La! La! LA! I'm so glad to be seeing you again! I also seem to be going
crazier each time I updated! I dunno why but that's the way things are. *
shrugs *
I really hope that you guys enjoy my story so far and I reaaalllllllyyyy bet you don't want to hear my babbling any longer so I will concentrate on the fic now.
~**~**~
Harry was sweating enormously now, as he pushed himself to the limit to avoid deadly sharp weapons that were flying at him at impossibly high speed. His legs were tiring and he doesn't know how much longer he would last before he got hit. The teacher must have realized that because he stopped and patiently waited for Harry to catch his breath.
"What was that?" Harry exclaimed loudly, "You could have given me some warning first!"
"Fool, did you really think the enemy is going to wait until you get ready to attack? You'll be lucky if they even tell you that they want to fight you. But, this is not the class that teaches you that; this is the class that teaches you how to use weapons. So, we're start with the glaive." The instructor said as if the episode had never happen. It was then that Harry realized that he didn't even know the instructor's name.
"Umm. Excuse me sir, but what is your name?" Harry asked. At this the instructor smiled and said, "Ah of course, how rude of me. My name is Damien." Harry nodded and asked another question, "Pardon me, but why the glaive. I'm not complaining or anything but the glaive is one of the rarer weapons. I would think that you would teach the sword or the dagger first."
"Hmm yes. That is one of my best reasoning. I figured that your master would teach you all the common ones first so I'll teach you the rarer ones. It fits huh?" Damien said, grinning slightly.
Harry nodded again, seeing the reason behind it and asked enthusiastically, "So when do we start?"
"Right now."
~**~**~
Harry lay spent on the cool forest ground after his first lesson. It was not that bad. All in all it was pretty good except for the single mishap that the glaive is much taller, stronger and meaner than he was. It had took all his strength to lift the cursed weapon so how was he to even wield it?
Damien however said it was a normal thing, as the beginners still have not built their strength yet. Harry had then added building strength to his mental list for things to do at Klementine's place. It was already long and it's still growing. After an exhausting and tiring practice, Harry was thankfully allowed a rest.
Suddenly, he distantly heard the chimes rang, signaling the end of classes. (A/N Chimes do sound so much better than the bell.) He got up startled and said, "But none of the students had even arrived yet." He looked over to his silent instructor and saw that he had a dark look on his face.
"Seems like this year's batch is the most incompetent of the lot. No need for any tournaments, I already know by their attitude that you're going to be the best. I can't believe that none of them even bothered to read a single book!" He said angrily.
Harry was slightly disappointed by the proclamation. Although glad that he was the best, he didn't want to win just because someone was lazy. He need not worry about that as Damien gave him a solution to the problem.
"Kid, since your yearmates are idiots, you can try and skip levels. Although that is very rare, it is not unheard of. Staying here isn't going to give you a challenge and I can see that you've got potential. Better bred it than."
Harry was startled again. Potential? Klementine had said that Raydon saw potential in him. He was confused. What sort of potential? He nodded once to acknowledge Damien's words and walked away, pondering his words.
~**~**~
Harry looked at his schedule again and suddenly remembered he had martial arts now. He gulped, thinking of the strict women from the morning's assembly. He wasn't sure if he actually looked forward to the class anymore.
He wandered around aimlessly, not sure of what to do with his spare two hours. As he passed by the archery courts, he suddenly remembered OT. Grinning wickedly, he hurried towards the balance classroom. (A/N Ha! Didn't think I forgot about OT did ya?)
He found Raydon testing some equipment in a corner, with a look of concentration on his face. He hurried over just as Raydon looked up. (Clue: Raydon is going to be a very important person in this fic! Just because I like him.)
"Hey, kid!" He greeted. Harry smiled at him and they exchanged pleasantries. Harry then gave a sweet, innocent smile at Raydon, looking like a perfect angel. (But we all know that that is not the case)
"Sir, Do you possibly know any of Theron's habits or any stuff that he likes beside archery?"
Raydon turned and looked at him absentmindedly, "Hmm. that's a hard one. No one really actually likes Theron so hardly any one of us know much about him. I figure that him and Vivian would get along well if not for the fact that she is a women." He paused when he saw Harry's confused look and chuckled.
"You see, Theron came from a very old and you may say traditional family. The whole lot of them thinks that a woman's place is managing the household, cooking or sewing. So you can see that Theron most definitely hate Vivian because she actually fights alongside with him. He thinks that all women are weak.
If there's one thing I know about him, it's that he respects and honor traditions, the older the better. Let me give you a hint kid: If you ever do any weird stuff or organize events and Theron caught you, just say that it's an old family tradition and he'll let you go no matter how much he detest you.
