[Solo] Arrows on the Path

[Zasalamir]

34th of Ymiden, 718

Upon his travels in Ne'haer, he found a book on archery, seeing it as a useful talent to perfect. Remember his training from his mother, he knew he needed to sharpen it. When unable to use a blade, he was sure to use the piercing power of a will placed arrow when in need. As he read the book he found a secluded area in the forest between cities, and propped a longbow and quiver of arrows he "borrowed" to use. He read the book in its entirety and then decided to take what he learned into practice. He allowed the first few shots to go fly, gauging his current level of skill and finding it piss poor. After a few more rounds, he begin to settle into a calm, almost meditative process of self-awareness to check that his body is in position for the shot. He stands sideways to the target, relaxes his shoulders, fit the arrow on to the bow and then raise it. Before he shoots, he checked his hand isn’t gripping the bow too tightly, this can actually make the shot less steady, with his thumb and forefinger just meeting around the bow and the rest of his fingers at 45 degrees. Letting off the shot, it hit the trunk of the tree he was aiming at. A smirk painted his face at the success, seeing this as just the beginning. This was the one thing that made him feel at home, being out in the wild, practicing the way of the bow like he did when he was with his mother.

"Speech"

[Zasalamir]

34th of Ymiden, 718

Walking up to the tree he yanked the arrow from the flesh of the tree, admiring his own work. Going back to his original position, he retraced the mindset he was feeling in that moment. What he feel, in those moments of lining up a shot, is an absolute focus on the here and now. It’s a complete release from the rest of the world. And when everything is together, he let go, his hand pulling back to rest aid his left shoulder after the shot. The satisfying thud of the arrow as it sunk into the trunk of the tree – the satisfaction of it hitting its mark – was better than any high his drugs could provide him. And then fixed another arrow in line to do it all again.

By the end of his trial and error process, he had settled into this process. he had grown in his skill, leveling up to seven successful shots in a row. It was not the ideal proficiency he wanted in the least, but it was no doubt progress to say the least. For his last few rounds, he started to keep score – at which point he had to battle to subdue a burning competitiveness to out do the last shot every time. It was not easy to say the least, even with a target that could not move. There were other factors in the forest that were no doubt distracting to his focus. With wind blowing and denying a clean hit, or the birds that would unfortunately go down as friendly fire, Zasalamir soon found his ideal practice ground more than ideal. But this would not deter him in the least bit. He would go to reclaim his arrows and sit for a moment, mulling over the book he was using as an instructor.

"Speech"

[Zasalamir]

34th of Ymiden, 718

The book explained that the basic archery stance is performed by placing one foot on each side of the shooting line. If he was shooting a right hand bow, his left foot will be forward of the shooting line, on the "down range" side or the target side of the shooting line, and left handed archers will place the right foot forward of the shooting line. Thankfully Zasa was ambidextrous and could use both his hands with equal skill. The book went on to explain to space his feet so they are approximately shoulder width apart. Once there, to rotate his feet into what we call the "square stance". The square stance means your feet are parallel to the shooting line. Putting what he read so far into practice after his breather, Zasa would stand up straight and rotate his chin over the shoulder, or as close as possible as he could, of the bow arm. He rotated his hips so they are tucked or rolled under his upper body so as to flatten your lower back. Lowering his chest and ribs downward toward his stomach so that he could push your shoulders downward he picked up the book to make sure he was doing it right. Satisfied he sat back down and studied the book more, learning how to notch the arrow next. A gentle breeze blew by, causing his hair to cascade across his shoulders and into his face. He could enjoy this for arcs on end if he could.

"Speech"

[Zasalamir]

34th of Ymiden, 718

After enjoying his break he decided it was time to get back to work, this training wasn't going to finish itself. He decided best course of action right now was to put what he learned as a whole into practice. He was able to find and set up the forest he was in with foe enemies for practice. Even drug runners needed practice, and he was no exception. His bow clenched in his hand he quickly opened fire on the makeshift enemies with his arrows, some landing a clean hit, while others missing their mark completely. Looking at the results he was not satisfied. He set up again and repeated the process, this time shaving off some seconds on the firing speed.

Now came for the next try at this obstacle course once again. After resetting the forest with targets. Mentally prepared he went to draw his bow back, and as if hearing music play he began to perfect it. Zasalamir made haste not to let himself fall behind in the training department. Bow drawn, Zasa leaped from the stands into the sea of practice dummies. He delivered well placed shot across the few that were unfortunate enough to be in his path in the front. The legion of targets soon began be punctured left and right with arrows. Though upon finding himself in the mists of targets his mind began to play tricks on him. The inanimate foe enemies began to morph and look like members of his fathers family. He knew this was nothing but an illusion of his mind, but panicked for a split second. With a deep breath he sprinted forward, diving into the horde head on. With a lunge, he rotated his body weight in order to cause himself to spin. With his bow drawn back and three arrows in place, he let all three arrows fly, piercing through the practice dummies like wet paper. Once his path was finished he turned and sighed. "My mind would choose now to play awful tricks on me?" He panted preparing for another go with the bow, retrieving the arrows from their resting places.

Repeating the process once again he charged head on into the horde of fake targets, Putting arrows in them up as he saw fit, making each shot precise and carefully executed. His mental state was......chaotic however. The frustration and anger coupled with nerves of the path he planned to walk in his life, along with seeing father and disgusting family had him on a maelstrom of emotion. To add to his troubles, the visions of his father were clearer now. Zasa did his best to ignore them and focused on the task at hand. He came barreling through the sea the dummies shooting each one at or near the neck. Smirking he was content, but his smile faded into shock when the illusion persisted. The dummies mutated into distorted figures of his father, the man that caused such hell in Zasalamir's life. This sent him over the mental edge, bursting into a rage for the first time in several arcs. It was like watching a rabid beast tear through a flock of sheep. His movements and elegance of his shots increased with deadly precision, Zasa determined to kill the phantom visions of his father. He couldn't help it, all he could see is the one person responsible for turning his life upside down at an early age. Drowning in the frenzy of hatred, all the horrid memories were overwhelming Zasa as if he had been tossed into quicksand pit and left for dead. Admits the memories however he saw his mother, and like that he snapped out of his rage fueled rampage. Looking at the state of things Zasalamir realized he lost control. He slammed his fist into the ground, ashamed he allowed himself to become so blinded by all the hate he had built up. His feeling for his father, accompanied by the disgust he had for the family that took him but cursed his existence was too much for his psyche. Cleaning up after himself he figured he'd take his mind off what just occurred and return home for some relaxation.

"Speech"

[Oberan]

Review Rewards

Zasa

Points awarded: 10

Knowledge:

Discipline: Calming down after going into a frenzy
Ranged Combat: (Bow): Aiming into a group
Ranged Combat: (Bow): Maximizing speed when drawing
Ranged Combat: (Bow) Consider where you'll strike if you miss
Ranged Combat: (Bow): Neck shots are usually effective.
Ranged Combat: (bow): Flying straight and true but still missing the mark

Magic: No magic exp

Other: N/A

Notes:
I like the inclusion of some phantoms from the past in what would otherwise be an ordinary training thread. It immediately makes things more interesting, and helps keeping readers engaged. Well done!

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