"you heard me right"
Delilah threw back at him, though Simma was still about to say his first words, he was called out, why Sarah, Lucy and the strange girls named Gwen had been stealing side comments and they were not called out.
"I'm damned," Simma thought. He didn't even know what she was talking about this time all he saw was that Draco, who was already standing beside her, held one of the bows.
Simma stepped forward, his boots feeling heavier than they should, until he stood beside Draco, feeling every pair of eyes on him.
"Mr. Draco, you go first",
Delilah said coolly.
"I want you to get an arrow to form into your bow. All you need to do is concentrate… look into yourself."
Draco smirked.
'Concentrate?'
he scoffed silently. "What's the need to concentrate when all you have to do is pull the string?"
Then, without even doing as he was told, he pulled the string casually, but nothing. His smirk faltered. He released the string, then pulled again, harder this time.
Still nothing.
"The hell is wrong with this thing?!" he barked, tugging forcefully, his voice cracking like glass.
A wave of laughter swept through the recruits. Draco's round face turned beet red, his arrogance now bleeding humiliation.
Delilah didn't dignify his tantrum, not even with a single look. Instead she chose to ignore him and said to them...
"Everyone, try."
All the recruits started to pull the bows, as the hall filled with the sound of bowstrings being pulled, wood creaking under futile hands, but no one was able to get an arrow into them.
Some even got more frustrated than Draco, snarling at the bow as if it was a leaving being.
"Stop! Stop! Everyone stop," Delilah said at last, her voice slicing clean through the chatter
"Now, mimic me," she began.
"One hand on the bow. The other on the string," she instructed.
They obeyed, though some still frustrated, Sarah was one of them.
"Take a deep breath," Delilah said, her voice gentle but still commanding.
A ripple of sound moved across the room as dozens inhaled at once, filling the air with the sound of drawn breaths.
"Now focus," she said, her voice softening into something almost meditative. "Make the arrow your one desire. Pour everything you are into wanting it, feel every moment that you are going to use and pull that string, clearing your head as well."
Everyone did as she said, their minds straining, well, except Simma, who just stood gazing at everybody, he held no bow and therefore just stood affixed to that position.
"Then pull," Delilah said. And effortlessly, she pulled the bow, and a thick, dark, translucent blue arrow slowly formed out of thin air as the bowstring drew taut.
"Wow," some muttered as everyone started to pull their bows again.
This time, some of them were able to make sparks appear around their strings.
Meanwhile, Sarah was getting pissed, it was as if her own bow had a fault since it wasn't even responding, to her it was like trying to squeeze water from stone.
Simma looked at Mrs. Pink and saw how she was struggling with hers and let out a chuckle, which he regretted instantly, since it pulled Delilah's attention toward him.
"Go get a bow, Mr. Nervous," she instructed, as Simma strode over to where Sarah was, pulled out a bow, and calmly walked back to where he stood.
Now all eyes were on him. no string were being pulled no more.
"Alright, now I want you to think, Simma," Delilah said.
"How nice… she just called me Simma," Simma thought as he hesitated a bit. If he failed this exercise, though they were all failing it but his fame would be worthless, after all that buzz about his Within Beast.
Slowly, he held the string of the bow and gently raised the bow to eye level. He closed both eyes for a fleeting moment and...
"Hhuuuuuu."
drew a deep breath.
Opening his eyes, he pulled the string.
Just then, with a little ripple, the base of an arrow appeared, shimmering blue and lucent, as Simma drew the string further, the arrow stretched, longer, sharper, until its gleaming, pointed head snapped fully into existence.
"Wouuw," he muttered inwardly.
It seemed a bit easy for him, It felt… familiar, like something he had done before, over and over again.
A loud hush swept the room. And even Sarah and Delilah stood amazed.
Not just because he did it, but because his arrow looked more alive, it was vivid, its glow deeper, and richer than Delilah's own.
Delilah noticed the murmur and decided to show Simma who the boss was.
She clicked the remote, and just then an arrow target board slid down from the pristine white ceiling, held down by two sleek white metal rods.
