Chapter 240 Chapter 54.6 - Archery Competition [Interlude]
As Lilia stepped onto the stage, a hushed murmur swept through the crowd. Whispers and exchanged glances conveyed the unspoken acknowledgment of her status—the heir of Olympus' Vanguard, a figure synonymous with power and influence.
"Isn't that Lilia Thornheart? The one from Olympus' Vanguard?"
"I heard she's the heir. No wonder she has that aura."
"She looks like a goddess... Look at her, so confident."
The spectators were captivated by the spectacle before them. Lilia, with an air of regality, seemed to effortlessly command attention. The emerald green hair cascaded down her back, catching the sunlight and shimmering like a halo. Her poised and confident demeanor left an indelible impression on everyone present.
The way she carried herself and her ethereal beauty itself was a force alone; combined with her background, she captivated everyone's attention in a second.
"You are here."
She heard Adrian's voice, albeit it was a little hushed.
"I am."
Adrian had a squinting gaze as if he didn't like how she immediately monopolized the attention, but at the same time, he had a subtle smirk.
'Let's see how long you can laugh like that. That is probably what he thinks.'
Lilia also thought inwardly. The way Adrian approached things was not bad or rather smart, and she would also do it if she were in his shoes.
However, that didn't mean she would do just the same as he was doing. After all, once a powerful individual like her appeared, using the same trick would rather be disadvantageous.
'Though I must thank you for presenting me this opportunity.'
Looking around, she noticed even some secret reporters were recording her. They were here because of Adrian.
'This will be on the news.'
And that would be a good opportunity to increase her fame with her public image and undoubtedly strengthen her faction.
As she notched an arrow onto her bowstring, her eyes met with Astron's.
'Interesting guy.'
She thought.
'He makes me want to show off a little.'
For an unknown reason, she felt competitive around him, even though she couldn't name the feeling exactly. It was like she felt the need to prove something to his indifferent gaze.
Turning to the other side, she saw Ethan and Julia and smirked.
There was a playful yet challenging glint in her gaze. It was clear that she aimed not only for precision in archery but also for dominance in the eyes of those watching.
As Lilia prepared to demonstrate her archery prowess, a subtle tension hung in the air. Adrian, the captain of the Archery Club, had a smirk on his face—a smirk that hinted at a plan unfolding beneath the surface.
"Start," he commanded, setting the stage for Lilia's performance. Unbeknownst to her, a group of mages stationed on the stage subtly manipulated the magical barriers surrounding the targets.
The normally precise and straightforward archery range suddenly became a challenging maze.
Invisible barriers, controlled by the mages under Adrian's orders, shifted unpredictably, creating obstacles between Lilia and her targets.
**********
'I see.'
As I looked at Lilia walking to the stage, I nodded my head inwardly. There was a weird confidence oozing from her as if she was ready to take any challenge.
The onlookers were also observing her every bit of movement, and they seemed to have rather high expectations.
"Hush….She is starting."
"I know, I know."
"What a sight….."
When she raised her bow to get a good posture, her clothes slightly revealed the skin underneath. It was as white as snow and seemingly was completing her other body features.
"Gasp."
The guy beside me held his breath and gasped.
SMACK!
And his girlfriend smacked his back with a loud noise.
"Where are you looking at?"
"Cough…"
It seemed like a long nagging session was about to follow the boyfriend, as seen from the girl's expression.
'Well, you sow what you reap.'
Certainly, there were times when people couldn't control their own actions and were directed by their primal desires.
'Let's focus.'
Thinking that my thoughts were wandering around randomly, I decided to cut myself from the crowd and focus on the upcoming scene.
As Lilia aimed her bow at the first target that appeared in front of her, the crowd's focus immediately turned to the stage.
With each draw of her bowstring, I couldn't help but notice the subtle disturbances in the air orchestrated by Adrian's unseen mages.
'As expected, he is doing it from the start.'
Different from how he treated any other archer, it seemed even from the start, Adrian recognized Lilia as a threat.
The challenges hidden within the shifting magical barriers seemed to be part of a game, a contest within the archery evaluation. But in reality, none of them were fair from the start.
Lilia, however, seemed undeterred.
THUD!
Her first arrow struck the target with precision, and the crowd erupted into applause. The whispers of admiration swirled around her like a gentle breeze.
I watched closely, my eyes trained on her form. The magical barriers created disturbances in the airflow, aiming to disrupt her aim. Yet, she displayed an exceptional ability to adapt. Her shot hit its mark flawlessly, and her composure remained unshaken.
'Hmm?'
The small air currents created by the stage between were actually active, and I thought she would aim while calculating how the air current changed.
'But that wasn't the case.'
Weirdly enough, that didn't seem to be the case. The direction where the bow pointed was just as normal as if the environmental changes between her and the targets didn't matter at all.
THUD! THUD!
As another and another shot followed, my question wasn't answered. Without giving anyone time, Lilia was shooting rapidly as if to show her skills. It was quite a sight to see, but my brain was rather focused on how she was bypassing the conditions in such an easy way.
That seemed to be the case for Adrian as well, as he looked infuriated.
That commonly wouldn't be noticed unless one was looking at him, but I could see. He was getting mad.
