“Have I told you that I love your hair?” Kaira asked after they’d dropped Ana’s dirty clothes off at the laundry that Kaira used. It had cost her three coppers, and God only knew if her bra and panties would survive. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a style like that.”
“Thanks.” Ana said. She wondered how long it would take for her sides to grow out enough that her side cut would look like crap. And her roots would start really showing in a few days. Platinum blonde on naturally chestnut hair wasn’t exactly low maintenance.
She wondered what people would say about that. Did they have hair dyes here? If she shaved the sides and let the rest grow for a while… Nah. Too much work.
“I don’t think I can maintain it,” she said. “Maybe I should go with your style for a while. Looks good on you. Uh… are you naturally smooth or do you shave?”
“Shave,” Kaira sighed. “And thanks, but it’s not really a choice, honestly. I don’t take much damage from my own flames, but hair? Eyebrows? Forget about ‘em. Keeping any kind of hairstyle isn’t really compatible with being a Fire Evoker, at least not if you like to get stuck in.” She grinned. “But at least I don’t need to wait for my hair to dry when I get out of the bath, eh?”
“True enough.” Ana had gone full G.I. Jane herself at one point, and only needing to run a towel over your head after a shower had been extremely convenient.
They swung by Petra’s inn to pick up Ana’s weapons, then continued to the guardhouse. It was well into the morning by that point, and Kaira wanted to go over the basics before lunch. Ana doubted that she’d be able to eat anything until dinner. She’d had both large bowls of the porridge that she’d been offered, and was still full enough to feel it.
They set up at a table in the large room at the entrance of the guardhouse. There were a few people there, but no one so much as looked at them twice, so this was probably not an uncommon thing here.
“I mean, we call it the ‘guardhouse,’” Kaira said when Ana asked about it, “but it’s mostly that the Captain has his office here. It doubles as a Guild hall, so pretty much anyone can come by for whatever. Got the notice board here and all. So, anyway, what you have is what most people would just call a light crossbow. It’s a pretty basic one, too, but that’s fine for a beginner. If you stick with it you can get a full size one, you know? Composite or recurve, even. Or hells, get an arbalest and become a dedicated backliner! Anyway: this is the prod, this is the tiller…”
It was a lot like a beginner shooting course, really. Kaira went through the parts of the weapon, showed Ana how to remove and replace the string, and how to care for everything. When it came time to actually show Ana how to load the thing Kaira paused.
“Right, so, this is actually made for someone who’s fairly strong. I didn’t think about that. I’ll show you how my crossbow is spun this afternoon, but to span this one you just pull the string back to the nut with your hand. I, uh, I don’t wanna get too personal, but are you strong enough?”
“Only one way to find out.” There was a handle at the front of the weapon, and Ana grabbed that in her left hand, then hooked the first two fingers of her right over the string and pulled. It was tough, and the string threatened to cut into her skin, but she got the weapon “spun,” meaning ready to shoot, she guessed, without any trouble.
Kaira grinned at her. “You’ve got some muscle on you, new girl! All right, so you aim like this, and pull this lever to shoot…”
All in all, Kaira’s assessment of Ana’s looted crossbow was that it would do just fine. The same went for the bolts, the short, thick arrows that Ana had looted together with the weapon.
“These are basic Delving or hunting bolts,” Kaira told her. “See how you’ve got the wide, thin head? It’s good for causing bleeding when you’re hunting, or disabling limbs by cutting muscle and tendons or mucking up joints when you’re killing demon-possessed creatures. Won’t do much against armor, but if you’re up against anything in armor you’re better off running, anyway.”
Shooting the thing, once they were out at the straw practice targets in the yard, which had their own area extending around the back of the guardhouse, was very different from anything Ana had experienced. For one, while hers was apparently a fairly small crossbow it was much more like a longarm than a pistol, and Ana had never fired a rifle or a shotgun in her life. She held it to her shoulder, aimed down the length, and pulled the lever. It had a soft kick to it when the tension released with a satisfying tchunk, and she could actually track the bolt in its short flight before it struck the target. While that made it feel like the bolt had moved quite slowly, it still embedded itself deep in the target, and Ana got a pretty good idea what it would do if it hit flesh instead of straw.
“Hell yeah, new girl! You’re a natural! You’re gonna be sniping demons in no time! Let’s stop on a high note and grab some lunch! We’ll grab something from the square, right? Then we can stop by my place for my crossbow, so you can try that out. We’ll have you practice with your own after that, since you don’t exactly have the purse to get a new one right now. But we’ll fix that soon enough, no worries! Three days, remember? Oh, we should go by Admin when we’re at the square and get you in my group!”
Ana wanted to argue on principle. She’d never liked having people make her decisions for her. Who did? But the aggressively friendly not-quite-human Kaira had proven to be useful, helpful, and surprisingly fun to be around given her first impression. So, if she was leading or supervising the group, and Ana didn’t exactly have anything else to do… and money was tight… Honestly, it felt more like she was denying herself something than anything else.
