The Magnus Crafting Center felt pretty empty compared to the rest of campus. Perhaps it was because none of the crafting classes started until after lunch, but not even the student stores were open. The professors were in their offices, and once she reached the second story, not a soul was in sight. Feeling the eerie emptiness, she quickly unlocked her workshop and slipped inside, feeling almost like a thief in the night.

Walking over to the shelves where she’d had Camille put her new shinies, she was surprised to find way more weapons than she’d picked out. First, there was the original beginner bow she’d chosen, but next to it was the beautiful jade inlay she’d been coveting. Apparently, it hadn’t gone unnoticed. Next to that were the six daggers she’d picked out, plus what looked like half the rest of the jade collection there. Instead of one sword, there were three: the original sword she’d picked out, and two more in different styles, but again, with the jade inlay. Grinning, she ran her finger over the hilts of each weapon, just admiring them.

Obviously, Camille had decided to give her as many options as she could handle, because next to those was a box that when opened, proved to be more jade weapons: an axe, crossbow, flail, pretty spiked gauntlets, a hammer, mace, and a whip. Jade also finally noticed that in the nearby corner, there was now a spear and staff. Had she bought out the entire collection?

Singing at the top of her lungs, she grabbed the beginner bow and pushed a few knives into her bag. “Look at this stuff; isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you say my collection’s complete? Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl…the girl who has everything! I’ve got axes and bows a plenty. Swords and spears galore. You want daggers? I’ve got twenty! Camille cares, no big deal, she’ll buy more…”

Laughing at herself, she settled into her little comfort corner for a bit. She still had twenty minutes, and she needed a bit of a recharge after all that healing, so she started in on the massive collection of food, which had also grown in her absence, that Camille had left for her.

At ten to the hour, she gathered her stuff up and happily made her way to one of the courtyards that Stephen had pointed out to her as the beginning archery range. She was early, but still surprised to notice that besides her, there was just the instructor and one other student. She was still early, but...what was going on?

“Hi! Am I in the right place for beginning archery?” Her cheerful voice held notes of obvious confusion and doubt. The two turned to look at her.

“Ah, Jade! You’re here.” She recognized him as Viscount Carter Abas, one of the professors Stephen had introduced her to that night. She smiled and walked forward more confidently now that she knew she was in the right place, even if it still felt strange. “Come, now that you’re both here, we can start.”

She paused, staring at him in confusion once again. “Wait, you mean… We’re the only ones coming?”

Carter laughed at her shock. “Yes. Most of the other students have been using weapons all their lives, and most only take the beginner classes if they want to pick up something new. Archery is something that almost everyone knows, since it’s the safest way to kill monsters.” Well, okay. At least that made sense. Teach everyone ranged fighting so that you have a force who can come away with no casualties.

Seeming to ignore her inner musings, he went on. “Jade, meet Jeremy Fifield. Jeremy, this is Lady Jade Winward.”

Jade stepped forward, offering her hand to the skinnier redhead. His hair was combed over neatly, his hazel eyes shimmering with curiosity. He was lightly tanned, which mostly hid his freckles. His physique wasn’t anywhere near what she’d seen from most of the men around here, but it seemed firm and fit as he took her hand, bending over to brush his lips lightly against it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Jade.”

She smiled, then said softly, “The pleasure is mine.” He obviously wasn’t a noble since Carter had omitted any sort of title for him, but he had a conscientious bearing that spoke of confidence in what he knew. He let go and she let her hand fall to her side, ignoring her new little dot.

Carter was grinning. “Well, now that that’s done, let’s see where you’re at.” Jade watched as Jeremy immediately started putting on his arm guards and checking his bow. It looked like it had been well used before, and she started to feel a little nervous. Noticing this, Carter asked, “Is something the matter?”

Jade smiled ruefully and confessed. “I’ve never held a weapon before… I have absolutely no idea what to do.” She held out the beginner’s bow Camille had bought her. “I have a bow? But uhh… I don’t know how to put the protective stuff on. It’s just straps and leather to me.” She had pulled out the stuff Camille had put with her bow, but she had no idea how to use it, despite trying to surreptitiously watch Jeremy.

Carter came over, shaking his head. “I forgot you’re so new to everything. Here, let me help.” She could smell a weird mix of leather, wood, and something else she couldn’t quite place as he helped her into her gear. He explained the process patiently, double checking it to make sure it was on properly. She took the chance to study him properly. Bright blue eyes and sandy blonde hair tugged back into a short ponytail, he reminded her a bit of the Dread Pirate Roberts. The flowing white shirt and black pants only adding to her imagination. They finally got her buckled in, and Carter smiled. “Let’s have Jeremy go first. Watch his posture so you can mimic it.”

Jeremy smiled at her, having been waiting for them to finish. With confidence, he lifted his bow and nocked an arrow, sighting the target that looked to be maybe 30 feet away. Carter corrected him a little bit on his grip, and then he released, an arrow thunking into the outer ring. “Nine more.” Carter instructed quietly, and they both watched as Jeremy sunk arrow after arrow into the target, only missing entirely once. None of them were particularly close to the center bullseye, but he had at least moved closer from the outer ring.

