Milly awoke at the edge of Bea Lardi. Near the entrance to Syraav’s Garden, the huge forest that stretched across the southern border, was a lodge dedicated to those who were prepared to journey through it. Syraav’s Garden was a beautiful forest and unlike Kortev’s, it was relatively safe to venture within. 

 

Though the forest held plenty of creatures and wildlife, most of them were peaceful. The great guardian of the forest made sure of that as it watched over the region without end. Tales were passed around to the newcomers of a great and mighty beast that trembles and quakes the forest with every step. There exists a guardian that has stood the test of time and repelled many forces of evil from the forest during its lifetime. 

 

Milly arose from her bed. She had taken one of the rooms on the second floor of the inn and peered out through her window. A low, dense fog hung over the open field. She had stopped here for the night so that she wouldn’t have to enter the forest at night. Even though it was safe in comparison to Kortev’s, whose forest no one dared to venture at night, Syraav’s Garden was not a place to travel through when the sun wasn't up. The forest was thick with foliage and greenery so traveling through at night would only serve to lead one astray. Instead, she chose to stick with a safer route, waiting for sunrise to begin her quest.

 

Milly exited from the lodge and gazed upon the dirt path that entered the forest. The cobblestone walkway that was paved through Bea Lardi, transferred over into the dirt path at the edge of the forest. Milly took a deep breath then began her first steps within.

 

The forest itself was very different from Kortev’s. Where the previous one had left much room for walking, this forest was packed with trees. Hardly anything beyond her direct vicinity could be seen as the thick trunks covered her vision. Even the sky was blocked by the myriad of treetops that formed a thick ceiling throughout. 

 

Unlike the emptiness of wildlife that came throughout most parts of Kortev, this forest was alive and well, brimming with life. The creatures within were not shy in passing by the pathway when needed. Milly’s presence did not disturb them as the forest was familiar with adventurers passing through on a daily basis. Many of the Adventurer’s Guild members spend most of their days within the forest. Most notably the Archer and Ranger class masters utilize the forest for their training and Milly was on the way to find the Archer training area.

 

When Milly first arrived at the forest, the night before, the locals explained the difficulty of traversing the terrain at night. They urged her to wait until morning and even offered directions on how to find the class master she was searching for. The tavern owner had a neat little stack of maps drawn out for any adventurers that were new to the area. Having owned that tavern for nearly forty years, the owner was used to guiding those who passed through the area.

 

Milly observed her equipment as she continued her stride. It had been far too long since she last inspected her gear. The last instance she could remember was when she and Zayd were at the blacksmith before they set out upon their journey. Though she had received a shiny new quiver from Khanjii, she still felt as if it were time to upgrade a few things. However, such luxuries would have to wait until her current quest was completed. Her goal in mind was to achieve her class advancement and progress further with her companions. 

 

Milly looked down at the hand drawn map and began to trace her finger along the lines. “It’s pretty much a straightforward path to get there.”

 

As she walked along, she could hear the faint sound of people in the distance. According to her map, she was approaching her destination. The training area for the Archers was not stationed too far into the forest. As a matter of fact, it was built fairly close to the entrance to allow newcomers an easy journey to it. 

 

Milly heard the sounds of bowstrings firing. With each one she could hear arrows striking wooden targets. As she approached the sounds, a separate trail broke off from the main one. Her map indicated that her destination was headed that way so she diverted her path towards it. 

 

Soon Milly walked out into an open area of the forest and could see several individuals spread throughout. Multiple wooden targets were set up in an organized fashion around the edge of the trees. Several target dummies were spread out in a clutter, each one serving a further distance for the arrows to be shot at. Located near the back center of the open area was a small wooden hut.

 

Amongst the group of adventurers who were steadily firing their bows, was a middle-aged looking woman. She was steadily watching the others while they shot their arrows. Though she carried a beautiful shortbow upon her back, she did not wield it. Instead, she continued to focus on the others.

 

Milly slowly approached her. “Excuse me…I’m here for my class advancement.”

 

The lady turned towards her with a stern gaze. “Ah, another Scout? You want to become an Archer too, eh?”

 

Milly looked around, inspecting the other adventurers. “I do. I’m quite fond of the bow.”

 

“Well it takes more than just having a liking to the bow,” the lady explained. “In order to become an Archer, one must excel at both precision and agility. An Archer can never become a true asset to their party unless they are able to accurately land their shots. Nor can they hope to be useful if they cannot dodge the enemy’s attacks and maintain a safe distance.”

 

“I-I see,” Milly muttered. “I suppose I can do those things.”

 

“Suppose or know?” The lady questioned. “Either way, that’s what I’m here to find out from ya. Name’s Qyria and I’m the Archer class master. Want to become an Archer? Well then you need to impress me.”

 

“How can I do that?” Milly asked.

