Hearing Myeyl call the voice Father, I immediately turned around to see a gorgeous elven man with longish, finely styled, chocolate brown hair walking towards us; dressed in a surprisingly simple white cross string shirt, black trousers, and black boots. We were about the same height and build, but I was slightly taller, and he was slightly more built, though I could tell he had a natural presence of regalness about him—something I obviously didn’t have.

“So that’s Myeyl’s father? Well I can definitely see where she gets her looks from.” I thought to myself, seeing their family resemblance—with their same emerald coloured green eyes, their exact shade of chocolate brown hair, and their very similar facial features.

“That I am, my little emerald.” He replied to Myeyl; telling her “I just got back from the Council meeting, but after I changed my clothes, I was informed you were still training in the courtyard, so I thought I’d come to observe. Now what did I miss?”

“Well Father, we simply spent a few minutes showing Odelia how well we could shoot, but she was currently showing us a demonstration of each of the Archery Styles to help Eyes decide what he wanted to train in first.” Myeyl explained to him.

The man then turned towards me and looked me directly in the eyes, saying “So you’re Odelia’s mysterious new student...” Staring as if he was trying to read me, “Eyes, is that correct?”

“That's correct, Lord Fre’Nddare.” I answered, while giving him a deep bow to show my respect. “And may I just say it’s an honour to meet you, as well as be invited into your beautiful home.” In the corner of my eye, I saw Odelia twitch at my words and actions, but she stopped herself from exposing me.

“Much more polite than I expected from someone who I was told claims to be an outsider, but I’m sure that’s not the only reason Odelia accepted another student after all this time.” Circling me while he talked, “Speaking of which, I heard that you’re the main reason my dear little emerald was finally accepted by Odelia as her student, is that true?”

“I mean it is true, but I wouldn’t say I’m the only reason she was accepted, Lord Fre’Nddare.” Telling him “Odelia may hide it, but if she didn’t actually want to train Lady Myeyl in the first place, she wouldn’t be here right now doing so.”

“Hmmm...I wouldn’t be so sure about that, for I’ve known Odelia longer than any other—including her House or her husband." He claimed, sounding so sure himself. “I know exactly just how headstrong and steadfast she can be, so I wouldn't have even been surprised if she never accepted Myeyl as a student for decades.”

“Wow, he does know her.” I thought to myself, remembering how the time limit for Myeyl’s Quest was 80 years. “But it’s strange to think he knows Odelia longer than Drune or the House.”

He then seemed to have thought of something, and said “I can save what I have to say until after, but for now why don’t I personally demonstrate the other Archery Styles for the two of you?”

“Really, Father!?” Myeyl shouted in excitement.

“Of course. It would be an honour to see your skills firsthand, Lord Fre’Nddare.” I said, bowing to him again.

“I thought you didn’t want to affect or influence any of your children’s training, Zebey?” Odelia asked, smugly crossing her arms.

“I didn’t." He responded, "I've always wanted them to find their own way of doing things—a path they alone choose, and they alone walk. That’s why I allowed them to choose to attend the Academy or not, but in this case, Myeyl is special." He smiled at Myeyl and she smiled back. "As you know, she was the only one who chose to not attend the Academy, so I think a little of my influence will be good for her.” Pointing out, “She is behind on her training after all, no thanks to a stubborn somebody.” looking at Odelia as he said so.

Ignoring his gaze, Odelia gestured for him to go ahead, saying “Be my guest, but I’ve already shown them the Range Style, so why don’t you show them the Magic Style next?”

“Oh, I’d love to.” Smugly smirking at Odelia while he stood in the center of the platform and faced towards the waters.

Then the moment he raised his empty right hand, Odelia explained “The Magic Style is the most versatile and imaginative of the 3 Styles, allowing one to alter and enhance their arrows in all sorts of different ways. But to truly embrace and master the Style, one must essentially learn to physically manipulate and wield their mana to a point at which physical bows or arrows are no longer needed.” When she finished speaking, we suddenly watched a blue bow begin to take form in the Lord’s hand; and taking only about 10 seconds to do so, the bow took the shape of a simple longbow design, and was completely made out of pure mana.

"I didn't see him do anything out of the ordinary, but maybe I should be looking a lot closer to see if I can figure out how it works." I then changed to the Eye Of An Elder Cyclops and saw the constant steady flow of mana focused into each of his hands. "Looks like he's fully controlling all the mana inside of him and emitting it out of his hands, but I’m sure it’s not as easy as he’s making it look.” We watched him easily form a mana-arrow as he drew the bowstring of the mana-bow—though strangely the tip of the arrow was round and circular.

