Finding himself with a little time on his hands while Lyeneru and Nathaniel Sunstrider ferred privately on guild business, surveyed the guild hall. There was a quiet bustle within the halls of the Pathfinder Guild headquarters, with a stant stream of people ing and going. The guild’s jobs and training boards had a cluster of people chatting softly while examining the s and the reception desk had a line.

  At the far end of the rge hall, he found a wide-open archway leading into a brightly lit room with a pin and utilitarian sign hanging over the top:

  Guild Store.

  He deftly picked his way across the guild hall and stepped into the store. Rows of tables filled the deceptively rge shop, den with all manner of potions, artifacts, scrolls, and small ons. Hanging from the back wall were dozens of bows and swords, and the entire left-hand side of the shop was filled with racks and mannequins sp everything from practical leather ranger armor to ballgowns.

  A tall woman with long brown hair tied in a tight, intricate braid that hung past her waist and wearing the guild colors approached, speaking a greeting in the lilting sounds of Elvish.

  Mert – Wood Elf – level ??

  Even the shopkeeper has reached a higher level than me. Darn!

  “Um, hi?” said.

  “How I help you today?” the shopkeeper said, switg smoothly to on without missing a beat. Her eyes flickered rapidly across his visible gear. could almost see the evaluation and calcution in her practiced gaze.

  “So, I was hoping to buy a pair of boots?” Nathaniel Sunstrider hadn’t even ented on his bizarre appearah one bare foot, but it had stuck out like a sore thumb the eerview.

  “So that’s not a fashion statement, then?” the mert said, quirking the ti hint of a smile on her lips.

  “Err, no,” said, surprised that he didn’t find her amusement at his misfortune even slightly embarrassing. Is there some mert passive increasing her general charisma reeableness? It ossibility, but ohat didn’t make him uneasy. “A Death Knight took it.”

  “Aah, so you’re the one. Lyeneru’s new protégé, , right?”

  “Aah, yes,” he said. Do I have a reputation already?

  “You’re very lucky,” she smiled, making him immediately appreciate his new reputation. Lyeneru’s approval clearly – and justly – anded respect. “She hasn’t taken an apprenti decades. My name is Niathwen. e, I have some equipment appropriate for your level over here.” She led him over to the back of the room where the items were siderably less sparkly and more practical.

  “You seem like someone reciates fun over style – what do you think of these?” she suggested, gesturing to a pair of unassuming browher boots with the guild’s green worked in as a trim. “Standard-issue boots for the Initiate rank.”

  studied them and, to his relief, he saw that the item had beeified and the details pced on a card o the boots.

  Pathfinder Initiate Boots – level 40Simple, but well-crafted browher boots with green trim. Standard issue for Pathfinders.+30 Dexterity+24 Strength+10% to Movement SpeedRequirements: Dexterity 140Quality: Uno – Boots – Leather

  “The price is six gold, fifty silver,” Niathwen said.

  raised an eyebrow at her. “For an item with three entments?” The fact that unon-grade items were standard-issue guild items only underscored the Pathfinder Guild’s reputation for excellence.

  “Guild dist,” she said, a wink to aowledge his show of incredulity. “Go ahead and try them on, if you like.”

  So, he did. The crafter had lihe ih softer leather making the fit snug and fortable, and the attributes were fantastic. “I’ll take them,” he said, making his decision in a fsh. Malika would probably have an apoplexy, but he had never been good at haggling anyway.

  “Excellent choice,” Niathwen said, smoothly ign the fact that it was she who had dohe choosing. “Is there anything else you need?”

  Pag out a few steps in his new boots, eyed the rest of the store. It was far more extehan Weldin Thriftpenny’s store in the Adventurers Guild bae. I wonder…

  “ I buy some things for my friends?” The boots were expensive, but he had a little gold now.

  “Of course,” she said. “What do they need? Or perhaps you share their csses?”

  “A druid shapeshifter who likes Bear Form, a nature and are affinity mage, and a monk,” said, keeping the details light.

  “Hmm, all around your level?” she asked.

  “Close enough.”

  “Unfortunately, the monk and the bear have strong gear restris. I don’t have any shapeshifting gear right now – at least, nothing at that level. Maybe check back ter for the bear. Monks are not on in the guild, or with Wood Elves in general, but you ’t g with another pair of those boots.”

  “Ok,” said. The attributes would fit well with Malika’s css, at least.

  “Ye has unusual affinities, a healer perhaps? A metamagic specialist, or a back-line damage dealer with are missiles of some sort?” she frowned delicately.

