Gwenden set Alex down at a shooting range. Alex stood up, and was then promptly beaten down by Gwenden. Alex screamed out in pain.
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?”
To which Gwenden promptly replied, “ Because you tried to attack me a week ago.”
Alex them remembered that he tried to attack Gwenden because of a reason he was no longer able to remember. But he thought that Gwenden already got his revenge by punching him in the stomach.
After the attacks finished, Gwenden then set him the task of shooting 100 bullseyes in a row, or he would need to redo them.
Alex, after being assigned this task, looked over all the guns on the table in front of him. He saw Governments, Berettas, A Dragunov, and more guns than he could name. He took a USP.45, grabbed an armful of magazines, and got to work on shooting practice.
Alex carefully aimed at each target and shot with quick precision. Every shot he made, holes would appear close to the bullseye.
Gwenden, who was watching, was impressed with his skill, however his face did not show it. His eyes showed a bored expression and his face remained unchanged.
Alex shot for 3 hours straight, until he received a new skill and a new stat.
You have received a new skill Gun Mastery! [Passive]
You will do 10% more damage when firing a gun.
Damage bonus will increase by 1% each level
You have generated a new stat Accuracy!
Your shots will be more in line with the the front of the barrel, and trajectories will be less affected by wind.
You are forbidden to distribute points to this stat.
Alex trained for 3 days straight, and finally, he managed to get 100 bullseyes.
But that was not the end of the shooting training.
Gwenden gave him a new task.
“Hit down 30 of our moving targets in less than a minute.”
Alex was then led to a shooting range, where the moving targets were Chocolate Reindeers on a stick. He kept his USP.45 and then started to fire.Originally, his shots would always hit bullseye. But now, they were even more impressive. Every shot would hit a reindeer, but Alex wouldn’t even flinch when a shard of the Chocolate went at him. He would just open his mouth and eat it. It seemed like every shot he made, was all calculated to do exactly as he imagined.
Gwenden, was watching jaw-dropped, as he witnessed this amazing feat of marksmanship. It reached the point where reloading was happening right after Alex’s magazine dropped, and he was firing 60 rounds a minute. Gwenden had never before seen anyone but the Commander achieve such amazing marksmanship.
Every time a bullet hit the Reindeer, they would shatter into tiny little bits. The neck would sometimes be shot at, and then the head would separate from its body, and soon after, the body would fall into pieces as 3 successive bullets would smash into the body, crushing it to little bits.
Alex, however, was unsatisfied with his performance, because even though his rate of fire was high, he was always a bullet off from reaching the goal set by Gwenden. After 1 day all of the targets only had the stick remaining, and one had to go up close to believe that chocolate reindeers were once stuck onto those sticks.
Gwenden, even though Alex didn’t complete the task, still gave Alex a pass. And then they moved onto the next phase of the training, skill training.
They moved into a bright room, and in the center was a miniature sun. Attached to the walls were bright florescent lights that shone and completely eliminated every shadow in the room. His task this time, was to extinguish the sun in the middle of the room, by controlling the shadows on his hands and wrists.
Alex started to use Shadow Control, and made the shadows expand around the sun. It looked like it might work, but then the sun tore through and remained unscathed. Alex thought very deeply on how he would extinguish the powerful rays of the the sun. He started to pour a bunch of shadows into a ball, and then making it very dense and small. Alex changed the now super dense shadow ball, into the shape of a bullet, and then used it to load his gun. He started to give the bullet, properties of shadows, such as; Cold, Dark, Unseen. Alex’s mana was dropping like mad through the usage of his skill. As the load on his skill increased beyond what was able to be performed at his level, his mana consumption increased. His mana, which was previously at 2500, was now dropping 50 points a second, and was currently at 500. He aimed at the sun, and then fired. The bullet imbued with the property of Unseen, was able to pass through the intense rays of the sun.
As it landed, it extinguished the rays of the sun, and made the sun suddenly lose temperature. The shadows, released from their bonds, started to spread from inside of the sun. A rapid explosion of darkness from the center of the sun, destroyed the sun completely.
Alex had a multitude of skill windows pop up.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Skill proficiency in Shadow Understanding has increased!
Skill proficiency in Shadow Control has increased!
Gwenden watched, impressed at Alex’s ingenuity on the usage of his skills, made him recount how he did it. He had been at a much higher level than Alex at the time. And instead of extinguishing it from the inside, he used a much higher-level technique, and had converted the light into darkness, making a sphere that would constantly increase in density and size.
His sphere had taken a day to fully form enough, to take out the sun, while constantly being pelted by rays from the florescent lights, that made the strength of the sphere grow at a minimal rate, and it wasn’t near as innovative or as effective as Alex’s method was. It used more mana, more time, and it wasn’t as smart.
