Thud!
Tang Wen threw a stone.
Flap, flap.
A red-beaked bird flapped its wings and flew away.
...
After throwing all the stones he had picked up, he hadn't hit a single bird.
The birds were quick, and Tang Wen wasn't particularly accurate, so it was normal that he missed.
"Whew!"
His weak body was gasping for breath.
His expression was serious, his brows furrowed.
How exactly can I learn a new skill?
That's right, using stones to hit birds was just a deliberate practice.
But even after throwing 23 stones, the experience panel didn't react at all.
What's the reason?
Haven't I even learned how to throw stones yet?
After resting enough, Tang Wen bent down and picked up the stones he had thrown earlier.
Before he could finish picking them all up, his vision darkened, and he felt a wave of panic.
Low blood sugar!
Damn! How long has this body been starving? Why does it still have this problem? Was today's physical activity too much?
Not daring to linger outside any longer, he dragged his heavy steps back to the camp, his body already somewhat numb.
It wasn't until he drank a bowl of rice soup that he felt alive again.
After drinking the soup, his thin older sister, Tang Tang, picked up their porridge bowls, which were cleaner than their water bowls, and scrubbed them a few times.
Then, with a splash, she skillfully and accurately poured the dishwater into a broken basin about a meter away.
Huh?
Tang Wen stared at this scene in a daze.
When I was throwing stones at birds, I didn't hit a single one, did I?
With food in his stomach, his brain started working again.
The original owner's Farming skill was acquired after years of working in the fields with his parents, successfully growing crops multiple times.
In other words, the original owner succeeded in farming.
But when I was throwing stones at birds earlier, I didn't even hit a single feather.
So that means...
Tang Wen slowly sat up, walked outside, and used a stone to draw a somewhat irregular small circle in the dirt.
He crouched inside the house, took a stone from his pocket, and threw it.
Thud!
It missed the circle.
He took a deep breath.
Holding his breath, he aimed carefully.
Thud!
The stone landed inside the circle he had drawn on the ground.
The light twisted slightly, and the experience panel flashed briefly.
There's a reaction!
Tang Wen's eyes lit up.
Thud! In his excitement, his hand trembled, and the stone missed by a lot.
Whew!
Steadying his breathing, he tried again: Thud, thud, thud.
Three throws in a row, all landing inside the circle.
It wasn't that he was particularly accurate; it was just that the distance was only two steps away, and once he got the feel for it, it was easy to hit the target.
The light shifted:
[Name: Tang Wen]
[Age: 14 years, 9 months]
[Physique: 0.3]
[Spirit: 0.7]
[Skill: Farming Mastery (719/1000)]
[Stone Throwing Novice (0/500)]
Tang Wen smiled: A new skill—Stone Throwing!
Thud! Another stone landed inside the circle.
[Stone Throwing Novice (0→1/500)]
Thud, thud! Two misses, the value didn't change.
Hit.
Novice (1→2/500)
Hit again, Novice (2→3/500)
The experience panel was stingy, only giving 1 point of experience for each success.
But Tang Wen was content; as long as there was progress, even if it was just 1 point each time.
Inside the house, the emaciated girl watched her brother throwing stones, her dark eyes first filled with confusion, then gradually with worry.
How many times has he done this?
What is my brother doing?
This is going to make him hungry!
The girl curled up, moving closer to the stove. She was already hungry.
Hit, Beginner Level (300/500)
Hit again, Beginner Level (300/500)
...
By the time it was completely dark, Tang Wen had already grasped the rhythm, and he could almost hit the target two out of three times with the stones in his hand.
But the thing he was most worried about happened: the experience points stopped increasing once they reached 300.
He shook his sore and numb right hand, went back to the house, and lay down on the hay.
Rustling sounds.
Tang Tang wasn't asleep. She came over, extended a small hand, and started massaging her brother's arm.
Two thin arms—one like a twig, the other even thinner than a twig.
With his wrist sore and swollen, Tang Wen tossed and turned for a long time before finally falling asleep.
The next morning, the fog hadn't yet lifted.
Tang Wen had already finished his porridge and left the camp.
He didn't go too far, stopping at a secluded spot where he found a large rock, taller than a person.
He took out a piece of charcoal and first drew a small circle on the rock, then a larger circle outside it, and then an even larger circle outside that…
After several attempts, he managed to create something resembling a target.
He stepped back a few paces and drew a line on the ground with a stick.
Standing behind the line, he began throwing stones.
Thud!
7 points!
The stone bounced off.
The gray translucent screen flickered.
[Skill: Stone Throwing, Beginner Level (300→302/500)]
The experience points increased by two.
"It works!"
This was the method Tang Wen had thought of last night—treating stone throwing as a sport.
There had to be a target, a way to measure performance, and a certain level of difficulty!
The stone-throwing game from last night was too simple and had lost its challenge by the end.
Thud!
6 points!
The stone bounced off.
[Skill: Stone Throwing, Beginner Level (302→303/500)]
...
Tang Wen focused intently, throwing stones continuously over a dozen times.
[Skill: Stone Throwing, Beginner Level (357/500)]
Whew!
He took a deep breath, leaning against a bare, large tree. His right arm was sore and couldn't lift anymore—he didn't dare push himself too hard!
Five minutes of throwing, half an hour of rest.
This was different from yesterday's stone throwing. Yesterday, the force he used might not even have been enough to kill a large ant.
But today, he put all his strength into every throw.
If he hit a rabbit's leg, he could definitely cripple it.
He sat under the tree to rest, relaxing his arm. Haste makes waste.
With his current physical condition, if he dared to exert himself and throw stones continuously for half an hour, he could risk irreversible damage to his arm!
He rested for a long time.
Tang Wen stood up again and began target practice.
Stone Throwing: Beginner Level (357→359/500)
(359→361/500)
The experience points gradually increased.
Throughout the morning, he alternated between practice and rest, practice and rest, practice and rest…
By noon, Tang Wen, exhausted from the physical exertion, couldn't hold on any longer and returned to the camp.
His older sister, Tang Tang, had just returned from fetching water. The camp had a water tower, and those living there could drink clean water for free.
The siblings exchanged a glance. Tang Wen lowered his head, looking at his tattered cloth shoes, unsure of how to speak up.
Tang Tang struggled to carry the water jug into the house. A few minutes later, smoke rose from the chimney.
"Who eats lunch at noon?"
Someone passing by muttered at the door.
In the camp, those with means ate two meals a day, while those without made do with one.
Tang Wen gulped down the rice soup—the feeling of hunger was too hard to bear.
Sister Tang Tang didn't speak, holding her clear soup in both hands, sipping it slowly in small mouthfuls.
Her cautious demeanor resembled a little squirrel that had found a pinecone, reluctant to eat it, only sniffing its aroma.
After finishing his soup, Tang Wen lay down on the dry grass, ready to take a short nap.
Tang Tang came over and began massaging her brother's a
rms to help him relax.
In the afternoon, they continued with stone-throwing target practice.
After resting and replenishing some energy, their practice efficiency improved.
[Skill: Stone Throwing, Beginner (495→497/500)]
[... (497→499/500)]
Thwack!
The stone hit the bullseye.
The skill had broken through!
[Skill: Stone Throwing, Proficient (0/1000)]
(End of Chapter)