“Aww, come on, Odelia. Don’t be mad.” I said, following her to the other end of the library.

“I am not mad, my Lord, just disappointed you left me.” Odelia expressed, opening the doors and leading me further down the floors.

“Oh, don’t be like that. I was only gone for like an hour or two, and besides, I met an interesting person while I was gone.”

Odelia's ears perked up, “And who would that be?”

“Cyspar Baen’Mtor.”

“Cyspar? I have not seen him since he was a little boy.” Odelia recalled, “Well I hope your exchange with him was pleasant at the least.”

“It was. He offered me drinks at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“At the Adventurer’s Guild?” She repeated, peeking her interest, “Now that I think about it, I did hear he was an adventurer with Thereyl and Lualaf as his other party members.”

“Who are–” But before I could ask about his other party members, my attention was distracted by two solid stone and metal doors with intricate magical runes written all over them. “What’s this?” I asked, redirecting my question.

“Oh, that is just the 10th floor.” Odelia casually answered, continuing past them.

“Woah, woah, woah. I’m talking about why is it magically sealed off?” Pointing out, “The other floors weren’t like this?”

“Oh, my mistake, Lord Eyes, it seems like I forgot to inform you.” Odelia apologized with a bow before explaining, “The 10th floor is the House Treasury, and for that reason alone makes it the most secure floor in the whole House as it holds countless valuables within its walls.”

“Like?”

“Coins and treasures that have been collected for centuries to fund the House, a myriad of items and gear recovered from past members who have fallen in the search for the Descendants, and from what I hear a miscellaneous collection of peculiar relics and artifacts.” She informed me.

“Sounds like everything I need!” I thought to myself; eagerly asking “Would you mind opening the doors for me? I’d love to see the treasury in person.”

“Sadly I cannot, Lord Eyes. Only the Head of the House knows how and is able to open them, along with being the only ones even allowed to enter the treasury in the first place.” Telling me, “However you will still first need to ask Verana to show you how to open them, otherwise the runes will reject even you from entering them right now.”

“Too bad...” Thinking, “If the coins and treasures are meant to fund the House, maybe I shouldn’t take any, and I should probably treat the items and gear the same if the previous owners are fallen past members; but I should still ask Verana to show me the treasury some other time.”

“Shall we continue, Lord Eyes?” I nodded and she led me down even more stairs.

When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, we arrived in a small dimly lit room; old weapons racks all along the walls, dull and rusted weapons scattered on the floor, unused targets and straw dummies piled up together in a corner, and a single wooden door on the opposite side the room.

“Pardon the mess in the storage room, my Lord, it has been quite a while since any of us have been down here.” Odelia apologized, “I will make sure it is cleaned for next time, but for now onto the last floor of the House.” We headed for the opposite door and she gladly opened it, saying “Welcome to the 11th floor, the Training Chamber.”

When I walked through the door, I was blasted by the heavy scent of soot and dust in the air, but I found myself standing on a small railing-less platform overlooking a large cylindrical stone brick chamber. Spread all along the walls of the chamber were multiple targets with varying degrees of damage; some with old scorch marks, others with holes made from different thrown weapons or arrows, and a few dozen that were completely burnt black or destroyed. Looking down I guessed we were at least 50ft high, and looking up there was another 50ft more above us. But looking back down on the ground of the chamber, I could see multiple target dummies with similar damages to the ones on the walls—all with the addition of a few large slashes and bisected targets.

There was very little of the walls that weren't scorched or not covered in soot, but the parts that weren’t showed me small and intricate runes written all throughout the bricks. "Must be runes to protect the walls from being damaged." I figured, seeing the walls—besides the cover of soot—were completely fine and undamaged.

Embarrassed by the state of the chamber, Odelia apologized again “I am so sorry, Lord Eyes! I did not know the floor was in such a state! It is so rarely used anymore, but I will ensure it gets cleaned up for the next time we train here!”

“It’s fine, Odelia. It doesn’t bother me, as long as I can still train here.” I then pointed to the single door on the ground opposite us, and asked “By the way, where does that go?”

“That is the Soil entrance, my Lord. But it too is rarely used anymore," Stating, "for the others and I do not wish to deal with the hassle of climbing up the stairs.”

“The House only technically has 11 Floors, but the Sky Tree itself is still well over 250ft tall, and that means a whole lot of stairs." Then saying, "Okay, now how do we get down from here?” as I didn't see any stairs or ladders leading down.

“It seems the training ropes have been incinerated, but you can try climbing down the walls if you would like.” Odelia suggested, pointing out how the brick walls were designed to climb on. She then handed me her bow and without hesitation leaped from the platform. Though holding her bow for the first time, I took a quick look at it as she fell.