“All right,” she said, though she made sure to sigh a little when she did to appear just a little reluctant. “Sure, let’s do it. But I’ll only have three days of training. Are you sure I’ll be ready? I don’t want to be a burden on anyone.”
“You made it here on your own, and you hit the target on your first shot. And you’ll be with a bunch of experienced casuals. And me! We’ll all have a good time, you’ll make some friends, and you’ll make some experience and some cash. It’ll be so good!”
“I’ll take your word for it. So I don’t need to buy any of my own gear, right? I can borrow it all from the guild?”
“Basic equipment and rations, yeah. Most casuals who go out a lot like to get their own stuff, at least for bedrolls and stuff like that, but the basics are fine. It’s not like you’ll be roughing it or anything.”
Lunch, for Kaira, was a big wooden skewer of barely grilled meat, which she tore apart with almost frightening ease with her sharp teeth. Ana didn’t eat, but she did get them each something like a fruit slushie. She almost had to get them; the man who sold them prepared them with a mind bogglingly casual application of magic, the pot of fruit juice that he was stirring freezing rapidly under his splayed fingers. It was cold, sweet, and purple, and tasted like something between a cherry and an apple. Weird, but refreshing.
Kaira drank hers so quickly that Ana almost got a sympathy headache, but seemed entirely unaffected. When Ana asked her about it Kaira just shrugged. Apparently ice cream headaches just weren’t a thing for themions, or evokers, or both.
At Administration the same woman, Drisa, was at the desk. She looked up from her work as they entered and gave them both a calculating look, accompanied by a small smile. “Ah, Miss Cole. I didn’t expect you back quite so soon, but welcome. And Kaira! I wondered if you’d get your claws in her.”
“Hey Drisa,” Kaira replied familiarly. “You know I’m the best at what I do.”This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“‘What you do’ being convincing young women to go out risking their lives in the wilderness,” Drisa said, but her tone was clearly not serious.
“Haven’t lost one yet. And me and Tor are going to be giving her a crash course, so she’ll be better than fine. Right, Ana?”
“Ana, is it?” Drisa said, her smile amused. “Well, Miss Cole, since you’re here I assume that you want to join Kaira’s group, but I’ll need a clear ‘yes’ from you to sign you up. And don’t worry. It’s not binding. You can back out any time you want, when this one inevitably becomes too much.”
Kaira rolled her eyes dramatically. “Pssh, just because you couldn’t hack it doesn’t mean Ana can’t. Drisa woke up with a bug in her ear and hasn’t been out again since,” she said to Ana.
Ana nearly choked when Drisa stuck her tongue out at Kaira’s turned head, her face returning to amused propriety before Kaira looked back. “I’ve decided that the settlement is quite rough enough for me, thank you. So, Miss Cole?”
Ana couldn’t help but smile back. “Yeah, sure. Sign me up.”
“Excellent. I’ll have a kit prepared for you. I assume that you’ll need one?”
“Camping stuff, yeah.”
“You’ll need to leave a deposit, but if you’re short on coin on the day I’m sure we can work something out. And don’t worry. Kaira’s group has some fairly experienced members, and she is right in that she’s never lost anyone. Well, no one had died on her watch, at least. Her pace tends to cause some turnover among the newer members, but I have a feeling that won’t be a problem with you.”
Ana and Kaira ducked out of Administration with a quick “goodbye,” then headed to Kaira’s home in the south-western part of the settlement. That area seemed to be less dense than the others, with large homes shaded by trees, and surrounded on each side by at least a little bit of grass instead of being wall-to-wall like most of the rest of the outpost.
“Does Torden live nearby?” Ana asked as they approached one of the houses, Kaira fishing for a key in an inside pocket of the light robe she was wearing.
“Tor? Nah, lives with his folks on the other side of Main Street. They’re both Engravers so they’ve got one of those workshop-houses, ya know?”
“Oh, are they artists?”
“Huh? No, Engravers! They… right, there’s a bunch of shit you don’t know, isn’t there? Sorry. They take regular items and engrave mana channels on them, so you can use magic through them. Fiddly work, and expensive as you-don’t-wanna-know. Ah, here!”
Kaira brought out a key just as they reached the door of the house she’d been steering Ana towards, unlocking and opening it in one smooth motion to reveal a small vestibule and a carpeted corridor. “So, first floor is me and Girry, and Valena has the whole upstairs, but it’s her house so fair enough, yeah? Just come in. Close the door behind you, though. Here!”
One third down the length of the corridor they passed a door on the right, and two thirds down was another door, which Kaira unlocked with a second key. “We won’t be long,” she said as she opened the door, “but come in! Have a look!”
Kaira’s room was not the monument to chaos that Ana had expected from her personality. It was, in fact, rather more orderly than Ana’s own flat back in London. It wasn’t like everything was labeled and lined up in neat rows, ordered by size, but there was still a very clear sense of everything in its place. There was a reading corner, with two long bookshelves. There were no books anywhere except on the shelves or the small side table by the chair. There was a rack of vials, clear, brown or green and containing liquids of various colors, and all the vials in the room were on that rack. Everything that looked like a weapon was collected in another corner, with two crossbows and their ammunition on one rack, a few daggers mounted above them, and two staves on a different rack against the other wall.
