After shaking my head from the daze, I saw the most beautiful elven girl standing worried before me; her fair face dirtied by some smears of dirt, her long brown hair turned a mess from the tumble, and her emerald coloured eyes earnestly looking at me with concern. “Again, I’m so incredibly sorry.” She apologized, bowing her head slightly. “I should’ve been more careful running down the slope without watching my steps.”

“It’s fine." I told her, taking notice of the extremely shiny choker necklace she wore. "No need to apologize...” Focusing on the transparent spherical crystal in the center and the three different coloured lights floating within it—the colours being green, blue, and violet.

She sighed in relief, saying “Oh, thank the Goddesses you’re not angry.” As she then tried to wipe the dirt off the dark leather armour she wore, checked on the two sheathed blades strapped horizontally on her lower back, and turned her ankles to examine the heels of her leather boots.

Then a man suddenly came running down the slope towards us, politely insisting “Please stop being so reckless, milady, look at the incident you caused again.”

“I know, I know, I’ll try to be more careful, Jhan.” The girl replied, dismissing his concern.

“Please do better than try, milady. Your family has a reputation to uphold.” Seeing the man’s face closer, he appeared to be slightly older than the girl—as much as an Elf could look older—and had short styled up brown hair. He wore a simple brown robe with a light blue ringed pattern on all the edges, accented by a light blue scarf wrapped around his neck, and a staff with a simple wooden crescent design on his back. The man then turned to us pulling the sack of coins from his waist, saying “Please accept this as an apology, and I hope it's enough to keep quiet about this small incident.” Presenting the coins to me.

Pushing the coins back to him, I said “No worries, keep the coins, I’m sure it was just an accident anyways. Besides, it was my fault for standing in the middle of the road, I was too distracted for my first time being in Ven'Thyl.”

“Your first time? Then I welcome you to the great city of Ven’Thyl, and wish for you a splendid stay.” The man then turned to the girl, saying “Now we should probably be on our way, milady, we promised to return—”

“Wait!” The girl shouted, slowly walking towards me and trying to get a look at Odelia—who for some reason continued to try her best to use me as cover. “I thought I recognized her voice.” Telling the man, “Jhan, it’s her...it’s Master Odelia!”

I heard Odelia whisper behind me, “Damn...”

Grabbing the man’s attention, he peered at Odelia behind me and was taken back in surprise, “Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you, Lady Odelia!” deeply bowing his head towards her.

Reluctantly stepping out from behind me, Odelia said “Aahhh...what a coincidence to have met you here, Jhan, young Lady Fre’Nddare.”

“Fre’Nddare? Isn’t that one of the Noble Houses?” I recalled.

“A coincidence—no, more like fate, Master Odelia.” The girl smiled brightly, “And I thought I told you to stop calling me that. I don’t want to be addressed the same way my sisters and mother do, for I’m clearly not as old as they are.”

“I shall stop addressing you as such when you stop addressing me as your Master. As well as insisting every time you see me to be your archery teacher. There are far more capable and willing Trinity Archers who could teach you in the city, your father for example.” Odelia suggested.

“You know well and good that Father has no desire for teaching and is way too busy with the Council to ever have time to train me properly.” The girl mentioned, “And you’re right, there are plenty of willing Trinity Archers who could train me at my request, but everyone knows none are more capable than you and Father."

"I think there are a few." Odelia smugly smiled a little.

"You can't even say that with a straight face, Master Odelia.” She pointed out, “And even if there was someone equally as capable, only you and Father were the ones Grandfather ever accepted to train as his students, and are the only people left in the whole Kingdom who can reliably perform the Tri-Fusion Ritual without fail.”

“Her grandfather trained Odelia? And what’s this about a ritual?” I wondered, continuing to listen.

“Jhan, please stop her.” Odelia urged him to step in, “Ever since you told her that story when she was 5, she's been bothering me for over 15 years now, unlike her siblings who gave up in less than 2 years.”

“I’m once again terribly sorry, Lady Odelia,” The man apologized, “but you know as much as I do, the young Lady does as she pleases, and nothing I or anyone else could say would change the fact.”

Odelia sighed, “I know...” then said to the girl, “Young Lady Fre’Nddare, I’ll tell you once again, I retired from teaching over a 100 years ago, and I’ve no desire or plans to return to teaching whatsoever.”

“That’s news to me.” I thought, quietly listening to Odelia continue.

“You’d do better to earnestly start your archery training with another, or the public and other Houses will continue to question House Fre’Nddare—even more so the longer you continue to prolong your training.”