THUD! THUD!
As the evaluation progressed, it became evident that Lilia's performance was drawing a different kind of attention.
"Huh? What is this?"
At that exact moment, unlike the previous contestants, Lilia faced a barrage of targets, and the space between her and the targets seemed to ripple with heat as if the air itself was agitated.
"Is this even fair?"
"I don't know. But, I guess they are trying to test her limits?"
"Who can even shoot in such conditions?"
A sandstorm swept across the stage, creating an additional layer of difficulty. The audience gasped in surprise, the atmosphere thick with tension.
Lilia, however, stood tall and composed. She raised her bow, and to everyone's surprise, numerous ethereal mana anchors materialized around her body.
'Mana anchors?' I thought, realizing that she was using her special technique. After the talk with her, I was also trying to use the mana in the same way as her, and though it was proving to be a challenge, I progressed quite a lot.
And certainly, it was something that helped a lot while shooting since mana wasn't bound by the physical rules of this world and the strength of one's arms.
The sandstorm obscured the vision, making it challenging for others to follow her movements.
'Let's see how she does that.'
However, Lilia seemed unaffected. With incredible speed, she rapidly pulled her bow, firing arrows in quick succession. The mana anchors aided her, providing stability and precision even in the midst of the chaotic environment.
"This is incredible! I've never seen anything like it!"
"How is she not affected by the sandstorm?"
The onlookers were mesmerized by the display of skill and technique. Lilia Thornheart, the heiress of Olympus' Vanguard, was turning the challenging conditions to her advantage.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Her arrows found their marks, hitting the numerous targets with remarkable accuracy. The sandstorm seemed to dance around her, almost as if it recognized her dominance over the element. Adrian's frustration became more apparent, a scowl etched on his face.
'She's not just overcoming the challenges; she's using them to showcase her strength, just like as it was supposed to.'
That certainly played like how I expected from the game, but my focus was how she dealt with the environment.
'Something weird was covering the arrow itself.'
When I looked closer at the arrow that was shot, I realized that a type of mana was intercepting the mage's mana, nullifying it.
'Hmm?'
Then, I remembered a certain lecture when I was a college student.
'I see now.'
It was as if almost all the mana that came to the arrow was being refracted. When looked closely, one could see the mana fields around the arrow flying. At first, I wasn't able to see how, but after looking and observing another five samples, I was sure.
The phenomenon I observed with Lilia's arrows seemed akin to electromagnetic refraction in oblique incidence.
In the realm of physics, when electromagnetic waves pass through a medium at an angle, they undergo refraction, bending as they traverse from one substance to another. However, Lilia's mana manipulation displayed a unique twist to this concept.
As her arrows cut through the air, the mana surrounding them acted like a barrier. It refracted the incoming magical disturbances from the environment, redirecting and nullifying them with finesse as high as possible.
It was as if the arrows created a protective envelope that shielded them from external interference.
The mana fields around the arrows exhibited a refractive index, a physical property that determined the speed of magical disturbances within them. The way to control it was to change the mana-tic coefficient of the space.
This was something that I had seen in the books I was reading as a side note since this concept was quite advanced.
Lilia manipulated this index with precision, allowing her to control how much the incoming mana refracted.
The sandstorm, which would typically disrupt the trajectory of arrows and interfere with magical precision, now seemed to dance around Lilia's projectiles.
The refracted mana fields acted as a barrier, preventing the sand particles from influencing the arrows' paths.
'This is really a genius way.'
In a sense, this would only be applicable to a low-density mana field since even with a high refraction rate, when the power of the magic used is high, that small percentage that is transversing through the fields is still high in magnitude.
But then again, even the idea itself was something that was hard to produce results, yet Lilia was doing it. This showed that even though she was not a mage and wasn't that inversed with spells, she was a genius at controlling the raw mana itself.
The scene was a captivating blend of magical finesse and intellectual curiosity, bringing countless different ideas into my head that could be used. Though, I knew I had a long way to go.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
Lilia's performance concluded with a resounding success.
The applause from the audience echoed through the arena. She lowered her bow, the mana anchors dissipating, and a satisfied smile played on her lips.
As the crowd voiced their admiration, the comments were overwhelmingly positive.
"Did you see that? Not a single miss! She's incredible!"
"The sandstorm didn't faze her at all. That was like watching a master at work."
"Her form is impeccable, and she looks stunning. The next Bow Empress might have just appeared!"
The spectators were enthralled not only by Lilia's accuracy but also by the aesthetic quality of her performance. The combination of her ethereal beauty, confident demeanor, and unparalleled skill in archery left an indelible mark on everyone present.
I couldn't help but acknowledge the truth in their words. Lilia Thornheart had showcased a level of talent that transcended the ordinary. Her prowess with the bow and her unique mana manipulation technique set her apart as a formidable force in the world of archery.
The whispers and discussions among the audience members painted a vivid picture of the impact she had made in just a brief moment.
It was evident that Lilia's name would linger in their minds, and her performance would become a topic of conversation for days to come.
Adrian, despite his earlier frustrations, wore a composed expression. At least he tried to, though I could see the fire in his eyes.
'This is the beginning of everything.'
It seemed Lilia's part of the quest would start soon.
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