CHAPTER 281: THE BEST WARNING
Leslie slumped exhausted on her couch with her sniper rifle at her side.
Since she had received her sniper rifle and entered a new stage of training, her days started very early in the morning.
Before the sun could rise, she would get up with her rifle in hand and thus begin her training.
Exercising as before and with the only difference that this time she carried her rifle on her back... The captains were quite strict on that point.
She had to sleep with her rifle, eat with her rifle and train with her weapon in her hands.
Going several miles with a rifle on her back and then going over all kinds of obstacles was pretty tough.
Adding hand-to-hand training to know how to defend himself at close range increased the difficulty and, with it, the fatigue in her body.
At noon, she would eat and clean her rifle, then she would begin her weapons training.
This training consisted of improving her reflexes, her quick reaction and her control of her skills.
Leading to her shooting at all kinds of targets, from stationary ones at a distance and moving targets at high speed.
They pushed for her body to move, knowing how to reload and shoot as if they wanted to engrave in her muscles the way to shoot fast.
She could never stop excelling herself because the training always increased in intensity and currently she had had to shoot at small spheres the size of tennis balls flying at a high speed.
Hitting it in the air was certainly a challenge, but such a challenge was too exciting.
The desire to better herself, to advance and meet targets, got Leslie to train hard every day, improving in the process.
She had not moved up in rank and was still at B rank, but she was now more proficient than before when it came to rapid-fire shooting.
“The second part of training is coming. Stand up!” the captain ordered in a loud voice.
Leslie, who was eager to look over the abyssal portals, rose determinedly.
Taking her rifle by her side, she carried it in her arms and began walking toward the shooting room. She had already cleaned her rifle, so now she could use it without needing to do anything.
Watching her companions using different weapons and going to different parts, she advanced toward the long-range shooting area.
Unlike those using short-range weapons like shotguns, or those using medium-range weapons like assault rifles, Leslie as a sniper had her own training range.
She also had her own training.
From the hallway she passed to an open field and when she entered the place, she could see different snipers in their small sections training.
Some were prioritizing the distance of their shot, and others were simply testing different sniper rifles.
Even though it was an open field with different sections, everything was automated.
She walked towards the section that was her turn today, which was a field with several trees obstructing her target.
About five hundred meters away, her targets would be holographic figures appearing between those trees.
Atlantis City intermingled the classic shooting field with technology, which the founding company of the city was known and managed to give different sensations in training.
Arriving at her section that was distanced from another. Leslie checked her sniper rifle along with her magazines before crouching on the ground and slowly positioning herself.
Her holographic watch connected to this section of the training camp and the scans informed her that there was no one alive in the place and as she finished, she selected her targets.
Figures of corrupted demons would appear holographically throughout her firing range, and at the same time the trees began to change.
The shooting range reformed itself, and the trees broke into pieces, making it clear that they were fake.
The next moment, everything reformed again and his entire field of vision was filled with obstacles and holographic figures appearing and jumping into other trees.
The form of concealment was undoubtedly annoying and while there were not so many trees, it was enough to block the view and generate certain obstructions.
All the while trying to leave a field of view so that the figures could be seen from five hundred meters away. As the apparitions were performed through the training ground’s AI, Leslie simply got into position and gave the command for the test to begin.
Activating the routine, the holographic figures jumped back and forth, crawling and even flying within the range.
Some were a hundred meters away, and others were five hundred meters away, which were barely visible from their position.
Leslie took a calming breath, focusing on her field of view and her weapon.
“Commencing... 3... 2... 1... Now!”
As the AI kicked in, Leslie immediately pulled the trigger.
*Bang*
The bullet tore through a corrupted demon three hundred meters away that had superficially appeared and the next moment, she continued.
Her ears stopped hearing the sound of firing and she only heard the bullet casing falling to the ground and in passing felt her finger press the trigger.
She moved the sight and pulled the trigger... Then, she did it again and again, repeating the movement at high speed.
Her body slowly began to act on instinct as she fired in rapid succession and holographic figures of humans appeared among her targets, causing her to hesitate for a second.
