What does it take to be recognized as the next crown prince. If there are no other siblings, the the one offspring of the royal family becomes the automatic heir. However, if there are multiple siblings coming from multiple step families, then things become more complex.
In fact, the battle of the princes, as it is usually known, is the scariest and bloodiest siblings rivalry there is, as it affects every part of a monarchy. To stand supreme in such a fight, one has to be the very best in almost every aspect of life. They are constantly tested, pushed to be better than the common man.
Of course, the bigger the monarchy, the higher the stakes, and resultantly, the higher the competition. Yet, it was in such a stage that Haiser has been able to distinguish himself over and over again, to a point where he received the recognition of the King, the army and the general populace.
This went to show just how accomplished Haiser was as an individual. To get to that point, one had to undergo training and body refinement from early on. One could not even be proud of being hardworking, since it was a given. Everyone worked hard, everyone applied themselves.
In a nutshell, they were born and trained to be leaders. To stand out from among the herd.
Ever since he was a young boy, Haiser had been in training, constantly being pushed to better himself. Moreover, as the first born, he had practically been brought up by the army, which is why his aura gave off a soldier vibe.
By the time he was age 12, he was proficient with any weapon there was, be it modern hot weapons such as guns, to older versions such as spears, bows and swords. That proficiency had only gone up over time.
Hence, when Haiser raised his bow, it felt all too familiar to him. Haiser had lost count of how many times he had shot a bow, and how much punishment he had endured every time he missed. As such, he knew all the things to look out for, like the weight of the bow, it's resistance to the tug when being pulled.
"Hey Joel, do you think he'll do it?" Someone raised a question, addressing the unassuming man standing in the crowd.
Among the men who were preparing for the hunt, there was only one other guy, apart from Carlos, who was using a bow, his name was Joel. The others either had guns, muskets, spears or short sticks, like the one Felix had handed to Haiser.
The two bowmen were renown as the best shots in the settlement. Even with a gun, they could keep a tin can bouncing from over 400 meters. Both Joel and Carlos had chosen to remain with the bow, even though both could have any pick of the gun in the settlement.
Of the two, Joel was the more proficient one, but he was also less outgoing and vocal. From his corner, he watched Haiser raising his bow with a smile. He could tell just by the way Haiser was handling his weapon, he would definitely find the mark.
Seeing the smile, the guy who had asked the question could only guess what that meant. Also, while others were betting, Joel did not participate.
Looking downrange, Haiser knew that for an object as small as an orange, even from only ten meters, wind effect could still lead to a missed shot. Stilling himself, he nocked an arrow and pulled.
After some brief calculations, he finally let the arrow loose. Watching the arrow fly, everyone held their breath in anticipation. Even Alma and many of the women folk who had come to bid their men goodbye were watching.
Without much suspense, when the arrow struck the orange, the orange burst with juices. It was followed by a thud, as the orange was even pushed off the platform it was on.
This was followed by a soft applause. At least, they had a proper archer by their side. Many of those who had bet on Haiser were pretty ecstatic when they saw him find his mark, going over excitedly to Carlos to collect their wins.
From the onlookers, Haiser could see a few nods. Some of the men looked like they had served in the military. As such, being identified as a soldier made him automatically one of their own, and he had not let them down.
Looking completely unfazed, as though he expected it, Carlos signaled the boy, who then proceeded to move the platform another ten meters further. Haiser was impressed by the fact that the boy could make such accurate judgement over distance.
Nevertheless, Carlos proceeded to collect a fresh round of betting, this time changing the odds to one to two, since the distance had improved. However, despite the odds, more people chose to bet on Haiser. After all, he did not seem to struggle to make the shot from ten meters, so that was not his limit.
Nocking an arrow once more, Haiser took aim and then made the shot. Like before, every one of his actions were accomplished with a level of fluidity, one that made someone desire to keep staring. Again, there was no suspense. The arrow promptly tore the orange up as it penetrated the fruit.
"Hey Carlos, how about you try making it harder for the guy. At this rate, you don't stand a chance at making the money," surprisingly, this was said by Joel. Had it been anyone else, everyone would have taken that statement in stride, but seeing that the even best shot in the settlement had made a comment, everyone was definitely intrigued.
"Alright, then how about this," Saying so, Carlos turned and made hand signals to the boy, who then grabbed the platform and started running further and further away from the gathered crowd. He ran until he was roughly seventy meters away from Haiser.
Seeing this, Carlos made a smile and announced, "Betting odds increased to one-to-four, against. Do you dare make a bet?"