Complaints bloomed out of the first years' mouths.
"Damn it! I feel so heavy." Brady cursed out loud.
"You sure this is only three-tenths of our weight? I can barely move."
"How are we supposed to get there in three minutes?" Wood asked.
"We are going to be very late."
"I don't want to miss dinner too."
"We are f*cked."
We are going to be punished again."
"Speak for yourselves." Bronze suddenly said and began to jog towards the stairs. "I don't know about you, but I don't intend to miss dinner too."
"Lucky Bastard!" Woody groaned.
It took them over thirty minutes to get to the Shooting range. When they arrived, human-shaped metal boards were standing upright on the court, Bronze had been standing in the same position for nearly twenty minutes and their instructor, Three-starred Officer Keel was standing still with a mean-looking machinegun in hand.
Officer Keel said nothing as they arrived and joined Bronze. She also said nothing as they arranged themselves in a straight line. Her facial expression did not even change. She had a small smile on her face but exuded a brutal aura that spoke volumes of her kill rate. Officer Bridgestone's own aura was almost non-existent in comparison to hers.
Her aura bore down on the tired students, adding to the weight they already carried. She looked at each of their faces, stopping on Bronze's for a little longer before speaking.
"Three offenses. One, you are late. Two, you forgot to bring your guns. Three, your postures are off.
"Your punishments will depend on if you can avoid making your fourth mistake. Each of you will move forward one person at a time. I pick you, you will pick up that gun and shoot each of those targets without missing once. All you need to do to avoid the risk of missing dinner tonight, is to hit more than half the targets." She said. Her voice, loud and clear. She looked straight at Bronze.
"Move it!"
"Yes, Sir!" Bronze took steady, confident strides. He had played shooting games before. In his opinion, they weren't too different from the real thing.
He was in for a rude awakening.
Bang!
Damn! So loud.
"Miss! Next target!"
Bang!
"Miss! Next Target!"
Bang!
"How are you getting worse at this thing? Drop the gun! Next person, you!" She pointed at a fat, short girl who had shoulder-length hair and bangs that covered her eyes but did not seem to hinder her sight. Her skintight suit made her size very obvious.
She staggered towards the gun that Bronze had returned to an elevated platform. The weight was really weighing down on her. Bronze could not help but wonder how someone of her size had managed to scale through all the exercises so far. She was worth keeping an eye on.
She lifted the rifle slowly. She steadied her stance. She raised the gun near her face and rested it on her shoulder. She aimed.
Tang! The bullet grazed the edge of the target's shoulder.
"Not good enough! Next target!"
She shifted slightly, adjusted her aim and pulled the trigger.
Tang!
Grazed the shoulder again.
"Adjust your aim. Whatever you're doing, move slightly to the right. You should hit the neck. Next target!"
She nodded and shifted her stance again. Adjusted her aim. Delayed a little and shifted again. Slightly this time and pulled the trigger.
Tang!
"Good Kill! Work on it. Next target!"
Tang!
"Beautiful!"
Tang!
"Even better!"
Tang!
"Assassin-like! You are exonerated. Next person!"
After she dropped the gun and returned, hopes were lifted. The fact that someone was exonerated made them feel like they actually had a chance.
It did not go like they expected. They missed too much for many reasons. They dropped the gun from the vibration. The gun hit their shoulders badly. Their arms ached from the extra weight already and hence, they could barely lift the gun. There were just many reasons. Way too many reasons.
"Failed!"
"Terrible!"
"Horrifying!"
'Bad! Just bad!"
"Why are wasting my bullets? Drop it right now!"
"Failed!"
"Missed! Next person!"
"Utter failure!"
"Embarrassing! You have never touched a gun in your life? Not even the stupid ones from those games? Next person!"
"Stop! Don't even bother! You will break your spine. Next person!"
"Manageable! Next person!"
"You! You can't… you can't even lift the gun? What the hell?"
"I can't bear to watch any more of this nonsense. Next person."
"How are you even worse than all the others put together? Next!"
"Good enough! It will still get you killed though but for now, it has saved you. Next!"
"What painfully horrible aim! After this, you better hurry to the hospital to get your eyes checked. I'm a thousand percent positive that you will need treatment and some glasses. Your eyesight is plain bad."
"Depressing! Don't waste my bullets. Next person!"
"Damnit! You and your girlfriend better visit the hospital."
"Why are you so slow? I can already tell you'll miss!"
"Disgusting! Next!"
"That's just wrong!"
"Even more depressing! I don't want to see that long hair tomorrow or I will make you permanently balder than Baldy over there."
Bronze felt very offended.
"You! One eye!" She finally pointed at Eyepatch. "I have had all kinds of experience with one-eyed shooters, both enemies and allies. You better don't disgrace them. Grab the gun."
Eyepatch walked steadily to the rifle. He lifted it up, took a step back and what followed was a rhythmic series of Tang's with compliments to go with.
Tang!
Headshot!
"Good!"
Tang!
"Beautiful!"
Tang!
"Go on!"
Tang!
"Nice!"
Tang!
"I'm loving this!"
Tang!
"Leg shot next!"
Tang!
The bullet hit right between the knee and the ankle.
