章 36: Sedon's Shops
We watched some performances for the rest of the day, before heading back to the city. Dawn insisted we stayed over at her house. After all, why pay for a room, when we could sleep with our friend for free. Tara loved the free accommodation idea, since she wouldn't need to pay for me. "Guys, can we go visit my uncle before that? I want to at least say hello", I asked. Tara and Dawn had no issues with that, so we took a small detour towards my uncle's house. Uncle and aunt were fortunately at home. "Come in Anna, you guys come in too", aunt invited. "Aunt, you don't seem surprised to see me. Did you know we would come over?", I asked, bewildered. "Of course. Your mother informed us beforehand", she replied in a "as a matter of fact" manner.
'... Of course she did…', I thought. "How are you guys doing? Where's Drak?", I asked. "We are doing very well, thank you for asking. Drak is playing with your uncle. Come in guys, don't be shy". Drak grew up a bit more since I last saw him. He recognised and even hugged me, but he was much more attached to Dawn. "Hey, how are you doing? If you need anything, just ask", uncle greeted. "I'm fine uncle, I don't need anything. We will be staying at Dawn's place for a while. As for the money, Tara will take care of that", I replied with a smile. Uncle shook his head, "You are becoming more like your mother, you know?".
Uncle then asked about my life, and about my training. I recounted some of the events to him, but there wasn't that much to mention. While on that topic of Formation, the new and large long distance travel Formation came to my mind. "How are they doing with that large Formation? Are they done yet?", I asked. "Hmmm. They're still working on it, though it should be ready soon. I wonder whether that thing will work or not…", he replied. "Do you have doubts? Didn't aunt Alicia and Suly test that out first?", I asked. "It's not that. I meant connecting two cities with such a Formation. Maybe I'm just old fashioned", he replied. "I think it's going to be great. Being able to visit any city pretty much in an instant, is revolutionary for sure. Right now, it takes us weeks to do that", I said. "It's not that simple, Anna. The purpose of that Formation is not entertainment or leisure. The energy required to power such Formation is not small. No one will let you use it, just because you want to visit another city on a whim… Although, Boltier could be a different story. After all, they have that Collecting Crystal", uncle replied.
"You mean the crystal that allows them to store the electric energy?", I asked to make sure. "Yes, that's the one. After all, their city floats thanks to that. I guess they could use that Formation often, but we can't. Not until we have an energy source comparable to that Collecting Crystal", he replied. That made me wonder, 'From where did they get such a crystal?'. "Uncle… Since Voltars have such crystal, maybe there are more of them?", I reasoned. Uncle smiled, "Perhaps, but North has only that one. If something like this exists in the Endrosian Empire, Humans would find it… Maybe they already did, and we simply don't know. Or perhaps it's unique, and there are no other crystals... We don't really know".
"What about Voltars? Can't they help you out? Maybe they have some information about that crystal", I asked. Uncle laughed loudly for a while, as if I told him the best joke. "Sorry, sorry, it's just that you don't know them like I do. They are a bunch of arrogant fools. They wouldn't share such things with us. No matter how much time passes, no matter what happens to the world, Voltars will stay Voltars", he said. 'No wonder they seemed unfriendly to me… Oh well. Aunt Alicia, Suly and others have a better idea about those things than me. They might figure something out later', I thought. "Don't worry yourself with such things, Anna. You are still young, have some fun. Let us old guys worry about that", uncle added.
We stayed for a while at my uncle's place. Drak had many toys to play with, which made me a bit jealous. 'I never had so many toys… That mother of mine', I thought. I also made uncle and aunt promise they would visit me for my birthday. "Visit us often, since you are already in Sedon. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask, alright?", aunt said. "Alright, we will visit again for sure. Take care until then guys", I replied before we left for Dawn's place. Her parents didn't mind us staying over for a few days, and fortunately they had one more room to spare. "Tomorrow, we can check out the city a bit more. We can also go shopping, or at least have a look at what they sell. That doesn't cost money, right?", Tara proposed. We agreed to do that, and retired for the night.
The following day, I learned another thing about my friends. Dawn and Tara mostly visited clothing shops. They seemed a bit obsessed with clothes, which struck me as weird. "I didn't think you guys cared so much about clothes. What so great about looking at them?", I asked. "That's because you are a tomboy, and wear whatever. Don't you know ladies want to wear nice clothes?", Tara replied. "Hmph! Mother can make clothes that look ten times better, than anything on display in those shops. I simply don't see the reason to wear such clothes. You can't wear them for training, and even walking around in them would be annoying. You'd have to watch out not to dirty them and whatnot, it's pointless other than for very special occasions", I replied.
