Solo [Training Grounds] Who Says I Can't Do Long Range?

[Kisetukai]

2nd Day Of Summer

"Shields up!" A senior knight yelled, signaling the line Kise was in to hold up their shields, no doubt anyone missed his voice. "Bows! Fire!" The man yelled, sending a barrage ofY arrows at Kise's line. Of course the arrows had shaven flat blunt tips, also they were whistlers, this was purely training, no real danger. [b]Tink... Tink... Tink The arrows found their targets, smacking and falling off the shields, it wasn't easy for Kise though. They had barely started this a few chimes ago, and he was already struggling with all of it. "Attention! Reload!" The knight yelled, sending Kise's line, a bunch of boys kneeling horizontally in a line, into a frenzy. Kise slid his arm out of his shield, fumbling with the arrow to load into his bow. He got the last bow left because he was unable to decide, a heavy crossbow, a very heavy crossbow. That took two hands to fire and to load. He dropped the bow, and failed to pick it up securely, all this was just too hard for him.

"Shields up!" The knight yelled, signaling Kise's target opponents to raise their shields up, readying for attack. "No no no...." Kise groaned a bit as he still fumbled with the arrow, finally grasping it in his right hand. He pulled back the mechanism for loading and firing, the cold metal slapping his fingers, he slowly put in the arrow. Ping! The arrow flew out, slapping his chest as the bow malfunctioned and rejected him. "Petch!" He groaned once more, fearing he was running out of time. "Attention! Fire!" The knight yelled, signaling another barrage of arrows that he watched in pleasure, the old knight missed war. He then looked down at a young boy, who was still working his bow, trying to load it with a single arrow. "Boy!" The knight yelled, walking over to Kise. "Pause, hold your fire young squires!"

"Yes Ser?" Kise said, dropping his bow and saluting the knight with a mini bow. "I think that I got a bad bow... Actually I was hoping to get something in the lighter catego-" He was cut off as the knight spoke out, silencing him with a superior voice. "Aye Kise, your patron speaks well of you, the boy with one of the greatest drives for fighting ever seen." The knight said with a small smile, somewhere in that face of wrinkles and scars. "Although this is not what I expected... What are you doing mate?" "I'm trying to load this damned thing Ser!" Kise whined out slapping the bow a bit. "Aye... I see... You know I had a friend who died because he couldn't load his bow in time. You must understand boy, this part is crucial, an active reloader can get this done and kill five men who reload like you." The knight quickly crouched, picked up the heavy crossbow with one hand, and then lifted himself back up. "Kisetukai Yamehaka... I respect you son, because out of all of these squires, you were the only one to choose this bow. We rarely ever have any squires pick this bow, whether it be to show off and impress the others, or just plain confidence. Yet they all fail and switch over to something lighter... So why ye?"

"Well Ser..." Kise let out a sigh, looking his superior in the eyes, giving him the look of determination he gave everyone. "I didn't actually choose this one... I was left with this one from my lack of decision. I guess that this is relatable to life because if you don't get the job done, the world will progress on without you. So here I am, stuck with this bow... Although I don't think of me being stuck with this bow. I think of it as me finally finding my ranged weapon... I'm not here to show off. To impress. To prove. I'm here because I'm a sol-... I'm a knight. I'm going to definitely become a knight. So no matter how hard I gotta try... I'm gonna do what I gotta do Ser!" He finished his impressive speech, a bit of his heart pouring out, he hoped his minor yelling at a knight was ok. After all he wasn't yelling at him, he just got passionate, but this particular knight was know for many things. One was being cruel, on and off the battle field... The other was.

He was a softy.

"Kise! You got the guts kid, you have the guts of a full blown knight!" The mature knight shouted, as all the squires aimed their gaze in the area. It was a bit of an awkward situation, but he wanted Kise to know how much he admired the young lad. "You my boy... Your not cut out for this aye? I'll take you and show you the strength of the bow. I'll show you how to make your foes cower past your ocular range. I'll show you the power of that crossbow my boy!" He yelled turning to another knight. "Take care of the lads, I'm gonna personally train this one!" He laughed as he slapped Kise's back viciously, the sound echoing for a while.