  “No, ly,” answered.

  “Any obvious drawbacks or weaknesses we work on?”

  “She does have a racial penalty to health, and she’s been very worried about assassins and Ambush in general,” said, deg not to share that there was a bounty on Ali’s head.

  Niathwen raised an eyebrow, “Curious. Well, it’s a little unventional, but I may have just the thing for her.” She led him to a table and opened a gss dispy case, indig a pin wooden ring.

  Forest Band of the Perceptive – level 33A light band of white oak, polished to a sheen.+26 Perception+13 VitalityQuality: Magig – Wood

  “Oh, I think she’ll love this,” said.

  “You have it for three gold and twenty,” Niathwen smiled.

  Ok, now I’m broke again, thought. But the items were strong upgrades for him, Ali, and Malika – and with his new guild ring, he could return regurly and maybe find something for Mato, too. “Oh, this might be a long shot, but… do you have any specialized cooking gear?”

  Niathwen’s face lit up with a broad grin.

  Oh boy. Am I just ridiculously easy to separate from my purse? She’s running rings arou did not hurt that she seemed to wholly disregard his half-breed nature. Fine. Just this time, he’d allow himself to be distracted by a pretty Elf even if she was about to make him broke.

  ***

  “I o get to know you a little better, and uand how you think,” Lyeneru said, regarding across the expanse of the broad wooden table in the ter of the meeting room she had coopted for their chat. He had just finished his first two csses, earning a general skill for Skinning, and transformed his Wood Carving skill into a Basic Daggers proficy.

  “Why don’t you tell me about a difficult fight? What was your strategy, what ged during the fight, how did you adapt, and how do you think you might be better prepared iure?"

  sidered the question carefully, deg to map his responses acc to the Dungeon Survival Guide she had published in her book. He picked the Twin Wight battle and covered the strategy expnation as he had done for the guild. It was a fight that required teamwork and perception skills, and they had most definitely entered the ued with the twin powerup ohe Death Wight had died.

  Lyeneru listened carefully as he retold the story, asking only a few sporadic questions to crify his thought process.

  “Good,” she said after he finished. “I suspected as much – you’re fairly well educated on team strategy and monster skills. I think you uand the basics well enough, so I’m going to pce you into an advarategy workshop with Nendir – he’s a close friend of mine, and exceptionally experienced. Do your best to learhing he wants to teach.”

  “Ok,” said, writing down the name of the Elf in his notebook so that he could scour the training board for anything else he might be teag.

  “But I have something even more important for you. Every time you e to Ciradyl, I want you to sit down and summarize a new fight for me, just like you did here. I want to see you applying what you’ve learned in the csses, and if I’m not here, I want you to write it down and leave it for me at the reception desk.”

  nodded. He had expected homework, but Lyeneru was really ying it on. Not that he minded much, he quite enjoyed expining strategy and figuring out how to do fights better, and even without her request, he probably would have do anyway for his own sense of pleteness.

  “I had a long chat with yuildmaster – Vivian Ross. It’s unfortunate what happeo her, but I really respect what she is trying to build.”

  “Something happeo the Guildmaster?”

  “The personal details are hers to share, but I’ll just say the threshold into the sed tier is not called the Great Wall for nothing. Many csses do not survive the evolution past level one hundred unscathed, and most who experie give up, driven to despondency by bitterness or despair. She has chosen to pass her experien to the geion instead, and for that, she has my full support. In the fight against the dark forces, any skilled bat csses will be crucial to our survival. Regardless of race or kingdom. Her itment is admirable. She asked me to give a lecture at yuild, but I couldn’t let the Death Knight get away.”

  “I… see,” said, stunned by the revetion. It expined so much about Vivian’s as iown – why she chose to begin a guild and joiown cil instead of personally wiping out the criminal element. He had seen her fight before, but only against the Goblin siege. If Lyeneru was right, there was no way she could stand up to someone like Kieran Mori. And if he khat… and if Ali khis…

  “I want you to do it for me,” Lyeneru said.

  “Do what?” He blinked as she interrupted his of thoughts.

  “Pick the team leaders of the main groups in yuild, and teach them strategy, analysis, and boss meics. Everything you think they o know. Vivian Ross knows a lot and has great instincts, but you will be studying here, and you share everything you learn. Make them all stronger.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I’m only level forty-three,” he said. He couldn’t quite shake his first experience doing his strategy presentation for the guild. In some sehe disaster still sat with him – the guild had lost many recruits that day.

