Chapter 45: One-shot
"That was amazing!"
"Prince Jet is really a genius. He took out that puppy so easily! It's unbelievable."
"I thought these things would be more deadly, but it seems like they're just like the bots in the simulation room."
Roars and praises from the trainees rained down on Jet as he returned his weapons to the wall and walked away from the now dead puppy being dragged off the stage. Such was to be expected after his spectacle of a performance. In mere moments, he had given the once terrifying creature a major disadvantage by destroying its eye the first time it erratically lunged at him, then proceeded to play with the beast until its death.
Several jaws were left open when they watched it all go down. None of them were expecting something like that given how dangerous Instructor Ty and Dutch had made the monsters out to be. But now, a majority of them were more fired up to go down themselves and see how they compared to a genius like Jet.
'Don't they know that things only turned out like this because of his strength and skill? They're only going to get themselves killed if they try to mimic him,' Arbus thought as he observed the blue Mornans rearing to try their luck in the arena.
'Whatever, that's not my business anyway. We're all here to train in whatever way we believe is best for us.' He glanced to his side, looking past Alexander next to him and focusing on the two trainees at the edge of the group, Nota and Rin. Nota was watching Jet with the same excited look as the others, while Rin's expression seemed more serious. Her brows furrowed together as her eyes followed him up the stairs until he reached the platform.
"Thank you all for the praises," Jet laughed as he scratched his nose. "But really, it was nothing. I'm sure the creature was too starved to fight rationally, so it didn't even try to dodge when I stabbed at its eye. It probably thought it could take a bite out of me before my attack reached it. I think you should be fine as long as you aim for the eye first." People gathered around him, listening to his advice with enamored expressions.
"Wasn't that... already obvious," Alexander muttered with a blank stare.
"Yeah. But it's probably more reassuring coming from someone who's already been down there,," Arbus replied.
Alexander shrugged, turning to Arbus with a grin. "Well, at least now I know those things are pretty uncoordinated. The guns they let us use in here aren't exactly powerful, so these monsters probably won't go down with just a few hits—unless it's a sniper or something. But I doubt anyone's crazy enough to use that against creatures this fast." He nodded in thought. "If I face them later, I'll keep my distance and just bombard them till they drop."
Arbus sighed. "That sounds exactly like your style. Just don't let them get close."
"Didn't you hear me?" Alexander asked, raising a brow. "I'll fill them with shots before they even get the chance. They won't make it within ten feet of me."
"Then you'd better not stop running," Arbus said dryly.
"Not sure why everyone's so surprised," a lanky blue Mornan suddenly spoke over the crowd as he chuckled. "This much is expected from a talent from the Solvane family, after all. Especially since he's the son of the great King Alger himself!"
Jet's smile faded as he glanced in the direction of the blue Mornan who said that. His gaze seemed to darken for a fleeting moment before his smile returned. "Thank you for the praise. But I have to say, talent is the furthest thing you'll find in me."
The cheering finally stopped as everyone felt the atmosphere become tense all of a sudden. The lanky blue Mornan, Maze—one of Jet's entourage—felt he had said something wrong, although he wasn't sure what.
"That was a good fight, kid," Ty said, his hand patting Jet's shoulder firmly.
"Thank you, Instructor."
Rin glanced at him from the corner of her eye for a moment before focusing on the arena. Renegades were already down there cleaning off the blood and viscera littering the floor.
***
Half an hour later, Rin walked down the stairs slowly as the invisible barrier closed behind her.
"Good luck, Rin! I know you'll do great!" Nota pumped her fist in the air as she shouted down. Rin sighed slightly as she headed toward the far wall to choose a weapon of her own. It didn't take long for her to spot the weapon that had been placed there specifically for her. The corner of her lips curved upward slightly as she picked it up.
Jet's brow raised slightly when he saw her weapon of choice. "Interesting." A Bocheander girl suddenly gasped. "Wait... is that a sniper?" she said as she recognized the long weapon. "It really is! Does she really intend to use that? There's no way, right?"
"I... stand corrected," Alexander murmured to Arbus in disbelief. "Guess there are a few people crazy enough to face them with sniper rifles."
A blue Mornan boy frowned in worry. "Those creatures don't seem that strong, but they still looked pretty fast. Will she really be okay?"
"There's nothing to worry about!" Nota declared loudly with a proud expression, drawing the attention of the group. "You'll see."
Rin paid no mind to the clamoring above as she stood tall in the arena with her sniper rifle resting against her shoulder. Her expression was as calm as a lake, as if she wasn't about to face a monster that could devour her in just a few bites. She took in a breath before nodding. "I'm ready."
The moment she said that, the ground split open as another chained puppy was raised on the same platform. This one was slightly larger than the previous one.
The creature growled as its eye adjusted to the light the second its head peeked out. It set it's sight on Rin, feeling it's hunger rear up.
BANG!
And that was the last thing it ever felt before a pressurized sniper bullet shot into its brain through its large eye and emerged from its skull in a spray of red blood. The body of the puppy that was still being brought up lurched forward, then back, before finally going limp and dropping onto the platform.
Rin let out a deep sigh before slinging the rifle on her shoulder. "...I'm done," she said, glancing up at Instructor Ty and the rest of the trainees.
Silence descended upon the room for several moments. Even Alexander, Arbus, and Jet were left stunned at the display. "...Seriously?" Alexander muttered with raised brows..
A loud cheer rang out. "Woohoo!" Nota screamed with her signature beaming smile. She turned to the other trainees with a mischievous grin. "See? I told you she was fine."
Instructor Ty burst into boisterous laughter a moment later as he struggled to control himself. "Incredible! How ingenious, Miss Dune. I wasn't expecting something like this today. But I suppose I should have anticipated it."
The speechless crowd slowly began murmuring again. "She killed it while it was coming up... That's insane. Her aim is crazy!"
"That was even faster than Prince Jet!" one of the Mornan girls praised before realizing Jet was still in the room with them. When she glanced at him with a nervous look, he simply chuckled. "You're right, it really was."
"Excuse me for a moment," Jet said to the crowd before glancing at Rin one last time and walking out of the room.
"But Is that allowed? Did the match even start yet?" a short blue Mornan girl asked her friend in amazement.
"Yes, it is," Ty answered upon overhearing the question. "The match starts the moment you give your go-ahead for the creature to be allowed up. You don't get to pick and choose when the creature will lunge at you. It wouldn't be fair if I had to give the go-ahead first.
"All Rin did was give herself an advantage by striking first. You're all welcome to do the same if you want to."
"After all, this isn't the first time it's been attempted. Although, the success rate is quite questionable." He added.
Everyone glanced back into the arena and watched Rin ascend the stairs jutting out of the wall while people filed in to remove the body of the beast like before. Hints of jealousy for the skills and talent of the white Mornans began appearing in the hearts of the Mornans present. Arbus could see it in their eyes as clear as day.
"Arbus." He turned as Ty called out to him and walked over. "Since the two matches we had were shorter than I expected, it seems like you'll be getting a chance today, as well."