I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 269

A single arrow. With just one shot, several trees were blown to smithereens.

If I had fired a portable rocket launcher instead of an arrow, I could understand. But it was an arrow.

At first I wondered, ’Did I put in too much Aura?’ so I fired once more.

Naturally, I infused a bit less Aura than before.

Kwagagwang!!

It blew up anyway. Since I put in less Aura, the power was somewhat reduced.

From a rocket launcher down to a grenade launcher level. Regardless, the fact that its ’destructive power’ was terrifying remained unchanged.

’Is my Aura made in China or something?’

Honestly, even Chinese products wouldn’t explode like this. At least some products from China are normal.

The problem was that every time I tried to do something, it exploded. It blew up constantly without warning.

What made it even more ridiculous was Ludwig’s reaction. Seeing the current situation, he left these words:

" #$%%%$."

[He says the attack method is close to physical, yet the power is equivalent to magic. I whole-heartedly agree.]

I quietly asked.

"There’s no way there’s zero cases like mine out there, right?"

"None."

"Can you be sure?"

"Rather than that, one would cast magic."

"...."

When a former Guardian of the Holy Kingdom spoke with such firmness, I had nothing to say back.

Usually, when thinking of a skilled archer, one imagines a marksman who never misses.

I could aim for a hundred hits out of a hundred shots too. Provided splash damage counts.

The problem was that the splash damage could splash back onto me.

No matter how I thought about it, acting as a rocket launcher made no sense, so I decided to ask an expert.

[Wild Grylls: Hello. Is it alright if I ask something?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Sure! What are you curious about?]

[Wild Grylls: You said most elves are sharpshooters, right? Are you one too?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Of course. Archery is basic knowledge for an elf!]

[Wild Grylls: Then if you imbue too much Aura into an arrow before firing, does it explode?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: Wouldn’t casting magic be more efficient than doing that?]

A similar question came back from the elf.

He said that normally, only the piercing power increases.

[Let’s Grow Trees: The arrow’s speed is determined by the bow’s tension, not the string. And Aura can reinforce the bow’s tension.]

[Wild Grylls: So does that mean you can smash rocks too?]

[Let’s Grow Trees: It doesn’t smash rocks, it pierces right through them! I’m telling you, exploding is weird!]

Even an elf gave such testimony, making me question it even more. Why on earth did arrows imbued with my Aura explode?

’Can the arrows really just not handle it?’

But that was vague too; if that were the case, it should have exploded right away upon release.

Exploding only after receiving a heavy impact like a rocket warhead was genuinely bizarre.

What on earth was the underlying principle? If I understood it, I could channel the force into piercing power instead of explosions.

I wanted to harvest my prey intact, not blow it to smithereens.

[Even so, don’t go thinking about crafting arrowheads out of Mythricon.]

"Why? It might just be that regular arrows can’t handle my Aura."

[If you’re going to do it, I suggest going down to the river. If an explosion larger than that happens, this whole area will be flattened.]

He had a point. I couldn’t figure out the reason behind the explosion right now anyway.

I hoped against hope that the arrow simply couldn’t withstand my Aura. Otherwise, I might have to abandon the bow altogether.

’Or use it for mass destruction.’

It would be tough to use in tight spaces like this. I had to factor in the explosion’s shockwave as well.

Still, stashing away such a destructive weapon felt like a waste.

A time might come when it proves useful, so I planned to keep standard arrows on hand as well.

Kwaak!

"Mmm!"

While I was grumbling internally, Lackey was hard at work practicing.

The crossbow bolt he fired didn’t just lodge into the tree—it cleanly pierced right through. Looking at it, he seemed to have imbued Internal Energy into it.

’I need to be like that too.’

I always think this, but I want to get strong normally. Not get strong like some fucking freak.

Of course, to survive in the Forest of the Four Seasons, it was better than stagnating completely.

’Should I just leave hunting to Lackey?’

Or I might have to rely solely on the bow’s natural capabilities without infusing Aura.

And use Aura to trigger an explosion only when absolutely necessary.

Before that, I need to craft Mythricon arrowheads first. I asked Passing Dwarf about the crafting method.

[Passing Dwarf: Nothin’ special. Just make it reasonably sharp and grind it on a whetstone.]

[Wild Grylls: That’s the easiest way, right?]

