Chapter 47: Again?
Five months later,
In the imperial palace complex, there was a multifunctional training ground for the imperial family, typically used by its members to practice their techniques. On one side of the training ground, there were numerous static targets for archery, where the elves would sharpen their skills. At this moment, some of the targets already had arrows embedded in their centers. Some arrows even overlapped each other, creating a flower-like pattern.
The source of those arrows was a twelve-year-old boy with black hair, who would turn thirteen in a few months. The way he held the bow was steady, his posture perfect, and his eyes focused on the target. When he released the string, the arrow flew with such speed that it was merely a blur, landing precisely on the target, overlapping the already embedded arrow.
Aldrian hadn't wasted a moment during the months he'd been here. He familiarized himself with elven life to grow closer to them. At first, the elves, who were unaware of Aldrian's circumstances, wondered why the imperial family was so accommodating to this human. Most of the elves in the capital felt strange and uncomfortable about his prolonged presence.
Sure, there were times when other races visited the capital, and Evergreen City had a small district where other races could stay. But they didn't linger in other districts, because they knew how the capital's inhabitants didn't appreciate the presence of other races—not like in the cities on the borders.
Aldrian's existence here was an anomaly to them, yet the imperial family seemed to accept him, with the princess even talking and walking with him around the capital. With the imperial family's treatment, plus Aldrian's efforts to adapt to their lifestyle and his helpful nature, in the end, the elves gradually accepted him.
The way of the elf was also archery, which aligned perfectly with Aldrian's intention to learn it so he could use the Earth-Shattering Bow to its full potential. He asked the imperial teacher if there was someone who could teach him archery, and the teacher, delighted, decided to teach Aldrian himself. After learning the basics and trying a few shots, the imperial teacher quickly realized that Aldrian was a natural-born genius in archery. He felt it would be a shame not to maximize Aldrian's potential in this area.
He didn't mind that Aldrian also used a sword because he knew Aldrian was no ordinary human. Perhaps he could train with more than one specialized weapon and this turned out to be true—Aldrian quickly grasped every lesson and even began learning basic techniques like homing arrows just two days after starting archery. Gradually, Aldrian was able to train by himself and even started creating new techniques based on his understanding.
Now, he trained in basic archery without any special techniques, just to hone his senses and instincts as an archer. Eleine and Princess Sylphia watched him from the side, sometimes cheering and clapping for him. But they weren't the only ones there. Two other figures, wearing the golden-green noble attire that only the princes of the Ivory Empire could wear, stood nearby.
"He's truly a prodigy. How can he learn everything so quickly and never seem to hit a bottleneck? I just can't grasp how he does it," said one of them.
"He's always been like that, Your Highness. He's been special since birth," Eleine responded. Her aura had grown stronger over the past months, and her cultivation had increased to High Earl, thanks to the herbs Aldrian brought from the Forest of Despair. Eleine felt grateful for her young master's care, she could even feel her cultivation foundation becoming more solid due to one of the herbs she consumed.