That's Sarah Kennedy, the one I told you about from
the other dorm. Amy whispered in Aiden's ear as she pointed to the girl he'd noticed in
the crowd. Leah, Diane, and Janine all frowned and glared at Sarah rather unkindly.
Sarah came over to their group and in a harsh, mocking voice said, Wow, did you losers
actually find an advisor for your team? She swept her gaze over Aiden from head to toe,
rolled her eyes, and continued, Who's this little guy? He's not your boyfriend, is he?
Sarah then smiled and commented, He's not bad looking, but he's awful thin. Sarah then
boasted, This is my brother. He's advising my team.
See his muscles? She patted his arm and continued, You're going to be in tears before
this is over. Aiden's eyebrows rose in surprise at the girl's attitude. He now understood
why Amy hated her.
She was rude and obnoxious, and every word she uttered made you want to smack her.
Her brother stepped forward and held out his hand to Aiden. In a deep voice, he said,
Private First Class Richard Kennedy of the 77th Infantry.
Pleased to meet you. He turned out to be an actual soldier. That explained the way he
carried himself.
Amy and her teammates' faces grew pale. Amy looked up at Aiden, who was at least a
head taller than Richard, then sighed. Aiden's height was not enough.
Richard was a soldier here to lead his team in battle. This was not the same as
protecting kids from being bullied on the playground. Amy's team was slightly annoyed.
She feared Sarah would hold this win over her for a time to come. Aiden reached out and
shook hands with Richard. When he was about to pull away, he found that Richard's grip
tightened.
Richard then placed his other hand on top of their joined hands, stopping Aiden's from
moving. Aiden looked up and found that Richard's eyes flashed a bit of fun. Aiden's eyes
slightly narrowed at the challenge.
While Richard had intended to make Aiden feel inferior, he now found his own hand
being squeezed harder than he was comfortable with. Richard's sudden scream attracted
the eyes of many people around them. Richard's face had already turned a dark red as
he clenched his teeth, as if enduring something terrible.
Sweat beaded on his forehead. What's wrong with you, brother? Sarah could not help
asking as she took in Richard's appearance. Nothing, he said as he grit his teeth and
desperately tried to get rid of Aiden's iron palm, but he couldn't get Aiden to budge.
After a wave of pain flooded his wrist, Richard felt it was more and more difficult to
breathe and almost fainted, but at that moment, Aiden suddenly let go of Richard's
hand. Once free, Richard couldn't help but gasp heavily and look at Aiden in horror.
Perhaps you could give me some advice, Aiden said with a
seemingly harmless smile that gave Richard goosebumps. What a terrible grip, Richard
thought as he hit his right hand behind his back.
He could hardly feel it after the intense handshake. He is typical of lifting a stone to hit
his own feet. The smile on Aiden's face told Richard he was laughing at him, and Richard felt uncomfortable all over.
Fortunately, the principal finally ended his talk and with a wave of his hand directed
everyone to head outside. They were heading out into the countryside to a facility that
hosted war games. It was about a 20-minute walk to the club.
When they arrived, everything was already prepared for them. There were helmets,
masks, clothes, and armor for the upper body. Aiden activities feel okay, not very tied
up.
Everyone was equipped with a 15-millimeter paintball gun that looked like an assault
rifle. Aiden took a practice shot and found that the range was about 20-30 meters. After
the preparation, the whole class would step onto the battlefield composed of several
sloping hillsides and wooded areas.
Bunkers could be seen everywhere, including block houses, sandbags, and armored
vehicles. There seemed to be something everywhere they looked. It was a game of
capture the flag, and the rules of the game were simple.
Each team worked together to move up the hillside while protecting their own team and
preventing other teams from advancing. The first team to the top of the hillside to
capture the flag would win, or the team that destroyed everyone else would win. The
teams assembled in different places at the bottom of the hill and began their ascent
when the starting gun fired.
Aiden's team had unanimously elected him as leader. As soon as the gunshot rang,
Aiden did not rush his group but held back to study the terrain. Over the team intercom,
Leah's anxious voice asked, Aiden, why don't we rush together? If we wait too long,
someone else will get the flag.
