'B-rank Archer and still so weak? How laughable.'
Aurelia Falreborn's amber eyes were filled with deep disappointment.
Soren, being a B-rank Archer, already made her frown, but when she saw that he couldn't even fire an arrow at a monster and almost got injured, her frustration grew even more.
It wasn't that she despised the weak; rather, she was disgusted by the idea that such a low-level weakling dared to hit on her.
As the daughter of an Archmage, she also had her pride.
'Soren… what the hell are you doing? Do you want Aurelia to look down on you?'
While Aurelia already felt bored, Sylvia, on the other hand, was biting her nails, feeling quite anxious.
She couldn't understand what happened, but she knew Soren wasn't like this.
Although he might not be on the same level as Evan, he was still fully capable of hunting such a low-class monster in ten minutes.
Yet, he almost got injured.
'He might be extremely distracted by Aurelia and her identity. Sigh… it seems his calm appearance just now was only a facade.'
Sylvia analyzed, feeling sorry for her friend. If Soren couldn't redeem himself in this match, she knew he had no chance with Aurelia.
Such a proud girl with high talent would never look back at a weakling.
This was the true nature of this world, after all.
'Soren...you can do it...I believe you.'
***
[A B-rank Monster, Flamewing Hawk, shows heavy killing intent toward you.]
[Do you want to utilize your new stat: Gap?]
---
'System, do you want to kill me? Seriously… why don't you just erase my existence right here?'
While everyone was judging Soren, he was burning with anger.
What kind of system shows a prompt at a time like this? If he had been a second slower, he would've been seriously injured today, even if he didn't die.
He could feel nothing but malice from the system.
Unfortunately, there was no response, as if it were dead. Only the prompt hovered in front of his eyes.
"Boom!"
Soren barely dodged another crimson beam and let out a heavy sigh.
'Hah… no point arguing with a bum. Let's just finish this challenge before I get disqualified.'
He forced himself to calm down and gave an order.
'Use the Gap stat!'
Since the system prompted him at this exact moment, it must be useful. He also wanted to find out what this weird stat actually did.
---
Ding!
[You have chosen to utilize your new stat: GAP!]
[You have 1 gap point.]
[You can use it to increase your Level, Class, or an individual Skill by one realm temporarily.]
[Which one do you want to use it on?]
---
'What?'
"Boom!"
Soren barely dodged yet another crimson beam from the Flamwing Hawk, only fueling its rage further.
The monster grew more furious as it saw its prey weaving left and right, playing around instead of standing still.
In anger, it was already closing in fast, and its killing intent pressed down on him like a weight.
"Student Soren… if you cannot handle it, do you want to forfeit this match?"
Even Professor Lyra could see that Soren was struggling badly. This was the second time he had narrowly avoided injury.
Although she wouldn't let him die, it was better for him not to get hurt, especially since he still hadn't fired a single arrow in return.
To be honest, she doubted why he was even invited to this academy.
"Hmm? Oh… no… sorry, Professor. I was just… looking for its weak point."
Soren snapped back to his senses and hurriedly shouted. He could feel that not only she, but even the students behind her, were already doubting his abilities.
If he wanted to stay and study here, he could never let anyone look down on him, especially girls.
That would be a complete disaster.
'System, use Gap stat on Skill: Piercing Shot.'
Soren reined in his surprise, nocking an arrow to his bow, before activating his A-rank active skill: Piercing Shot.
---
Ding!
[You used your Gap stat on your active skill.]
[Congratulations! The skill, Piercing Shot (A-rank), has evolved by one level into Artemis' Grace (S-rank).]
---
Sure enough, just as the system said, his one point of Gap stat immediately upgraded his skill from A-rank to S-rank.
In an instant, Soren felt an overwhelming surge of power as the skill evolved.
His senses sharpened, his reflexes became razor-like, and the very tension in the air seemed to slow around him.
His entire demeanor shifted while his aura collided with the monster's, forcing it back.
"Hmm?"
Even Professor Lyra noticed as she saw him draw his D-rank bow to its limit.
The arrow on the string, pulsing with mana, suddenly glowed with a radiant light so mesmerizing that every student's eyes were drawn to it.
The shift was too fast for the Flamewing Hawk, which was already too close in its rage. It didn't expect Soren to suddenly fire such a powerful arrow.
"Swish!"
Before it could even react, the glowing arrow was already on him.
"Krrrr!!!"
Unable to dodge, it tried to grab the magnificent arrow with its claw, only for it to get pierced, along with its chest.
"Thud!"
With no suspense, the hawk completely collapsed on the ground with a final screech, its heart pierced through.
"..."
The arena finally fell completely silent with the death of the monster.
Everything happened so fast that from Soren pulling his bow to firing the arrow and the death of the monster, only one second had passed.
But every single student behind could feel the power and beauty behind it.
Although it was just an arrow fired with a D-rank bow, the grace with which it traveled and pierced through iron-hard claws and the hawk's chest was so mesmerizing that it looked almost enchanting.
---
[It is detected that your mana is too low to activate S-rank skill: Artemis' Grace.]
[The temporary evolution has been reverted.]
[You can use your Gap stat on other available options.]
---