Raymond's teleport had brought them to the outside of the city. Not because his magic was flawed or anything but because of Ellen's request.
Not that Raymond minded. He knew exactly why Ellen had wanted to come here to the mountain outskirts.
The Inheritance of Killian Halu'an. The Trifecta Bow and humanity's best archer. In the past, Ellen had been learning the sword and failing when during a field trip she managed to stumble into the inheritance and pass its test.
Coincidentally stumbling into the inheritance of one of the most legendary figures of all time. The inheritance which just so happens to be for bows something she had a secret talent for...
Raymond wanted to voice out the sheer absurdity of it all. Doesn't that sound exactly like the plot of a novel?
But he kept quiet. The last time he had said something similar, she went on a nearly hour long rant about how that didn't make it okay to just use their lives for his novel and violate their privacy.
So he just followed behind her quietly as they trekked up the mountain no matter how how much he wanted to say it.. Only when they were nearly at the peak did she finally say something to break the silence.
"Shield. Now. "
Waking up from his day dreaming. He raised his staff that he used as a walking stick and drew upon his mana reserves.
"Lesser shield. "
A blue bubble soon appeared around Ellen and him before quickly becoming invisible. Even though Raymond's stats had been reduced he still had knowledge of all his spells.
"Make it a stronger shield, with protection against the elements. "
Dispelling the lesser shield, he raised his staff again.
"Greater shield, Ward of the Seasons, Fire Resistance, Water resistance, perfect visibility. "
This time the mana drain was much more significant. Raymond's purer mana let him cast spells more efficiently then most but when his spells were also more complex and mana hungry then most, the two things essentially canceled each other out.
Luckily, Raymond was able to absorb mana while he had spells active thanks to his race as a perfect human. Something which was normally impossible for others.
He didn't complain when casting the spells though. He knew exactly why they where needed. But that didn't stop him from complaining.
"How did you even accidentally stumble onto this inheritance? It's located in a cave near the peak of a random mountain that's not even named!"
"I'm just a little bit luckier then others I guess. Now hurry up we're almost there. "
Little bit?
Raymond would have sold his soul for such luck back when he was first starting out magic.
If he could also stumble into the inheritance of an Archmage wouldn't he have been able to save so much time in the past, after maxing out his prodigy mage class he had stagnated for several years in order to decide his next path before luckily managing to discover dimensional magic in a stroke of luck.
Grumbling under his breath, he followed along. Before long however, the two of them reached what they were looking for.
Raymond had called it a cave but it really wasn't all that. It was more of a small little cubby not even the size of Ellen's walk in closet in the shape of a perfect cone.
Walking towards the progressively narrower end. The two of them quickly reached the end.
Stabbed into the point of the cone was a singular arrow. Raymond's mana sense could tell however, this arrow was far more then it seemed to be.
The fact that it hadn't rotted or been destroyed yet was already a sign that it was special.
Taking a deep breath to prepare herself. Ellen reached out her right hand and firmly grasped the arrow. The moment her hand fully clasped around it however.
She disappeared.
The arrow still remained as stuck inside the wall not even moving an inch. Taking a deep breath as well, Raymond stretched out his hand and also firmly grasped the arrow.
Immediately, he felt the rather nostalgic sensation of being teleported. Compared to his earlier teleportation spell, he could tell this one was a much higher level.
Feeling solid ground beneath his feet again, he looked a round a bit seeing nothing but sand, rocks and the occasional dead bush. The blazing hot sun shined over them, making Raymond sweat slightly. His shield slightly mitigated some of the heat but not fully.
Looking around for Ellen he found her sitting down on a large rock while waiting for him.
She opened her mouth but before she could say anything to him. A loud ringing noise sounded in both of their ears.
Clutching his hands over his ears, he waited for the noise to end before cautiously releasing them.
"Two participants? Well that's unexpected. I only have one set of rewards to give I'm afraid!"
Turning around to meet the voice, the both of them saw a man. Standing with his back straight, this man looked like exactly what you would expect from an archer.
