Cultivating As A Side Character

No sooner had I stepped onto the small, sandy shore of the Center than the epicenter of the lake stirred violently. A large patch of water churned, and began moving right at me with incredible speed. I drew my bow taut, equally ready to shoot at whatever emerged or to dive out of the way if it looked to come too close to the shore before it did.

It emerged a decent way off, and at first sight, I could only call it an honest-to-goodness Sea Serpent. One that evidently lived on fresh water rather than actual ocean water, though it didn't seem like an important distinction considering. Its main body was easily two meters wide, covered in gleaming white scales. Its head ended in a long, wide snout with a pair of nostrils the size of dinner plates. Curiously, it had luminous blue hair, or possibly moss on its head, long enough to reach down well below what I judged to be the thing's neck. Six glowing purple shapes were just past the snout, three on either side, that I could only assume were its eyes.

I didn't take all of this in the first moment I saw it, because almost the instant it emerged, it opened its mouth wide and a blast of superheated water, or something very like it, streamed out. Even with how powerful, how agile a Cultivator I'd so far become, I barely got out of the way, and I could feel intense heat from the blast even if it didn't quite hurt. I returned fire, but my arrow bounced off its hide. Only one thing to do, then...

The rhythm of the battle, as it developed, was simple yet terrifying. After each blast, the Lake Serpent would sink back beneath the waves, emerging again a few seconds later. I had to observe it enough to be able to predict how it would emerge and when in order to essentially take a shot the instant BEFORE it surfaced, so that the arrow would strike the inside of its mouth. After a few dozen times of this, a successful strike started to delay the start of the blast for a couple seconds. That gave me enough time to notice that three or four arrowheads were now poking out of the thing's jaws, and that there was a lot of blood in the water. THAT gave me the idea to try to angle my shots in such a way that they stood a chance of reaching its brain.

It was taking longer between shots now too, so I was more or less able to do this. I was getting really tired by now though, so I hoped it'd work soon. After angling 3 shots this way, the serpent's roars gave way to moans of pain. It thrashed wildly, convulsed, and crashed into the lake snout-first. It didn't reappear.

I was exhausted, but I was also wary that monsters from the Inner Spiral might encroach now that it was dead. Ten minutes passed, then twenty, with nothing of the sort happening. A voice called out to me—and when I turned toward it, I saw Elder Hasegawa on the shore behind me. "You're indeed an evasive one. So many of the staff thought for a long time no one would ever conquer the Spiral, that few students versed in archery come through the Academy at all and that it was made too difficult for 'freshmen' in any case. I had a feeling though, especially when you started cultivating on the second day of class, that you'd pull it off."

"You were watching?"

"Yes. Ready to intercede, if need be. I'm glad you're not one to shy away from a challenge. One day, you may well be very useful to the Dimension Governors.

Lake Serpents are a fairly rare species of Ascended Beast—that's the next class up from Magical Beast, as I alluded to before. Their scales are quite valuable, but their hair is even more so. However, your current spatial storage is woefully inadequate for the task of transporting all of its valuable parts. I'll take care of that—and transfer you 50 Academy Contribution Points for your achievement, that should roughly cover the value."

I handed Hasegawa my Academy badge, and he transferred the points. "As for the special reward," he continued, "check by its tail. The call to assemble at the main camp will go out in 3 days, you'll have a week from then to make your way back. I must be going now, I'll arrange for some staff to extract the parts later, congratulations once again."

When he was gone, I took a nap, right there on the lakeshore. It had been all I could do to maintain decorum in front of Hasegawa. Once I was less exhausted, I ventured into the lake. There wasn't a single fish in the water, let alone any lesser Magical Beasts. The lake was also surprisingly shallow, I figured barely ten feet deep.

By the time I caught sight of the tip of the thing's tail, I knew I was near the epicenter of the lake. Some kind of tether had been tied or attached somehow to the tip. The tether was short enough that I could follow it with my eyes to what looked like a large egg half-buried in the lake bottom. As soon as I touched it, though, I realized it was actually a buoy. As soon as I got it loose, it shot to the surface like a rocket, dragging a chain underneath it. The chain was long enough that I couldn't see what was at the other end.

I dragged the buoy with me to shore, the work of several minutes, and pulled on the chain for a few more minutes until a large, carved wooden box emerged from the lake on the chain's end. I opened it...and looked at the absolutely beautiful bow inside. It looked like it was carved in once piece from some kind of crystalline, translucent aqua blue material. Even the bowstring seemed made out of it, though it bent easily when I tried, though it felt strange.

I put it in my inventory—and gasped when I saw it described on my System screen.

[Lamentation Bow]

[Spirit Grade]