Toma stood looking at the training bows with his own bow in his hand.

  Jack smiled as he watched the boy decide whether to use his own bow or one of the better-quality training bows. It was a difficult decision. Use his own bow and get used to its failings, or when training at the Guild, use a higher-quality bow.

  Jack knew a lot about bows; he’d read plenty of books on them and knew the best bow for the boy. “Toma!” The boy jumped. “Use that bow there.” He pointed at a small bow labelled as 20lb. “It should be a good poundage for your age and size. If you find it too much, try the eighteen-pound bow next to it.”

  Toma nodded and gave him a grateful smile before collecting the 20lb bow.

  “System. Set training room to Novice Archer, level one. Beginner level one,” Ella said. “Set my area to Novice Archer, level nine. Beginner level one.”

  The Guild System acknowledged the commands.

  Near Ella, the breeze in the training room increased; there were random gusts like the wind couldn’t decide if it was a calm day or a windy one. The lights dulled on the right side of the training room while remaining bright near Toma and Jack on the left.

  Other than Toma, the others modified their individual lane settings to match their needs. Jack set his lane to Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level two. Toma left his settings at Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level zero, the lowest setting.

  The six of them collected a quiver of training arrows, spread, and prepared themselves.

  Jack checked that his looted arm guards were secure before stretching out his shoulders. His muscles still ached from the previous day’s training, but he was excited. He did a few quick warm-up stretches.

  The female voice returned:

  Begin when ready.

  As the targets stayed still or moved, the six archers raised their bows in near unison. Arrows loosed. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack…

  Jack grinned as his arrow struck just right of the centre of a target. ‘Ding’. The satisfying hiss of blue aether-steam and mechanical clunks of the resetting targets filled the air.

  Draw. Aim. Loose. Thwack.

  It was going to be a good session.

  “Darn it!” Toma dropped his arrow on the floor. He picked it up and tried again.

  Jack paused mid-draw to watch. He’s doing everything wrong. He completed drawing his arrow and released it. Missing the target, he turned to watch the boy at his side.

  Toma loosed an arrow, but it fell short and slid across the training room floor.

  Jack shook his head as he saw the frustration on the teenager’s face. “Have you had any archery training?”

  Toma jolted at the question. “N-no. This is my first time using a bow. I-I don’t have any arrows at home.” He looked embarrassed.

  Jack nodded. “Your form’s all wrong. Watch what I do and try to copy.” He stood in the correct form. “Stand like this. Note how my legs are spaced and how my feet are angled on the floor. It’s important. You try it.” He turned his head to watch while maintaining his form as best he could. In the background, he could hear the dings of targets being struck, and the others complaining or celebrating at misses and hits.

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  Toma put himself in a similar position, but it was a bit off.

  “Adjust your back leg slightly,” Jack advised. “Yep. That’s it. Now watch how I stand and hold my shoulders before nocking and pulling the arrow back.” He nocked an arrow, pulled it back, and released. He missed. “You try.”

  Toma nocked an arrow.

  “Straighten your back,” Jack corrected, “a little more. Yeah, that’s it. Try to maintain that position. Now, slowly pull the arrow back. There’s no rush. When you get to the full draw count to three and release while breathing out.”

  As Jack was talking, Toma followed his instructions. He released the arrow, and it went a little wide of the target.

  “Much better.” Jack smiled. “Keep practising that basic action, and it should help.”

  Toma nodded. “Thank you. Thanks, Jack.”

  “No problem.” Jack went back to practising. “We all have to start somewhere. Don’t expect to hit too many of your targets the first time. Concentrate on proper form. It’s more important than hitting the targets. That’ll come with time.”

  The boy nodded and went back to practising with a smile.

  Jack grinned and went back to his own practice. I really should stop helping kids. He imagined Toma moving in with his family and his mom scowling at him for not being nice enough when being nice. I can’t win. Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.

  He missed his next three targets.

  Soon, Toma landed his first hit. “Yes!” the boy whooped. The look of pride on his face made Jack grin.

  After thirty-six arrows, the console gave feedback.

  Adventurer five.

  Novice Scribe, Level zero.

  Training Scenario: Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level two.

  Arrows released: 36.

  Accuracy: 37%.

  Wind compensation: 3.

  Reaction time: 73rd percentile.

  Recommendation: Decrease difficulty level to Beginner level one.

  Jack raised an eyebrow. “Not bad, considering.” He’d been a little distracted helping Toma, so his accuracy suffered. Hmm… this is going to throw off all my later comparisons.

  Because he’d logged in to the Guild system as a Novice Scribe rather than a Novice Archer, he was being compared to other non-combat classes like scribes, librarians, administrators… as opposed to other Novice Archers at level zero. This choice resulted in the reaction time percentile being less useful; the score couldn’t be compared to his previous results.

  Around him, others were laughing and groaning. Pip hit himself with the bowstring. Nessa dropped all her arrows on the floor. One of Grey’s arrows ricocheted off a shield and smacked him in the knee.

  “Is it okay if I disable the individual feedback?” Ella asked. “It wastes some of our training time.”

  No one had an issue with turning it off.

  “System,” Ella wiped her brow, “disable individual feedback for the rest of the session.”

  The soft female voice acknowledged her command.

  Individual feedback disabled for the duration of the training session.

  They repeated their training twice more, with each maintaining or varying the difficulty of their training session. As the final fifteen minutes approached, Ella made a suggestion.

  “Are you all open to a fun team training session for the last quarter-hour?” She looked excited. “To unwind.”

  Most of the group looked excited.

  Jack grinned. Guess I’m not the only one who likes to have a bit of fun.

  Toma looked nervous; he looked towards Jack.

  Jack smiled at the boy. “This can be a lot of fun. We can set the settings to something we can’t handle and see how we go. Last time I was here, I set the range to Beginner level ten, on the lowest setting, and my accuracy dived to 21%.”

  Jack looked at Ella. “What settings?”

  Ella looked at Toma. “Hmm… Novice Archer, level one, beginner level ten, might be a bit much for the kid. Level zero should be fine. Right?”

  Jack nodded in agreement and turned to Toma. “That’s the setting I’ve used. The targets move, the wind increases, and it’s like we are fighting at dusk. Some of the targets fire harmless aether-blasts at us. If they hit, the aether-burn doesn’t hurt much…” He noticed the boy’s wary look. “Like being slapped on the arm by your younger sister.” They both smiled at the imagery. “Though you’ll stink of spent aether-steam for the rest of the day.”

  Toma nodded. “Okay.”

  “Hell yeah!” Ella shouted. “System. Group training, Novice Archer, level zero, beginner level ten.”

  The soft voice acknowledged her command.

  Training Scenario: Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level ten activated.

  Chapter 089 The Whirr And The Thwack Of The Clockwork Battlefield