Black Ice ✓ | Deathsworn #1

Chapter 35 ∞ Ejected

A couple of months passed by in a breeze. Life in the House of Oblivion rolled on without a hitch. We were all preoccupied with our own stuff. The two other doofus-es had found the crafts they liked—Erenol with dancing and Maun, surprisingly enough, with swordsmanship. He apparently found a liking to a one-edged sword called bolo. I heard Mistress Veronika say that, once he mastered it in its one-handed style, he could on move on to wielding two. By the looks of it, it wasn't long now as he was quite talented. The progress he was showing exceeded expectations, but Mistress Veronika was pleasantly surprised.

On the other hand, I had also begun my training with archery. It wasn't Mistress Veronika's specialty, but she set me up with the basics to get me started. I did, after all, buy a bow. What use did it have if I didn't know how to use it? My progress had been slower compared to Maun, but I was still progressing—which was, at the end of the day, all that mattered.

"I wasn't wrong," Mistress Veronika said as I released the arrow and landed on a good spot on the target.

It wasn't bullseye, but I think if there was a scoreboard, I would've hit nine points out of ten. Maun and Erenol were watching like the supportive baby ducks they were, clapping their hands to cheer me on with every good release while expressing disappointment at every failure.

"You do suit this more than swordsmanship," she continued. "This progress is better compared to what you've had with the sword the past six years. Either way, don't think it has gone to waste. Most archers will have to enter close combat at some point. When the enemy moves in, you can defend yourself at the very least."

In this, I agreed with her, but a part of me was thinking of how she was saying this to justify what useless lessons I've gotten.

"You've got to do some self-study though. I can't teach you in this very well because bows aren't my specialty," Mistress Veronika said.

That's what she said, but she was good enough to teach me the basics and some of the more advanced stuff. It might not have been her specialty, but that didn't mean she wasn't familiar with it. Mistress Veronika was that type who didn't claim she was good at something unless it was what she knew she was one of the best at.

I lowered my bow and wiped the sweat of my brow. Steadiness of the hands was one of my worst enemies in this game, but I was getting the hang of it. I knew how to play musical instruments with the help of my mistresses though, so it helped very much with my coordination and focus. I also had to improve on the speed of my draw and release. Once I develop a good habit and familiarize myself with the craft more, doing it would become like second nature to me.

"Understood, mistress," I said and paid my respects by bowing.

My lessons came to an end and I turned to see Maun walking over with a bright smile. Now that he'd gotten some meat between his bones, he looked far more pleasant and, well, healthy. His silver-violet hair was tied neatly at the base of his hair and his previously wary and cautious eyes have finally taken on a carefree shine. The mistresses had taken to dressing him up and had shopped for some pretty clothes for him to wear. I didn't know whether it was the act of shopping that gave them the pleasure or if it was seeing the sheer bewilderment on his face for getting so many gifts. The boy's innocence had a way of getting to everybody.

"Evy! Evy!" Eren stood straight up beside Maun with the same smile as though they had colluded together to do something.

"What is it?" I asked, pulling on the collar of my clothes to wipe my face.

Erenol had that annoying grin that thinned my patience. I looked at the both of them exasperatedly and repeated, "What is it?"

These two were already used to my 'impatient bitch' attitude. I wasn't exactly a sweet cake. Although I put up a show for my mistresses while growing up, much of my old personality was resurfacing.