Completed Never surrender

[Valo]

30th Spring 502AV Late afternoon Archery range There was once a young boy named Valo. That boy was only half what he pretended to be hole, for the human father has left him before he even had the chance to lay his eyes upon the man. Valo was now a slender youth of 12 years old. there were many thing he was and many things he was not. And if there was anything he was truly not, that was a quitter. Once something sparked his interest, he fought for it until his fingers bled and air expelled from his chest faster than it entered it. Yes Valo was filled with determination and a child-like determination which knew no boundaries. There was one thing he wanted to make clear to him self before he truly committed to his self imposed training. He would never become an archer.he didn't want to surrender his life to taking that of other creatures, for he was happy to have other do so for him. When he grew up he'd be a renown artist, beloved around all of Mizahar. But there was nothing stopping him from being an artist with a coherent knowledge of archery, after all, he thought him self an encyclopaedia. The short bow had belonged to his mother but out of kindness and perhaps a spark of hope for her son changing his stubborn mind about his future profession, she allowed him to use it any time he wanted. And today was one of those days. He had been exercising, everything from push-ups to even quick jobs around the city and doing so with such consistency that his strength indeed had been improving. And this arm strength was something he truly needed. He hovered before a familiar red and white target, the bulls eye looked back into his green eyes with a daring challenge. It mocked the short tempered boy relentlessly. He had been coming tot he range daily now, spending hours upon his training. Slowly he began grasping the concept of this profession, or so he thought. A short bow at hand, perfect posture, Valo began shooting quick shots in immediate succession, one after another. The arrows tore though the air with no apparent accuracy what so ever, many missing the target completely, until none was left in his hand. Tying his long hair back, Valo repeated this action several times, briskly retrieving his arrows each time and trying again and again. Of course he wasn't stupid. He knew not many of them would hit. But speed at which he fired was as important as the accuracy. The next exercise, strangely enough was a breathing one. Breathe in, breathe out. And with each breath a wave of strange tranquillity washed over him like a freezing numbness. Concentration. His body as well as his mind cooled down, became sharper and more agile and better prepared for the next stage. Clout shot practice. Eyeing the target with predatory focus now, he raised the weapon in front of his face. A hand grasped firmly on the anchor point, holding the short bow down once he notched on the arrow by the crest. Then looking up first, he had brought the complex so that the arrow head was in line with the target. One eye closed. The other hand pulling the bowstring back before stabilising the entire body. Not only the body of the bow, but also Valo's own body in relation to it. One more breath and then his chest stopped completely. The arrow released. It sliced though the air, flexing before it embedded it self firmly into the target, not yet hitting the bull's eye, but not being far off. Valo had to remember to aim a little higher than his target, for propellants travelled in arches due to the force of gravity acting upon said object. Something he had once read in a book in the enclave. Truth be told, however, Valo did notice that was the case as it seemed, every terrible shot had a habit of falling too low of the desired point. Of course the whole ordeal depended heavily upon the strength with which the shot is expelled, the distance away from the object and an angle at which he was shooting. Words of a book which just washed over him, without their meaning being taken in. The words which remained a substantially confusing imprint upon his mind. But one day, maybe soon, he would fully grasp the meaning of these mathematics! The stubbornness of a child knows no boundaries. The next shot was a little more accurate and so was the once fallowing it. Both slow shots like the very first one. Both requiring deep concentration and both being a statement to his improvement. After several more expelled arrows he would retrieve them and then try again. No shot was perfect, but some did in fact manifest more luck than others. Once he even managed to almost hit the line where the white of the second ring, met the red of the bull's eye... almost. Valo worked tirelessly and relentlessly till the very late hours of the day. No moment was wasted and upon his immediate return home, he once again told his mother all about the training with such enthusiasm that she almost did not believe it was her son speaking. He of course showed much enthusiasm. However until very recently it manifested in everything but archery and it brought her significant pride.

[Sphinx]

Valo

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Weapon: Shortbow	4 XP	• Archery Excersizes: Breathing and Speed

The Sphinx's Riddle

This was a really short thread and therefore I couldn't award much. I enjoyed it all the same. Thank you, Valo, for the wonderful read on archery training.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.