[Passing Dwarf: Yeah. Similar to how ancient folk ground up stones. Normally it’s more complicated, but that’ll be your best bet.]

[Wild Grylls: KK]

I crafted arrowheads just as Passing Dwarf said. Crafting the arrowheads themselves wasn’t hard.

It was just that modifying the arrows bought from the auction house was the tedious part.

Removing the arrowheads wrapped tightly with cord was work, and attaching the new ones back on was work too.

’This is just a trial run anyway.’

I modified roughly 5 arrowheads into Mythricon. All that remained was testing.Read the latest chapters at novelping(.)com.

Soon, I headed up to the river alongside my companions. Fortunately, across the river right now lay a vast desert zone.

It was perfect for testing. Even if it blew up, it wouldn’t affect this side.

"Lackey. You shoot first."

"Understood."

I yielded the first turn to Lackey. Honestly, since Lackey used a crossbow, he wasn’t as heavily affected by energy/Aura.

Just as Let’s Grow Trees mentioned, Aura could boost tension, but crossbows had lower efficiency in that regard.

Piyoong!

The bolt loaded into the crossbow cleaved through the wind and flew fiercely outward.

I hadn’t realized it when he was just targeting trees, but the speed was remarkably fast.

The old me would have found it tough to follow with my eyes. But now, I could see it, albeit faintly.

’Bbareumbo caught something like that barehanded?’

The closer you got, the farther away his skill seemed.

Realizing just how fast the arrow was made Bbareumbo feel all the more extraordinary.

Ludwig also informed me that unless it was a volley of arrows flying in an arc, direct shots were hard to react to.

"Still, you grab them barehanded, right?"

" $%%%%@#."

[He says he can catch them, provided it’s not on a noisy battlefield or fired from outside his line of sight.]

That sounds like something even the Heavenly Demon would struggle to block. No, wait, maybe the Heavenly Demon is a different story.

Now that Lackey was done firing, it was my turn, so I got ready immediately.

Seeing me prepare, my companions stealthily shuffled backward.

They seemed worried it might blow up. I felt a little hurt.

’It’s not like it explodes while still in my hands.’

Pouting my lips for a moment, I took in the expansive desert before me.

A landscape where heat haze flickered faintly under the blazing sun.

’Wait a minute. Sun?’

I raised my head toward the desert sun visible across the space. There was a sun above me too.

In essence, two suns existed. Typical for the Forest of the Four Seasons.

’If I were a bit smarter, could I have figured out my location with stuff like this?’

Just in case, I snapped a photo first. Asking Allfather or Starlight Lady might yield a hint.

Kkigigik—

I nocked a Mythricon arrow onto the string and aimed toward the desert.

My back muscles strained slightly, but I could endure this much with ease.

Paaaaang!!!

Leaving the bowstring, the arrow shot fiercely toward the desert sand.

It was far faster than the crossbow bolt Lackey fired, impossible to track with the naked eye.

Chwaaak!

"Oh."

An astounding thing happened. A large hole formed on a sand dune far off in the distance.

It didn’t explode. The hole was created by the whirlwind generated by the arrow.

Just a single arrow, yet its power was terrifying.

However,

’I don’t particularly care for this.’

Aside from its splendid power, there was still far too much unnecessary destruction.

I needed to increase piercing power, yet only collateral destruction went up.

Still, it didn’t explode like a rocket, so that was a relief if anything.

Paaaaang! Paang!

I fired all the Mythricon arrows I had crafted for testing.

To ponder how I might cut down on unnecessary collateral damage.

However, I had no choice but to conclude that my Aura control was simply clumsy.

’Nothing I can do about that part right now.’

Just as I was about to stow the bow and head back—

Kwaaaang!!!

An explosion echoing from far off pierced my ears.

Having just turned my back, I couldn’t help but flinch.

Kwagagwang!!! Kwagang!!!

The explosion didn’t happen just once. It went off twice, three times in rapid succession.

Wondering what the hell was happening, I looked across the desert, only to see a terrifying scene unfolding.

Kwaaang!! Kwaang!!

Including the very first blast, a total of 5 explosions had occurred.

The exact same count as the Mythricon arrows I fired for practice.

It only delayed the timing; the explosions couldn’t be stopped.

’Are these delayed-fuse bombs?!’

The monotonous desert landscape became choked with sand from the successive explosions.

