She woke up early in the morning the next day. After washing up with the help of her nanny, she moved her wheelchair towards the elevator to go downstairs.
The wheelchair was remote-controlled, and the elevator was specially added for her at home after she became paralyzed.
She had difficulty adjusting herself in the beginning, but she adapted quickly. Now she was able to move around like a normal person, at least, while she was home. But she still needed someone to take care of her bathing and change of clothes, and this job was handed over to her nanny.
She ate her breakfast in the dinning hall and after eating she went to the back garden to enjoy some fresh air.
Just when she started to enjoy the soft warmth of sunlight on her skin while looking at the blooming flowers in front of her, she was interrupted of her enjoyment by the man in a gray tuxedo.
"Miss, some couriers were delivered in your name. Shall I send them to your room, or would you like to open them here?"
He was a middle-aged man and looked quite handsome in the gray tuxedo. He was the butler of her family who took care of the house. Especially when both of her parents were absent from home, going on business trips and all.
Without showing any impatience after being interrupted, she just smiled.
"No need to bring them here. They are some gadgets I bought for fun, just send them to my room and I will open them when I am free."
"Very well." He replied but didn't leave immediately.
When she saw him hesitant to speak, she couldn't help but be puzzled. "Is there something else, Uncle Li?"
He quickly composed himself after she pointed him out. "Miss looks happy today, did something good happened in the game?"
"Ah this… Yes, something did happen and it made me very delighted. Is it so obvious that you could tell at a glance, Uncle Li?"
"Yes, it is practically showing on your face. Before you were all holed up in your room, rarely coming out. And when you did, you had a blank expression, but now you look very peaceful. The contrast from before is really great, like you have unloaded a heavy burden from your shoulders."
She chuckled when she thought of the good thing that happened, a good thing that will allow her to walk again.
A bell like laughter spread throughout the garden, startling the gardeners tending to the garden, early in the morning. They were watering the plants and cutting the excess branches.
There was a time when they would hear such laughter often while performing their duties. But those joyful laughs stopped after the accident of their young lady Aaira.
When they heard the long-lost laughter again, it made them reminisce about the past. They looked at each other knowingly and smiled, like the laughter was contagious and made them happy too.
"You flatter me, Uncle Li, it made my day. Thank you very much." She turned her attention towards the flowers again and replied in a light tone, completely avoiding the topic.
When butler Li saw her not willing to continue, he took it as a signal for the end of conversation and quietly turned around to leave the garden.
"Wait, Uncle Li, there is something I need you to do." She suddenly remembered something and called him back.
He turned around to face her. "What is it that you need me to do, Miss?"
"I bought a crossbow and I want to practice archery with it. Would you please set up a few shooting targets here in the back garden?"
Butler Li was stunned after hearing her request and then came back to his senses. No matter what, it was a good thing for the young lady to come out of her room so willingly.
"Sure, I will arrange it soon but make sure you don't hurt yourself with this new hobby of yours, young lady. Otherwise, I might lose my job after years of serving the Alastair Family." He joked in a light tone at the end.
She nodded readily and replied in kind. "Will do Uncle Li, don't worry, I won't let you lose your job."
After this short communication, butler Li left to make arrangements.
After bathing in the warm morning sunlight for a while, she went back to her room upstairs, where she found some extra sealed card boxes on the floor beside her bed.
There was a plush red carpet in her room before, but it was removed later to allow her to move with ease on the wheelchair.
She controlled her wheelchair and stopped besides the card boxes. Scissors were placed on one of the card boxes for her to use.
"Uncle Li is quite thoughtful." She picked up scissors with a smile and cut the tape on the card boxes one by one.
After she cut the tape on the last box, she put the scissor aside and opened the card box at hand.
The card box was filled with small plastic boxes of yogurt. She closed the box after taking a look and stored it in her inventory, moving on to other card boxes.
The second card box contained bread, the third had canned fish, the fourth had compressed biscuits, the fifth had juice boxes of different flavors and the sixth card box was filled with bottles of mineral water.
She put everything in her inventory after a brief inspection and looked at the remaining card boxes. She could guess what was inside because there were two boxes left, and she had memorized everything she bought yesterday due to her ability "Photographic Memory".
She opened the box closed to her and took out a very intimidating black crossbow. It was a modern compound crossbow that looked more like a gun than a crossbow, with a telescope on the upper part. It came along with multiple crossbow bolt quivers, which she ordered especially.
She held the heavy crossbow and stroked it gently, feeling the metallic touch, she showed a happy smile. "You will do." She mumbled.
She put down the crossbow carefully along with the use manual and opened the last card box which had several big and small pin packed boxes in it.
She picked up scissors again and cut them all open as well. The boxes contained many items. There was a sharp dagger, a lighter, a Swiss army knife, rope, small throwing knives, gas mask, headlamp and first aid kit. This was her survival kit.
She gathered all the small items and put them back in the card box and stored it away. As for the remaining packaging, she threw them in the dust bin.
Now only one empty card box remained. She picked up the crossbow again and put it back in the box and left it there to use later for her archery practice. Until then, she was going to watch survival shows and documentaries on her laptop to gain knowledge and tips about surviving in the wild.
She had already set her eyes on a particular task on the Task Board yesterday, and now she was making preparations for anything she might encounter.
In the afternoon, butler Li knocked on her door.
"Please, come in." She answered.
The door opened, and butler Li stood in the opened door without coming in. He informed her, "Miss, the arrangement of archery targets in the back garden has been finished, you can use them anytime you want."
"Alright, thank you for your efforts."
"And Uncle Li, please ask someone to bring this crossbow to the back garden. Be careful no to damage it, I am going to practice right away." She pointed towards the last card box containing the modern crossbow.
"Yes, I will call a servant to take it there. Once again, Miss, be careful not to hurt yourself while practicing. I will assign a maid to stand by while you practice and if you need anything you can ask her." He repeatedly asked her to be careful. To her, he looked more like a nagging mother than her mother.
Her lips twitched when she thought about it, trying to hold back her smile, she reassured him. "Okay, Uncle Li, I will be careful."
Coming to the back garden once again, she sat in her wheelchair and picked up the use manual of the modern crossbow from the card box and read the instructions carefully, trying not to miss any detail.
Because of her ability Photographic Memory, it made it easy for her to memorize the entire manual. After reading it, she put it back and took out the modern black compound crossbow with both hands.
She studied it according to the manual and when she thought she got a hang of it she picked up a heavy yellow bolt with black fletching and set it in place.
After checking twice that everything was done properly, she held the bow. The right hand held the stock, index finger on the trigger, while the left hand held the foregrip. She held the crossbow close to her face, her cheek touching the cheek rest, and aimed the muzzle at the circular shooting target far away.
She closed one eye and looked at the target held by the wooden stand, through the telescope, adjusting her aim at the bull's eye accordingly.
After getting the feel of the crossbow and adjusting her aim for a while, she finally pulled the trigger.
SWISH!
With a whooshing sound, the bolt left the crossbow and embedded itself at the edge of the thick wooden target.
Due to her below-average strength, she sweated after holding the heavy crossbow for a short while, but she didn't care. She lowered the crossbow a little to look at the target and smiled.
"Not bad for my first time, but far from enough. I will have to practice hard in the coming days, it seems." With that said, she picked up another bolt and resumed her archery practice. She was going to practice until evening to better her aim.
…