After the lame man agreed to give him an extra hour of rest later, a short-haired young man hurried over.
"Hello, Brother Fan," he greeted with a friendly smile, nodding and bowing respectfully.
Chen Fan felt a bit embarrassed by the young man's enthusiasm, considering they were about the same age. He quickly waved his hand and replied, "No need to be so formal. Just call me Chen Fan. By the way, what's your name?"
"I'm Wang Ping, 'Wang' as in 'king' and 'Ping' as in 'plain'," Wang Ping explained with a chuckle.
"Enough chatting; let's get started," the lame man interjected impatiently. "You saw what I did earlier, so just follow suit."
"Of course, Uncle Zhang. Don't worry, I've got this," Wang Ping responded.
Chen Fan expressed his gratitude for Wang Ping's assistance, knowing that it required both time and effort.
"But I can only show my gratitude after I've mastered the basics of archery and can help with hunting," he thought to himself.
"It's alright, no problem," Wang Ping replied with a smile. "Brother Fan, you're Uncle Guodong's son. Without him taking us in back then, we might have been killed by ferocious beasts outside. This is a small favor; it's nothing, cough cough..."
Realizing he might be talking too much, Wang Ping hastily picked up the archery target and took his position, saying, "Brother Fan, I'm ready to begin."
Chen Fan took a deep breath, nodded, and entered his focused state.
Initially, their cooperation was a bit awkward, but they soon found their rhythm, and the proficiency of Basic Archery steadily increased.
Nearly an hour passed when Chen Fan decided to take a break. He lowered the bow and arrow, expressing his gratitude to Wang Ping. "Wang Ping, thanks for your hard work."
"Brother Fan, I'm really sorry," Wang Ping replied with a wry smile. He could no longer hold up his arms; they felt like they were filled with lead.
Seeing Wang Ping's fatigue, the lame man was ready to take over. His arms had recovered slightly, but it was uncertain if he could endure another hour.
"Let me take over."
At that moment, a tall young man who had been sitting and resting stood up. He was at least 1.8 meters tall but very lean, almost like skin and bones.
This announcement surprised everyone, including the lame man. He looked at the tall young man and said, "Zhao Feng, your marksmanship is the most polished among us. Time and energy are limited, so you should continue practicing your marksmanship."
Wang Ping couldn't help but feel a bit dismayed. Had he been called here because his marksmanship was merely average?
"Uncle Zhang, it's alright. Take it as a break," Zhao Feng said with a smile as he turned to Chen Fan. "Wang Ping is right. Thanks to Uncle Guodong, my mother and I could survive here."
The lame man nodded slightly, deciding not to stop Zhao Feng.
And so, another two or three hours passed. During that time, aside from the lame man, Wang Ping, and Zhao Feng, one or two other young people also came over to help.
Their motivation stemmed from both gratitude toward Chen Guodong and an acknowledgment of Chen Fan's natural talent in archery.
The departure of the Wei brothers had considerably weakened the village's defenses, and they needed to train someone in archery as soon as possible. Guns were plentiful; what they lacked was skilled archers.
During this period, Chen Fan discerned some rules: the faster the moving target, the more proficiency gained upon hitting it, up to 3%. However, if it was too swift, hitting it became nearly impossible. Conversely, if the target moved too slowly, it was akin to hitting a stationary one, resulting in minimal proficiency gain.
"Phew!"
The arrow sliced through the air and struck the target. Chen Fan suddenly felt a warm current course through his body, dispelling more than half of his previous fatigue.
"Did Basic Archery level up?" he wondered aloud.
In the same moment, the lame man shouted, "Here it comes!"
Chen Fan noticed the archery target moving much slower than before, almost as if time had slowed down. He couldn't help but wonder at this phenomenon.
However, without delay, he followed his muscle memory and drew the bowstring, releasing the arrow.
"Boom!"
The arrow struck the bull's-eye with pinpoint precision.
"Well done!" the lame man couldn't help but applaud.
Then, he quickly regained his composure and remarked, "Perhaps you just got lucky this time—a blind cat finding a dead mouse."
Chen Fan chuckled. At this point, he had realized that Basic Archery had indeed leveled up, and the fourth characteristic had been unlocked.
Level: 3 (0/4)
Physique: 12.78
Strength: 11.57
[Basic Archery: Lv3 (1%), characteristics: physical strength level 3, arm strength level 3, slow shooting level 3, riding level 1]
[Mounted Shooting: Each level increases hit rate by 30% when aiming at moving targets]
"No wonder," Chen Fan murmured, understanding that the archery target had slowed down due to the Mounted Shooting characteristic.
Furthermore, the first three characteristics had all reached level 3, especially the slow shooting characteristic, which provided an astonishing 90% accuracy when targeting immobile objects, almost perfect.
"This level of strength should be sufficient for hunting," Chen Fan concluded.
He contemplated the idea of improving Basic Archery to level 5 and the Mounted Shooting characteristic to level 3, giving him 90% accuracy. With this combination, his confidence in hunting would be considerably higher.
However, he also noticed that even hitting the bull's-eye increased proficiency by just 1%. To advance from level 3 to level 4, he would need to hit moving targets around a hundred times, and the progression would only become more challenging from there.
"There's not much time!" Chen Fan thought anxiously.
The haunting memory of three villagers dying the day after he arrived still lingered in his mind. Another day's delay could result in even more deaths. What if one of those casualties was his father?
In addition to ensuring his safety, he needed sufficient beast meat to convert into potential points for enhancing his physique.
Despite the risks involved, he couldn't afford to avoid them. The adult men in the village, with their physical prowess not much greater than his, ventured into the wilderness to hunt every day. Why should he be any different?
If he could raise Basic Archery from level 3 to level 4 by practicing tirelessly from afternoon to night, it would significantly improve both his safety and his ability to capture prey.
"Kid, what are you thinking about?" the lame man interrupted his thoughts. "At this moment, you're letting your mind wander?"
"Uncle Zhang, I was considering whether I should switch to a more lethal bow," Chen Fan replied with a grin.