[About half a bell]

Kise had walked with the knight for a while, Ser Long-Arrow was his name, actually ironic since he was a bowmaster. He ranked highly with every bow possible, long bow, short bow, light and heavies of the crossbow. He even told stories of a special bow, about the same weight of Kise's training bow, except it was semi automatic, apparently able to fire off about five arrows without reloading. Though Kise didn't believe it, he enjoyed hearing the elder knight talk, it was a good time. After they had left their group, Ser Arrow had escorted him to a special area, designated for archers only. Of course anyone could attempt it, but only a few could actually gain some experience and skill from it, Ser Arrow was one. This was how the surroundings looks, Kise was laying flat on the grass, his stomach cooled by the land. Ahead of him were a bunch of small targets, your average circular bullseye targets, nothing special. All around him were weapon caches, more bows and more arrows, ready to be put to use. He had kept his original bow, and had took out twenty practicing arrows as instructed, however they where sharp and whistlers. Holes cut in the arrows, Ser Arrow warned him that once shot these arrows would produce a high pitch sound, sounded fun.

"Ok my boy... There are about fifty targets out there, let's make a bet. If you can hit three, I'll give ya a nice war story."

Kise laid on the ground calmly, looking over at his patron who was crouched next to him, giving him a puzzled look. "A bet?... This early... Ser you don't even know if I can hit those targets." He got no answer, guessing what exactly was wanted by those words. "I see... Maybe you wanted to tell me that story..." He grabbed an arrow, roughly grasping it with his right gloved hand, bringing it to the bow in front of him. Propping up his body with his elbows, he brought the single arrow to the bow, looking at it skillfully. Pulling back the loading mechanism, he placed the arrow in sloppily, like a novice, he let go of the loading mechanism very carefree. Instantly hearing a metallic malfunction, a small arrow flew up in front of his face, representing his mistake. His patron for the day laughing, instantly intriguing Kise as she reached for the bow.

"Neigh..." The knight said, stepping up, stopping his reach. "I want you to learn how to properly load a bow and reach for your arrows. Your pile is neatly organized over there, for now on when you fail at a reload, place your bow there." He said happily, pointing at the first mistake bow. "Now, hit three targets!" He exclaimed cheerfully, wanting to see some action.

"Yes Ser, odd tactics and teaching methods but I won't complain. I promise I won't question." He grabbed another arrow, except this time he stared at all of his work, paying attention to everything that was done. "Ok... Ser could you please help me this once? Just a little bit." Kise said firmly as he pulled back the loading gear. Ser Long-Arrow dropped down into laying position besides him, graceful just like any archer, but the smell of his breath was foul just like a warrior.

"Now see my boy, what you want to do is keep that pulled, but at the same time, you want to pull that also, and keep that cranked. Now gently place the bow in, and then slowly let that back, then just let go that metal part there. The knight then grabbed his arms forcefully, moving them into correct prone sniping position, as he watched the boy. "Ok now fire at that target directly in front of you, and after you hit one, make sure to switch your position after every shot."

After the knight moved back, returning back to his position, Kise felt good to go. He looked down at the arrow, well suited in it's shooting position, but where would it go. He watched as an invisible line flew up from his bow, to the target he had in mind, about fifteen feet away. Nice. He impatiently pulled the trigger, sending a sharp whistle through the air, as an arrow zipped through his sight. It showed so much potential, it showed so much ... It missed. Well, it was a good shot right? Or at least a good attempt. He sighed as he didn't hear his master say anything, apparently he wanted it to sink in for the boy, the best way to learn was always first hand. "Shyke..." Kise said softly as he pulled back the loading mechanism with his finger once more. "Hey Ser, I think I- OWWW!" He yelled out as the loading pulley snapped, blunt metal slamming his finger against wood, tears instantly filled his eyes. Yet his knight didn't say anything, he couldn't say anything, he had no chance of saying anything. Shoving his finger in his mouth, his warm saliva did little in healing his pain, if anything it just pulsed in his mouth. "Mmph mmmophmmmym!" Muffled words spat out, as he attempted speech, although he had no time to dawdle. The knight cleared his throat, and Kise instantly took it as a warning, after all it wasn't good to waste a knights time. Quickly placing both hands back at the bow, with a huge sigh, he was ready to train once more.

