Archmage Kyleas, a former magical prodigy, was once a highly respected mage from a prestigious wizarding school. But one day, for no apparent reason, he left his past life behind him and started making easy, dirty money. Things changed quickly when...
At the palace backyard, Irina already brought all her equipment. She proceeded to take off her dress and all of its bells and whistles, revealing her tunic and leggings underneath, and just threw them on the floor. She puts her adventuring gear on and grabbed her trusty bow and a quiver full of arrows. She then held her long blonde hair and tied it up into a bun. Soon after she finished her preparation, Rosa and Kyleas showed up at the backyard.
"You are looking good Lady Irina", said Rosa as she picked up Irina's dress.
"Hehe thank you Rosa!", she replied.
"Kyleas, just sit back and enjoy the show. After I'm done, you can see for yourself how good my archery is!", exclaimed Irina.
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She took two arrows from her quiver and shot them at two different dummy targets in quick succession. Both hit the targets, not necessarily a bullseye but it hit nonetheless. She then took another two arrows and did the same for two farther away targets, again not bullseye but those arrows still hit their marks. She then took three arrows and shot them at the three closest targets in quick succession, this time one of them hit the bullseye.
Now she took only one arrow and shot at the farthest target. Close to bullseye. She tried again, still not a bullseye. She took her final arrow and took aim again at the farthest target. She didn't immediately shoot, as if she was waiting for something. Suddenly the arrow was covered in ice, then she shot it. The ice arrow hit the bullseye.
"So, how was it?", asked Irina as she turned at Kyleas.
"Considering your rate of shots, I'd say it was good enough. Even though it was at the expense of your accuracy", replied Kyleas.
"Let me ask something first, do you always change the target's position each time you practice?", he asked.
"Well not every time...", she answered with a lowered voice.
"Then I'm afraid that was not good enough, Princess. Firstly, you are only relying on your muscle memory to help you hit the targets", said Kyleas.
"Secondly, you were standing still the whole time. Meanwhile in real fight scenario, you always have to be on the move to dodge enemy attacks and trying to find a better angle to shot your arrows", he explained.
"Thirdly, because you can shot arrows in quick successions, you have to focus on your strengths and start practicing to hit bullseye on multiple targets from close range first", he added.
"Lastly, I can't help but notice that you are able to imbue your arrow with ice element. What are the other spells that you know how to cast?", he further added.
"Hmm let me think... ice arrows, I can also shoot bursts of ice out of my hands, then maybe simple healing spells, I guess that's about it", said Irina.
"I see, to be honest that's impressive for someone who didn't attend a magic school", said Kyleas.
"But, even that might not be enough. You are still not as ready as you had thought", he added.
