(Braden)

"You look like you have a question," Brandon says after Zack leaves, the two of us having not moved for a bit. I was waiting for him to tell me to do something, I'm not sure what he was waiting for me to do. "You can ask."

"Why are you helping me?" I ask. "I'm just a kid you don't know."

"One," he answers. "Because you're a kid who wants to train. Two, because Zack asked me to."

"You'd help me just because Zack asked me to?"

"Zack," he says. "Is a boy of many sides. You've only barely begun to know him."

I think back to what Zack told me last night, and then what Gold told me. If what they both said is true, then I've heard of at least two sides and have encountered a third – the side that would seek out trainers for his team to help them grow.

"Is it true he's a killer?" I ask.

"Yes," Brandon nods. "Zack kills when necessary. He is a Dark Knight, and they do not take slights likely. Nor do they approve of those who serve the Shadow of Life or attempt to interfere in the war. Eliminating threats is their specialty, and anyone who tries to help the Shadow of Life win is a threat. They are the worst enemies to have while simultaneously being the best allies one can hope for. To those who have lived in Maelnor, Zack is a shining beacon of hope."

"A beacon of hope?" I frown. "How? He's just a kid."

"He is a reminder," Brandon says. "That anyone, even a child, can make a difference in the war. Before any of you is awake, he's already awake and training. He has faced an Avatar of the Shadow of Life and lived, even when he should have died. Zack, like all Dark Knights, faces death head-on, without fear."

It looks like he wants to say more, but doesn't. Is someone as frightening as Zack really seen as a beacon of hope? I know I decided to stay with Zack for now, since Gold seemed to be telling the truth and genuinely respect Zack, but I'm still not completely sure I want to.

"Let me show you the room you'll be staying in," Brandon tells me. "While you're here. Zack asked that I have you stay here until the week of training ends."

"Okay," I say, and he leads me upstairs, showing me the room second from the stairs.

His room is the one by the stairs, and both of them have a single bed, rather than bunks, like at Zack's place. I put the clothes Zack gave me while we were waiting for Brandon to arrive into the chest in my room, then Brandon takes me downstairs and has me hold my bow. He corrects my stance and grip a few times, then nods. This feels natural to me, did I use a bow a lot before I died?

"Before you pull the string back," he says. "Be warned: never dry fire your bow. Ever. If you ever pull the string back without an arrow, return the string to the neutral position before releasing. Dry firing, or firing without an arrow, increases the risk of snapping the string or breaking the bow."

I nod.

"Now," he says, gesturing to a large, round target. It's around three feet in diameter, with six rings in it, and looks to be made of straw packed into fabric. "Aim at the target, then visualize an arrow forming."

I examine the bow. While we were discussing Classes earlier, Zack said to not worry about needing to spend years of training to become a master archer. According to him, all I'll need to do is acquire the Archery Mastery Skill. It seems that the Combat Mastery Skills grant some knowledge and help augment the Skill already possessed. That makes it a lot easier to use a bow and increase my skill with it.

Taking a deep breath, I focus, then shake my head and look at Brandon.

"Do I need an arm thingy, too?" I ask, and he raises an eyebrow. "You have one on your arm. Well, both, but do I?"

He smiles, then holds out his hand. An item glows above it for a second before taking on the form of a pair of the smaller leather arm thingies.

"It's a bracer," he tells me. "And yes, it's a good idea to, even once your Endurance reaches a high amount. It helps protect the inside of your arm from the string as it snaps forward."

I nod and accept the bracers, putting them on. I don't have Endurance, but I'm not sure if I should mention that. I didn't tell Zack about it. When I checked my Status on the way here, to see what I had, Endurance didn't have any. It's 0 Endurance. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

I don't think that's a good thing, as according to the System, Endurance is resistance to physical damage, how much of an enemy's Strength is neutralized in combat. That means I need to find a way to build it up, but I don't like the idea of taking damage.

"Magic Arrow takes 10 Mana," Brandon tells me. "Just relax, clear your mind, and channel your magic. You should be able to sense it, even if lightly."

I nod, then obey, drawing the string of the bow. Immediately, a message appears in my vision.

New Skill! Archery Mastery Passive The ability to use bows and arrows. The Level of this Skill has been adjusted to match prior experience. It is now Level 4.

