Azzy closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath and opened his eyes while pulling the string.
Unlike before, he was in full concentration mode, not paying attention to either of his neighbors.
Claire, on the other hand, getting the hang of it and managing to hit nine-pointers now. She wanted to strike a ten-pointer before chatting with her boyfriend.
This was only the 19th shot. Azzy was leading by 149 to 146.
Both of them dragged the bowstring to the maximum, and Claire shot the arrow. It traveled like lightning and pierced the ten-pointer circle. It was barely on the circle. Nevertheless, it is 10.
"Yay, I'm 156, now." Claire had a big smile on her face as she turned towards Azzy who didn't release the arrow yet.
Instead, he was dragging it back even more while picturing that there was a bird with an eye as big as the ten-pointer circle.
*Ting*
As Azzy managed to drag the string to the maximum, the string couldn't handle the strength and broke into two.
"Rael," Claire left the bow and hurriedly stepped towards him and grabbed his right hand, and checked to see if there's a cut or something.
She sighed in relief as there's no wound.
Meanwhile, Neal, who was nearby and saw it, walked towards him and told him to switch the bows.
After switching the bows, Azzy placed the arrow and dragged the bowstring to hit the target but Claire stopped him. "No, this is cheating. You can't change the bows during our match. You lose."
"Eh?" Azzy looked at her in surprise.
She looked away, not intending to meet her eyes with his, "This is a fair match. So, you can't use any other bow than the one we decided on before. I win. So, you should adhere to three demands of mine."
In Azzy's eyes, she sounds so ridiculous and childish. If it is anyone, he wouldn't have accepted the outcome at all. But, he was curious. If Claire is choosing this way for three demands, he wondered what she was planning. He played along.
"Fine, you win. Tell me, what I have to do?" He asked her.
Claire let out a chuckle as she touched his nose, "not now."
"But, the time limit is only one week though. After that, I won't accept any demands. I'm telling you." Azzy reminded her, to which she simply grinned in response. Azzy was even more curious now.
Both of them continued to practice.
After the daily training of Archery is finished, they went for respective dorms. Azzy met a tired Gideon in the latter's room. Later, both of them set out for the cafeteria together.
Azzy, Claire, Gideon, and Snivy sat together with the meal platters.
It's been a while since Azzy met Snivy. The last time was before the annual holidays. He doesn't know what to say to her, and neither did she knows except for greeting him.
Thankfully, for him, Claire came to the rescue.
"So, is everything going well at the academy?" She asked her.
Snivy awkwardly replied, "Yeah."
For some reason, it was a little bit difficult for Snivy to talk face to face with Claire, although towards Gideon, she acted just the same as before.
Glancing at Azzy, Claire asked her, "Snivy, how different is the main branch from our academy?"
Maybe, it's because she keep spending her time with Azzy that even without his expressions, she was able to understand his feelings and thoughts, a little bit. She was sure that Azzy wanted to ask it but was hesitating.
Snivy was a little bit taken aback at first because she kept in touch with Claire and they exchange messages on daily basis about what happens in their respective academies.
Still, she answered, "the major differences are probably the teaching staff and games."
"Games?" The three of them wondered.
Snivy proceeded to explain, "we have these civilian sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, and others. There are also clubs, ranging from reading clubs to sports clubs.
The rules were exactly the same, except that we are allowed to use soul energy. It's much fun actually."
"What club you are in?" Gideon asked curiously.
Snivy replied, "Tennis."
"Oh!" Gideon instantly fell into imagination. Even Azzy could imagine how she can hit the balls and slam them into the opponent's court. After all, her Arcana weapon is a hammer.
"Say, you must have heard about Estella while you were there, right?" Gideon suddenly brings up the moon clan's heiress, sensing the opportunity.
"You mean, Estella Moon?" Snivy's facial expression instantly turned dark as she looked at him, "if you are after that girl because of her doll-like appearance, I should warn you to stay away."
"Eh? Why?"
Snivy raised three of her fingers. "One, she despises weaker people than her."
"Ugh." Gideon felt like an invisible arrow pierced his chest.
Snivy continued, "Two, you are a commoner and she's a highborn noble. On top of that, an heiress. According to my classmates, she looks down on those with low status."
"Eh? But, she doesn't look down on Azzy, though." Gideon pointed it out, to which Claire calmly answered, "his foster parents and master is of high status."
"Oh, you are right." Gideon realized it before he felt another pain in his chest. His status might be low but he was a member of the Crescent Clan and the direct disciple of Ramiel Crescent. He even knew her from childhood, yet, she ignores him most of the time.
Snivy ignored his expression and said about the final crucial point, "Three, you look like a nerd but you act like a dog in heat. Forget about Estella, no girl in the right mind would want to date you."
It was the final invisible arrow that pierced him and he complained, "that's harsh of you. This time, it's a real one, you know."
"Yeah, right. Hmpf." Snivy didn't take his words seriously and continued with her lunch.
After the lunch break, the two pairs parted ways. Azzy and Claire left for the spear training while Gideon and Snivy took a rest in their respective dorms as they were done with meeting the daily target.
Five days passed away in a blink of an eye. Azzy and Claire progressed leaps and bounds in their weapon training. Both Neal and the Lt. Commander, Hailey were under the impression that they might become Third-tier cadets within a couple of months.
On the other hand, Gideon and Snivy were attempting for the trial.
A captain named Edward is overseeing the trial. Claire and Azzy came to the ground to watch in person, silently cheering on the side. Along with the two teenagers, there are a few more cadets who are also participating.
Each of them is standing in a separate lane on the running track. A lap is approximately 1 km in length. So, they have to make 100 laps before going for push-ups and other tasks.
After resetting everyone's timer, Captain Edward blew the whistle.
"Do you think they can do it?" Intimately holding Azzy's arm, Claire asked in a sweet tone.
"Let's hope so," Azzy slowly replied.
***
<strong>Night Clan compound, Death Clan village;</strong>
Within the village of Death Clan, at an isolated place between the hills lies the compound of the clan of assassins.
A little girl was training hand combat with the Matriarch of the clan, Pandora Night who looked like she was in her thirties but was more than three thousand years old.
A man in an assassin outfit suddenly appeared in the training ground, interrupting their practice.
"Greetings, Matriarch." He greeted with his one knee on the ground.
"Ethar, what is it?" Strangely, she recognized him despite his face being completely covered by a black mask.
He handed her a scroll. "It's from the monarch." Qridus was addressed as such by many clan members.
After he disappeared, she opens the scroll and read it. "Crescent clan, eh?"
The nine-year-old little Avia heard her mumble but it appeared as if she was annoyed.
Putting away the scroll, Pandora Night looked at her descendant. "There was going to be wedding celebrations in the clan. In the upcoming weeks, you will get to meet your parents."
"Mama and Papa?" Avia's face glowed in delight. "They will be here?"
Pandora added, "if they come, that is. There's a troublesome kid they were looking after."
"Troublesome?" Avia instantly remembered Azzy. Her face darkened.
Meanwhile, Pandora thought to herself, "Maybe, I should extend the invitation to that kid too. If he comes, I'm able to solve the mystery of how he has the black lightning, the same attribute variant as Aelius Crescent."
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m