Chương 189: 186. Target Practice

The carpenter nodded, and pulled out a bunch of bolts, some of them simply being made of sharpened fedarus wood, while the others also had an iron tip - some of which were pointed, others being broadheads. The fletcher had also attached feathers on the sides to stabilize its trajectory. Kivamus picked up a simple wooden bolt without an iron tip and laid it on the top of the crossbow stock in the required groove. Before shooting it, he glanced around him and saw everyone looking at him attentively.

Hudan gave him an encouraging nod to try it, so he brought the crossbow in front of his eyes, putting the end of its stock - the butt - against his shoulder. He was glad that instead of keeping the end part of the stock relatively thinner as it was supposed to be, he had ordered it to be made thicker like the butt of a gun, to make it easier on the shoulder of the one shooting it.

The design even had a bolt clip to keep the bolt in place easily, which would be vital when the guards were shooting downwards from the top of a watch tower, otherwise the bolt could simply fall off the crossbow to the ground before shooting it. Holding the crossbow carefully, he looked ahead towards the walls, and brought a human shaped straw mannequin in front of the crossbow sight. The mannequin even had a circular target made of wood attached to it, so he aimed at the centre of it.

After taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he squeezed the trigger. Immediately, the bolt flew with a high velocity and struck the target with a loud thwack! It didn't even hit close to the centre of the wooden target he had aimed at, but he was still able to hit it near the edge.

For a moment, many of the people around him looked confused about what had happened, but it didn't take long for them to understand when Feroy pointed at the straw target and exclaimed, "You did it, milord, you really made an arbalest here!"

"Were you already an expert archer, my lord?" one of the guards asked in wonder, with another one immediately replying, "Of course he would be! He is the son of the Duke, after all!" Duvas was just shaking his head in disbelief, while Hudan gave a roar and started clapping, with the other guards joining him.

Soon, the training ground was filled with victorious roars and cheers of success, with some of the guards including the women raising both of their hands in the air and cheering in anticipation of a much more secure future of Tiranat. Kivamus couldn't help but grin in satisfaction. A lot of work from other people had gone into this, but they had really made it successfully! He looked at the ex-mercenary.

"It's a crossbow, and not an arbalest, but now I am confident that we can even make those if we wanted to."

"Milord, I simply need to try it for myself!" Feroy urged, making Kivamus hand over the crossbow to him. The ex-mercenary picked up a bolt from the waiting bunch in the carpenter's hands, and after loading it, he put the target in his sights. Surprisingly, he did the loading all by his instincts, without even needing any instructions from anyone on its use.

Before long, there was the sound of another bolt striking the target, this time with enough force to push the straw mannequin back a little before it balanced itself again, making the crowd erupt in cheers again.

"This is beyond what I had expected in my wildest dreams!" the ex-mercenary exclaimed to the guard captain, who just gave a grin in reply. Kivamus glanced at the small crowd and saw that while the female guards seemed to be anticipating their turn to try it - knowing well by now that it was mainly meant for them - Yufim, who was their best archer, seemed to be frowning. Now Kivamus needed to verify whether it served the purpose for which it was made for.

"Feroy, hand over the crossbow to Hyola." The ex-mercenary nodded, and gave the contraption to the tall redhead woman, who held the crossbow in her hands and turned it around to look from all sides.

"Go on," Kivamus encouraged, "it's your turn now. I need to see if you can load it easily as well." Hyola gave an uncertain nod, and picked up a bolt from Darora - who must have known her for years and gave her an encouraging smile. But she realised that she needed to load it first, so she handed it back for the moment. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Hyola needed the help of Feroy to show her how it worked, then she nodded and put the goat's foot lever in its place. She grunted with exertion for a moment while loading it, but nonetheless she was able to do it without anyone else's help. While the past month with regular food had helped her and others a lot, the loading would get easier in time when she had done some practice and had gained more strength. Once she had put a bolt in the groove, Kivamus said, "Alright, you should shoot it now.

Try to target the centre of the straw mannequin."

"But..." Hyola protested, "but... I have never even held a bow in my hands! How can I hit the target on my first try?" Kivamus smiled.

