39 Mock Battle (2) Lake Versus the Arrow

It has been two days since our training session began, yet I cannot land a finger on Elanor. His movements were fast as the wind, eluding all my attacks with ease. He did not even have to use his quiver and bow when facing me. It was the only thing gripped in his hands as he meant it for display. Occasionally, he operates his bow as a shield, not as a weapon, but as a barricade to block my attacks.

"Keep up the pace, Lake!" Elanor shouts while speedily swinging the pointed edge of the recurve.

"That's not how you use a bow!" I yelled back, annoyed at the lack of Elanor's artistry to wield his weapon. "I could win if you would use that on me correctly."

Elanor's cheeks drastically changed after hearing my taunts, unamused from what he had heard. In a flash, he jolts back and gives me an intimidating stare. His eyes glow in bright eau de Nil colour together with his recurve. He reaches out for his quiver with no bolts stored, but, somehow, an illuminating dart takes form.

"Aimed Shot," Elanor utters to himself and discharges the arrow charging forward at my fore.

[Aimed Shot! Skill confirmed!]

-Locked Skill

[Aimed Shot] is a powerful and accurate attack used by beginner archers. The speed and strength of the launched bolt are proportional to the experience of the bowman.

"I do not need that information right now!" All my cells scream at me, ordering me to dodge the incoming projectile. However, no matter how much I struggle, my body refuses to obey my commands.

I close my eyes and accept my fate, knowing that this can give me a long rest after this, knocking me out cold.

But, as time went by, the bow never landed on my face. I peer my eyes open and see tons of bubbles of light wafting in mid-air. It almost seems that the danger just now was a dream never meant to hurt me.

"What is this?"

"It's the arrow I pulled out," Elanor replies while teleporting in front of me.

"Listen, goblin. There are thousands of individuals that can outmanoeuvre and outsmart you. Never reveal your ace unless needed, do you understand?" He indicates to me as if basing his words on his experience alone.

Understanding his thoughts, I give him a firm nod, acknowledging the lesson I just learned. After all, it was better that way, hiding your ace beneath your sleeves, not wanting to reveal your trump card to the enemy.

"Now that you've mentioned it," I rest my face on my fingers, pondering about something that came into mind coming from his advice. "I don't have any special skills,"

"That is why we are going to make one!" Elanor avidly interjects while pushing me back to the same post from earlier.

However, this time around, Elanor conjures his magic and creates a recurve, akin to his weapon but made of ordinary wood. He also throws five bolts with the same weight and length, wanting to teach me the art of archery.

"Are you serious?" I asked, bewildered at the change of arsenal in my hands.

Throughout my journey, I became fond of materialising my spells, especially using the water element. By the time I knew it, I could cast water jets and water spheres with my imagination, chanting nothing out of it.

"Have a kid around?"

Affirming his response, I try raising the bow and attempt to hit the tree as my first target. I pull the string between my recurve and mimic the position of his fingers. Taking a deep breath, I reposition my aim and release the dart towards the hazel hued bark.

The rustling wind promptly whistles through our ear, telling us that the dart fired was at full speed like a jab. We watch the bolt piercing the sapling, nearly slicing it off from its roots, hitting the target.

"I did it!" I cheered, raising my bow and quiver to the sky, celebrating my first victory from the training grounds.

Elanor could not hide his consternation from his face after witnessing the dart etched on the tree. After a few seconds, he reverts to his usual self and approaches me with a carved gleam on his face.

"Congratulations on your first try! I never thought you had a knack for archery," Elanor remarks in disbelief and praises me for the amazing performance I exhibited.

"It's pure luck,"

"Don't be too modest, goblin. Be proud of what you did," Elanor interrupted, urging me to be more blithe to what I just did.

"I'll do just that!" I restated while looking at my hands and bow, sharing the stupefy image of Elanor.

"Woah, that was epic Mr. Lake!" Miguel runs to us while holding out his hands, imitating the efforts that I did before. He completely forgets his wand, stretches his arms, and releases the imaginary string from his hands. He was an aspiring mage as I am, wanting to be a spell caster that can conjure dozens of spells in an instance. However, seeing me holding a bow may have inspired him, so Elanor made another set for him to try.

"Go on! Show me what you're made of, kid."

On Elanor's signal, the little boy eagerly lifts his bow and emulates the scene he saw a while back. Unfortunately, after drawing a bolt and placing it between the string, the bow stumbles and flops on the ground, unable to show what he had in mind.

His face eases in delight after seeing Miguel's failure, as if confirming something inside his head.

"You can perfect that through practice, just like I did back in my younger days," Elanor added while caressing Miguel's bed hair.

"Are you up for archery training, Lake?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Then come with me," Elanor evenly spoke and motioned me to tail behind.

"You stay right here and practice your magic, young lad." Elanor glances at the child wanting to come with the two of us.

"Fine," The boy grumbles while picking up his wand and conjures beginner's magic once more.

We pass over the field that we usually train, the houses, and the platoon exercising at the edge of the forest. The journey was long, but, at long last, Elanor halts on the edge of a cliff, signalling me to stop walking for now.

"This should be a fine spot for you to train," He mumbles to himself while handing me a more extravagant and slender bow than the one I used.

"Care to explain all of this?"

Elanor points his forefinger in a nest resting on a large, bulky branch. Fortunately, the birds perched on their aerie are all monsters that feast on boars, humans, and the field. They are considered pests by the villagers, destroying the crops that they worked hard for. Killing them should not be a problem for me.

"Shoot that roost,"

"Sorry, I didn't quite hear that,"

"Shoot that roost in this position," Elanor repeated while looking at me with a stern gaze.

"You're joking, right?"

"Did I ever tell a joke to you?"

"The elf has a point,"

Putting his instructions into motion, I step my foot forward and study my surroundings. We are approximately five thousand feet high, standing at the peak of the summit. Everything below us looks like a speck of dust from afar, but would become giants once I go near it.

Taking a deep, calm breath, I instil my focus on the still nest with my raw vision. I am clueless about the sudden increase of difficulty with the use of my recurve, but if this proves to help me in the long run, then there is no harm for me to accept his challenge.

Upon releasing the strings of my arrow, the discharged dart flutters towards the air, away from the target. The bolt then droops clumsily on the cliff, rolling to various boulders, and eventually crashing to the den of monsters below.

"That was pathetic to watch,"

"Indeed," Elanor commented while wagging his forefinger back and forth. "Try again, but this time, more accurately."

"Yeah, I'm on it,"

I am a persistent individual that hates losing, especially with that mockery on his face. It was as if ridiculing me for failing the test. This dare hurts my pride as I continue to flunk again and not improving myself during the process. All this exercise is for my sake, enhancing my senses and precision with the help of my bow.

"But this differs significantly from using magic," I retort, failing once more after compelling the shot that I made. This time, the arrow slid to the air but eventually got pulled down by gravity, not by the wind.

"Again!" I frowned, not gaining any improvements from the last couple of minutes.

I shift my gaze and notice that the sun has already descended from the west. Looking closely to my right, I observe the moon shining vibrantly on the east, showering me with its moonlight.

"That would be your last shot for today's training," Elanor said while patiently watching my wasted efforts getting all for nought.

"This time for sure!" I reassured myself, pumping my chest and placing my gamer face on.

However, as much as I wanted to punch Elanor in the face, I would like to clout the wind more for disrupting the arrow's direction.