It was gonna be a long day... But Long days it what made long lives. Hoorah!

[Kisetukai]

Clink!

The mechanism for loading this heavy crossbow wasn't an easy one, it took hands that were used to the abuse and friction, what Kise wasn't used to ironically. Although he was a boxer, he still wore gloves in and out of battle, add that to his effect of not like hand pain, and you had a shaky shooter. His patron noticed this, and began giving him more disconcerted sighs and throat clearing, Kise new his patience was going thin. But on the contrary in reality, this was a bowmaster he was dealing with, known for patience. Kise grabbed another arrow, his index finger and thumb practically bending the arrow, as if he was about to snap it out of frustration. He brought it up to his bow, hovering slightly as he switched it to his right, it was time to attempt another reload. Slowly, he lowered his left hand to the bow, eyeing every little detail that popped into his view. Slowly grasping the pulley, he drew back the loading cartridge, holding it back. Then bringing his right hand up, he hovered the arrow over the bow, as it was ready for landing. Slowly sliding it down, head first as manipulated the arrows body, popping it right in line. Slowly, he eased up on the pulley, until finally it held the arrow in place. "Oh... Thank the gods! For a moment there I thought"

Boink!

The arrow flew out of the chamber instantly, spinning like a savage windmill, it was horrible. A horrible reminder of his mistake. But what was his mistake? Where did he show signs of petchin' up? He quickly grabbed the failed reload arrow, throwing it on the ground harshly, bouncing into the pile with the rest. He grabbed a new arrow, and propped himself back up with his elbows, that was it. He had failed for the last time, this one was gonna be perfect! It was gonna be a perfect reload! His tongue hanging out like a master painter, his hands went up like the last time, until his master interrupted. Apparently, failure was boring to watch, especially failure at something you loved. His master came laying down besides him once more, his body aroma and breath leaking heavily, it was an awful time. But for now it would have to be a learning time. "Yes Ser..." He asked softly, as he studied the bow, his voice being ever so soft.

"See boy, what you gotta do exactly have confidence, a bowman needs confidence and patience. Any man can have confidence, but patience is the key. However if you just have patience, and you take too long, you will end up dead yourself. A deadeye shooter is made by a healthy balance of confidence and patience, to be able to wait for the perfect strike and take it when needed, but few rarely achieve this alone." The knight said with his voice low, invading his personal space, as he warned Kise. "Kise, load with confidence, load with passion to the shot." He inched away, until finally out of his range, going back to his original position.

With a huge sigh, he closed his eyes, eventually opening them to the harsh sight of a bow. Staring at his bow, his weapon for the day, it wasn't what he wanted. He was a close ranged fighter, and he would've been able to please his master if it was cqc. But it wasn't, it was simple archery training, the exact opposite of his skill. Or what is? Was it really so bad? Was it that impossible, that he, the boy of prophecy couldn't even solve. Grabbing the new arrow, he began to instantly think to him, fear of failure kicking in. "Was it really that bad? What arrow was this exactly? His fourth... His fifth?... It was all beginning to blur, swirling into a cloud of doubt, his mind now fogged up. He watched the bow, until it also became blurry, it was getting more horrible every second. "Yeah... One with the bow... One with the arrow..." Kise mumbled, his breath affecting his words, it was just getting worse. Also it was just enough, just enough time for his hands to sweat, it was time. Time for the real deal. Sliding the mechanism back, he opened up the cartridge, staring at the bottom.

