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Courage
Chapter 5

Chapter 5

At another clearing, there were ten targets set up in a line. But, the problem was that they were really, really far away. "Am I supposed to hit those from here?" Valerius exclaimed.

"Of course you are!" Aumzale dictated, "You get 30 arrows. You'll be taking 5 laps around the forest, but each target you hit is one lap less you have to run!" Valerius gulped.

In the first 5 tries, he only missed... 5 targets. His arrows weren't even making to the targets, let alone hit them! Aumzale sighed, and drew his bow back, released, and hit a target directly in the bullseye. "H-how?!" Valerius stuttered.

"You know, there's this thing called practice..." Aumzale trailed off. Valerius sighed and continued.

Finally, on the 15th try he managed to get an arrow near a target. "Finally! I thought you would never be able to get that much strength!" Aumzale proclaimed melodramatically.

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Somehow, on his 20th try, he managed to hit a target. "Let's go!" Valerius hooted in celebration.

"Stay focused!" Aumzale snapped.

"Alright, alright!" Valerius continued to hit another target on his 24th try, then another one on his 27th try. However, he missed his 28th shot. He drew his bow back for the 29th shot, released, and the arrow... hit a deer? A deer had found itself in the middle of the arrow and the target, and the arrow plunged itself into the deer's leg. "Uh... sir, what do we do about this?"

"Well, you just wasted a try, you should always pay attention to your surroundings before you release! It's your fault that you accidentally hit a deer, but at least we have a better dinner than rations now!" Aumzale responded.

With one more arrow, Valerius became one with the bow and arrow. One thought, one dream, one arrow, one target, one breath, one shot. Valerius calmly nocked an arrow and fired. He promptly missed. "That's a lap for you!" Aumzale chortled. "Now, if I were you, I would hurry so that I could get back in time to eat the deer for dinner. Otherwise, you're getting rations!"