“She’s right, milady, the people—especially the other Noble Houses, still heavily question your father for allowing you not to attend Ven’Thyl Academy when you were of age. It’d be best for the House that you became a Trinity Archer as quickly as possible." The man agreed.

"Not unless Master Odelia’s the one teaching me." She stubbornly stated.

"But, milady, I truly believe you could be the first to accomplish the feat again, even with a late start to your training, your talent is still unmatched!” The man claimed, “Becoming a Trinity Archer before reaching the age of 100 hasn’t been accomplished since Great King Ven'Thyl first did so all those centuries ago. You would be known in the Kingdom as a ‘one in a millennium genius’, and would surely bring House Fre’Nddare all the accolades that come with it.” The man looked to rejoice at the thought, "Doesn't that sound amazing to you, milady?"

"Not even a little bit." She answered completely disinterested, still only focusing on Odelia who tried not to make eye contact with her.

What the man said confounded me, I instinctively spoke to Odelia, asking “Does becoming a Trinity Archer really take that long? Please say no.” All three of them looked at me in shock, as if they seemed to forget that I was even there, and then Odelia looked to have realized something.

“Oh right, the stranger I crashed into.” The girl said, staring at me with curiosity. “You seem to be quite close with Master Odelia, though if I recall not many are...Do you mind introducing yourself, stranger?”

But before I could answer, Odelia covered my mouth and strangely panicked, “He’s nobody! Ummm...just someone I met on the way back to the city, and...I’m escorting him because he asked me to show him the way to an inn.”

“Is that so?” The girl chuckled, pointing to Odelia’s hand covering my mouth.

Quickly removing her hand, Odelia whispered to me “Oh, please do not tell her why you are here.”

“Now that you can speak, mind introducing yourself?” The girl asked again, waiting curiously for my answer.

Keeping Odelia’s words in mind, I responded “Before I tell you, isn’t it polite to introduce yourself first before asking who I am?”

“You don’t know who I am?” The girl taken back by my cluelessness.

“Milady, he said it was his first time in the city.” The man reminded her.

“And I’m a bit clueless since I was born outside of the Kingdom, so I genuinely don’t know who you are, but should I?” Pretending not to know from their names above their heads—Lv.20 Myeyl Fre’Nddare, and Lv.50 Jhan Ilzt.

“Perhaps, but it’s a pleasant change of pace...” As she then unexpectedly brought her face towards mine and stared directly into my eyes.

“Uhh...is something wrong?” Moving my head back a bit.

“No. I just have a feeling telling me I don’t like you very much.” Making me curiously wonder why as she then gestured to Jhan, saying “This is my personal vassal and close friend Jhan, but if you ask me he’s more like my babysitter.”

“That last part was unnecessary to add, milady.” Showing me a quick bow before introducing himself, “Jhan Ilzt, currently a vassal of House Fre’Nddare, nice to meet you.”

“He’s about what I expected from someone watching over a noble, and he seems as insistently loyal to the girl as Odelia is to me.”

“And I'm Myeyl, but I'd prefer to be called Mye, or maybe Yeyl?” Introduction has herself too.

“She however is not what I expected from a noble, and knowing that she skipped out on the academy and archery lessons only makes her more odd to me.”

“Do not call her either of those things, and please always adress her as a Lady.” Jhan requested of me.

“You don’t have to listen to him, I know I don’t.” Myeyl said, playfully smiling at Jhan. “Now it’s your turn, who are you to Master Odelia?”

Glancing over at Odelia, I saw that she appeared to be nervous about what I was gonna say, and I quickly thought “I know Odelia said not to tell her, but this could be a great opportunity to make friends with one of the Noble Houses.” Though I decided to say, “It’s nice to meet you two, Jhan, Lady Myeyl. My name’s Eyes, and I’m actually just a friend of Odelia’s husband.”

“Oh, I understand why Lady Odelia was trying to keep you quiet then.” Jhan said, making his own conclusions.

“I don’t. I’ve never gotten to meet Master Odelia’s husband, what’s the big deal?” Myeyl questioned.

“Good thing you don’t listen to me or the gossip about Lady Odelia, milady.” Reminding her, “Don’t you remember the time when I told you that Lady Odelia was married, and then you kept asking more about it?”

“Oh, is that? I can’t believe you’d think so low of me, Master Odelia. You don’t have to hide that you’re married to a Dwarf, it makes no difference to me.” Myeyl assured Odelia.

