The past two weeks had been quite peacful for Januar. Apart from the exam result's looming dread, which had spread throughout the whole class, everything was going very well.
His family was very successful in their current 'Court'. There had been no major injuries or troubles. He was really hoping for it to continue this way.
Constantine had also quietly stayed in his card most of the time, although, he would come out of his card while Januar slept, as Kay told him. But Januar ignored this behavior, as long as the other didn't bother him anymore, he was fine with everything.
Now, after a whole week of waiting and sitting on pins and needles, their results were handed out.
Januar was prepared for the usual mocking.
But...
75!
75 points!
He had never received such a great score before!
Although, it was pretty obvious that Constantine's passive skill had something to do with it, that didn't stop him from feeling overjoyed.
In the end, it was still his own memory.
So he trained with even more enthusiasm than usual. Kay was also happily instructing Januar, extremely satisfied with the other's progress.
At this moment a voice sounded loudly.
"Hey, Stolz! Get over here and choose a weapon."
Januar flinched at the thundering voice of his professor and looked over to him. Professor Bellator stood in front of the wall covered with training weapons and waved him over with an annoyed expression.
He scrambled to get off the ground and run to the annoyed professor.
After arriving, the professor snorted and said: "Choose your weapon already. You're already very far behind your classmates."
Januar hurriedly scanned the wall for a potential choice.
"What are you waiting for, there are other students waiting!"
Seeing how impatient his professor was to get back to the other student's, Januar randomly picked something.
"... bow and arrows?" Professor Bellator looked at Januar with a disapporving expression.
This student was really hopeless. Not taking advantage of his weight by choosing a spear or shield for bashing.
Snorting once more, he took the bow and arrow of the wall and shoved them into Januar's arms.
"Go try them out by yourself over there," Professor Bellator briefly pointed into the direction of the deserted shooting stand, before walking towards another pair of students.
Januar swiftly left for the shooting stand.
Ranged fighting styles lost their popularity after the Tower's appearance.
Guns and other firearms were completely useless against 'Monsters', only the strenghtened cold weapons of the 'Tower' stood a chance. The prefered options of most Melee 'Cardplayers' were heavy weapons, like Flail, Zweihänder, Spear or spiked Towershield. Then there were Support 'Cardplayers', their weaponry included barbed whips, javelins or throwing-knives comparable to short swords in size.
Ranged 'Cardplayers' were the rarest, as they fell into the awkward position of dealing enough damage to be targeted as a threat by 'Monsters' but not being able to kill them with the same ease as Melee 'Cardplayers'. You also had to be agile and strong enough to continuously fire arrows while keeping a distance and dodging attacks.
To be blunt, after honing all these qualities, you could very well fight as Melee 'Cardplayer' and spare yourself the trouble.
Januar halted at one of the targets.
After a short sigh, he tried to imitate an archer's stance, took out an arrow from his quiver and drew his bow.
Twang!
He let the arrow loose but it only flew for two meters.
After staring at his hopeless try for a second, Januar turned to Kay standing beside him.
But Kay only replied with an embarrassed expression.
"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about archery."
Januar was a bit dissapointed hearing this, but he had no other choice than to try again.
He used any method that came to mind, and the more he did the more fun it became! Sure, it was pretty exhausting, because he had to keep his back straight and draw the tough string as far as possible, but he gradually entered the target's vicinity.
Continuing until his muscles burned from the strain, taking a break and repeat, he was so focused that he didn't even notice time passing.
Thump!
...he, he hit it!
It was only the uppermost corner of the target, but he did it!
He tried to imitate his shot, but didn't reach the target.
This did not discourage Januar however. He was burning with enthusiasm!
"Stolz, stop shooting and get over here!"
Januar halted his practice and looked at his PE teacher.
The other students were all gathered next to him, was it already the end of the lesson?
Glancing at the clock hanging over the door, Januar discovered that there were still 20 minutes of the lesson remaining.
But when he saw Sophie standing next to Professor Bellator with her whip in hand, he had a hunch. Nobody else, apart from the both of them, still had their weapons.
He quickly gathered his arrows and ran to the group.
"You will spar with Ms. Greta here."
Professor Bellator looked at Januar's bow and arrows, clicking his tongue, he continued.
"Exchange your bow for something else, or you would be even more at a disadvantage."
Januar was a bit unwilling to lay down his bow, as he felt that it fit him quite well, but ultimately obeyed his teacher's orders.
He looked at the weapon wall again. This time, he felt a bit dispirted when inspecting the other weapons, deciding on a glaive in the end.
It was quite heavy, so Januar had to hold onto the glaive with both hands. The spear felt much more unfamiliar in his hands than the bow.
"Are you ready now? Then, start!"
Januar hurriedly lifted his glaive when an attack was about to hit his head.
Instead the whip wrapped around the pole of his glaive and drew him nearer. Januar realized a tad too late how bad of an idea close combat was with a spear type weapon, as Sophie used one hand to wield a dagger and stab at him and the other to control his movements with the whip.
Overwhelmed by Sophie's agressive fighting style, Januar was only able to dodge her attacks but discovered that the longer her attacks kept going the faster they became. Alarmed by this, Januar chose to abandon the glaive and used it for ramming instead, so he could buy some time for drawing distance.
Unfortunately, Sophie realized his plan even before he was able to execute it. The instant Januar loosened his grip a bit on the pole and wanted to build up momentum, she snatched the glaive from his hands with a sudden tug.
With that Januar was unarmed. Now that there was nothing in the way of Sophie's whip anymore, she skillfully controlled her weapon, making Januar more and more desperate while dodging. He glanced around, hoping for an opportunity, any opportunity, to pick up his glaive again, but Sophie was blocking the way with her whip.
Knowing that he won't be able to hang on for much longer, Januar racked his brain for some way that he won't lose too badly.
At that moment, Januar remembered the bow and arrows not too far away from him. Even if it was a meager struggle in face of Sophie's assault, he still wanted to give this strategy a try.
He bolted in that direction and grabbed the weapon. He whirled around while aiming his bow, just then he saw the whip swishing towards his body, unable to dodge, he just fired.
A burning pain hit his stomach that robbed him of air, thanks to his protective clothing (school uniform) he wasn't harmed but impact still hurt. His knees buckled while he pressed his hands on his struck belly.
But contrary to his expectations, there weren't any futher attacks coming for him.
After he caught his breath, he looked up and witnessed a mindblowing scene, at least for him.
His stray arrow had managed to hit Sophie as well! She was currently sitting on the ground heaving for air just like himself, with her clique and Professor Bellator surrounding her in worry.
A bright smile spread on Januar's face, almost erasing his painful expression completely.
He had defeated one of the five most talented students in his class! Even if she held back, and he technically cheated with his bow, it was still a huge achievement for Januar!
As he stood there with a silly grin on his face, he felt some searing gazes on his body. Turning around, he noticed that his fellow classmates all looked at him with murderous eyes.
He felt a bit stiffeled at this sight.
This probably meant that he should run, right?