Master Of None

"I think you and your archer friends have tested enough arrows…" Walker felt like he was looking at those beyond the grave. The elves that shared the same mana absorption skill as Gil were also arcane marksman. They had been the ones testing the arrows and accruing the mental stress of using their mana over and over. This training had not been like the other squads but opened the elves' eyes to ideas they had never tested before. 

"If we stop they might lose their fire for invention! They were only making arrows out of crystal because it was easy, now they are using so many different things and it's working." Gil was too far gone to realize that he needed to take a break. As if to prove that he was still ready he notched an arrow that was giving off slight amounts of fire elemental mana. 

"This arrow was an earlier success but now it has been made in to the best version of itself. It costs a lot of mana but watch." Gil let the arrow fly and it burst in to a wave of flame that spread out in front of him. The size and length was enough to encompass five training dummies instead of one and cause them all to have minor burns. 

"Heroes, this one was made by my brother who is resting over there. We named it flame wave arrow. It is magnificent!" The elf behind Gil was holding five more of the same flame wave arrow and repeatedly smiling at them. He had clearly lost his mental state due to the mental stress of constant mna output. 

"No, my frost ring arrow is better. It can freeze an enemy's feet and slow them like the snow elf skill frost ring!" A female elf was holding a set of paler blue arrows and arguing what was better. The two proceed to fall in to arguments on what elemental arrow was bet for what situation. 

"Do you see now? The elves have had their creativity all bottled up and it is finally time for it to shine!" Gil was looking at all the arrows that he had yet to test that have been improved in multiple rounds of testing. Juts this training session alone had brought out ideas and new inventions that would have never been done if the city wasn't opening up to the world. 

"And since you have helped open that door you are all going to rest. That is an order from not only the title holder and highest ranked archer in the kingdom but also the future queen." Wade strolled up with five enforcers behind him who started to take the arrows and lay them out in another area away from the still conscious elves. Not a single one refused his order due to the fear that they could be forced to stop for longer. 

"Well, if this is how it needs to be done." Walker accepted that Wades' strategy was the best to get the proper results needed. "Gil, as party leader I order you to get rest with the party and stop training. You have far surpassed the expectations." Walker knew that some praise would also help and saw that Gil's face was still bright even though a twinge of sadness was there. 

"And you are giving Walker your bow to keep from temptation," Su added to this taking the bow from Gil who was slowly reaching for one more arrow nearby. 

"And you are going to give me your dessert at dinner tonight." Remey tried her luck but was instead met with multiple glares. "Or I will just sit over there with Midnight." Remey backed off knowing that she shouldn't have threatened anyone's food. Every party member had been victim to Midnights' attempted thefts so they had grown slightly cautious of their food. 

With Gil having given in and the elves that had still been awake forced to sit and rest the party sat with Scylla and Wade. Alma soon approached looking fairly worn herself. "You have all continuously amazed me and today was no different. The elders are already in an uproar after hearing about what you did to the squads without higher permission. I needed to throw around my weight today. I even threatened them with my ivy to no avail." 

Alma was joking about the ivy which was clear to see but the others knew that they had unintentionally brought a lot of work on to her today. "I will take some of that burden. I encouraged them and even lead them there. I still don't understand the sudden quest for improving the trainees though. It is good overall but feels off."

  Wade had felt this way the entire time but didn't want to say it. 

"Are you sure it isn't because we were left out of the quest? I didn't expect we would have it since we were acting as guides but you should have still gotten some experience from assisting those who exhausted themselves." Alma was sp[eaking like a mother scolding a child. 

"Maybe, I guess it could be." Wade accepted it slowly while looking at the party and their tired expressions. "The training you all came up with on the spot was pretty intense. Please don't tell m,e you are always training like that?" His face showed the disbelief that it couldn't be true. 

"Our training is usually weird. Sometimes we pair up or do group battles. We were once training against some tamed monsters. Oh, we trained with some demi-humans and a coliseum tournament." Remey listed off just a few instances of training, "And Walker trains al out by himself. He once even spent the night on the front step meditating." Remey giggled remembering the day they found him there. 

Scylla took their words with heavy belief. She wanted to restructure her training methods to be more rounded and random like the party's "Oh, I think the quest should be completed now." This realization made them all open their eyes wide. 

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