“It’s a hit!” The old matron exclaimed in shock.
She did not really expect Silver to hit anything the first time.
“I hit it?!” Silver asked back as he stared wide-eyed at the rabbit lying on the grassy ground.
“Kid! You got something! It seems that you are good at long range!” The old matron said excitedly as she moved to check the rabbit.
“I just don’t know if you are good at archery too, not just slingshots.”
“I really hit it! Woo hoo! Hehehe,” Silver shouted and giggled as he came to the downed rabbit too.
“It’s not just an ordinary hit too, kid. You got a head shot here!” The old matron said as she examined the dead rabbit, showing its head that was hit.
“I just don’t know if you were aiming for the head or if it was just luck.”
“Well, I was actually aiming for the head after all; it was my first try, so I did not think about hitting it at all, I just wanted to try it. Then I would adjust my aim as I get used to it,” Silver explained with a heave of breath as he gradually calmed down from his excitement of getting a hit.
“That was the plan. I just didn’t expect that I would really hit it.”
“So how did you do it, kid?” The old matron asked with a slight smile.
“I don’t know, Mother Matron. I just followed your previous instructions, and then I did not bother thinking about or try anything else and just followed my instincts. I aimed according to my feelings and let go. After letting go, I no longer cared whether it hit; in fact, just like I said, I never thought of hitting anything the first time. So I directly prepared for my second shot. Then I heard you say it was a hit, so I stopped to look closer in surprise,” Silver explained carefully as he tried making that feeling from shooting before clearer, to not forget that feeling, because maybe he really has the talent for it.
‘Now, this is really making my expectations of myself go high again.
In my previous life, I really thought I was some kind of genius when I was a kid, so I was always careless, always going with the flow because learning was too easy in elementary.
I never cared about awards or anything like that because I thought I could do it too if I tried.
I never worked hard and never knew discipline and focus.
It was the same in high school.
So college became my downfall.
I cannot adapt because college professors won’t spoon-feed students anymore.
College is a bit like going to work.
You will have to figure out the rest.
Then there will be assessments (tests) at times,’ Silver thought to himself as he stifled even the slightest bit of pride and arrogance that was about to come out of his chest.
‘Come on, Silver!
You can no longer coast through things here, even if you really had the talent!
This place is dangerous!
You want to be an adventurer in Orario, so it will only be even more dangerous than what you can imagine right now.
Don’t go the easy way!
The hard way is the sure way!
‘
Then he clapped his cheeks with both hands to be more focused, more disciplined, and more decisive.
Hearing the sound of clapping made the matron turn her head to Silver to see what he was doing, but upon seeing the determined look in his eyes, she did not bother asking anymore because she thinks it must be something good for him, so it does not matter whether she knows or not.
“Want to try again?” the matron asked as she let Silver do the bleeding work.
“Yes, Mother Matron, I want to try again. I want to solidify that feeling from before,” Silver said seriously with a firm nod.
“Okay, let’s go,” the old matron said with a renewed energy from the excitement just now as she started moving.
Silver quickly put the prey into the basket he was carrying in his back as he followed suit.
This time he tried tracking prey on his own without any guidance from the old matron.
He became more focused as they moved, becoming more familiar and experienced on what to do, what to look for, and how to move.
It took a shorter time than before when they finally found prey.
This time it is a lone pheasant again.
This time it was Silver who found the prey first, but he was too focused to remind the mathron as he smoothly loaded and prepared the slingshot in his hand.
The moment the matron realized what was going on, Silver was already aiming.
As he aimed, his thoughts started going high-speed as the world seemed to have slowed down to a stop in his perception, which he had not taken notice of yet. Follow the newest chapters on novelping dot com.
‘This time I will never take the easy way out.
This time, I will not fail.
This time, I will definitely succeed.
This time, I will never quit.
This time, I will never be a stupid simp.
This time, I will live life not just for the sake of living.
I won’t be hiding from the world anymore.
Face my fears.
Face anyone with no shame.
There is no internet here to bury your disappointment and shame about yourself any longer, Silver.
There will be no fun reads to make you happy and forget about everything.
This time around…
You can only face everything and everyone head-on.
You can no longer be weak.
No longer be a coward.
No longer be a stubborn, arrogant prick that can’t accept the fact that he was just an ordinary person.’
Silver took a deep, long, and calm breath as his whole body relaxed and steadied; his eyes showed even more determination than before.
Like a fire, burning more than ever.
Then…
He let go.
‘Goodbye my weak self.’
-Word count = 1020-