Book Two – Chapter One – Part Two – Announcement

The two went down to the second floor, bypassing the inn's check-in counter of the third floor. The second floor was home to the Warden shop. To get to their destination, they had to walk past the store until they came to a set of doors near the end of the floor.

The training room was a large square that was sectioned off into four smaller partitions. One focused on range weaponry, one focused on hand-to-hand and physical weaponry, one focused solely on skills, and the last square was an arena where two people could spar. Giant glass walls surrounded it, so no spare arrows nor wayward skills could interrupt the people inside. Two big windows nearby allowed the pleasant sunlight to flow in, and now that it was the beginning of summer, it was starting to get uncomfortably warm. That was probably why the males either wore tank tops or went shirtless, and the women wore sports bras or thin shirts and shorts. Servi and Momo were the only ones wearing armor.

After looking around, there was no one in the skill square or the range square. Ten or so were crowded around the physical square, and another five were at the arena square.

Usually, Servi and Momo would wait for a chance and enter the arena, but today was different.

Since the announcement was supposed to be significant, they decided to forgo the sparing and focused on ranged weapons. It wouldn't do them much good to tire themselves out before the big announcement.

Servi walked over to the range square and picked up two bows and a few wooden arrows. She walked back to Momo while using a skill called Soul Essence of Primal Combat. Said skill was most likely exclusive to her and her alone because it was under the category of ‘Primordial,’ something neither Itarr nor Servi knew anything about.

The Primordial category had such skills like Absorption and its upgraded version called True Absorption. True Immortality granted Servi a life that could not be ended. It also prevented her from taking damage from attacks that targeted the soul.  It sounded scary, and it was something Servi didn't want to experience, but she was relieved to realize she wouldn't die from it.  There was also something called Bloodline, which Servi and Itarr didn’t know too much about. However, the pair did learn that they could bestow a portion of their power to someone who drank Servi's blood. Finally, there was Servi's favorite skill: Soul Essence of Primal Combat.

Soul Essence of Primal Combat allowed Servi to tap into the combat memories of every soul inside her ring.  Their experiences and tribulations became her source of strength. It also allowed her to see afterimages when she fought. By following the images, she could see what they were going to do and avoid the attacks altogether. Conversely, if she thought about attacking, red images appeared in her sight and mind, and all she had to do was follow them.

When she thought about it, she realized it was kind of cheating.  The more and more souls inside her body, the better she would fight and dodge. Everything she killed, be it a bug or a human or an animal, contributed to her overall growth as if she was an ever-evolving beast of nature.

But it wasn’t invincible. Depending on the skill's level and amount of enemies, the ability was a detriment. Cluttered and messy, her brain couldn’t process the data fast enough. She had to use valuable Potential to level it up. And to see the images in the first place, one of two things had to be true. One: she must already have a soul of the same race as her opponent. Two: the souls inside must have experience fighting the race of the enemy she was currently facing. If one of those two conditions weren't met, then half of the skill doesn’t work. Even if they were achieved, if she didn't have enough memories to tap into, Servi would sporadically receive the afterimages in short bursts.

Nocking the arrow and drawing back the string, Servi allowed her body to read from the hundreds and hundreds of experienced archers inside her body and combined them all into the perfect form. Of course, it was only perfect in the sense that it was the best of all of the souls she had so far. In the future, whenever she absorbed more souls, the new perfect being would most likely put the old one to shame; Like comparing a puppy to a wolf or a child to an adult.

“Focus your breathing and still your heart. Always fire when the last of your breath has exited your lungs. Don’t stress too much, and keep your muscles relaxed yet firm.

You do realize that you two were supposed to learn the bow together, right?

“And always keep your eyes on the target. When you release your fingers, do it all at once. The slower you do it, the more likely you’ll misfire. Oh, one more thing. If it helps, close one of your eyes while you’re aiming,” Servi continued as she demonstrated what she said. She let loose the arrow, and it landed dead center of the hay target. Though they weren’t that far away, only about ten meters, it was still impressive.

“Alright. Breathe and calm my heart…” Momo closed her eyes for a moment before opening them back up. Her breathing closed to a crawl as she nocked the arrow. Gripping the projectile's shaft with her fingers, she pulled back until she couldn't.

