Nathan

Year 2849 | Month 5 | Day 8

Once he reaches the lane, he presses some buttons on a screen at the top of the counter meant to stop people from entering the lane, causing the target located several meters away from the counter to shoot backwards at an incredibly fast speed, stopping only after a number on the screen says 2500 meters.

My eyes widen as I see how far the lane goes before the instructor raises his rifle and puts his eye to the scope, despite the three-feet-wide target being so miniscule that it’s practically impossible to see at this point with the naked eye. Meanwhile, both the students and officers gathered at the target practice lanes all begin focusing entirely on the instructor.

Is a shot at that distance even possible?! And how large is this place, anyways?

The instructor takes a deep breath, while at the same time a red light begins to emanate from his left hand, on the back grip of the rifle.

I quickly glance at my own rifle before noticing the other red gem on the back grip.

He never said what that does…

With that thought in mind, I turn back to look at him again to find the light emanating from his left hand to flare outwards as his finger pulls the trigger, causing a bullet to shoot out of the end of the barrel, straight down the lane.

However, surprisingly enough, despite his use of magic, no explosion happens, leaving the various onlookers – myself included – confused if not a little disappointed.

This doesn’t last long though, as the instructor presses a button on the screen before the target at the far end of the lane appears near us a few seconds later, with a bullet stuck to the bullseye.

The jaws of several cadets around us drop, meanwhile the two officers near us show impressed looks as they begin clapping.

“That was a shot with the other magic gem’s effect,” Instructor Leo says while nodding at the others and turning to me again, “it converts most of the mana inserted into light mana that is then used to focus the shooter’s scope further, allowing them to see longer distances while also converting the remaining mana to neutral mana that it then uses to create a vaguely protective barrier of neutral mana around the bullet. And while this doesn’t completely protect the bullet from things like air resistance and wind, it does at least give it a small buffer against it, making the shot stay more accurate to the scope.”

He then turns to the screen again while pressing some buttons on it before nodding at me and saying, “Now you try,” as the target moves back to a position about 500 meters away, according to the screen.

Once the other students and officers realize the instructor isn’t going to shoot again, they turn back to their own training.

I let out a mental sigh of relief at this as I walk up to the counter before raising my sniper rifle to my face, holding it just like the instructor told me earlier. Once I look through the scope, I find my view instantly magnified all the way to the end of the lane, with the scope’s crosshairs pointing towards the ground by the target.

After adjusting my aim so that the crosshairs are aiming directly at the bullseye of the target, I take a deep breath, only to pause as I feel the instructor move my hand slightly and adjust the butt of the rifle against my shoulder a little. Once he finishes, he steps back again and says, “Remember to keep your mouth and both of your eyes open when you shoot.”

I grunt in acknowledgement while setting my aim again, just for him to speak again, “And make sure your eye isn’t too close to the scope.”

Isn’t too close to the… oh, because of recoil.

I move my head slightly backwards before finally firing, causing the rifle to jerk backwards slightly in my arms despite me expecting the recoil, messing up my aim as the bullet flies into the far edge of the target, only barely skimming it. Fortunately, though, I at least manage to avoid making a fool of or even hurting myself from the recoil thanks to the instructor’s constant help.

When I look back at the instructor, I find him nodding his head with an impressed look on his face as he says, “That was pretty good for your first shot. Now do it again.”

With a brief nod, I turn back to the lane while pressing the button to change cartridges.

I could get used to this.

After taking several more shots, the instructor finally decides to end the class by shouting, “That’s enough for today! And while tomorrow is your day off, I would spend at least some of it reviewing what you’ve learned today! Because you’re all going to be training more with them on Monday before taking a test!”

Groans echo throughout the room at the mention of a test before the students all begin to gather their belongings.

As I’m about to do the same, Instructor Leo puts his hand on my shoulder and says, “Not you. I want to talk to you about something once everyone leaves.”

My eyes widen in surprise at that before a wave of anxiety flows through me.

The hell?

He then turns to the screen at the counter I’ve been shooting at and begins resetting it as he adds, “That aside, I also want to give you a case for your rifle. Because lugging it around like that can’t be comfortable.”

These words calm the anxiety that instantly shot through me when he put his hand on my shoulder.

If he’s wanting to help me with that, then whatever he wants to talk about can’t be anything bad for me.

The others were rather curious as to why Instructor Leo wants to speak with me alone, but they just took it in stride before leaving, saying that they would wait for me outside.

As I’m waiting for the rest of the students to leave, I gather my own things just so that I don’t make them wait for too long once he finishes whatever it is he wants to say.

It ends up taking a few minutes for everyone to clear out, and even after they do, the instructor still doesn’t take his attention away from whatever he’s doing on his cell phone.

Uh, now it’s just getting awkward…

After a few minutes of silence, Instructor Leo suddenly smiles and puts away his phone before walking straight up to me and saying, “Now, I know what I’ve been told, but I just had to see it for myself.”

I tilt my head slightly in confusion, only to frown as the instructor grabs my arm and raises it while pulling back my sleeve with his other hand.

The hell-

My thoughts are interrupted as he suddenly pulls out a knife and slices it across my arm before I can even register him pulling it out, making me grunt slightly in pain as blood splashes out of my arm, only to suddenly fly back into it again with the wound sealing itself up seconds later.

“What the fuck?!” I shout, jerking my arm back in surprise.

The instructor simply lets me pull my arm back. When I look up at his face while pulling my sleeve back down and stepping back with caution, all I find is a slightly interested expression on the instructor’s face.

“Huh, it looks like the crazy bastard wasn’t losing it after all,” he mutters before looking at my face and saying with a shrug, “I was originally going to test it with much more extreme measures, but then I grew a little fond of you because of your interest in sniping and your fire affinity.”

My eyes widen even further as I try to comprehend what he’s saying.

What does he… does he mean someone told him?!

Wait, crazy bastard…

The face of a certain doctor enters my mind, making my expression darken along with it.

“Oh, it looks like you’ve guessed who told me about your little secret,” he says with a nod, “at least that means I won’t have to explain things as much.”

He then moves back slightly and claps his hands, causing a portal to open.

I jerk backwards at the appearance of the portal, expecting something dangerous to come out of it, only for a black box to fall out of it into the instructor’s hands. He then hands it to me and says, “Here. It’s the case to the sniper rifle on your back.”

My brows furrow in confusion as I glance back and forth between the box and his face.

Okay, what the fuck is going on?