Supreme Archer: Taking The Game's Weakest Class To The Top

Chapter 73: Heart (1)

Standing across The Imperial Mage in her mage equipment, Mary deeply inhaled and reset her mind.

Her new outfit was pretty appealing. She wore a short skirt with a side cut for even more movement flexibility. Her checkered shirt didn't have sleeves and even exposed her stomach.

Her color shades were mainly focused on black and red.

Particularly, her long black knee socks would make a day for lots of men!

If Mary were in her usual self, she would have already conjured her magic and entered the battle. She'd start with her best and usual combination before revealing the legendary magic, whose damage output and flexibility were much higher than anything else in her hands.

Alas, this scenario was rare and limited to tightly closed dungeons.

Which was because Mary's best friend told her not to reveal legendary magic to the world.

The method Monica used to persuade Mary was a simple comparison.

'There's a reason it's advised not to reveal one's income! The same goes for the legendary magic in this world!' Monica's stern and serious voice echoed in Mary's head as she recalled her words.

That said, Minerva was an important NPC to become close with.

To get her interest, Mary had to take a risk!

Using her strongest from the start, therefore, was given.

In a calm tree plantation where stillness was dwarfed by constantly building anticipation, a sudden appearance of fire, lightning, and wind broke the silence.

Those three elements are Mary's favorite because they perfectly match her disposition.

They're loud: as simple as that.

Thunder boomed from the depths of her heart. Lightning bolts crackled around her frame. Flames boiled her blood and reddened her skin, from which specks of fire surged. The wind took hold of her long hair and wildly scattered it behind alongside its silver streaks, forming a billowing cape of wind.

Minerva's eyes, however, peered into Mary's jade hues in which she could see the raw wilderness.

She no longer had human irises but a beast's.

The moment the grandma noticed those bestial eyes, the legendary wolf magic harnessed Mary's mana and elements, coming forth with a loud howl that stirred Jake's tattoo.

The roars of Mary's legendary magic perfectly blended with deafening elements, completing them.

Clenching her hand, Mary chuckled.

Before anyone—except Minerva and Viktor—noticed, she had buckled her legs and entered the pitching position. When the rest caught up with her movement, Mary had thrown her shoulder forward, sending her fastball—Wolf Chaos.

In this seemingly little ball, three opposite elements were forcefully mashed into a symphony, with three unique wolves howling at Mary's opponent.

Lightning speed up the ball beyond its limits.

Wind opened a straight trajectory and provided a balance.

Fire stood at the helm, ready to deliver the highest raw damage output.

The legendary wolf magic topped out the skill by adding sharp teeth(sharpness) to the fastball.

That was the foundation of Wolf Chaos!

As the target of this skill, Minerva took a second to study it. By looking at its appearance, she discerned what each element provided to the skill and even correctly guessed the legendary magic's purpose.

The elemental wolves glaring while zooming at her were adorable in her eyes.

She raised her hand and spread her fingers wide. A seed of an unknown origin rolled before her palm and was soon stirred by her mana and magical orb. In less than half a second, it sprouted into a thick tree arm extending toward Wolf Chaos.

It was at least three meters long on top of its thick structure!

Mary's magic, however, wasn't a laughing matter.

Upon the contact, the fastball tore through the wood as though it was a butter. It gobbled down every obstacle, which was unbelievable considering that this was The Imperial Mage's magic!

If Jake had observed this battle from the side, he would have seen precisely how Mary's fastball ripped Minerva's tree apart.

That said, even from afar and behind Mary, with the blinding elements obscuring his eyes, Jake could experience the might of magic in person.

It was so powerful and relentless. In fact, it got so dangerously close to the grandma!

Minerva, however, was even more impressive than the players thought. Just when it seemed that Wolf Chaos would defeat Minerva's skill and score the first point in the battle, Mary's skill suddenly lost its output.

It became a tiny ball, which Minerva squished in her palm.

Robert muttered, "Has she matched Mary's prowess?"

"Could you think of a better way to showcase the weight of experience?" Viktor asked while leaning on his chair's back. His face was seemingly getting more pissed with each second.

Recalling Minerva's reprimand and speech, Robert was compelled to agree. It was now clear to him that Minerva could have easily defeated Wolf Chaos earlier, and that spectacle was unnecessary.

