Hail of Arrows [Training/Solo]

Altair walked to the outskirts of town to start his physical training. He needed to increase his defensive prowess if he was going to be any good inside the dungeon. He began his exercise with some simple drills that were meant to increase his reflexes and speed of response. He set up timed crossbows that would fire several rounds into the air. Altair would have to dodge each and every one of them if he wanted to even think of entering a dungeon. He stood in the middle of the zone where the arrows would fire, and waited. He didn’t know when or which crossbows would fire, and he liked it that way. He looked to the sky to see several arrows already on their path down. Altair dodged and weaved as best he could to avoid them. About halfway through, an arrow nicked him in the arm, but he continued on without stopping. Soon after, yet another close call. This time, the arrow came across his left calf. He was getting reckless. He began to watch for the arrows trajectory and speeds, allowing him to better gauge where they would land. If he continued like this, he would be just fine. He was able to complete the exercise without any further injury. Now came the hard part.

Altair reset all the crossbows and set the timer once again. This time however, he had to stand still and block any arrows that came close to him. The first crossbow twinged, firing a single arrow high into the sky. It came down just one meter from where Altair was standing. Altair didn’t even flinch. He knew that if he made extraneous movements, that he would only end up hurting himself more. Three more arrows were fired. The y came down right on top of Altair. Altair made three quick strikes, deflecting the arrows easily. Then something went wrong. Suddenly, every arrow at once was fired from their bows, almost clouding the sky with their barrage. Altair reacted quickly, whirling his rod in a circle to protect himself from the rest of the arrows. He deflected almost a hundred arrows before the assault stopped. Altair hung his arms, exhausted. That took a lot more out of him than it should have. Determined, Altair reset the crossbows, and tried it again. But this time, he had them fire all at the same time like before. The arrows rained down in an unpredictable pattern, slamming into the sand, pulverizing it. Altair spun his rod again like before, but this time, he added in different rotations and speeds to better protect himself. Soon it was like he was unable to be touched by arrows, as each and every one that was fired was deflected away from him. Altair even began to aim the arrows directly at himself, and still they were unable to even graze him. Altair picked up the arrows and crossbows and headed back into the city. With this new technique under his belt, Altair felt invincible.

~504/500~