Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 582: Reach For The Stars II

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For the initial occasion, the arrow she released pierced through the platform's shield, venturing into the emptiness beyond.

Regrettably, it couldn't journey far before decelerating to a stop.

It failed to fully break away from the platform's gravity. Rather, it hovered and started floating lazily in the platform's gravitational field.

Yet Silver refused to give in to despair.

She chose to emphasize the bright side once more.

'I've advanced further,' she assured herself.

'Press on... toward the stars...'

She motivated herself in a soft whisper.

Dipping into her quiver, she pulled out one of the three arrows left and placed it on her bow.

On this occasion, she avoided gazing at the remote star.

Rather, she just wished for advancement.

PHEW!!!

As though fueled by her faith and aspiration, the arrow launched ahead.

This time around, it utterly escaped the platform's hold, at last plunging into the genuine vacuum of space.

Nevertheless, upon doing that, the arrow rapidly depleted its momentum.

Although it kept floating onward in the void, it was clear as day that it wouldn't approach any star in the near future.

Even so, Silver didn't yield to despair.

With composure, she loaded another arrow.

Now just a single arrow lingered in her quiver.

Her thoughts wavered briefly as uncertainty attempted to infiltrate once more.

But Silver swiftly called upon her conviction and determination, shielding her mind from the invading terror.

Then she let it fly.

PHEW!!!

The arrow demolished the platform's limit.

It detached from its zone of control.

It ventured into the void and journeyed beyond any previous arrow.

Nevertheless, it remained evident that it wouldn't touch a star anytime soon.

Silver extended her hand to the quiver again.

The last arrow...

Her hands—no, her whole form—shook as she seized it.

The arrow seemed extraordinarily burdensome as she positioned it on the bow. So burdensome that she couldn't pull back the string.

Uncertainty overwhelmed her thoughts anew, freezing her limbs.

She was immobilized.

Not due to her body's limitations... But because her psyche wouldn't issue the order.

This ultimate arrow would decide the trial's outcome.

A challenge that appeared completely unattainable.

Once more, uncertainty and dread nibbled at her mind.

The dread of ending up as the sole member of the expedition group to falter in their trial.

'If... if I hold back from releasing the arrow, the trial remains unresolved.'

'And without resolution... I avoid failure.'

For an instant, such an idea flickered in Silver’s thoughts.

Gradually, the power in her grip waned.

Her bow drooped...

Then tumbled entirely from her hold, hitting the surface like a sign of capitulation to that notion.

Thwack!

Yet abruptly, Silver struck her own cheek.

'Silence!' she bellowed inside. 'I'm no coward! I refuse to evade and flee.'

In that instant, Alex’s earlier words resounded in her mind again.

"Press on as you've always done —no matter who surrounds you— and you'll grasp for the stars."

This time, a further segment of his message truly connected with her.

'No matter who surrounds you...' Silver whispered to herself.

A abrupt insight struck her.

'To whom does this trial belong?'

'To the expedition group?'

'No... it's mine alone.'

'Triumph or defeat is personal... others hold no relevance.'

'So what if the trial eludes me?'

'Provided I can rise again, stride ahead, and keep enhancing myself as before... then regardless of how much the others surge forward...'

'I'll seize back the distance!'

At that instant, Silver’s determination hardened.

Her faith in her own abilities intensified.

She retrieved her bow and fitted the final arrow anew.

With the unseen burden she'd imposed on herself finally shed, Silver abruptly sensed a lightness.

Her thoughts sharpened.

Her bow grew simpler to handle.

'Grasp for the stars...'

This time, she targeted the most distant star in her vision.

Previously, she hadn't even trusted her ability to hit the closest one.

But now, having released the loads she'd burdened herself with...

Her aspirations broadened.

She pointed at the remotest star visible to her.

As the proverb states, aim lofty, and even a shortfall lands as victory.

However, Silver wasn't just aiming lofty. She genuinely trusted she could land the shot.

Her trust grew so potent that it roused her determination, the pair blending and bolstering each other.

And from that fusion, a fresh force emerged.

Bow Intent!

Without realizing it, Silver evoked her Bow Intent, which enveloped her bow and arrow.

Suddenly, mana along with assorted energies from nearby were pulled into the arrow by her Intent, amassing inside to power the launch.

Silver perceived nothing of this.

All her attention centered on her goal—the remotest star.

She unleashed the string.

PHEEWWWW!!!!

The arrow surged out in a flare of dazzling brilliance.

A brilliance so intense that the arrow evoked a meteor as it dashed toward its mark.

It navigated the stellar expanse like it was native there.

Defying all chances, it drew nearer and nearer to the remotest star Silver had targeted.

But right before arriving—

The arrow burst apart.

It could no longer endure the vast power crammed into it and fragmented in midair prior to its goal.

Only then did Silver regain her awareness.

Only then did she comprehend that she'd truly ignited her Bow Intent, and the complete awareness of her actions finally permeated her mind.

Yet rather than crumbling in sorrow over her setback, she experienced an odd serenity.

She had exerted every effort possible.

The setback stemmed solely from elements outside her grasp.

After all, it wasn't her doing that the arrow couldn't bear her strength.

Instead, she turned her attention to another fact.

Her power had advanced to where the arrow proved too frail to hold it.

At that moment, the veiled man who had originally given her the bow and arrows materialized before her anew.

Silver anticipated him announcing her trial's failure.

However, astonishingly, the man simply grinned.

With subtle gratitude, he reclaimed the bow from her.

Then he broke it into two pieces.

Only then did the reality dawn on Silver’s mind.

This trial had never involved toppling the star.

'It concerned the courage to tackle the unattainable... and genuinely trusting I could achieve it.'

'This wasn't intended as a direct test. It stood as a metaphor.'

A subtle grin pulled at her mouth as the insight took hold.

After all, if the trial had been straightforward, no way existed for her to down a star.

Not through faith alone... Not even via Intent.

She remained vastly too feeble for such an exploit.

And definitely not using a bow fashioned from a common tree.

It also clarified the fierce uncertainties she'd faced in the trial.

Though she sometimes battled such uncertainties, this marked the first instance they'd seemed so sharp... so inescapably vivid.

The trial had dragged those uncertainties into the open.

Confronting these uncertainties and inner foes... Surmounting them... And venturing to pursue the unattainable regardless...

That constituted the trial's genuine aim.

And with that insight, Silver succeeded in the trial.

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