Around them, a couple of children were already climbing around as if it was as natural for them as walking. A single rope was tied around a harness on their waist when one was climbing, the other made sure to hold the rope with a system that helped slow down the fall so there would be no injuries. The system was actually pretty well designed, and Katar spent some time explaining it to Mahon and Jorik.

“The rope enters here and then it exits there. Easy, right?” The young man told them with a charming smile. “You then just have to hold the rope at this point, and you’ll have no problem holding your teammate’s weight. But we’ll do the demonstration a bit later. Do you have any questions up to there?”

Mahon and Jorik shook their heads. The material was actually pretty straightforward. A pair of very rigid soles that you could stick under your own shoes in order to make it easier to push or place all your weight on small holds. A harness that was the base of all the security measures. It usually came with a rope that tied the two climbers together, and with a special system that helped lock the rope if the one who was climbing was about to fall. And then a helmet, both to prevent rocks falling onto your head, but also the occasional shocks to the wall when you fell.

Because falling was part of climbing. Katar had made sure they knew it. Actually, they weren’t training to climb. They were training to know how to fall in security.

“Ok, perfect.” Katar concluded. “We can move onto the cliff now and practice. Let’s see how you fare first, and then I might slip you some advice.” The man grinned.

Clearly he was enjoying his new teaching role. Mahon and Jorik tied the rope to themselves with the knot Katar had just taught them, and they verified each other’s equipment and knots, making sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. Once ready, they turned to Katar, and the young man nodded approvingly.

“Who wants to go first?” He asked.

“I’ll go.” Mahon answered.

Without knowing why, he was very much hyped by this new activity. He had seen the children progress on the wall as if they were dancing, and something in their fluid motions had awakened his insatiable desire for efficiency.

“Start there, then.” Katar said as he pointed to the wall right in front of them. “It’s the easiest part. Climb up to approximately five meters and then let yourself fall.” He walked near Jorik and grabbed the rope a bit behind Jorik as a precautionary measure.

Mahon eyed Jorik, and the noble showed him an encouraging thumbs up.

“Never drop the rope.” Katar commented at his side.

“But he hasn’t even started.” Jorik started to argue.

“Never drop the rope.” Katar repeated with a more insistent tone. “It should become such an automatism that you will not have to think about it. A single mistake means your death. You can’t be ninety-nine percent focused. You need to be at a hundred percent at all times. Or you’ll eventually die and lead your teammate to death as well.”

The speech got Jorik immediately back on track, and he focused on Mahon while grabbing the rope. He then nodded to Mahon, signaling him he was ready.

Mahon grabbed the first holds and started climbing. This part of the cliff was full of holes the size of his head, and thus there was an abundance of good holds. Even Mahon had climbed more difficult things without even thinking. In seconds he was five meters above the ground, and so he looked back at Jorik.

“Why are you looking back?” Katar intervened. “You don’t trust your teammate enough? If you can’t trust him at all times, then you’ll never be able to move upward confidently.”

Mahon didn’t hesitate longer. Jorik had saved him from many much more dangerous situations. There was nothing to say about a five meter fall. He let go of the holds and immediately started to fall backwards. The rope stopped him a meter lower, and the harness made it easy to stay up and grab back the wall.

At the bottom of the wall, Jorik had assumed the position Katar had shown them, and he had no trouble at all to hold Mahon’s weight. In fact, he hadn’t even moved.

“Perfect.” Katar commented. “Now you can climb to the top and let Jorik bring you down with the rope.”

Mahon complied and started climbing back. The wall was fifty meters high, but the rope stopped approximately in the middle of it. It emphasized the principal question they had raised with Jorik when they had seen the setup. How did they install the rope in the first place?

Katar hadn’t answered, stating they needed to start with the basics before they moved to more complex concepts. Abiding by their teacher’s teachings, Mahon and Jorik followed the lesson with a certain enthusiasm.

When Mahon was back to the ground, they switched their roles with Jorik, and this time it was Mahon who had to hold back Jorik’s weight with his harness. Then Katar asked them to do it again on a steeper wall. With smaller holds or fewer footholds.

They repeated the exact same cycle until they reached a climbing section hard enough they fell without planning for it. Katar was extremely attentive to the duo's reaction at this time, making sure they were executing all the sequences he had taught them perfectly even when caught unprepared.

Mahon and Jorik were both fast learners, and they had experienced many more stressful situations. It was a walk in a park for them, and Katar soon proceeded in his teachings.

“Now that you’re more familiar with the concept of climbing, it’s time to move to the real deal. Lead climbing.” He took out an arsenal of metallic nails from a nearby chest. “Or how do you climb when no one put a rope for you?”

Katar then explained for half an hour how they could progress while setting secure points in the rock where they could attach the rope and climb safely. Depending on the type of rocks, the size of a fissure or hold, or even if there was ice or not, they were nails adapted to each situation.