It was only the second that her sniper rifle changed targets and fired at a new target.
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Each shot was a consecutive hit one after another, no matter if obstacles appeared or trees changed position.
She reloaded and fired again, all with natural movements.
Not only were her improved reflexes kicking in, but her muscle memory when it came to reloading and firing, along with the connection to her rifle.
Her rifle wasn’t just a weapon, it was her partner... And now she showed how much she understood her partner by every shot and every hit.
Until it was all over.
“...”
Leslie breathed calmly at the feeling of adrenaline and slight numbness caused by so many shots.
Looking at her statistical data, she realized that she had hit ninety percent of her targets, without having made any mistakes by shooting ‘innocents’.
It was not simply a matter of shooting at the first figure she saw; it was a matter of analyzing her target in the shortest time and firing as quickly as possible.
Adding that she didn’t wear her combat armor, she didn’t have an AI to help her with her aim, and everything was as ‘natural’ as possible.
Being with her weapon all day generated a certain connection that maybe it was just a mental thing of hers, but at the same time she learned about her weapon, not only with her talent anymore.
She had taken it apart and put it back together to clean it dozens of times... Her sniper rifle was her true companion and now, with her partner at her side, she demonstrated high efficiency in use.
“Good job.”
A voice sounded behind her back and Leslie immediately stood up to salute sternly, knowing whose voice it was.
Luukas Waris was present, giving her a look.
“I had noticed that your success had reached ninety percent. I think it’s time to move on to the next part of sniper training,” Luukas said, and giving her a serious look, he stated. “We will train and test your patience. The main quality for a true sniper.”
The patience to wait for her target and shoot at the best moment... The patience to become a sniper.
Leslie’s expression quivered, feeling complicated.
She felt that patience was not her main virtue.
******
In the middle of a meditation garden, as serene as it was quiet, Clémentine felt her surroundings.
She was trying to sense the outside world through her mind, her consciousness.
She had sunk into her meditation and had come to this strange place, where her senses were working in a mysterious way.
The only difference was that here it was not dark like the first time she sank into this place.
Now there were different lights and waves of psionic energy flying through the air, like pleasant winds that hit his body gently.
These lights were far and near, some shone brighter than others, possibly a large part of them were the students and monks who were training in the same place as her.
Clémentine ‘walked’... Or at least made her consciousness float around that place, exploring the surroundings.
She had read books about this place and those books were not in the academy; they were in the library, in a pagoda.
According to the theory, her mind had left her body and was now taking in her surroundings through her mind and consciousness in its purest form.
She did not dare to move away from this place, even though she could see strange things in the distance.
The first was the ‘Veil’ and the second was figures and lights in the distance as if they were somewhere else.
Sometimes it seemed close and other times it was barely visible, but quite possibly such a place was not on earth.
The ‘Veil’ according to the book was what the ‘dimensional barrier’ was to the world, only now it was present in its psionic form and the other side was not the ‘void’ but was what the author of the book described as the ‘Astral Plane’.
What was that place?
It was a difficult question to answer. Maybe it was as her father said another world or....
“Or a place where psionic energy is condensed in its purest essence and where all psionic consciousnesses meet... An infinite world, set apart from time and space, where all powerful minds meet and the place where those individuals of great power have left their mark.”
Clémentine shivered as she felt a voice in her mind and before she could say anything, a bright light covered her vision.
She pushed away the ‘Veil’ and the other side, managing to prioritize the lights that were nearby.
Those lights pulsed clearly and Clémentine could understand some emotions and even feel surface thoughts.
“Curious, isn’t it? Very few of us are able to enter this state and very few are able to go to the other side and come back.”
The voice sounded again and this time Clémentine tried to ‘observe’ her surroundings... Or at least give temporary concept to her position and manage to grasp something about the voice.
However, she didn’t need to shape her surroundings, as another individual did.
It was like a small wave of psionic energy that ‘drew’ reality... Clémentine could see the garden where she was meditating and she could see herself.
