Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

[You have mastered Magecraft: Form of the Bow (EX).]

[Explanation: Derived from the Lyceum School of Magecraft's Metaphysics system, this magecraft deconstructs logic to transform the four elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—into tangible Aether arrows. Upon firing, it can manipulate logical collapse to create explosions. Currently, it is a basic Imaginary Number Magecraft of D-rank.]

[PS: After linking Imaginary Number magic power to the 'Sea of Imaginary Numbers,' it enters the second stage: Divine Word Implantation. Bow arts are randomly matched from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers. The rank, based on the nature of the matched Divine Word, ranges randomly from F- to EX.]

Text flashed before Suya's eyes.

He quickly scanned it, then looked up to survey his surroundings, searching for his teammates, who had been separated by the Imaginary Number Labyrinth, to check on their condition.

However, at that moment,

The battles on the other two fronts had just concluded.

The Lancer who challenged Lucan to a duel was impaled by Lucan with Sir Ector's treasured spear.

Meanwhile, the Lancer who confronted Dagonet and the group of knights suffered an even more unfortunate fate, running into Dagonet, a master-level knight more adept at stealth than any thief. While charging the cavalry unit, he was quietly ambushed and stabbed to death from behind by Dagonet.

Lucan and Dagonet were still worried about Suya's situation when they suddenly looked up and saw the Imaginary Number Labyrinth disappear, and the terrain return to normal.

Suya was holding a magical greatbow—a weapon clearly ill-suited for a swordsman—and looking their way from deep within the bone forest.

The three exchanged glances, each noticing the spear, greatbow, and dagger in the others' hands, and all were momentarily stunned.

Then, they cleared their throats and tacitly put away their weapons.

After a brief interlude, Suya's group quickly tidied up the battlefield, gaining one shapeshifting bird, one black dog, and various weapons and equipment from the two Lancers.

They passed through the Bone Forest of Mor and continued towards Pendragon Castle.

Finally, at 8 PM, they arrived at Pendragon Castle.

Dagonet and Lucan, acting in Sir Ector's second son's name, gathered over 200 soldiers and two officers stationed in the castle.

On his third night in this world, Suya was gradually beginning to adapt to its rhythm.

Fight, flee, fight, flee...

He seemed to be stuck in a loop, and he had no idea how many more times he'd repeat this process.

Due to Dagonet's earlier counsel and his newfound appreciation for his life, Suya finally shed his last shred of indifference. Against his usual nature, he began to tirelessly practice the combat skills and magecraft he had acquired.

In today's battle, had he not replicated the magical greatbow at the last moment,

He wouldn't have been able to harm that Magus, and he couldn't have broken through that wind wall with his abilities.

It might have seemed like the arrow pierced the wind wall, but according to Merlin's post-battle analysis, the real reason was that the Imaginary Number arrow, as it flew, inverted the elements it touched into Aether blocks, exploiting the opponent's logical flaw to breach their logic.

If the opponent had a shield, or reacted quickly enough to prepare an evasion, or even simply transformed into Gandalf and threw their staff like a javelin to knock the arrow off course,

This arrow wouldn't have worked.

And Suya, drained of magic and stamina by the arrow, could only shout for help where he stood.

Such a coincidence couldn't be replicated.

But what if he refined the skills he'd already learned, if he no longer harbored that haughty transmigrator mentality, more arrogant than a king?

Then, perhaps next time, he wouldn wouldn't have to gamble on such an unknown?

In the abandoned Pendragon Castle,

Suya raised his hand, looking thoughtfully at the four throwing knives gripped between his fingers. He shifted two to his other hand, then stared at the tree trunk before him.

First, he threw two knives to strike the trunk, then quickly threw two more.

Shush! Shush!

The second pair of knives struck the tails of the first, changing their trajectory while accelerating them further.

The two knives, which should have only embedded themselves in the trunk, instead pierced straight through it, hitting the wall behind with a resounding clunk.

This phenomenon should be physically impossible,

But this is a combat technique. If you ask why, it's the power of courage.