When Odelia saw the arrow was fully drawn, she continued to explain “One of those different ways in particular is the most basic Explosive Arrow Skill, and it is almost exclusively used to cause widespread destruction on the battlefield.” And as soon as she finished speaking, the arrow was released with such surprising force that my hood was almost blown right off from the wind pressure alone.

Barely following the rocket of an arrow with my eyes, it flew straight past the stone pillars of the platform—cracking the ones it passed near—and soared right over the vast waters. A moment passed, and when the arrow reached about 500m away, it abruptly exploded into an enormous light blue coloured dome. Soon after we all got hit by the immensely strong shockwave of the explosion, so much so that Myeyl and I had to brace ourselves to not be knocked over, while some of the cracked pillars dangerously toppled over; yet simply standing tall, Odelia and Lord Fre’Nddare smugly smirked at each other.

“What the hell was that?! It was like a giant bomb just went off! How is that considered a basic Skill?!” I questioned, quickly reverting my eye back to normal while they weren’t looking.

“Apologies. It’s been a while since I last shot an arrow,” Lord Fre’Nddare explained, “so I may have used too much power on that one.” He relaxed his hands and made the mana-bow dissipate away.

“You definitely did, but you knew what you were doing, Zebey.” Odelia smiled, shaking her head at him.

“That was amazing, Father! I always knew you were powerful, but not that powerful! And to think my teacher is someone just as equally powerful!” Myeyl exclaimed, staring at both her father and Odelia with admiration.

“I don’t know if I would say she’s equally as powerful—almost as powerful is more like it.” Lord Fre’Nddare confidently stated.

Odelia loudly exhaled, “Zebey, don’t even start. We both know it’s the other way around, or do want to come and prove it otherwise?” Though after a brief staredown, they simply jokingly laughed at each other.

“Well maybe they were equally as powerful, but I wouldn’t say that anymore.” Briefly using the Eyes Of A Seer to compare Lv.85 Odelia Ven’Thyl to Lv.80 Zebeyeyl Fre’Nddare, “But it’s interesting to see that Odelia doesn’t even refer to him by his full name, and instead uses a nickname. Looks like they really have known each other for a long time.”

“Why don’t you allow me to demonstrate the Combat Style, okay Zebey?” Odelia asked, already holding her bow in one hand and her sword in the other.

“I don’t think you were really asking, but go ahead. I didn’t bring out my bow or sword anyway.” Zebeyeyl mentioned, while stepping back a little.

Positioning herself a few meters in front of a dummy, Odelia explained “The Combat Style is the fastest of the 3 Styles, focusing mostly on close quarter fighting—whether it be with your arms and legs, a weapon of choice, or a sturdy bow.” Then barely following her movements too, I watched Odelia swiftly dash towards the dummy, go into a slide, and break the wooden post the dummy stood on with a sliding kick. As the dummy fell towards her, Odelia extended her other leg straight upwards, kicking and sending the dummy incredibly high in the sky, and jumped up right after it.

In that split second she floated in the air slightly above the dummy, Odelia quickly shouted “This next Skill is very advanced, but I can’t let you show me up in front of my students, Zebey!” Her bow and sword then began to glow with a purple aura around them, and with incredibly fast movements, Odelia swung her sword in a flurry of slashes at the dummy, slicing it up into little tiny pieces, and leaving only the head intact. She finished by shouting “Earth Piercer!”

As soon as Zebeyeyl heard those words, he panicked, quickly grabbing Myeyl and me and throwing us right over his shoulder. He then jumped into the air as high as he could, and shouted back “Warn me next time! And hold back a little, will you!” But Odelia had a wicked smile on her face.

We then watched the purple aura around her bow and sword intensify as she brought the hilt of the sword to the bowstring—almost as if it was an arrow—and in one smooth motion drew the bowstring back; though as she did so, all the purple aura rapidly flowed right into the sword, as it was then released straight down at the dummy’s head she kept intact. Easily piercing through the straw, the sword went flying directly into the center of the stone platform, and explosively crashed and embedded itself deep into the ground, leaving only the very end of the handle exposed. With the bird's eye view we had, we could see all the damage that single attack caused—basically destroying the whole platform into countless perfectly shattered stone pieces, causing all the already damaged stone pillars to fully collapse, and even causing Jhan outside to stumble and fall from the sheer impact of the attack.

While we fell back down, I was simply amazed at their display of strength, thinking “These two are insanely strong! Is this what the power of two Trinity Archers can do? And can I be just as strong when I become one?”

“That was absolutely incredible!” Myeyl shouted, hopping off her father’s shoulder and running over to Odelia.

Also getting off, I said “Thank you for saving me, Lord Fre’Nddare.” Though when I tried to bow, he stopped me.

