Overextended

Returning to the range, Vaylah once again put on a serious expression. Although she wanted to play with and bond with this little unsociable imp, that didn't mean that she would slack off on her proper duties. At most, just re-arrange them a little to cause a headache.

Picking up a disk, Vaylah first threw a normal disk, followed by a curved disk, followed by two normal disks, releasing each disk as soon as Ava had shot down the previous one.

After a few mixups that had resulted in Ava needing to take a second shot once or twice, Vaylah paused for a moment before throwing out two disks at once, one going far and fast, the other curving in close and almost wrapping above their heads.

Although Ava was surprised for a moment, she quickly adjusted and fired out two arrows in quick succession, first aiming for the disk in the distance, feeling as if it went any further, it would go beyond the optimal range of the recurve bow and another one shortly after aimed at the disk nearby that was circling around in the air, becoming unforgettable at times as it curved above the roof of the range.

Smiling, Vaylah nodded in approval before throwing out three, then four, then six disks, all in quick succession, watching with some amazement as Ava managed to shoot all of them down, although it sometimes took her an extra arrow.

This was in part because Ava's aim was impressive and, perhaps more importantly, because she had a good sense of priorities. Vaylah had trained a few whelps in the past, and quite a few of them were fairly talented, but they had difficulty figuring out where to aim, especially as the number of disks increased, and Vaylah started playing tricks with the speed of the disks.

Shooting the disk that was furthest away at the moment wasn't always correct, as the disks that seemed like they were behind would quickly speed up and overtake the forerunning disk, and as a result, the students could only hang their heads low at their failures.

Of course, many were still fairly proud of their results secretly, but in front of Vaylah's mocking face, they could only reluctantly put on a mopey act.

Ava, on the other hand, seemed to have the natural sense of a hunter and had a good judgment of speed and priority. Although her shots might not be as precise or quick as some of Vaylah's previous students, they were always where they needed to be.

As Vaylah was starting up the next round, she saw Ava raise a hand.

Lowering the disk, Vaylah looked at Ava inquisitively, only to hear the little imp say, "I need to take a break. My hands are cramping."

Stunned at the fact that the imp was asking for a break, it took Vaylah a moment to register they had already been training for well over an hour, and Ava had fired well over thirty to forty shots in the meantime. Indeed, it made sense that her hands were cramping, and Vaylah probably should have stopped practice quite a while ago, perhaps just after Ava had hit two disks at once.

Scratching her head, Vaylah realized she had been too engrossed in seeing how far this little protegee could go and had totally forgotten her role as an instructor, much less the additional care she planned on giving Ava because of her small stature.

Embarrassed, Vaylah coughed and said, "Ah, it's good that you can tell your own limits. Er, we'll call it here for today. Even if you take a little break, your fingers will start to clamp up with how many arrows you've gone through today. Remember to do some finger exercises, and I'll see you in a couple of days."

Nodding, Ava let out a nod and said, "Alright, thanks, Vaylah. I'll see you soon."

Smiling at the fact Ava had thanked her, it was only when Ava had already crossed half the field that Vaylah realized that Ava had called her Vaylah and not big Sis like she had promised to earlier.

Her face turning slightly green, Vaylah wanted to chase after the imp and give her a spanking and tell her who the boss was, but in the end, she restrained herself and lightly dusted off her clothes before heading inside and taking a tea break while waiting for her carriage to arrive.

On the other side of the compound, Ava quickly exited into the street before looking around for a moment and taking a few steps back when she realized there was a well-built man standing quietly next to the entrance. Placing her palm on her waist, Ava couldn't help but narrow her eyes and lower her stance.

Seeing Ava's reaction, the man let out a small smile before saying in a soft tone, "Miss Ava, I'm Arlo. You might have seen me around. I'm Master Vaylah's butler."

Thinking for a moment, Ava realized that the man did seem slightly familiar and slightly loosened her guard, although she remained a few steps away from the man and kept her palm on her waist.

Letting out a small cough, Arlo continued, "Miss Vaylah saw you didn't eat many of the snacks from tea time today and asked that I pack some up for you to bring home to eat. Would you like me to help you bring them home?"

Squinting, Ava shook her head.

"Alright, I'll hand you the package then, Miss Ava." Turning around, Arlo exposed his back and moved to a small bench that wasn't that far away and picked up a large box that was wrapped in a soft pink cloth and tied into a ribbon on top. Holding the package by the ribbon, which was fashioned into a handle, Arlo weighed it for a second and placed it on the ground in front of Ava before taking a few steps back.

Observing his actions, Ava paused for a moment before nodding in acknowledgment and picking up the package, and leaving.

Behind, Arlo squinted for a moment before shaking his head and turning around, and heading inside.