 Lowering his right hand he placed it in swiftly, firmly hearing a click as he enforced the weight of his thumb into it, pushing it all the way down until it finally popped in. Being secured by the wood, the arrow looked amazing in it's actual place, he was actually pretty impressed. But the harder part was to come, slowly sliding the mechanism forward, the sound of metal on wood encouraged him. He was doing something right, and that was all that mattered, that was the main focus for him. He had successfully loaded it, from what he thought, he took his aim. Lowering his head down as he looked from the bow aims, straight down the arrow he was aiming directly at the target, he was going to hit it. He didn't hesitate, squeezing the trigger, he sent the arrow flying. Instantly drag and wind resistance took control, slightly curving the arrow.

Pat.

Kise was staring at a hit, yes it barely hit the outside of the round target, but he got a hit off. He was proud of himself, quickly leaping up yelling. "Hell Yeah! Ser did you see that shyke, I hit that bit-...." He quieted himself down as he realized he was cursing like a sailor, especially to a higher up, excusing himself with a formal bow. "Excuse me Ser, thankyou." Kise said as he held his empty bow, like an esteemed hunter, he stared at the target he hit. This was a joyous occasion. Soon he felt his patron on his side, patting his back heavily, knocking the life from the boy.

"You did fine me boy, honestly that took a little bit of skill, and I'm happy to see you stuck with your bow. Now, once isn't enough, you've got about sixteen arrows over there with your name on em." The elder knight said, gesturing the arrows, it was showtime. "Remember to have confidence and just understand that you can and will do it, and you won't fail. And you must also remember that this training is about loading, shooting is just a bonus, I don't even care if it's hit or miss. Just load your bow, get it out, do it again. Show me watcha got mate!" This knight obviously excited for some sort of a show, and he was hoping that Kise could possibly begin to like archery, but this was only the start.

"Yes Ser!" Kise yelled out, picking up another arrow, and starting on his next reload. Pulling back the loading bar, quickly dropping in the next arrow, letting go carelessly. Boom. The loading mechanism slipped and the arrow popped out. Without caring much, Kise dropped to a knee, his body quickly descending. "Ok!" He picked up another arrow, tossing it from left to right, dropping down the bow. Pulling the bar back, flipping the switch in the process as the notch winded back. Dropping in his arrow, his thumb pushing it down, till he heard the precious click. The arrow secured tightly and firmly in the bow's chamber, it felt nice to get another one down, quicker and more effortlessly. Aiming like a novice, he squeezed the trigger, letting the arrow fly.

Pat!

Another hit on a target, this time more near the mid range of the target. He hit another! Except the euphoria died out this time, as he went prone and laid on the floor, picking up another arrow. "Fourteen more!" Kise yelled out.

"Yes and after this you will do it once more, maybe once more again, and then we will return to the group." Ser Long Arrow said happily, he was prepared to teach as long as be had to.

Three bells later

Back into his group, Kise held up his shield, happy to be back around his fellow squires. "Ok!" He said happily, as the knight yelled for the squires to raise their shields.

pat pat pat

Kise felt more than one arrow tap his shield, apparently a shield could easily deflect, you learn something everyday. He quickly lowered his shield as the knight yelled ready, moving over to his bow that was on the ground. His gloves containing the sweat forming on his hands from excitement. He pulled down the mechanism, hearing the winding up, popping in the arrow. His crossbow clicked, firmly placing the arrow in place, he swung his body into it. Placing his crossbow on top of his shield, his shield firmly on the ground, he was ready. Turning his head, he noticed all of the other squires still loading their bows, then he looked to his patron for the day. The knight and him smiling at each other. Sometimes a bit of personal training isn't so bad, perhaps sometimes it's ok to slow it down.

Fire!

For the rest of the day, it would be crossbow training. Sure Kise had no aim, but he could sure as hell reload, and for today that was all that mattered.

[Emblem]

Congratulations! You Get Glorious Experience! Kisetukai Skill Points Earned Weapon: Heavy Crossbow 3 XP Weapon: Shield 1 XP Body Building 1 XP Lore Earned Indecisiveness A Helpful Mentor Other Shenanigans: Comments : If you want top continue to use the knight NPC you may want to write him up for the NPC request page. Also I would make Long-Arrow a nickname rather than real name, but that's just me being super nitpicky. Good work, and if you have questions PM me!