Odelia’s Pride

Epic

Attack: 1190

+230 Strength

+200 Magic

+170 Agility

Effect: Increases damage by 1.5% the closer you are to the target, up to 45%.

Requirement: Lv.70, Str 700

“Odelia’s Pride, huh? If Shame was the worst bow she created, Pride must be the best bow she created. But what are these ridiculous looking Stats on it? Are all Lv.70 weapons like this?” I wondered, turning my attention back to Odelia.

Watching her fall down 50ft, she landed perfectly into a roll and got like it was absolutely nothing to her. Dusting herself off, she shouted “If you are scared, I can always just catch you, Lord Eyes!”

I scoffed at her and thought, “50ft is a long way down, but maybe it isn’t so bad if Odelia can do it. Plus, it could be a perfect time to check out the fall damage here.”

Making up my mind, I threw down her bow to her and followed her lead, jumping from the platform and readying myself for the impact. The fall was quick, but when my legs made contact with the ground, I suddenly heard loud cracking and breaking in my ankles and knees; and when I tried to follow it up with a roll like Odelia did, I ended up slamming my body hard against the stone brick ground, all culminating in me losing a third of my Health instantly.

"Ahhhhh!" I yelled out, feeling an immense aching pain coming from all over my body, "Fuck that was a stupid idea!"

Odelia immediately came rushing towards me shouting in a worry, “Lord Eyes!” but quickly trying to ease the pain, I started to spam multiple First Aids on myself. Odelia seemed surprised as I did so, “Lord Eyes, how are you healing yourself? What Skill are you using?”

“What? It’s just First Aid, didn’t you learn it when you were a Ranger Class too?” I questioned, still flustered from the pain—casting more First Aids on myself.

First Aid increased by 1 Level.

“Of course not. Learning Skills is different from person to person, so in general two people of the same Level and Class could have completely different Skills from one another.” She elaborated, “For example; I used a Skill I created called Earth Piercer at House Fre’Nddare earlier, but even after a century of mimicking me, Zebey still has not completely learnt it from me yet—it is the same for me with his equivalent Sky Piercer."

The pain made it hard to fully grasp everything Odelia was telling me, but I watched my Health slowly return to full and the pain begin to subside. “My legs would’ve shattered if I had a normal body, but good thing it isn’t.” Sighing in relief, I slowly got up to check if I was truly okay, and with a little movement in my legs, I knew I was alright.

Odelia was still rambling, “Even so, I have never met an Archer Class who has learnt the First Aid Skill before, so it is truly amazing you know it, my Lord. And if I recall correctly, usually only Beastmaster Rangers tend to learn the Skill in the wilderness—they use it to heal themselves and their beast companions in combat.”

“A Beastmaster?” My ear perked up at the thought.

“Yes, though none choose to live in the city as their beasts do not fit very well with a domesticated lifestyle.”

“Awww, having a beast companion sounds fun. Kind of makes me wish I picked a Ranger.” Changing my thoughts, I said “Odelia, you said learning Skills is different for each person, right?” she nodded yes, “Then can you tell me if any of my other Skills are out of the ordinary?”

“It would be my pleasure, my Lord.” She gladly expressed, giving me a little bow, “I have been looking forward to experiencing the true extent of your abilities for quite a while now.”

“Then let me show you.” As I then drew Shame and then shot a Power Shot straight at a charred target dummy.

Odelia looked unimpressed, telling me “Power Shot, the first Skill any Ranger learns, but becomes very obsolete when compared to an Archer’s Piercing Shot.”

“Okay, then how about this.” I casted Turning Arrow and shot it directly at Odelia.

Unflinching to my attack, Odelia’s head followed the arrow as it curved around her body and hit the dummy directly behind her. “Turning Arrow is a fundamental Range Style Skill; it takes years to learn and master it, but when one does master it, your arrows will never miss a target you do not want them to.” She turned back to me with an impressed expression on her face, “How did you learn it at such a young age, my Lord?”

“Well technically the System just gave me the Skill when I was showing 13 some trick shots, but I guess I can’t say that to Odelia.” Instead I answered with, “My uncle was a bit of a show off when it came to archery, but when I saw something he could do with a bow that I couldn’t, I spent all my time annoying him until he gave in and taught it to me too, and that's pretty much how I learned everything I know.”

"He must have been some great teacher." Odelia smiled warmly.

“I guess he was…” Shaking my head of the sad thought, I continued to display my other Skills.