  “Teag will be essential to yrowth,” Lyeneru said. “They ’t all joihfinders Guild, but sharing what you learn will be a small way to leverage the knowledge accumuted here and spread it further. Far too often knowledge is hoarded, and the world is poorer for it.”

  “I see, ok, I’ll do my best,” he answered, but he couldn’t keep his worries from his voice.

  “Think about it this way,” Lyeneru offered. “What would you tell yourself when you were level five? Anyway, think about it, ok? Now, Nendir’s css on advanced archery is in the grove oy’s north side in fifteen minutes. Don’t be te.”

  sprang to his feet and made for the door. He still wasn’t certain about teag but knew a whole lot more than whearted – and most of the guild wasn’t much higher than level five either.

  ***

  This must be the pce. slowed his flight and spiraled down into a clearing surrounded by trees and nded on the grass near a cluster of waiting Elves, most of whom were carrying bows of various sorts or dressed in forest-colored leather armor.

  There were quite a range of levels represented, and they chatted quietly amongst themselves in the musiguage of the Elves. He caught a few curious gnces, and a couple of disapproving looks, but nobody approached, so he took a spot apart from the group and waited.

  A few mier, at almost exactly the appoiime, a green-haired Wood Elf nded lightly in the ter of the clearing seemingly appearing from nowhere. He addressed the students in Elvish and they all moved over to him. His eyes gazed at for a moment.

  Archer – Wood Elf – level ???

  Wow, Lyeneru doesn’t skimp on instructors!

  “You don’t speak Elvish?” he asked in ated on.

  “No, I’m sorry,” answered. There were noticeably more ptuous g his answer from the other students, aruggled to follow Lyeneru’s advid not fall into his usual patterns when fag disapproval, but the powerful Elf standing before him didn’t seem to mind.

  “I’m Nendir,” the Wood Elf stated. “I will be your instructor for advanced archery fuals. First, I want to see you all shoot.”

  Relieved that Nendir had smoothly switched to on and, resolving to ighe disapproval from the other Elven students, retrieved his bow from his ring. He gulped as he got a closer look at the fancy or expensive bows some of the others produced.

  With a casual wave of his hand, Nendir summoned a score of slowly drifting green lights, spreading them out at various distances – his spell looking remarkably simir to ’s own Motes of Light spell, only in greehen worked his way through the css o a time, watg each student shoot at the lights before some feedback.

  I wish I could uand what he’s telling them. It seemed he would be at a bit of a disadvantage in that he couldn’t pick up extra tips from what he told the other students. I really could have doh knowing Elven right around now.

  Nendir approached and signaled for him to shoot. He drew smoothly and quickly shot the floating mote.

  “Now, this one,” he instructed, waving his hand again, and sending one of the motes zooming off into the forest where he kept it moving around instead of h. It was almost two hundred yards away.

  He drew, fog his sight oarget with Eyes of the Ar, ign the disorienting rush as his vision telescoped in oe. Emp his arrow with extra range he released it, leading the target by just enough for his arrow to pass through the glowing edges of the mote.

  Not quite ter, he chided himself, a bit annoyed by the small error while the instructor was watg.

  “You have good perception a range for your level. It’s your draw teique we will o work on. Angle your elbow a little higher here, and release from here.” He summoned a powerful-looking bow from his ste and demonstrated by firing an arrow through the same target, hitting it dead ter. “You will be more accurate with this teique, which will improve your critical hit rate, and you will be able to fire a touch faster, too.”

  I think I see. He didn’t say anything, he simply drew his bow doing his best to copy the teique of the master archer.

  “A little more like this,” he instructed, and when tried again, he nodded his approval. “Practice that for a few minutes and I will check ba you. If you need a reference before I get back to you, you copy Coria over there. Her teique is excellent.”

  found himself gazing at ariking Wood Elf sighting down the shaft of an arrow o her longbow. He studied her teique as Nendir moved on until she turned and gave him a quick smile. Instantly, he felt his face flush and he quickly busied himself with nog his own arrow, his dreaded shyness sabotaging him as usual. He was certain Mato would have teased him relentlessly about it if he were here.

  I see what he means, though. Her teique was almost a perfect match to the master archer. Her limit seemed to be that she was only level twenty-three, but she clearly had had access to master-level training for a long time.

  found the hour passed quickly, and to his surprise, quite enjoyably. Nendir checked up on him regurly, pointed and insightful instru. At first, had thought his teique to be quite good, especially pared to the other students. But by about halfway through the lesson, knew he was barely scratg the surface of the refi and experience of his eacher. It articurly obvious when Nendir took a few shots at the distant targets to demonstrate for the css, his movement smooth and rapid, each shot a masterpie ’s eyes. Even more impressively, there was no evidenagic or skills. His shots were executed entirely with whatever passives he had, and could only imagine what he could do when he added his skills.

