The Unbreakable Bow

It was a cloudy day. In fact, the sky was rarely clear for a whole day in Monastadt. Aefrine was on his way to the tilting yard, still wondering what will be the final test would be. He had spent his free time of the previous day training. He kept holding a big pile of books using phys magic for the longest time possible since Berta was back in her hibernation. After that, he tried something else. He used phys magic on all of his body from his toes to his head. He didn't last long. Quickly enough, his head was so dizzy like it had been spinning for the last eight hours. At least, this confirmed that the dizziness comes from his long and wrong use of magic. He kept that in mind for today.

Aefrine wasn't much surprised to see the field empty of equipment. He really just hoped that he wasn't going to be chased prey for a dinosaur. Fortunately, he found Duke Rudolf in the middle of the yard, away from any iron gate. Still, Aefrine was trying to figure out what could be the final test.

"Good morning, sir."

"Good morning, are you ready?"

"Yes,"

"Good, take."

He gave him the hand axe that he always used and a small circular shield. It was so small that it barely was bigger than the palm of his hand. He also gave him chest armour.

"Wear it quickly,"

"Ok..."

This doesn't seem good...

He wore them and took the axe in one arm and the shield in the other. He looked particularly at the shield.

"You look worried. Are you prepared to duel?"

"Eh, yes? But who will I be duelling? "

He couldn't see Alma anywhere.

"Who else other than me, of course."

The memory of the first time he had been to the yard where Alma and Rudolf were duelling. The most important detail he remembered was the hopelessness of Alma's situation. But why is his shield small?

"Er, sorry, but isn't the shield a bit small? "

"That is an archer's shield, obviously. It won't bother your agility as an archer. You need to experience a real battle."

"So, does that mean I can use my bow?"

"Of course, no."

He pulled out his wooden sword.

"Rules are simple:

Touch me with your weapon if you can.

And as always, only -"

"Phys magic.."

"Good, then you can start ."

Aefrine got super serious for a moment yet didn't do anything. He was expecting an attack, but Rudolf wasn't moving either. The boy simply didn't know what to target first.

Finally, Aefrine broke the silent stand-off by lowering his body, aiming for his left leg utilising phys magic in his arm. The Duke just jumped away. After he slashed his wooden sword into Aefrine's head. Increasing his other arms strength, he blocked it with the shield. Surprisingly, blocking using a small shield was easier than his bow. A good idea came to his mind at that very moment. He tried to pull the sword using his axe out of his opponent's hand. The attempt failed miserably as Rudolf pulled his sword swiftly and aimed another attack at his neck. Aefrine hastily reacted to evade it with the body of his axe. After that, he backed away, allowing himself to get some breathing time.

He was definitely going to faint out if the duel went on like this. He is using too much phys magic for little benefit. He remembered that Alma didn't use that much magic trying to defeat him.

He wished he could do the same trick that she used on him in their duel, but he couldn't do a proper form, not to mention this is Rudolf, who is both smarter and stronger than him. But he also has got stronger than before and wasn't going to let all that life-threatening training go to waste. He advanced, putting his shield at the front and swung his axe right without any magic. Rudolf blocked it with his sword, looking bored.

Why is his fighting style almost identical to the princess? I was hoping for some originality,...his true face...

Thought Rudolf.

Aefrine continued attacking endlessly, trying to create a way while trying to evade Rudolf's counterattacks.

My chance!

At last, the Duke has been pushed close enough to the middle fence. Aefrine quickly got as low as he could and used phys magic on his feet and jumped at Rudolf's chest using his shield to block his opponent's sword.

He remembered Alma's duel, where Rudolf told her that "Being mid-air makes you vulnerable as you lose your control over your feet." And Aefrine was hoping to force the Duke to make that same mistake since now he is next to the fence with nowhere to jump away to. In that situation, the Duke caught Aefrine by his shoulder with his other arm and threw him away. But it was too late. Aefrine swung his axe at his other arm that was stuck, blocking the shield and making a soft cut in it.

He fell on the fence that balanced him for a few moments before his head hit the ground, filling his mouth with dirt in an almost identical scenario to Alma's . He quickly got up and checked if his plan was successful. Indeed, Rudolf was examining his arm, which dropped tiny blood drops.

That was quick...

Thought Rudolf.

"Well done, Aefrine, you have finished the final exam. I guess that you aren't my worst student, after all. "

"Yes."

"Let me tell you that you might not have talent, but you are definitely skilled, which is an attribute that I personally value more... For the record, Alma failed twice until she succeeded. You can go now. Tomorrow, come with Alma since you both will have the same training. "

"Eh? "

For some reason, Aefrine thought that he had finished all the training necessary.

"What? Do you think I will let you go with only an improper performance of phys magic? Go before I change my mind about your questionable strategy. "

"Ok, OK..."

He left in a hurry...

The next day, he spent the morning in the library. To his relief, Alma was already there, so there was no need for Berta. He told her all about his success. Alma at first didn't seem happy with this news, but the moment Aefrine explained his strategy, her mood quickly changed.

"Of course, if it wasn't my mistake, you couldn't even dream of winning. As always, Luck was on your side."

"I guess..."

"Anyway, I am sure that my books did cheer you up, which means I did play a major part in your victory. "

"Oh, yes....they did ... Alma err, there is something I hope you can explain to me .."

"Oh, what is it, caveman ."

He put in front of her the book of contained info on different countries and opened the page with the title "The Celtonic Kingdom of Tabollba," and he pointed at the map.