Literally, her mind had left her body... Such a realization made Clémentine feel a burst of emotion.
“Yes, it’s usually something a mind-centered S-rank can perform,” said the voice coming from the top of a pagoda.
This world was strange and mysterious. Spirit mages could force themselves to leave their body and use their spirit.
A psionic could perform something similar, only it was to push their mind out of their body and, by maintaining a connection, they could see beyond what their physical body would see.
Such abilities were available for S ranks, and Clementine knew she was nowhere near that rank.
“Not everyone can do this. Just like not everyone can see the ‘Veil’ and the ‘Astral Plane’ let alone those who can pierce it or see beyond it,” said the voice, taking on a certain feminine tone.
“That makes sense. Is that why very few people talk about the ‘Veil’ or the ‘Astral Plane’?” Clémentine hesitated seriously.
She came from a lineage of psionics... She had her father’s, mother’s and brother’s knowledge of all things psionic.
She was extremely talented and her family kept dozens of books related to psionics.
However, the information about the ‘Veil’ and the ‘Astral Plane’ was very well covered, and some didn’t even talk about it.
One example was Akira, who didn’t seem to know about the subject or if she did, she didn’t give it any importance and the major reason was that she was focused on another area, ‘cryokinesis’.
“Call it talent, skill or ability... Even if a psionic reaches SSS rank, it doesn’t mean they can access the ‘Astral Plane. And more so for those who only focus on controlling physical laws and not in the realm of the mind,” replied the voice simply.
All psionics had a strong mind, but not all had the ability to perform mental attacks and in this case, take their mind out of their body.
Akira was an example by not having the ability to perform mental attacks and while she was a dangerous individual with her ‘storm’ she was a dangerous physical and not mental.
“They are just two different paths. Of course, I also won’t deny that there are people who don’t like to reveal information about the ‘Astral Plane’... After all, if someone risks going to the other side, they may not come back or when they do, it may not be oneself.” Said the voice and with a serious tone, added. “Or perhaps they hear voices believing they are individuals nearby, not realizing that terrifying existences may be whispering in their ears before taking over their body.”
Before such words, Clementine trembled with fear and terror as she watched her body rise... She was watching her real body rise while she was outside.
Seeing her own eyes turn purple, giving the sensation that another individual was in her body and then seeing herself smiling to herself, as if she was seeing her mental form, made horror wash over her.
The next moment, her vision broke and when she opened her eyes, she was smiling in her real body.
“Fear is the best warning.”
Clementine, upon hearing that female voice, raised with her psionic energy spears from the earth aimed at the voice.
The individual who had appeared in front of her was an elderly monk whose eyes had turned purple, but the most illogical thing was that the voice was female.
She had seen that one several times and had even greeted him, but now his eyes were purple as if someone or something was possessing him... Just as it had possessed her.
“You had better drink that elixir in this state. Your fear of losing your loved ones, combined with your own horror and despair at believing you had brought something terrifying, may be a great boost to you,” said the monk earnestly and giving a big smile, he advised. “Remember, there is nothing more powerful than the mind... Therein lies our power.”
At such words, the monk blinked and his eyes returned to their natural color.
He gave Clémentine a glance and the next moment; he was gone as if nothing had happened.
For her part, Clémentine controlled her trembling hands and legs, trying to let her more logical side appear.
That individual wasn’t lying... Right now, she was so horrified that she couldn’t stop shaking and could only stand on her feet.
It was so much fear that a part deep inside her urged her to cry. It was her childish side as she faced the fear that even she didn’t know she still had.
Thinking of high-ranking individuals who could instantly control her body and control other individuals, the names of powerful SS ranks popped into her mind.
Unfortunately, he could not reach any conclusions.
However, her body reacted unconsciously and sitting cross-legged, she drank the elixir.
Realizing that she was following the advice of that individual, horror and fear rose up in her mind again.
Combined with the potency of the elixir, her mind went into a deep trance.
Where all her mental problems, doubts and negative emotions came to light, along with the fear of losing her loved ones and the horror of losing her life.
All for her to solve on her own.