50th Vhalar, arc 716
Andaris Library
It had been breaks since he entered the library, and there, at his table, stood more books than he could possibly grab with his one hand at a time. Yes, he had made several trips to the shelves filled with papers and brought all he might be needing to the single table. It wasn't often Aeon took his time at the library, since when he actually took out books, he would take them out to read them another time, at another place. This time was different, since these books weren't the fun, fictional ones, or the ones he could delay reading. It was important that he got through all of them as quickly as he could.
On the far left of the table stood a book of which Aeon could clearly remember the title. Known Immortals of Idalos, by anonymous writer. It was the first book he opened after getting there, and it still stood opened on a page with a horrifying illustration on it. Below it, a description stood; Presumed looks of the Immortal Syroa, information hasn't been confirmed. And just on the page to the right from it, another, even more horrifying sketch, which wasn't even close to being drawn as well. Presumed looks of the Immortal Aelig, information hasn't been confirmed
According to the book, both of the Immortals had something to do with transforming things, so Aeon was convinced it was one of them that created the two-headed hound. Still, according to the pages, neither of the Immortals cared much about mortal lives, so why would they be helping the rebels? Aelig was more suspicious on that account, so the young sergeant made sure to read through his information at least three times over. And after doing so, he was nearly one hundred percent certain that it was Aelig that created the monster. Except the page had nothing on how to kill Aelig, nor how to find him, or even how to know who he is. All it had of that info was the awful drawing of a monster-like creature with no body, just a shadow with tentacles or something like that. And who knew if that info was even valid.
The book to its right was old, quite old, as if it was centuries old, at least. It was closed, even though Aeon had read it, so its large title and author's name stood out for everyone to see. Mortals strike back. Prophecies of ma'am Ca'mone, written by David Rucks. Even though the book sounded like it was all about fantasies, and superstitions, the young skyrider made sure to go through it, so he could learn about any method of Immortal-slaying that might have worked. This ma'am Ca'mone seemed to be just talking gibberish, so the scarred man simply closed the book to keep it from distracting him. Right next to it stood a detailed guide on beasts risen by the Immortals, which was, like the previous book, full of nonsense, and after that one, Aeon decided how this library wasn't going to give him what he needed to kill the monster, if he ever saw it again.
Then, as his interests shifted, so did his choice of books, as one could see several books about the jacadon lined up next to each other, most of them closed, meaning the information was already known by the skyrider, or was useless. One of the books, however, talked about the aerodynamics of a jacadon's flight, and even though Aeon understood virtually nothing about the physics in the beginning, after studying it for almost a break, he managed to figure out how they threw the wind beneath their wings to keep their altitude up without much effort. Who knew if this would ever come in handy, but it was good he learned at least something new and interesting about the creatures that trial.
As there was less and less of the table, there were less and less closed books, as the last few of them were still being closely studied by the young man. They were about combat, mostly about the ranged kind, and one even talked about shooting from a Volareon's back. The bow often deflects the arrow after it is fired, so arrows are made with a slight curve, so their path would be straight. Interesting, Aeon thought, as he always wondered how come the bow never affected the path of the arrow. And it is up to the archer to calculate his shot according to the curve of his arrow. Calculating? He never thought about calculating while shooting a bow? Math wasn't his strong side, how was he supposed to calculate where to shoot, while focusing on not dying. And that wasn't it, there was a whole chapter on theory behind archery. On how much the wind only affects the arrow path, and it was a lot, and about how to properly release the bowstring. It was all grand, but it was just theory. Aeon couldn't learn to shoot a bow from just theory. Unproven theory, that is.
Another book about archery was way more interesting, as it mostly dealt with renowned archers of the world, and their interviews. "It is not a matter of aim. You take your arrow, take a breath, look at your target, shoot, and exhale. The people that make archery into an overcomplicated science will never hit anything in a real battle. Those are the facts." -Says Jeor Durbass, world renown hunter and Ne'haer archer. I, George III Perks, had the honour of watching this man shoot, and he hit three out of three apples that were tossed in the air at the same time.. Was the text, and the boy could be nothing but impressed. A man hitting three apples like that, truly astonishing, if it was even true. On the other page of the book, another interview stood, except this one appeared to be much longer.
