Chapter 16 The Use of Perception

"Stand with your feet naturally shoulder-width apart. The left hand controls the landing direction, while the right hand stays firm. Use the index, middle, and ring fingers to hold the string, with the index finger above the nock of the arrow, and the middle and ring fingers below it."

Malcolm is constantly adjusting Thea's posture and correcting her mistakes. As an archery master, his guidance is excellent. He is able to clearly explain the key points of each action and the reasons behind it. Many people can do something on their own, but teaching others what they don't know is not something Malcolm struggles with.

Thea is holding a low-weight red recurve bow, without sights or stabilizers. Women typically have more difficulty in this area because they are naturally weaker than men in terms of strength. Don't be misled by elite archers in anime or games—training really isn't easy! Less strength means lower lethality, and in ancient wars, the population was vast. I've never seen a monarch recruit women as archers.

In the original storyline, as a member of the Green Arrows team, Thea Queen was known for her "quick hands," but she didn't use a high rate of fire to compensate for the low lethality. Later, she left the team for a time, realizing that this path wasn't working for her.

As for the future, I've already come into contact with my destiny, and I can undoubtedly rewrite this unsatisfactory path. They settled in, quietly reading Malcolm's teachings, and aimed at a large tree 10 meters away. Malcolm drew a red circle in the center of the tree.

Exhale, inhale, adjust your breathing, visualize the red circle in front of you, and "shhh" — the arrow flew. Thea, highly focused, felt like she was in the dark, as if a part of her was flying with the arrow. Just like in the past, the arrow would hit the target!

With a muffled sound, the arrow firmly hit the inner part of the red circle on the tree trunk, very close to the center, meaning at least seven or eight points in a competition.

To be honest, Malcolm felt a bit envious of her having such a good result on her first try. When he trained with a ninja master, he had to shoot at a target 10 meters away for three days to achieve that level!

Fearing his daughter might get proud, he searched for a 20-meter target to signal and shoot.

Thea unexpectedly missed, but the deviation was less than Malcolm expected, and an arrow flew off the trunk of the tree.

Now, the "old mother" felt much more balanced and began carefully explaining the necessary steps. In reality, Thea's first arrow wasn't the result of mastering archery skills but rather a prediction, well beyond ordinary perception. The whole area within ten meters was within her awareness, and she could shoot a hundred arrows if she concentrated. This isn't a supernatural skill. In fact, when many people make a three-point shot, they know it will go in as soon as they release it. It's a very mysterious feeling.

However, twenty meters is beyond her "comfort zone." While the accuracy in the first ten meters could be assured, the shot missed in the next ten meters. Without a doubt, there's still a long way to go! This is like Prometheus, who has a helmet that allows him to defeat all martial artists, search for the target by clicking, and then, once confirmed, it's done! Learning martial arts is as fast and easy as Neo in the Matrix, unlike when you have to train for years. Where did Prometheus get this helmet? I never saw this in the comics!

Listening patiently to Malcolm's explanation, it must be said that he explained everything very well, highlighting key points and habits simply. He's like an excellent student from the Nandalbart School of Martial Arts, absorbing knowledge like a sponge.

The fusion of the two souls brings not only expanded perception but also improvements in deep memory, thought processing speed, and reaction time. If the original Thea was just an almost-heroine for life, now she has the qualifications of a first-class heroine.

When the lesson was almost over, Thea was already able to hit a target at 20 meters. While she couldn't claim to hit 100 out of 100 arrows, nine out of ten hits left the old Malcolm in awe. It was her first night of training! When he trained back in the day, he spent a whole week with back pain and leg cramps!

It's good to be young! He secretly found an excuse for his own shortcomings by comparing it to his son.

He took Thea far to the Queen mansion before heading home.

When he got home, he changed clothes and asked the butler, "Has Tommy returned?"

"No, the phone message still needs to be processed," the butler replied honestly.

"Humf," Malcolm muttered softly. What could he do? It must be because he wasn't home today and went to look for Laurel. A sense of helplessness rose in his chest. He really didn't know how to raise the son left by his late wife. His brain, courage, and stamina were nothing like his own. If he didn't believe that his late wife would never betray him, he might doubt that Tommy was even his son, especially when compared to his daughter.

In truth, a person's talent is only discovered when they are placed in the right situation. During World War II, a Japanese leader made a comment about Tojo, saying he could control multiple machine guns, implying he would have great power. The implication was that he would become the prime minister. The question "Are you joking?" shows that the comment seemed exaggerated.

Returning to Tommy, it's not that he lacks talent, but he simply hasn't been placed in the right situation. Oliver, who will return to the city in the future, will find his strong point. He encouraged his friends to open a bar, and as expected, Tommy caused a stir. If not for Malcolm's influence, he would've succeeded as a network operator.

The more Malcolm thought about it, the sadder he felt. Looking at pictures of his wife and reflecting on the few things he had done, he decided to wait six more months. If things didn't improve, he would let Tommy do what he wanted and promised him a happy, carefree life, worthy of his late wife.

When Thea returned home, she found Moira waiting for her in the living room and hugged her tightly. "Mom, I'm back."

The news Moira received was that Malcolm was looking for someone to train his daughter. She didn't know that this "someone" was him. She feared that her spoiled daughter wouldn't endure the hardships and worried that the person wouldn't take care of her properly. She waited, bored, in the hall. Deep down, she didn't think it was necessary, as the family had money, and there were all kinds of securities they could hire. Why would her daughter need to train so much on her own? When she saw her daughter returning happily, she felt the need to confirm her thoughts.

"If you're tired, don't go tomorrow. Mom is really worried about you."

Seeing her mother's concerned eyes, Thea stood firm: "I'm not afraid of suffering, Mom. I'm afraid that my powerlessness won't protect you and this family."

"My poor daughter, I've said that I'll respect any decision you make. If one day you don't want to continue learning, you have to tell me, okay?" Moira said seriously.

"Okay, I understand." Thea smiled and nodded, and mother and daughter embraced as they entered the bedroom.