Aiden was completely unaware of the shock he was inflicting on Oliver and was still trapped in the mysterious state. Aiden drew another arrow, but this time something happened.
"Huh?"
Aiden suddenly paused. He grasped around in his quiver and felt nothing. It was only after that Aiden snapped out of whatever trance he had been in for the last few minutes.
"What… what happened…"
Disoriented, Aiden looked around at the targets littered with arrows, completely confused.
"Did I… did I do all this?"
Before Aiden could second-guess himself, someone else responded for him.
"Yes! Yes, you did! Don't tell me you can't remember anything?"
Oliver looked at Aiden, completely stunned. How could someone put on such a magical performance and barely even know how they did it?
But Aiden was truly helpless at this moment in time.
"I really can't remember anything," said Aiden helplessly.
But although Aiden couldn't remember anything, he would be lying if he said he didn't feel any different. The bow in his hand was completely different; if before it felt like a foreign object, now it was much more familiar.
It would be exaggerating to say it felt like an extension of his arm, but at the very least it felt like a snug glove. Something comfortable that could be manipulated with ease.
Even Oliver didn't believe that Aiden was the same after that shocking performance and handed him an arrow.
Aiden nocked his arrow and instantly had a new feeling. It was strange to put into words, but he felt like he could hit any target. It wasn't something that needed to be focused on too deeply. As long as he tried, he felt like he could do it. It was as simple as taking a walk or breathing.
Aiden took a calm and controlled breath and…
"Bang!"
The arrow was released, streaking across the air and nailing into the target with a loud impact. Bullseye! And to prove it was not just some freak coincidence, Aiden fired off three more arrows and all three expertly found their mark.
Aiden looked between his hands, elated but still a bit confused. But soon, Aiden calmed down.
Since he had met those two soldiers of the gods all that time ago, not a single thing had made sense!
If something strange was happening, then it was the blood of the gods that was at fault, not him!
Aiden also remembered that Oliver said he received an improvement in his archery after awakening his blood, so Aiden was not alone in this phenomenon.
Aiden looked towards Oliver, impressed by the power of the blood of the gods.
"The blood of the gods is really impressive. Just after picking up a bow once, I can already use it at such a high level."
When Oliver heard this, he nearly fell over!
The blood of the gods? What a joke!
He didn't know what blood Aiden had, but it definitely wasn't the same as whatever he got!
If the blood of the gods was so powerful, what was the point in all the time he had spent training?
If all that was needed to become proficient in your weapon of choice was the blood of the gods, then, even if his father chased him around with a sword, Oliver would never train hard a day in his life!
This simply wasn't normal.
It could be seen from the changes after his blood awakening that Aiden's god's blood was stronger than average, and the display today only further proved it.
Even amongst those with the blood of the gods, there are levels. The commoners and the geniuses. The mundane and the monsters. It was obvious to anyone who had seen Aiden's performance that he was clearly in the latter. This was the realm of elite monsters!
Oliver looked at Aiden and wanted to sigh. Thinking back to the time he said that Aiden would have a hard time for coming from a mortal family, he felt like laughing at himself.
This guy? Have a hard time?
From what he could see, he was bound to fit in just like a fish in water.
As Oliver was having these thoughts, he suddenly saw Aiden grabbing a new bunch of arrows and putting them in his quiver.
Aiden once again stood in front of the shooting range with his familiar bow in hand. But this time, instead of drawing just one arrow, he drew two!
Seeing this, Oliver's eyes jumped.
"Aiden, you're not trying two at once, are you?"
Hearing this, Aiden looked towards Oliver and smiled.
"Since learning how to shoot a bow and arrow came quite easy, I thought why stop there? Why not try two?"
Hearing this, Oliver's mouth twitched.
Such a train of thought was extremely arrogant, and for someone who had been practicing archery for a long time, it would even come across as plain disrespectful. But Oliver would be lying if he said he wasn't curious. He wanted to see just how far Aiden's monstrous talent could reach.
Aiden didn't keep Oliver waiting for too long. He calmed his breathing, steadied his body, and locked onto his targets. His back and arm muscles activated as he pulled back the bow with tremendous force and…
"Bang!"
One arrow nailed into the target with a powerful force, while the other was sent flying off into the horizon. Aiden saw this and frowned before quickly calming down. It was just one failure; he didn't succeed on his first try last time either. Calm and patience were the keys.
Aiden tried again and again, but to his dismay, nothing seemed to be working. He could manage to hit at least one target with his arrow, but the other would always end up missing. Aiden didn't stop, continuing to fire until his arm was sore.
He went through at least two quivers worth of arrows, but nothing seemed to be working. The mysterious and amazing state that had helped him master archery before showed no sign of resurfacing.
Eventually, after firing the last two arrows in his quiver and not being any closer to his goal, Aiden finally couldn't remain calm and cursed.
"Fuck!"