[L] To Me, The One Who Love You

20

This was actually the first time that I participated in the Flying-Feather battalion's group training. 

Standing still, I removed the black two-stone bow from my back. 

A soldier immediately brought a few quivers of arrows, setting them next to me, and he presented one arrow to me with both hands.

I took the arrow, then turned to the soldier and said: "Go and continue with your own training."

Even if I am now a battalion commander, I still preferred to take care of my own affairs by myself. 

"Understood."

That soldier bowed towards me in an orderly manner, then he returned to his area, continuing his training with an empty bow. 

I widen my stance, nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and took aim...

The arrow whistled through the air, striking squarely in the red heart of the target.

"Amazing!"

Startled by the sudden cheers, I lowered my bow and looked around. 

I found that a number of soldiers were gathered around me, looking at me with admiration and good-natured smiles. 

Unaccustomed to being the center of attention, my cheeks started to feel a little hot. Fortunately, the changes in my complexion were hard to see through my wind-blown and sunbaked skin.

"Do your own training!" My voice was not loud. 

Hearing an order given 'without much strength in the lungs', the soldiers who were much older than me showed understanding smiles.

Even so, no matter the volume of my voice, as the leader of a battalion, any word from me was to be taken as military orders within this camp.

Executing orders without fail was something that was fused into the marrow of military men.

All of the archers returned to their positions to continue training on their own.

Seeing this, I mentally sighed in relief. 

All of this still felt unreal to me. For a moment, I could somewhat see why everyone yearned to build success in life.  

That thought left my mind as soon as it appeared. I composed myself quickly, fully focusing on the process of shooting arrows. 

The sound of arrows whistling through the air followed one after the other, and soon the target fifty-paces from me was covered in arrows. 

A few quivers by my side were already empty; a keen soldier brought a few more and set them down next to me.

I continued to nock, aim, and shoot at a consistent pace.

In the end, many of the arrows in the target were split open by newer shots. Some were even pushed down to the fletching.

To set a strict standard for myself, and to give myself a goal that must be reached every day— it was a habit formed early on in my time in the military.

Drawing the bow a hundred times every day was the new goal that I set for myself. Taking no breathers in between, I finished the task I had set for myself in one go.

All done, I breathed out heavily, then wiped away the streams of sweat on my forehead with my arm.

Suddenly, I sensed a strange atmosphere around me.

I turned back to find many soldiers staring at me in a daze.

"What are all of you looking at?" I asked with some confusion.

"Ba... Battalion commander, you're really amazing..."

Somewhat puzzled, I raised an eyebrow.

Seeing that I seemed to be in a 'good' mood, the other soldiers opened the chatterbox at once.

One of them approached me with a look of admiration, and he said sincerely: "Battalion commander, you really showed me today. You... You're so skinny, but you actually had superhuman strength!"  

"That's right, battalion commander. We usually just draw one-stone bows, and we have to rotate shifts during battle. You're using a two-stone bow, but in one go... you just shot..."

"A hundred arrows! I was counting, the battalion commander shot a hundred arrows in one go, and every single one landed on the target!"

"Ah..."

Hearing that I had actually shot a hundred arrows in one go, the group of archers lost their minds.

Many among them were sure that they couldn't shoot a hundred arrows with the same level of consistency and accuracy as me, let alone doing that with a two-stone bow...

"Battalion commander, how did you do it? Can you impart some advice?"

"That's right! Battalion commander, if all of us could aim and shoot like you, even if it's just with a one-stone bow, the strength of the Flying-Feather battalion will surely reach new heights!"

"That's right!"

I was quickly surrounded by my soldiers.

Faced with this question, I shook my head and said: "There is no method, only the path of relentless training."

"Battalion commander, we're training every day, but we can't do it at all!"

I fell silent for a moment, looking at the hopeful gazes of the soldiers around me, I spoke up: "It's not hard to achieve this. I can give you all training, but you guys can't complain."

"Battalion Commander, you can rest assured. We will absolutely not complain."

"Alright." I nodded, no longer thinking of a way to escape this situation.

I couldn't help but work on a plan to improve the drawing strength of these archers.  

"Battalion commander, could you let me try that bow of yours?"

A broad and bulky soldier squeezed out of the crowd, looking at the black bow in my hand with eager eyes.

Looking up at the soldier who was a whole head taller than me, I nodded, then held out my black bow.

Briefly stunned by how easily I agreed to his request, the soldier accepted the black bow with both hands, and he said: "Thank you, battalion commander!"

Raising the bow for a closer look, he felt its body with one hand, then he flicked the bowstring. He said enviously: "Excellent bow!"

Seeing that a bulky soldier wanted to try my bow, everyone else silently agreed to step back.

They wanted to find out where my strength stood in comparison to him...

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