  Nendir finally dismissed the css, but before he could head out, found the teacher striding over to him.

  “, stay a moment. Lyeneru asked me to give you some one-on-one instru. She thinks you’re close to a breakthrough.”

  “Ok,” he said. A breakthrough? What kind of breakthrough?

  “ I watch, father?”

  Father? tur the sound of the voice, finding Coria looking expetly at Nendir.

  “It’s a private lesson, Coria, most people prefer them to be, you know, private.”

  Her face fell and she turned away.

  “I don’t mind,” answered hurriedly, getting a surprised look from Coria.

  “My daughter loves archery,” Nendir expined. “She will watch people practice for hours – but only those with det teique, she must like you.”

  caught Coria’s eyes widening and the flush that filled her face at her father’s teasing. For o was someone else being embarrassed and shy, rather than him. But now he uood why her teique was so good, she had probably been watg her father shoot since she had been born. “Um, so what are we going to work on?”

  “Lyeneru wanted me to teach you to shoot faster and see if we unlock rapid fire or echo.”

  “Ok, what should I do?” he asked. had heard of training for specific advances, but he had never found any books expining how exactly that was done. He did know what rapid fire and echo were though, and they were both excellent upgrades. If there was a ce of either, he would greatly improve his effectiveness with the bow.

  “I’m never sure whie will unlock, so we’ll try for both and see if anything happens. First, for Rapid Shot, try holding two arrows in your fingers like this. Noe and fire, and then quickly switch the sed arrow up and shoot it again. You’re looking to get two arrows in the air simultaneously while still hitting the same target with both.”

  tried and failed miserably. The challenge of firing accurately while trying to switother arrow in with enough speed to draw and fire again was substantially more difficult than it had looked when Nendir had demonstrated the trick.

  “Use ye enha and shoot the distant motes, there’s a better ce of having your arrows in flight simultaneously.”

  He tried again. And again. It took him almost twenty mio get the hang of it, but even when he did, nothing happened with his skills. Fortunately, her Nendir nor Coria seemed to mind.

  “Ok, now I want you to try enting your arrow twice.”

  “You mean with range and damage?” he asked, not quite uanding why this was challenging.

  “Lyeold me you had mastered deying your skills. I want you to try enhang the same arrow with damage twice before it hits the target.”

  “That works?” had never even sidered the idea.

  “No, they repce each other, but it’s usually the trick that unlocks Echo. It’s how the mind uands the skill that matters in this case, so what we’re doing is approximating the effect.”

  “Aha.” nodded and tried. This one he found to be substantially easier, taking only a few minutes before he got the hang of double enting his arrows. But again, nothing ged with his skills, and he was beginning to think he was wasting his and Nendir’s time. Not to mention Coria who still hadn’t gnced away for even an instant.

  What could she possibly hope to learn from an amateur like me? he thought bitterly.

  “Ok, st try, I want you to nock two arrows simultaneously and shoot two different targets. Like this,” Nendir demonstrated with fwless ease, which probably meant would struggle with it.

  Sure enough, the teique was far more challenging than it looked. He could nock two arrows and fire easily enough, but releasing the arrows smoothly was harder than it had any right to be, and more often than not one would just drop to the ground or careen off in a random dire.

  “You angle your bow if you want to hit two horizontally aligned lights,” Nendir suggested.

  He persisted, trying to apply Nendir’s stant, patient feedback, until finally, he did it, striking two lights simultaneously.

  “Now ent both shots at the same time,” Nendir said, handing him another quiver of arrows.

  ’s mind boggled for a moment. Essentially, Nendir was asking him to do the st exercise mixed with the one before.

  But wheried it, he got it on the first shot.

  Thanks, Ali, he thought, sending her his mental gratitude. If she hadn’t suggested the teique for deying his magid he hadn’t practiced it relentlessly, this would have been impossible.

  “Anything?” Nendir asked curiously.

  “No, nothin–”

  His chime suddenly sounded. once. “Let’s see.”

  Radiant Archery has reached level 28 (+2).

  Requirements met for skill adva.

  Mentor: Lyeneru Silverleaf.Radiant Archery has surpassed level 25.Received master-level archery instru and practice.Dexterity has surpassed 250.Intelligence has surpassed 190.