“There’s no need for that. And please, call me Zebeyeyl—well at least in private training like this.” He smiled.

And as we watched Myeyl shower Odelia with praise and compliments, I decided to compliment him too, saying “Your Magic Style demonstration was equally as impressive, Lord Zebeyeyl.”

“I’m glad you thought so, Eyes,” As he then directed his attention to my back, “but I noticed that you carry quite a unique looking quiver on your person, and I’ve been dying to ask if you could perhaps share where you found such an item?”

“Uhmm...I guess you could say it was a gift from a beautiful goddess.” I truthfully told him, smirking because it was technically true.

“A goddess, you say? Well I guess beautiful women do seem like that sometimes.” He replied, not taking my words in a literal sense. “I also wanted to point out that my daughter carries Odelia’s first bow, is it yours?”

“It is. Is something wrong with that?” I questioned.

“Not at all. It’s just that I haven’t seen that bow in over 250 years...” Zebeyeyl seemed to get nostalgic as he looked at the bow from afar,

“250 years?! ” I exclaimed to myself, “They don’t even look a day over 30, so just how old are these two?”

Finishing reminiscing to himself, Zebeyeyl turned back to me, and said “The more I think about it, the more I find your quiver very alluring to me. So if you don’t mind, may I see?" Not wanting to refuse his request, I happily handed over Infinity to him; and he examined it with the same fascination, intrigue, and mannerisms Odelia did when she did so in Asheton.

After thoroughly examining the quiver, Zebeyeyl handed it back, asking “I believe you’re staying at House Ven’Thyl, are you not?”

“How does he know that?” I wondered, responding with “I am.”

“Then have you already joined their House?” He asked, curiously.

“Uhhh...I guess in a way I have, but why do you ask?” Curious why that would matter.

“In truth, I have this strange feeling that there’s something different about you...." Examining me with his eyes, "And if that quiver you're carrying is what I think it is, it means that you’re no ordinary person for owning it, and I am more than sure Odelia came to that very same conclusion when she decided to accept you as her own student.” Zebeyeyl then gestured a hand out towards me, saying “Knowing those facts, I cannot help but to offer you an exclusive opportunity to join the Noble House Fre’Nddare—one as my personal vassal, and two as my first ever archery student.”

Quest Completed

A Noble’s Impression and the bonus Hidden Quest has been completed:

Find a way to greatly impress the Head of House Fre’Nddare.

Demonstrate amazing archery ability to Zebeyeyl Fre’Nddare, and have him acknowledge your incredible potential.

Reward: An invitation to become a Vassal for House Fre’Nddare. Hidden Reward: Accepted as Zebeyeyl Fre’Nddare’s first ever archery student.

“I...I don’t know what to say.” I stammered, unsure how to respond to the offer and the Quest. “What do I do here?”

“Say yes of course, what else is there to say?” Zebeyeyl smiled, confident in what my answer will be. “You may even consider it my personal thanks for helping Myeyl be accepted as Odelia's student if that makes you feel better—or perhaps my personally belief in your clear potential to become strong and invaluable to a Noble House.”

“Your offer sounds great, Lord Zebeyeyl, but I’ve already joined House Ven’Thyl, and I’m already going to be taught by Odelia. I just don’t think I can get out of either of those situations that easily, so I’m sorry to say, but I’ll have to decline your very generous offer.” Thinking “Especially since I’m the head of House Ven’Thyl, and I could never face any of House again if I just abandoned them to join a Noble House.”

Zebeyeyl let out a little laugh, “Haha...If that’s all you're concerned about, don’t be worried. I can personally resolve all those matters in a single day, have you join my Noble House soon after, and get you settled into the Fre’Nddare Manor in no time. So, what do you say?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about all that.” But before I could respond to Zebeyeyl’s insistence, Odelia came rushing in front of me and aggressively pushed him away from us.

“Sorry, but I couldn’t take overhearing your blasphemous conversation any longer, Zebeyeyl.” Odelia’s voice and expression shifted to her very serious ones. “Know for one that Eyes is off limits, for he already plays an integral part of House Ven’Thyl, and we would never allow him to be a mere servant of any House—Noble or otherwise.”

Taken back by Odelia's sudden seriousness, Zebeyeyl looked concerned and said “Wait outside, Myeyl. Now.” Confused by the abrupt mood change, Myeyl reluctantly listened to her father anyway and left the silenced area to where Jhan stood. Composing himself, he calmly addressed Odelia, “I haven’t heard you speak to me like that in decades, Lia, and you never call me by my name. So tell me, what’s wrong?”

“Lia? I’ve heard Drune and the House call her O’de, but I’ve never heard Lia before.” I thought to myself, wondering about the name.

