After eating, Cailt headed over to the weapon shop he'd heard about. As he stepped inside, a tall blond woman was ringing up a customer. After the individual left, the employee looked up at the warrior with a smile.
"Welcome, friend. The name's Vitula; how may I assist you today?" The woman, clad in a heavy apron and work gloves, had a mild accent that Cailt couldn't place.
"Firstly, m'lady, I just need to know if you're able to do custom orders?"
"It depends on the item in question." Upon saying this, Cailt reached into his quiver and drew an arrow, handing it over to the shopkeeper. Vitula looked it over from various angles, running her hands over the shaft.
"Interesting. Oak; hawk feathers for fletching - " Vitula ran a hand over the arrowhead. "Haterian steel arrowhead?"
"Impressive analysis, Vitula. I need about 60 of those made. Can it be done?"
"It won't be a problem; custom orders take a bit longer, though. I can have them ready for you . . ." Vitula paused, mentally doing some calculations. "In approximately four days. Is that acceptable?"
"Perfectly. I'm not going anywhere for a few days, anyway. I'll also take ten sling bullets."
After making his purchases, Vitula agreed to have Cailt's order delivered to the inn when finished. Approaching Drake Street, Cailt got his first look at the Kharani Academy. An impressive multi-story building of stone, sculptures of archaic armour and weaponry decorated the front entrance and main foyer.
"Hello, my Dannalthian friend. My name is Akhgar. What sort of session would you like to sign up for today?" A tall, bearded gentleman of Ghulistani origins was standing at the front desk, checking over various items he kept behind the counter.
"I heard that you have archery ranges available; if so, I'd like to sign up for one of them."
"Excellent. We can set that up." Akhgar explained the prices and rules for the range. After purchasing three quivers of practice arrows, Cailt headed to the range.
At this time of day, the place was nearly abandoned, except for a lone woman firing arrows with cold precision. Bronze-skinned and dark-haired, she was clad in a long sleeveless dress that was slit up nearly to her hip, with lightweight boots and leather gauntlets. Amazingly, despite being extremely busty, her huge tits didn't get in the way of her skill with a bow.
Slipping off his cloak, Cailt stepped up to another stall, and began firing arrows at the human-shaped target at the end of the range. After working his way through a dozen arrows, he got the feeling he was being watched. That's when he realized it was the female archer.
"You're impressive. I thought Dannalthians just hacked away with a blade until their opponent stopped moving."
Cailt turned to the woman. "Some have that attitude. Mostly beginners. Personally, I've always seen myself as a combat pragmatist." He set his bow aside, and extended a hand. "Cailt, son of Rayne."
"Riolta Snow." Riolta accepted his hand. "Care to make a wager, Cailt?"
"What sort of wager?"
"Best out of 20 shots. Head and body shots are worth 1 point, a shot to the eye on the target, 2 points, and missed shots, remove a point. Speed won't matter; we'll just stop after 20 rounds."
"And what's the prize?" Cailt was intrigued by this woman.
"The loser buys dinner for the winner, and they'll also get a girl of the winner's choice to share their bed for the night.
Either way, all three of us win."
"Fair enough, you're on, Riolta. What sort of girls do you prefer?"
"We can discuss that after I win," Riolta said with a smirk. The two of them stepped up to empty stalls and targets, ready to begin their competition.
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