The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

86. Limits

“The forest is…too quiet…” Tanya murmured while shaking off the leaves that clung to her clothing. She realized that the forest had gone a tad bit too quiet.

Tanya had heard quite a lot about the Bow Test even though most of them were vague descriptions. However, this was her first time participating in it. It had also been quite some time since she last entered the forest.

From what Tanya had heard, they originally should have been given a challenge by the Mountain’s Guardian Deity upon entering the forest. However, she had only seen mysterious fireflies that had been created by the Guardian Deity to lead the examinees so far.

“Haa… Haa… Excuse me! Where are we going?!” Tanya shouted despite knowing that she would not hear any answers.

She tried to catch her breath as she looked at the fireflies that guided her way in the forest.

Despite her cries, the fireflies just continued to guide Tanya at the same leisurely pace. Only after quite some time did they come to a stop.

Coming to a stop in front of a huge cave, Tanya peered inside and saw a gigantic figure. She gasped. “A… A bear?!”

Inside the cave was a huge bear dozens of times larger than any ordinary bear.

—Roaaaar!

Before Tanya could understand the situation, the bear had already launched an attack. It bared its claws against the intruder who dared to step foot in its territory and showed great hostility.

The bear smashed its front paws right where Tanya had been originally.

“Heup!” Tanya gasped.

She was panicking from the huge bear’s uncharacteristically fast movements. Thankfully, she had jumped away and avoided the attack in time. However, her blood ran cold the moment she realized that she would have been dead meat if she had reacted just a second later.

“They clearly said that there wouldn’t be any life-threatening risk during the Bow Test…”

No matter how strict and important a test was, there would be absolutely no point if the participant simply died during the test itself. Tanya also found it strange that she had been guided to the resting place of a huge mountain beast without experiencing any kind of trouble at all.

Not long after, Tanya had no other choice but to move. She gulped dryly as she nocked an arrow on her bow and aimed for the slowly approaching bear.

Tanya did not know if it would have a big effect on her enemy, but she could not ignore the possibility of dealing huge damage using the technique that her brother had taught her before. Besides, if she focused on swiftly avoiding the blows, she would have no way of fully realizing and understanding the technique.

When humans were placed in a very dangerous and life-threatening situation, they tended to choose a path that was most familiar with them.

Tanya crouched down and began to circulate the mana in her body.

[Wind, heed my call. Haste!]

Once Tanya was done chanting, a light green energy appeared and wrapped around her legs. She kicked the ground beneath her feet while her hands pulled the strings of the bow without any hesitation. Tanya, who was aiming for the bear’s eyes, immediately fired her arrow.

However, the huge bear deflected the arrow with its front paws. It successfully protected its eyes.

No matter how tough the skin of a beast was, it would still be ripped apart and left bleeding from the attack of such a sharp arrow. Unfortunately, the bear appeared to have a steel-like hide.

The arrow did not even leave a scratch on the bear. It only served to alert the bear of Tanya’s position, so the bear began approaching her once again.

“Ugh!” Tanya cried out in shock.

She immediately left her position while firing a couple more arrows at the huge bear. However, the results were no different from the first arrow.

Tanya made a quick decision. She realized that she would not be able to directly confront the bear so easily, so she decided that it was better to avoid its sight for now. She was going to try to look for the perfect opportunity to deal with the bear instead of confronting it with her presence being completely exposed.

However, the huge bear accurately pinpointed Tanya’s position. It gave a loud roar, showing no intention of leaving Tanya alone.

“Urk?!”

Then, a loud zap rang loudly. It was accompanied by a bright flash which blinded Tanya’s vision.

“Ah… Aaaaah… Aaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!” Tanya screamed with a desperate expression on her face.

The bright light was only momentary, but it had placed a huge strain on Tanya’s vision. In just an instant, her situation changed. Losing her eyesight felt like losing everything.

All Tanya could do was collapse on the ground with one of her hands covering her eyes. She trembled.

After losing her eyesight, Tanya’s sense of hearing got to a whole new level. Her sharpened hearing picked up on the bear’s approaching footsteps.

