"Very nice to meet you too Merlin." Tuli said with a warm smile. "Now if you'll please follow me to the archery range for the first test."
Merlin followed Tuli as she lead him through the rangers guild building. Merlin noticed several hallways leading to various other rooms, they seemed to mostly be dorms or facilities for members of the guild.
Merlin was greeted by quite a few individuals as he was lead into another building, it seemed the other members of the rangers guild were also quite friendly.
The two walked out into the archery range. It was a walled off area with several targets lined up in the distance. There were a couple NPCs doing target practice when they walked in, and Merlin was lead over to an area that was vacant.
Merlin noticed that each area had three targets, although his area appeared to have the smallest distance, it seemed to be reserved for beginner training.
"Okay, now I see you probably don't have a bow of your own just yet, which is fine." Tuli began talking. "We've got a couple training bows at the back there, feel free to use them within the training room. I'd recommend testing out what kind of bow you like best."
"With that being said, your first task is to hit three targets." As Tuli said these words, a quest window appeared before Merlin.
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[Common Quest]
Target Practice I.
The first step of becoming a ranger is confidence, the second is being able to actually hit something with an arrow. Hit three targets in the rangers guild archery range.
Targets hit: 0/3
• Reward: +1 Agility
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Merlin accepted the quest before walking towards the training bows. There were several different types on display; longbows, shortbows, recurve bows and even a couple crossbows.
Merlin grabbed a recurve bow that he believed was the right size for him, then grabbed a quiver of testing arrows and walked back to his position.
"That was fast. Usually people are more indecisive at first." Tuli said as she stared at Merlin's choice. "Well, It seems you already know what you like. Feel free to start firing when you're ready."
Merlin loosened up his limbs for few seconds while he stared at the targets. There were three targets in a straight line, roughly the same distance away from each other.
While there weren't any markings for distance, Merlin could estimate that the first one was about twenty meters away, the next was roughly forty meters and the last one was about sixty.
Merlin nocked his first arrow, drawing it back before quickly locking his sights on the twenty meter target, and within a second he released the arrow, causing it to tear through the air before sinking into the centre of the target.
「Targets hit: 1/3」
After that first shot Merlin believed he found a few oddities about the bow, the most irritating for him being that the string seemed to have stretched too much, which he would have to take into account for his next shot.
"I think the bow might be overdue for a new string." Merlin mumbled out loud.
"We're actually getting new bows pretty soon. As you've probably noticed, these ones are a little old." Tuli responded to his mumbles. "Good shot by the way!"
Merlin let another arrow fly while accounting for the bow's quirks, his next target being the sixty meter one, the furthest target.
「Targets hit: 2/3」
"Another bullseye, impressive." She remarked from the sidelines while watching Merlin shoot.
Merlin flicked his hair back before loading in two arrows, aiming for the centre of the forty meter target.
「Targets hit: 3/3」
「You have completed the quest, "Target Practice I", talk to Tuli to receive your rewards.」
"And now you're just showing off." Tuli said as Merlin turned to her. "Well, it's clear to see that you know your way around a bow. Good job!"
"With that being said, archery isn't the only skill rangers are required to have." Tuli continued, "Please collect your arrows before returning your borrowed weapon, please follow me when you're ready for the next test."
Tuli walked over and alerted the rest of the archers that Merlin was going to go collect his arrows. This caused them to all stop shooting and begin doing the same.
Merlin ran over to the targets in his lane, making sure to remove the arrows gently, putting each back into his quiver after inspecting their condition. After he had collected them all, he ran back to the training equipment pile and neatly returned everything back where he found them.
He ran over to Tuli who started walking back into the building, she lead him around for a little while, until he began smelling the overpowering scent of herbs.
"Rangers spend plenty of time in the wilderness, so a core part of what makes a good ranger is knowing what resources you have at your disposal and where to find it." Tuli began explaining as she lead Merlin into another room.
The room was full of strange looking plants and other brewing equipment, it was like he walked into an alchemist's lair.