"What is this ?"

"A map."

"What does that mean?"

"Sigh, if you fly up far into the sky,this is how the kingdom would look like ..."

"Really? So, can I see myself?"

"What no, you are too small to appear, and it doesn't work like that."

"Wait, don't tell me that there are giant trees like these ?"

He pointed at the illustrations of trees.

"What? No, I said that it doesn't work like that! These just tell that the area is full of trees. "

"So, do these mean that the area is full of hills ?"

"No, those are actually mountains. "

"What is a-"

"A mountain is that thing other there,"

She pointed at the window.

"Where?"

"See those giant rocks in the far distance, those are called mountains, and they are basically like I said giant rocks ."

"Ok, I think I get it now... and what about the blue area ?"

"That is the sea or ocean. Imagine an endless amount of water that you swim in without you able to see the bottom ."

"I know it was mentioned in "The Adventures of the Knight of Zarmadin in the Seas of Forever Land and-" Er.. "

"And his ultimate victory, yeah... ahem,and all the dots represent cities, a city is a big amount of houses, markets, and other buildings stacked together like the one you currently live in. Can you tell me which dot we are in now ?"

He looked at all the dots nervously. In the end, he chose the only different one from the rest, which was a star labelled as "Monastadt."

"Well done, this is our capital where we govern everything that is inside the green lines. You understand that everything that is inside is the Kingdom of Tabollba, and everything that is not isn't a part of the kingdom."

"It has a funny shape."

"Yes, I dare say because of that funny shape my dad won't be returning soon."

"What, why? "

"Well, you see that we have very long borders, and those long borders aren't covered with any natural defence like mountains. It is all covered with trees... On this side, "

she was pointing at 'the swamp lands of Kasrine'

"lives a lot of ungovernable tribes that raid our land from time to time. That is why there are lots of defences on our eastern border. Imagine hundreds of castles on this side and think how much time it took to build them. But now we have the Hirohasmeans on the other side, so we need to build more castles on the western border. My dad is now busy making more defences. "

"I hope him well ..."

"Yeah, he told me that they most likely will not attack us, but he just wants to be in a secure position... But me honestly, I don't trust that Ryuji. ... Tell me what he is like ?"

"Err, black armour...scary red mask ... deep voice. "

"I suppose that is how I imagined him. "

"So, who is this ?"

He pointed at a statue of a very tall muscular armoured orc with what seemed like wings made of thin bones coming out of his back,wielding a scythe.

"Oh, that is Leopold Enger, our national hero. He played a huge part in the world war. It is said that he had the strength of one hundred men, and his magic abilities were beyond legendary. I just hate the fact that there aren't many preserved records of him. Most of his tales are myths, but he definitely was real. He was referenced a lot in the records of the great world war. "

"Is the World War a war that happened in the entire world?"

"What? No, that is stupid, it obviously was a war between worlds ."

"What ?"

"Yeah, there are seven different worlds according to astronomers other than ours, we don't know much about them. All of them attacked our world five hundred years ago. Thankfully, all humanoids united to stop them. It was a very long and hard struggle, but in the end, we succeeded in kicking them out, and no one can enter or exit our world now. Even the high officials of the world don't know how to do that. It is a secret that nobody knows. That is why all calendars around the world have the year 522 AWW, which means after the World War. I just wish that we stayed united after the war ."

"Yeah, me too, I suppose..."

"Er Alma, there is something else that I don't understand. Why does it say 'a relatively small monarchy' while it is the biggest thing on the map."

"Because this is an incomplete map, wait."

She turned multiple pages and opened a map that covered both pages. There were a lot of different illustrations yet just one giant continent with some islands here and there, and Aefrine had completely lost his place on the map.

"This is the complete map of the world Adanya..... And here is Tabollba. "

She pointed at the upper right of the map.

"Ok, it is definitely relatively small ."

"So, where do you plan to go ?"

"Eh?"

"You know. At one point, you will leave to find more information about the KeYs of fAtE . Where are you planning to go? You need to have some idea about where you are going. "

"I guess I will be going to the biggest library in the world. "

"Well, in that case, you have two options :

Either you need to go to the Zidin Caliphate on the other side of the world " she pointed at the most eastern part of the map "or you need to go to the United Kingdoms of Carthagonia also on the other side of the world ." She pointed at the most southern part of the world.

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, those two are major global powers that are famous for their book reserves. It takes at very least an entire year to reach them from here. But don't worry, I think my dad does have a more realistic idea. Look here ."

Her hand was now circling the north-west of the map. There was an island about the size of Tabollba next to it was a peninsula that looked like the head of a lizard connected to the giant single continent of the world. Next to it was Tabollba. Under it were mountains that went from east to west and from north to south. Next to that was another peninsula that was shaped like a handless arm pointing northwards. It was labelled as 'The Karibean peninsula'.

"He will more likely tell you to go, south, to the city of Olson in the Republic's territory. You will go through the valley between those two big mountains to get there. " She pointed to the two most biggest mountains. "And from there you will take a boat and travel through the Medninian Sea to reach the capital of the Kingdom of Thacsia: Hamilton ." She was pointing at the sea between the mainland and the peninsula."There is you can find more knowledge than here. And even if you didn't find anything useful there, the Elfansj dynasty and the Malisal sultanate are near from there. They are both also good options. "

"Yeah.."

Aefrine only now knew how much he would be travelling just to know what to do with the keys.

"Don't worry about it for now. Let's just hope you find what you want before Ryuji decides to make the entire region a warzone ..."