Reason To Be Strong

“…!”

I let go of the string on my bow, letting the arrow flimsily fly about until it misses the target by a long shot.

“You need to keep your back straight and don’t hold the string back!” Siofra yelled out from the back.

“Okay!”

Currently, I'm practicing archery in the training hall owned by the Wind Clan. The place is quite humid, with the sole source of ventilation being the small windows in the ceiling. The scent of tatami mats also fills the air.I normally have to learn some pottery on weekdays, but I’m prohibited to work on weekends said Celicia.

“You know, you still haven’t explained why you want to learn archery…” Siofra crosses her arms.

“And I told you that I’ll treat you to some tea, right?” I grabbed the arrow from my back, placed it on my bow, straightened my back, pulled the string all the way back, and let go of the string, letting the arrow fly in a disarray that didn’t even get close to the target.

“I know that, but there’s no way you’re doing all of this to defend yourself…”

“…And how do you know that?” I readied up another arrow and pulled the string. 

“I talked with Celicia a few days ago.”

“…” My hand immediately froze, and then I slowly redacted the string.

“She came over to my place to learn how to cook, which is something she was never interested in before, and now you’re interested in learning archery?”

Ohh… That explains why she made that tortellini soup. Knowing how bad Celicia is at cooking, it was definitely a huge surprise to see her make something half-decent…

“Not mentioning how there’s barely any gap in the days both of you asked me for help in something…”

“…”

“Tell me Otherworlder, what is going on?” Siofra uncrossed her arms and put them on her hips instead.

“Do I really have to tell yo—”

“Yes.”

“…”

What's going on with this woman? She never gave off the impression of being interested in other people's business, so why is she acting this way now?

“…”

Siofra’s intense gaze burns into me, keeping me trapped.

“Haah…”

It’s fine, I guess… It’s not like it’s that big of a deal that I’m willing to hide it to begin with. I just don’t want to explain it to other people since it might come off as a bother.

“I just… don’t want to be a burden to Celicia…” I straightened my posture and grabbed an arrow.

“…”

“I may have been able to help Celicia out, but I don’t know anything about self-defense…” I placed the arrow on top of my hand, and slowly pulled the arrow back.

“…”

“That’s why…” I pull the arrow all the way back, keeping an eye on the target, “If something bad happens, I want to be able to assist her...”

I pulled the string back a bit and let the arrow go, which flew in a straight line. However, the arrow missed cause it veered to the right.

“Dang it…”

“…You were aiming too straight at the target,” Siofra walks up to me and holds my arms, “Arrows don’t usually go in a completely straight line. The speed of the wind can impact the trajectory of your arrow, so you need to position yourself where it would lean at a perfect point.”

“…”

“That shot was good though…” Siofra lets go of me, “You also had a nice face just now.” Siofra smirks.

“…?”

“Still though… assist her huh…” Siofra crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She then opened her eyes, a smile appeared on her face, “If you think of it that way, then maybe you’re not so bad after all…”

“Sorry… I’m still not getting it…”

“If you don’t know, that's fine,” Siofra pats my right shoulder, “By the way, why aren’t you letting out your mana output when you pulled your arrow?”

“Ahh… Sorry to say this, but I can’t actually do that…” I let out a dry laugh whilst scratching my head…

“What do you mean?” Siofra tilts her head.

“…”

“What? I want to know now.” Siofra approaches me.

“Do I really have to?” I slump my shoulders.

“If I know about it, then we can figure out a way for you to use it.”

“…”

I hate that she has a point…

I really don’t want to tell her about it if possible. I can see her making fun of me for being physically weak.

But, if there’s a way to overcome this setback, then I’ll just have to endure some shame.

“Haah…” I position myself and bring my bow up, “I’ll just show it to you.”

“…?”

I readied my bow and pulled the string back. According to Siofra, if you concentrate your mana on the arrow, it'll be faster and deadlier upon impact. The best part is that you don't have to invest a lot, making it a skill that everyone should learn.

“…”

I focus on the strength of my arm, controlling my breathing to let the mana flow onto my right hand. My energy gradually gets sucked, making me lose my strength in my grip.

“…!”

I flimsily let go of my arrow, the arrow barely flew a few meters, followed by my body feeling heavy as if I was carrying a lead.

“Haah… Haah…”

My body fell on its knees, my right arm completely sore.

“W-Why are you sweating so much?” Siofra clumsily walks towards me and extends her left hand.

“T-This is what happened… when I use my magical e-energy…” I clasp her left hand, followed by Siofra pulling me up.

“Could you have the same symptoms as Celicia?” Siofra supports me to a nearby chair and sits me down.

“No… It’s something more p-pathetic than that…” I lean on my chair, trying my best to control my breathing, “My mana output was low to begin with… no matter what k-kind of effects a place has, my mana output won’t change at all…”

“…”

“And this… is the result…” I spread my arms over me.

“I see…” Siofra placed her hand on her chin, “That explains a lot…”

“Explain what?”

“…Never mind. Just talking to myself.” Siofra slaps my back.

“Ow!”

“Anyways, I think it’s better if you learn swordsmanship instead,” Siofra brings up her index finger, “It doesn’t require mana, so it should be perfect for you.”

“But… I don’t want to do heavy practices…” I voiced out my concern, “I just want to know basic combat to be able to protect myself and help out Celicia...”

“Help out Celice…”

“Sorry, what did you say?” I lean in.

“Then why are you practicing archery?” Siofra tilts her head, “Do you have a bow and arrow at home?”

“N-Not really…” I avoid Siofra’s gaze and scratch my right cheek, “I chose archery because… You seem to know a lot about it, so I want to learn from someone that knows a lot…”

“…I-I see…”

“…”

“B-But!” Siofra yelled out, which made me instinctively look at her flushed face, “You should still learn hand-to-hand combat… l-learning things that you can easily do is the first step to mastering your first skill…” Siofra abashedly explained.

“…I-I see…”

“Yeah…”

“…”

“…”

Why is she embarrassed to begin with?! Now I can’t help but feel embarrassed as well! I don’t think I said anything weird, did I?

“Hey, Yuuma…” Siofra muttered.

“Hm?”

“Why did you say assist instead of protect? Don’t most people say the latter half?” Siofra asked, her face looking serious.

“…Celicia is stronger than me, you know?” I look away from her.

“…”

“She is strong enough to protect herself, while I’ll be doing nothing but hold her back if I stay like this.”

“…”

“That’s why…” I stand up from my chair and look straight into Siofra’s eyes, “The least I should do is not hold her back.”

“…I see…” Siofra said with a smile, “Next weekend, I’ll introduce you to someone who can help you out.” Siofra strikes a thumbs up.

“O-Okay… Thank you…” I slightly bow.

“Don’t mention it!” Siofra flashed a grin.

“…”

I’m not sure what happened, but she seems to be in a good mood, which is great I guess… Not entirely sure how to feel though…

“…?”

Now that I think about it, didn’t she call me by my name?