So I did do archery before! That's why holding the bow feels natural to me. I guess holding the bow wasn't enough for the Skill, I needed to draw it, too? Taking a steady breath, I aim at the target, visualizing an arrow of magic to form in the bow. Even though I haven't seen an arrow nocked before, I'm still able to visualize how it would be. That must come from before I died, too, even if I don't remember it.

As I shape the energies within me, using my Mana to craft the arrow, it forms, an arrow of green light. Another message appears in my vision. Two messages.

New Skill! Magical Archery Mastery Passive The ability to use bows and arrows made of magic rather than mundane materials.

New Skill! Magic Arrow Active Summon an arrow of magic to pierce your foes. Damage: 10% of Intellect per Level of this Skill Cost: 10 Mana

Right, now that I have Archery Mastery or Magical Archery Mastery, I can take on the Archer Class. I do so, and my Wisdom and Perception increase by one and two respectively. Zack said that those are the 'base' Stats for Archer, since we need our senses to know where to shoot and our Mana to cast all of the Skills that make a bow useful in the Boundary. The other Stat increase will be Intellect, but he said that won't show up until I'm a Hunter, the Second Tier of Archer.

"Good job," Brandon tells me. "Now fire."

I aim at the target, then the arrow loose. It strikes dead-center of the target, the green arrow remaining.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Good job," Brandon claps my shoulder. "I take it you have some Skill in Archery?"

"Yes," I nod. "But wasn't that magical archery?"

"Yes and no," he answers. "You were using a magical arrow, but a mundane bow. Because of that, it required both Skills."

Oh, that makes sense. The arrow fades away. Five seconds after impact.

"Now," he says. "Since your Intellect is likely low, your arrows won't do anything until the Skill itself is higher, so just focus on casting the Magic Arrow and using it."

"But Zack said that I'd need to use it on a monster or person to Level it."

"That's true," he nods. "But since you're using magic, it will help train your Intellect and Wisdom, which will help you when it's time to actually hunt."

Makes sense. I create another Magic Arrow and shoot it, then do that again. According to Zack, one of the best ways to increase Mana is to use it as soon as I'm able to, so that it's constantly depleted. He said that doing so will cause it to rise faster as long as my WIS isn't too high because it's seen as a 'need' and I adjust for it. Max happily agreed and Luca nodded, so it's probably right, especially since Brandon seems to support the idea of using it as much as possible right now.

I summon and fire a third arrow, then Brandon has me spar with him with martial arts, beating me down with his superior skills until I have enough Mana for another Magic Arrow, then he has me fire it from where we are, so I do. I'm a little off, but have no time to worry about that because he attacks me again, putting me back on the defensive while giving me tips and correcting my form.

We train like this until lunch, where he fixes us both a salad with strips of grilled… something. White meat, so probably a bird? That's what my instincts are telling me. I poke at it.

"Something wrong?" Brandon asks.

"Where did the meat come from?"

"A turkey," he answers. "I hunted it out in the pass. All of my food, I either hunt, find as a loot drop, or purchase from the System."

"From the System?"

"Yes," he nods. "The System can generate food, in exchange for money. The more people a City has, the better you can buy. We can also buy farm-raised-"

"No," I interrupt him before realizing it. "S-sorry. I don't… I don't know why. I don't like that."

"I don't, either," he says.

We eat in silence, then he washes the dishes as I train a little more. After he finishes, he hands me a leather quiver with twenty-four elegant wooden arrows in it.

"These are the only ones I will supply you with," he tells me. "I will also teach you how to make them. Prepare, for after, you hunt."

"Hunt?" I ask.

"Yes," he says. "With arrows, not magic. This will help you."

I pull on the quiver, fixing it onto my back, then adjusting it until it feels natural to draw an arrow from. I practice doing that a few times, nocking them immediately, then returning them into the quiver. Then, I nod and follow Brandon out of Maelnor.

He leads me into the woods to the west, and I look at all of the Slimes. He explains that they're a special type of slime that shows up rarely, and that we will ignore them for now, but if I do well enough, he will let me hunt them, too.

As we sneak through the woods, hiding in the shadows and moving quietly, I obtain a new Skill.

New Skill! Sneak Active/Passive Quiet your sounds, allowing you to move even more silently than normal; activates automatically while moving silently and deactivates once noisy. Muffling: 10% per Level of this Skill

Oh! New Skill! This one seems cool, too! No need to spend Mana on it, it triggers automatically if I'm being silent. I think I usually am, so it works well for me. That explains how Brandon's so silent. Not like Luca, who I'm pretty sure intentionally tries to crunch snow, considering how much he was doing it.

