Shaft shot

The days seemed to be flying past in a blur. A week had already gone by, they entered the class to see the Headmaster already there waiting for them to get seated.

"Most of you already know me". He boomed in his deep voice, "I'm the Headmaster, Marsc Giller. And for the rest of the term, I'll be your Astronomy instructor. We're going to learn about the alignment of the stars, ho to read the weather from the stars, how to find direction with the help of the stars and so many other things."

Jake didn't think some of these things were actually possible. "How could you possibly find direction with the aid of the stars" he mused to himself.

After the Headmaster left, Argus came in, smiling at the class. It seemed like he had a lot to tell them.

After he left, Argus came into the class. He seemed to have a lot to share. After their greetings he began "If you are to be introduced into the world of magic, there are a few things you have to know." Some of the class nodded.

"I'm sure all of you already know, there are three types of mages"

"Yes" a few chorused, the rest only slightly nodding their heads.

He went on to tell them about the dark ages and how there came to be demons in the human world.

"There are different types of demons, all with different threat levels."

Jake was taking all these information in a stride.

"The threat levels vary from level one to level five. The level five demons are the ones at the bottom, the very least.

One of you first years could easily take on a level five demon and defeat it, then there's level two, it takes a second year or third to deal with a level two demon, a level three demon will take at least up to three or more third years to defeat.

For a level two demon, any of the skilled or trained mages at the level of us teachers might be able to take them on.

Then, there's a level one demon. The strongest of the category, if you ever come across one, you will be dead in seconds, it take the skill of one from The Seven to defeat a level one demon. As time goes on, you'll be able to easily decipher the threat level of these demons.

But if you ever see a level three to level one, you should run like your lives depend on it, because it really does."

The students shuddered at the thought of running into a demon that could only be taken down by one with the skill of a member of The Seven.

Their improvement was evident, some spell casters were even able to create barriers and hold them up for more than an hour, they were getting much more acquainted and used to each other, they even got to know some of the kids from Scarlet and Ivy.

Five weeks had passed. It was Saturday once again, Anna was already dressed, it was getting colder as they ventured deeper into the winter. She grabbed a jacket and left the hostel.

Jake decided to leave earlier than usual today, he combed his black silky hair backwards and threw a thick grey cardigan over his shoulder completely shielding his necklace from curious eyes then he left the room, he decided to check if Anna was getting ready since he had prepared quite early today. Poking his head through the door, there was no one in the room.

"Why agree to walk together if she plans to just desert me" Jake muttered to himself. He climbed down the stairs and left the hostel, heading for the field

"Hey" he spun around quite sure he hadn't seen anyone

"Anna, you scared me. I didn't see you there"

"Sorry, didn't mean to" she apologized

"Thought you'd left"

"No. Didn't we agree it would be nice to walk with someone"

"Yes, we did but then I didn't see you in your room". They had already started walking towards the field.

"I decided to get some air while I waited"

"I see'

The rest of the journey to the field was spent in silence. When they got to the field, they had to wait for Freya as they had come quite early. Soon Freya arrived with the carriage. She had a happy look on her face.

"Hey guys, you're here already" she smiled putting her arms round their shoulders

She had put on a red shirt that matched the red ruby necklace on her neck.

"Yeah, we came early" Jake replied, not quite matching her enthusiasm.

Freya had grown quite fond of Jake and Anna, she treated them like her junior siblings, guiding them and correcting them without reprimand whenever they made a mistake.

"Let's begin, we don't have much time" they began shooting arrows. Jake and Anna were hitting the target consecutively and none of them were showing signs of relenting.

Only a few of their shots were making it to the center "Aim for the bulls-eye. You need to concentrate" Freya called out to them, shut out the distractions and focus only on the target, visualize the center in you mind"

They both tried to do as she said, after a few more shots they were now hitting the target more frequently than usual.

She smiled inwardly at herself. "Air is one of the factors that affect the flight of an arrow, you have to take that into consideration, you have to make sure the wind is in your favour before releasing your arrow"

Jake took her words into consideration, he remembered his Uncle telling him this, he realized he had not paid much attention to the effect the wind had on the arrow.

Anna was already working her way around the instructions with ease.

Jake decided to calm down and concentrate, he felt the wind wash over his body, he closed his eyes, feeling the speed and the direction of the wind, when he felt it directly at his back, he let his arrow sail.

At the same time, the two arrows found the center of their targets. Jake gave her a little smile of admiration.

"That's nice" Freya patted both their backs. "After you hit it more often, you get the feeling and become able to hit it more often."

She came over to her front, making sure they were both looking at her "do you know what a shaft shot is?" she asked

None of them had a clue

"Watch this" she picked a bow and nocked an arrow, raising for a few second to gauge the distance between her and her target, she sent the arrow flying, the arrow had hardly reached the target when the next one went flying

'Thunk' the arrow made contact at the center of the target, the arrow following split the first arrow into two, hitting the same exact spot as the previous one.

Jake's jaw dropped, he marveled at such accuracy. He felt like this woman wouldn't miss, even if she had intended to.

"Now you know what a shaft shot is, you'll need total concentration to figure it out. I guess we should call it a day, I have another duty to attend to, so I'm afraid we might not see each other for months. You'll probably be getting someone else to fill in for the archery classes.

But I want you both to remember that the key to accuracy is total concentration. I'm disappointed I won't be around to teach you this, but I trust you guys, I know you'll figure it out, you're both smart"

With that she turned and waved at them as she disappeared through the trees.

"Wonder where she's going" Jake mused.