Arthur quickly jogged over, and the two guards, not expecting to actually hit prey, paused for a moment before following him.
"It's a One-Eyed Snake, a Red One-Eyed Snake!" Arthur had inquired about the Red One-Eyed Snake beforehand.
The small snake on the tree trunk was about the thickness of a thumb, with only a single blood-red eye on its forehead—this was the origin of its name, a snake with a red single eye.
The snake's skin was the exact same color as the gray tree trunk; if it hadn't been pinned by the white-feathered arrow, the two guards who walked up later would have almost not recognized it.
Arthur drew his iron sword, aimed at the snake's head, and struck it hard with the hilt.
The One-Eyed Snake immediately fainted, no longer struggling.
"I heard that eating the eye of a One-Eyed Snake is good for the eyes; I want to try it," Arthur said softly.
The two guards looked at each other, unsure what to say for a moment.
They could only watch as Arthur pulled a small hunting knife from his lower back, mangled the small snake until it was bloody, then dug out the red single eye, and simply tossed the entire eyeball into his mouth, gulping it down.
Although the One-Eyed Snake is highly venomous, apart from its venom glands and teeth, the rest of its body is not poisonous, so the two men did not dare to stop Arthur; after all, it was his own catch.
After swallowing the snake eye, Arthur frowned, a strange expression appearing on his face.
"Continue," he said indifferently, casually tossing the dead snake in his hand to one of the guards.
The latter quickly took out a prepared canvas bag to store it.
The two were still in a state of confusion.
Then, another thud was heard.
Young Master Arthur showed a slight smile and quickly walked towards a large tree not far away.
Only then did the two realize that, nailed to the distant tree, was yet another One-Eyed Snake.
"Young Master's Archery is amazing!" one guard couldn't help but exclaim, "We have to get close just to tell the difference between the One-Eyed Snake and the tree trunk, yet you can see it from so far away.
Amazing!"
Arthur smiled when he heard this, but did not answer.
He walked to the tree trunk, pulled out the white-feathered arrow, and put it back in the quiver; the arrow had hit the One-Eyed Snake's head directly, and its eye had also been shot with a bloody hole, clearly a mistake on his part.
Although he had the Chip for correction and target acquisition, the stability of his body still required continuous practice to achieve.
One must know that on Earth, when competing in Archery, the minimum distance was at least one kilometer, and everyone used mechanical compound bows with very long ranges.
This then became a competition of who had stronger stability, as everyone had Chip assistance.
"Continue," Arthur said indifferently.
The three began to constantly search for prey in the forest.
Arthur also showed an accuracy rate of four misses out of ten arrows, which gradually accustomed the two guards to his performance.
After all, such a hit rate was normal.
In the dense forest, it was already quite good.
Moreover, without receiving the Legacy, no matter how good his Archery was, without the strength to pull back a good quality large longbow or compound bow, he would still pose no threat to powerful warriors.
At most, he would be considered a decent archer foot soldier.
However, half an hour later, both guards held full gray canvas bags.
Inside were all the squirrels, gray rabbits, and One-Eyed Snakes Arthur had caught.
Their hands were getting too full to carry any more.
"You two go back and put these down first, then come back," Arthur instructed.
"I'll just rest here for a bit." He casually prepared to throw the dead snake in his hand to a guard, but for some reason, he hesitated.
His hunting knife gently twisted in the snake's mouth, and a white venom gland was immediately dug out.
He took the venom gland and put it into his waist pouch before finally throwing the dead snake to the guard.
Receiving the dead snake, the two guards exchanged glances.
"I'll have Hank take the things back; I'll stay here to protect you, Young Master," one said.
"Alright," Arthur nodded.
He was also a bit tired, so he simply leaned against a tree trunk and sat down.
After continuously eating dozens of One-Eyed Snake eyeballs, he could feel a slight warmth in his body, and his body seemed to become increasingly light.
One guard went back with the prey.
The other sat on the grass beside him.
"Actually, we used to hear that eating the eyes of One-Eyed Snakes might be good for the body; some people tried it before, but it had no effect," the remaining guard said with a wry smile.
"No effect?" Arthur frowned.
"Yes, everyone who tried it only got diarrhea and no other benefits," the guard replied.
Arthur nodded; he knew that not everyone would benefit from the same thing, and the analysis provided by the Chip also mentioned the compatibility issue.
Eating the One-Eyed Snake's eyeball raw, a substance contained within it, had the effect of increasing his agility.
However, whether it was effective for others was unknown.
After all, everyone's Physique is different.
Moreover, people at different stages of growth would also have huge differences.
He was quite satisfied with today's harvest; if it weren't to conceal his abnormality, he could have hit every shot.
A distance of only tens of meters was no difficulty at all for him with the Chip's assistance.
"That's enough for today.
Let's go back and rest first." Arthur rested for a while, then stood up and said.
"Alright."
The two walked back along the original path.
Over the next half month, Arthur went hunting in the nearby forest every day, and his excellent Archery also reached the ears of those in the castle.
No one was surprised by the prey he brought back from hunting each day anymore.