Despite the bear’s threatening approach, Tanya still could not move from her position.

Upon losing their eyesight, the most frequently used sense, humans tended to easily panic. Tanya was going through this right now.

Tanya was moaning and groaning with a blank expression, as if she had lost everything she held dear. Although not usually the case, for those who have mastered archery and were specializing in this skill that heavily relied on vision, the shock of losing their vision was extremely great.

As the bear’s roar resounded loudly once again, Tanya forced herself to stand up. Her expression was still blank and empty. Although she could not see anything, she had a feeling that the bear was aiming for her with its front paws.

With another loud roar from the bear, Tanya felt someone grip the back of her shirt tightly and pull her back.

“Come back to your senses! Princess!”

“Aaaah… Aaaaahhh…”

The voice belonged to Princess Maria. Tanya wondered how the girl had gotten here especially when she had heard that the examinees would be sent to different locations. However, the question did not linger in Tanya’s head for too long. All she knew was that she was very lucky and fortunate.

After Princess Maria and Tanya left its territory, the huge bear left them both alone.

“Haa… Haa… Fortunately, it is not following us anymore. This is not the test… Something is wrong…” Maria murmured.

“It’s alright… I know that something has gone wrong here since I’ve already experienced the Bow Test before.”

“Prin… Princess Maria?”

“I…have suddenly gained my sense of sight… It’s weird… This is too…”

Princess Maria wasn’t in the best situation either. Tanya was experiencing problems from losing her sense of sight, and Maria had similar problems with regaining her sight.

“Princess Tanya, I hope you can steel your heart. Something is wrong.”

“What?”

“Originally, the examinees were not allowed to see each other. This is so they can prevent the examinees from harming or influencing each other,” Maria said calmly as she tapped the translucent red wall that blocked their escape to the outside world. “And…there has never been an incident where they stopped the examinee from getting out like this… They will fail the moment they cross over the barrier, but there has never been a case where the examinees had been locked up!”

Maria expressed just how abnormal this entire situation was.

“You’re saying that…”

“That’s right… Something has happened here. And…this is not a test. This is a real life and death situation. Isn’t the situation with the monster attacking you earlier proof enough, Princess?”

“A… A monster…? The bear…?”

“A bear? Ha…” Maria scoffed as she sat down next to Tanya. “Do you think a bear with mana at the master-level or perhaps even higher is a normal bear? Besides, did you not think that there was something strange there? Especially after you have lost your sight from its mysterious roars and that unknown flash of light, Princess?”

“Ah… Aaaaaah… What should I do… What should I do?”

Tanya, without her sight, was just a weak person. To be exact, she was just some kind of heavy baggage to be carried around. Her hands trembled as she groped blindly around, trying to find Maria.

Finally finding Maria’s hands after a while, Tanya held Maria’s hands tightly and cried. “I’m sorry… I’m… I’m just too scared right now…”

“I understand. That’s why… Don’t worry. It’s fine. Princess, just trust me. I will make sure to protect you.”

“Princess Maria…”

“We’re friends, right? We… Even though we’ll be in different places since the Princess will go back home… We’re still friends. Because we’re friends… I will definitely protect you,” Princess Maria murmured bitterly.

Compared to Tanya’s dire situation, Maria could be said to be in a slightly better position. Unlike Tanya, who lost something that she initially had and was now completely blinded, Maria was in a situation where she could now see. At the very least, she was lucky to not be in a position where she could not even see an inch in front of her.

“Your loss of sight is most likely temporary, it will probably return to you soon. So, all we need to do is to avoid the attacks and endure for a while. At the very least, until things get sorted out outside…”

“Thank you…” Tanya held Maria’s hands tightly with a bright smile, even though she still had tears in her eyes. She whispered, “I should not be asking you to comfort me…”

“I know how painful it is to lose your eyesight. I’m fully aware. So, just trust me, Princess Tanya,” Maria mumbled with a nervous look on her face.

