Uncomfortable, Switching

Confused, Vaylah eyed Ava for a moment before deciding to forget about it. Anyways, if the imp was willing to work with her on this, it was only a good thing, right? No need to think too much about it.

On the other hand, Ava couldn't help but let out a small smile at this silly instructor of hers. It wasn't that she was unwilling to follow safety guidelines and the such. She knew more than most people how devastating a random injury could be. It was just that she had a better judge of her own strength than Vaylah did, especially after doing a lot of training with Kassidy. Her stamina and ability to keep up was really quite astounding, and her strength was quite decent too. Using the child's bow, she really couldn't be considered to be exerting herself, so it was perfectly fine for her to continue onwards practicing form.

Now that she was using a longbow, although her strength was still decent, she didn't think she was stronger than archers who trained their muscles all year long and were, of course, willing to be careful. Looking at the bow that was practically her size, Ava was sure that it would hurt quite a lot if she messed up. Anyways, she had gotten what she wanted today after playing a small trick, so there was no need to fight with Vaylah over this.

Shaking her head, Vaylah went over to the wall and lifted up the longbow, and strummed the string before letting out a smile. Admittedly, she had to say she was happy they were moving to more advanced weapons, as that meant she could show off a bit more too. After all, although she was decent with a short bow, it couldn't be considered her specialty, much less the tiny bow that Ava had been using. It had been somewhat hard for her to teach from firsthand experience.

As for the longbow…

Grabbing an arrow, she quickly notched it before turning and shooting out at a target that was far in the distance, placed in the same lane as the twenty-meter target.

A few seconds later, the arrow landed in the center of the target that was placed two hundred and twenty meters away.

Turning around and looking at Ava, she let out a slightly evil grin. "The range of a longbow is around a hundred and forty meters to three hundred meters. It's a weapon used for war, not for hunting or fighting. So naturally, we won't be playing with these little kiddy targets anymore. If you can't hit a shot by the end of the day, don't blame me for putting you back on the learning bow."

Turning solemn, Ava let out a nod before hesitating slightly. If that was the case, she had to admit she lost some of her interest in the longbow. Although a war bow was practical, the problem was that she wasn't all that interested in war. If possible, she'd much prefer a bow that was useful for hunting and killing. Eying the short bow on the rack, Ava couldn't help but feel some regret at how she had overlooked the short bow that was nearby after feeling resentment at her kiddy bow, but after a moment, she shook off the negative feelings.

Anyways, she had decided to learn the longbow, so she'd learn the longbow. Worst case, she'd swap after trying it out for a while and confirming it didn't suit her. It wasn't like she had planned to learn how to use shortswords or duel wield either, right? But both had turned out quite well for her.

Receiving the bow from Vaylah, Ava couldn't help but falter a little at its size. With its height, it was uncomfortable for Ava to hold it in a proper stance, as the length of the bow would end up touching the floor.

Seeing this, Vaylah let out a smirk before shaking her head and helping her raise the bow up slightly and saying, "It's a longbow, sweetie. You're wasting it if you're aiming straight at them."

Ignoring the jab, Ava notched an arrow and tried firing the bow to get a feel for it.

Pulling back the arrow, Ava couldn't help but feel somewhat startled at the significantly stronger weight on the string and the fact that compared to her little training bow, the longbow featured much fewer niceties, including an arrow notch. Instead, she simply had to pull the arrow back and judge on her own.

After a moment of hesitation and adjustment, Ava released the arrow and watched it fly about a third of the distance Vaylah's arrow had flown before faltering and landing.

Smirking, Vaylah took the bow from Ava's hand and said, "Ready to switch bows yet? You aren't tall enough or strong enough for this bow yet, darling."

Annoyed, Ava gave Vaylah a glance but, in the end, didn't say anything. Although there had been problems with how she had released the arrow, Ava had to admit that using the bow had been extremely uncomfortable and made it difficult for her to exert her strength. With her current height and muscle development, it was indeed inappropriate.

After thinking for a moment, Ava nodded and said, "Alright, it was my mistake. I want to learn how to use a bow I can use in a closer range. What would you recommend."

Startled, Vaylah eyed Ava again before letting out a smile. Touching her chin, she thought for a moment and said, "Well, you could use a crossbow, but I have to say that they're quite boring to play with, and I'd have to call someone up to explain to you how to modify and maintain the parts. If we're talking bows, however, your best bet is a recurve bow."

Staring at Vaylah, Ava waited for her to continue.

Seeing that Ava wasn't biting the bait, Vaylah let out a sigh and walked over to the rack, and examined the bows one by one before choosing the smallest bow that she could find.

Her lip twitching, Ava didn't say anything and examined the bow. Compared to the miniature bow she had been using earlier, which could be considered a modified short bow, the bow in front of her was almost shaped like the number three and, although small, was still a size larger than the bow she had been using earlier.

Handing it over to Ava, Vaylah smiled and said, "Give it a shot, it's about the same, but it's going to be a bit heavier."

Strumming the string, Ava hummed in acknowledgment.