Don't rush. Aiden returned just two words, then was quiet again. Leah stomped her foot
in frustration.
Aiden was carefully studying their situation. There were 10 teams in the competition, but
only one flag. Sometimes the most dangerous thing was to rush to the front.
He looked to the south and saw a team protected only by a few shelters. The key to
success was finding a safe way up the mountain so the team wasn't wiped out by gunfire
from others. With his enhanced vision, Aiden picked out a heavily wooded area to the
northeast.
Another team was heading in that direction. Aiden smirked, then gave a command in his
walkie-talkie. Follow me, now.
They quickly moved into the woods and before they could catch their breath, Aiden was giving them another command through the walkie-talkie. Southeast, down the slope, fire
as one. The four women didn't have time to think about how Aiden knew the enemy was
behind them.
Without thinking, they raised their guns and swept southeast. A burst of paintballs
exploded at the edge of the woods. I'll cut them off, the girls heard someone say.
Then another voice said, what the hell, where did the bullet come from? Several
complaints rang out and then five figures in camouflage dejectedly crawled out of the
bushes. The paint splatter on their camouflage announced they had been eliminated.
The four girls looked at each other in astonishment.
They hadn't expected to kill another team so quickly or in such a haphazard way. Their
excited shouts into the walkie-talkie nearly burst Aiden's eardrum. Captain, you're
amazing, one girl said.
Captain, how did you know where they were, asked another. Aiden smiled but did not
answer. Reasonable use of terrain to destroy targets.
Field combat capability, plus one. Current progress, one out of ten. Current level,
beginner.
Excellent command, strategic ability, plus one. Current progress, one out of ten. Current
level, beginner.
After the team got their first win, their confidence grew instantly. Under the command of
Aiden, they continued to advance up the hillside. As they moved, they could see and
hear other teams being eliminated.
And soon, Aiden found traces of another team near them. A group of four boys crouched
behind a bush, ready to ambush Aiden's team on their way up the mountain. Find hidden
targets.
Reconnaissance ability, plus one. Current progress, one out of ten. Current level,
beginner.
Under Aiden's leadership, his team avoided getting shot as they crept towards the team
above them. Don't move, Amy shouted as they came around the bush. When the four
boys looked up, they saw five rifles pointed at their bodies.
With sad faces, they surrendered to Aiden and the girls. After that, the girls continued up
the hill, eliminating other teams as they progressed. As the four girls cheered their latest
kill, Aiden's nose twitched and he picked up a strong smell.
He shouted, be careful, get down. Aiden's body moved quickly as he dropped to the
ground and rolled to avoid a bullet coming at him. But Amy and the girls were not so lucky.
They were strafed and covered in pain splatter. The four girls had to leave the battlefield
with tears in their eyes and put their last hope on Aiden to win for them. The team that
took them out was Sarah's Hall and her brother, Richard.
It turned out that when Aiden went to encircle the first team they took out, Richard had
been watching from a distance. Now Richard had watched Aiden's lucky evasion of his
team's fire. He was ready to take Aiden on.
He smiled evilly behind his mask. Your grip may be strange, boy, but I can still have the
final say on the battlefield, Richard muttered to himself. When Sarah saw that Amy had
been eliminated, she was jubilant.
Richard, she said, let's take out her brother too. Only three teams remained in play. If
Richard and his girls eliminated Aiden, there'd only be one other team to battle for the
flag.
Richard raised his rifle to shoot a colorful bullet toward Aiden. From his current distance,
with the rifle's rate of fire, Richard couldn't miss. But Aiden's defensive maneuvers
surprised him.
Aiden was lying on the ground like a dead fish. But as a bullet approached him, he'd
quickly rolled over and under some bushes, avoiding being hit. What? I don't believe it.
It must be dumb luck, Richard thought. He raised his rifle again and fired at Aiden's
body. But Aiden was sitting there waiting for his death.
After escaping the first bullet, he ran to the other side of the slope before Richard had a
chance to fire again. Aiden ran fast and hard for a bunker made of sandbags. Colorful
paintballs flew toward him from behind.
It was not only Richard shooting at him now, but Sarah and the other girls as well. Amid
the chaos, Aiden felt calm and focused like he was on a real battlefield.