Terra's War

Training

Bianca handed me a bow and quiver full of arrows as we stopped in front of the targets.

"Today you'll be learning how to use your bow," She said as she slung her own silver clothed quiver over her shoulder. She held up her bow that seemed to be made with the whitest colored wood there was in Arbor's Gardens.

"Who made that?" I pointed to her bow as she looked down at it.

"Carved it myself. My own Omnes predecessor taught me how to carve it as well as smelting my own sword. But I'll show that to you in a week when we get to your sword skills,"

Then she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and notched it on the string.

"Alright so, to shoot an arrow grab one from your quiver like I did," She instructed. I reached behind me and actually managed to grab exactly one arrow.

"Good," She nodded with a smile.

"Now, notch it into your string... like so..." She knelt and helped me with positioning my fingers around the back end of my arrow.

"Okay... now let it loose!"

And I did. The result, according to Bianca, wasn't that bad. The arrow was 15 inches southeast of the bulls-eye.

***

The following week, Bianca tossed me a sheathed sword that seemed to be about three feet long.

"Sword fighting this week?" I looked up at her, earning a nod.

She unsheathed her sword, revealing the blade to be pure black while the hilt shined a moon silver, almost matching her eye color.

"Oh yeah, you smelted that yourself, huh?" I asked.

"Yup. Maybe I'll teach you some time, Ida. Although my Council members did add some slight touches to the sword-"

"Council members?" I asked, confused. Why has nobody mentioned anything like these Council members, until now?

"Oh, you haven't learned about that in History yet?" I shook my head. "Well, in Terra Arbor there is the King and Queen. But, there are the people who are their right hands, as well as the people who help them make tough decisions. Whether it be for war or for the well being of Arbor. The Council consists of the male and female Leaders which are the King and Queen, as well as an Archer, Sword Fighter, Magus, Elementalist, and Healer,"

"So basically the the amount of Council members depends on the diversity in ability?" I asked.

She nodded with a smile. "And that was your history lesson for today. Now. Onto your sword skills..."

***

"Ahhh!"

Bianca lunged and tried to aim a punch right at my gut. But I immediately dodged her attack and grabbed her arm. With a firm grip, I threw her over my shoulder. But she managed to land on her feet, but I jumped back just in time as she swept her leg under me, trying to trip me. I dug my heels into the dirt and skidded to a stop, panting.

"Wow not bad, Ida," Bianca smiled as she straightened her back.

"Only a week, huh?" King Naro spoke up from the blanket the rest of the professors were sitting on.

"She's gotten good!" Magia commented.

"Can we give her the hard courses now?" Agro asked.

"Tomorrow? Please, your Highnesses?" Coda almost begged. I smiled to myself at all of the teachers' comments.

Bianca closed her eyes in thought, debating whether or not to allow this.

When she looked at all of us, her eyes held a hint of excitement.