She was nervous when Carter turned to her. “Your turn.” She walked up the range, having settled her quiver over her shoulder. Carter helped her get a feel for the right way to hold the bow and nock the arrow, and then stepped back to let her try on her own. Her first arrow flew way wide of her target, and she flushed. “Calm down. It’s not a competition. Just focus on the arrows.”

His voice was soothing, and she forced herself to take a few deep breaths, centering herself. When she nocked another arrow, it was done much more smoothly. Sighting the target, she let out a breath as she released, and gave a little jump and woot of excitement when it hit the outer ring. Triumphantly she turned to Carter and Jeremy, who were both grinning as well. “You’ve got it! Keep going.”

Elated that she’d managed to hit the target, she began to pull and shoot again. It almost felt like there was an auto-correct on her posture and movements, because she found herself sliding into them almost without thought. It just felt right, and she realized that was probably part of the correction of her siphoning experience. It was subtle, but also very helpful. If she hadn’t been starting from nothing, she might not have even noticed that it was like a good habit ingrained into her body.

Her arrows began to creep closer and closer to the center of the target, until on her 9th and 10th arrows, she hit dead center. Laughing in elation, she grinned and turned to celebrate with Jeremy and Carter. To her surprise, they were just staring at her in amazement, and Jeremy managed to choke out, “You’ve got to be kidding me… That can’t have been your first time holding a bow.”

Carter was staring at her in some sort of weird fascination, but there was a weirdly fanatical glint to his eyes. A little unnerved, her smile faded from her face as she questioned them, “Is something wrong?”

Carter shook his head, grinning. “Nothing, just that you’re apparently a genius. It usually takes months of practice to be able to shoot like that.” Oh, oops.

Smiling, she shrugged and tried to pass it off. “Oh, my special ability makes it so things come easily to me, so it’s a bit of a cheat.” She blushed a little, staring at the ground. She now felt a little bad that Jeremy, who’d been practicing for who knows how long, had been shown up by her on her first time on the range.

Carter asked curiously, “Check your archery skill. You should have it now, and I’m curious as to what it’s at.”

Startled, Jade nevertheless decided to check.

Archery Beginner 9 86%

She laughed a little nervously, then said quietly, “Beginner 9, 86%.” She heard Carter whistle as Jeremy shook his head.

“That’s just crazy. Does all your stuff grow this fast?” Jade considered Jeremy’s question, then shrugged.

“I haven’t really been checking the progress of stuff more than once a day. I knew my speed was fast, but that’s it.” Jeremy and Carter were both shaking their heads in awe.

Jeremy said ruefully, “Guess that means you won’t stay in this class very long.” She pondered this, then shook her head.

“Actually, I think I’ll stay here even when my skill advances. If I’m not wrong, the intermediate archery class has a lot more people?” Carter nodded, so she went on. “Besides, it would screw up my schedule. I’d rather have a smaller class so I can get more instruction.” She shrugged and grinned. Perhaps it was selfish of her, but she’d rather have a tutor than a class instruction. She’d learn more. “It might change, because I think I’m going to have to move my schedule around next week, but a least for now, I’ll just stay here.”

Carter nodded, since her logic made sense. “All right! Well, the best way to get better is to practice. Once you can hit bullseye ten times in a row, we’ll move you back to the next target.” The rest of the next thirty minutes was spent with her and Jeremy shooting until their quivers were empty and then collecting the arrows while Carter gave them tips and instructions on how to do better.

Both of them had managed to move on to the 50 foot targets by the end of their class time. Grinning, Jade held her hand up. “High five!”

Carter and Jeremy both just stared at her, and finally Carter asked, “What are you doing?”

Jade groused, grumbling as she walked straight up to Carter as she took his hand, forcing him through the motions of a high five. She mumbled poutily, “Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.” So Carter wasn’t really OLD, he was probably mid thirties like Stephen and Eric, but still. Both he and Jeremy burst into laughter.

“Is it something from your old world?” Jeremy asked curiously, and she nodded.

“It’s basically what people did to celebrate stuff. Like hey, you did a great job, high five! Or hey, we won, high five! Score, high five!” She didn’t mention the butt slapping. Probably too much for this world. She might give someone a heart attack if she tried, which really, almost made her want to try.

“I see. Then high five!” Jeremy put his hand up and Jade bounced like a little bunny to hit it, since him holding it at the top of his reach was way too high for her, but she was laughing as she managed to glance against his hand.

Carter was shaking his head, just laughing at her antics, and soon all three of them were giggling helplessly. Carter tried to calm down, but then one look at her and Jeremy would set him off again, and it was the same for them. It was only when other people started to show up and look at them laughing madly that they finally calmed down. It looked like the intermediate class was here. Grinning, she nodded to Carter as she said quietly, “Thanks for the help. See you Wednesday!” Glancing at her pocket watch, she realized she needed to hurry if she was going to make her small blades class on time. Quickly shoving her quiver and bow into her bag, she nodded in greeting to the students she passed.

“Hey Jade!” Jackson greeted her as she passed, grinning. Adam was by his side and grinned a greeting at her as well.

“Hey guys! Have fun with Carter. Catch you later!” She grinned and they nodded, shooing her out because they also knew she’d be late. She began a slow jog to her next training field destination, a bright grin on her face.

She had sunshine, friends, and new things to learn. What more could a girl ask for?