The concept of lead climbing was actually pretty straightforward. The first climber went with the nails, installing multiple safety points as he went up. Once at the end of the rope, the second climber would join him, taking out the nails as he climbed up. Once he reached the first climber, and since he had all the nails on him, he would climb first and install the safety points for the next rope’s length.

Obviously, there were dozens of issues that could occur in the whole process such as what to do when the two climbers needed to rest, or what happened if you didn’t have enough nails of the good kind, but that were things to learn step by step.

Katar explained the theory and then asked them to do it on the first route they had climbed at the beginning, the very easy one. And then, as Katar was satisfied by their performance, he would ask them to climb harder and harder routes.

This whole process took days, during which Mahon and Jorik enjoyed all the side effects of climbing. Sore forearm and back muscles, stiff neck from watching the other climber for too long, broken nails and bruised fingers, elbows and knees for all the time they weren’t focused enough on their motions.

But all of that didn’t kill the exhilarating sensation of braving mother nature in her own domain. It was very much like that time on the Hasty Dolfin III when they had disregarded the raging elements and defied the world except it wasn’t fast nor very intense. Instead, climbing was a slow battle of each instant.

Finding a good foothold, to get half a meter up. Moving into a balanced position just to grab the next hold. Planting a nail to cover their backs, and not get killed by a mistake. It was more a battle of planning and organization than a pure fight of will.

Katar assured them it would soon change once they would get on the mountain and they would have to climb thousands of meters in much worse conditions. But for now they were just at the basics, and they were enjoying it.

Two weeks passed before they were deemed ready to move to the next step. During that time, they spent all their time climbing and learning rope techniques alongside Katar. The only time when they were with others was for the different meals. And even then, Katar made them sometimes skip one just so they could learn how to eat while on the cliff, because it would inevitably happen, and they needed to become comfortable with the idea of having a giant void below their feet.

They also learnt to climb with a full backpack or at night with a torch. It was all in preparation for things that might happen, but often did not. But if they did happen, knowing the techniques to go through it was the difference between going back alive or dead. So they learnt.

In the meantime, they socialized with the Hunters and their way of life. Each person had his own task for the day, and everything was down for the village and not for personal gain. Some people went to hunt while others harvested the few fruits and roots that grew on the mountains.

Others tended to the small yard where vegetables grow under strict surveillance. Some took care of the child, the houses, or the village’s necessary tools. They had one smith that worked hard all year long to produce arrow’s heads, climbing nails and all the metal things needed to keep the village working.

Fortunately, they were on the mountains and it was easy to get access to raw ores, even though it meant there was yet another group dedicated to amassing what they needed.

The Silent Bow Clan lived in perfect harmony in their environment, taking only what they needed and leaving enough for nature to grow it again for next year or even the next generations.

They were a very sociable clan, and everyone was always meeting at least at dinner to eat and chat together. Via Katar, but also Halueth and Ranaeril, they got to meet a lot of new faces.

After two weeks, they were welcome in the village as if they had been born here. The Hunters didn’t make any distinctions between them and one of their own. That meant they also treated them the way they would treat other Hunters, and they had tasks to complete for the village’s sake.

Given they were always climbing, they were given some respite, but sometimes Hunters would ask Katar to train other kids as well, and he would ask Mahon and Jorik for help, pretexting it was also a great opportunity to check if they knew everything perfectly.

Mahon and Jorik also had a deal going on with Halueth, and they slowly started to teach people how to dodge arrows. It wasn’t something that could be learnt instantly nor after multiple days of effort. It was more something that needed to be internalized and become a reflex.

Thus, Mahon asked for some time here and there to impart lessons and exercises about how to do it. He would give them exercises to work on their perception, their reflex, and to build the muscles to react instantly. Most of the people that came to listen to his lessons were active Hunters that went up the mountains and had to fight dangerous creatures, or went down the mountains and had to fight humans.

Mahon deeply enjoyed those times where he acted like a professor, and he could distill his experiences to new people. The Hunters were a folk that had strong and deep muscles. They were used to being endurant and resisting the mountain’s bad weather day after day. They had no excessive fat, but they hadn’t dynamic muscles either.

Sudden accelerations, or split decisions followed by instant contractions of muscles weren’t something they were familiar with. And that was what was needed for better efficiency while fighting and especially dodging arrows. So Mahon taught them.

But he also realized he and Jorik weren’t wired like the others. It wasn’t only his very intensive training or the Flow that made it easier for him to dodge arrows. The projectiles also seemed so slow to his eyes and mind. But that wasn’t the case for the Silent Bow Clan.

Maybe it was yet another trace of their heritage from the Fada, if they were indeed Immortal Kings, but it was becoming clearer and clearer for Mahon that he wasn’t made of the same mold as the humans of this vast world.

Nonetheless, Mahon took on the challenge, and he still managed to distill important notions to the Hunters. After two weeks, he could already tell that he got them thinking, and that they would all improve their battle methods in the coming months because of him.