"That's the main difference between a crossbow and a regular bow, so don't worry about that. Just bring the targets in your sight like Feroy showed you and pull the trigger." Hyola took a deep breath and carefully lifted the crossbow in front of her, and after taking nearly a full minute to target the mannequin, she pulled the trigger, and surprisingly, she hit the mannequin in the head. The nearby guards erupted in cheers once again, but this time the women's cheers were louder than anyone else.

Hyola just turned back and gazed at him in wonder, not believing that she was the one to have done that. But Yufim didn't take long to taunt the ex-stonecutter.

"I can still shoot better than that!" Hyola looked a little demotivated on hearing that, but didn't say anything. However, Feroy - who was grinning like a madman - gazed at the young archer.

"Of course you can, but you are missing the point!"

"Which is?" Yufim asked with a frown. Hudan gave the answer.

"The point is that learning how to shoot a crossbow barely takes any time, even if the person has never held a crossbow in their hands. Nobody can deny your accuracy in archery, but you have taken what... ten, fifteen years to learn to shoot like that?" Yufim nodded proudly.

"I've been doing it for most of my life. So nearly two decades, I think."

"Exactly," Hudan said.

"But Hyola had never even seen a crossbow in her life, and yet she hit the target in her first try without needing the experience of decades to learn how to shoot. Just like Lord Kivamus and Feroy." The young archer still didn't look satisfied, and pointed at Hyola.

"Then I want to challenge her! Even if it doesn't take much practice, that had to be blind luck. Nobody can make a headshot in their first try!" Hyola looked at Hudan for permission, and he gave a short nod while grinning, making her look at Yufim with a challenging glint in her eyes. Before long, Yufim had already nocked an arrow on his heavy warbow, and at Feroy's gesture, he let loose the arrow which flew faster than eyes could track it and hit the head of a straw mannequin, easily piercing it from the force.

That was an instant kill. Yufim grinned and looked at the others, who clapped at his accuracy. For her turn, this time Hyola had taken a iron-tipped broadhead bolt at Feroy's insistence, and once she had put it in the groove, she shot it towards one of the straw mannequins after taking aim carefully. Whether by luck or skill, she hit the straw target in the neck this time, but this iron tipped bolt had enough power in it to make the straw head fly off the mannequin's body with its force.

However, it didn't stop there at all. The bolt kept flying and loudly struck one of the logs of the palisade wall of the manor, which was at least ten meters behind the straw mannequin. Immediately, the female guards whooped loudly, with the other guards joining them, making it clear who had won the challenge.

"That's not fair!" Yufim protested again.

"This target wasn't even far enough. I can easily shoot its head at thrice the distance! I demand a rematch!"

"That's enough for today," Hudan said with a finality in his voice, making Yufim look down and start to sulk. Kivamus chuckled at the childish antics of the young archer. He knew that an expert archer like him could easily shoot much further, and with much more accuracy. Also, a crossbow bolt was heavier than an arrow, especially when it used an iron tip, and wouldn't fly nearly as far as the arrow before its trajectory turned downwards.

The crossbow would also take much longer to reload than nocking a new arrow on a bow, however, for a short distance, its benefits were undeniable. Hyola - a woman who had no practice with archery couldn't have done this with a bow, yet with the help of a crossbow, she could make a lethal shot easily enough.

It was likely that the other women guards might not be this accurate, especially without some more practice, but the fact remained that a crossbow would make their female guards just as effective as men under particular conditions. That was good enough for Tiranat for now. Kivamus rubbed his hands together as a sudden gust of wind chilled him to the bone. He gazed at the snow on the ground for a moment, before looking at the guard captain.

"It's pretty cold here, so let's return back to the manor hall. And bring the crossbow with you." Hudan nodded and started giving quick orders to the guards.

"Tesyb, go and bring all the bolts back to me. The rest of you, go and have something to eat. While you all have seen what a crossbow is and how effective it can be, you are still not allowed to discuss it with anyone who lives outside the manor. Kerel, make sure that there are no slackers on duty tonight in their over excitement." Then he picked up the crossbow from Hyola's hands, and gave a nod to Kivamus.