The following day, Kai awoke early and went to the training grounds. He arrived early, only seeing a few fellow recruits and the hunter leading their training. Kai paid them no mind, leaning against a nearby wall while waiting for everyone else to arrive. He did not have to wait long until the hunter called everyone over.
“Alright, everyone. Today, we will continue our lesson from yesterday, but we have also been asked to train a few of you to be archers. Please raise your hand if you have ever used a bow.”
Kai and 18 others raised their hands.
“Great. Can I have you all step to the side? We will have a high-level archer joining us momentarily.”
Kai followed the man's instructions, making his way to the side of the training ground with the seven others. They waited around ten minutes while the other trainees started another one-on-one combat exercise.
“Are you the only ones who have used a bow before?” A large man wearing plain, light leather armor approached the small group.
They all nodded, with a few throwing in a “Yes, sir!”
The man let out a grunt of displeasure. “Less than I hoped for, but you will have to do. Alright, follow me.”
He led them out of the wall constructed around their new village and to a small row of human-shaped targets made of burlap sacks and stuffed with straw. Vital spots had been drawn on them in the same position they would be in a living person.
“We will start with a basic accuracy test. Please come to me to get a bow and quiver, then find an open target.”
Kai walked over, grabbing an unstrung bow and belting the quiver to his hip. He found an open target and strung his bow while waiting for the next instruction.
“Now, you will have five shots to hit as many vital organs as you can. Anyone who cannot hit at least one must return to the frontline training.”
Kai drew his first arrow and aimed. He took a long steadying breath and held it as he drew back the string. He slowly released it, firing the arrow. It struck the target in its drawn-on left lung, piercing the center of its heart. The sound of arrows thudding into targets filled the training ground as everyone began firing.
A week passed with Kai's training to improve his archery. He had started hunting more in addition to his mandatory sessions and was finally able to pass the third threshold and earn his class evolution.
Status
Name: Kai Rheihram
Level: 33
Ascension: 0
Class: Archer (common)
Mana:380/380
Stamina: 540/540
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Stats
Strength: 58
Endurance: 54
Dexterity: 60
Intelligence: 48
Wisdom: 38
Available Points: 0
Multipliers
Strength 1
Endurance 1
Dexterity 1
Intelligence 1
Wisdom 1
Skills
Smiting, Upgrade material, Bow Proficiency, Power Shot
Titles
[Third threshold]
It wasn’t anything special, but Kai was happy he could finally follow in his family’s legacy even if he was the first member to gain a common archer class in generations. Kai made his way to the training ground on the eighth day since the quest had appeared. It looked different today. Instead of splitting off into two groups, everyone had gathered in the central training ground where Draven stood atop a stage flanked by the two instructors.
“Welcome, everyone. Today you all graduate.”
A sinking feeling struck Kai as the man continued to speak.
‘Today, you will go out and begin recruiting the other clans for our cause, and together we will all take the first step towards destroying the threat of the shrieking hordes once and for all.”
Panic raged through Kai’s mind. All that training for recruitment?, Thinking about the targets they had been using shot a chill down his spine. He did his best to steel his nerves. Even if he could get out of this, he had nowhere else to go, no one else to help him. Draven’s speech continued, but Kai did not hear what was said. His mind was too preoccupied with trying to prepare for what he knew was to come.
Several hours later, he was sent out with a small contingency of soldiers. They made their way through the woods and to the last known location of the Frostmark clan. They traveled for two days before finally reaching the clan's village. A large wall had been hastily constructed, and a guard on top began shouting something when he saw their approach.
“Get ready!” the regiment leader and one of Draven's sons, Yoten, shouted.
A volley of arrows shot over the wall, and Kai cowered behind the frontline fighters as they raised their shields to intercept the incoming attack.
“You bastards will never get away with what you are doing!” a man yelled from atop the wall.
“Return fire!” Yoten shouted.
Kai did as he was told, drawing back his bowstring in time with the other archers and letting a volley of their own sail over the wall. A few screams rang out as the volley hit unprepared warriors hiding behind the fortification.
“Again!” Yoten roared.
This continued for a while. The archers behind the wall would shoot off a volley intercepted by the shield wall before Kai and the other archers would return one of their own. The number of arrows flying over the wall dwindled with each exchange, with only a handful of soldiers on their side being injured in return.
When fewer than ten arrows flew over with their next attack, Yoten finally gave them a new order. “Now, break down the wall! Archers continue firing to provide us cover.”
Soldiers charged forward as Kai shot his next arrow. He was about to fire again, but had to stop as the wall was breached within seconds and a horde of his allies flooded into the village. Kai and the other archers followed behind soon after, laying eyes on their handy work. Kai’s stomach lurched as he saw rows of dead men and women with arrows sticking out of every part of their bodies.
He looked around to find the scene happening around him like something out of a nightmare. His fellow soldiers pulled families out of their homes, forcing them to gather in a large circle on the outer edge of the village. Screams rang out in every direction, and children began to cry as their parents did their best to reassure them while not sounding convinced of their own words.
“How is this going to help us defeat the hordes? What the hell are we doing?” Kai muttered to himself.
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