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Gwenden started to feel a sense of inferiority to Alex, he who was much weaker than him when he did the training course, was able to complete it much faster, more efficiently, and better, than he did. It took him days of shooting the Chocolate Reindeers before he managed to shoot 100 of them in a row. When he started shooting at them, he only barely hit them, his bullets scraping the sides of the Reindeer.
He was unable to shoot them to pieces like Alex did, and watching as Alex’s bullets smashed into them like a sledgehammer, only served to make him realize the difference in talent between him and Alex.
Alex, having finished with the task given to him by Gwenden, looked at him and asked,
“ So what’s next?”
Gwenden was jolted out of his thoughts by Alex’s question, and then opened the door behind him and said,
“Practice Battles.”
Alex and Gwenden now stood on opposite sides of a makeshift battlefield. Alex was equipped with his one handgun, while Gwenden was in a full set of gear. His armour was made of expensive materials, and his weapon was an AK-47. When the referee signaled the start of the battle, instead of taking cover like Alex, he started to spray Shadow Bullets out from his gun.
Alex knew that he had to get into close quarters in order for him to match up with Gwenden, but with him constantly letting out a strafing fire, he couldn’t get close to kill him. He then saw a hole in the wall he was hiding behind, and through it, he saw Gwenden. Gun pointed at him.
Gwenden was shooting Shadow Bullets to make sure Alex wouldn’t come out of hiding. And in the midst of all of the gunfire, he would shoot a different kind of bullet at walls, to see if Alex was hiding behind them. To his luck, he found him on the first shot, and saw Alex looking straight at him but with not a trace of fear in his eyes.
Alex ducked, and then used Shadow Blade and Control simultaneously, creating a dark shield in front of him. He used his makeshift cover, and started to fire at Gwenden in rapid succession, each of his shots aimed at a fatal location.
But Gwenden used Shadow Manipulation to turn his bullets into deflectors, shooting them back at Alex.
Alex’s hp was slowly dropping, although his shield blocked most of the bullets, he was still constantly being hit by the ones that would curve into his sides. Alex gave up on defending, as it would do him no good, and with shield in hand, started to charge at Gwenden.
Gwenden was surprised at the sudden change in tactic, and activated his Shadow Blades for close ranged combat.
Alex stopped and faced off with Gwenden, he saw that Gwenden was unprepared, and took a shot at Gwenden.
Gwenden was unsuspecting, and only by the barest of margins did he manage to deflect the bullet away.
Alex saw that he only had 1000 mp left, and decided to make use of it. He changed his shield back into a blade, and stowed away his gun. He stared at Gwenden, his eyes full of his murderous intent. He leapt forward and started to slash with his Blade of Shadows.
As soon as his feet left the ground, he used his high agility stats to quickly make this into a Sword Fight.
Alex used his blade, and in a crouching leap, slashed upwards towards Gwenden’s neck.
Gwenden backstepped, and then crouched and slashed at Alex’s legs.
Alex jumped into the air, only to realize his mistake too late.
Gwenden pointed his sword and extended it, so it would reach Alex, who was in the sky.
Alex was unable to dodge the elongated blade, and with his mana dipping below 200, had to recreate his Shield of Shadows, and his mana consumption sharply increased.
Alex was barely able to deflect the blade away, and soon after, he ran out of mana.
Alex yielded. These bouts would continue for the rest of the course.
On the last day of his training, Alex was called to the Commander’s office.
Alex, at this point in time, who was still fearful of the Commander,opened the door, fearing the worst. His legs were shaking, and when he entered the room, it was darker than night. He saw the Commander standing with his arms behind his back, staring outside of the window, gazing over the city he protected. Alex asked in a quiet voice,
“Umm, am I supposed to be here?
The Commander turned around and spoke,
“ Yes. Over these past 5 weeks, you have been spectacular, and your mentor Gwenden has told me that your shooting skills and creativity are beyond what he has ever seen. I have seen your battles with Gwenden, and you surpass his description of you. I now promote you to Dark Shadow Beginner level 6. Due to your excellent rate of training, I have given you more levels than average. You have already picked a weapon of your choice. However, as the commander praising an excellent graduate, I will reward you with another weapon.”
Alex was presented with a selection of weapons, and out of all of them, he picked another handgun, the Desert Eagle.
Alex thanked the Commander,
“ Thank you, Commander. I wish to serve our race well.”
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have gained a new class level!
You have gained a new class level!
You have gained a new class level!
You have gained a new class level!
You have gained a new class level!
You have gained a new skill Night Vision! [passive]
As a being of darkness, you are now able to attune closer to your natural element. And without help, you are able to see in the dark better.
Ability to see in dark increases by 5% each level.