helplessness on his face. As Kil's strength increased and his arms became sore and weak, the contest immediately ended with Kil's victory.

I originally thought that the old man might be able to win against Kil, but the four young hunters around him jumped happily and encouraged him. But not even a blink of an eye, just a blink of an eye, Kiel overwhelmed Tost and won.

"Hey, old man, is this all you need?"

"It makes us happy for nothing. It seems that only the Lord Knight can defeat Kil."

"No, I'm happy for nothing."

The old hunter Tost blew his beard and glared. After releasing his palm, he immediately said that he actually had a lot of endurance, but it was just not easy to show it to men.

The hunters made fun of him, and the old hunter boasted that he was popular with girls when he was young. With his superb shooting skills, he hunted many plump prey and won the hearts of many girls.

Seeing that everyone was listening to the old hunter's past stories, Kil sat a little further away and tinkered with the iron spear points and the wooden shafts of the spears he had newly bought.

The iron spear tip is attached to the wooden pole, and then a thin iron nail is inserted through the hole at the end of the spear tip, and then a hard stone is used to hammer the thin iron nail in, and then the two ends of the excess iron nail are bent and fixed. good.

The new short spear was held in his hand. Since the spear tip was not heavy and the wooden pole was very light, it felt light and delicate in his hand. Kil tried to stab it a few times, swiss swish, swish, swish, his movements were fast, The spear tip reflected the firelight, leaving several continuous traces of light in the air.

After getting the two weapons, Kil carried them back to the house and placed them against the wall.

Returning to the first floor again, the old hunter and the young hunter sang a song, everyone clapped and stamped their feet.

The lyrics praise the hunter's courage, challenging the unknown wilderness, and defeating a ferocious beast.

"The body is as strong as a cheetah. The movements are as light as a civet. When shooting an arrow with a bow, the power is concentrated. When passing a needle through a leaf, one can always hit the mark."

"Crossing rivers and forests, climbing mountains and walls. One against ten, extraordinary bravery. Walking alone, the moonlight at night and dawn. The magnanimity of heaven and earth is stored in the heart."

"The vast wilderness is home to hundreds of beasts and birds. Mountains pass by mountains, and rivers connect rivers. The vast forest has never been visited. In the dark corners, evil spirits are hidden."

"The lake is churning, and the big fish are hiding. Be careful behind the trees, and the monsters are hiding. The new land is unknown, and the old ones are coming. I use my arrows to spread the light."

"Bones and flesh were devoured, relatives shed tears. Lovers died, just because of evil madness. Attacking villages and towns in the east, attacking roadsides in the west. Everyone called, I will come and rush."

"An arrow is released to blind it. A trap is set to split its legs and crotches. Arrows that pierce the heart are blocked, and arrows that break the spine are hidden. It opens its mouth wide, and I want it to die."

Keir wanted to laugh when he heard it. The lyrics were all about praising the hunters. Isn't it that exaggerated? It seemed like everyone else was just looking at what they were doing.

However, the hunters got excited about singing and took Keir to dance around the warm fireplace. Everyone just casually danced the kind of country dance, banging and jumping, and then clapped their hands and cheered in unison.

After a while of fussing and getting tired, they all returned to their respective rooms to rest.

--

The next morning, Kiel followed everyone to eat breakfast cooked by Tost. Since the supplies were all produced by the Government Affairs Office entrusted by the knights, the portion was full, and Kiel was still a little full after eating.

Originally, Kil wanted to practice martial arts in the backyard for a while, but the old hunter said he wanted to teach him how to use a bow and arrow, so Kil had no choice but to put aside his training plans and practice bow and arrow seriously with the old hunter.

Kil asked a young hunter to feed the horses, and then followed him to the backyard.

The backyard is the same as the old hunter described yesterday. It is mainly used for practicing bow and arrow shooting. Early on, there were young hunters shooting here to maintain their bow and arrow skills.

Tost got Kil a pair of training bows and arrows, which were not for beginners. After all, they had seen Kil's strength yesterday, so he could also draw the bows and arrows they usually used for practice.

The training bow is a wide, one-meter-tall, solid wooden bow, which is different from the compound bows used by hunters in action. The wood used in this kind of bow is heavy and difficult to draw. Although it is not elastic enough, it is a good foundation for practicing bow skills.

The arrows are soft-headed arrows used for practice, and the front end of the flexible arrow shaft is a piece of cork inlaid. After hitting something, it will not penetrate anything, but will only make a loud impact sound, making it easy for the archer to judge whether he has hit the target.

