Daldal: Main story

Chapter 119

Stand tall, face forward with your face.

Spread your feet, ensuring the toes don't tilt, and distribute weight evenly on both feet.

Tuck your chin towards your chest, lengthen the back of your neck, and maintain a straight posture without leaning forward or backward.

Hold the bow with your lower three fingers relaxed, securing the arrow between your thumb and index finger.

As your hand extends, maintain a straight line from wrist to shoulder. Draw the bowstring smoothly, feeling it pull like a gentle breeze whisking past your ear.

"Breathe low, and keep your gaze on the target."

After aligning the arrow and target with the drawn bowstring

"Don't think of it as throwing, just release."

One, two, three, four...

"Now."

As Eun-oh exhaled for the fifth time, he released the bowstring. The arrow, drawing a graceful arc, swiftly flew, embedding its tip at the right edge of the target with a satisfying thud.

Eun-oh let out an exclamation.

"Wow! Bullseye!"

Clapping and smiling, Yohwan expressed admiration from the background.

Who wouldn't appreciate praise? Eun-oh, happy by Yohwan's applause, raised his fist, shaking it with a triumphant smile.

However, his mentor, Chae Yoon-sa, remained impassive.

"Don't get too excited over simple accomplishments."

The arrow hanging precariously on the target drew a rather harsh evaluation from him.

Eun-oh, feeling disheartened, lowered his hand and bit his lip.

"Forgive my bluntness, but in my view, you do seem to have some talent"

Yohwan's objective assessment wasn't entirely off.

Eun-oh wielded a quite heavy recurve bow, unsuitable for beginners learning archery for the first time, as it required significant strength to draw the bowstring with one hand. Ideally, he should have started with a lighter bamboo bow, but the absence of one led him to use the recurve bow.

Surprisingly, within a day of learning, he became proficient at drawing the bowstring, and by the second day, he even hit the target. Thus, his skill deserved the praise received.

"Seems like Eun-oh has more strength and skill than he lets on."

Not only was shooting a single arrow challenging, but shooting multiple arrows was also far from easy.

Nevertheless, Eun-oh had already shot five arrows today. As Yohwan mentioned, it was possible due to his inherently strong basic strength and a mindful approach.

"If you keep learning, I believe you'll catch up to my skill level soon."

Seeing Yohwan's archery skills on par with Chae Yoon-sa was truly a tremendous compliment.

Even Chae Yoon-sa agreed on Eun-oh's potential.

"Yes, there is potential."

However, the praise was short-lived as immediate criticism followed.

"Whether he will reach a level where he can boast remains to be unseen."

Ahem-Eun-oh cleared his throat and scratched the bridge of his nose. It was a minor accomplishment, but hitting the target for the first time made him proud, although he seemed a bit too excited. Nonetheless, having hit it once, he felt confident that he could do even better next time. Filled with confidence and enthusiasm, Eun-oh, with shining eyes, asked for more training.