“Good. Now hold that position,” Servi spoke as she walked around Momo. She compared Momo's stance to the one Servi had and asked permission to adjust it. Momo nodded, and Servi used her hands to straighten up Momo’s back, lifted her chin, and tucked in her arms.

“It feels uncomfortable…” Momo whined. Servi giggled.

“Until you get used to it, it will. But good form. Now, breathe out and let go of the arrow when you have no more air.”

“Okay. No more air…”

Keeping an eye on the hay target, Momo released her fingers and watched the arrow fly true. Soaring through the ten meters of empty space, the pink-haired Singi had a smile on her face that turned sour. Her projectile did not land in the middle, but it was very, very, very close.

“Darn it…” she said dejectedly, but Servi offered her support.

“That’s the closest you’ve gotten yet. Be proud, Momo, you’ve made a lot of progress!”

“Really? It doesn’t feel like it to me. I mean, you were able to hit it dead on since the third day..”

Not to mention the throwing knives and shields…..it’s like you’re a master of everything. So why do you stick with me? I’m only gonna slow you down. Momo's internal thoughts held her true feelings.  She had a bad habit of thinking that she was useless. Servi wanted to fix that by training her, but perhaps it was doing more harm than good. Servi wasn’t all-knowing, after all.

“It’s hard to explain. I couldn't hit anything for the first thirty minutes. Heck, even you managed to hit the target before I did.”

Because you were missing on purpose, Itarr quipped.

“I remember… But do you think I’ll be as good as you?”

“Of course, you will!  Since I’m the tank, I’ll be more focused on defending than trying to hit them with an arrow. Maybe we should invest in a bow for you.”

Momo nocked another arrow and let it loose. This time, hitting the small space just above her previous attempt. It still wasn’t a bull’s-eye.

“Maybe, but I want to be sure I can actually hit things first. I don’t want to spend that much only to find out I suck with it.”

“Speaking of which...” Servi grabbed some throwing knives and began to practice. She hit dead center every time. “It might actually be the bow that’s throwing you off.”

“What do you mean?” Another arrow, another near miss. This time, landing at the bottom of the bull’s-eye, just barely away from the center. Momo sighed and nocked another arrow.

“It’s quite possible that bow has been handled way too many times. Perhaps the wood is beginning to weaken, or maybe the balance had changed over time?”

“I didn’t think about that.” Another hit but no bull’s-eye.

“But you can look at it this way. If you’re able to get good using a faulty bow, then imagine how easy it would be to use a proper and maintained one.”

“So... I should look to this as a challenge?” Another shot and yet another miss… is what Momo thought would happen.

“Servi!!! Look! Looklooklook!!!” Momo loudly said at first but then lowered her voice. She didn’t want to be rude to the others practicing around her.

Servi took a look and smiled. Though it wasn’t dead center like Servi’s arrow, it technically was a bull’s-eye.

“Very good!” she said. “I bet it felt great, didn’t it?”

“Yeah!” Momo flashed a smile at Servi and readied another arrow. This time, it struck the thin line between being a bull’s-eye and not being one.

She turned to her friend with wide eyes, and Servi shook her head.

“Sorry, that doesn’t count. It’s only a half of a bull’s-eye.”

Cutely, Momo pouted, and her tail whipped around playfully, like a slow streak of pink lightning. Servi giggled.

“Tell you what, if you hit the line again, I’ll count the two as half a bull’s-eye each."

“Good! Hehe!!” Momo grabbed an arrow and nocked it. This time, she focused. Based on her last few shots, it seemed that she had a tendency to over aim to the left, so she needed to compensate by aiming a bit to the right. But last time she did, she hit the circle line that was just half of a bull’s-eye.

So, I aimed too far to compensate for my adjustment... If I just do it the same way and very slightly rotate my upper body counter-clockwise, it should be….

Servi stayed silent and used her Soul Essence of Primal Combat to compare Momo’s stance to her own.

Her form is slowly getting more and more like yours. And this was just a week or so. Imagine how much better she’ll be a month or two from now. Maybe she really does have potential… Itarr acknowledged Momo's valiant effort.

She didn’t want to speak out loud, that being the only way for her to communicate with Itarr, so she nodded. Besides, the smallest amount of noise could throw off Momo’s concentration.

Sweat beads formed on the Singi's forehead, dripping down her face by way of her nose before reaching her pretty little chin.

