Quantum Leap - Vol. 9 Robyn Hode Takes On The World

C010 HOW THE f**k YOU KILL THIS THING ?!?!?

"Yes, there are things you need to prepare later. In the back of the house, you will see some 3 or 4 sacks. Fill them with grass and lined them with some rocks to make some kind of weight."

"Find some twines and set them aside. Do you know how to make a round target? If not, some guys will get for you from the Guild of Archers and they will set it up at that far end of the forest, about 200 feet away."

"Err... What guys? Ohhhh... You mean those guys... Yeah... Sure. Let me take a seat first, elder... I've been hobbling around and I don't want it to be a hobbit of mine. Hehehehe."

The guys spoken of were those general crews that would be helping me set up these hanging sacks and a round archer's target at the end of the practice area.

I waved at them and notified them that I'm going to take a seat first before the sun properly rises and tend to my little garden patch first. They gave me a thumbs-up as they observed their tasks as well.

After I had sat down and managed to stretch myself a bit from being immobilised for more than 10 hours, I pulled myself up and went to retrieve the two watering cans behind the thatched house, where all the gardening tools were collected.

There is a bamboo platform that could be utilized to carry the watering cans on both ends and I wielded it across my shoulders. The watering cans were taken to my garden patch first and were slowly being used to water the mounds of earth.

I can see some progress on the tomatoes, potatoes and carrot mounds as there were some sprouts of green that came out from their soil where I had sowed them. There is nothing from the strawberries yet and the string bean seeds' tendrils were just about to burst from the shell.

After irrigating them, I readjusted the mounds of earth around those seeds and young tendrils and gently talked to them to be strong and thrive faster while I pluck away at the weeds and grass.

After wetting the mounds of earth at the garden patch, I returned again to retrieve another two watering cans and I watered Elder's garden as well. The ground was parched and cracked and it took me several trips to moisten up the earth and the smell of water on the earth was a reflective experience for me.

After I had done my task, I used a piece of tree bark and scraped away all the ashes from the fireplace and placed it near my garden. These ashes are good for fertilisers and would be mixed with the soil to make 'black earth', a biological compost.

I cleared away the big cauldron that is now empty and carried it to the aide if the stream and gave it a good rinse. I then returned the cauldron to the preparation table at the side of the house. I took a small cauldron used for boiling water and withdrew some water from the stream and hung it on the tripod.

I started a fire from some embers with some kindling and thin twigs and when I got it to catch fire, I placed several thicker twigs and finally a branch over it when the fire was roaring.

I took off to gather some grass from the fields a short distance away and after I amassed a huge pile and tied the ends with twine, I dragged it behind me. "Tell me, who is crazy enough to lift this on the shoulder and afterwards feeling itchy and scratchy all over the body...This is 12th-century medieval times. People don't take a shower unless they fall into the river and when that time appears, all the fishes in the river would turn belly up...!!!"

I went behind the house and fetch 4 gunny sacks and placed some rocks in them to give some weight and stuffed it with grass until it was three-quarters full. The same goes to the other 3 sacks and once I had done, the openings were tired with a twine.

"Alright, Sam. We are taking it from here and are going to hang them for you. There are swinging targets and the round target from the Guild will be placed at the end of this practice area about 200 meters or feet away. Try your best to hit the target from that distance. Good luck, mate...!"

The off-screen crews helped me to hang those swinging targets as well as placing the round archery target. 200 meters or feet away from the thatched house that seems so far away. The target is so tiny and there's no scope for me to aim towards that great distance...!

In a daytime rifle shoot downrange, 100 meters upright target is still not so bad. 50 meters target on a standing bunker would still be alright. but now the distance is double and it's a round target...! I need a 6x scope for this...!

=*=

Luckily there were some offscreen crews to help me hang those sacks of grass as swinging targets at intervals of 25 meters apart. If not for them, how the hell do you think I could manage it on my own, huh?!?

Targets are all set and ready to go, but I would like to grind and see how well Vendetta and Bladeworks performed under normal circumstances against normal and sly foxes.

The water had long boiled and I set it down near the embers just to have the radiating heat to warm the contents in the cauldron instead. The elder had woken up Matilda and she had done off to preen herself and not looked like some wet animal that had been dragged from its nest. Hahahahaha.

"Elder...I would like to test Bladeworks since I do not have the chance to do so last night. Furthermore, I had revived Vendetta and would see how it performs. Elder, may I ask if Matilda's swordsmanship is higher than me?"

"Why, child, do you ask? Are you afraid that a girl might belittle you in terms of skills? Being a protagonist in a novel, adding an antagonist would surely be an added hit, don't you think?"