In the middle of the room was a table large enough for the four chairs surrounding it, covered in a fringed green table cloth. Kaira picked up the smaller of her two crossbows and put it on the table. It was several inches longer and wider than Ana’s own. “Here, take a look,” Kaira said, and Ana did as she asked. “See how you’ve got the larger stirrup at the front? You put your foot in that. Then this,” Kaira held up a short leather strap with a hook on either end, “goes one hook on the string, and the other on your belt, and then you use your leg to pull the string back. I usually wear a good, thick leather belt with a metal loop on it. Or if you’re real, real strong you could do it by hand, but if you’re that strong you probably prefer close combat anyway.”
“Speaking of,” Ana said. “You’re a, uh, an Evoker. You use magic?” It felt ridiculous to say. She half expected Kaira to laugh at her. “Fire. And lightning. At range, right? Why do you need a crossbow?”
“Saves on mana,” Kaira said, holding up a hand and ticking off fingers. “Sometimes my spells are overkill. Sometimes someone’s in the splash zone. Sometimes you wanna shoot something for dinner without certain giant lumps bitching about the smell of burnt fur. And the tchunk is sooo satisfying!” She said the last with a wide, sharp toothed grin. “I know you liked yours. I saw you smiling! Just wait until you shoot this lady, here!” She patted her weapon fondly.
“And the other one?” Ana waved to the larger crossbow still in the rack. The thing had a winch on it.
“That… you’re not ready for that. I don’t want you shooting out a window or something. Hells, I don’t take it out with me. I’m still getting used to it. Probably need to up my strength mult a bit next time I level. Lots of fun though!”
Kaira kept talking, but Ana barely heard her. Of all the things she’d seen and all the things that had happened to her, this was what made her feel disconnected from everything. It was like yesterday, when she''d realized the language and writing were all wrong, but worse. The way Kaira had so casually referenced leveling and her strength multiplier, even shortening it to mult. It was like Ana was sitting in someone’s living room while Nic and his friends chatted about whatever game they were all enamored with at the moment. Everything felt unreal. A woman who wasn’t human, but who was as friendly and clever as anyone she’d ever known, who could supposedly throw around fire and lightning, was teaching her how to shoot a crossbow! Later, some guy she’d just met was going to show her how to use a sword, so she could go with this woman into the wilderness to kill demons! What was that? How was she supposed to adapt to that?
“Ana? Ana? ANA?”
There was a sharp clap as Kaira slammed her palms together right in front of Ana’s face. “Are you all right, Ana?” Kaira said. Ana slowly focused on her face and saw a look of real concern there.
“Um, I… Is there somewhere I could get some water?”
“Shit, yeah, uh… Here, sit.” Kaira came around the table and pulled out the chair Ana was standing by, guiding her into it. Then she opened a cabinet that contained a couple of bottles, and another one under it with mugs. She filled a mug from one of the bottles and handed it over, and Ana found that it was cold, fresh water.
“Thanks,” she said after gulping down her water. “I just felt weird, there.”
“Are you all right? Do you want to break for the day? I can just tell Tor—”
“No, it’s… I’m fine,” Ana said. “I just needed to sit down. Let’s get back to the guardhouse and try out this crossbow of yours.”
“Woo, good! I was looking forward to seeing your face when you shoot ‘er! Gods damned awesome!” Kaira said without a hint of her previous worry on her face.
Ana still had that not-quite-there feeling when they got to the guardhouse, and she wasn’t sure if it was likely to go away any time soon. But Kaira was right. Shooting the full-sized crossbow was, indeed, goddamn awesome.
They went back to Ana’s own crossbow, since that was the one she needed to be more familiar with, and practiced for another hour before a notification flashed in the corner of Ana’s eye.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.9817%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.9589%">Congratulations! You have learned the Skill Crossbows! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser).</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“Hey, Kaira,” she said. “I just got the Crossbow Skill. Let’s take a break.”
Kaira’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Already? Are you joking?”
“No? I just got the notification.”
“But that’s… No, you know what? Congratulations, that is fucking awesome, my envy runneth deep! It took me days of practice before I got it. Do you have Archery from before?”
“No, no ranged weapons in my list. Do skills that kind of overlap help each other?” Although, she thought, she’d probably have a two or three in pistols or whatever it would be called if the System hadn’t eaten her “incompatible” skills. Maybe it was still there, in the background.
“Uh, yeah! If you’re good with one kind of magic you’ll learn others more easily. Same for close combat weapons, or ranged weapons. I mean, bashing a demon over the head with a hammer or a sword isn’t that different, right?”
“It is! For one, you wouldn’t ‘bash a demon over the head’ with a sword, Irry!” Tor’s voice cut across the yard. Ana watched him approach, then saw what he was carrying moments before he threw a wooden practice sword at her. She caught it one-handed. By the blade.
“That’ll leave a nasty cut,” Tor said, grinning. “Ready to learn some real fighting?”