Suya walked over, pulled the knives from the stone wall, looked at the gouges left in the wall, and muttered an estimation:

"Not enough."

"To get through that kind of defense, the force needs to at least double. Through four impacts, it might be possible to get through the 'gap' in the wall, and the angle of the throwing knives can't have the slightest deviation. That means each successive throw's power must constantly increase."

"And the speed must be fast, fast enough to defy imagination!"

"Theoretically, this can't be done, but I should be able to control it now."

After a brief summary, Suya retrieved the knives and returned to his original spot. He then took out new 'throwing knives' from his pouch, scrounged from Lucan.

Lucan didn't carry many standard throwing knives, but he found several crossbow bolts from Pendragon Castle's siege equipment. He slightly modified them, turning them into something resembling 'kunai'.

Standing still, Suya looked up, staring at the tree trunk and the wall behind it, envisioning them as the Magus's wind blade wall from earlier that day.

Then, he began to practice throwing, over and over again.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Whiz! Thwack!

The continuous sounds of kunai colliding echoed repeatedly in the castle's corner.

On the nearby castle wall,

Merlin, with dark circles under her eyes, lay slumped over the parapet, looking down at Suya's frantic practice sessions below.

He finished throwing practice, then moved to rolling. After rolling, he practiced quick steps. After quick steps, he pulled out his magic bow and started creating explosions. When his magic power was depleted, he'd take a bite of the shapeshifting bird's meat, restoring his magic power while continuing his throwing practice.

Round and round, crackling and rumbling.

Merlin turned to look at Lucan and Dagonet, who were intently observing Suya's practice, and asked weakly:

"Dagonet, what kind of spell did you put on him!?"

"It's getting worse and worse. Last night, he was at least quiet for two or three hours... Now, he's not sleeping at all!"

"But... please, I still need to sleep!"

Dagonet didn't answer directly, only chuckled foolishly:

"Miss Merlin, isn't this precisely the demeanor a king should possess!"

Merlin shook her head, frowning as she asked, "But what's the point of practicing like this? Given our King's talent, you should teach him as many combat techniques as possible, so that more War Patterns are born within him. That way, the power he gains when he finally takes office will be greater."

Dagonet had initially thought the same, but the training plan was devised by Lucan, so he could only turn to look at him.

Lucan pointed to Suya below and said:

"Normally, that would be the case."

"But our King is clearly not normal."

"So, now, compared to the number of War Patterns, what he needs more is their quality."

Merlin frowned: "Why?"

"Because the King's talent reminds me of an old friend."

Lucan said calmly,

"The ultimate goal of martial arts is interconnected. To kill someone with a sword, no matter the method or preparation, it ultimately comes down to the concept of [Slicing]. When this most basic martial art reaches its peak, its pinnacle, it can give birth to the most unadorned miracles."

"Uncrowned Martial Arts, Infinite Combat Mastery, Unity of Heaven and Man, Clear Mirror, Still Water, Battle Intuition... These most brilliant [Inherent Abilities] in human history all speak of the same thing."

"Infinite Combat Mastery?" Merlin was startled and looked at Lucan.

"You mean—Sir Lancelot?"

Lucan nodded.

"Precisely. That knight, hailed as the strongest in all the Briton kingdoms, could, with mere technique, pierce an opponent's armor with a casually picked up tree branch without taking their life. Such martial arts were unsurpassed in their time!"

Hearing this, Dagonet couldn't help but be surprised, looking at Lucan in astonishment as he asked:

"So, you're saying our King might reach the same realm as Sir Lancelot?"

"No!"

Lucan shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Suya, who was furiously over-training below.

"I can sense in the King that he possesses even greater, crazier possibilities than that!"

"His unintentional movements and thoughts reveal that he seems to naturally possess a treasury filled with countless brilliant techniques."

"It's just that he doesn't know how to open this power, nor how to transform it into War Patterns."

"And to open this treasury!"

"To cultivate the strongest king in the history of Britain!"

"The simplest way is to teach him what it means to have—"

Lucan turned back to the two of them, saying each word with firm resolve:

"Battle Intuition!"