Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Prologue
The rain beat down on the lush, green village as merchants hurried to drape coverings over their merchandise, and travellers running to the nearest shelter they could find. And, being in such an open village, shelter was quite hard to find. Nobody lived at the main town of Green Despair; it was merely used for adventurers to pass through and restock on their food and supplies. Although adventurers aren't the only ones seen flocking about the main town; it was also littered with the Forces.
The Forces weren't ordinary mercenaries; they were powerful soldiers that, with sufficient training, will become 'the greatest heroes in the land', or so the legends depict.
"Hold the bow higher, and fire your force as an arrow, yes, that's it- no! Elveryn, you will never become a hero at this rate." The Instructor, Kasera, spoke sternly, quite exasperated with the young child. Elveryn's training to become one of the Forces has so far backfired. She couldn't fire a force arrow; she couldn't even hold the bow properly. "Go run along now. That's enough for today." The older woman spoke, deactivating the training crystal and heading to her house which was a way's off from the main town.
Elveryn frowned, her chin-length silver hair covering her face as she lowered her head and sulked. She decided that she might as well head home too, since there was nothing else to be done. As she was just leaving the security of the town, the guard, Miles, stopped her. "Whoa there, you know you're not allowed out of town on your own without an escort. It's dangerous out there, El." The man firmly spoke, putting his hand out in front of her to stop her. "Yeah I know. But so what? I'm training to be one of the Forces. I can handle anything." She shoved past him and headed out into the jungle.
Behind, she could see Miles chasing after her. And he was gaining. Fast. Once she thought she lost him, she turned behind to check. Completely disregarding the advice her Instructor gave her about safety, she refused to take notice of a root up ahead of her and she tripped, sending her falling....right in front of a Mantis. Now most children-in-training would think 'I'm going to be dead', instead of 'I can fight this thing'. And there she was, fumbling around in her satchel for her training crystal. Once she grasped it in her hand the insect was already hovering within inches of where she was, and since the root had wrapped around her ankle, there was no way she could get up to get a better shot. 'It's fine, I'm fine, I can do this.' She thought, as she summoned the astral bow as quickly as she could, and fired. The first shot missed, so did the second. The Mantis was now directly on top of her. If the next shot failed –which she hoped to all the Gods above that it wouldn't – she would be dead.
The shot succeeded, and hit the Mantis right in the chest, so the insect flew off her, to a mere short distance away. The next few moments were all a blur to Elveryn. All she remembered was Miles running to finish the Mantis off, and Instructor Kasera helping to untangle the root from her ankle, whispering,
"You are a Force Archer."