"I do not part with my bow, in the middle of a battle, it is my greatest mate, in a hunt, my best companion, and in camp, my strongest shield. The bow is more than just a weapon, as archery is more than just a way of combat. They are both a lifestyle, and an archer's life is one filled with practice. You can never practice too much as an archer, only too little. You need to know every inch of your bow, and all of your arrows, to be able to use it to its full potential. You need to be its master, to be able to control it, and yet trust it enough so that it can aim for you. People ask me how do I hit so perfectly, but I just look at the center of the item I'm aiming for, and shoot. They don't understand, the center is always the same size, no matter how big or small the item. The center of a human is the same as the center of a drop of water. The most important part, screw the physics and the aim, would be breathing. Your breath controls your hands, and if your hands are shaking, you'll never hit your target. Never be afraid of missing, since it is the one thing that causes people to miss the most. When I shoot, I only think about my arrow piercing my target right where I'm looking, nothing else is necessary. The whole world may disappear, but you need to keep thinking of your target and breathing according to your thoughts." -says Lores, the famous Biqaj archer deserter of the Eternal Empire. This man once split an arrow that was going towards him, and he is known for being able to hit whatever you throw at him.
The text was intriguing, it was only too bad that it was written somewhere in the 600th arcs, so most of those archers were already long gone. It didn't stop Aeon from enjoying the read, however, since he most certainly did. The last book he brought with him from the shelves of the library was still sitting in his lap, never opened, not even once. It was the book written by someone ancient, and probably rewritten by monks a thousand times over. It spoke about the life of the 11th Blazer to ever live. It was the one book he was going to take with him to the barracks, just to read through for his enjoyment and a bit of education. What was so special about the 11th Blazer, that they had to do a book about?
Riol Warrick, the 11th man to ride a jacadon, and one of the first generals of the skyriders, lived a life worthy of praise, and every man reading this book should only look up to the man described in it. Lord Warrick rode a jacadon at the age of 20, being the youngest person to do that in the history, and also having been among the best fighters, ranged and melee alike, of his time. His jacadon, named Khir, was one of the first ones to rain white fire on the bandits of the island... Said the description on the back, or at least the part of it Aeon could remember reading.
Andaris Library
It had been breaks since he entered the library, and there, at his table, stood more books than he could possibly grab with his one hand at a time. Yes, he had made several trips to the shelves filled with papers and brought all he might be needing to the single table. It wasn't often Aeon took his time at the library, since when he actually took out books, he would take them out to read them another time, at another place. This time was different, since these books weren't the fun, fictional ones, or the ones he could delay reading. It was important that he got through all of them as quickly as he could.
On the far left of the table stood a book of which Aeon could clearly remember the title. Known Immortals of Idalos, by anonymous writer. It was the first book he opened after getting there, and it still stood opened on a page with a horrifying illustration on it. Below it, a description stood; Presumed looks of the Immortal Syroa, information hasn't been confirmed. And just on the page to the right from it, another, even more horrifying sketch, which wasn't even close to being drawn as well. Presumed looks of the Immortal Aelig, information hasn't been confirmed
According to the book, both of the Immortals had something to do with transforming things, so Aeon was convinced it was one of them that created the two-headed hound. Still, according to the pages, neither of the Immortals cared much about mortal lives, so why would they be helping the rebels? Aelig was more suspicious on that account, so the young sergeant made sure to read through his information at least three times over. And after doing so, he was nearly one hundred percent certain that it was Aelig that created the monster. Except the page had nothing on how to kill Aelig, nor how to find him, or even how to know who he is. All it had of that info was the awful drawing of a monster-like creature with no body, just a shadow with tentacles or something like that. And who knew if that info was even valid.
The book to its right was old, quite old, as if it was centuries old, at least. It was closed, even though Aeon had read it, so its large title and author's name stood out for everyone to see. Mortals strike back. Prophecies of ma'am Ca'mone, written by David Rucks. Even though the book sounded like it was all about fantasies, and superstitions, the young skyrider made sure to go through it, so he could learn about any method of Immortal-slaying that might have worked. This ma'am Ca'mone seemed to be just talking gibberish, so the scarred man simply closed the book to keep it from distracting him. Right next to it stood a detailed guide on beasts risen by the Immortals, which was, like the previous book, full of nonsense, and after that one, Aeon decided how this library wasn't going to give him what he needed to kill the monster, if he ever saw it again.