He gave up a chance to tease and goad Vivian as her family had a family tradition of giving oranges sometime between January and February. They're Chinese you see and Theron even accepted one from her! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it."
Harry listened carefully, taking mental notes in his head.
Number one: Takes traditions very seriously
He thanked Raydon and left the building. Humming a tune to himself cheerfully, Harry walked back towards the archery courts and pause there. Seeing nobody there, he went inside to his own court and picked up a bow. He looked longingly at the normal courts for a moment, wanting to practice with what he could handle but knowing he can't, as the courts are permanently keyed to a person.
Resigned to his fate, he picked up an arrow, notched it and shot. Missed. He growled and picked up another one. Fifteen shots later with not a single hit, he put down his bow and thought carefully.
'Maybe this was not the way to do it. Maybe he was not doing this the right way. It could certainly happen.'
He thought back to the weapon book he had read earlier this morning. He was doing everything correct: the way it's aimed, notched, shot. He couldn't see anything wrong with his posture either. He frowned and sat down on the ground and propped his chin in his hands.
'Wait a minute, Klementine had said there were wind degrees and directions blowing here and they are confusing me. He also had said something about the target eluding the arrow. There's no way an advance student would turned the difficulty level all the way up, there must be something that adjust the level of the strength of the wind and the subtlety of the target.'
Harry walked around the court, inspecting the area with care. Finally, he found two switches at a corner. Howling in triumph, he turned the adjustments to the lowest possible and went back to practice again. This time, although low-level advance is still many levels higher than beginners, it's not as hard as the original setting. This time, there was a panel at a side telling you which direction the wind is going and how strong it is. The speed of the target had also slowed immensely and he could actually see it moved and jumped.
Pleased with the changes, he quickly shot an arrow. Although the arrow still didn't make it, it had actually grazed the side of the target. He beamed and started in earnest. After ten arrows, Harry found himself getting adjusted to how he should predict the movements of the targets and how much pressure he should put on his shot.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside the court and he panicked. Quickly, he changed the settings back to normal and ran out through the back exit, knowing full well that if it's Theron, then he's in deep trouble. He his behind the tall fence and listened, heart going a mile a minute. The archery courts was at the edge, quite like the weaponry site and the only way to get back to the compound is to pass the court, risking the person seeing him. The only way he could get out is to wait until the person leaves. He could not take the chance that it's a stranger or a kind person. Most likely that it's Theron anyway.
Two loud thumps rang out, the sound of arrows hitting the target. Harry peered around the fence, wanting to see a master at work and what he saw took his breath away.
Sure he had expected that Theron was good since he had to be to get the job but not this good. The man looked like it was as easy as walking! He was fast too, not taking any time to aim. He notched an arrow and shot not even bothering to see if he got a bullseye or not. It probably didn't matter since he got it every time. Harry noticed that he was using his court and knew without actually seeing that the levels were turned to the max.
The instructor looked relaxed as he fired arrows one after another, never missing the dead center once. Harry frowned, the book said that to get a good shot, your posture must be perfect and Harry could see the reason why. It wouldn't do you any good if you were slouching. Yet, Theron was doing the exact opposite. He's posture was anything but perfect and he looked like any person would look normally, relaxed and calm. There was not a single tense muscle except when he's firing.
Harry looked closer and with a jolt, the answer came to him. Theron was confusing the target! Knowing that the students' postures were all perfect and proper, it knows how they operate. The only weakness to a perfect posture is that it's easy to predict where the arrow is going. Hence, the target already knows where the arrow would go which gives it ample time to jump aside and avoid it. However, Theron was relaxed and his hands are loose, which gives the arrow a lot more range as he could easily change its direction and degree. The target, which is used to an easy prediction is not used to relaxed position and will have a hard time deciding. During that time, Theron would fire an arrow, which will have an easy hit because the target is still confused and not moving! He also had to keep shooting arrows so not to let the target have any time!
Harry found himself with a growing respect to the grouchy man. He watched silently for the man to finish his practice before slipping out quietly.
Harry was deep in thoughts after he came out and didn't see someone running towards him. They collided into each other. Harry looked up; ready to apologize when what he saw made him gulp.
Shit shit shit! This was a bad day indeed! Why in the seven hells did he have to bump into Madam Vivian herself! Oh, he was so going to die!