"Lovely! Blow off his shoulder!"
Tang!
The bullet hit the scapula.
"Good shot! The other shoulder for the next target!"
Tang!
Same as always!
"Ankle!"
Tang!
A bullet hole appeared at the ankle briefly before it fixed itself up.
"That's enough! I'm impressed."
Eyepatch dropped the gun and turned around to salute her.
"Who trained you?" Officer Keel asked.
Eyepatch's eye brightened up. HE had a small smile as he answered.
"Blue-eyed Margaret!" He said with pride.
Officer Keel's face that had managed to stay expressionless all this while immediately broke into a deep frown.
She yelled, "You owe me ten laps!"
"What the f*ck?" It dropped out of his mouth!
"Two extra laps for cursing!"
She turned around.
"The rest of you who missed, twelve laps. And those who were exonerated. You can leave early. Proper shooting classes start tomorrow. Officer Grim loves early people."
She said, specifically looking at the fat girl even though there were two others apart from her who managed to make the cut as well.
She then looked at the bad aimers.
"Why are the rest of you just standing there? Twelve laps! Now!"
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Officer Grim was seated on the mat that spread across the entire room, is eyes were closed and his breath steady like a man fast asleep. The fat girl whose name was Ojiso, a tall lady named Stellar and a thin and quiet Femi entered the room. They immediately walked towards the officer who sat quietly and went ahead to disturb him.
They stomped their boot-covered feet hard on the soft mat.
"Sir!" They saluted at the top of their voices.
Officer Grim opened his eyes and frowned.
"That noise was not necessary." He said. "Next time, if you see me meditating, you join me quietly."
"Hmm?" Femi hummed questioningly. Why was this officer so different from the others? Usually, annoying a soldier like this would lead to some punishment of some sort. As if the Officers and even their seniors set out to punish them for every little offense. In fact, they always seemed to actively find reasons to get you in trouble so they could officially punish you. It was really annoying.
Why was this man so different? Or was it just a façade? Why else would he be called Grim if he was so friendly? This was definitely another trap.
Officer Grim looked at the time.
"You are thirty minutes early. Sit! I will teach you how to meditate."
Femi, Ojiso and Stellar looked at one another and sat down cross-legged in imitation of Officer Grim.
(A.N: Cross-legged, as I recently researched has two meanings. The one I'm referring to here is the lotus position.)
"Close your eyes. Sit with your backs as straight as possible, as if you are standing in formation." Officer Grim started. His eyes closed as he instructed. "Put your hands on your knees. Let your palms face upwards, towards the sky."
Femi opened an eye to look around.
"Eyes closed, Femi!"
Femi looked at Officer Grim briefly before closing his eyes. HE was pretty sure the Officer had not opened his eyes.
"Take in deep breaths. In through your nostrils and out to your mouths."
They collectively began to take deep breaths. Officer Grim said nothing else for a few minutes. There were only sounds of inhales and exhales.
He began to whisper slowly and quietly.
"Follow my voice. Keep breathing. Slowly. Gently. You will notice the chaos in your minds have been slowly dissipating. Don't think about it, just let it be. Let the worries and the pain and the fatigue and the thoughts slowly and quietly fade away.
"Keep taking deep breaths. In through your nostrils, out through your mouths. Don't try to follow other breathing patterns. Let your body lead you to its most preferred rhythm. In through your nostrils, out through your mouths."
There was another moment of silence for a few more minutes. Then, Officer Grim began to speak again.
"Man is filled with chaos. Yet he is beautiful. He is the combination of the body, the soul and the spirit. A trinity that is balanced at birth, but becomes chaos as time passes by. That is why we must train ourselves. Train not just the body but the spirit and the soul. Only when we have achieved the balance of the Trinity again, are we at our most powerful, happiest and peaceful. The body is an amalgamation of separate systems and organs. Yet they work together to keep the body intact enough for the soul to inhabit. That is why we feed it with good food and water and exercise it to strengthen it against diseases and injuries.
"The Soul is the basis of our existence. That is why we feed it with good music, surround it with kindred souls and try all we can, everyday, to be happy.
"The spirit is the last of the trinity and easily the most neglected. But it is the basis for our powers. It is what links us with the various elements of the world. It is the intangibility that remains tangible, yet least understood. Those of us who have attained the minimum threshold of required connection with our spirits are the ones who awaken. Those who can't, don't.
"The level of connection with our spirits, determines the amount and the depth of our powers. We all know how to feed the body. We have unconsciously come to realize how to feed the soul. But unfortunately, feeding the spirit has remained a hidden truth, intentionally kept a mystery by those with the knowledge, from those without the hunger.
"You have the hunger and that is why your eyes have glimpsed the truth.
"Consistent training of the human body, testing and breaking past the known limits of the body, feeds the spirit. Meditation is only another one of the ways by which the spirit is fed. More time-efficient than training the body. It also slowly feeds the soul as a side effect.
"That doesn't mean the body should be neglected to become powerful. After all, the body's strength determines how much spirit can be held within.
"That is why you are made to undergo drills that continuously test the limits of your body. To continuously strengthen your weak bodies and increase your endurance." Officer Grim said.