At noon in the forest, fragmented sunlight was cut into pieces.
A white-feathered arrow shot out with a whoosh.
Thud!!
Another One-Eyed Snake was pinned to a branch about twenty meters away.
A rush of footsteps came from the bushes.
A normal-looking young man in a light green hunting suit, holding a black short bow, emerged from the bushes.
Behind him followed two young warriors, both adult men wearing gray-brown leather armor.
"Another hit," one man laughed.
The young man nodded, walked forward, pulled out the white-feathered arrow, grasped the One-Eyed Snake's head, skillfully drew a small hunting knife, and dug out the red single eye, then swallowed it directly into his mouth.
As he swallowed this snake eye, a faint blush immediately swept across the young man's originally fair face.
A wave of heat instantly surged from within his body, flowing to his limbs.
An unusually light feeling welled up in his heart.
"Young Master Arthur, is that all for today?" one guard asked.
Arthur slowly closed his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.
"You two take the things and put them away first; I'll hunt a bit more.
Maybe I'll encounter a Black-Spotted Deer today."
The two guards were quite 'familiar' with Arthur's strength; there were no animals in the outer forest that could threaten him, so both of them easily walked back with the items in their hands.
As the two left, Arthur silently recited an instruction in his mind.
"Check my current physical condition."
"Arthur Valentine.
Strength 0.8, Agility 2.4, Physique 1.6."
Arthur's lips curved into a satisfied smile.
To date, he had eaten no fewer than hundreds of red single eyes; now, eating the One-Eyed Snake's eyeballs raw had no effect on him anymore.
It seemed he had developed resistance.
However, being able to increase his agility to this extent already made him very satisfied.
Coupled with over half a month of training, his Physique had also improved significantly.
Now, even without the Legacy enhancement, his physical condition was already very strong.
However, it was said that those with the Legacy could also possess extremely strong explosive power, instantly increasing their combat strength by several times.
This was something Arthur could not compare to.
"But…"
Arthur smiled slightly, drew the iron sword from his waist with a backhand, and slashed forward with a whoosh.
A silent arc was drawn in the air.
A tree branch the thickness of a wrist directly in front of him suddenly snapped and fell down.
This speed was already a bit faster than when Arnold had demonstrated it.
"And…" Arthur's gaze fell on the broken part of the branch.
There, an insect resembling a large-headed fly, with one transparent wing precisely cut off, was struggling on the branch, flapping its wings.
"I am no longer a weakling," Arthur said with satisfaction, sheathing his iron sword with a backhand.
In the forest a hundred meters from Arthur.
A gray figure was quietly approaching the direction of the castle.
The figure's footsteps, treading on the thick grass, were then covered by the faint chirping of birds and insects, making hardly any sound detectable.
"Is this the place?" The figure stopped, crouching down in front of a cluster of bushes.
As a killer member of the Shadow Chapter, Dyson always meticulously gathered all information related to his target every time he carried out a mission.
Although he possessed the powerful Knight-level strength, he could never let his guard down at any time; this was the important reason why he rarely failed.
He replayed the mission requirements in his mind.
"Target requirement: kill Valentine Baron and take his head as proof of the mission.
According to the intelligence received, Caius's strength is also Knight-level, and he once had a record of killing more than ten heavily armored cavalrymen in a row.
However, he then fled due to exhaustion." Dyson's lips curled into a disdainful smile.
"More than ten heavily armored cavalrymen? Is that very impressive? Only in such a remote countryside would that be considered strong." Dyson was fully qualified to look down on the opponent.
Not long ago, in a direct confrontation, he had killed twenty heavily armored cavalrymen, including one Knight-level expert.
If it weren't for habit, he would have had the strength to directly charge into the castle, go on a killing spree, and then retreat unharmed.
"But this mission is truly easy.
Coming to the countryside to kill a small lord, and just an ordinary Knight-level one." In fact, he didn't care about the opponent's so-called battle record; which Knight-level expert he had killed didn't have similar powerful battle records.
He had seen too many of them.
Inside the castle, in the meeting hall.
The Baron sat in his seat with a gloomy expression, not saying a word.
Auden and Ward sat on his two sides, both with heavy expressions.
"A killer from the Shadow Chapter, who has such a big budget? To be able to hire such a powerful expert?" Ward said hoarsely.
"The power of the Shadow Chapter, which spans several countries, is terrifying beyond my imagination."
"The assassination letter has already been sent to me in advance," the Baron said in a deep voice, "This is their usual style; they will let the target know when he will die beforehand.
But what I can't understand is that hiring someone from the Shadow Chapter costs at least several thousand gold coins for a single mission.
My Valentine Territory's total annual income is only a few hundred gold coins, yet someone is willing to spend several thousand gold coins to buy my life…"
Auden licked his lips.
"What's there to be afraid of? Even if he comes, our three Great Knights aren't just sitting here for nothing."
The Baron's face remained gloomy.
He toyed with a black stiff paper in his hand; on a pitch-black background, a blood-red spider pattern was printed, looking eerie and magnificent.