Simma turned toward the swirling portal, its surface a restless storm of black and white mist, as though night and day wrestled for dominance within its depths.
At first he walked, steady and measured, but the pounding footsteps of the other recruits swept him into motion. Pride and survival would not allow anyone to be last, nor to be disqualified. So soon the clearing thundered with the collective rhythm of bodies surging forward. The air itself seemed to shudder beneath them, heavy with a sound like a marching horde.
This was his moment. If ever his whispered reputation that he bore some beast within was to mean anything, it had to be proven here.
True, he had not yet mastered summoning that hidden creature, but he had gained other strengths from the strange man who trained him. Endurance was one of them. He knew he could reach that portal without surrendering to exhaustion.
But something happened which made some people stop at once, most screeching to a halt as if they had brakes affixed to their legs.
The mist of the portal thickened and in its center, and solidifying from smoke, appeared a great circular board, etched with concentric rings. A shooting target, suspended in place.
"A shooting target… more like a shooting fun"
And then, the voices.
Each Echelon Seal spoke within the minds of its chosen, calm and undeniable. Simma froze mid-step, his breath caught, as the words unfurled in his head:
---------------------
[To open the portal, your shot must not pass the fifth ring.]
[Range: 100%]
[Expected shot: 50% and above]
----------------------
Simma looked around
Bows rasped free all around him. One by one, recruits armed their Yiriana's bows, aiming with desperate precision at the spectral targets tethered to their individual portals.
A wicked grin flitted on Simma's face as he continued the run towards the portal. Apparently, now he was the only one running, everyone else stood, targeting their …. Well… their targets.
Gasps rippled through the crowd as he darted forward, the only figure still running toward the portal.
And then came Gwen.
She had struck the seventh ring, and her portal opened. With fierce determination she lunged through, chasing after him.
Many more followed suite, once they had shot their targets, but Simma was already way in front of them, his portal still closed.
But he was now 18 feet away now and - he pulled out his Yiriana's bow - 16 feet away. He drew the string taut, feet hammering the earth, still running towards the portal - 10 feet - The arrow shimmered into existence, pulsing with ethereal blue light. - 5 feet and
PUUUM!
He leapt off the floor in a flat dive towards the portal and..
POW!
He released the string.
The arrow seared across the air, slamming dead into the bull's-eye a heartbeat before his body collided.
The board shattered into nothing, and Simma vanished into the portal's storm.
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[First shot: 100%]
-----------
The words echoed in his skull as he rolled hard upon landing. His knee struck ground, his head bowed from momentum. For a breath he stayed there, knelt as if in reluctant prayer, before raising his gaze to the strange new realm.
The sentinel had spoken true. Darkness stretched here, lit faintly by a sky embroidered with stars, as though some divine hand had stitched a silver map above.
Seven moons sat arranged like councillors around a celestial circular table, their pale light spilling down in solemn harmony. Crimson streaks bled faintly through the night, a reminder that even beauty could bear scars.
The ground beneath him was stony, jagged and uneven, but stable enough though. Ahead loomed a forest, thick and brooding, its shadows spilling across the horizon like a waiting tide.
Right in front of Simma was a horse, white and hairy. It tapped its front left hooves on the floor as it stared at Simma with its dark eyes, as if his appearance wasn't welcomed.
Simma wasted no time. He strode forward and swung himself onto the creature's back. The horse reared, shrill neigh tearing through the gloom, and slammed its hooves down as if to declare war on the very ground.
Immediately he was astride the horse, a portal appeared at the far end by his right and Gwen ran through. When she saw Simma on the horse, she clambered onto the one that just appeared in front of her.
The seals spoke again:
The words came to Simma as also to Gwen:
------------------------
[Keep on your horse]
[Shooting range / 100%]
[Expected shot 50% and above]
[Total no. of boards /10]
-------------------------
The command was clear.
Simma tugged at the reins uncertainly, and the horse sprang forward. Panic clawed at him… he had never ridden one before. His seat wobbled precariously, his grip awkward.
"Not the same as riding a dragon," Gwen called with a fleeting smirk, already urging her mount into a clean gallop.
Simma ignored her, but those words made him wish she was one of those targets, since he wouldn't think twice before tearing a head shot through her brain.
"Whoa…. steady!" Simma barked, fumbling as the beast surged beneath him. It was wild, foreign, every motion unsteady beneath his body.
"Damn it," he muttered, biting down his frustration on his lower lip. Riders thundered past, portals spitting out more recruits astride their own horses. If only he could see Sarah now, he might need her help, but who would leave their business for his?
"Come on, atta boy, let's do this." he whispered fiercely. "We can do this."
Something kindled within him. Focus tightened in his chest. His eyes flickered with that faint blue glow…. an awakening he could not fully name.
"Yaaaa!"
He yanked the reins, and suddenly the horse obeyed with a snort, wind lashing against his ear as they tore forward. The sensation struck him with déjà vu, the same instinctive certainty he'd felt when he first loosed an arrow from the Yiriana's bow.
'WUUUU – HUUUU' He screamed.
As he galloped forth, the path narrowed, dark forest pressing close. Then, another board appeared, suspended in midair, taunting.
Simma released the reins, gripping the horse with his thighs, bow in hand. He drew the string calculating how the air around him might affect his arrow. When it finally seemed he had gotten the perfect aiming, he fired…
thunk!
The target shattered immediately the arrow hit the board, vanishing in sparks. His horse thundered on, faster now, the rhythm of the gallop syncing with the thrum of his heartbeat.
The grin on his face widened but did not meet the joy in his heart. 'Am doing it hell yeah I am'
He drew a sharp breath as they kept galloping, each recruit with their horse on their own path. No two recruits shared a path, but if anyone could see through the thick forest, they could mark out their neighbour beside them on their own path.
More boards manifested, one after another. He shot them down, ducking low as branches lashed above.
The strange man should see him now. He was sure he would be proud and no more telling him with that normal annoying tone 'lesson failed… blah blah blah"
The trail twisted viciously, taking a sharp bend to the left; And Simma as if born to it, he leaned hard left, reins snapping taut, the horse tilting into the bend as if born to it as well. Another board flared… and another arrow vanished into its heart.
"Yes," he growled, too swift to see his mark, but the vanishing targets told him his aim had held true fifty percent and above.
The forest thinned, and they burst upward along a hill. His horse leapt over thick roots, muscles coiling and releasing like springs of iron. The path narrowed cruelly.
To the left rose jagged mountain, to the right fell an abyss of nothingness. One misstep, and the drop would swallow a horse and its rider whole.
Targets glittered across the mountainside, daring him. He struck them all in rapid succession, every shot a test of balance, will, and trust in his mount.
Now only two remained, out of ten.
The final gauntlet loomed ahead, a challenge darker and sharper than all that came before.
"lets do this"