Once DragonSlayer's green dot disappears from the minimap, it's time to check out the gear he gave.

The quiver has a long description, and it has more uses than keeping the arrows well organized.

Without it, there's a hefty penalty to reload speed with any bow, which makes sense.

Imagine fishing arrows out of a backpack during combat, rather than having them ready on the back.

Or in this case on the belt, as this specific type goes there. It isn't because of the shield either, the description is clear that this is a speedy quiver.

On top of canceling out the half-speed penalty you'd get without it, it even gives a fifteen percent bonus.

The bow is another huge improvement compared to the ones the skeletons dropped.

Coming in with a plus-five median when the best combo only did that much combined.

It's more unwieldy than what undead or bandits use, while still short of a legendary longbow.

The sleek curves make it look like a typical nomad design they use from horseback.

It must be devastating in a battle, and as a reminder, the guy had a fantasy-looking weapon too.

Where did he get these from? How much damage would that bow do?

It's even larger than this one, with sharp edges, spikes, and runes all over.

The rest of his gear looked average, almost as simple as what players have around in the starter village.

"What's his deal anyway?" The way the others bowed to him and jumped out of his way suggests he's someone important. DragonSlayer, huh?

A quick inventory check, so all potions are in the right slot to grab them when needed, and I'm ready.

Wait a second. What was that user called on Wroddit who gave all those long-winded explanations?

It was something dragon-related too. Hah, as if I'd remember with this crappy memory. And even if the browser could open the site while playing, there's no time for that.

He said five minutes. How long did it take to read all these descriptions already?

Better to focus on the mission, and don't let the guy down, whoever he is.

Whether he's a celebrity or not, Selena coerced us together, she trusts him and thought it was a good idea.

She's the last person I want to disappoint.

The bowstring feels more rigid and harder to pull back than the training one.

Did I ever try the others or look only at the stats? Oh, there was the skeleton's bow during the ambush.

The description shows it needs a thirteen strength to use and the default is ten, so will it even work?

It would have been smart to test it on the Training Grounds first, instead of a trial by combat.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The UI would say if it's too heavy to use. Right? Let's hope it won't give penalties for the damage, it's natural that a stronger bow would be slower anyway.

With the quiver in place, these should balance themselves out.

After a better look at that camp, it's well-camouflaged inside the forest.

I would have missed it if he hadn't said it was there because they even covered their tents with leaves.

A bandit stands guard at the closest one looking this way, but he shouldn't see this far.

They don't have a campfire and only sit around a log. The smoke would give away their position, rendering the camouflage useless.

They aren't stupid, for one hundred Exp you'd expect them to be some mid-level baddies.

It would have been nice if DragonSlayer said how many of them are in the camp.

Their guards stand alone in every corner of the camp and nobody watches them.

They focus on that log instead, at least those in view, and it's hard to tell what they are doing from this far. Are they playing cards?

If they don't show up as a number on the minimap, it's more than twenty-five meters.

The farthest target on the Training Grounds was fifty, and the drop was significant. That was a different bow though, a much weaker one.

Let's aim for their heads; depending on the drop, they should get it in their chest or stomach and will adjust later.

Start on the outside, and with a little luck, a few will go down before they realize what hit them.

With a quickening heart rate, a few deep breaths fill the lungs with the thick smells of the forest.

There's rot in the air, does it come from the zombie spawn points or a dead animal?

Are there even animals around the starter village? Does the undead scare them away?

The system spams rats and zombies everywhere, Joe's sheep were the only exception.

The villagers always mention their non-existent dogs and how the rats attacked them. Can you buy one and keep it as a pet? Or a familiar.

This guy is a wizard too, right? He might know more about these things.

"For fuck's sake, Arnim, focus." A hard shake of the head brings me back to the present.

This is an A-rank task, and the enemies are tough. How long do I have? No, wrong question, he said he'll intervene if anything goes wrong.

The right question is, how many bandits can this bow kill before he shows up?

There's no aiming reticle and using a different weapon for the first time is confusing.

Tank's voice echoes in the mind, explaining how to stand and hold the thing.

Keep it firm in the right hand, and use the strength of the left to pull the string.

The arrow will point to the side yet it curves in flight. Aim with the the bow if you shoot at a distance, and the arrow if the target is close.

The principle is the same, deep breath, pull the bowstring, aim, release.

[You killed a Bandit +100 Exp.]

Oh, okay, that worked. He died without a critical too. There's no movement in the camp either, so next.

The quiver should speed up the process by more than double and this still feels slower than usual. This is a serious war bow after all. Pull, aim, release.

[Critical hit! You killed a Bandit +100 Exp.]

There you go, this one hit him right between the eyes, and got a critical.

Aiming it a little higher paid off, as if he had two heads on each other.

The drop is much more shallow on this one.

It's a brutal workout though, the arms are already tired after two shots, and there are plenty more to go.

[You killed a Bandit +100 Exp.]

The bowstring wasn't pulled all the way, and the arrow dropped more, hitting them in the chest.

It was still enough for a kill, yet the bandit snorted loud enough to alert his comrades.

Still, they have no idea where the shots come from, rushing to where the bodies disappeared.

The next one misses.

Thanks to that they still don't notice this position.

Fuck, the character is already out of breath after four shots.

This weapon is for brutes like Tank, even swinging the sword is easier.

When will the exhaustion status effect appear?

Will the stamina potion help with shooting?

Is it better to shoot less and pull the string all the way, or get out more arrows before DragonSlayer drops on them?

How long until that happens?