Free Web NovelChapter 13: 13. An Archer Tried to Shoot Me Mid-Lecture, Now She Wants Lessons Too
He went to the demonstration area and began making diagrams on a big board to explain ideas about sight lines, environmental advantages, and prediction patterns. It was like things he had taught soldiers in his previous life, but with magic and monsters instead of modern warfare.
Most of the students were paying attention, taking notes, or nodding along. The three girls in the front row were watching him with different levels of interest, which was honestly more distracting than helpful.
William was halfway through explaining how to use natural cover in a fight outside when he saw something strange.
There was a girl in the back corner who wasn’t taking notes like everyone else. Instead, she just watched him with a look of deep thought, her dark eyes following his every move with unnerving accuracy.
She had a long black hair that was tied back in a useful ponytail. She was wearing archery gear with several quivers attached to her belt and back.
While William talked, he kept an eye on the mysterious girl out of the corner of his eye. The way she was standing and the way her shoulders were slightly tense made him want to fight.
She was getting ready for something.
’An archer, huh...?’ William thought. ’I just need to make sure to not lower my guard because she looks like she’s about to unleash a fucking arrow right at my ass.’
William said, "Now, when looking at long-term tactical situations," and then he moved his hand to show how to figure out a sight line.
"You need to think about things like wind direction and..."
He noticed that her hand moved a little as she reached for an arrow and that her posture changed a little as she got ready to draw. Normal people wouldn’t have noticed because William had spent his whole life reading body language and predicting attacks.
’Yeah... I fucking knew it...’
The girl drew the bow and let go of the arrow in one smooth motion. It flew quietly toward William’s head.
’I read you like a book, huh?’
It was a practice arrow with a dull end, and it wasn’t meant to kill him, but it was definitely meant to see how strong he was. Most people wouldn’t have even thought about it.
’I’ll parry it!’
William picked up a wooden demonstration pointer from the desk next to him and swung it in a smooth arc. It hit the arrow in midair with a loud crack, and then the arrow hit the floor with a loud bang, and the whole class went quiet.
All of the students were now looking at William with wide eyes, clearly not expecting their instructor to easily brush off an unexpected arrow attack. William’s full attention was on the girl in the back corner.
For the first time, she seemed to really care. A mix of shock and what could have been respect or strong interest.
"Nice try." William said in a calm voice, "But still... gotta give you some props to you for the impressive shot," as if students were always trying to hit him during class.
"It was a clean draw, a good timing, and almost no noise from that..." William held his chin. "You could probably make an enemy surprised with that."
"But you told me what you wanted to do about three seconds before you let go."
"That’s enough time for an opponent who is paying attention to react."
William could tell that the girl was tall and thin and had the body of someone who spent most of their time training for archery and scouting. She got up slowly.
"How in the... how did you see that!?" she asked in a low but intense voice. "I was moving so carefully and trying not to look obvious about it!"
"I’ve used that same method on twelve other instructors... and none of them knew they were being shot at until the arrow hit the wall."
’Holy shit... it was not the first time this girl does that?!’ William thought. ’That’s dangerous, but I respect her for trying a lot...’
"Well..." William said, "Probably because I payed attention to what’s going on around me, unlike those other instructors."
"Sometimes... in any situation... you can’t just lower your guard, even if you’re in a safe zone."
He saw that some of the best students were now looking at him with interest instead of ignoring him. "Also... you shifted your weight a little, changed how you were breathing, and kept your eyes on your target for a little too long."
"Your eyes already showing the eyes of a predator who tries to catch its prey off guard." William nodded. "Those are some little things of details, but they add up for me."
The girl walked carefully and controlled her descent as she moved down from the back of the room. William could see that she had a small notebook on her belt with notes written in small, neat letters.
"The name’s Clara Crestfall," she said, which was a very direct way for her to introduce herself.
She is a third-year student who focuses on archery and scouting. "I apologize for the test that wasn’t allowed, but I had to know if the rumors about you were true."
"And what is the choice?" William asked, really wanting to know what the rumors were at this point.
Clara’s dark eyes looked at him with the same amount of interest. "People are saying things that aren’t true about you."
"Your situational awareness is at least three standard deviations above the average for instructors, and it might be even higher..." Clara nodded. "So that’s the reason why I need more details to set a proper baseline."
William said, "That’s a very scientific way to say you want to keep testing me."
"Observation and data collection are critical for a good assessment," Clara said in a serious tone as she took out her journal and wrote something down. "It’s hard for me to feel things."
"The academy’s normal ways of teaching haven’t worked... If you’re as kind as you seem, you might be able to help me."
William was accustomed to the system restarting.
[New Student Found: Clara Crestfall, Rank B]
[Specialization: long-range combat, reconnaissance, and analytical tracking]
[Main Problem: Hyper-Sensory Perception makes too many senses work at the same time]
[Found a chance to train]
"Hyper-Sensory Perception?" William asked, remembering some things he had learned from the memories he had borrowed about strange skills. "That’s when you can’t make sense of the information, but all of your senses are sharper, right?"
Clara’s eyes got a little bigger, which meant she didn’t think he would know about her condition. "Yes... Y-yes, that’s right!"
"Many instructors don’t even think it’s a problem..." Clara sighed. "They just tell me to meditate more or focus harder, which doesn’t resolve the problem at its source."
As she got closer, William could tell that she was tense, which made him think that she was always dealing with too much sensory information. "Too much of everything..."
"I can hear people talking three classrooms away, smell what they had for breakfast, and feel the air pressure change when someone walks by."
"In combat situations, there is too much going on at once... I can’t put them in order of importance when everything seems like a threat."
’Oh wow... she doesn’t sound human at all with that sense... almost as if she was a real predator in the wild.’
William thought about his past and the soldiers he had trained who had PTSD and were always on edge. The idea was different, but the answer could be the same.
He said slowly, as he worked through the problem, "You don’t need to filter out the information."
"You need to learn how to sort it into groups and rank it right away... Maybe like turning the flood of data into useful information instead of a lot of noise." ƒrēewebnovel.com
Clara was writing a lot in her journal, and she looked very serious. "That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out on my own, but I haven’t been able to find a good way to do it..."
"Can you really show me how to do that?
William said, "Sure, I can try," and pointed to the front of the room.
"First, though, please sit down and let me finish this lecture."
"We can work on your specific training after class."
"Yes, sir!" Clara nodded and sat down in the second row, right behind the three girls who were watching the whole thing with a mix of emotions.
Kaela looked like she wanted to fight Clara to see how strong she was and Lia seemed interested but also careful. Ellie in the other hand just smiled and seemed pleased that William was helping someone else.
