Is it a mistake?
"Good job!" Annie rush to congratulate Jenna.
It must be a mistake isn't it? It must be.
Lifting my hands I give some slow claps and keep a calm controlled smile "congratulation legolas, you may just be worthy of that nickname" "thanks, I'm sure it was just a coincidence though." Jenna answer me with this gentle, weak smile of her, and I can't help but agree.
Her answer calm me. It must be a coincidence. Annie don't agree, caressing her back she speak "don't say that, I'm sure it wasn't"
I let the two girls talk together as I squat down in front of the target.
Not on the wetspot, around the side of the cloth, close to the wood, close to not being on the cloth at all.
Still, she couldn't shoot for shit before, maybe just luck, I saw her train too.
Grabbing the shaft I dig the arrowhead out and walk toward the girl, ignoring their words, I put the arrow in jenna hand "Why don't you try again?"
She smile at me "Alright" I nod at her, it must be a mistake, a coincidence.
It must be.
For everyone sake it must be.
Me and Annie stay together behind her, again, and like earlier, we wait.
She take the arrow, draw it, shoot.
"See! It wasn't a mistake!" Annie rush forward to celebrate with Annie.
What a coincidence. Truly, truly what a coincidence
"Good job, Jenna, see you can do it."
I blur her answer out, she seems proud.
I go grab the arrow again "let's do it a dozen of time to see if that was a mistake or not alright?"
"Alright!"
It wasn't.
"Finally can use the bow, good job, your hard work payed off"
"I think it's more because of the skill really..." I believe you.
"Don't say that, you worked hard for it too" annie, always here to bring the mood up. But she did trained alone too didn't she? Perhaps it came from her hard work too?
I grab the arrow.
Without ever learning the right stance?
Are you telling me she just tried again and again and again and she can just shoot a bow now?
Perhaps, perhaps, maybe I'm overthinking this, maybe it's not because of that skill, yes. Yes!
That's it, it's not because of the skill, it just can't!
A system that can just give people skills that would take days to learn in less than a second?
That's ridiculous, a ridiculous thought.
It's like those stats, and my necklace, maybe it's just, it's just giving really small boost and nothing more, maybe it just help a little bit, maybe it just gave what Jenna needed.
She trained hard, maybe she could already shoot that well but she wasn't confident enough in herself when I asked if she could shoot last time.
Maybe. Maybe.
And anyway it was a (common) skills right!? I have a (epic) title. I would KNOW if a skill affected people that much!
This must be it, or how would that system give straight up skills? How? That's-"Lud?"
A hand come rest on my shoulder, Annie hand. I turn my head back and smile "just thinking about how we can challenge legolas skill again" "ohhhh what's next?" I get up, slowly. "Distance!"
We're in the corridor.
Jenna too, I added 10 steps, her original shoot was at ten step, we're at 20 now.
"Go whenever you're ready legolas!" "Go at it girl!"
She draw her bow. Miss.
Stop, change her foot positioning. Fucking miss.
She shoot. Miss please.
"LET'S GOOOOO THAT'S IT!" Annie rush forward to hug jenna from the back, I pat her shoulder one time and give her a smile while I walk to the target.
Technically.
It's not a miss.
Barely hanging to the white cloth, more on the wooden part, barely touching, the arrow is in.
I crush the arrow, I mean, I grab it.
Calmly, really calmly, I rip it out, what? I need force to take it out, I'm calm.
"You know the deal for now, let's do it ten times!"
First time: land
Miss, miss, just miss one time, you just need to miss one time that's all, just one time.
Second time: land
It must be a joke, it must be one, it must be, my fingers hurt, I shouldn't squeeze my fist that hard.
Third time: land
This, this, this is just coincidental, probability is playing a dumb game right now, that's all.
Fourth time: land
...
Fifth time: l-"oh no, don't worry don't worry, that's just one missed"
Finally.
"Don't worry Annie I'm not worried, I did way better that I thought I would already"
I smile at her, a real smile this time "Eh, this happen, don't worry you already did awesome, let's finish all this real quick"
I grab the arrow again
"thanks for helping me you two" I stop.
She sound so sincere.
"To be honest, I wasn't sure I would be hitting anything, I'm not really used to..." Winning?
"All this. So..." Annie hug her "don't even worry about that, that's what friends are for" "thanks"
She look so, so, so, why are you looking at me like that?
Smile. "Don't thanks me Jenna, you worked hard for this you deserve it."
"Thanks" her voice sounds so subdued, so..., so happy to finally win something, by herself, one time.
Surrounded by people that help her and cheer her up, not knowing the one that give her the arrow to land her goal secretely hope for her to miss.
I'm a piece of shit.
Sixth time: land
You know that probably speaking, the most unlucky things are more likely to happen in a row? Yep, it's just human biases that make us think not.
So right now, I'm just feeling HUMAN BIASES! That's all.
Seventh time: land
This is not a fluke.
Why am I hesitating?
8th time:
"I think I figured something out"
"You did?" Did you? Did you? What did you? Did you? Did you? What did you figured? Did you? Did you?
"Yeah, if I just bend like that, and pull like that" I squint, seeing almost no difference in how she hold her bow "then" she shoot, it flies. "There is way less resistance!" I turn my head.
8th time: land, first time in the wet spot.
Fuck.
Ninth time: land, close to wetspot
"Uh guys?"
"Yes?"
"Congratulation for reaching an enlightenment, your Basic form of the devastator piercing arrow reach level 2"
...
"Wait really? There are levels?"
"Yeah, did I forgot to tell you?"
"I'm pretty sure you didn't, do you think it leveled up because you practiced"
"well I mean it talked about enlightenment"
Level 2 level 2 level 2. "Let's do 10 more"
"huh?"
"To see if leveling up made you shoot better"
Keep smiling.
Tenth time: wetspot
Should I do it? I'm pretty sure I should. Since when did I started being that peckish? Is that after twitchy?
Eleventh time: close to wetspot
I'm sure of it, it's after Twitchy. It's all because of this fucker.
Twelfth time: close to wetspot
It's always because of him, always, always, I was ready for it, I TOLD MYSELF I WAS READY.
thirteenth time: wetspot
But I wasn't, and look at me now, can't I pass one fucking day in peace in my own DAMN FUCKING MIND!
Fourtee-fiftee-sixtee whatever whatever, we get it, I got it, no need to note all the time I hoped she would miss, she didn't, she didn't miss, not one more fucking time, she didn't.
She's gone from snapping the string on her finger and making the arrow fly directly to her feet, to touching a targer relatively well, with consistency.
All after she got one skill.
Yes, yes she needed to practice, and the skill did said that it leveled up because she got an enlightenment, I agree, but still, that's too fast, way too fast, that's not normal, and I don't know why I'm hoping it would be, this world isn't normal, I get it, I butchered an orc yesterday, I got it.
This system is powerful.
I understand it now.
It's skill part is definetly powerful, it's definetly something I need to be aware of.
I look in the air.
[-Body: 10
-Mind: 10
-Magic: 1
1 free point
1000 substat points.
For your safety, please do not add more than 50 points in a single substat]
It's skills are powerful.
It's stats must be even more.
I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, breathing is hard, sweat stick on my palm.
[Essence: 82/100 ]
I lick my lips, there isn't any limits on it right? Tiers. The tutorial is obviously a start. Imagine. Just imagine how much stats, how much power would I get if I just...did it.
I don't need to imagine it.
Dad is always right.
"What next?" I look down at the prideful face of Jenna, she look like a beat up mom that finally got a win in her life.
Like her childrens don't fight, like she has a happy and loving family.
But sometimes, Dad was a bit over the top.