When I showed Odelia Spread Shot, Leaping Shot, and Rapid Shot, she didn’t look as impressed as before. “Spread and Leaping Shot are useful Combat and Range Skills, but they are pretty standard and common to learn as Skills go. On the other hand, Rapid Shot is a fundamental Combat Style Skill as it is essential for fighting and shooting in close quarters, and is quite the relief for me that we can cross it off so early on.” I then showed her Twin Arrow and Arrow Shower, and the impressed expression came back to her face—with a little bit of disbelief. “Lord Eyes, are you really not a Range Style Archer already?” Explaining, “Turning, Twin, and Shower are all fundamental Skills of the Range Style; they all need years of learning and practice to be as good as you have shown me, yet your age very much contradicts that fact.”

“Uhhh...I’m pretty sure I’m not. I mean I did only turn into an Archer Class last week.” But the question floated in my mind, “Am I already a Ranged Style Archer? I don’t think so? Shouldn't the System have told me if I learnt a Style? Or maybe it'll even change my Class to tell me?” though I was clueless to the answer.

“That cannot be right. Have you been lying to me, my Lord?” Odelia questioned, seeking the truth.

“In this particular case, no.” I told her truthfully.

“Hmmm...just how old are you then?” She wondered curiously, “At first I believed you were in your 20s or 30s, but you must be at least in your 60s if you learned and developed those Skills to that extent.”

“Believe it or not, I think I’m the same age as Myeyl.” Thinking “There’s no way I could imagine being as old as 60.”

“That is unbelievable, and I think you might be telling the truth.” She then looked at me closely, “Without knowing you and judging only on your Skills alone, I would have guessed you were a Range Style Archer training in Combat on the side, though the only thing I have not seen you do to confirm the fact is shoot a target from 500 meters away.”

“500 meters?! That’s almost impossible to shoot a target that far!” I exclaimed, remembering the old world’s record was under 300m.

“Not for a Range Style Archer,” Odelia stated, “that much is required.”

“Are you saying I’ll become a Range Style Archer if I can do that?”

“From what I have seen from you, I believe so. For one only truly needs the Fundamental Skills and the Required Feat to really be classified as a specific Style Archer.” She informed me.

“If that’s the case, why’d I hear it takes over 100 years to become a Trinity Archer? Couldn’t it be done way before then?” I questioned.

“It may be a surprise to you, my Lord, but regular people are not as talented as you seem to be. And besides the struggles everyone faces with a particular Style, ultimately combining and utilizing the 3 Styles perfectly to succeed the Trinity Trials proves to be the most difficult for everyone who takes part, with failure resulting in many stagnating their growth for years to come.”

“The Trinity Trials? Sounds interesting.” Excited at what they could be.

Odelia then mentioned, “Not even the so-called ‘Noble Geniuses’ could accomplish such a feat, and they do not even compare to the progress you have already made, Lord Eyes.”

“Would Myeyl’s brother be one of those ‘Noble Geniuses’?”

“If you are referring to Thereyl, yes he would be considered one; along with Cyspar Baen’Mtor and Lualaf Helvi’Ett.”

“No wonder they have so much power in the Guild, they’re all from Noble House, but it does sound like they’re pretty strong.” I noted to myself.

“Though do not worry about being compared to them, Lord Eyes, you are clearly greater than them already.” Odelia tried to assure me, “And if you were to learn your first Style this year, you would be the first in history to accomplish such a feat at your age—not even the Great King Ven’Thyl accomplished that! He only learned his first Style when he was in his 40s, or so the history books tells us.”

I laughed in amusement, “Haha...When I heard that it took over 100 years to become a Trinity Archer, I actually got worried for a bit and thought it might take me a few years, but knowing I basically already have one Style down, I’m even more confident that I can learn all the Styles in a month.”

“My oh my, confident, are we?" Odelia then looked to have gotten a great idea in her head, and asked "Do you think you can back your words up, Lord Eyes?"

"Definitely,” I stated confidently, “but what are you talking about?"

"I challenge you to learn all 3 Archery Styles before month's end, or otherwise announce yourself to the city as the Heir to the Elves and rightful King of the Kingdom during the Eve of the Five Heroes Festival!” And like that, a new Quest suddenly popped up.

Quest

Odelia’s Challenge:

Learn all 3 Archery Styles (Close-Combat Style, Magic-Wielding Style, and Long-Range Style) before the end of the current month.

Reward: ??? Failure: Be forced to announce yourself to the city of Ven’Thyl as the Heir to the Elves and rightful King of the Kingdom during the Eve of the Five Heroes Festival. Time Limit: Until the end of the month.

Will you accept:

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

[Yes] or [No]