She tapped several times on the red barrier. No matter how long she analyzed it, the only conclusion that she could get was that the barrier could not be broken down with their strength alone.

“However… If the bear attacks this, then…”

Perhaps it was possible. The thought flashed in Maria’s head. Although it was a bit dangerous, she still decided to take the gamble.

***

—Can’t you just leave them alone?

Davey just shook his head at Perserque’s question while saying, “Just watch.”

Davey believed that he still had to push his sister a bit harder. After all, people would only develop if they were placed in extreme situations. Although he felt sorry for Tanya, he was firm in his choice. He had to leave her without her sense of sight until the test was over.

In fact, Tanya did not really lose her eyesight. To put it simply, she had been placed under an illusion magic. She was under the illusion that everything around her was dark.

However, doing that alone was not enough. Davey had to induce a natural meeting between his younger sister, who had fallen into an embarrassing situation, and Princess Maria. He had to bring the two together so someone could protect his sister.

“Now, now… You have to keep moving.”

From what it looked like, Princess Maria seemed to have thought of using the half-dead corpse to solve the problem with the barrier. Unfortunately, Davey did not intend to let them do those things.

The figure that had turned into a bear under Davey’s illusion magic was actually Vampire Gellus’ body. In Davey’s eyes, Gellus looked the same. However, for the two people inside the test, Gellus looked like a gigantic bear.

“Well then. You’ve had plenty of rest. It’s time to put pressure on you once again.”

If Davey kept on pressuring them and letting them go, the two girls would eventually be exhausted and reach their very limits. And Davey could not wait to see them break through those limits.

Seeing Davey’s vicious smile, Perserque could not help but frown.

—Aren’t you going a bit overboard? That’s still your little sister, no?

“She has to have enough power to protect herself even if she is without me. Besides, Tanya is a good seedling. So, I have to teach her whenever I can. Even if I have to be strict about it.”

Tanya had already learned the technique from Davey. So, Davey had no choice but to force her to remember the things that he had taught her.

Besides, a true teacher would not teach an extremely talented person how to fish. A true teacher should create and induce situations that would help their students think of ways to catch the fish and allow them to try it, a method that even a stupid stone could learn from. It was also a teacher’s job to help their students realize and understand things that they had overlooked themselves.

And Davey believed that he was a very good teacher.

***

“Haa… Haaa!” Tanya, who was now out of breath, suddenly fell down after twisting her ankle. She screamed, “Kyaaaaack!”

“Stand up, Princess Tanya! You can’t fall down like this! We have to run!!!”

Maria gritted her teeth. She could see the huge bear charging at them madly with a loud roar.

“Haa… Haa… Princess Maria, I’m already done for… Please, leave me alone and go ahead!” Tanya cried loudly.

Since she had lost her eyesight, she could not adjust at all. She couldn’t even do something so simple like running. Aside from that, she could not even stand up as easily as before. Perhaps it was because she had just twisted her ankle.

Eventually, the two girls who had mistakenly allowed the bear to reach their vicinity turned pale.

“N… No…” Tanya murmured fearfully.

Unlike Tanya, Maria remained calm. Despite furrowing her brows, she took a deep breath. She was trying to adapt and adjust to the eyesight that she had suddenly regained.

“Princess Tanya, listen carefully to me. You can do it even if you can’t see. I’ll buy you some time so…make sure to use that opportunity,” Maria said calmly. She quickly grabbed her bow and moved in front of Tanya to block her from harm’s way.

“N… No! Princess Maria’s eyes are…!”

“I can see! And it’s harder for me because I can suddenly see! But what can I do?! We have to survive first!!! You have to get a grip of yourself! Even if you have lost your eyesight, you can do it! So, just trust me…”

Hearing Maria’s uncharacteristically weak murmur, Tanya grabbed the shortbow hanging on her waist with trembling hands. Then, she gripped it tightly. She could feel the tight and strong tension in the bowstrings, which were the Beard of Vego that Maria had gifted to her.

“…I’ll try.” Tanya, who gradually regained her calm, nodded lightly and closed her eyes.