Chapter 17: Chapter 17

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“Again!” Stunned by Rel's shout close to his ear, Ezer nocks an arrow back on his bow and draws the string.

Release the arrow and it travels straight to the target, but hits quite a distance from the center. Ezer lets out a tired sigh and rubs his sore fingers together.

Spring is at its peak and the vegetation shows it with its bright green leaves and new buds every day. The warm breeze caresses the skin raising the self-esteem of every person who suffered a long winter.

Ezer, now fourteen years old, fully recovered after a month and a few days, beginning to pay off his debt with various tasks, especially hunting, cutting firewood and fetching water almost a kilometer away.

With the skill he possessed he barely made the quota to feed both of them, so Rel had no choice but to teach him what he had a lot of experience in, using the bow.

“You've got your shoulders and elbows out of position again. Shooting a bow is easy, but doing it well is an art.” It was clear that his humor improved when it came to anything to do with bows or arrows. “The position of your body, breathing and even your determination to let go of the rope influence the result.” For the fifth time he repeats it.

“I know…I know, but my fingers hurt and I can't hold it properly.” Ezer had already practiced when he was with the pack, but he never did it seriously like now, training all morning and evening until he could barely see his target in the dark.

"You will work for me until you can't hold anything with your hands because of the blood that drips from your fingers, remember?" He didn't forget, but he didn't think it would be literally either.

“You won't get lunch unless you hit the target six out of ten shots at 100 meters and I'm being considerate of you kid. If you can't, hunt your own food. Turning his back on him, walks into the cabin and closes the door.

"Ahhh..." He sighs, but resolutely returns to practice. Many would give up in his position, but surviving on his own, he knew how important it was to learn to use the bow correctly.

"If I could use magic again…" He releases another arrow that misses the center.

He tried to ask Rel about it, but got no information other than advice to find a wizard to answer his question. But wizards were very few and Ezer couldn't roam the cities freely.

“First I will recover my dagger, then I will decide what to do.” He released the arrow, this time hitting the mark.

Hours passed and Ezer couldn't pass the necessary mark to get his lunch, and he couldn't lie to Rel, who had already severely punished him once for it, so he decided to go hunting.

The trees had all their leaves back and the grass was growing fast in the clearings, Ezer crouched down with his bow slightly drawn and an arrow in it. He was looking at a small white rabbit smeared with dirt from having recently emerged from its burrow.

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The rabbit is a small and agile prey, Ezer did not have the confidence to land a shot at fifty meters so he reduces it to twenty tightening the string making the bow take on the shape of a crescent moon, when he releases it, he transmits all that force to the arrow creating a devastating impact on the side of the small animal.

Ezer approaches to retrieve his prey, but it is suddenly stolen by a small fox, who snatches the carcass in front of his eyes. A few seconds pass before Ezer reacts and removes his face of disbelief as he begins to run after him.

The clearing gives rise to a hill with several rocks scattered on the ground, making progress difficult. Ezer can barely keep up with the fox that he loses sight of every time that changes direction using the stones to hide.

Without realizing it, there are more and more rocks and the fox leads him down dangerous paths. Several times he was about to slip and fall creating an avalanche of stones on his head.

When he almost gives up his pursuit, the fox hides between two large rocks, but with a perfect angle of shot for an arrow. Ezer catches his breath and with a big smile readies his bow.

“Ahh... ahh... Who laughs last, laughs better” Those words just popped into his mind, despite never having heard them.

But the fox is unfazed and in his eyes you can almost see his laugh as if saying.

“You are absolutely right.”

Before he can even draw an arrow, he is distracted by a loud snort. A mountain goat is a few meters away from him, if it were an ordinary Ezer he would just ignore it, but this one is big enough for its head to reach his shoulders.

In addition, it is accompanied by at least twenty more of almost the same size. All staring at Ezer and lowering their heads slightly, showing their horns curved backwards.

Ezer looks back at the fox and could swear he saw a smile. He was sure, both the elusive animal and the goats were beasts, in fact, almost all the animals he encountered near the border were magical beasts except for a few like the rabbit that the fox now had.

He lowers his bow slowly trying to express his desire not to hurt, he knew they were intelligent beings, but not how intelligent they were. Stepping back, trying to avoid the dangerous rocks, Ezer slowly walks away.

At the moment when everything seemed fine, two little goatlings who had not been in the place before, quickly approached him with curious steps. It is too late to stop them, the herd take the course of action they felt was most appropriate, to eliminate any potential threat to their young.

When the first goat begins to descend towards him, Ezer does not hesitate for a second and throws himself down the slope, sliding and placing his hands on his head. Rocks impact on his body and his clothes are torn every meter he goes down, generating small cuts and scrapes.

When he stops, he quickly glances up, noticing that he is not being followed. Without waiting a second, he starts running away from the hill using every last bit of oxygen his lungs could offer him.

Behind him and unnoticed, a single arrow flies through the air to hit the herd leader's butt that didn't even make it through the beast's cloak of fur. He looks furiously until finds the same boy and the bow on his back.

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