"I'll begin explaining the most important plants that you will run into within the frontier, if you have any questions you may ask them at the end." Tuli said, causing another quest box to appear before Merlin.
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[Common Quest]
Target Practice II.
Rangers feel at home when surrounded by nature, as such it is wise to learn the blessings that certain plants can bring, or the dangers you may face if you don't heed their warnings.
Pass Tuli's test.
• Reward: +1 Agility
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Merlin accepted the quest, he was pretty excited for this one, as plants just so happened to be his speciality.
"So first of all, we'll be starting off with this." Tuli said as she held up what looked to be a dried stem of wheat.
"Do you know what this is?" She asked with a smile.
"Well my first thought was wheat, but since this is a lesson on herbs, my guess is Darnel Ryegrass." Merlin said as he stared at the plant.
Tuli stared at him with a surprised expression for several moments.
"That is correct." She mumbled before asking another question. "Do you know the effects of this plant?"
"Consumption of the plant, depending on the dosage, could lead to a wide variety of effects. A few of the more concerning ones being delirium, tremors, paralysis and convulsions, with the signature symptom ranging between tightness to extreme pain in the calves." Merlin began explaining everything he knew about the plant. "I believe the most common way of coming into contact with the plant is through bread made from the crops of a Darnel infested wheat field."
"My, you're quite studious aren't you?" Tuli said with surprise. "That is correct, well what about this one?"
Tuli's next plant was a long stem that had several bell-shaped purple flowers sprouting off of it. The inside layers of the purple bell-shaped flower seemed to have several discoloured spots.
"I believe that is a foxglove." Merlin said with confidence. "It's an extremely poisonous wildflower, consumption of any part of the plant can lead to irregular heart function and death. But those who survive or consume weaker doses suffer from a large array of nasty side effects such as an upset stomach, blurred vision and muscle weakness."
"Correct again, you're really good at this." Tuli remarked with a bright smile before she ran around looking for something else to show him.
She came back a few minutes later with a large piece of tree bark, and on one side of the bark was a strange gold-coloured spider web, but as Merlin took a closer look, he quickly realised what it was.
"I'd be very impressed if you knew what this was." Tuli said with a confident smile. "It's somewhat rare in Arcadia."
"Goldenweb." Merlin muttered, "It is a fungus that grows high on trees. And although it looks like a spider's web, it isn't sticky enough to ensnare creatures. It's main use is as an anticoagulant, it prevents blood from clotting."
「You have earned +10 familiarity with Tuli.」
「You have completed the quest, "Target Practice II", talk to Tuli to receive your rewards.」
Tuli was so surprised she almost dropped the bark, but she quickly recovered her grip and placed it down safely on a table before turning back to Merlin.
"Were you raised by a druid?" Tuli asked, her shocked expression refused to leave her face.
"No, I wasn't raised by a druid, unfortunately." Merlin couldn't help but laugh a little, but he made sure to correct her. "I am just very passionate about my hobbies."
"A very respectable hobby." Tuli said as she seemed to puff up her chest, it seemed she was rather proud of her knowledge and could see that she and Merlin were birds of a feather.
"Well, I don't believe you'll gain anything from my lecture, you're already quite knowledgeable." Tuli said while nodding along to her own thoughts, "With that, we'll skip right over to stage three."
"For your third task, you will be given a mission to step into the frontier and hunt down a wildcat, returning with its corpse. Please be careful, as wildcats are creatures with tremendous stealth abilities. To add onto the difficulty, this task must be done exclusively with a bow. Marks with any other weapon will disqualify your catch." Tuli said, causing another quest window to appear before Merlin.
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[Common Quest]
Target Practice III.
But the most important part of being a ranger is that it is your duty to protect your home from the dangerous creatures that have wrecked havoc on the west.
You've been tasked with a mission to set out into the frontier and hunt down an elusive wildcat while only utilising a bow.
Wildcats Killed: 0/1
• Reward: +2 Agility, 250 EXP, Class Soul: Ranger
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