After taking in Bennet's surprise to his heart's content, Bia Jingshen turned around again and fired a few more shots at those targets. Even though he couldn't always hit bullseye, he still slowly got the hang of firing weapons. He was pleasantly surprised about how fast those guns shot.
Bai Jingshen quickly emptied his pistols' magazine before grabbing a bigger gun and firing away. Bennet called this an AR, designed for midrange fights. For a few hours the two men tried all kinds of guns and Bai Jingshen could slowly see why someone might by fascinated by them. Unfortunately, the aforementioned problems for guns were still apparent. When afternoon arrived, Bai Jingshen was only really interested in the weapon called sniper rifle, but sadly this training ground wasn't designed to show off its full potential.
Just as Bennet and Bai Jingshen planned to pack up their things and grab something to eat, a shout reached their ears from the adjacent room.
"So it's Bennet. While I was wondering who would train their disciples in gun usage, the last instructor that came to my mind would have been you."
When Bai Jingshen turned in the direction where this mocking voice came from, he saw a middle-aged man smiling at them. This man looked rather menacing with his big black trench coat, spiky, red hair, and a red glowing eye. Next to him stood a young man, sporting the exact same outfit, although in Bai Jingshen's mind it wouldn't fit at all to the baby fat still apparent in his face.
Bennet quickly growled back:
"What do you want Spike? Stick to your own business."
Bai Jingshen was surprised, as Bennet instantly turned aggressive, although this Spike had Thobar Bionics' logo on his coat. He even felt a slight feeling of helplessness from Bennet, when he pressed his gloved hand into a first. Taking a closer look, he realized, that Spike seemed to be the first-person Bai Jingshen saw, who had a deeper aura than Bennet. Still, this didn't explain his behavior.
"How unpolite. It's still chief instructor Spike for you. Do you want me to teach you another lesson? But be careful, you might decide to hide your other arm afterwards too."
"Shut up. We will see how long you can hold your head up high. Let's go kid."
Bennet just wanted to turn around when he heard the young man open his mouth.
"Hey dad, is that guy running away from you?"
"Haha yes. You see how hard it is to find proper personal these days. If it were only me, I would have fired that loser a long time ago."
"What do you think dad, should I test his disciple? Maybe we can just fire them both."
"Come on. No need to bully a newbie. You are a part of the elite program. While I heard this recruit even came from one of those hillbilly tribes. How could he even know how to fire a gun?"
"But I have seen a lot of shots land on those targets just now. Maybe they cheated? Shouldn't we test them?"
"You're right. Maybe you should show them that a hillbilly doesn't belong here!"
Bai Jingshen just looked on as the father and son pair put on an obvious display over there. If he had known that some clowns would put on a show for him today, he might have brought some melon seeds with him. Well, it was to late now, as the young man turned to Bai Jingshen and challenged him:
"Hey hillbilly. I'm Spike Junior. Let me teach you a lesson. I'm better than your instructor anyways."
Bai Jingshen looked at the angry Bennet before deciding to give it a shot.
"Sure. But can we just fight to the death here?"
Now it was the young man's turn to be startled, but he quickly put on a mocking expression again.
"I knew it. Hillbilly indeed. Wake up, this is civilization. Do I really have to explain something so simple to you?! We will go with standard competition rules. 5 minutes. Hitting an outer ring is ten points, inner ring 15, bullseye 25. Special targets bring 150 points, of which there will be three. I will even let you choose your weapon."
Bai Jingshen took a quick look at the dejected Bennet, but the older man sat down on the couch, seemingly not wanting to care. The former emperor shrugged his shoulders and nodded at Spike Jr.
"I will choose an AR."
Other than sniper rifles, all guns felt pretty much the same to Bai Jingshen, so he just chose the one in his hand.
"Alright. Twitch, set up the competition."
Bai Jingshen noticed General Mao notifying him about a request for competition. He quickly accepted and followed the AI's instructions, positioning himself behind the yellow line while a table full of magazines emerged next to him.
Bennet looked in anger at this table. Because Mana Cubes cost quite a bit, so competitions like these, which used up a lot of ammunition in a short time, had to be approved.