His black hair was slicked back revealing his handsome face in all its glory with his slightly brown skin and brown eyes paired with a smile that would make dentists cry with joy. He seemed like someone who would be the life of any party he went to.
His attire alone was enough to let anyone know he was an archer and if even that wasn't enough. His massive silver longbow, taller then even Raymond slung across his back and quiver of arrows which hung on his waist would tell you that this man was an archer.
With a breastplate, gauntlets, bracers and a short sword on his thigh. He looked exactly like how you would imagine archers to look like.
Unlike some other archers who throw swords and call it archery...
"Killian Halu'an, my name is Ellen Grace and I'm here for your inheritance."
Ellen stepped up first, bowing and introducing herself and her purpose.
"I don't doubt that. But the problem is this kid. "
He pointed at Raymond.
"He won't need your inheritance, he is a mage and has no need or want for it. Furthermore, he is also my shadow. He will listen and obey all my commands. "
Raymond was more then happy to let Ellen do the talking here. It was a but embarrassing to admit it with how old he was, but Raymond was honestly scared of speaking to strangers and acquaintances that he wasn't close with.
He couldn't help it. He may have been old but most of it was just spent studying magic alone all by himself! Even when he was on Earth he had no actual friends which was quite sad now that he thought about it.
He mentally added to his list, when he returned to Earth he would try and make some friends.
"A shadow? Damn didn't they stop that old tradition back when I was still alive? Don't tell me all the noble families brought it back? But I guess that's fine then. He'll be considered as part of your strength. "
"Thank you sir, now may I now know of the test I need to pass?"
"Well it's quite simple, right now you're in arena 1 out of 4. In each arena you will be given a different type of bow and arrow. You simply need to make it to the end of arena 4. But I should warn you, there's no safety net in here. If you die then you die. Got that?"
His face turned serious at the last part.
Ellen suddenly staggered a bit under the unexpected weight of the bow which suddenly appeared in her hands, on the ground several arrows were littered around her.
"By the way, mage kid. No using offensive magic. If you wanna help, use only support spells or pick up a bow yourself got it? Anyways good luck!"
With that final warning towards Raymond, he waved his hand at them and vanished before their eyes. Not even giving them a chance to ask anything else.
Looking at Ellen, he could see that the first bow she was given was
"A compound bow?"
A large metal bow, with a series of pulleys and cables. He could see there was even a magnifying glass at eye level.
A compound bow was already the easiest to use. But giving something like that to Ellen? Someone who would be known as the World Crossing Arrow? It was like giving a wheelchair to a person. Sure, they could use the wheelchair to move but they could also just run and be way faster.
Looking down at the arrows on the ground, he quickly recognized them as well.
"Field point, looks like you have around 50 arrows or so. "
Field point arrows, mainly used for small game and fast moving creatures. Terrible for larger, beefier monsters.
"Looks like it still follows with what happened previously. That's good, no butterfly changes yet. "
The type of arrows was a giveaway of what was to come. But Raymond was surprised at how many arrows were given. Wasn't 50 a little too much? She couldn't even store that many in her quiver!
She nodded. The longer the timeline stayed relatively the same to previously, the better.
Bolstering the large compound bow, she picked up the arrows and stored them in an empty quiver she brought along before slinging that on her waist. Leaving a few arrows on the ground, she picked them up and held them in her arms.
"Remember what he said no magic other then support magic all right? I'm not trying to get disqualified because of you."
This time, it was Raymond's turn to shine.
"He also said I could pick up a bow to use though. I don't intend to stay defenseless like a damsel in distress. "
Holding his staff out in front of him, parallel to the ground. He closed his eyes and slowly ran his left hand from top to bottom.
As his hand moved, the wooden staff seemed to come alive. Unfurling and moving around. Finally when he stopped, he was left with a wooden recurve bow. Simple and elegant in design. The gem at the staff became the string of the bow. Giving it a slight glow as it pulsated with mana.
"That's a damn nice staff you have. "
"Thanks, I made it myself. "
He grinned, it always felt good to have others complement you. This staff was one of his finer creations and after all these years he finally had a use for one of its features!