In the end, Zaos couldn't help but frown after the training session since his father didn't force him to talk more about the mission. He was strangely quiet for some reason…

Zaos planned to study the mechanisms of the rapid-fire crossbows at some point, but the research to find a way to heal his mother was the top priority. That being said, after training with his father. Zaos decided to test the weapons at least once while using them alongside his magic.

In the end, things worked even better than expected. While he couldn't enchant all the bolts inside the box, he could see the next bolt that could be fired, and thanks to it, he could enhance it.

"With a bow, I can fire an enhanced arrow once every second, but with this crossbow I can be two times faster," Zaos nodded to himself in satisfaction.

The crossbow itself could be two times faster, but Zaos couldn't enhance bolts that fast… at least not yet. Regardless, Zaos resumed his research, and after lunch, he headed toward the castle where he found Ameria training alone again.

"Where is the blockhead?" Zaos asked.

"I don't know, it seems someone invited him to play somewhere in the city again," Ameria said. "That is becoming quite frequent later."

"You sound a bit unhappy," Zaos said. "Drannor has other friends aside from you."

"It is not about that, it is just really annoying that I am practicing here hard while he is strolling around town with some girls," Ameria said.

"I see… you are jealous," Zaos said.

"I am not jealous!" Ameria protested. "Like I said, he is fooling around while I train hard, and alone."

What a difficult girl… Zaos almost let out a sigh. Despite saying that, it was obvious that she was jealous. While she may not have any romantic feelings toward Drannor, perhaps she was feeling jealous like a little sister when she sees her brother paying less attention to her and spends more time with other girls. Regardless, Zaos had no interest in getting himself involved in that.

"Show me how much you progressed in the last weeks," Zaos said.

"Always direct to the point…" Ameria said and then sighed.

As it turns out, Ameria could already enhance arrows with water magic three out of four times. As for her skills with Earth and wind magic, she barely fails, and their power was more than enough even to pierce the thickest full plate armors that he had seen so far. 

"I guess this is it, once you learn how to enhance arrows with fire magic you will just have to become faster," Zaos said. "Not that you actually have two, since you are not going to any battlefield."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Ameria said. "Anyway, isn't there anything else that you can teach me?"

"... No, besides with those skills you are already better than most archers," Zaos replied. "Just focus on improving the basics and you will be good to go."

"What was that pause for?" Ameria frowned.

"I was just wondering what I will have for dinner today," Zaos replied. "Anyway, this is how you can cast Fire Sword and this is how you can customize it."

Fortunately, Zaos won't have to teach Ameria much more. Although he was kind of impressed that she made that much progress in just two months, he had better things to do than make her become an even more fearsome archer.

"Hey, Zaos, did you already receive the invitation for the next birthday party?" Ameria suddenly asked. "This time, one of Drannor's friends is getting older."

"No, I am relieved about that," Zaos said. "If I were one of that blockhead's friends, I wouldn't invite too many boys. That would make things easier for them."

"Competition?" Ameria frowned. "Despite everything you still don't consider him a friend?" 

"I should at least have the right to pick my friends… but I am not talking about that," Zaos said and then sighed.

Although she was smart, Ameria still was pure-hearted, so she couldn't understand that one way for a boy to make himself more popular was to invite more girls than boys to their parties. Zaos decided to keep quiet about that because otherwise, she will start to overanalyze the kids around her age.

  Ameria had said that Drannor didn't show up in three days, but then on the next day, he appeared, and considering his first question, Zaos already imagined why he suddenly returned.

"Zaos, how was your job?" Drannor asked.

"It went as smoothly as possible," Zaos said. "I obtained 50 gold coins practically for free."

"Really?" Drannor asked with an annoying smile on his face. "Your father told me that you headed to the West and a few days ago, I heard some rumors that a group of bandits was defeated there. You did that, right?"

It was very annoying how perceptive Drannor could be at the worst possible times. In the end, he only came to make him waste time since even Ameria's interest was picked by it.

"I thought that nothing happened since you didn't look hurt or different, did you really defeat a group of thieves by yourself?" Ameria asked.

"Focus on your training, and you… how many times do I have to tell you not to cause problems to me?" Zaos said after taking a deep breath.

"Sorry, but I was really…" Drannor said.

"Whatever, don't make us waste time here," Zaos said. "I don't have as much free time as you, so I have to make the most of my time."

"Are you training as much as before?" Drannor asked.

"No, I am doing some research," Zaos replied.

"About what?" Drannor asked.

"About…" Zaos said and then frowned.

  Drannor certainly had ways to make someone comfortable while talking, but before he could fall for that trap, Zaos realized and decided to ignore him. Once he did that, Zaos had a productive afternoon. However, once he arrived at home, his mother showed him with a smile on her face, the invitation to another party.

"Why can't I have a single month where things can go exactly as I plan?" Zaos asked while facepalming.