Solo Crossing the bow.

[Aerdoria]

23rd of Spring, 513 AV A busy, Zeltivan afternoon. Zeltiva, by the World's End Grotto. On a busy, Zeltivan afternoon, there was always some loony who had not a clue what to do with themselves! And, of course - Aerdoria was one of them. Stood by a tree, with the sun shining onto her black, leather armour - she had just a spectacular idea. "Why don't I slam my map against that tree and practice my skills with my crossbow on it?!" she queries herself aloud, jumping a little in place, clapping. The map of Zeltiva clutched in her right hand as always, the curious little explorer was always eager on learning new things, and she was very keen on sharpening her skills, especially her crossbow, as she wasn't that proficient with it. Though she had used it quite a bit, she never harmed anyone with it - or pointed it at anyone with a hostile intention whatsoever. With a soft cackle, she raises the map, unrolling it before pushing it against the tree, supporting it with her right hand. Upon this being done, she moves her left hand up, setting her index finger onto the upper left corner of the map, her right now going for the pouch strapped to her arm. With a few, somewhat clumsy motions, she manages to flip the leather pouch open. "Eep!" she mutter as she almost releases the map, it dropping downwards by an inch, but she keeps her finger on it, some of the crossbow bolts she has in the pouch almost falling out. Wiggling her left arm a little, she positions them back into place, the middle and the index finger of her right hand slowly withdrawing a pristine bolt from the pouch. As the bolt would be withdrawn, she'd bring it in front of her face, smiling at it. "Aw, you're beautiful!" she comments before looking over to her crossbow. She then facepalms, the side of the bolt gently colliding with her forehead. "You big silly!" she tells herself whilst blushing before placing the bolt into her mouth, so it's tip is pointed sideways. With a soft mumble, she reaches back to her bracer crossbow, gripping onto the string before drawing it backwards. Slowly and carefully, she manages to pull it backwards successfully, slipping the string under the keeper spring, and over the lugs of the lock. She keeps the draw even. She slowly, and gradually starts releasing her draw on the string, observing the crossbow as she does this. With just a teensie bit of difficulty, she manages not the set it off, the string properly arranged. With a smile, she tilts her head to the side, making sure the crossbow is pointed at the tree. It's not long before she lowers her jaw, dropping the bow out of her mouth, just to catch it with her right, bringing it up to the bracer crossbow, sliding the bolt under the keeper spring. And so, after bracing her bracer crossbow, it is ready to shoot. With the crossbow ready to rock, she was ready as well. Keeping the map pinned, she closes the pouch with a swift motion of the hand, her crossbow loaded. Looking over to the map, she decides it could make decent practice, for now, at least. The target, her map - pinned to the tree bark was repositioned to a little, weak branch that was on her left, it held upwards almost perfectly, only the top ends rolling downwards a little, primarily the map's corners. She smiles, turning her head before starting to walk backwards. After seventeen steps, she feels confident enough, raising her left hand up, it clenched into a fist. She gently taps the tips of her left index finger and her left thumb, taking a deep breath, her right hand positioned onto the crossbow, ready to trigger it at any moment in time. The small device was strapped to her forearm ever so neatly, her figure outlined by the sun behind her, the shadow of the little crossbow making it seem like a siege ballista mounted onto a giant's forearm. Or so was the illusion that the sun created by playing with shadows. Almost the same way Zeltiva's markets were swarming with people, Aerdoria's mind was swarming with thoughts. The primary thought, however - was her little training, trying to get the bolt to slam to the center of the map, as hits to the center mass, and to the head - do the most damage. Except, in this case, it was a shot to the center map. Aerdoria would then exhale, her heartrate increasing drastically. She slowly, and quietly starts counting down, the numbers merely escaping her lips in a whisper as she counts down until the shot. "Three... two.. one." she mutters before taking a deep breath to steady her heart-rate. She then pushes onto the activation assembly, the bolt being propelled forth, the wind swaying after it - and the sun's rays following up on the bolt, which slams a bit to the right, and above the target. "Yes!" she releases a joyful shriek, jumping a little before starting to jog in circles, clapping as she's proud of her success. "I did it!" she yells, running towards the tree before - out of all the joy, and somewhat the mixed emotions, slamming her right fist into the branch that supported the map. With a decent amount of strength and willpower she had put into the punch forced the weak little branch to come off easily, the map remaining pinned to the tree's thick bark, some of it crumbling before crashing downwards, right by the fallen branch. Waving her right hand a little, she releases a chuckle, raising both her hands - both in the air. It doesn't take her celebration that long, the map intact for the most part before she moves back, raising her hands. "It's time to test my gauntlets!" she advises herself, grinding the teethed gauntlets together before examining the tree, a train of thoughts ramming directly into her mind as she puts up a grin. She steps towards the tree, hugging it. But this hug isn't something one would like to experience, as the teeth saw themselves into the tree, as she applies enough force. Moving her left arm back, and then her right arm forth in a repeated, hyperactive pattern causes more treebark to fall off, but due to the sawing that she has ongoing. As the treebark starts falling off, the teethed gauntlets would lock themselves at the level of the tree's phloem, followed by a grunt as she's actually unable to move the gauntlets inwards. "Unh!" she yelps, pulling her hands backwards - applying quite a lot of force, the sound of sawing slowly being emitted from the tree. With a lot of struggle, she only manages to shift the gauntlets backwards, but only a tiny bit. Seeing how this won't be going anywhere, she lifts her right leg up a tiny bit, placing her right foot against the tree's bark, pushing herself against the tree whilst pulling the gauntlets back, her eyes locked onto the tree, moreso, the map that is stuck on it. As she looks over the alleyways that are on the map, her grip suddenly loosens and she pushes herself off against the tree, dropping onto her back with a cheerful giggle. The sun now bathing Aerdoria, it was quite a fun day, especially now that she has her gauntlets covered with bits of shredded treebark, that contrast so nicely against her armour. With herself on the grass, she raises her hands up before undoing her gauntlets slowly, but steadily and safely - releasing them before placing them next to herself. With her bare hands exposed, she lifts her head up a little - closing her eyes as she puts her hands under her head, closing her eyes.

[Paragon]

Aerdoria

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Crossbow	2
Gauntlets	1

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Preparing a Crossbow Bolt
•	Using Your Foot to Kickoff
•	Sawing with Teethed Gauntlets

Legend Becomes Reality

Good detail on the crossbow, but could have been a bit longer for more XP. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can work from there.