That spectacle, however, was Minerva's privilege.

She was stronger than Mary, and she could do anything she wanted in this duel.

Mary must have noticed that as well.

Nonetheless, one skill was not enough to judge a mage! At least, that was what she believed! Mary added a flavor of a change-up to her second Wolf Chaos, then topped it out with more magic character.

Her change-up broke into several different change-ups, converging in Minerva from different angles!

In response, Minerva produced short wooden needles that popped them like balloons long before any of them could have connected to her. The distance between her and Wolf Chaoses was so significant that even a foolish mage player would have already come to terms with a defeat.

Mary wasn't that kind of a breed, though!

While the popping sounds filled the arena, Mary's other skill swept through it. This time, she seemed to have gone all out as the tree plantation got on fire. Of course, the trees were safe since Mary controlled her skill well.

Nonetheless, Mary and Minerva had been cut off from the world.

It was only two of them within the fire walls.

This zone and the second's skill name was—Fire Stadium.

It was difficult to tell whether it was a football, rugby, or any other sports stadium. It was even more complicated for NPCs that didn't have much knowledge about those sports.

Conjuring more fire walls, Mary hid her presence behind them. A moment later, she threw more pitches at Minerva. The intent behind those fire walls seemed to be a smokescreen, which Minerva also considered.

She didn't find any difficulties in popping off Wolf Chaoses, even with the element of the surprise.

It was because of the popular combination of two skills—Perception and Mana Awareness. Those were the ultimate saving graces for mages vulnerable in dungeon expeditions, guild wars, and more.

Minerva's awareness expanded so much it'd better not be mentioned here.

"Child… I like your style," Minerva said, suddenly turning around and staring at Mary, who was about to do a rugby tackle on her.

Unfortunately, she was imprisoned by hidden roots that Minerva had planted without anyone noticing, including Viktor and his sharp eyes.

"I'm Mary, Miss Minerva!" Mary said with a broad smile. She had taken a huge liking to Minerva for one particular reason.

Minerva smiled, "I'll remember your name, of course. It takes more to have me address someone by their name, however. And you also do not have a right to call me through my name yet. It's The Imperial Mage Orb for you."

"I want to call you by your name! And I want to fight you more! I think I know your awareness range now, so I want to take it outside, too!" Mary said, her assessment receiving silent approval from the grandma.

Minerva dropped an amiable smile at the young lass, "The foundation of your respect toward me is?"

"That slap!" Mary replied.

"Slap?" Minerva asked with a hint of amusement and surprise.

Mary, however, shocked her even more, "I've met lots of mages in this world, and not one of them has such high physical strength and callouses like you, Miss—The Imperial Mage Orb! You're not like those boring mages! You must have trained in your prime and tried various styles than the norm here!"

It was also because of it that Mary had so easily succumbed to Minerva's lecture.

Though there must have been some truth in Mary's words, Minerva laughed it off and smiled, "Haha! Child. I've had practiced an archery with my good friend. That's it."

Her pride wouldn't allow her to disclose the truth.

Mary didn't believe Minerva as well.

She'd not let another person so easily go… but this was The Imperial Mage, so Mary swallowed her following words and lowered her head like a good student.

At last, all magic vanished from the tree plantation.

"I'd love to see your magic in a much better environment, child."

[You have received a quest from The Imperial Mage, Minerva Asta Orb(Epic)]

Mary curved her lips up, "Sure thing!"

Minerva and Mary turned around and returned to the workplace after the grandma pointed out the young lady's lack of language.

Viktor and Jake rubbed their hands.

Both of them thought, 'Just leave already!'

Jake wanted to spend the rest of the day on his archery.

Viktor had enough of Minerva's presence.

None of them wanted to do anything with her.

That said, Mary and Minerva's battle was quite an eye-opener for Jake. They didn't show much of their skills and potential, but even so little might was enough to cause chaos and take over the entire tree plantation.

Jake couldn't imagine himself doing that yet with his archery class.

In that short exchange, Minerva could see the extent of Mary's potential, which Jake and the others couldn't do.

Overall, it was a good experience for everyone, bar Viktor.

That was when Minerva's eyes fell on Jake.

He looked up and unconsciously stood up so as not to be disrespectful.

Minerva said, "Archery will never pass Magic. Do you wish to know why?"

Why was he… suddenly her target?