Chapter 122: Tutorial (2)
Almond was suddenly faced with multiple targets due to Raina throwing a fit.
— Wait, what is this?
— This is a tutorial…?
— W-What the fuck? Is this an Almond-style tutorial?
— A special treatment!
The progression for the tutorial was different from usual. Normally, an easy target appeared for the player to get used to hitting. However, it seemed like Raina was trying to teach Almond a lesson.
Raina was like a bully at work, giving impossible tasks. It was the same technique she used as a soldier.
"Huff," Almond simply took a light breath to ready his shots.
Instead of panicking as Raina intended, he was calm. If anything, her shouting bothered him. The multiple targets didn't faze him though.
Since Almond didn't know the original difficulty of the tutorial, he wasn't surprised by it and didn’t find it difficult. He readied his bow and shot as he normally would.
Pang!
— ?!
— He's shooting already?
— Kya!
— He doesn't even aim before shooting.
He simply and lightly fired the arrow as he always did. It landed softly and perfectly on the target.
Thwack!
In the center of the light blue target.
Pung!
As the targets blew up, additional damage was inflicted and the soldier's head burst. It seemed like they were low on HP in the first place.
[Maybe it wasn't all luck? But you need to hit all the targets. These targets have a time limit... Hm?]
Right after that, the other targets behind the soldiers were hit.
Pung!
As the bonus damage was inflicted, the soldier's HP was cut in half.
"Urk!"
While the soldier was screaming, another arrow flew and hit the target in the neck.
Pung!
A blue light glowed and made a loud noise.
[Right. If you hit three targets in a row... the magic damage gets stronger and inflicts more damage...]
Raina was explaining her passive, Mana Exposure. Every time the champion hit a target, the magic damage on the arrow increased. Every three hits, the mana exploded and inflicted a large amount of damage.
However, it sounded like she was forcibly explaining it because she had to.
Pung!
Another soldier's head exploded. Again, the blue target was hit by another arrow. The fourth target was already hit.
[Sigh…? F-Four... hmm. Very lucky? From the fourth shot, the damage doesn't increase as much... but the spirit level increases...]
Pung!
Pung!
The damage was significant enough to one-shot the soldiers. The soldiers hit on the arm burnt away from the mana and those struck at the abdomen blew up.
Almond kept shooting. He couldn't hear a word from Raina because he was focused on shooting. His bow and the targets were the only things that existed in the world.
[What the spirit level is... it brings me, the legendary figure, into the battlefield...]
Pung! Pung!!
The targets blew up every time he took a shot.
He felt like he was in a fighting game that he played as a child. Even though he was shooting arrows, every shot felt like it packed a punch. Enriched with this sensation, Almond kept shooting. Since he didn't have to reach for an arrow to shoot, his shots were unbelievably quick.
Pubububung!
This was the biggest difference between?Battle Large and LIL. It was unrealistic.
He had superhuman strength. Almond was experiencing the difference at its peak.
[If my spirit level fills up... you can use more power... and...]
Swoosh!
Suddenly, six shots were fired at once. After that, more continued to follow. Multiple targets made a satisfying noise as they blew up.
Pubububung!
Thirty targets were now reduced to below ten.
'Nine more.'
He could count exactly how many targets remained. Almond's bow suddenly glowed blue.
Pubububung!
Five targets suddenly disappeared.
'Four more.'
Four targets remained.
Creak…?
Did he just pull the bowstring? Before this train of thought could finish…
Pang!!
The next four targets were gone in a blink. They disappeared almost simultaneously. To the naked eye, it was indistinguishable.
[And I'll... help you fight together...]
Right around then, Raina's explanation finished.
[... How can this be?]
In the end, Raina couldn't help but display her awe.
— How can this be?
— How can this be?
— LOL
— Wait, Raina… you're giving up?
— She's throwing in the towel!
— Noooo Raina!
— Wow, as expected of Almond.
The viewers rejoiced at this rare sight. Almond finally glanced at the chat.
'Oh? It's over?'
He realized that Raina stopped explaining.
'Is this the end of the tutorial?'
It ended with Almond not learning much. He heard Raina explaining, but nothing went into his head. He was like a student who finished listening to a lecture, but learned nothing.
"Uh, Raina… I didn't hear anything you said. Can you say it again?"
— LOL
— This guy wasn't listening at all?!
— ??? Why listen to Raina! Just dodge and hit everything!
— Hahaha
— Do you think she will? LOL
— The answer: stfu.
— That won't work on Raina...
— Almond can't pay attention haha
For some reason, he thought he could hear Raina grinding her teeth. Just when he was about to search for a guide alone, Raina told him she would explain again.
[... It's been a while since I've had a useful summoner like you. I'll explain one more time. Just this once.]