~**~**~
My thanks to every reviewer and special thanks to my regulars:
HAZZAGRIFF
MedNar
VirginSuicide
Gaul1
Romm
Pakerin Puros
Greyhound Master
Saraphina-star
Thanks, Silverrowan
I really hope that you guys enjoy my story so far and I reaaalllllllyyyy bet you don't want to hear my babbling any longer so I will concentrate on the fic now.
~**~**~
Harry was sweating enormously now, as he pushed himself to the limit to avoid deadly sharp weapons that were flying at him at impossibly high speed. His legs were tiring and he doesn't know how much longer he would last before he got hit. The teacher must have realized that because he stopped and patiently waited for Harry to catch his breath.
"What was that?" Harry exclaimed loudly, "You could have given me some warning first!"
"Fool, did you really think the enemy is going to wait until you get ready to attack? You'll be lucky if they even tell you that they want to fight you. But, this is not the class that teaches you that; this is the class that teaches you how to use weapons. So, we're start with the glaive." The instructor said as if the episode had never happen. It was then that Harry realized that he didn't even know the instructor's name.
"Umm. Excuse me sir, but what is your name?" Harry asked. At this the instructor smiled and said, "Ah of course, how rude of me. My name is Damien." Harry nodded and asked another question, "Pardon me, but why the glaive. I'm not complaining or anything but the glaive is one of the rarer weapons. I would think that you would teach the sword or the dagger first."
"Hmm yes. That is one of my best reasoning. I figured that your master would teach you all the common ones first so I'll teach you the rarer ones. It fits huh?" Damien said, grinning slightly.
Harry nodded again, seeing the reason behind it and asked enthusiastically, "So when do we start?"
"Right now."
~**~**~
Harry lay spent on the cool forest ground after his first lesson. It was not that bad. All in all it was pretty good except for the single mishap that the glaive is much taller, stronger and meaner than he was. It had took all his strength to lift the cursed weapon so how was he to even wield it?
Damien however said it was a normal thing, as the beginners still have not built their strength yet. Harry had then added building strength to his mental list for things to do at Klementine's place. It was already long and it's still growing. After an exhausting and tiring practice, Harry was thankfully allowed a rest.
Suddenly, he distantly heard the chimes rang, signaling the end of classes. (A/N Chimes do sound so much better than the bell.) He got up startled and said, "But none of the students had even arrived yet." He looked over to his silent instructor and saw that he had a dark look on his face.
"Seems like this year's batch is the most incompetent of the lot. No need for any tournaments, I already know by their attitude that you're going to be the best. I can't believe that none of them even bothered to read a single book!" He said angrily.
Harry was slightly disappointed by the proclamation. Although glad that he was the best, he didn't want to win just because someone was lazy. He need not worry about that as Damien gave him a solution to the problem.
"Kid, since your yearmates are idiots, you can try and skip levels. Although that is very rare, it is not unheard of. Staying here isn't going to give you a challenge and I can see that you've got potential. Better bred it than."
Harry was startled again. Potential? Klementine had said that Raydon saw potential in him. He was confused. What sort of potential? He nodded once to acknowledge Damien's words and walked away, pondering his words.
~**~**~
Harry looked at his schedule again and suddenly remembered he had martial arts now. He gulped, thinking of the strict women from the morning's assembly. He wasn't sure if he actually looked forward to the class anymore.
He wandered around aimlessly, not sure of what to do with his spare two hours. As he passed by the archery courts, he suddenly remembered OT. Grinning wickedly, he hurried towards the balance classroom. (A/N Ha! Didn't think I forgot about OT did ya?)
He found Raydon testing some equipment in a corner, with a look of concentration on his face. He hurried over just as Raydon looked up. (Clue: Raydon is going to be a very important person in this fic! Just because I like him.)
"Hey, kid!" He greeted. Harry smiled at him and they exchanged pleasantries. Harry then gave a sweet, innocent smile at Raydon, looking like a perfect angel. (But we all know that that is not the case)
"Sir, Do you possibly know any of Theron's habits or any stuff that he likes beside archery?"
Raydon turned and looked at him absentmindedly, "Hmm. that's a hard one. No one really actually likes Theron so hardly any one of us know much about him. I figure that him and Vivian would get along well if not for the fact that she is a women." He paused when he saw Harry's confused look and chuckled.
"You see, Theron came from a very old and you may say traditional family. The whole lot of them thinks that a woman's place is managing the household, cooking or sewing. So you can see that Theron most definitely hate Vivian because she actually fights alongside with him. He thinks that all women are weak.
If there's one thing I know about him, it's that he respects and honor traditions, the older the better. Let me give you a hint kid: If you ever do any weird stuff or organize events and Theron caught you, just say that it's an old family tradition and he'll let you go no matter how much he detest you.
