On the edge of the forest, a group of 9 children of roughly the same age were lined up together. In their hand a small bow was held as they aimed at a small square pelt of yak hide that was nailed to the trees.
After a buff black-haired man yelled. "Fire" the children let go of the arrows.
"Amazing! I can't believe my eyes! You will all go down in history! It's impossible to believe that you good for nothings missed after only being 20 feet away. How the hell are you supposed to defend Reloi!?! Well, what are you waiting for go and collect your arrows."
The kids quickly placed their bows down and ran to get their arrows. Each one of them had an annoyed expression on their face. Whether it was because of the instructor or the fact that they missed it was hard to say.
"Hey, you little bastards those arrows don't simply grow on trees! You break another one and I'll take it from you and stick it up your buttocks!"
After a few hours of continuous shooting and getting shouted at the kids were allowed to leave for their homes. All of them let out a sigh of relief as they began walking back to their homes. All except Neil who sat down and leaned on a tree that had a target nailed to it.
'Since I'm too young and weak to build anything or provide other services that are actually used here then the next best thing is selling something already made. I was thinking of fruits at first but that won't work because anyone can harvest them in their free time. No one here would pay for something like that.'
'Fishing also sounds cool but there are people who specialize in that. Another thing that I could do is work as an accountant but Grandpa just laughed it off. Even if I show them my skills they still wouldn't care since I'm too young in their eyes.'
"So if it isn't my math skills, the little bit of cooking knowledge I have then what else do I have that I'm good in? Art? I did take some classes that helped me learn how to draw portraits but is that really enough? Well I guess that I don't lose anything by trying, I have some paper at home. While it's not as high quality as the paper from Earth it should still be good. Okay, then I will have to make some samples to show people…"
Neil quickly ran home and there he grabbed some paper, charcoal, and ink pen and ran back down to the kitchen area his mom was in.
"Mom, if I draw people's portraits do you think that they would pay money for it?"
His mom turned around and looked at him and giggled, "Money? And what exactly does a kid your age need money for?"
"Money to save up for a boat"
"A boat!? My haha, where did that come from? What do you want a boat for then?"
Neil looked at his mother who had a look of amusement on it. 'Well if I tell them now that I want to move away from the village it might be beneficial for later. They can see that it's something I've always wanted to do so they will be more on board since it's my childhood dream. They might even focus on making another kid that might take the reins..'
"I want a boat so that I can travel all over the world."
She seemed to be a bit surprised but after a bit, she smiled, "To travel all over the world? Well, it isn't going to be easy. A boat that can sail all over is going to be expensive. As for your drawings, I'm sure that if you keep practicing then lots of people will buy them."
Neil nodded and placed everything down on the table, "Then do you think that I can draw you?"
Tara seemed like she wanted to say no since she wanted to finish cooking but she nodded," Okay but just for a few minutes okay? I still have to make food."
Neil had sat his mother down on the opposite side of the table and quickly began drawing. He used the charcoal pen to make a rough outline of his mother's head and arms. Once the outline was made he began drawing the details in ink after he was done he smudged the charcoal away creating a sort of light grey halo.
"It's done, Mom."
"Already? Let me see it."
The exaggerated excitement that she was displaying told him that she was going to be nice to him and pretend that whatever he had drawn was good. That had him a bit nervous since he wanted honest criticism. He had taken two years of art classes in high school and done many portraits but he still wasn't all that confident in his skills.
Tara's expression when she saw the drawing turned to one of surprise, "Amazing….Where did you learn to draw like this?"
"I sometimes practice on the ground…So do you think people would buy it?"
His mother nodded and smiled," Of course they will this is amazing! I've never seen a drawing as realistic as this."
Neil couldn't help but smile himself, 'If that's true then I can make some money.'