Chương 3: The Bow - First Lesson
A layer of frost thinly coated the blades of grass and a cold breeze swept over the morning yard, the sun was beginning its daily rise in the sky while shadows crept away for the day; Although not too unusual two figures were seen standing and talking, one tall and robust, one small and thin.
"This…?" Shu He said as he stared at the unusual shapes the popped up in the yard, 'they definitely weren't here yesterday' he thought.
"They're practice targets I had made, I've never used them myself but I had them tucked away in the shed in case I ever got rusty" His father explained. "I thought they'd be the best thing to start your training on" he walked over and patted the wooden carving next to him.
It stood about 4 feet tall, a simple circular target with three rings, the ring seemed to be made of some cloth stuffed with hay on a wooden frame and stand, it was simple but definitely a luxury.
'It looks similar to what I'd see in target ranges back in my previous life... though that shouldn't be a surprise, it's not hard to come to the same design when thinking of target practice' Shu He thought to himself, he wasn't experienced with a bow nor any sort of firearm in his previous life, but at the very least he wasn't entirely unknowledgeable about them.
"Also, I have backups for mine but since you're still small… I went out early and picked this up" His father continued as he picked up an object, he laid out on a workbench table nearby.
"This is for me?" Shu He accepted it, it was a bow a size smaller than his father's, this one was a couple of feet in length, he looked it up and down, the wood was a light brown with no adornments and the string was assumingly made with hair from an animal, he hadn't expected to be given his own from the get go so he immediately felt happy.
"Of course, like I said you're small, my bow is almost as tall as you" He said before laughing, "That, and I don't think you'd have the strength to use it".
"Really?" Shu He said doubtfully.
"Here, try it" To which his father replied, holding out his bow that was nearly a meter in length, Shu He put his smaller one back on the workbench and gripped his father's bow, as soon as it was passed over he immediately noticed that it felt significantly heavier than his, and that wasn't just down to its size, he had never looked at his father's bow before closely but he could tell the wood used was different from the colour and grain of the wood, not just that the string used was a darker colour, but he couldn't tell whether it was thicker or not.
Not wasting any time he took what he thought was a stance for firing and attempted to pull the string back, he used all the strength he could muster even going red in the face as he struggled but only managed to pull it back an inch at most.
"See? There's no way you'd be able to use it" Shu Li said, taking his bow back off a tired Shu He.
*Haah Haah Haaaaah* Shu He had to take some time to catch his breath before he looked up, the image of his father in his eyes had improved even more, he thought how much strength would be required to effortlessly pull that bow back and became even more impressed.
"My Bow isn't exactly normal, It's on the heavier side, both on weight and usage; the wood used is much more ridged but durable, so the strength required to pull it back is much higher, it uses a much higher quality string because a normal one would break under stress from the shaft" The father went on to explain with a bit of pride, though one thing left Shu He with some doubt.
"But Father, why do you need such a powerful bow, you're a hunter right? A normal one would be fine… isn't this a bit overkill?" He questioned.
"Ah… so you noticed." His father replied with a slight look of discomfort on his face, he eyed his bow and swept it with his eyes, a hint of melancholy washed over as he felt lost for a second before returning sight to his son who was looking at him with curious eyes.
"It's true, while it definitely holds more piercing power and greater range, for hunting it's too much… it's just… a holdover from the past, when I need this kind of thing, I can't get comfortable without one like this." He said 'Even if it makes me remember those times' were the words he didn't mention after.
'When I needed this kind of thing'? Shu He picked up those words and zoned in immediately, what kind of animal would need this kind of power to take down?
"From the past?" Shu He asked once more, he had never heard about what his father did before he was born so he was curious and wanted to learn more.
"Ah, I'll tell you when you're older" But his father passed his question off with the age old line.
"Okay…" Disappointed, but understanding, he went and picked up his bow to continue with the training.
---
*Shwoosh* *Clack*
An arrow shot through the air, landing in the dirt meters from the target.
"Ugh" Shu He, who was the one who shot said arrow grumbled, this wasn't his first attempt, his fourth so far, he took what he thought was a decent stance for shooting but even pulling the string back took a lot of his strength so he shook a lot and couldn't take a stable shot, that and he felt the arrow never went where he wanted.
He took stance once more, grabbed another arrow and nocked it on the bow, just as he was going to attempt another shot his father's voice came from behind him and an hand directed his elbow.
"You're not using your whole arm, your elbow should be raised and pulled behind you, place your left foot forward more and position your arms like a swords guard" A few words of advice from his father, and the next shot immediately went closer to where he wanted it to go, he looked at his father and he smiled back.
Shu He would take a few shots, adjusting himself with the few tips he was given and every so often Shu Li would chime in, giving hints here and there while watching calmly.
"You're too tense, you can't control your shot that way"
"Find a reference point, arrow, string and self".
"Follow through, don't just let the string go, do it like you'd throw a ball in one motion"
Shot after shot, Shu He kept up practice for nearly two hours, by the end he was sweating buckets despite the cold weather and his you could see his breath hitting the cold air from how hot it was.
"That's enough" His Father called out, immediately Shu He collapsed to a sitting position on the ground, his entire upper body ached from shoulder blade to arm.
"You did well, for your first time just in this first session you've improved a lot" He praised as he went to the target to retrieve the arrows.
"R-really?" Shu He spoke out between his heavy breaths, he looked at the target, there were a few arrows stuck with a few holes left from arrows already retrieved, only one landed on the centre of the target which left him a little disappointed.
"Of course, especially for a first timer with your strength and size, I'd say you reached about 50% accuracy on the target which is good, I'm sure with constant practice and improving your body strength you can be just as good as me or even better" He said with joy, he hadn't expected his son to be able to pull off this much just on the first session.
"Really?!" Shu He said with as much joy as his tired body could muster, even though the idea of practice every morning gave him some slight dread he knew he had to follow through with it.
"Mm, now, rest for 10 minutes and we'll go on to fletching your own arrows" Shu Li dropped like a bombshell.
"Wait, there's more?!" The child choked on his own dry throat.
"Just for today, there won't be anything strenuous here I just wanted to show you, you won't need to make your own arrows if you can find a decent craftsman but there's always the possibility you'll have to, so it's a decent skill"
"Oh… did you make these ones?" Shu He pointed towards the stack of arrows in the quiver resting next to the workbench.
"No, Old Yun the craftsman in this village is quite skilled so I get them from there, if you want anything done go to him, though you'll have to mind you don't get on his bad side" Shu Li explained with helpless smile on his face.
'I'll have to remember that name, before this I'd just asked Father about things as a middleman, but it would be better if I could explain things directly…' Shu He marked the name Old Yun in his memory.
After a while his 10 minutes of rest were up, and he was led inside for his father to continue his lessons.
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