EPISODE 97; THE AERIAL BLOODLINE LIMIT! THE BOW OF ORION PART II: AERIAL COMBATIVE TYPES PART II: DEFENDING ONE’S ZONE PART I: THE RULES OF COMBATIVE ARCHERY!

Concordia and her Mom had just completed the theoretical lesson on Aerial Combative Types.

"Now it's time for a practical session, a bit of combat training. We will both set our sigils to immobilization and begin to battle with the aim of immobilizing each other. The one who wins is the one who succeeds in immobilizing the other. That's one way to win. The second way is to win by avoid getting hit for the duration of an hour. Are you ready Concordia?" Victoria asked as she began to stretch her arms to condition her muscles.

Concordia was also preparing herself.

"Ready when you are Mom" Concordia said with determination.

"Then we'll use five minutes to mount our Defenses. Battle will commence after that" Victoria said and walked away.

"KRAKEN ANDROMEDA! PORCUPINE DEFENSE MODE!" Concordia called as a large number of her arrows materialized around her to form a strong defensive orb.

"The initial goal of an Archer is to conceal their position. It's because most Archers are at a disadvantage in close range combat. That's why I worked so hard to hone my hand to hand combat skills. It was to overcome that vulnerability" Concordia thought as she sought out a good Defensive Position while monitoring the time.

"A good position should narrow or at best completely eliminate my blindspots" Concordia thought as she searched for obstructions within the Hall.

She found a pile of rocks.

"This looks like a good position" she said and hid behind the pile with her back to the rocks.

"This obstruction should prevent Mom from getting a clear shot at me" Concordia said. "I can cover my blindspots with both the rubble and Kraken Andromeda's Porcupine Defense Mode. This should allow me to efficiently monitor all the other directions I can see without the fear of being shot in my blindspots" Concordia thought.

Concordia recalled one of her training sessions with her Mom in the past. She had just lost a battle.

"Why can't I beat you?" she had asked.

"It's because you haven't yet mastered the Rules Of Combative Archery. You always hit your target however you need to remember that battling a sentient target is quite different from battling a stationary or programmed target" her mother had told her.

"What are these rules?" she had asked.

"The first Rule Of Combative Archery is a Sensory Rule. Always cover your blindspots. If an adversary is going to attack you, they'd make sure to attack from an angle you cannot see. However, if you can see the attack coming, even if you are at a disadvantage, that knowledge will equip you to defend yourself in a prudent manner. This Rule is the first rule of Combative Archery because the most predominant role of the Archer is to cover the blindspots of their allies. To a large extent, whether or not an Archer's allies fall into a trap is dependent on how quickly the Archer can detect and react to an adversary's attacks" Victoria explained.

"What is the second rule?" young Concordia had asked.

"The second rule is to never give away your position to an adversary unless you have a clear shot. An Archer's role in a party is one of the most important, however, it is also one of the most dangerous. This is because your adversary will most likely also have Archery Units and the more experienced your adversary is, the more likely they are to attempt to eliminate your Support Unit first. The greatest danger lies in the fact that regardless of whether you have a clear shot or not, the moment you release your arrow, will also be the moment you signal your adversaries. This is why the third rule exists" Victoria had explained.

"What is the third rule?" Concordia had asked.

"The third rule is simple. If you are hunted by an adversary…do everything in your power to distort their senses. That is why the 'Silent Bow' was invented. It's a bow that can release a shot without making a single sound. This is also the reason an Archer has to shift their geographical position to a more advantageous one after the release of every shot. It's to prevent a situation where you'll be taken down by the Adversary's Archery Units. This brings me to the fourth and final rule. There will definitely be times when you will be discovered by an adversary many times stronger than you are. What you do in that situation will to a large extent determine whether you live or die" Concordia noticed an uncharacteristically serious look in her Mom's eyes as she uttered those words. "When discovered by an adversary many times stronger than you are…do not attempt to flee. It's usually the case that Support Units are shot in the back by a stronger adversary's units the moment they try to flee the scene. In the first place, you can't outrun an adversary with greater mobility than you have and you can't beat an adversary with greater range than you have" Victoria said.

"So you surrender?" Concordia asked.

"I said not to flee. I never said anything about surrendering. Hold your position and keep your eyes on your adversary. The adversary will be looking for the chance to attack you the moment you avert your gaze and create a blindspot. There are times when weaker prey escape a stronger predator simply because they held their ground, kept their eyes on the predator and defended their blindspots. The main purpose of this defensive strategy is to ensure that the predator understands that they have more to lose by hunting you than they have to gain" Concordia recalled her Mom's lessons on the Rules Of Archery as she prepared to defend herself.