"Switch," Dorian yelled as he dodged an arrow barrage. The three arrows splintered on the ground, the mana sizzling on the stone. Morris rushed towards the barrier, and Leander aimed his bow at his partner's chest. He fired just one arrow, which Morris managed to swat away with his axe.

Morris jumped in the air, ready to crack the barrier. But, Leander aimed an arrow at his ankle next. It hit, splintering inside of Morris and dropping him with his axe to the ground, paralyzed.

Dorian looked between the aimed bow and Morris, who was grinning like a loon, and raised his hands in defeat. If this was a normal fight and Leander had been a mob, he would have be charging right now. But, this spar had been to see if Leander could hold them back for an hour. And the hour had passed fifteen minutes ago.   

Leander blinked and lowered his bow, then, he jumped in the air and began to laugh.

"I did it! I actually did it!" He was just about to do a victory dance, when he heard clapping from the stands. His eyes found Armaros, who was on his feet and giving him a robust applause. Leander blushed and calmed down.

He went to Morris and fixed his mana circulation, thus freeing him from the paralyzing effect of the arrows.

"Huddle time," Morris said as soon as he could speak again. The other three sat by him, and they brought their heads together. As usual, Morris was the one to start.

"Leander, great job at saving your barrages and letting out just one arrow at a time," Morris commented and Leander nodded, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "But in a real fight, paralyzing won't be enough. Look into something like fast acting poison for the arrows."

"But, if I hit you with an arrow like that, you might die," Leander protested. Morris placed a hand behind Leander's neck and brought the healer closer.

"I believe in your aim. You have quite the good eye for distance. But, your arrows need more bite," Leander nodded. Maybe he could try to imitate necromantic mana? There was one trainer at the guildhall that taught the subject, but his classes were the most expensive in the entire guild.

"I'll think of something," Leander promised, figuring that he could hit the library for good mana poisons. 

"Dorian, you didn't call nearly enough joined attacks, and we lost momentum. I am not blaming you that we lost, but you, as the leader and tank, should have been more decisive," Dorian nodded, and his eyes found Leander's bow.

"Every time we tried a joined attack, he would unleash two barrages back-to-back. I would go before you to take the arrows with my shield, and you would rush up. Only to be stopped by the third barrage," the tactic hadn't worked the first time, or any of the times they had tried it. But Dorian had not come with anything better.

"Maybe we could rush him from two different sides, but still strike simultaneously? You and I will be running laps opposite one another to time our momentum right," Morris suggested, and Dorian nodded. "Ok, Dorian, your turn."

"Morris, as always, your speed is exceptional. But, Morris, you should be stingier with your movements. A spar is not a performance before the girls. You don't need to swing the axe even half the times you did. Not only do you get tired easier, but you give your direction away," Morris chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry about that," he murmured, and Dorian looked at Leander.

"Leander, your aim is good. But, you don't aim towards vital spots. You should work on that. Otherwise, good job at handing us our asses," Dorian grinned at Leander, who was blushing bright red.

"I, well, I didn't see any mistakes in your stances," Leander stammered. This was the first time he had held his own fully. Having mastered the arrow barrage. He could now fire not three, but ten arrows. If he strained his mana, he could fire more. But that was something for the future.

"But you two were constantly watching my bow. There were times I fake aimed and you both lost time dodging out of the way. If a mob had done it, you would have been tricked into a swarm. Maybe, you should track the arrows after I let them loose, rather than when they are still not fired," Dorian nodded, but Morris frowned.

"Yes, but you fire more than one arrow at a time. How do we do that?" Leander tilted his head to the side. That was a good question.

"By mana sensing, maybe? Morris, you are exceptional at the art. And Dorian, you can learn. All mobs are mana made flesh, so, their projectiles will be just like my arrows: with mana in them," Morris nodded, determined.

"You will fire arrows with us being blindfolded, and we will point at the direction to which they are flying," the ginger commanded and Leander nodded. So, they had two new exercises. Apart from Leander's meditation and Morris and Dorian pull back routine.

Morris placed his hand in the middle of the group huddle, and the other two placed theirs over his. They raised their hands together and stood.

Morris and Dorian went to the running track and stood at opposite ends. Leander raised his hand and then brought it down, his mind slipping into a meditative state. And, their training began anew.

After the training, they were all sweaty. Well, apart from Armaros, who was looking at them with interest. The dungeon core's eyes would wander from Leander's face, to Dorian's, and then they would stop at Morris's, before they went back to Leander.

Armaros was imagining ginger children, green-eyed ones, and even red heads with purple eyes. The dungeon core decided that he wanted diversity with his darling children.

But, Leander, despite leaving him to the researchers, would always hold a special place in Armaros's heart. Because Armaros held Leander's memories in his head, and Armaros's core was on a chain around the healer's neck.