A scene looking as if a sandstorm had swept through. I had clearly only shot arrows, yet it felt like a artillery strike had rained down.

Ddddddd!

Right then, a faint yet distinct rumbling sound caught my ears.Read the latest chapters at NovelPing.

To clarify, I didn’t feel the vibration, I heard the noise. And from the desert side, no less.

Apparantly, because the space was severed, the physical vibration didn’t transfer over.

However, since the sound could be heard so vividly, one could gauge just how massive the shaking was.

Kwagagwagwagwa!!!

Amidst the dense sand dust, a gigantic shadow soared upward.

As if asking who dared disturb its slumber, its overwhelming presence was exposed even from afar.

Its overall appearance was close to an earthworm. However, its size was so gargantuan that it casually ignored all sense of perspective.

[Uooooooooo!!!]

The giant worm let out a roar, perhaps bursting with annoyance.

The distance was clearly far, yet my ears rang with tinnitus.

’I’ve seen that before.’

When one thinks of desert monsters, a certain creature usually comes to mind. The Giant Sand Worm.

What I was seeing right now was striking in its resemblance.

Shiiiiik!

I had no idea it doubled as a street sweeper, though. What do I mean by that?

Because it sucked up every bit of the thick sand dust that had completely blocked our view.

At a speed similar to how the Sky Whale sucked up insect swarms.

[Grrrrrr....]

Before long, the desert view returned to its previous clean state.

The sand worm scanned its surroundings, as if looking for whoever woke it up.

Then it locked its eyes directly onto us. At first, I wondered if I mis-saw.

However, seeing how its gaze remained fixed on us, it was definitely looking right at us.

Puaak!

The sand worm burrowed into the sand.

The moment I saw that, dread washed over me.

Koogoogoogoo!

Following that, we could see it hurtling toward us at high speed in real time.

How did I know? Because the sand formed a straight, churning trail cut across the desert.

Since the monster was huge enough to casually defy perspective, its approach took mere seconds.

"...."

"...."

Without waiting for anyone to say a word, my companions and I spun around. We couldn’t even yell "run!"

We had only one thought: get away from that approaching sand worm.

We were technically the ones in the wrong, but that didn’t mean the worm was about to accept an apology.

"It won’t cross over, right?"

[If it crosses over, we’re all dead.]

I had nothing to refute Cain’s cold response. Honestly, if that thing crossed over, we were all dead meat.

Fortunately, the catastrophe of the Giant Sand Worm crossing over didn’t occur.

Puaaaaa!

Instead, perhaps as a protest (?), it spat out the sand dust it had swallowed. And it wasn’t simple dust either.

Wheeeeeeeing!!!

It was a sandstorm. A single giant worm performed an action tantamount to a natural disaster.

Fortunately, because we evacuated into the cave in advance, no disaster befell us.

I had also warned the working squirrels and marmots in advance.

Wheeeeeeeing!

The sandstorm raged for a fairly long time. We were stuck huddled inside the cave for half a day.

Even after the sandstorm withdrew, a problem remained. Sand piled high on the ground.

Since it was vomited out after the sand worm swallowed it, the volume was staggering.

Swish— swish—

"Missed some here. Keep sweeping."

"Yes..."

"Missed some here too."

In the end, I had no choice but to sweep with a broom myself. Speechless.

[I think I roughly understand the reason. It explodes once it leaves your hands.]

"Ahjussi Ludwig’s shots stay intact, so why is it only happening to me?"

[It’s likely due to your absolute quantity of mana. Ludwig is a cup, whereas you are an oak barrel. Even at 1%, the absolute difference is bound to be vast.]

As time passed, I received an explanation as to why my Aura triggered explosions.

It was a pretty plausible explanation, yet I still found it hard to comprehend.

Of course, I was persuaded by the explanation that followed.

[Above all, matching the high-pressure mana of the Forest of the Four Seasons, your own mana similarly possesses high baseline pressure. It’s fine while held in your hand because it circulates, but the instant it leaves your hands, the object cannot withstand it and explodes.]

"So you’re saying on top of having huge amounts of mana, the pressure is so strong that objects just can’t take it?"

[Precisely.]

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

[What do you mean ’what to do’?]

Cain replied as if asking why I’d even question it.

[You figure it out yourself.]

"Damn it."

Driving me crazy, seriously.