Then, as his interests shifted, so did his choice of books, as one could see several books about the jacadon lined up next to each other, most of them closed, meaning the information was already known by the skyrider, or was useless. One of the books, however, talked about the aerodynamics of a jacadon's flight, and even though Aeon understood virtually nothing about the physics in the beginning, after studying it for almost a break, he managed to figure out how they threw the wind beneath their wings to keep their altitude up without much effort. Who knew if this would ever come in handy, but it was good he learned at least something new and interesting about the creatures that trial.
As there was less and less of the table, there were less and less closed books, as the last few of them were still being closely studied by the young man. They were about combat, mostly about the ranged kind, and one even talked about shooting from a Volareon's back. The bow often deflects the arrow after it is fired, so arrows are made with a slight curve, so their path would be straight. Interesting, Aeon thought, as he always wondered how come the bow never affected the path of the arrow. And it is up to the archer to calculate his shot according to the curve of his arrow. Calculating? He never thought about calculating while shooting a bow? Math wasn't his strong side, how was he supposed to calculate where to shoot, while focusing on not dying. And that wasn't it, there was a whole chapter on theory behind archery. On how much the wind only affects the arrow path, and it was a lot, and about how to properly release the bowstring. It was all grand, but it was just theory. Aeon couldn't learn to shoot a bow from just theory. Unproven theory, that is.
Another book about archery was way more interesting, as it mostly dealt with renowned archers of the world, and their interviews. "It is not a matter of aim. You take your arrow, take a breath, look at your target, shoot, and exhale. The people that make archery into an overcomplicated science will never hit anything in a real battle. Those are the facts." -Says Jeor Durbass, world renown hunter and Ne'haer archer. I, George III Perks, had the honour of watching this man shoot, and he hit three out of three apples that were tossed in the air at the same time.. Was the text, and the boy could be nothing but impressed. A man hitting three apples like that, truly astonishing, if it was even true. On the other page of the book, another interview stood, except this one appeared to be much longer.
"I do not part with my bow, in the middle of a battle, it is my greatest mate, in a hunt, my best companion, and in camp, my strongest shield. The bow is more than just a weapon, as archery is more than just a way of combat. They are both a lifestyle, and an archer's life is one filled with practice. You can never practice too much as an archer, only too little. You need to know every inch of your bow, and all of your arrows, to be able to use it to its full potential. You need to be its master, to be able to control it, and yet trust it enough so that it can aim for you. People ask me how do I hit so perfectly, but I just look at the center of the item I'm aiming for, and shoot. They don't understand, the center is always the same size, no matter how big or small the item. The center of a human is the same as the center of a drop of water. The most important part, screw the physics and the aim, would be breathing. Your breath controls your hands, and if your hands are shaking, you'll never hit your target. Never be afraid of missing, since it is the one thing that causes people to miss the most. When I shoot, I only think about my arrow piercing my target right where I'm looking, nothing else is necessary. The whole world may disappear, but you need to keep thinking of your target and breathing according to your thoughts." -says Lores, the famous Biqaj archer deserter of the Eternal Empire. This man once split an arrow that was going towards him, and he is known for being able to hit whatever you throw at him.
The text was intriguing, it was only too bad that it was written somewhere in the 600th arcs, so most of those archers were already long gone. It didn't stop Aeon from enjoying the read, however, since he most certainly did. The last book he brought with him from the shelves of the library was still sitting in his lap, never opened, not even once. It was the book written by someone ancient, and probably rewritten by monks a thousand times over. It spoke about the life of the 11th Blazer to ever live. It was the one book he was going to take with him to the barracks, just to read through for his enjoyment and a bit of education. What was so special about the 11th Blazer, that they had to do a book about?
Riol Warrick, the 11th man to ride a jacadon, and one of the first generals of the skyriders, lived a life worthy of praise, and every man reading this book should only look up to the man described in it. Lord Warrick rode a jacadon at the age of 20, being the youngest person to do that in the history, and also having been among the best fighters, ranged and melee alike, of his time. His jacadon, named Khir, was one of the first ones to rain white fire on the bandits of the island... Said the description on the back, or at least the part of it Aeon could remember reading.
