“Look, you need to stretch the bow more.” Jacob said, and looked at me.

We were now in the woods, training with a bow. I need to know how to defend myself, when the wolves come. They don’t attack the village often, and the best thing to do when they come, is to hide in the house, but learning about things like this couldn’t harm.

I was trying to hit a small, wooden plank, that was attached to a tree with a nail. Near me there was a boy, older than me. He was taller, and well build, maybe because he was helping his family with the animals, and in the fields.

“I’m not as strong as you are.” I said, and he laughed.

“I know… I know… But your technique is bad.”

This boy was now crouching, and smiling at me. He was handsome, with short blonde hair, and big blue eyes. He looked very similar to Anna, but it wasn’t weird, because they were siblings.

“Look, just give me it for a moment... “ when he said that, I gave him a bow, and he grabbed one of the arrows that were sitting on the ground “When you stretch the bow, your arm needs to be straight, do you see? Just like that, and after that you let the arrow go, and…”

He hit it. It pierced through the plank, and stopped after hitting the tree.

“Now, you see? Try it for yourself.” he said with a smile, while giving me the bow.

It’s easy to say, with your body. I can’t even stretch the bow to that point… Anyway, there are other things that interest me…

“Jacob could you show me your abilities? I want to check something.” when I asked it, he looked at me in a funny way.

“Adam, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have a skill… Everyone can learn something like this.”

Yeah, he is probably right, but still…

“Just show me, please.”

When I asked him, he approached me.

“Okay, but it’s nothing special.”

Name: Jacob

Class: Villager

Skills: Bows Mastery 15/(NO DATA) Working with Animals (NO DATA)/(NO DATA)

Working on the fields (NO DATA)/(NO DATA) Throwing 22/(NO DATA)

STATS

45/45 HP

0/0 MP

STATUS

Alive

Yeah, as I thought. Using a bow is one of his skills. Anyway, what is this thing near it? “Throwing”? Can’t anyone do that?

“Why do you have a skill called “Throwing”? Isn’t it normal for people to be able to throw things?”

“Oh, it’s normal “throwing”.” he responded, and smiled.

After that he started looking for something on the ground. I didn’t know what he wanted to show me, but I decided to wait. Finally, after about five minutes I heard his voice. He found something. Yeah, you could call it that way. He found a rock.

A little big, but he could still hold it with one hand.

“Everyone can throw, but I’m really good at it. When I was small, I would try to hit birds with rocks… Well, can’t say that it was easy, but after some time…” he stopped speaking, and swung his hand strongly.

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The rock that he was holding flew with a lot of speed, and when it finally hit the tree, a hole appeared in it.

It’s not a normal strength. This hole is to big. It’s not a normal scratch, it’s a hole...

“You could kill a person with something like this…” I said, and he looked at me.

“You are right, but I still prefer bows. They are powerful, and more accurate.”

Kill a person. You could kill a person with a rock like this. You could kill a big animal... If something like this would hit you in the head, it would kill you instantly. Something like this could break arms, and legs…

As I thought about this, he told me to try using the bow once again. I was too fascinated with his little “show”, and I forgot why we even went here. I grabbed the bow once again, and took the arrow from the ground.

The plank was twenty meters away from me… I have never hit it. It’s not like I even missed it, my arrows would just fall before getting to it.

I tried to stretch the bow once again, this time using the technique he showed me. When I was sure that I couldn’t stretch it more, I let the arrow go.

“Look! Look! You finally hit it! Hey, something happened?! Are you okay?”

The momentum has done something to the arm, that was holding the bow. Maybe I dislocated it? Well, that’s what I thought, but when I tried to move my arm, I didn’t feel any pain.

It’s weird… I’m sure that something bad happened. I felt pain, didn’t I? What happened?

“N-No it’s nothing…” I said, and he looked at me.

“Don’t scare me like that! Why did you even shouted?! I thought that something bad happened to you. Anna would kill me!”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t.” I responded, and smiled.

It’s weird. It’s really weird. I felt pain… I’m sure of it. Well, maybe it was just a muscle being pulled with too much force? There is no reason to think about this now… I hope there isn’t.

We decided to return to the village. I was satisfied with the outcome of our training, and I felt a little hungry. They day was still young, but I’m sure that the old lady was preparing something good to eat.

Yeah, she’s good at cooking… Why can’t I do things like them? Why can’t I show this weird table? I don’t know anything about myself. Maybe I would learn something after doing this?

“Oh, you returned?” I saw a familiar girl, when we came back to the village. She was wearing her normal clothes, and in her hands she was carrying a basket with beautiful flowers.

“Don’t worry sister, your boyfriend is sound and safe… Hey don’t look at me like this!”

It seemed that Anna got angry, and I smiled a little.

“Don’t say things like this!”

I looked at her, and at the flowers in her hand.

“Where are you carrying them?” I asked, and Anna looked at me.

“To the shrine of Yuna, goddess of life, and love. It’s near the entrance to the forest. It’s weird that you didn’t see it.”

Goddess of life? I remember the old man, saying something about it, but I have never seen it.

“Who would travel on the road, when you can go through the forest.” Jacob responded.

Goddess of life…

“Can I go with you?” I asked, and Anna looked at me with a blush. Something happened?

“Adam, you are a true man! Don’t you know, that when you two people visit a shrine of the goddess of love, then…” he couldn’t end his sentence, because he was interrupted by the girl.

“S-Shut up! You can go. Yeah, we can go together, there is no problem.”

I don’t understand? Have I said something wrong?

I thought about it, and Jacob left us alone. He took the arrows, and a bow with him, and smiled at me. He didn’t say anything. I didn’t understand why, and I also didn’t understand why the girl beside me was blushing.

It’s not like I cared. What I cared about, was the shrine, and the goddess.

“Are there more gods?”

“Of course there are more gods. Hundreds of them, but only a few are powerful or known enough, to have their own religions.”

Hundreds of gods? I didn’t know… I didn’t know anything.

It didn’t take us long to approach the shrine, because as the girl said, it was located near the entrance to the forest. The shrine was simple. There was a figurine of a beautiful lady with long hair, made of wood. She was wearing a long dress, as she smiled with her hands folded.

I looked at her, and everywhere around her flowers were placed. Yeah, it was a beautiful shrine, but for some reason it made me feel uneasy…

“Just wait here for a moment. I will change the flowers, after that we can pray.” Anna said, and smiled.

Pray? Pray here? I don’t even know this “goddess”. It’s weird. Why I feel uneasy? Why I feel sick when I look at her?

Her smile is sickening. Her face is twisted. She’s mocking me.

“Come now Adam. Fold your hands, and we will pray. There are no special incantations, just say anything you want.” the girl said with a smile, and closed her eyes.

I looked at the figurine one more time.

Pray? It’s not like I can’t do that…

I folded my hands, and I felt it. Pain that was hard to describe. As if someone was touching my brain from the inside… My hands were trembling, and I lost the control over my legs.

“W-What is this? What is this place? It’s sickening. It hurts.” I thought, and lost my consciousness.