Surprised by how easily they were misdirected from my true identity, Odelia smiled and said “Then I thank you for your understanding, young Lady Fre’Nddare.”

“Does that mean you’ll be my teacher then?” Myeyl asked, still optimistically hoping.

“Nope.” Odelia answered bluntly, but not accepting that answer, Myeyl pleaded and begged Odelia to reconsider.

Quietly observing their relentless back-and-forth, I took notice of how close Odelia really was to House Fre’Nddare. Not only did Myeyl and Jhan always address her respectfully, but Odelia didn’t actually look to be all that bothered by Myeyl asking her to be her Master. Along with the fact that Myeyl’s grandfather trained both Odelia and her father, who then could’ve possibly trained together making them more than likely friends or rivals with each other, creating an even closer bond with the House and Odelia.

Their undeniable connection was too strong to ignore, and I decided to go against Odelia's wishes, thinking "I’m sorry to do this, Odelia, but this will all be for the Kingdom you wish for. The Noble Houses are too valuable of a resource to let slip past simply because you won’t accept students other than myself, and could ultimately help me find the missing descendants. And after hearing how close you are to them and how open-minded Myeyl and her father are, House Fre’Nddare is the perfect Noble House to befriend first.”

“Pleeeeease!” Myeyl begged again.

“Umm...no.” Odelia rejected again.

Interrupting them, I asked “Odelia, may I speak with Myeyl in private for a moment?” Gesturing my head for her to take Jhan away.

“Wh-What about, Eyes?” Odelia nervously asked, unsure and worried about what I wanted to talk to Myeyl about.

“I just want to offer her an opportunity.” Grinning mischievously at Odelia and giving her a wink, causing her to look even more nervous—now sure about what I wanted to talk about. “Are you not going to let me speak with her?” Showing Odelia a serious look so she would agree.

Odelia let out a great big sigh, “Of course you can, Eyes.” reluctantly dragging Jhan away by his robe's collar—catching him off guard by her strange reaction towards me.

With the two of them walking quite a distance away, Myeyl asked “How did you do that? or more like why did Master Odelia willingly listen to you?”

“Beats me,” I shrugged, “maybe she just likes me more than you.”

Myeyl gave me a questioning look, “So what’s this opportunity you want to offer me?”

I smiled and told her, “First, why don’t I tell you who I really am, and why I’m here in the city with Odelia.” Myeyl suddenly looked intrigued in what I had to say, “I’m Odelia’s new student, and I’m here because she personally invited me to train with her in Ven’Thyl.”

“What?!” Myeyl loudly exclaimed, shocked by the news. “Why would—” When she looked over at Odelia in the distance, she saw Odelia avoiding her glance—already knowing what I just said to her. “How? I’ve been asking her for years and she’s only ever rejected me!”

“The how doesn’t really matter, but the opportunity I’m offering does.” Myeyl eagerly waited to hear, “Let’s just say I could convince Odelia to let you be her student too, but what would you give me to have such a great opportunity?”

“You can!? Really!?” Myeyl sounded extremely hopeful, “I can give you anything and everything my Noble House Fre’Nddare has to offer, you name it! So just please help me convince Master Odelia to let me be her student too, and I’ll forever be indebted to you. I promise on the name of my Noble House!” As she tightly gripped and held my hands together.

After she pleaded to me, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw a new Quest pop up, thinking “Bingo, there it is.”

Quest

A Stubborn Persistence:

Find a way to help the headstrong Myeyl convince her only desired teacher, Master Odelia, to accept her as a student, all before Myeyl turns 100 years in age.

Reward: Myeyl Fre’Nddare is forever indebted to you and will offer anything her Noble House can give. Failure : Myeyl will never become a Trinity Archer, and she never reaches her full potential. Time Limit: 80 Years

Will you accept:

*Choosing ‘No’ will lead to automatic Failure.*

[Yes] or [No]

“What a weirdly long time limit...Does the System actually expect us to be in this world for that long?” I wondered to myself; then thinking “If I have 80 years to complete this quest, does that mean Myeyl is 20 years old? I guess that’s mean we’re the same age then.” As I gladly accepted the Quest and called over Odelia and Jhan back to us.

“Eyes, you did not, did you?” Odelia asked, already seeming to know my answer.

“I did.” I chuckled, telling her “Accept Myeyl as your new student, and no you can’t object.”

Odelia let out another great big sigh, “If that is what you wish, Eyes, consider it granted.”

“Wait, are you really agreeing to accept me just like that, Master Odelia?” Myeyl asked, being surprised yet thrilled at the same time.