Twenty strides from the back yard, the other end of the yard reaches the outer wall of Kendall City. Standing here, you can see the guards patrolling the outer city wall.

The guards will not watch the hunters shooting arrows with curiosity, nor will they worry about the hunters shooting at them. After all, there is a huge difference between aiming at targets on the ground and moving targets on the city walls. If he hadn't deliberately been looking for trouble, he wouldn't have shot the patrolling guard who appeared after a while.

Following Tost's instructions, Kil corrected some of his previous movements. After standing up straight, he held the bow arm with his right hand and pinched the tail end of an arrow with his left hand.

He originally pinched the feather at the end of the arrow due to nervousness, but was immediately hit by the old hunter with a thin wooden pole. Kil was wearing a pair of leather training gloves, which didn't hurt, but he just smiled awkwardly at the old hunter.

"Okay, don't be silly. Remember, no matter what the situation is, you must not mess up the feathers on the arrow shaft. This will greatly affect the shooting accuracy."

"You have to know that when arrows are flying in the air, they rely on them to keep them stable. Only when they are stable can you know where your arrows are going."

"Now, just shoot randomly and let me see where your level is."

After the old hunter finished speaking, he took a step back and waved his hand to let Keir do his thing.

Kil looked at the young hunter next to him and looked at his archery movements. He simply imitated the other man's actions. First, he pinched an arrow from the quiver on his waist with his left hand, and then extended his thumb with his right hand holding the bow arm. , then place the arrow on the thumb of the right hand with the left hand.

Immediately afterwards, Kil took a deep breath, raised the bow and arrow with his right hand, then exerted force with his left and right hands together, pushed his right arm forward, and pulled the bow string backward with the fingers of his left arm. As soon as Keir took aim, he released his left hand.

Whoosh.

clatter!

Two sounds came one after another, the bowstring vibrated rapidly, and then gradually stopped.

Opposite the twenty-step-long backyard, there were some thick wooden boards with animal images, as well as some simple large wooden models with the images of beasts.

Since he was a beginner, Kiel aimed and shot at a thick wooden board.

The thick wooden board was made into the shape of a tall stag. The arrow shot by Kiel just now was good and it hit the target. The front end of the arrow shaft hit the hoof of the stag board, making a loud clicking sound. Just fell to the ground.

"Yes, the first arrow hit the target. Come on, Kil, you are strong, try to shoot all the arrows in the whole quiver." The old hunter crossed his arms and said.

The young hunters next to him stopped and laughed happily as they watched Keir shoot the arrow.

Kil was a little excited and immediately drew out the next arrow. Just as he was about to continue, the old hunter reminded him: "Breathe!"

Keir breathed calmly, ensuring that his chest and arms maintained a controlled balance.

Pinch the arrow, nock the arrow, lift it, pull it, aim it, release it.

Keir went through the entire set of actions in his mind, and then completed them in order.

"Very good. You are a beginner. You must ensure that no matter what the situation, you must ensure the completeness of the entire set of movements. It is indispensable. Khosrow, do it for Kil. The shooting speed will be the same after you become proficient."

"Okay, look at me, Kiel." The young hunter Khosrow stood next to Kiel, nocked an arrow and shot, whoosh.

The arrow went out without even looking at it, hitting a wooden Steppenwolf model in the eye with a snapping sound.

"It's awesome!" Keir praised.

Hearing Kiel's praise, everyone else laughed: "Kil, this is just the basics. With a little practice and some talent, anyone can do this. You let Kosro run around Kendall Street The last round and round, you see if he can still hit the wooden model, the arrow probably can’t hit the target.”

Kiel thought the same thing. A fixed target can't mean anything. It's rare to shoot a moving target. After all, the enemy will not stand still, especially the ferocious beasts. From being discovered by you to swooping over, you basically only need to use... To three or four breaths.

What makes it even harder is that the shooter himself is moving and has to shoot another moving target. Keir estimated that this was the technique that a real hunter should master.

Afterwards, under the guidance of the old hunter Tost, Kiel shot arrows over and over again. The goal was to make every arrow hit the target while ensuring the flow of the action.

It's okay to miss the target, as long as you don't go too far.

This was actually not difficult for Kiel, who wielded heavy weapons all day long. The most difficult thing was how to master the bow and arrow in his hand and simulate the trajectory of the bow and arrow.