Chương 62: Chapter 040 Training Room 13, The Enemies Within (Part 1)

It was Linda and Sam, two of the three remaining adventurers he was trying to avoid… or kill. His heart began to hammer in his chest. No, no, no. Not them. Not here. Jack's fingers twitched at his side, ready to grab his dagger. Why here? Why now? His brain raced for answers as to what to do. Should I run? If I leave now, it's obvious, too obvious. Fuck. His [Assassin's Intuition] remained silent as Sam and Linda gave a casual nod as they approached. Just two more adventurers, ready for archery training.

The door to Training Room 13 opened, and a half dozen sweaty men, in good spirits, exited. Jack froze as the six male archers passed by while making conversation. None of it registered in his mind. His breathing was shallow, and his vision narrowed… What should I do? … He felt someone touch his arm.

"…ck. Jack. You alright?" Nessa's voice cut through the fog. Jack turned to Nessa.

"Y-yeah, just thinking about something." His throat was dry.

"Sorry. What were you saying?" Nessa gave him a lopsided grin and pointed at the now-open training room.

"Rooms free. You coming?" He looked around. The others had already entered Training Room 13.

"Yeah." In a daze, he inserted his brass token and followed Nessa into the room. He swallowed hard, clenched his fists, and forced his feet to move. The door shut behind them with a heavy mechanical click. They were locked in. Toma had already grabbed the same bow as last time, a quiver of training arrows, and had stationed himself on the far left. He was pulling the bow back before relaxing the draw to practise his archery form. Ella was talking with the two newcomers, Sam and Linda.

"All four of you aren't archers, so it doesn't matter too much where you go." Ella pointed at Toma.

"The kid's getting advice from Jack." She gestured towards Jack, which made his gut churn.

"So, best if those two are on the far left. Me and Nessa will go to the far right, and you two can use the centre lanes. We good?" The two women shrugged, not appearing to care where they stood to train. Similar to before, they chose lanes based on archery experience. The least trained on the left to the most trained on the right. The order was Toma on the far left, followed by Jack, Sam, Linda, Nessa, and Ella on the far right.

Other than Jack, they each found their places while the familiar aether-powered console clicked to life, the soft brass-voiced female announcer chiming in: Welcome, adventurers. Mechanical targeting range engaged. Safety protocols active. Please state your class and level. Shit. Jack thought. I can't stay here. He'd only moved a few paces inside the training room. Fuck. The door was already locked behind him. He took a deep breath and went to his lane between Toma and Sam. Don't panic.

With the mask, they don't know it's you. Shit. My bow. He looked at the white oak bow. Still covered. He breathed a sigh of relief. Jack stood between Toma and Sam in Training Room 13, waiting for his turn to state his class and level to the Guild's system. One by one, they responded to the console.

"Novice Archer, level nine," replied Ella. The soft voice acknowledged her answer: Adventurer one. Novice Archer, level nine. Please prepare your weapon.

"Novice Archer, level seven," replied Nessa. The soft voice acknowledged her answer: Adventurer two. Novice Archer, level seven. Please prepare your weapon.

"Apprentice Healer, level one," replied Linda. The soft voice acknowledged her answer: Adventurer three. Apprentice Healer, level one. Please prepare your weapon. She headed to the back wall, where the training bows and quivers were stored.

"There are a lot of bows," she muttered.

"Novice Mage, level eight," replied Sam. The soft voice acknowledged her answer: Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Adventurer four. Novice Mage, level eight. Please prepare your weapon.

"Which bows should we use?" Sam asked Linda. When it was Jack's turn, he swallowed. His voice cracked.

"N-Novice Archer, level zero." His eyes widened. He was so flustered he'd stated his archer class and level; he even forgot he was now level 1.

"Fuck! No! I mean… Novice Scribe, level zero." The system paused for a moment before the soft voice acknowledged his answer: Adventurer five. Novice Scribe, level zero. Please prepare your weapon. He breathed a sigh of relief. Behind him, Sam chuckled.

"Forgot your own class? See, Linda, I'm not the only one with a bad memory!" Linda laughed.

"Ella," she called.

"Which bows should we use?" Jack clenched his jaw, his eyes fixed ahead. Don't look or engage them. Just get through this. He took a calming breath. Stay calm. Toma finished last.

"Non-classed." The soft voice acknowledged his answer: Adventurer six. Non-classed. Please prepare your weapon. Ella called back.

"Whichever ones you can pull all the way back without breaking a nail." Nessa snorted. A symphony of pneumatics and dull impacts echoed through the room as targets deployed from the far wall. Energy pulsed through the training room walls, ready to empower the archery targets. The two women began pulling bows off the wall before drawing back the string and releasing without an arrow. Jack moved on autopilot.