Normally you would easily be rejected without a valid reason. Only, the one to give his approval was naturally the Chief Instructor. Therefore, Spike Jr. could be so unbridled. Bennet also knew that Spike was overly generous with providing ammunition for his son, while cutting down the distribution of ammunition for others, so his reports didn't look like he wasted a lot of money.
Bennet was frustrated, but he couldn't do anything about it. Spike was indeed really strong and won the Chief Instructor position through his own ability. He was just a massively annoying leech at the same time.
While Bennet was sulking, General Mao began to start a countdown.
"3, 2, 1, fire!", sounded the AI's voice through both rooms.
Bai Jingshen instantly pulled the trigger, even a split second before Spike Jr. could. One shot after another flew towards the targets. Each shot accurately impacted a target and Bai Jingshen's points began to rise rapidly. 10,25,35,60…
At the other side Spike Jr. was not to be outdone, however. Spike Senior looked on with glee, as his son expertly shot down those targets.
Suddenly in the upper right corner of both their target walls, a small yellow circle appeared. Bai Jingshen took a moment to recognize those as a special target, but his reaction was still on point as he quickly shot it down. Still, this slight delay put spike Jr. in the lead now. Having found his confidence, the young man even slightly improved his aim, quickly gaining points.
Bai Jingshen kept firing at the targets. Soon the next important point in this competition arrived as both guns rapidly ran out of ammo. Bai Jingshen however had his spirit active the whole time, so as soon as he fired the last shot, he ejected his magazine and inserted a new one. At this point Spike Jr. was caught up in his excitement and was just a tiniest bit slower, putting Bai Jingshen in the lead again.
In this way both contestants gave their best and a head-to-head race broke out.
Spike Senior's face however grew a little grimmer form minute to minute, as Bai Jingshen managed to ever so slightly stay in the lead.
By now their points already skyrocketed and the winner would soon be declared.
13480, 13490, 13515… Bai Jingshen's points continuously kept climbing.
13440, 13465, 13480… Spike Jr. still hadn't given up.
Finally, the competition neared its end, and a countdown could be heard again:
"!0, 9… 5, 4…"
Bai Jingshen was still concentrating on his shooting. Even though a win seemed certain, he wouldn't allow himself to relax. You never knew if something unexpected would happen. And this mindset proved to be correct, as a small green point suddenly appeared on his wall, while only 4 second remained on the clock. Bai Jingshen quickly tried to yank his gun around, but he was a split second too slow, just narrowly missing it. Quickly after, the countdown reached zero, ending their competition.
Elated laughter could be heard from the other room.
"Well done, my son. How could a hillbilly ever hope to win against you!"
Spike Jr's voice sounded a bit shaky, finding his win a bit too close for comfort. He nonetheless answered his dad:
"Right dad. That guy stood no chance. Maybe he should just go back to his tribe now."
Those words were obviously spoken for Bai Jingshen to hear. He felt a slight frustration coming up inside him. Normally he wouldn't waste to much attention on those clowns. He was sure to surpass them anyways. On top of that they choose the only topic in which Spike Jr. was good at, maybe even an elite, against one of Bai Jingshen's weaknesses. But as Bai Jingshen felt increasingly frustrated, he decided to embrace this feeling, just like the White Illusion Arts thought. Letting his emotions free reign, Bai Jingshen's eyes slowly turned a light violet, as he shouted at Spike Jr.:
"How can you be so proud after cheating? You didn't tell me about the green target, and it brought 500 points. Truly pathetic."
Spike Jr. flinched a bit, but he still angrily yelled back:
"What are you complaining for? Shouldn't you be angry at you parents for not teaching you basic knowledge? Stupid hillbilly! Be careful that I don't come over there to beat you up!"
"Hmpf, we will see who will beat up whom at the newcomer competition!"
"Tzz. You should quickly wash your hands and say a prayer, so you won't meet me in the competition!"
At this point Bai Jingshen had enough, so he turned around and told General Mao to clean up.
Bennet finally came out of his stupor when he heard Bai Jingshen shouting at Spike Jr. He quickly realized what happened, his face instantly taking on a guilty look. If he would have paid attention, he would have noticed Spike's trick and told Bai Jingshen about it.
With much regret, he stood up and went to Bai Jingshen to apologize. But he even forgot his words, as he saw a calm Bai Jingshen turning towards him. The same Bai Jingshen who just looked like he completely lost his cool while cursing their neighbors.