Healing System

"Is it weird that I expected something a little less girlie from you?" Michael asked with a chuckle.

Lila had led the way for a while, and they got out of the city a few couple minutes ago.

But of course, since their wings gave them immense speed, within those few minutes, they managed to cover quite a bit of ground.

And now, they were in front of some canyon, with a few monsters lurking around.

However, they weren't the usual monsters you'd kill and be done with.

Instead, they seemed edible, almost like bears, boars, and even magical deer.

Better yet, Lila had a hunting rifle beside her, something he didn't expect she'd need considering she could just zap the monsters dead with a flick of her finger.

But I guess that takes away from the activity... wouldn't want it to be too easy. Michael pondered, meeting Lila's excited gaze.

"Do you want a bow or a rifle?" she asked. "I usually use the bow, but since I've never used a hunting rifle before, I wanna try it out."

"I'll take the hunting rifle as well then," Michael replied, earning a nod from her in response as she pulled out yet another hunting rifle from the air and tossed it over to him.

The balance was just right, a bit different from what he remembered, but nothing he couldn't get used to within the first two shots.

Therefore, Michael focused on the distant boar, and after flashing Lila a glance, he aimed in.

There was no scope, sadly, but even then, he was trained without it from time to time.

After all, he couldn't be one of the best snipers if the weather was enough to fog up his scope.

That was why he flashed Lila a grin, and with a single press of the trigger, a bullet shot out.

It seemed enhanced, almost like it was a mana weapon as it finally reached the boar and went straight through its brain.

He was definitely not a hunter, neither had he ever tried it, but it seemed pretty thrilling to shoot moving targets.

And from Lila's look of awe, he could tell she had a similar opinion.

"Woah... you're not bad with the hunting rifle too... here I thought the bow was one of your main weapons," Lila remarked.

"Nope," Michael shook his head. "I usually use the sword. A bow is something I picked up a few days ago. I liked it a bit, so I just continued mimicking it from time to time. Definitely not attached though."

"I see... well," Lila straightened her posture as she aimed in toward a deer. "Watch me go."

The moment her words fell, she pulled the trigger, and despite his initial assumption of her being a complete master at long-range combat, she missed the deer's head by nearly 4 meters, which seemed a bit impossible considering she was that good with a bow.

But alas, not everyone was good at everything.

"That was a nice try," Michael remarked. "Though you're a bit too stiff. If you relaxed your finger trigger and held it more comfortably, you might be able to hit the target easier."

Lila nodded before trying to do what he had just suggested.

And of course, it seemed like his earlier assumption was correct.

She was a long-range genius.

With a single pull of the trigger, she managed to pierce the head of a deer, killing it in an instant.

But that was not all, as the bullet somehow ricocheted inside the deer's skull before perfectly shooting out from the side and piercing a nearby deer's heart.

"I see, I understand it now," Lila nodded, her gaze looking fearsome as she held the hunting rifle at a weird angle.

It was sideways, and from what he could see, not a very efficient angle.

However, the moment she shot the bullet, she had proved him otherwise.

It traveled perfectly straight before impacting one of the canyon rocks.

He thought that would be the end of it. However, the bullet shot into the sky after bouncing from the rock, then, after finally losing all its momentum, fell back down again.

It wasn't moving in the slightest, and what was even more impressive was the fact that as the bullet finally fell down, it pierced through the skull of a boar, rendering it dead in an instant.

"Well shit," Michael couldn't help but gasp. "You're a natural at this, Lila. I can't tell if I'm the one trying to seduce you here, or it's the opposite."

He was really impressed by her performance, as not even in his past life could he do something so ridiculous.

But it was even more impressive since she did it without mana, which meant that theoretically, such a shot was possible.

Though... I don't exactly use these weapons anymore, so I guess it doesn't matter much, Michael thought with a sigh.

"Hehe..." Lila giggled. "I have another weapon, you wanna try it?"

"What is it? Is it another sniper?" Michael asked.

"Nope." Lila shook her head. "It's this..."

The moment her words fell, she suddenly pulled out two pairs of throwing knives.

"They're really good from what I remember, though I only tried them once in my childhood, and after that, I didn't exactly have a use for them."

"Is that so," Michael said, tilting his head. "But what does this have to do with archery or gun shooting? It's just throwing stuff."

"Well yeah, but at the same time, you practice your aim more thoroughly," Lila replied with a shrug. "I'm good at most long-range weapons, but this was something that I had failed to master back when I was younger. Of course, now I'm much better."

"I can see that," Michael chuckled as he extended his hand. "Can I try first?"

"Okay." Lila nodded, tossing over a pair of throwing knives. "I heard it's best if you hold them by the blades and then throw them, though I'm not really sure."

"I'll figure it out," Michael replied confidently as he focused.

There was a deer to the side, and a boar to his right.

Obviously, they would be easy kills if he had some proficiency with the weapon.

Sadly, that wasn't the case.

He felt stiff, and he didn't even know how to cancel the knife's rotation properly without the usage of mana.

Nonetheless, he had to give it a go either way.

Therefore, Michael took a deep breath, and with every muscle in his right arm, he threw the knife toward the boar.

To his surprise, it hit.

Good news?

The boar was now dead.

Bad news?

Instead of cutting into the boar, he accidentally blew it apart.

"Well... that's one way of doing it I guess," Lila commented with a giggle. "I think you should tone down your strength though."

Michael sighed. "Good idea."

He gave it another go, just this time at the deer.

And just as he expected, it was a shit attempt.

He managed to hit the deer with the throwing knife; however, it wasn't a hit with the blade, but instead, it was the hilt, which of course meant he dealt no damage.

But on the bright side, he managed to piss the deer off enough to make it run toward him.

Michael used mana to swiftly recall his previously thrown knife, and then, with a precise throw, he threw it right in between the deer's forehead.

To his surprise, it was a more fluent motion than last time, and better yet, it had died right then and there.

"Okay... if I had to give that a score, I'd say it was a solid 3/10," Lila remarked. "You were a bit worse than my child self, but still better than the average person. It's not that bad. Take 3/10 as a sign of pride."

"You're just teasing me now, aren't you?" Michael said, rolling his eyes.

Lila giggled. "Yep, but look at it this way—if you were to practice more, then you could become much better. That's what it means to practice weapons, as the peak of mastery would usually earn you very good results."

"Oh? Have you mastered a weapon?" Michael wondered.

"I wouldn't say mastered..." Lila shook her head. "More like, I know the fundamentals of it? There's a certain weapon I custom made myself. It's like a blowdart, but instead of darts, it shoots extremely destructive beams of light."

"That sounds... interesting?" Michael replied.

He had never heard of such a gun in his life, but it made sense.

After all, she did say she had made it herself.

"But why not a bow or something? It's a more conventional weapon," he asked.

Lila shrugged. "I like all long-range weapons, but the weapon I like the most was the one I made myself. Nothing even comes close to it."

"I see..." Michael nodded, feeling as though he had been enlightened.

Maybe I'll have to make myself some custom weapon? That could be fun.

Nonetheless, it was time for Lila's turn.

And from her posture alone, he could tell she was much better than him already.

She took a deep breath and focused deeply.

"Here I go."