Chương 136: Chapter 135 [The Archery Begins]

"Right, if there's nothing else," Rika said, "I'm going to show Brandon where he'll be waiting between rounds." Shai nodded.

"We'll save you a seat." She glanced at the group.

"Come on." Rika looked at Parmo.

"This way." They walked along the edge of the range toward a recessed section built into the far wall. A low, arched roof covered it, open at the front, with benches running along the back. It looked out over the range directly. A few other competitors were already sitting further along, bows across their laps. Parmo looked at them.

"Don't look at them," Rika said. She put two fingers on his chin and moved his face back until his eyes met hers.

"Focus on me. Not them, not the crowd, not anything Corren says to you before this starts." She held his gaze.

"You're good at this. Better than most of the people in this competition and better than you give yourself credit for. Just treat it like training. Same targets, same bow, same breathing. The only difference is people are watching, and that doesn't change where the arrow goes." Parmo nodded slowly.

"There's going to be a reward at the end of this if it follows the same pattern as the others," she said.

"So give yourself something worth rewarding." He laughed at that, the tension in his shoulders dropping slightly.

"Yeah, that's a fair point, actually."

"I know." She stepped back.

"Now sit down; you're making me nervous standing there like that." He sat.

"I know you won't need it, but good luck. I'll see you after it's over." She gave him one last look, then turned and headed toward the stands. Parmo watched her go for a moment, then turned back to the range. He took a breath. Let it out slowly. Right. Let's do this. The benches along the near side filled quickly. Leo found a spot with a clear sightline to the range, Shai on his left, Phil on his right, and the others settling in beside them.

Marcus and Lyra took the end with Lucas between them, his legs not quite reaching the ground. The scoring table at the far end was blank. Eight names in a column, nothing beside them yet. Leo found Parmo's near the bottom. Corren's was at the top. Parmo was in the staging area with the other competitors, standing slightly apart, bow in both hands, looking at the range. Leo had seen the two talking, Rika seemingly giving him a pep talk. It looked to have worked, as he seemed more relaxed than Leo had been expecting.

"She goes first and he goes last?" Phil asked.

"Yeah. It's random, but that's best. Corren is good, as much as I hate to say it. The brat would have won this if not for Brandon," Rika said.

"Corren's score is probably going to be the one to beat unless something unexpected happens. Brandon being able to see what he needs to beat should make this easier for him."

"There's still going to be pressure either way," Phil said.

"Less than if he went early," Sam said.

"If he'd shot first, he'd have spent every round after watching someone try to beat his score. This way, the nerves are just the one moment when he steps up." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The announcer stepped up a few minutes later and began the tournament. He explained the three events, the judges, and the scoring.

Leo wondered if he'd have an issue reading the score but quickly realised he wouldn't be able to read the names on the board if that was the case. After the announcer stepped away, Corren was called up and the first event began. She stepped to the line like she'd done it a hundred times, which Leo suspected she had. Three arrows, three bullseyes. The boards went up. Three tens. The crowd responded and she stepped back without acknowledging it. Her score went up on the table.

Thirty points, the top spot hers to lose.

"She's good," Sam said. Rika didn't answer, just watched Corren step back from the line. The remaining competitors worked through their rounds. Eights and nines mostly, with the odd ten. Nobody matched her. By the time the last name above Parmo's had shot, the table had settled with Corren at the top and a gap beneath her that hadn't closed. Then Parmo walked to the line. Leo's eyes went to Parmo the moment he stepped up. Around him, the conversations dropped off, Phil stopping mid-sentence and Rika going still.

Even Lucas stopped asking questions, watching intently from his spot between his parents. Parmo set his feet. Looked at the target. Took a breath and let most of it out, his shoulders dropping with it. The bow came up. The first arrow hit dead centre. Then the second. The third didn't waver. All three shots had been fired faster than anyone else before him. Parmo smiled and walked back to his seat. The boards went up. Three tens. Shai's hand squeezed his.

He glanced over and she was already smiling, eyes still on the range.

"She didn't expect that," said Phil with a grin. Leo looked over to where Corren was standing, mouth open, shock written all over her face. The distance shooting event was next. Leo had noticed the lines on the ground earlier and realised this was what the announcer had meant when he explained the distance shooting. Each line looked to be around five feet apart, the first starting around fifteen feet from the target. Corren stepped up to the first line and shot. Watched it land. Moved back to the next line.

Shot again. Each arrow hit and she moved back without rushing, working through the lines like she had all the time in the world. The crowd stayed quiet until she reached ten, then built steadily as she cleared eleven. She stepped back to twelve, took her time, and shot. The arrow fell short. The crowd responded and her score went up on the table.

"That's a strong round," Shai said.

"He's been shooting from further than that in training," Leo said.

"I know. I expect him to shock a few people here." She paused.

"That distance usually takes first place, though."

"Ah," Leo said.

"Right." Shai glanced at him.

"Parmo kind of skews what you lot see as normal, I think." The remaining competitors shot. Most didn't get close to twelve. Then one of them stepped up, and Leo noticed the horns curling back from his head.

"Beast-kin?" Leo asked.

"Cow beast-kin," Shai said.

"That's Fen." Fen worked through the lines without hurrying, clearing twelve and stepping back to thirteen. The arrow hit. The crowd cheered. The table shifted, Corren dropping to second.

"Is that closer to normal for beast-kin archers?" Leo asked. Shai shook her head.

"Corren did better than I expected. Where she landed would normally be enough even against beast-kin. Fen's been training harder than I realised. The magic running through beast-kin gives us a natural advantage with something like this. It's a little unfair." She paused.

"There were talks about splitting it into categories by race, but the competitors didn't want that. So a human taking first means more than it might look like."

"Does it happen much?"

"More than you'd think." When Parmo's turn came, he stepped up to the first line and looked relaxed. He began shooting and moving through the early lines at a pace that was slightly faster than anyone else had managed. Not rushing, just not stopping either. Moving and shooting like the lines in between didn't need thinking about.

"He's not pausing," Phil said.

"He doesn't need to at this range," Rika said, her eyes fixed on the range. Six lines. Seven. Eight. Nine. The arrow hit and Phil chuckled. Ten. Eleven. The crowd that had erupted when he matched Fen settled back, waiting to see if he beat it. Twelve. Thirteen. The crowd stilled. The way he shot and moved was enough to silence them. He'd beaten the current first place, and it didn't look like he was worried or close to done. Fourteen. Fifteen.

Leo could feel the stillness around him without looking away from the range. Sixteen. Hit. Seventeen. Parmo stepped back to it, set his feet, and shot. The arrow fell short. He'd already taken half a step toward the next line before he stopped, looked at the target, and frowned. Leo laughed.

"Look at him. He was so sure it was going to hit, he was already on his way to the next one." Around them, the crowd broke its silence with a loud cheer.

"How did he manage that?"

"That was incredible." Leo caught the words around him, the crowd's reaction making him smile.