 

“Take a look around you and you’ll see.” Qyria turned around to face the open field. 

 

The other adventurers were steadily practicing their shots, one after another. While some would land their shots, they would almost come nowhere near the bullseye mark. Others would offer a pathetic display of ineptitude as their arrows would continuously find the ground instead of a target. 

 

“None of these Scouts have had much practice during their adventures. Most of them suffered from relying too much on their other party members,” Qyria explained. “Because of that most of them have never had much of a chance to hone their skills. That is why you see them struggling here today.”

 

Qyria began walking forward, gesturing for Milly to follow her. “For many of them it will take weeks to get to the point of impressing me. For others, they will achieve it in days. Take Ailred here for example. He just arrived yesterday and he’s already shown an amazing display of accuracy.”

 

Qyria pointed towards a tall boy with long arms and a well designed looking shortbow. It was Ailred and he was steadily focused on a field of target dummies. He aimed for the furthest one that rested out near the tree line.

 

Milly looked over to see a mess of arrows around it, placed firmly in the ground. The dummy itself only had about six arrows embedded in it while most of the others were decorated fairly well with arrows. 

 

Ailred let loose his bow and watched as his arrow soared through the sky, piercing the thick fog. It shot directly into the training dummy, adding yet another to it. “That’s the seventh one today! I’m on a roll!”

 

“Great work Ailred!” Qyria complimented him. “You’re on your way to earning your class advancement! I’m not too sure about these others though.”

 

“Thanks, master!” Ailred replied. He turned to greet the new arrival. “Hey there! Another person come to join the tryouts?”

“Yeah that’s what I’m here for…,” Milly murmured.

 

“Well let’s see what you’ve got,” Qyria demanded. “Go on and take a shot at one of the dummies out there!”

 

“Try hitting that far one that I just did,” Ailred insisted.

 

“But that one is so far,” Milly responded. “I’m not sure that I can hit that one.”

 

“Eh, you’ll be fine. Go for it!” Ailred grinned.

 

“I really don’t want to…”

 

“Trust me. You’ll do just fine,” Ailred pressed.

 

“Fine.” Milly lifted her bow and shot towards the target dummy. Her arrow soared through the air but with not near enough power as Ailred’s did. The arrow landed fairly short of the dummy in a fairly sad display of skill.

 

Milly’s head sunk to the ground as Ailred burst into laughter.

 

“Oh no!” Ailred giggled. “What was that?!”

 

“Hey!” Milly snapped. Annoyed, she grabbed another arrow from her quiver and aimed her bow. She fired it again. 

 

The arrow flew through the air once again but just as it had last time, landed short of its target.

 

Ailred began teasing her more as he chuckled away, adding light banter to it. 

 

Milly frustratingly began firing more and more, even aiming towards some of the closer targets but only a few out of the several she fired even came close to hitting their marks. Although she did manage to land one, it was on one of the targets much closer to them. 

 

“I’m afraid you’ll be needing to spend quite a bit of time here too,” Qyria noted. “You’re just nowhere near ready yet.”

 

“But master I can do this!” Milly asserted. “I know I can! I just need a little more practice.”

 

“A little?” Ailred asked. “I think you need more than a little.”

 

“Shut it you!” Milly flared up.

 

“Now, now,” Qyria interrupted. “I would take some pointers from Ailred here if you could. So far he’s the closest thing to an Archer that I’ve seen here. You might actually learn something from him, if you tried.”

 

Qyria tucked her hands behind her back and proceeded to leave their presence, taking her focus elsewhere. The other adventurers were steadily practicing away and Qyria needed to attend to them. 

 

Ailred turned back to his target dummy and began focusing his bow. “You might as well just go hang out with that group. You’ll never be as good as I am.”

 

Milly scoffed, taking her bow and preparing it. She stood next to him and aimed it at the same dummy as him.

 

Ailred let his arrow loose and it shot forth. Though it did not strike the dummy, it landed very close to it. 

 

“You didn’t even hit it!” Milly commented.

 

“Yeah but it was close,” Ailred replied. “Take a look at those seven arrows sticking out of it. All of those are mine.” 

 

“Oh yeah? Well watch this!” Milly boldly pulled back on her bowstring and let loose another arrow. She watched as it fumbled from her bow. Her emotions had gotten the better of her and her focus had broken.

 

Ailred chuckled even further as he began to tear up from laughter. “Oh my! You don’t stand a chance!”

 

Milly sunk her gaze to the floor as the realization began to sink in. Her skills had not gotten much better. While she had spent a good deal of time firing her bow during the heat of combat, she hadn’t spent much time practicing with it during their times of peace. Perhaps it was the lack of pressure from danger that hindered her ability to perform well. Maybe it was her lack of skill. Either way, anxiety began to loom over her and her mind began to race. Milly started to come to the realization that she was not prepared for her class advancement.