Breathe in and breathe out. Calm my heart.

Watching with intense eyes, Servi saw the moment Momo released her fingers and using Soul Essence of Primal Combat, she saw the arrow fly in slow motion. She knew the path it would travel as well where it would ultimately end up.

She smiled and stood up. The next moment, the arrow came to a stop right where the previous projectile landed. It didn’t land above or below it, and it didn't strike to the left or right of it. Instead, it landed right on it, splitting it down the middle. Momo froze for a few seconds, and Servi took that time to talk to Itarr.

“Just like Robin Hood…”

Did he do something like this?

“He did. I can’t remember how many times it showed up in his stories, but he managed to split an arrow with another arrow. But to do it with wooden arrows…”

Momo turned to look at Servi, again with wide eyes and twitching ears.

“Good job. Honestly, that was way more impressive than scoring a bull’s-eye.”

She smiled bashfully, becoming red in the face from the praise. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Seriously, good work,” Servi flashed her a smile, and Momo felt her heart skip a beat. Here she was, being praised by her best friend. And that made the past few weeks worthwhile. The time she spent with Servi was special to her.

Servi continued. “So I guess the feeling you had earlier was correct. Two bull’s-eyes, though probably not the way you thought it would be. Congratulations, Momo!”

Momo blushed hard as she stole a glance up at her teacher-slash-best friend.

Glancing up at the clock, Servi noticed it was 10:48 AM. “Hey, it starts in 42 minutes. You want to start making our way there?

“Sounds good to me. Hey, can you put these back? I gotta go to the restroom,” Momo asked as she averted her eyes from her friend. Servi thought that she might’ve been embarrassed, but why? Going to the bathroom was something everyone, except Servi, did. But maybe it was embarrassing for some people? Or maybe, Momo was the kind of person who became embarrassed about everything? Yeah, she thought that was probably it.

“Alrighty. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Servi replied, and Momo thanked her. She walked off with her pink tail swaying back and forth.

Look, I’m sure if you ask her, she’ll let you touch her tail.

“Maybe, but there’s always a chance she’ll say no. And I don’t want to risk it.” The girl with red eyes said to herself as she put back the training equipment. “I feel like there’s a small wall between us or something. Even though we act so close….I don’t know.”

I wish I could help, but I’m not that knowledgeable about human emotions. Not yet, anyway. But I’m learning. I’m trying my hardest.

“I appreciate it nonetheless.” Servi sighed and made her way out of the training room. She saw far fewer people than she usually would have, probably because of the forthcoming announcement. Reaching the hardwood stairs, the girl with black hair and ominous red shield gripped the railing and made her way down to the first floor, which was the heart and soul of Warden.

A lengthy board sat against the wall separated into different sections marked Rank 10 through Rank 0. Adventurers of Warden would pick a quest according to their rank, or maybe one a bit higher, and take it to one of the eight windows situated a bit away.

Now, the windows were something Servi had a problem with. It was one giant pane of glass separated into eight sections. Within each segment sat a desk, a chair, a safe, and some cabinets. Maybe a bit more and a bit less depending on the employee working that day. It also had a door that one would assume would be used to enter the room, and that person would be right.

There were eight doors for eight windows, but the area behind the windows was all connected. It was just one large room with eight entrances. Worth noting, the glass didn't reach the desk the employees sat behind. There was space that allowed Warden members to transfer quest materials and their IDs through the receptionists.

She knew it was childish, but the design made no sense to her.  In many ways, Servi found it comical how upset she was about something that didn't harm her.

Claire, Servi’s favorite employee and the one who helped her to get signed up, said it was looked down upon to sit on the bit of desk sticking out, but most people did it anyway. The rules that should apply to all didn’t apply to those who were favored.

There are not that many people here.

“Yeah. I'm sure a lot of people probably went to the forum place. Yesterday, I heard a rumor that Warden was involved somehow, but I don’t know if it's true.”

I’m actually a bit excited.

Servi heard some footsteps and turned to the stairs. A beautiful Singi with pink hair made her way down, humming and smiling. She waved at Servi when she saw her, the bag hanging around her body slightly moved as if wanting to give its greetings as well.

“Sorry about that. Are you ready?”

"No need to be sorry.  Let's go."