Thinking of snow, there's lots of it here, even if it's melting heavily based on what everything looks like. We're walking along a path that's pretty clear of it, but the path is obvious because the snow that's still around, about two feet's worth, is completely clear for the path.

"What made these paths?" I ask as I look around.

"Goblins," Brandon answers. "That's what we're here to hunt."

"Zack said that normally, most people should be Level 5 to Level 10 before trying to hunt goblins."

"He said 'most'?" Brandon asks, and I nod. He raises an eyebrow. "Not all?"

"Oh," I realize. "Hunters aren't?"

"It depends," he answers. "The rogue-type Classes take advantage of this the most, though Zack figured it out quickly. There are spots where you deal more damage. In all honesty, Strength is most useful as a pure physical attack, no weapons. A variety of things affect how much damage you do. I have more Strength than you have Health. A punch from me can kill you. A stab into your arm? Would do only a few points of damage, at most. The same is true for most monsters.

"However," he says. "That doesn't mean it's bad. If you strike in critical spots, you likely deal three times damage, and can possibly perform an assassination, or a one-strike kill, regardless of your Strength. All it takes is being able to get through their Endurance."

"I don't think I have enough Strength to do that," I admit.

"For archers," he says. "It's based on several things when using regular arrows instead of magical. However, there is one spot that is guaranteed to kill nearly anything, should you be able to hit it."

"A spot?" I ask.

"Yes," he smiles. "As I said, Zack figured it out early on, and we suspect it's how he killed a powerful Bounty Beast when he was still new. He changes the story quite often, but the most common version is something along the lines of how it decided that its nap should become an eternal one."

"Um?" I frown.

"The eyes," he points at his eyes. "If you can put an arrow through a goblin's eye with enough force, you can kill it in one shot. All you need is the strength to draw your bow and an arrow to fire. Critical kill, or kills performed in such a manner, have increased Experience awards for rogue-type classes."

"Oh," I say, then realize what he wants me to do. "So you want me to kill a goblin by shooting it through the eye?"

"Yes," he nods. "It's not as easy as it sounds while they're moving around, but we should be able to find one that's still. With your skill, you should be able to succeed. After that, simply try to kill the goblins. Don't worry about your Strength for this, rely on your bow and arrows."

I nod, then we continue moving along the path, though how are we supposed to sneak up on goblins if we're just moving normally?

My question is answered only twenty minutes later, when we come across four of them that are seated around a campfire, chatting in some guttural language as they eat some sort of stew. Brandon nods to me, and I nock an arrow and draw the string as silently as I can, taking aim at the goblin facing in my direction, the only one I can aim at the eyes of.

Taking a breath, I release the arrow, and it zips through the air, piercing the goblin's left eye.

Critical Kill!

Oh, cool!

I nock another arrow and aim as the other three goblins stare in confusion, pointing my arrow at the one furthest right. As soon as they turn to look in the direction the arrow had flown from, I adjust my aim and fire, another arrow nocked before the second is even halfway to its target.

Critical Kill!

My third arrow is already flying, towards the goblin furthest left, and a fourth arrow shortly follows on its way to the final goblin.

Critical Kill!

Critical Kill!

"Good job," Brandon smiles. "Not all hunts will go that easy. The more critical kills you have from archery in succession, the more Experience you'll earn as well. Be warned, Archer can go up very easily, but once you start increasing its Tier, it'll take longer to increase it."

Oh, so it isn't normal to obtain a Level just from four kills, then.

Archer is now Level 2! +1 Wisdom +2 Perception

"And remember," Brandon tells me. "You won't always be able to kill them that easily, so don't let this go to your head, okay?"

I nod, and he leads me to their camp. Their stew smells awful. Ew. He has me search my kills for loot, and I find some marbles, some tainted copper coins, a wooden token, and one of them has a bone necklace with fourteen bones, including a fang of some sort, hanging from it.

"If you can collect twenty marbles," Brandon tells me. "You can exchange them at the Trading Post for one copper. The necklace is probably worth three or four, and the tainted copper coins… not really worth it. If you want, you can take your knife and cut off their ears and nails."

I feel sick at the thought of that.

"It's not required," he tells me. "Just something you can do to make money. I wouldn't expect you to be able to."

I nod, then get to work retrieving the arrows, checking them, and cleaning them with the snow. Once they're clean and dry, I return them to my quiver.

"Let's go look for more goblins," Brandon tells me.