"Yes...the answer to your last question is a positive yes...my Matilda is definitely better than you in swordsmanship. Just too bad she was equipped with an ill-fitting sword that you said is none better than a butter knife."

"She had no chance to party and earn coins and since you had fulfilled the oath required, just take good care of her. She had no one else but you right now and you had none other than me right now too. Because of you, I have to speak in tongues...Run along now, go and hunt sly and fearsome foxes. Don't get yourself and Matilda hurt."

She motioned me to go ahead when she saw Matilda skipping towards me. "Once you had no more spoils from the foxes, I have another task for you."

"Yes, Granny...! Come on... let us go already...!!" Matilda was imploring to be as she merrily skipped away. "I'd leave my bow and quiver here. I'd buck up on my workmanship right now and focused on my secondary weapon afterwards." I said to the Elder as I placed the bow and quiver down to the tree stump near the fireplace.

"Alright...be back by lunchtime..." She replied and we nodded and skipped merrily towards the fields where the sly foxes were gathering. It took some time for us to find the sly foxes since they were hiding and lurking to attack. We withdrew our swords and began cutting them down one after another.

No wonder she never wants to let go of Bladeworks. This is a terrific sword by my standards...! "Wow...! Vendetta is really sharp...! I never felt it slice through these foxes...and the spoils seems to be double...! It looks heavy at first but when it's wielded, it's light as a feather...and it cuts like a hot knife through butter...!"

Matilda was giggling as she chases a fox here and there and cuts them down with a single hit. She had managed to get more than 24 pennies, 4 foxtails and 8 furs after nearly 30 minutes of s***h and hack.

Suddenly we heard a roar that we had never heard before. Do foxes roar? There's no time to find out as branches were clearly shaken up as the tree trunks were being split wide apart. Roosting birds were scattered and flew about in all directions.

"That's their BOSS coming...! I can't wait to see the spoils it drops later...!! " answered Matilda nonchalantly as she walked about in the clearing and choose a spot to confront the oncoming onslaught of the BOSS.

"I assumed it's about 3 to 5 times bigger than the size of a fox and much more ferocious too. I've seen one but I managed to run off since I had a butter knife for a sword that time. This time is different. ITS TIME TO TASTE MY VENDETTA...!!!"

"Either she is way confident of herself, or she was full of it. It's dangerous to get these things in your head especially when one is poorly armoured at the same time...!" I thought aloud to myself as the ground shook as the BOSS was approaching.

"Get around me, do not go beyond your means. If possible, just stay put and wait for the last strike...!!" I shouted at Matilda and just then BOSS head peeked out from the forest and it wiggled its body free from the trunks that got stuck in its way.

"Fuck...!!! This is not a BOSS...! It's a f*****g mutated yokai...!!! Run Matilda...this situation is too dangerous for you...!" I screamed at her to get back and hide behind the trees but she obstinately chooses to stay behind.

"Rise Of The Sun...!!!" I screamed as I placed my sword back in its scabbard and made a hand seal and deployed balls of flames from my outstretched hands as I ran around its flanks. The smell of burning fur was wafting in the air as balls of flames landed on its face, neck and body at an interval every 2 seconds.

"Wow...what kind of sorcery is that?" Matilda stood dumbfounded as she saw balls of flames being shot from the palms of my hands as I ran around the flanks and kept shooting the ball of flames on its body. The trees around caught fire and this added to the effect of the BOSS getting burned alive.

"SHIT...! THE FIRE ONLY SINGED THE FUR OFF ITS BACK...!!" I hollered as I had reached the haunches of the BOSS. I withdrew my sword and decided to attack its blind spot and I ran towards it and threw myself at it before I somersaulted and drove the sword down on its lumbar spine. I drove the sword in deep and nice and warm blood began to spray from the open wound.

I FORGOT ABOUT THE TAIL...!! As the sword enters the lumbar area, it seemed to be like a toothpick to the BOSS as it flipped its tail and swiped me across my body. I can feel its rough spiky fur hitting me and I soon found myself being lifted off my feet and was hurtling to the ground. I managed to break ny fall slightly and was sent across the hard ground a few meters away...!

I picked myself up and spat blood on the floor. "HOW THE f**k YOU KILL THIS THING?!?" I hollered at Matilda and she seemed to sense some fear in her when she saw me being thrown off the back like a pesky fly...!

"Kamehameha...!" I gathered enough energy to deliver a blast right at the face of the fox BOSS but it seemed to be unaffected by it. "Huuuuaaarrrggghhh...this can't be happening...!"

"I don't know how they kill it... I was running away the last time I saw it...!" Matilda screamed back with a hint of terror in her voice as it quivered.