To my surprise, even Dawn said nice clothes were great. She even had a few sets at home. I argued that she didn't even wear them, so what was the point of owning them. Both of them told me I was too young to understand. 'The clothes might look pretty, but why buy something if you are not going to wear it everyday? Mother made a dress or two for me, but I only wore those clothes during special occasions. I don't need more of them. I don't get what's there to understand, it's a waste of money… and a lot of money', I thought looking at the prices. Dawn told me to try out a few pieces, even though we wouldn't buy them. Both of them chose something for me to wear, and told me to change. A few different pieces of clothing later, I still couldn't see their point. We wouldn't buy them, and I wouldn't wear them. Besides, I had my own clothes.
"Seriously Anna, you look good in anything… I'm so envious. I would even go so far as to claim that you'd look good in rags. That's so unfair. Oh, but fortunately our little Anna is not interested in clothes, so there goes that", Tara said teasingly. "You know what? You changed my mind. Let's buy all these clothes, since I look so good in them, right? Not a bad idea, eh, Tara?", I replied. Tara quickly shut up, while Dawn chuckled before telling me I was evil. When the shop owner heard I wanted to take all the clothes, Tara almost fainted. She grabbed me, and ran away from the shop. "Calm down, calm down. It was a joke, I'm not buying anything", I said to calm her down. "Ha… Haha… Very funny, good joke Anna, real good…", she replied with a fake smile.
"Well, you shouldn't tease her, that was your own fault. Neither me nor you can best Anna when it comes to teasing. Accept your defeat", Dawn said. Tara refused to visit any clothing shops, and instead opted for weapon shops. "Not a bad idea, I might need a new sword", I replied with a grin. "Alright, alright I get it! Please stop already", Tara exclaimed. "Fine, but let's go anyway. I wonder what sorts of weapons Sedon has on offer. I promise not to buy anything, alright?", I said. Tara immediately regained her spirit, she knew I wouldn't break that promise. We visited a shop that specialised in archery first. There were only a few bows on the display, which struck me as weird. 'An archery shop with only a few bows?', I asked myself. Dawn explained why that was the case. Basically, they only had a few bows on display, to show off the designs and quality. In reality, the bows were made to order.
We could actually commission a bow, which would be made specifically for us. With any materials we specified, and any design we wished for. This kind of reminded me of what Tara proposed as my job. The shop owner showed us a few bows, and even asked if we wanted to try them out. I haven't used a bow before, but the lady owner said she would teach me. "In that case, I'd like to have a go", I replied. The lady owner took us to the back of the shop, where a small practice range was located. We were handed a bow and some arrows each, while the lady owner showed me how to use it.
"Using a bow is hard and simple at the same time. Being able to shoot is not difficult, the difficulty lies in accuracy. You are right handed, right?", she asked. I nodded surprised, "How did you know?". "Hehe, that is because of your body language. I've dealt with many customers in my life, I can spot at least that much", she replied, then handed me an arm protector. "That's to protect your arm from the string. You can wear it now", she explained. With the arm protector in place, she demonstrated how to hold the bow. Being right handed, I had to hold the bow in my left hand. That didn't make sense to me, but she explained that the ability to control my right arm was better. Hence my accuracy wouldn't suffer as much.
"That protector is also very crucial, and I will show you why", she said before drawing an empty bow and releasing the string. "Bam!", the string smacked into her arm. Nothing happened to her, since there was a protector on her arm. "Good archers can get away without using the protectors, but it's usually the standard. Now, notch an arrow just like me, and position your bow forward", she explained while demonstrating. I was good with stances and whatnot, copying her wasn't difficult. "Heh, are you sure this is your first time? It seems your stance is well executed. Young lady shouldn't play tricks on me", she said, surprised. "No, no. I really don't know how to use a bow properly. I'm learning how to use swords, and there are a few stances required for that. Copying that stance was easier for me, because I'm used to doing stances", I explained.
"Oh, so that's why. Your stance is good for your first try, therefore we can now aim at the target. The basic method of aiming is to focus solely on your target. First draw your arrow completely, then point it toward the target. You can use the tip of the arrow as you reference. There are more advanced techniques, but there is no need for them here. Now that you are focused on your target and your arrow is drawn, don't make any unnecessary moves. Your arm has to be as still as possible, any vibration or unnecessary movement will affect the path of your arrow. When you are ready, release the arrow from your fingers. Try to keep yourself as still as possible when doing so", she explained before shooting her arrow.
"Swoosh!", "Tsuk!", the arrow pierced right through the middle of the target. "Alright, now you give it a try", she added. I repeated the same steps as they were explained to me, but my arrows wouldn't hit the target. Even worse, my first try was a complete failure. Instead of flying forwards, my arrow got flung to the side. Though with enough tries, I was able to hit the target. "Wow, archery is really difficult", I said after a bit of practice. "Yes, but that is true with any sort of weapon. You should know that, since learning a sword is very difficult too", she replied. "Yes, there are loads of basics I had to learn. Anyway, can I give it a few more tries?", I asked. "Sure, go for it", the lady owner replied.
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