“Is there a problem in House Ven’Thyl? Or maybe with Lady Verana’s health?” Zebeyeyl inquired, sounding genuinely concerned over either.

Covering her mouth with her hand, Odelia said “No, there’s nothing wrong, Zel. I was simply slightly irritated by the lack of respect you were showing to Eyes since you met, and the reversed roles you were about to place onto him as a vassal of your House.”

“Lack of respect? Reversed roles? What are you talking about, Lia?” Zebeyeyl questioned, unsure what she was referring to. “And wait, this isn’t about you being angry at me for attempting to steal your student from you?”

“Of course not.” Odelia assured him, “If Eyes wishes you to teach him, then who am I to stop his wishes. You are my equal after all, and I wouldn’t trust anyone else but you to take my place to ensure he reaches his full potential.”

“Well clearly there is something wrong if you're hiding your mouth from being read, so what really is it?” He insisted.

“Look Zel, I don’t have permission to tell you anything yet, but if you really wish to know, come to House Ven’Thyl later and ask the new Head of the House yourself." Odelia informed, still covering her mouth, "He'll tell you why Eyes cannot join your own, and why he’s not fit to be anyone’s mere vassal.”

“Woah, Odelia must really trust him if she’s willing to tell him about me.” Surprised by their trust in each other, “They must've really known each other for a long time if that’s the case.”

Hearing that fact, Zebeyeyl now looked shocked and also covered his mouth to speak, “A new Head? Who? When? Why?"

"Like I said, I don’t have permission to say." Odelia stated

"No wonder you covered your mouth…” Zebeyeyl then recalled, “Wait, is that why a barrier suddenly appeared around your House?" but Odelia stayed quiet. "Well besides that, there should be no one in your House who could replace Lady Verana so easily—be it the city or the Kingdom for that matter; and I always believed you or Captain Aelthar would be next to succeed Lady Verana, but your secrecy tells me otherwise.”

“I’m sure you and everyone else saw the Bouncing Stars Of Warning, Zel. We are at the cusp of great change, but I assure you at least one of those will be for the better.” Odelia snuck a wink towards me as she said so.

“Hmmm...you know it’s still a horrible idea to go there. Your House hates the Nobles, and being seen there will only cause more people to question my House’s decisions.” Zebeyeyl reasoned.

“Well don’t be seen then.” Odelia smugly stated, removing her hand from her mouth, “Like old times.”

“Like old times, huh? You know those old times always got us in trouble with Father, right?” Zebeyeyl also removed his hand from his mouth.

“They did, but remember that time when Master chased us all around the city for hours?” Odelia happily recalled.

“How could I forget, we almost died when he started shooting arrows to slow us down, remember?” Both their moods brightened from the memory and began laughing together after reminiscing about another.

Seeing that they were both distracted recalling and reminiscing about the past, I snuck out of the silenced area, and walked towards Myeyl and Jhan. “I think that’s it for training today.” I said, disappointed I didn’t learn anything, but glad to have experienced some of Odelia and Zebeyel’s power.

“I thought as much. I mean they did basically destroy the whole back courtyard.” Myeyl said, pointing out how the shockwaves of their attacks ravaged the entire courtyard. “Oh, here’s your bow back by the way. It was great to use, even for a little bit.” We exchanged back our bows, “So, did you decide on a Style you want to start training in?”

“Umm…I’m pretty confident in general archery, so I think I’m leaning towards Magic or Combat to learn more.” Contemplating the two choices.

“If you pick Combat we can train together, what do you say?” Myeyl suggested.

“Sounds tempting, but I don’t think I could keep up with your…talent, Myeyl. So maybe I’ll just go with Magic.” Thinking “I have a strange feeling I would end up as her punching bag if we trained in Combat together.”

“Too bad, I might’ve even shown you a few tricks I learned with the dual-blades.” She proudly claimed.

“That is too bad, but I better get going now.” Noting that Odelia and Zebeyeyl were still talking, “You know, before Odelia notices I left and follows me everywhere I go.”

“Oh, I know the feeling.” Myeyl gave Jhan a funny look, but he continued to mind his own business. “Well I guess I’ll see ya later then, but don’t be afraid to come visit. ” I gave her a wave as I left the same way we entered from.

After I left the mansion grounds, I immediately sensed that I was being followed., however I couldn’t tell exactly where they were without letting the person know I noticed them following me. “Seeing how they followed me right after I left, it’s probably just someone sent from Myeyl’s House to keep an eye on me.” I thought to myself, walking along the paved path towards the direction of the Roots. “I was gonna go check out the black market today, but with someone following me, I guess I’ll go on another day. Don't wanna add more suspicion to myself.” Continuing my way to the Roots.