  Radiant Archery gains Rapid Fire.Radiant Archery gains the Haste trait.Radiant Archery – level 28You are profit with a bow and ranged bat. Stamina: Attack with your bow. Your damage and accuracy are increased by +374% [40 + skill + dexterity]. Stamina: Summon up to 3 [1 + skill / 10] arrows directly from your quiver to your bow firing each of them in rapid seque the same target.Physical, Ranged, Haste, Dexterity

  Radiant Archery gains Multishot.Radiant Archery gains the Light trait.Radiant Archery – level 28You are profit with a bow and ranged bat. Stamina: Attack with your bow. Your damage and accuracy are increased by +374% [40 + skill + dexterity]. Mana: jure up to 3 [1 + skill / 10] magical arrows to fire simultaneously at multiple targets. The damage is split among each jured arrow.Light, Physical, Ranged, Dexterity

  Radiant Archery gains Echo.Radiant Archery gains the Light trait.Radiant Archery – level 28You are profit with a bow and ranged bat. Stamina: Attack with your bow. Your damage and accuracy are increased by +374% [40 + skill + dexterity]. Mana: Magical entments on your arrows are duplicated up to 3 [1 + skill / 10] times. Light, Physical, Ranged, Dexterity

  Choose one adva.

  stared at the stream of glowing notifications as the chimes echoed in his ears.

  “Whie did you get?” Nendir asked with a knowing grin on his face.

  “Um… all of them? Rapid Fire, Echo, and I also unlocked Multishot,” said, sharing his choices with Nendir, and then seeing Coria’s rapt attention, he shared them with her, too. The problem was he could only choose one.

  “Well, look at that,” Nendir said dryly. “Good work.”

  “How do I even choose?”

  “There are no bad choices in that set. What you’re choosing is a focus for your bat style. Rapid Fire suits high-speed, siarget physical damage. Each shot fired is a separate shot that es an arrow and will o be individually enhahat’s both an advantage and a disadva’s the most ong Pathfinders because it is excellent for boss fights. You will want to focus your iment oerity, mainly, and you do things like loading the first arrow with a cussion Shot, blowing a hole in your target, and the following arrows all be pure damage. Proper ammunition ma is critical, and you will need a good arrow crafter for the best results.”

  “Multishot is a banced approach, the arrows are jured, so you don’t need as much ammunition, but you ’t use ented physical arrows. It’s a single shot that hits multiple targets, so the base damage is split among the arrows, but you pay for your arrow entment ond it is duplicated on every split arrow. Magitments that boost damage aren’t split, so it’s very good if you unlock explosive arrows or something simir because you clear aire battlefield with just two or three volleys. It even allows you to Ambush multiple enemies simultaneously if you find enemies blind to your jured magic. It’s amazing if you have passive damage on hit enhas in your party or on year, but remember, you must i heavily in intelligence if you want to effectively track multiple targets simultaneously so it’s best fical archer types.”

  “Echo is situational – you get multiple uses of eat on a si. For some things like Explosive Shot, it stacks, but it doesn’t stack for Armor Pierg. You also don’t get multiple shots. But for sheer shock value, it’s the king of damage. There’s nothing like Ambushing an enemy with a triple payload of Explosive Shot. You will want to i heavily in intelligence, and remember it only works fical entments.”

  Right, looks like I his Explosive Shot . paused to think. He wao pick multishot simply because it would be cheaper, but that wasn’t a particurly good reason. Especially given that Ali could make arrows for free. He spent a while w through the options, switg his prefereo Echo, and then to Rapid Fire before he finally decided that he simply didn’t know.

  “What does Lyeneru use?” It suddenly occurred to him that he would have noticed echo or rapid fire itle against the Death Knight, but he didn’t remember seeing anything like it.

  “She has multishot,” Nendir firmed.

  “What about you?”

  In answer, he turned and fired a fan of twenty glowing green magical bolts from his powerful boung perfectly through the ter of one of the h lights.

  More than any of the numbers – which came thly the same damage in the end – Nendir’s impressive demonstration of his skill and accuracy sold . The fact that he was following Lyeneru’s skills sat quite well with him too.

  “I think I’ll get multishot,” he said.

  “It’s surprisingly rare, and I am certain you won’t regret the choice,” Nendir said, smiling as he bowed his head very slightly. “Why don’t you give it a try?” Several new motes of green light sprang forth.

  Grinning like a kid with a oy, raised his bow and drew ba empty b. With a touana, three glowing arroeared, nocked and ready. He aimed, just like the exercise Nendir had subjected him to and stared in amazement as three streaks of light shot from his b to pierce three floating motes dead-ter.

  “This is amazing!”

  ----------

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