He gave up a chance to tease and goad Vivian as her family had a family tradition of giving oranges sometime between January and February. They're Chinese you see and Theron even accepted one from her! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it."
Harry listened carefully, taking mental notes in his head.
Number one: Takes traditions very seriously
He thanked Raydon and left the building. Humming a tune to himself cheerfully, Harry walked back towards the archery courts and pause there. Seeing nobody there, he went inside to his own court and picked up a bow. He looked longingly at the normal courts for a moment, wanting to practice with what he could handle but knowing he can't, as the courts are permanently keyed to a person.
Resigned to his fate, he picked up an arrow, notched it and shot. Missed. He growled and picked up another one. Fifteen shots later with not a single hit, he put down his bow and thought carefully.
'Maybe this was not the way to do it. Maybe he was not doing this the right way. It could certainly happen.'
He thought back to the weapon book he had read earlier this morning. He was doing everything correct: the way it's aimed, notched, shot. He couldn't see anything wrong with his posture either. He frowned and sat down on the ground and propped his chin in his hands.
'Wait a minute, Klementine had said there were wind degrees and directions blowing here and they are confusing me. He also had said something about the target eluding the arrow. There's no way an advance student would turned the difficulty level all the way up, there must be something that adjust the level of the strength of the wind and the subtlety of the target.'
Harry walked around the court, inspecting the area with care. Finally, he found two switches at a corner. Howling in triumph, he turned the adjustments to the lowest possible and went back to practice again. This time, although low-level advance is still many levels higher than beginners, it's not as hard as the original setting. This time, there was a panel at a side telling you which direction the wind is going and how strong it is. The speed of the target had also slowed immensely and he could actually see it moved and jumped.
Pleased with the changes, he quickly shot an arrow. Although the arrow still didn't make it, it had actually grazed the side of the target. He beamed and started in earnest. After ten arrows, Harry found himself getting adjusted to how he should predict the movements of the targets and how much pressure he should put on his shot.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside the court and he panicked. Quickly, he changed the settings back to normal and ran out through the back exit, knowing full well that if it's Theron, then he's in deep trouble. He his behind the tall fence and listened, heart going a mile a minute. The archery courts was at the edge, quite like the weaponry site and the only way to get back to the compound is to pass the court, risking the person seeing him. The only way he could get out is to wait until the person leaves. He could not take the chance that it's a stranger or a kind person. Most likely that it's Theron anyway.
Two loud thumps rang out, the sound of arrows hitting the target. Harry peered around the fence, wanting to see a master at work and what he saw took his breath away.
Sure he had expected that Theron was good since he had to be to get the job but not this good. The man looked like it was as easy as walking! He was fast too, not taking any time to aim. He notched an arrow and shot not even bothering to see if he got a bullseye or not. It probably didn't matter since he got it every time. Harry noticed that he was using his court and knew without actually seeing that the levels were turned to the max.
The instructor looked relaxed as he fired arrows one after another, never missing the dead center once. Harry frowned, the book said that to get a good shot, your posture must be perfect and Harry could see the reason why. It wouldn't do you any good if you were slouching. Yet, Theron was doing the exact opposite. He's posture was anything but perfect and he looked like any person would look normally, relaxed and calm. There was not a single tense muscle except when he's firing.
Harry looked closer and with a jolt, the answer came to him. Theron was confusing the target! Knowing that the students' postures were all perfect and proper, it knows how they operate. The only weakness to a perfect posture is that it's easy to predict where the arrow is going. Hence, the target already knows where the arrow would go which gives it ample time to jump aside and avoid it. However, Theron was relaxed and his hands are loose, which gives the arrow a lot more range as he could easily change its direction and degree. The target, which is used to an easy prediction is not used to relaxed position and will have a hard time deciding. During that time, Theron would fire an arrow, which will have an easy hit because the target is still confused and not moving! He also had to keep shooting arrows so not to let the target have any time!
Harry found himself with a growing respect to the grouchy man. He watched silently for the man to finish his practice before slipping out quietly.
Harry was deep in thoughts after he came out and didn't see someone running towards him. They collided into each other. Harry looked up; ready to apologize when what he saw made him gulp.
Shit shit shit! This was a bad day indeed! Why in the seven hells did he have to bump into Madam Vivian herself! Oh, he was so going to die!
~**~**~
My thanks to every reviewer and special thanks to my regulars:
HAZZAGRIFF
MedNar
VirginSuicide
Gaul1
Romm
Pakerin Puros
Greyhound Master
Saraphina-star
Thanks, Silverrowan