He forced himself to go through his stretching routine, keeping his head down, focusing only on the bow in his hands. It didn't work. He winced at their actions. They don't have a clue what they're doing. Why are they here? He felt Sam's presence behind him, but [Assassin's Intuition] gave no response… Don't draw attention. Just one hour. Fuck. This was supposed to be relaxing. He heard Linda's light laughter echoing as she tested a bow that she couldn't pull back more than a couple of inches.

They can't know, but what if they do? Jack's hands trembled as he prepared his first arrow. What if they're here for me? To his left, Toma called out, "Jack! Look! I can draw it back properly now." Jack turned.

"Good, Toma. That's great." His heart still hammered like a war drum in his chest. They're here. What if the other one is outside waiting? He imagined the swordsman with the shield hidden just outside the Guild's entrance, ready to strike. If they find out who I am… His bow grip tightened. … then this room becomes a cage.

"System," Ella said.

"Set training room to Novice Archer, level one. Beginner level one." She looked over at the two young women testing bows and shook her head.

"Set my area to Novice Archer, level nine. Beginner level four." A restless breeze stirred near Ella, gusting in and out like the wind was debating its mood. The lights on the right side of the training room flickered and dimmed, while the left side, where Toma and Jack stood, stayed bright. Like before, Toma left his settings at Non-classed, level zero. Beginner level zero, the lowest setting. Without thinking, Jack set his lane to Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level two.

"Don't do that to the bow; you'll break them!" Nessa shouted.

"Do what?" Sam asked as she shot another empty bow.

"That!" Nessa called out as she approached Sam.

"You'll damage the bows if you draw and release them without an arrow nocked."

"Oh. Really?" Linda asked.

"Yes!" Nessa snapped.

"Do you know nothing about archery?" Linda and Sam shook their heads.

"It's our first time," Sam said.

"We need more protection." Nessa shook her head.

"The bows on the right are the weaker ones. Start with those." She pointed at Toma.

"Like the boy is using." The female voice returned: Begin when ready. At the end of the six lanes, the targets either remained still or moved according to the individual lane settings.

"Awesome!" Toma shouted as he pulled back a nocked arrow. The two women each grabbed a bow with a low poundage before heading back to their training lanes. Thunk. Toma had already started loosing arrows. Nessa chuckled.

"You need a quiver of arrows as well." She grabbed two quivers and passed them over before returning to her lane while muttering something under her breath.

"This is more complicated than we thought," Sam said to Linda. The healer nodded before asking, "Should we change our settings?" She aimed the question towards Ness and Ella.

"No. Start at the lowest setting. Like the boy," Ella advised while she pulled back a nocked arrow. Jack had been observing in silence as the two women, who wanted him dead, showed how little they knew about archery. What are they doing here? He thought about what one of them said about them needing 'more protection'. Is that because of me? Thunk. Ding.

"Jack! Jack! I got one," Toma called, pulling him from his thoughts. Jack turned to the teenager.

"Well done. Practice makes perfect." He focused on his own targets. Ignore them and concentrate on archery, he told himself, before missing three targets in a row. For the next few minutes, he found it impossible to concentrate on archery practice. On his left, he had Toma vying for his attention like a toddler trying to get their big brother to acknowledge their achievements. On his right, Sam and Linda complained to each other about how hard archery was as they fumbled through.

Jack was hitting fewer targets than Toma. Damn it. This isn't working, he thought as he missed another target. I'll help the boy until I calm down. He turned towards Toma.

"Your shoulders are dropping as you release," he said after watching him shoot a couple of arrows.

"Try to maintain your form through the shot." Toma nodded with a big grin. He pulled back another arrow, held his shoulders firm, and released. Thunk. Ding.

"Yeah! Got it," he celebrated by pumping his bow arm in the air.

"Much better," Jack said. At least one of us is having fun. The boy nocked another arrow.

"Twist your right foot a little to your front," Jack advised.

"Yep. That's it. Remember, don't rush your aim; hold for at least three seconds when training." As Toma held his aim, he continued.

"When you choose the Novice Archer class, one of your first skills will be [True Aim]. For it to activate takes six seconds at level zero, so you need to get used to holding your aim." Thunk. Ding.

"Yes! Three in a row." Toma jumped in the air.

"Thanks, Jack, you're awesome!" He smiled under his mask.

"You're the one doing the work. I'm just giving advice. You're going to make for a skilled archer someday." He wasn't exaggerating. The kid appeared to be a natural; he was absorbing Jack's advice and progressing fast.

"I wish I had half your natural talent," Jack complimented him. Helping Toma calmed his nerves. They aren't here for me. It's just a coincidence… or maybe the Gods are messing with me. There were plenty of tales where the Gods had messed with the lives of mortals. Toma released his arrow, thunk, and missed. He'd flushed pink at the compliment.

"Thanks, Jack." Someone tapped Jack on the shoulder, making him jump, spin around, and reach for his dagger.

"Shit!"