Yuri Empire

For the next two hours, Ilorina repeatedly practiced shooting while laying the bow horizontally, through a variety of trial and error.

Since the basics of archery were already formed, she was able to quickly acquire the skills to apply them.

With just the occasional advice from Melfalude, Ilorina's power and accuracy are both improving rapidly and efficiently.

「Yes, that's good. It's hard to believe that this is just a quick fix.」

「Thank you very much!」

Ilorina's face tears up with happiness at Melfalude's words of praise.

At the moment, almost 100% of the arrows that Irolina shoots are hitting their targets at close range, and about 80% are hitting their targets at medium range.

Even though she is shooting at a target that does not move, the accuracy is good enough.

「Next, let's practice moving targets, shall we?」

「Moving target? …Do you mean shoot while moving?」

「Yes. I'll show you how it's done.」

After borrowing the short bow again, Ilorina steps back a little.

The arrow is aimed at a short-range target. It is not a technique to be used when aiming at a target at a distance, as it is a technique to『shoot while surviving the enemy's attack』.

The first shot is fired from the same position, and as soon as the shot is finished, run to the right and pull out the next arrow from the quiver.

After placing the arrow on the string, draw the bow while leaping. Stop at the landing point, keep your body steady, aim at the target, and release the second arrow.

Immediately after releasing the second arrow, run to the left and pull out the next arrow from the quiver, and so on―――moving left and right repeatedly to release a total of ten arrows.

After stopping, it took about 0.5 seconds to aim.

The rest is just moving around. Just being able to do this is a big improvement for an archer.

An archer who has to stay on its feet all the time to shoot is as good as lacking the ability to outrun a demon's attack itself. Naturally, that burden is placed on the rest of the team.

However, if the archer learns the skill of shooting arrows while moving, he can take on a single demon and still be able to fight.

In the Yuri Empire's Labyrinth, each battle is fought with the same number of demons as the explorer …Melfalude still doesn't quite understand why this is the case, but it's a definite fact anyway.

If there are two explorers, there will always be two demons, so in principle, one person will have to fight each demon while taking care of it. This is especially true for small parties.

Therefore, whether or not an archer can take on a single demon is very important when fighting in the Labyrinth.

If you are going to continue to use the labyrinth as a place for personal growth, there is no harm in learning this skill.

After demonstrating it, Melfalude explained the importance of it. It seemed that Ilorina understood well enough and she immediately started practicing her moving shots.

By the way, it is easier to shoot a bow horizontally than vertically when shooting on the move.

There are several reasons for this, but the main reason is that when the bow is held horizontally, it is easier to shoot while visually checking the tip of the arrow, making it easier to aim at the target. ¹

There is also the advantage of being able to predict the trajectory of the arrow more easily when the bow is held horizontally, probably because you can feel the line from your shoulder to the tip of the hand that holds the bow handle.

It's also important to note that when shooting with the bow horizontal, it's much easier to shoot while bending over.

With a bow, it's easy to take the elevation angle as needed when shooting, but it's a little difficult to shoot while keeping the elevation angle.

This is why, when aiming a bow at a short demon―――such as a wolf or a giant spider, whose body height is lower than a person's waist―――it is easier to improve accuracy by bending down and shooting with a low angle rather than aiming from an upright position with a bird's eye view.

「Once you've mastered running and shooting left and right, you can practice running and shooting back and forth. If you've done that, I think the best way to get the gist of it is to practice against the demons in the labyrinth.

Once Ilorina has practiced to her liking, why don't you and I go to the『Labyrinth』to try it out? If you can get past the goblins and orcs that come right up to you with their weapons, you should be able to fight most demons.」

「Wow, I would love to!」

After that, Melfalude spent another two hours with Ilorina practicing on her own at the shooting range, and then they headed to the Labyrinth of Ulises together.

In conclusion, today's first day, Ilorina was full of failures and could not be a real asset. This is probably unavoidable, as she has never had the experience of confronting a demon in close quarters before.

The only thing left to do now was to gain experience and get a feel for it through repeated successes and failures in actual combat. Well, Ilorina has a good sense of combat, so I'm sure she'll be fine.

Despite her small size, Ilorina has a strong arm and the agility to move quickly.

Once she can move and fight with dexterity, her potential will be even more apparent than it already is, and she will be able to use her strengths to take advantage of her enemies.