— ???
— Is this a bug?
— ??????
— Raina?! What happened to my Raina?!
— It must be a bug. Report him!
— Can Raina see faces? Damn...
— Almond's good looks do it again…
[The spirit is...]
***
The ultimate was a skill that allowed the champions to be summoned to the battlefield once the spirit level was filled up. It was like a god descending.
A descended champion had destructive power that went beyond a normal summoner. Therefore, the timing of this ultimate played a major factor in victory. The criteria to fill up one’s spirit level were different for every champion.
"Ah, so you're saying the quicker I hit my targets, the quicker I can stack up my spirit level, right?"
[That's right. You can use the ultimate skill if you stack up a hundred stacks.]
The way to activate Raina, The Cold-Blooded Evil Archer's ultimate, was to hit the targets that appeared four times in a row. The third shot increased the summoner's damage. Starting from the fourth shot, every target hit raised a stack called the "Pride of an Archer".
[Pride of an Archer x 27]
Almond currently had 27 stacks collected. He earned it by hitting all the previous targets. The stacks weren't because he hit 27 targets, but because he hit 30 targets in a row. He needed to hit 4 shots in a row to start stacking.
It was a difficult task and fitted the name, pride of an archer.
He was curious. Did he have to repeat this a hundred times to get a hundred stacks? Wasn't that too difficult?
Raina answered him.
[A normal soldier is one stack, rare monsters are five stacks, epic monsters, and other summoners are ten stacks.]
Thankfully, the stack rose in increments higher than one. If an enemy summoner was hit four times in a row, the stack rose by ten stacks. In theory, a thirteen-hit combo was enough to stack up the ultimate. This meant that to have Raina be viable, he needed to target only summoners to continuously use her ultimate. She was a difficult champion to use.
[Alright, try to get stacks and use the ultimate.]
After Raina's explanation was over, his stacks reset.
[Pride of an Archer x 0]
Someone suddenly appeared before him as if on standby.
Slam!
The man was larger than a normal soldier. He glowed with a head made of fire. It was clearly another summoner.
"Are you my target?"
The man shouting confidently was...
[Beginner Bot]
[Ignite - The Wildfire]
It was a practice bot.
"What the?! Why's a beginner bot so cocky?"
— LOL
— Hahaha that's true
— Don't hate on the bots!
— Almond looks so confused haha
The viewers laughed at Almond's pure reaction. However, the beginner bot Ignite wasn't so kind.
.
"You're too cocky!"
Flare!
Ignite ran toward him with a body on fire.
"Die!"
The other soldiers were pumped up by Ignite and charged with him. This was one of the abilities the summoner had in battle. It was similar to soldiers being pumped up and charging forward while following their commander.
However—
Above Ignite's body, blue targets appeared. Almond pulled his bowstring. Up to this point, it was easy to see what was happening, but it wasn't easy after that.
The only thing they could see was… the blue light from the bow and a meteor shower raining down in the darkness. It was consecutive shots of mana arrows that seemed like fireworks.
All the arrows stuck onto Ignite as if they were magnets.
Pubububung!!
Countless arrows became stuck on him. Bright thorns pierced all over his flaming body. There were countless arrows.
As the intense mana covered Ignite's body…
Pung!
There was an explosion. The passive of hitting three arrows in a row activated, resulting in the mana arrows blowing up.
Boom!!
After a couple more explosions, blue smoke covered the area.
Swoosh...
As the smoke cleared, a black figure was losing its balance. It was…
"W-What the..."
Thud.
Ignite fell and died.
— ???
— I mean, it's a beginner bot and all, but how can it die this quickly?
— What the? Are those its last words?
— Insane
— Did he just say what the?
— Wait, is it dead?
— Wow!
— Even Ignite can't believe it…?
Almond thought as he looked at Ignite's flame path, 'Wow, this game is fun.'
***
[N... No way.]
Raina couldn't hide her surprise anymore. What did she just witness?
"Can I use my ultimate now? But how do I do it?"
However, the summoner only wanted to move on.
[Huh? No, you can't. You need to get 100 stacks to... huh?]
[Pride of an Archer x 120]
He already had 100 stacks, plus an extra 20.
[All those shots landed on the target…?]
Raina finally realized all his shots weren't just for damage, but aimed at the target. Every single shot…
— Huh?! 120 stacks?!
— I'm going crazy!!
— What is this? I'm going out for lunch today.
— Did they all hit the target???
— Almond, you're insane! Almond, you're insane!
— Wow, that's satisfying. Yeah, this is Almond!
— Mom, I'm scared I'm going to turn into Ignite!
Raina moved on to the next stage.
[Alright... I'll teach you how to use the ultimate.]