On the wooden plank of the carriage, Char held his bow and arrow, gazing into the distance, his face still lit with surprise and joy.
His heart was leaping with excitement, words too pale to describe the thrill and elation he felt at this moment.
Although relying on the foundation laid by his original body and the outstanding bow and arrow talent of a Half-Elf, he had made rapid progress in these days. His Arrow Skill indeed improved daily, but he never expected to become a qualified archer this quickly.
The moment that arrow was shot, it felt as if the system had confirmed he had reached the threshold of entry, followed by a surge of memories and images flooding into his mind.
This suddenly enhanced his understanding of Arrow Skills significantly.
This enhancement wasn't just reflected in the Arrow Skill itself but also in a series of supporting aspects such as Step Technique, Body Movement, and even some close-quarters combat skills.
It meant that he had mastered a series of techniques without the need for a teacher's instruction or practice, leaping from an enthusiast with some accuracy straight to a qualified archer.
What surprised Char even more was the change in his personal panel.
[Name]: Char Rain Season
[Race]: Half-Elf
[Level]: 2
[Profession]: Archer
[Attributes]: Strength 12, Defense 8, Agility 14, Constitution 11, Intelligence 13, Perception 11
[Life Value]: 1143/1143
[Magic Power]: ——
[Skills]: Universal Arrow Skill lv1
[Magic Pet]: Star Worm (Challenge Level 1/2), Lantern Firefly (Challenge Level 2)
It wasn't just his Skills that had changed, but also his Level and Profession!
The mastery of Universal Arrow Skill had elevated him from a civilian status to an archer, and upon advancing to an archer, his attributes remained the same, but his Level had reached 2.
This signified a substantial increase in his combat power, it meant he was no longer the weakest link, his overall strength many times stronger than that of the Star Worm.
If it came to a four-on-one fight, he could even go toe-to-toe with the Lantern Firefly.
If he encountered the Green Skull Ghost Spider again, he wouldn't need the Lantern Firefly to take action, he could handle it on his own.
Char was extremely pleased.
He had initially thought this system panel only had the effect of displaying his data, which seemed quite useless.
Compared to those "Experience Systems" that allowed others to harvest experience from killing monsters for rapid strength progression, or those "Proficiency Systems" where skills could be upgraded just by increasing proficiency, his system seemed hardly comparable.
Now, he didn't think so anymore.
His system might not have been as overpowered as the two aforementioned types, but it was still very impressive, definitely a Little Golden Finger.
Though his Profession was only that of an "Archer," the most basic and unadorned, not like those novel protagonists who usually took on Hidden Professions that were rare, eye-catching, and classy.
But Char was still very satisfied.
He has always been a person easy to please, never striving for the out of reach.
Besides, the excitement, the thrill, and the sense of achievement when one suddenly masters abilities and Skills previously deemed impossible were beyond description.
Moreover, being an archer was just the beginning.
He was an archer now, but that didn't mean he would always be one.
The future was unwritten; who knew if he would eventually become a powerful Hidden Profession holder?
The Lantern Firefly flew to the spot where the arrow struck, pulling the arrow out.
It didn't pursue the nightingale because it couldn't keep up.
The Lantern Firefly's combat ability was indeed much stronger than the nightingale's, but its attack range was not wide.
"True Red Thorn" required close combat to launch, and "Red Glow," although with some long-range capability, only had a few dozen meters of attack range, plus the Lantern Firefly did not fly as fast as the nightingale.
So unless it could launch a sneak attack at close range, the Lantern Firefly couldn't do anything to the nightingale.
Char took back the arrow that the Lantern Firefly had brought and, after a while, spotted another target – a type of owl he couldn't identify.
Because it was still far away, the system did not give a display.
But regardless of what kind of owl it was, as long as Char could hunt it, he could obtain Praying Power, since up to this point, he hadn't hunted any type of owl.
Having mastered Level 1 "Universal Arrow Skill," Char felt like a child who had just received a new toy and couldn't wait to show it off.
To make a full effort, he didn't shoot arrows in a casual seated position anymore. Instead, he stood up, then gently, gently exhaled, cleared his mind, aimed at the distant owl, and slowly adjusted his stance...
"Clang!"
The sound of the wheel rolling over a larger pebble made a noticeable noise, which finally alarmed the distant owl. The owl spread its wings to fly to a safer place.
Just at that moment, with a "whoosh," the arrow pierced through the owl's wing.
The owl struggled to fly into the sky but could only scream as it plummeted downwards.
"Lantern Firefly, help me bring back the prey!"
Atop the carriage, Char loudly issued the command.
Although he didn't kill the owl with one strike, he had wounded its wing, and the owl was now easy prey, unable to escape.
The Lantern Firefly, carrying its red lantern, rushed into the dusk.
Soon, a sudden scream stopped abruptly in the evening darkness, and a completed task appeared on the panel, contributing a wisp of Praying Power to Char.
Before long, the Lantern Firefly returned with the body of the owl.
Char looked up at the sky.
At this moment, dusk was nearing its end; once it turned completely dark, he would have to stop.
Driving a carriage at night was too dangerous, prone to accidents, and more susceptible to attacks by demon beasts. If his carriage had been upgraded to Level 1, it would have been a different matter; but as it was still just a basic carriage, Char didn't dare travel at night.
But he was one wisp of Praying Power short. If he couldn't condense a Prayer Fragment tonight, he would have to wait until tomorrow.
However, the Luck Goddess ultimately stood on Char's side. After he found a place to stop and prepared to spend the night there, the Lantern Firefly successfully hunted a Bucktoothed Rat, filling the last wisp of Praying Power needed by Char.
The intelligence of the magic pets was surprisingly high, and each of them was very considerate.
Although Char hadn't mentioned in front of the Lantern Firefly and the Star Worm that he absolutely had to gather ten wisps of Praying Power tonight, from his unusual behavior today, the two magic pets still inferred the general situation and silently endeavored to solve Char's problems.
'How wonderful!' Char couldn't help thinking.
What would he do without the Lantern Firefly and the Star Worm!
...
The Moon Goddess was sprinkling her cold, silver-white moonlight over the earth.
At night, the performers in the forest had changed, and so had the style of the music. The morning's concerto was fresh, natural, and ethereally melodious, while the current night's concerto was dark, thrilling, and instilled fear in one's heart.
Char stood in front of the shrine, his gaze intently fixed on the captivating glow of the Prayer Fragment inside, silently praying in his heart.
The Star Worm, facing the direction of the shrine, flitted up and down above Char's right shoulder, displaying feelings of excitement and anticipation.
Compared to the Star Worm, the Lantern Firefly was much more reserved, quietly standing at the corner of a cabinet diagonally opposite the shrine, but from the way it stared unwaveringly at the shrine, it was clearly also looking forward to the scene that was about to unfold.