The board had ten concentric circles drawn on it, from the very tiniest dot spreading out to the largest ring.
"Well," she said lightly, masking the edge in her tone, "why don't you shoot at the target, Simma?"
Simma stared. He noticed it was a kind of challenge and wanted to call it off, after all, Delilah would definitely win; she was way higher in rank than he was.
But on second thought, he loved the way what he did earlier had gotten him that attention. Also, it felt very easy with the bow, like he was somehow attuned to it.
'Who knows what else I'm good at?'
Then, with an unnoticeable smirk, he said,
"Ladies first." those two word was followed by a taunting murmur.
A reply that Delilah never thought would come, but felt lovely, the way he had accepted the challenge
"Gladly", She nodded.
She pulled the bow, and the blue, smoky, translucent arrow followed suit. Without much thought, she shot.
The arrow flew with great velocity, that the next thing heard was the sound of it piercing into the board, striking the target with surgical a precision.
It struck the third ring, which was a bit close to the tiniest dot.
Just then, a technological gesture followed as a greenish-yellow color rippled over the board, and a female robotic voice rang out:
"Third circle. Seven points."
The place erupted. The training had now turned into a competition, well, it grew more fun.
Simma winced. Damn, she is good, he said to himself.
Out of ten circles, she was already breathing down the bull's-eye.
Don't panic… don't panic… don't panic, he told himself, then, raising his bow to eye level once more, pulled it as an arrow shimmered to life in it.
'Damn, it is now becoming like a hobby'. Sarah muttered.
Simma took more time aiming, and finally.
Pow!
He released the bow and the arrow flew off at once, hitting the board as gasps filled the room.
He blinked. 'No way', he pondered.
A louder cheer arose and Delilah grimaced.
A greenish-yellow color, darker than Delilah's, rippled through the board as the voice followed suit:
"Second circle. Eight points."
Simma had hit the second circle, closer to the bull's-eye than Delilah's shot.
He smiled and looked at her.
"Don't be frustrated, ma'am," he muttered to himself, filled with a flush that made him delightful.
But Delilah stared at him.
"Well, I didn't think you would beat that. But now that you did, let's make it more fun," she said, her lips curving.
Sarah leaned towards Chloe, whispering, "Show-off," though even she couldn't tear her eyes away.
Delilah pulled her bow again, her movements sharp now, purposeful. The arrow formed, dark blue and elegant, in its smoky glory.
Plug!
She shot, and it hit directly into the last ring, just an inch away from the bull's-eye. It was a far better shot.
"So close. Last circle. Nine points," the voice bellowed in its glamourous, robotic female glen.
Simma swallowed hard. There was no way he was going to beat that.
But then Delilah said the words that triggered him:
"Let's see your nervousity beat that," she teased with a smile that dared him.
And he didn't even know when he replied,
"Watch me do it."
This time, he calmly took more time aiming, as always, one eye closed, and then another
"Hhuuuuuuu."
A deep breath.
With a final aim, he shot.
The arrow pelted through the air and then, it hit the board, very close to Delilah's shot, but better.
For the voice yelled, with a green color flashing across the target:
"Bull's-eye!"
At that, the recruits erupted in claps, Simma had truly out done himself. Delilah stood in shock, no way someone in this room should be better than her in shooting, but Simma wasn't done.
He glared at Delilah, then, drawing the bow again, he shot.
There was a loud clattering sound as the arrow pierced through the arrow he had shot earlier, shattering it, and there was another:
"Bull's-eye!"
At this the rumble amidst the recruits dwindled a bit, all eyes on Simma like he was a kind of God that had just moved six mountains.
Sarah was now glowing. She was surprised.
'Who is this guy really?,' that was all that occupied her mind.
But then Delilah calmed them down as she said with finality:
"The bow is complete for each and every one of you. Know this though, this is one of the first hints. The rest will be given to you either through your Echelon Seals or any other way".
"For now, train on how to make an arrow and how to shoot. It is very important."
At that, she turned, and with her silver hair swaying like a blade's edge, she strode out.