Reborn to be Royal

Chapter 13: Neutrality

After having almost no sleep on account of nerves and training, I've arrived at the training fields earlier than expected. Looking around, the area is actually quite nice, not to mention it's the first time I've been outside in a while. The grass is green and well looked after, there's an area with practice dummies made of metal, a horse paddock where quite a number of horses were running around getting some exercise, but what actually caught my attention was an archery range nearby with a single clear lane. I walked over to it and picked up the wooden training bow that was there after making sure no one else owned it, then, picking up and nocking an arrow, I let it fly.

[Kai] "missed..."

A few bystanders that saw my miserable attempt chuckled to themselves while musing that I was just a brat that didn't know the ways of hard work. Alright, let's see how your hard work compares to my cheats.

[Kai] "<Precision>"

That's it. I'm able to take into account the wind direction and speed, the state of the bow, the strength of the string, everything. I pulled back another arrow with ease, lining up the shot, and firing. The arrow soared through the air before rooting itself firmly within the bullseye.
After seeing what I'm capable of with just a training bow, I started wondering what would happen if I had something on the level of a heroes weapon. The thought amused me until a rather annoying shout came from the sidelines.

"Lucky shot! If you want, I'll show you real archery!"

This bastard. He reminds me of the pompous lesser nobles in light novels. His black hair was slicked back and he had a look on his face as if to say "be grateful, I suppose The great me will bless you with a glance at my skill!"

"Be grateful. I suppose the great me will bless you with a glance at my skill!"

He actually said it. I... I have no retort to that.. I'm actually at a loss for words. This guy wasn't at the banquet so I can imagine just how "great" this guy really is.

[noble guy] "the great Kristofer! I will show you what true archery is."
[Kai] "that would be greatly appreciated."
[Kristofer] "heh, then move!"

I stepped out of the lane and gestured as politely as I could without throwing up, for him to enter. He had a smug, self righteous look on his face as he entered and picked up the bow. He took a stance similar to the kind you would see from a professional. A proper, well trained stance. He nocked the arrow, aimed towards the same target that I had just hit, the bow began to glow and... wait what? Is that magic? His bow had a bronze glow covering it and the arrow itself was gleaming with the same bronze light.

[Kristofer] <Piercing shot>

The arrow launched into the air for mere moments before splitting my own in two, going in and out the back of the target, sailing further and embedding itself halfway in the wooden post behind it.

[Kristofer] "that, is true archery."
[Kai] "interesting. Would you be so kind as to tell me what technique you just used? I believe you called it "Piercing shot". Some kind of magic?"
[Kristofer] "hoho, wouldn't you like to know! Well, I suppose I will be gracious to the one that allowed me to show my skill. Neutral magic! While most people can use it, I doubt someone like you ever could."
[Kai] "neutral magic huh?"
[Kristofer] "you don't know? *scoff* you truly are a plebeian."

Keep calm, don't kill him, I can get some information from him. Then I can at least humiliate him.

[Kristofer] "very well. Neutral magic is something that anyone with basic mana control can learn through hard work and talent. In my case though, mostly talent. It requires only a small amount of mana but at different levels the amount of used mana rises just like any other magic."
[Valentina] "Neutral Magic is interesting alright."
[Kristofer] "V-Valentina! Wh-to what do I owe the pleasure?!"
[Valentina] "calm down Kris. I'm here for my friend here."