“Lady Odelia, I don’t understand. After all this time you always refused, but you’re listening to this young man here without questioning?” Jhan questioned, appearing completely baffled by the situation.

“Is there a problem, Jhan? Is this not also what you wanted?” Odelia asked him.

“No problem whatsoever, Lady Odelia, but knowing you it simply seems...out of character.” Jhan replied, carefully observing me. “Just who is this young man that you value in listening to? And why do you strangely switch to Common when you speak to him?”

“I cannot say. But know that he’ll be known to the whole Kingdom in time.” Odelia gave me a smile, then turned to Myeyl and said, “I’ll truly accept you as my student, Lady Myeyl, but as your Master, I simply request you to call me Odelia from now on, is that clear?”

“Absolutely!” Myeyl agreed with the brightest smile on her face, “Thank you, thank you, Odelia! I can’t tell you how much this means to me, how long I’ve waited for this day to come!” quickly giving Odelia a tight hug.

Smiling, Odelia said “It shouldn’t be me you’re thanking, Lady Myeyl.” She then gestured to me, “He should be the one receiving your thanks, after all without him I would’ve still refused you for years to come.”

Releasing Odelia from the hug, Myeyl looked to me and said, “It’s Eyes, right?

“That’s right.” I confirmed.

“Well Eyes, whatever it is you ever find yourself in need of, I swear I will use all of House Fre’Nddare’s power and influence to fulfill it.” She promised to me, “I will forever be in your debt, thank you.” holding her hand out for me.

I gladly shook Myeyl’s hand, and said “I’ll hold you to that.”

Quest Completed A Stubborn Persistence has been completed. Reward: Myeyl Fre’Nddare is forever indebted to you and will offer anything her Noble House can give.

“Can we start my training now, Odelia? Can we?” Myeyl enthusiastically asked, too happy and eager to stay still.

“No, not yet.” Odelia stated, “I still have to get Eyes acquainted and settled into the city, and it may even be a week before we can actually train.”

“A week?!” Myeyl exclaimed, “I can’t wait that long, I’m too excited now!”

“Yeah I have to agree with her, Odelia, I don’t want to wait a week for my training either.” Agreeing with Myeyl, “I’d prefer to start as soon as possible, maybe even tomorrow if we can.”

“See, Eyes, feels the same way.” Myeyl added.

“Is that what you wish for, Eyes? To start training tomorrow?” Odelia genuinely asked.

“Yes, please.” Telling her “That was going to be my choice between going to the House and exploring the city anyway.”

“Well, alright.” Odelia smiled, “How does tomorrow morning sound?”

“Yes! And we can even train where Father and Odelia trained!” Myeyl excitedly suggested to me.

“Oh...actually, I thought we’d be training separately.” I said to her.

“Why would you think that?” Myeyl asked.

“There’s no way I should tell her it’s because she’s lower level and hasn't even trained in archery yet.” So I instead said “I just thought we were in different leagues.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Myeyl sounded offended.

“I believe he meant that you're from a Noble House, milady.” Jhan clarified, “While he of course is a commoner—a city outsider at that.” I raised a finger to stop Odelia as she didn’t seem to like that description of me.

“Oh, if that's what you meant, don’t worry about it.” Myeyl smiled brightly, not caring about our statuses. “After all we’re the same, fellow students of Odelia.”

“Wow, that’s great to know...” Thinking, “I may not want to train with her because she might slow me down, but her seemingly open-mindedness about Odelia being married to a Dwarf and being alright that I’m a commoner makes her a pretty good person in my book. And is most definitely the most perfect person I could’ve befriended.”

Coughing loudly to get our attention, Odelia said “Actually I’ll be deciding whether you two will training together, though I think we will visit House Fre’Nddare tomorrow morning.” Telling us, “At which point I’ll assess both of your skills and determine whether or not you’re on the same archery level as each other, and then plan your training accordingly to your different results.”

Impressed that Odelia actually took command of us, I decided to listen and said, “Sounds good to me.”

“Me too!” Myeyl happily agreed, “And I can’t wait to see Father’s reaction when I tell him about today. He always told me you would accept eventually if I just didn’t give up, and today you did, Odelia.”

“Haha...Goddesses, I hate him so much sometimes.” Odelia laughingly stated, “Can’t even be bothered to train any one of his children, and instead sends all who wish to come begging towards me.”

Myeyl laughed and said, “Yup, but unlike the others I never gave up, and for that I get to be trained by the greatest teacher in all the Kingdom—Odelia the Trinity-Maker!”