Kronos (Book One)

Followers of The Huntress

Nov 2nd 10 am.

Takashi rubs his eyes and gets up to check on Artemis. He opens his tent and pokes his head out-

Splash!

His body shivers from the freezing water that was thrown on his head, and he wakes up instantly. He clutches himself on the ground as a fall breeze rolls by.

"Rise and shine, student!", Artemis speaks with a chipper tone while holding a bucket.

"T-T-That's how you decide to wake me up?!", he shivers with chattering teeth.

"Would you prefer that or Echo's bear roar? And don't use rewind or else you may get that."

He looks around. "W-Where's Echo?"

"She's sleeping for now. Next lesson is this: Always be prepared for whatever happens. You can't expect people to try and mug you when it's broad daylight. Situational awareness is key."

He didn't expect a sudden change in mood from the goddess. Is it to hide what happened last night?

"Enough of the sad face! Before you do any energy throws today, let's warm up and have you try shooting again. Your muscle fatigue should be less than yesterday."

He scrambles up and shakes his head. After a proper warmup of arm circles and small hops, she hands him a bow with a quiver of arrows.

"Pick any target."

Takashi picks a target on his level and adjusts his stance. Artemis yanks his ankle with her bow. He winces from falling backwards.

"Not a proper stance! Do it wrong and I will trip you up again."

Taki stands back up. He has to tolerate this in order to get stronger. He remembers the correct stance with his left shoulder pointing to the target. On the exhale, he fires.... and it hits the outer rim of the target.

"I did it!"

"Good job. Keep shooting until you get more accurate. I expect a bullseye within the next few days. If that was an enemy, you may get them on the shoulder, but their adrenaline may keep them going. Don't think you got them until you are sure."

"Right."

He takes another arrow and pulls the string, focusing on the center of the target.

The arrow hits closer to the 3rd circle. He feels more confident in himself, but he humbles himself quickly before Artemis can do that.

"How many arrows do you think you have?", she asks.

"I don't know. I didn't count them", he admits.

He goes to take another arrow but feels nothing in his quiver. He looks behind and sees Artemis has them all in her hands.

"Why did you do that?"

"Another lesson. What would happen if you ran out of arrows and your powers were restricted somehow? There's also no sword available to defend yourself against an up-close enemy. When I have my arrows with me, I always count them. When I fire one, I keep a number in mind of how many I shot. This helps me make sure I don't waste my arrows", she hands the bundle back.

"Count them now. What is the total you have?"

He counts them in his head. "I have 16 now with the two I shot."

"Good. Now as you fire off, make a mental note of how many you have left and I will ask you your new total."

He gets back into his stance and readies his bow. The arrow flies and it hits close to the second arrow.